Will America become a banana republic?

I am continually amazed at the number of people who complacently shrug their shoulders at the possibility that no charges will be brought against Hillary Clinton for her email misconduct while secretary of state. A common attitude seems to be, “Corrupt politicians have been around for a long time and there have always been smart ones who get away with it. Just look at Chicago for example.” Really? That wasn’t true for ABSCAM in the 1970s.

The expectation that Ms. Clinton will not suffer consequences for her outrageous violations of national security laws is so strong among many that they consider it to be the folly of a hopelessly naïve political neophyte to even entertain the idea that she might be indicted. The most common likely scenario predicted by the not-so-naïve is that FBI Director James Comey will drag out the investigation until after Ms. Clinton gets the Democrat nomination. Then he will recommend some smaller charges be brought against her. In response, Attorney General Loretta Lynch will stall her decision about whether to prosecute until after the general election.

If Ms. Clinton wins the election, Ms. Lynch finds a political excuse such as not wanting to “thwart the will of the people” by challenging a newly elected president. If Ms. Clinton loses, then Mr. Obama issues a blanket pardon before he leaves office, which kills the issue permanently.

The saddest aspect of all of this is that key aspects of America’s true exceptionalism will flushed away like residue from a bygone era. If Ms. Clinton escapes unscathed it means the end of FBI credibility as America’s most trusted non-political, incorrupt institution. The agency’s reputation will be down the drain forever — a far cry from the pinnacle of respectability upon which it rested after ABSCAM.

Of at least equal importance is that such a scenario will signal the transformation of America from operating as a nation of laws where all citizens are equal under the law, to a nation where a separate set of rules applies to the political powerful.

Again, let’s be clear about the facts that are already public. Knowingly storing classified information at an unauthorized location is a crime (18 USC 1924). Ms. Clinton knowingly stored 2,200 classified (including 22 Top Secret) documents. She knew the documents’ content rather than their markings determined their classification. Her actions were clearly intentional, but even if we accept President Obama’s declaration that she was simply careless, she still violated the law. Recklessness or gross negligence are sufficient conditions under the law to convict her.

Perhaps the silliest rationalization of all is Ms. Clinton’s claim that some of her predecessors did the same thing. This is a lie. None of them had their own private, unsecured servers on which they conducted their business exclusively. Even if this were true it is like saying, “because someone else committed murder, I’m allowed to kill someone.”

The failings of Mr. Obama’s presidency will far outweigh his successes in determining his legacy and his place in history. His failures include the diminishing of America’s stature among the nations of the world, creating the most polarized American society in the past century”and elevating political cronyism to levels heretofore unseen outside Chicago.

But if the Obama administration mishandles Hillary Clinton’s email misconduct as many are predicting, he will permanently torpedo America’s confidence in both our government and our premise of being a nation of laws. He’ll become known as the president who changed us into a mere banana republic where the whims of politicians trump integrity as a fact of life.

Lyles is a Poway resident, a management consultant and best-selling author. Reader comments, through letters to the editor or online at pomeradonews.com, are encouraged.