Not prosecuting Hillary would be a prime example of misplaced mercy.  Mercy is for those who have made a mistake and admit to it, not for those who continue to lie about their actions and claim that their crimes were perfectly legal.

So long as high-ranking Democrats know they can violate the law with impunity, Trump will never be able to drain the swamp.

There's nothing Banana republic-related about prosecuting the powerful for their crimes.  In fact, it's in Banana republics where the powerful aren't prosecuted.

More importantly, the Democratic Party has been waging war using lawfare – baseless criminal charges and civil suits – against Republicans for quite some time now.

A wide spectrum of Republicans have been prosecuted based on charges with absolutely no merit due to the fascist nature of many Democrat D.A.s.

In 1993, Democrats proved how sexist they were by indicting Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for destroying Christmas cards – you'd think liberals would like that.  The charges were dropped when the Democrat D.A. said he couldn't prosecute.

In 2014, a Democrat D.A. indicted Governor Rick Perry for exercising his authority as governor.  That's right: the Democrats say a Republican politician doing what they don't like is criminal.

In 2013, a Democrat D.A. in Wisconsin had police conduct raids in the middle of the night on the homes of people whose only alleged crime was exercising their First Amendment rights.  When the whole case was thrown out, the Wisconsin Supreme Court said: "[T]he special prosecutor's legal theory is unsupported in either reason or law."

In 2016, Kamala Harris, Democrat A.G. in California, raided the apartment of the man whose undercover journalism exposed Planned Parenthood's selling of baby parts.  Given that using her legal reasoning, 60 Minutes and an untold number of media giants are all criminals, it's clear that she was more motivated by the tens of thousands of dollars she received from Planned Parenthood than the law.

These are just a small sampling of the many cases where Democrats prosecute Republicans for doing things that are legal.  See here for more.  There are no similar cases where Republicans persecute Democrats, though there are cases where Democrats have actually been convicted for their crimes.

Given that Democrats have shown themselves to be fascists who have no concern about the law and who are willing to prosecute people they know are innocent, extending mercy to their titular leader, Hillary, so that she can "heal" is the height of folly.

We cannot end corruption in D.C. if Democrats, the party of corruption, know that they aren't bound by the same laws as all other Americans have to follow.

If Trump lets Hillary walk but then prosecutes her stooges and flunkies, that will be proof positive that America is no longer a country based on laws, but has become a Banana republic, where who you are determines which laws you have to follow.

A key reason why Trump was elected was because the people wanted an end to the double standard.  They wanted Democrats, and politicians in general, to be as afraid of breaking the law as they are.

If Trump's actions clearly say Hillary is above the law, he'll be saying he agrees that some Americans are more equal than others.

As a former #NeverTrump, I should point out that it's possible that Trump is actually being clever here.  By saying he won't appoint a special prosecutor, he comes across as civil and a unifier to the left-wing loons, and he makes it harder for the media to portray him as a monster.  But the president telling the attorney general what he should, or shouldn't, investigate is something the media condemn because of its connection to Nixon.

Hence, if Trump is saying he won't appoint a special prosecutor, that in no way means that Jeff Sessions can't or won't continue investigations into criminal activity by Hillary.  In fact, if the media attack Trump for that, they'll have to admit they believe that the president should be able to determine who should be investigated.

Now they would make that claim, but it will make their hypocrisy abundantly clear, since they are on record as virulently having opposed it in the past.

Hillary needs to be prosecuted – not out of revenge, but out of love of the rule of law, which says everyone has to obey the law, no matter how powerful or wealthy they are.  If we lose that truth, we will take one more step toward serfdom for all Americans except those part of the Democrat posse.

You can read more of Tom's rants at his blog, Conversations about the obvious, and feel free to follow him on Twitter.