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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / “The saint he thinks he is…”

“The saint he thinks he is…”

by Betty Cracker|  March 16, 20189:01 am| 196 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Open Threads, Politics, Trump-Russia, Assholes, General Stupidity

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There’s some speculation that James Comey moved up the release date of his highly anticipated memoir from May 1 to mid-April to get ahead of a possibly damning report due from the FBI inspector general about his (Comey’s) handling of the Clinton email server investigation. Via Politico:

The book could land at a complicated moment for Comey, as well. “A Higher Loyalty” was originally scheduled for release on May 1, but the publisher last month announced it was moving up the publishing date because of the “intense scrutiny” surrounding the FBI.

Comey detractors, however, have speculated that the change had more to do with spinning another major piece of Comey’s legacy: his handling of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email during the 2016 election, which he is also expected to detail in the memoir.

The FBI inspector general’s report reviewing allegations of misconduct by Comey in connection with the email probe is also expected to come out this spring. “It’s hard to believe it won’t be critical of how he handled things,” said [Matthew] Miller. “There is speculation that he moved up the publication date to get ahead of the report. In the book he will come off as the saint he thinks he is.”

Miller was DOJ spokesman during the Obama administration. His remark captures my ambivalence about / contempt for Comey. On the one hand, there’s credible evidence he threw the election to Trump with a grandstanding letter to Congress days before the race ended. On the other, no Comey, no Mueller investigation.

Will the book make a big splash? Miller speculates that it could drive public opinion and become a PR headache for the White House, but being up to their eyeballs in negative publicity is normal for Team Trump.

So, regardless of what Comey reveals in the book, his legacy will likely come down to this: Comey set the house on fire, but at least he notified the fire department on the way out the door. My father-in-law was an old-school fireman, and he used to joke that his department had “never lost a basement.” We’ll see if Mueller’s team is able to salvage more than that.

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Reader Interactions

196Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    March 16, 2018 at 9:06 am

    If Trump and Company weren’t so god-awful,* Comey would rightly be the most hated man in Blue America.

    * By which I mean, below the level of Bush II.

  2. 2.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 16, 2018 at 9:06 am

    No idea how to link toTwitter but CBS are reporting Kelly is going to resign as early as today.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    March 16, 2018 at 9:10 am

    @Litlebritdifrnt: To be replaced by an _incompetent_ racist asshole, one presumes.

  4. 4.

    PaulWartenberg

    March 16, 2018 at 9:13 am

    I do think, given what I’ve read about the email reveal, that Comey’s handling was due more to Trey Gowdy’s House committee getting information illegally from that rogue NYC office – the one that’s buddy-buddy with Rudy – than any direct intent on Comey’s part. That committee had forced him earlier to agree to give them “pertinent information about Hillary” and they forced him to release that stuff before even Comey understood what was in those emails (which turned out to do with Anthony Weiner’s weiner than with National Security).

    I agree that Comey mishandled it, but I believe the Republicans had gamed this out better than people realized and timed it in the worst possible way.

    It didn’t help that McConnell was blocking all reports about trump’s conspiracy with Russia. It was a devastating do/don’t do combination that wrecked our nation. I blame McConnell and the House Republicans more than I blame Comey.

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    March 16, 2018 at 9:16 am

    @Litlebritdifrnt: CBS has a full article up:

    Congressional and administration sources tell CBS News that National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster is very likely to lose his job, and that could happen as soon as Friday. And, according to two sources, White House chief of staff John Kelly could also resign as early as Friday.
    Kelly was brought in last summer from his post as Homeland Security secretary in order to bring order to the West Wing, replacing Reince Priebus.

    One potential replacement for Kelly as chief of staff is Mick Mulvaney, currently the Office of Management and Budget director. Sources say that he is under serious consideration for the job. Mulvaney is currently also running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

    I think this is the same rumor that’s been circulating for the last few days. Guess today will tell.

  6. 6.

    Betty Cracker

    March 16, 2018 at 9:17 am

    @PaulWartenberg: Great points, but the fact that there was a rogue NYC office points to Comey’s leadership failures. It was his job to stop them from engaging in partisan activities, and he didn’t. Instead, he allowed his own underlings to manipulate him into possibly the most partisan act of sabotage in US electoral history.

  7. 7.

    Hermann Fegelein

    March 16, 2018 at 9:18 am

    No ambivalence. Comey was in the tank for Trump and would have done anything Trump needed. But fellow criminals don’t talk about their corrupt plans out loud, everything is understood. Trump didn’t understand that and fired comey because he wouldn’t say it OUT LOUD; Trump wasn’t patient enough to just sit and let Comey take care of it.

  8. 8.

    Lapassionara

    March 16, 2018 at 9:18 am

    @PaulWartenberg: Trey Gowdy is high on my list. What a snake. His inept questioning of HRC was a lowlight of the investigation. And I find his retirement more than a little suspicious.

    I just hope I live long enough to find out the truth of what happened and see justice be done.

  9. 9.

    SFAW

    March 16, 2018 at 9:19 am

    @PaulWartenberg:

    I blame McConnell and the House Republicans more than I blame Comey.

    As well you (and we) should.

    But their traitorous behavior did/does not give Comey leave to fuck over Hillary the way he did. He was not some first-year Junior G-Man, he was the fucking Director, and doesn’t get to play the “OMFG what will the peepuls think of me and my legacy if I don’t play nice with the Rethugs” game. He’s not as insecure as Shitgibbon, but not for lack of trying.

  10. 10.

    SFAW

    March 16, 2018 at 9:20 am

    @Lapassionara:

    I just hope I live long enough to find out the truth of what happened and see justice be done.

    Seconded.

  11. 11.

    Thoughtful David

    March 16, 2018 at 9:23 am

    Yup, he’s a seditionist, and deserves a long lifetime in the hoosegow for deciding he could let the FBI choose the president.
    @PaulWartenberg:
    And I don’t buy the “oopsy” argument. His actions against Clinton in June 2016 and his lack of actions against the Trump Russians show he was trying to disadvantage Clinton and advantage Trump. There were things he could have done against the Trump Russians.

  12. 12.

    Jeffro

    March 16, 2018 at 9:24 am

    @dmsilev:

    One potential replacement for Kelly as chief of staff is Mick Mulvaney, currently the Office of Management and Budget director. Sources say that he is under serious consideration for the job. Mulvaney is currently also running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

    I think it’s funny – ok, almost funny – the way that Trumpov keeps giving more and more to the same shrinking pile of loyalists and swapping one cabinet secretary for another.

    Whatsamatter Don, doesn’t anyone want to work for you? Or is it that you just can’t trust anyone new to keep their mouths shut about your maladministration’s corruption?

  13. 13.

    Baud

    March 16, 2018 at 9:24 am

    @Thoughtful David: Agreed. His June 2016 statement shouldn’t be forgotten.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    March 16, 2018 at 9:25 am

    @Jeffro:

    Whatsamatter Don, doesn’t anyone want to work for you? Or is it that you just can’t trust anyone new to keep their mouths shut about your maladministration’s corruption?

    That’s calls for a porque no los dos.

  15. 15.

    Jeffro

    March 16, 2018 at 9:26 am

    @PaulWartenberg: @Thoughtful David: I think they were anticipating a Hillary blowout and thought they’d be able to keep her margins/mandate down by kneecapping her like this. Instead, they saddled us with Orange Crash. Thanks Comey, ZEGS, and Turtle!

  16. 16.

    TBF

    March 16, 2018 at 9:29 am

    @Betty Cracker: Also, this story is very convenient for Comey. “Rogue officials made me do it” absolves him of responsibility. It is enough reason for me to be suspicious. I think Comey’s actions are best seen as an attempt to grab power-By publicity investigating “Emails” he laid the groundwork for hamstringing Clinton from the very beginning if she ever took office, and he probably tried similar stuff with Trump except that he’s a much bigger crook than Comey. In any case Comey is a disgrace.

  17. 17.

    germy

    March 16, 2018 at 9:29 am

    Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser and is actively discussing potential replacements, five people with knowledge of the plans tell WaPo. https://t.co/OpVJjzllmG— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 16, 2018

    According to early reports, the leading contenders for the spot are John Bolton, Gríma Wormtongue, and a small cartoon devil perched on the president's shoulder. https://t.co/FQx8vz9xv4— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) March 16, 2018

  18. 18.

    Baud

    March 16, 2018 at 9:30 am

    @germy:

    a small cartoon devil perched on the president’s shoulder

    Jared?

  19. 19.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 16, 2018 at 9:30 am

    @Baud: 1. por que, not porque, according to a Spanish language pedant last night
    2. are you a lawyer?

  20. 20.

    Thoughtful David

    March 16, 2018 at 9:31 am

    @Jeffro:
    They don’t get to decide what the margin is either. Still sedition.

  21. 21.

    germy

    March 16, 2018 at 9:34 am

    @Baud: Stephen Miller ?

  22. 22.

    germy

    March 16, 2018 at 9:36 am

    @Jeffro:

    I think they were anticipating a Hillary blowout and thought they’d be able to keep her margins/mandate down by kneecapping her like this. Instead, they saddled us with Orange Crash. Thanks Comey, ZEGS, and Turtle!

    Well, as Babs Bush said about Hurricane Katrina victims, “It’s worked out rather nice for them.”

  23. 23.

    Pinacacci

    March 16, 2018 at 9:37 am

    John Bolton whispering in the entropic cheeto’s ear scares the hell out of me.

  24. 24.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 16, 2018 at 9:38 am

    Comey may be ramping up the publicity this week partly to help protect Andrew McCabe, who is supposed to retire from his job as Deputy Director of the FBI on, I think, Sunday, but the Trumpies want to fire him now so he doesn’t get a pension. The pettiness of this administration has no bottom. Comey is warning them that people may just speak out once they’re out of government service. (Last sentence added in edit.)

    If his book helps to take down The Orange One, I’m all for it.

  25. 25.

    El Caganer

    March 16, 2018 at 9:38 am

    @dmsilev: Replacing a competent racist asshole with an incompetent racist asshole? I’ll take that as a win.

  26. 26.

    Belafon

    March 16, 2018 at 9:39 am

    @Hermann Fegelein:

    I think Comey was more of a misogynist than in the tank for Trump. Everyone assumed Clinton would win. He was just laying down the law, saying that while Clinton was the “president”, the men would be running things.

  27. 27.

    Yarrow

    March 16, 2018 at 9:39 am

    @dmsilev: Interesting that Kelly is leaving as well. I didn’t hear about that yesterday. Wonder who will replace him.

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    March 16, 2018 at 9:41 am

    I hope Comey gets some whipsmart students who ask him some serious questions on ethics.

    WaPost, from January 2018: Comey to teach course on ethical leadership for College of William & Mary

    Former FBI director James B. Comey is joining the faculty of his alma mater, the College of William & Mary, and plans to teach a course on ethical leadership at the school’s Washington center starting in the fall.

    Comey, whom President Trump fired last year, will have a nontenured position as an executive professor in education, the school announced Friday. His course will be offered through the W&M Washington Center to students of the public university based in Williamsburg, Va.

    Comey will teach the course in fall 2018, spring 2019 and summer 2019 with executive assistant professor Drew Stelljes.

    “I am thrilled to have the chance to engage with William & Mary students about a vital topic — ethical leadership,” Comey said in a statement. “Ethical leaders lead by seeing above the short term, above the urgent or the partisan, and with a higher loyalty to lasting values, most importantly the truth. Building and maintaining that kind of leadership, in both the private sector and government, is the challenge of our time. There is no better place to teach and learn about it than the W&M Washington Program.”

    … Comey, 57, has deep ties to William & Mary. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the school in 1982, with a double major in chemistry and religion, and received an honorary doctor-of-laws degree from the school in 2008. (Comey, who also has served as deputy U.S. attorney general, earned his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1985.)

    Chemistry and religion. That’s an interesting background.

  29. 29.

    Jeffro

    March 16, 2018 at 9:41 am

    @Thoughtful David: agreed…was just making a guess at their “reasoning”, not excusing it

  30. 30.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 16, 2018 at 9:42 am

    Is there nothing else happening besides the continuous game of musical chairs on the decks of the T-tanic.

  31. 31.

    ElegantFowl

    March 16, 2018 at 9:44 am

    Comey may try to wriggle, but he will be on the hook for eternity for his dereliction of duty that elected Trump. As they turn this year to the war part of the program, and the body count racks up, never forget Comey enabled it. No redemption.

  32. 32.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 9:49 am

    @Jeffro: I think that’s likely. I know for a fact from my ex-friend the journalist that excuse is what a lot of the media were doing, he admitted as much in his final argument with me. They all thought she’d win and were trying to cut that win down.

  33. 33.

    The Moar You Know

    March 16, 2018 at 9:50 am

    No ambivalence. Comey was in the tank for Trump and would have done anything Trump needed. But fellow criminals don’t talk about their corrupt plans out loud, everything is understood. Trump didn’t understand that and fired comey because he wouldn’t say it OUT LOUD; Trump wasn’t patient enough to just sit and let Comey take care of it.

    @Hermann Fegelein: Glad to know I’m not the only one who thinks this is exactly what happened. The “no Comey, no Mueller” argument is just wrong, because without Comey and the FBI’s interference Hillary Clinton would be president today.

  34. 34.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 16, 2018 at 9:51 am

    @satby: They are still attacking her with glee. See the spate of articles criticizing her for what she said in India. Our press is pathetic.

  35. 35.

    trnc

    March 16, 2018 at 9:53 am

    @Jeffro: DT said everyone wants to work in the White House. Except, apparently, most people working in the White House with him.

  36. 36.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 9:54 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I know. Pathetic is too nice of a word for them. Which is why I read and watch news media that isn’t US based. Garbage is the word I would use for them, and not just the fucking NYT.

  37. 37.

    The Moar You Know

    March 16, 2018 at 9:55 am

    I hope Comey gets some whipsmart students who ask him some serious questions on ethics.

    @Elizabelle: Not at that school he won’t. My brother taught there for a while. His opinion of the student body is, let’s put it nicely, “low”.

  38. 38.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 16, 2018 at 9:56 am

    His remark captures my ambivalence about / contempt for Comey. On the one hand, there’s credible evidence he threw the election to Trump with a grandstanding letter to Congress days before the race ended. On the other, no Comey, no Mueller investigation.

    Imagine a drunk driver causes a 3000-car pileup, during which a fuel truck explodes and several trucks transporting hazardous materials rupture, closing down a busy interstate for months, killing dozens, and poisoning hundreds.

    The drunk driver then calls 911.

    I would not be ‘ambivalent’ about this driver.

  39. 39.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    March 16, 2018 at 9:56 am

    @Jeffro: That’s the entire election. Comey anticipated a Hillary blowout so he released the letter. The media anticipated the Hillary blowout so they gave us wall-to-wall EMAILS. The brocialists anticipated a Hillary blowout so they voted for Jill Stein/nobody. And people like me anticipated a Hillary blowout so we didn’t volunteer as much as we could have…

    The Wikipedia entry for “tragedy of the commons” should just be a picture of Hillary.

  40. 40.

    Schlemazel

    March 16, 2018 at 9:57 am

    Anybody know what the CoS job pays? I think it would be a lot of fun. I know I would be having the time of my life even if I hold lasted a few weeks

  41. 41.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 16, 2018 at 9:58 am

    @satby: NYT is the leader of the pack. I just checked out Huffpo. They are criticizing Ds and lionizing Edward fucking Snowden on the issue of torture.
    So if you don’t mind my asking what news sources do you peruse?

  42. 42.

    rp

    March 16, 2018 at 9:59 am

    (CNN)Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke responded with a flippant comment to a congresswoman’s story about her grandfathers’ detention in an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II.

    Rep. Colleen Hanabusa discussed two of her grandfathers’ detention to the Interior Secretary during a hearing on Thursday. She said her grandfathers did not speak about their experiences until late in their life. The Hawaii Democrat sought Zinke’s assurance that $2 million in grant money to maintain the infamous historic sites would be preserved in his budget.
    “I believe that it is essential that we as a nation recognize our darkest moments so that we don’t have them repeat again,” she said.
    “Konnichiwa,” Zinke said in response to Hanabusa’s testimony, using the Japanese word for “good day” or “good afternoon.”
    A person sitting in the hearing appeared to gasp at the remark.
    Hanabusa responded by saying, “I think it’s still ‘ohayo gozaimasu’ (good morning), but that’s OK.” Her office did not immediately return a CNN request for comment.
    Zinke eventually said he would “look into” the grant funding.

    I view this as a good thing. The administration is equal opportunity — they’re prejudiced against all races, not just African-Americans and Latinos!

  43. 43.

    But her emails!!!

    March 16, 2018 at 9:59 am

    @germy:

    It’s a tough call between Grima and the miniature shoulder devil.

  44. 44.

    tobie

    March 16, 2018 at 10:01 am

    Normally I wouldn’t give a hoot whether Comey, McCabe or others were criticized in the Inspector General’s report but my fear is that the IG’s report will be used to impugn the integrity of any FBI witnesses Mueller might call to testify against Trump. How much weight can be given to McCabe’s testimony if IG Michael Horowitz, an Obama appointee, recommended his firing? Horowitz may be a straight-up guy but he was tasked by Trump appointees to investigate the Clinton email case for partisan reasons, and he seems to be doing his master’s bidding. Judging from his recommendation to fire McCabe for “lack of candor,” he sounds like another goody-two-shoes, more concerned with letting everyone know that he follows the letter of the law than exercising judgment in an existential moment for the Republic.

  45. 45.

    Sanjeevs

    March 16, 2018 at 10:01 am

    I think losing the most powerful state in the world to a country with an economy the size of Italy would have to count as a failure for the head of counterintelligence in America.

    A failure on Obama’s part too I’m afraid.

  46. 46.

    Amir Khalid

    March 16, 2018 at 10:03 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    Are the Trumpenvolk just blowing smoke about this firing? I think someone (was it Adam?) said here that, per civil service rules, firing McCabe won’t take away his pension — that only being convicted of one of a list of enumerated crimes would bring about such a sanction. And anyway, the week before McCabe’s retirement date sounds like way too late to start termination proceedings against him.

  47. 47.

    patrick II

    March 16, 2018 at 10:03 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    A few months back in a post on the same subject and with the same tone, that Comey threw the election to Trump. I went on rather hyperbolically (but not by much) to say, considering the outcome Comey deserved to be hung as a traitor, not for just his last minute announcement but for not starting an investigation of Trump Russian collusion before the end of July, and then not mentioning it when he did. Adam said at the time that while he sympathized with our harsh judgement of Comey, because of his inside knowledge he had more sympathy. More own feeling about that was he was holding up a black box we could not see inside of to justify his opinion. My own feeling was that unless that black box contained a message something like”we have kidnapped your children and are holding them at gunpoint” I didn’t care what else it could be.
    Anyhow, my question is this, with all we have learned since then about the depth and breath of the Russian incursion from sources such as Fusion testimony, the Dutch who themselves had electronically infiltrated the Russian effort and were telling us exactly what the Russians were doing, and the news just last week that we had a Russian mole who told us in even more detail what was going on, given all of that, do you think Adam still feels the same way? You combine that with all of the Trump Russian connections, including Manafort as head of his campaign trying to change the Republican plank about giving weapons to the Ukraine, why there was not an earlier and more serious investigation into Russia, and why when asked by President Obama, Comey along with McConnell and Ryan, refused to support informing the public but instead another rehashing of Hillary’s emails is beyond me. Having him hanged for treason may be hyperbolic, but 3 to 5 years isn’t.

  48. 48.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 10:04 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I like the Guardian, Al Jazeera, sometimes the Times of India even. I’m pretty eclectic and scan around a lot to get different viewpoints. Even the BBC is light years better than our news. Get lots of good links right here.

  49. 49.

    ruemara

    March 16, 2018 at 10:04 am

    @satby: I wish you were still friends so you could slap them for me.

  50. 50.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 16, 2018 at 10:05 am

    @satby: Times of India is as garbagy as NYT with some Bollywood masala thrown in.
    Guardian is too much of a purity pony for me when it comes to US politics
    I will check out Al-Jazeera, thanks for the tip.
    BBC is not bad, their website is pretty terrible though.

  51. 51.

    GregB

    March 16, 2018 at 10:06 am

    @ElegantFowl:

    I felt early on that Trump will likely be driving force behind a worldwide conflagration responsible for untold deaths.

    Global leadership is now populated by a cabal of soulless autocrats, dictators and elected sociopaths.

    I have no faith that Trump, Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Duterte, Mohammad bin Salman, Netanyau, and Assad is a good combination for the world.

  52. 52.

    patrick II

    March 16, 2018 at 10:07 am

    That committee had forced him earlier to agree to give them

    Forced? He was head of the FBI. He could not be forced to publicly reveal on ongoing investigation against FBI longstanding policy and I would guess regulation. Especially given the “we have found some emails but have no idea of what’s in them” nature of nature of his report.
    And I will tell you he could have waited a day and had someone run a grep program search looking for matches and he would have found that they were dupes quickly. But he didn’t want to in spite of the fact I am sure the FBI has some IT skills. But he chose not to and rushed out in ignorance and may have destroyed this country. Fck Comey.
    As for Giuliani and the New York office, was Director Comey their boss or were they his?

  53. 53.

    scuffletuffle

    March 16, 2018 at 10:12 am

    @Elizabelle: class title, “How not to be ethical, ever”

  54. 54.

    GregB

    March 16, 2018 at 10:13 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I think Hillary gave that mild comment on the day Trump campaigned for the shitheel who said Democrats hate God and country.

    But Hillary is the one hurting feelings. Ooof.

  55. 55.

    germy

    March 16, 2018 at 10:13 am

    Breaking Wind from CNN! Andy McCabe offered deal for lying to FBI and won’t get pension but will get passage in overhead bin on United flight to Oakland to work for scofflaw mayor.— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) March 16, 2018

    A dead dog joke from the guy whose son allegedly tortured a dog to death https://t.co/8HtEIcSjSD— Alex Leo (@AlexMLeo) March 16, 2018

  56. 56.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 10:13 am

    @schrodingers_cat: the point for me is that it isn’t wired into the US Republican mindset (I don’t read local Indian news much, I don’t know enough to understand any of the nuances). Same with the Guardian. The BBC is somewhat conservative.

    All news is reported by people, and all people have their biases, even in just deciding what’s newsworthy to report. What I’m doing is trying to spread the bias exposure. I don’t assume there’s none.

  57. 57.

    Roger Moore

    March 16, 2018 at 10:14 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    The pettiness of this administration has no bottom.

    Taking away his pension is not just pettiness. It’s intended as a punishment for insufficient loyalty and a warning to anyone else of what the price of disloyalty is.

  58. 58.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 10:15 am

    @ruemara: fortunately, I haven’t seen him face to face since our 35 year H.S. reunion. Because I would have punched him, not slapped him. Punched hard, in the nads.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    March 16, 2018 at 10:18 am

    @trnc:

    DT said everyone wants to work in the White House.

    Everyone wants to work in the White House. Hardly anyone wants to work in the Trump White House.

  60. 60.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 16, 2018 at 10:21 am

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t know. Adam knows the civil service rules better than I do.

    I haven’t been following that closely. It’s getting damn near impossible to follow anything closely, which is part of the point of all the uproar. And I’ve had a lively week IRL, too.

  61. 61.

    tobie

    March 16, 2018 at 10:21 am

    @germy: Yet again we see the whole purpose of the IG’s report is to call into question the honesty of any former FBI official who might testify against Trump. The Inspector General writing this report, Michael Horowitz, is an idiot if he doesn’t realize this.

  62. 62.

    Jeebus Price

    March 16, 2018 at 10:22 am

    @satby: Anyone who tells you they’re completely unbiased is probably A) lying, and B) absolutely beholden to the “both sides” bullshit,

  63. 63.

    Roger Moore

    March 16, 2018 at 10:22 am

    @But her emails!!!:

    It’s a tough call between Grima and the miniature shoulder devil.

    I’ll go with Grima Wormtongue any day. Remember, his main accomplishment was making the leader he advised passive and weak. I find that vastly preferable to encouraging his worst aggressive impulses.

  64. 64.

    Frankensteinbeck

    March 16, 2018 at 10:22 am

    Comey set the house on fire, but at least he notified the fire department on the way out the door.

    An excellent description.

    @PaulWartenberg:
    Doesn’t hold up once you add in the disgracefully improper way he handled recommending no charges be offered earlier in the year. He got up on stage and basically said ‘She’s guilty but can’t be prosecuted because of a technicality.’ No, he personally hated Clinton, wanted to sabotage her, and even if he thought he was doing the right thing found it awfully easy to decide ‘the right thing’ was to attack her.

    @dmsilev:
    While this could certainly true, so far these rumors have had an only random association with what actually happens.

  65. 65.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 16, 2018 at 10:23 am

    @Roger Moore: Wait until Trump finds out that the US manufactured nerve agents too!

  66. 66.

    James E. Powell

    March 16, 2018 at 10:25 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Exactly. I was trying to come up with an analogy – I was trying something with Titanic and a lifeboat – but yours is better. Even if Mueller’s investigation turns into something that ensures a D president & senate in 2020, the damage already done is huge and will last a very very long time. Gorsuch alone is too much.

    Every argument that tries to paint Comey as a devoted politically neutral public servant beset on all sides by partisan hacks is just bullshit. He was wrong to go on his tirade over the emails in the summer and he was wrong to write the letter. When he learned there were elements in the NY office (reportedly, I have no knowledge myself), he was wrong to do nothing about it. I’ve referred to the famous scene from Absence of Malice as an example of what an FBI director could have done with that.

    The only way I could begin to forgive him for the disaster he created would be if he issued a full confession, shaved his head, and entered a monastery. Even then, I’d wish him nothing but pain and loneliness for the rest of his days.

  67. 67.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 16, 2018 at 10:25 am

    @schrodingers_cat: @GregB: I missed it. What did Hillary say?

  68. 68.

    But her emails!!!

    March 16, 2018 at 10:25 am

    @satby:

    They all thought she’d win and were trying to cut that win down.

    Did you ask how exactly deliberately impacting an election was consistent with journalist ethics, or ethics in general?

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 10:25 am

    So, regardless of what Comey reveals in the book, his legacy will likely come down to this: Comey set the house on fire, but at least he notified the fire department on the way out the door.

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

  70. 70.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 16, 2018 at 10:26 am

    @satby: I was not criticizing you. BTW Times of India is Gargbage^n. I have never read a more vapid news source.

    ETA: In India the non-English language media is usually much better. English language media by and large are ass kissing toadies of whoever is in power.

  71. 71.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 16, 2018 at 10:27 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: She criticized the deplorables who voted for his Orangeness.

  72. 72.

    Amir Khalid

    March 16, 2018 at 10:29 am

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    As I remember it (it was two years ago, so I may not have this right) Comey didn’t say Hillary had done something wrong but was getting off on a technicality; he said there was nothing to warrant criminal charges.

  73. 73.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 10:31 am

    @But her emails!!!: that’s the most engaging thing because he didn’t think they were impacting the election in any meaningful way. According to him, they didn’t need to dwell on Trump because that buffoon wouldn’t get elected, and people needed to be informed about Hillary’s many failings as a human being. He particularly harped on her voice and speech delivery. And was enraged when I pointed out how misogynistic that was.
    He’s actually not that smart when it comes down to it.

  74. 74.

    But her emails!!!

    March 16, 2018 at 10:32 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    She told the truth by Trump’s campaign and by extension impugned those who voted for him. Hence, media hissy fit.

    She basically said that Trump ran a backwards looking campaign. The media seized on this as saying that his voters and even the whole country outside of the coasts was backwards.

  75. 75.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 16, 2018 at 10:32 am

    @schrodingers_cat: There is a cohort of people who have always found simple truths to be the most objectionable.

  76. 76.

    Elizabelle

    March 16, 2018 at 10:33 am

    @James E. Powell: Comey needs to go the John Profumo route. Step out of the limelight; spend the rest of his days working with and for the have nots.

  77. 77.

    Chris

    March 16, 2018 at 10:33 am

    @dmsilev:

    @Litlebritdifrnt: To be replaced by an _incompetent_ racist asshole, one presumes.

    Safe bet. Not sure which is worse; hopefully the incompetence will seriously hinder the attempts to be a racist asshole, but that’s not a given.

  78. 78.

    GregB

    March 16, 2018 at 10:33 am

    Comey and the media helped saddle America with this odious shitheel and all of his fuckfaced simpletons and short fingered knuckle draggers.

    Stormy Daniels’ attorney has now alleged that she was threatened by those elements in Trump world.

    Also, a female judge in Panama has alleged the exact same thing in the legal hullabaloo over the Trump property there.

    “So I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward. And his whole campaign, ‘Make America Great Again,’ was looking backwards. You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women, you know, getting jobs, you don’t want to, you know, see that Indian-American succeeding more than you are, whatever your problem is, I’m going to solve it.”

  79. 79.

    Chris

    March 16, 2018 at 10:36 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    @PaulWartenberg: Great points, but the fact that there was a rogue NYC office points to Comey’s leadership failures. It was his job to stop them from engaging in partisan activities, and he didn’t. Instead, he allowed his own underlings to manipulate him into possibly the most partisan act of sabotage in US electoral history.

    Even if you believe that the NYC office forced him to kneecap Hillary Clinton, there were ways to mitigate the damage. He could have simultaneously informed the public that Hillary was “under investigation” (she wasn’t, but what the hell) and also that Trump was under investigation; the media would’ve reported it as “both sides do it,” the effect on the campaigns would’ve canceled each other out, and he could sleep soundly knowing that he hadn’t affected the outcome of the election.

    Nah. Comey, like virtually his entire bureau, was simply in the bag for Trump. He didn’t like the guy, but he still saw it as his duty to help him.

  80. 80.

    OGLiberal

    March 16, 2018 at 10:36 am

    @Belafon: Rudy’s NY FBI Office (which, I’m sure, is filled with the most misogynist, racist, Muslim hating white dudes, because that is the dictionary definition of NY Met area white law enforcement people) told Comey that if he didn’t do what he did, they’d leak that they had damaging Hillary info (they didn’t) and that if he didn’t mention it, they’d make sure everybody knew he was in the tank for Clinton. He wanted to keep his job post inauguration so he played ball without lying – “we’re checking again…OK, still, nothing there”. But the asshole still got fired.

  81. 81.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 10:36 am

    @schrodingers_cat: well, probably, but I don’t speak or read Hindi, so that’s out. Arabic either, for that matter. Like I said, spreading the bias exposure.

  82. 82.

    Frankensteinbeck

    March 16, 2018 at 10:38 am

    @Amir Khalid:
    He listed all kind of things she did that sounded bad and sounded like she was guilty of the criminal acts she had been accused of, provided none of the context, and finished up by saying that you can’t prosecute without proving intent, so he was not recommending prosecution. It could not have been more perfectly designed to tell the truth while convincing everyone of a lie. That’s one of the fallacies, but I forget which one.

  83. 83.

    Central Planning

    March 16, 2018 at 10:38 am

    Dateline Rochester: Our rep, Louise Slaghter, passed away. She was 88. IDK what the NYS rules are for filling her seat.

  84. 84.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 16, 2018 at 10:38 am

    @But her emails!!!:

    The media seized on this as saying that his voters were backwards.

    They should try mingling with his base on a daily basis as I have to. They would soon come to the realization that these people have no foresight at all.

  85. 85.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 10:39 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Comey didn’t say Hillary had done something wrong but was getting off on a technicality; he said there was nothing to warrant criminal charges.

    Comey said Hillary was guilty as all fuck but that no reasonable prosecutor could initiate proceedings against her because reasons.

  86. 86.

    Betty Cracker

    March 16, 2018 at 10:39 am

    @Elizabelle: I didn’t know that about Profumo. Interesting.

  87. 87.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 16, 2018 at 10:41 am

    @satby: You might like The Hindu better, it is more Guardian like, as in it is more left-leaning and they cover science and history and other things that TOI doesn’t.

    ETA: Its an English language newspaper published from Chennai.

  88. 88.

    Denali

    March 16, 2018 at 10:41 am

    Off thread. I am so upset. Our congresswoman, Louise Slaughter, has died. She was older(87) but very active. I did not know about it, but she had fallen in her home and was hospitalized last week in Washington. She will be missed.

  89. 89.

    raven

    March 16, 2018 at 10:42 am

    @Betty Cracker: And Christine Keeler and Mandy Rhys-Davies?

  90. 90.

    Chris

    March 16, 2018 at 10:43 am

    @satby:

    He’s actually not that smart when it comes down to it.

    People like this usually aren’t.

  91. 91.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 10:44 am

    @Central Planning: oh RIP Louise!

  92. 92.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 16, 2018 at 10:44 am

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    He listed all kind of things she did that sounded bad and sounded like she was guilty of the criminal acts she had been accused of, provided none of the context, and finished up by saying that you can’t prosecute without proving intent, so he was not recommending prosecution. It could not have been more perfectly designed to tell the truth while convincing everyone of a lie.

    This is actually a violation of legal ethics. He should be disciplined for it.

  93. 93.

    But her emails!!!

    March 16, 2018 at 10:44 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    They should try mingling with his base on a daily basis as I have to. They would soon come to the realization that these people have no foresight at all.

    Most common sentiment that I saw from liberal leaning people in twitter responses to the news posts was something along the lines of “I agree with that even though she didn’t actually say it.”

  94. 94.

    Central Planning

    March 16, 2018 at 10:45 am

    @satby: here’s a link about it from our local paper

  95. 95.

    Chris

    March 16, 2018 at 10:46 am

    @GregB:

    “So I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward. And his whole campaign, ‘Make America Great Again,’ was looking backwards. You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women, you know, getting jobs, you don’t want to, you know, see that Indian-American succeeding more than you are, whatever your problem is, I’m going to solve it.”

    Note that the entire Republican electoral strategy from Nixon onwards has been to point at the entire blue half of the country and explain that it’s satanic, communistic, foreign, and un-American. So all the outrage at this (far far milder) quote is just the usual “can dish it out but can’t take it.”

  96. 96.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 10:49 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I will look it up, thanks!

  97. 97.

    Marshall

    March 16, 2018 at 10:50 am

    WaPost, from January 2018: Comey to teach course on ethical leadership for College of William & Mary

    Charlie Manson not being available.

  98. 98.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 16, 2018 at 10:52 am

    The Wonkette tour is going to hit Morgantown on the 26th. Cole, this is your chance to meet Donna Rose!

  99. 99.

    Stan

    March 16, 2018 at 10:55 am

    If only…..

    ….if only ONE senator had thought to ask, back in the summer of 2016, “Mr Comey, are there any OTHER campaigns or candidates under investigation?”

  100. 100.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 10:56 am

    @Chris: well, there’s “book smart” and “street smart” as shorthand for intelligent people without/with emotional intelligence (ability to read people and account for human nature). He’s definitely book smart. And of course, a Berniac, though I’m confident he voted for the despised Hillary in the general. And in IL, so whatever voting tantrum he might have thrown wouldn’t matter.
    But we need his type to smarten up fast, and most of them refuse to.

  101. 101.

    Frankensteinbeck

    March 16, 2018 at 10:56 am

    @Steve in the ATL:
    At the time, I saw a lot of commentary that his speech was wildly out of line with FBI procedure and ethics. He’s not supposed to editorialize.

  102. 102.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2018 at 10:57 am

    @Yarrow:

    Wonder who will replace him.

    Some motherfucker.

  103. 103.

    d58826

    March 16, 2018 at 10:59 am

    Somewhat OT but this is the headline in the WSJ today

    Donald Trump and John Kelly Reach Truce
    White House chief of staff had made cryptic comments suggesting he may have been the next senior adviser to step down

    Maybe it’s time for the media to stop obsessing over who is coming and going in the WH until it actually happens. I suspect that these stories are just shiny balls tossed out by the WH press office to distract from the real corruption and incompetence that is this WH. These kinds of stories may have made sense in prior more stable WH but given Der Fuhrer’s love of chaos and cries of fake news it just distracts from what is really happening

  104. 104.

    Frankensteinbeck

    March 16, 2018 at 11:02 am

    @d58826:
    That sounds too competent and organized. I suspect the different factions leak self-serving gossip to their favorite stenographers.

  105. 105.

    raven

    March 16, 2018 at 11:05 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: How you say that in French?

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2018 at 11:09 am

    @germy:

    I used to think Mike Huckabee was just kind of “normal” bad and stupid, but he’s convinced me recently that he’s actually abnormally evil and deranged.

  107. 107.

    Hermann Fegelein

    March 16, 2018 at 11:10 am

    @Belafon: Nope. He committed perjury in his “slightly nauseous” testimony, mischaracterizing the choice as “conceal” or “disclose. He deliberately interfered in the election and then lied under oath.

  108. 108.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2018 at 11:12 am

    @raven:

    Un enculé

  109. 109.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 16, 2018 at 11:13 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: he was pretty savvy with the media and there are always MSM types looking for a “normal” right-winger, especially of the Bible-y variety. Huckabee plays/played (IIRC) base in I forget what kind of band (rockabilly?). Played on the Daily Show, and Stewart was always out front in the normalization brigade. He does seem to have let his freak flag fly since he left office in Little Rock. And that story about his son does not suggest to me a healthy household to have grown up in.

    Music is always a big thing in the normalization narrative. Scarborough and Atwater played guitar. Ann Coulter used to talk a lot about following the Dead in her youth.

  110. 110.

    No Drought No More

    March 16, 2018 at 11:14 am

    The naval officer at Pearl Harbor who told the radar operators to disregard the blip on their screen as a flight of incoming B-17’s from the mainland committed an egregious error, but he was no villain himself. Isokoff and Corn* claim the success of the Russian Attack upon American democracy represents a massive failure of the entire intelligence community, and not isolated actors within it.

    I damned Comey for his judgement then, and I always will. But his subsequent behavior informs me that however egregious an error in judgement, his was an honest mistake. That fact makes all the difference. Trump obviously believed otherwise, and acted on that belief. To be sure, Comey is a primary actor in this great historical drama. But at this point, he shoulders no more responsibility for the overall mess we find ourselves in than the naval officer did on that awful Sunday morning for the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki four years later.

  111. 111.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2018 at 11:16 am

    @Central Planning:

    Heard that a few minutes ago. Very sad. Louise was one of the good ones.

  112. 112.

    catclub

    March 16, 2018 at 11:17 am

    @dmsilev:

    One potential replacement for Kelly as chief of staff is Mick Mulvaney, currently the Office of Management and Budget director. Sources say that he is under serious consideration for the job. Mulvaney is currently also running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

    Mulvaney already has two jobs and now he is the only person Trump can think of for a third job.
    Trump has no imagination. If the person is not standing in front of him, he cannot imagine that person could do the job – or even exists.
    Likewise for Homeland security replacement, likewise for shifting Pompeo over to SEC State, like wise for the CIA replacement head.

  113. 113.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 11:18 am

    @d58826: Trump is waiting to see if Mueller drops anything else on him today. If that happens, 15 minutes later somebody’s getting tossed.

  114. 114.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 11:19 am

    @No Drought No More:

    To be sure, Comey is a primary actor in this great historical drama. But at this point, he shoulders no more responsibility for the overall mess

    GTFOH

  115. 115.

    d58826

    March 16, 2018 at 11:21 am

    @No Drought No More:

    I damned Comey for his judgement then, and I always will. But his subsequent behavior informs me that however egregious an error in judgement, his was an honest mistake.

    i question the ‘honest mistake’ part. Comey was a part of the Ken Starr witch hunt of Bill in the 80’s and was involved in a 1991 investigation of the Clintons as part of the NY fed prosecutors office. He has been out to get the Clintons for 30 years and 2016 just gave him his big chance. He saw the opportunity and took it.

  116. 116.

    catclub

    March 16, 2018 at 11:22 am

    @No Drought No More: Not me. his comments in July, 2016 that ‘we are dropping the investigation of Hillary,
    but she is really a terrible person and she did terrible things, etc etc’ were just the start of his misdeeds. He should have said nothing except the investigation
    found nothing that should be taken to a jury. Or better yet, have someone lower down make that statement. But no. He feared the wrong people House Republicans, and fed them as much as he could.

  117. 117.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 16, 2018 at 11:23 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: indeed, but I was referring to legal ethics. As a lawyer, he is obligated to act in a professional and ethical way [insert lawyer jokes here] and his statements violated that obligation. Lawyers cannot make technically correct statements that create a false impression.

    Example: kid graduates from low-rated law school, can’t get a job, so he hangs a shingle. Potential client comes in, asks newly minted lawyer if he has expertise in the area of his needs. Lawyer replies “I’ve never lost a case!”

  118. 118.

    catclub

    March 16, 2018 at 11:24 am

    @Central Planning:

    IDK what the NYS rules are for filling her seat.

    link to Paul waldman recently column that special elections are stupid, just wait till the next regular election.

  119. 119.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 16, 2018 at 11:27 am

    @d58826: anyone who was involved in the Starr witch hunt should be shunned from society and forced to live as outcasts.

  120. 120.

    d58826

    March 16, 2018 at 11:30 am

    @Steve in the ATL: Of course there is the payback with Starr being canned from Baylor over a sex scandal in the football program. The Arc of Karma is long but it will get you in the end.

  121. 121.

    scav

    March 16, 2018 at 11:30 am

    @catclub: Well Donny-boy deep-sea-fishes in all the best puddles.

  122. 122.

    cosima

    March 16, 2018 at 11:32 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: I want to meet Donna Rose (as I’m subsidising her road trip via a donation) — she’s adorable to the 10th power.

    And F*CK Comey. The only reason that I can see that he has generated any sympathy is through being shat upon by the evil orange fart cloud that he put (directly? indirectly?) into office. There are, alas, tens of millions of US citizens, and others around the world, who have also been shat upon by EOFC, or will be shat upon by him, thanks to Comey’s actions. So, whatever his book says, he is a blot on US history books forever & ever. As evil at Yertle the Tertle or Ryan? Right up there with them, imo.

  123. 123.

    Amir Khalid

    March 16, 2018 at 11:34 am

    @catclub:
    Any search for executive talent willing to work for Trump’s administration is going to be hampered by his known habit of prizing loyalty — to him, not to the White House’s mission — above competence and integrity. Putting a team together is a basic task for a competent chief executive, which of course Trump is not.

  124. 124.

    satby

    March 16, 2018 at 11:39 am

    We discussed this a bit yesterday, so it’ll be interesting to see the outcome of these lawsuits.

  125. 125.

    d58826

    March 16, 2018 at 11:42 am

    How Jeff Sessions Is Sneaking Trump Allies Into Key DOJ Positions That Normally Require Senate Confirmation

    so much for what is left of the rule of law.

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/jeff-sessions-is-evading-senate-confirmation-of-u-s-attorneys-in-jurisdictions-where-trump-might-be-investigated.html

  126. 126.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 16, 2018 at 11:52 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Unfortunately, I think it is difficult or impossible to say the simple truth about the American electorate–that a shockingly large fraction of them are terrible people with terrible ideas–and be elected President. It’s not the kind of thing that is polite or politically expedient to say.

    They are not a majority, but they are enough to frequently swing national races. And there’s a fairly large collection of not-as-terrible people who like the terrible people enough that they will turn on you if you denounce the worst outright. If you are trying to drive a wedge there, you can’t be overt about it.

  127. 127.

    Chris

    March 16, 2018 at 11:54 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    They’re not a majority, but the majority tolerates them.

  128. 128.

    The Moar You Know

    March 16, 2018 at 11:55 am

    Charlie Manson not being available.

    @Marshall: Manson’s code of extremely scary ethics was at least consistent, heartfelt, non-situational, and strictly adhered to. Can’t say the same for Comey.

  129. 129.

    Gelfling 545

    March 16, 2018 at 11:56 am

    @Denali: She was mine until the last redistricting. Higgins is fine mostly but she was amazing.

  130. 130.

    d58826

    March 16, 2018 at 11:57 am

    MSNBC is reporting that the D’s have whistleblower documents

    BREAKING: House Democrats say a whistle blower has come forward with claims the State Dept. was targeting career employees who aren’t “supportive” of Trump’s agenda

    https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/974316651192692736

  131. 131.

    germy

    March 16, 2018 at 11:57 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Ann Coulter used to talk a lot about following the Dead in her youth.

    I don’t think she meant the band.

  132. 132.

    The Golux

    March 16, 2018 at 11:58 am

    @Steve in the ATL:

    …por que, not porque…

    To turn the pedantry up to eleven, there are actually four variants:

    por qué — why
    porque — because
    el porqué — the reason
    por que — for which

    Googled it m’self!

  133. 133.

    boatboy_srq

    March 16, 2018 at 11:58 am

    @The Moar You Know: Come (both aspects) is proof that the GOTea is accustomed to a more effete, competent-appearing crook: he got away with what what he did because he is, and got canned by tRump because tRump is not.

    Likewise the GOTea investigation proceeded because no matter how much of the GOTea agenda the party gets from Lord Dampnut he’s still not One Of Them and he’s bad at being dishonest in the public sphere. Or vice versa.

  134. 134.

    cosima

    March 16, 2018 at 12:01 pm

    @d58826: One of the things that made the future prospects a bit brighter was the talk about Obama & Holder making plans to challenge the voter suppression, over-reach, etc. once unfettered by their positions. Looks like now would be a really good time to start seeing A LOT of that challenge. Earlier would be better. Less Netflix documentary talking, more legal challenges filed.

  135. 135.

    woodrowfan

    March 16, 2018 at 12:02 pm

    @satby: the Guardian is good. So is the independent. BBC is good. The Economist is good for Africa and Asia if you take into account it’s going to have a free market spin to everything. So it requires a bit of reading between the lines.

  136. 136.

    cosima

    March 16, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Do you think that could be challenged in court? Wrongful termination? Coercion? Obstruction?

  137. 137.

    Brachiator

    March 16, 2018 at 12:16 pm

    Comey detractors, however, have speculated that the change had more to do with spinning another major piece of Comey’s legacy: his handling of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email during the 2016 election, which he is also expected to detail in the memoir.

    Don’t give a shit about the emails. Am mildly curious about what, if anything, he says about Trump.

  138. 138.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    The Koch Brothers Tried to Spread Fake News in Black Churches. It Did Not Go Well.
    “God didn’t put me on this earth to pimp death for profit.”
    KENYA DOWNSMAR. 16, 2018 6:00 AM

    Rev. Paul Wilson fastens enough buttons on his jacket to stay warm on a chilly fall afternoon but still keep his clergy collar visible. He’s whipping up a crowd of demonstrators in downtown Richmond, Virginia, where they’re waiting to make a short march from Richmond’s Capitol Square Bell Tower to the nearby National Theatre. His eyes covered by sunglasses, and his head by a newsboy hat, Wilson speaks to the assembled about their Christian responsibility to protect the planet.

    They’ve gathered for the Water Is Life Rally & Concert, an event to protest the proposed construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The development, a joint venture between several energy companies (including Richmond-based Dominion Energy), would carry natural gas 600 miles from West Virginia to North Carolina.

    The pipeline’s proposed route runs directly between Union Hill and Union Grove Baptist churches, the two parishes where Wilson serves as pastor in rural Buckingham County, 70 miles south of Richmond. The proposed site for the pipeline’s 54,000-horsepower, gas-fired compressor station is also set to be built right between them.

    Wilson fears the station could put his congregation and the surrounding community at risk of a range of ailments, especially asthma, because those living near natural gas facilities often suffer from chronic respiratory problems.

    “God gave man dominion over the earth, but not permission to destroy it,” Wilson later tells me as we discuss the pipeline over coffee at a diner in a suburb north of Richmond.

    …………………………………………

    As a sea of hands waved through the air as eyes closed in prayer, what many in the crowd didn’t know was that they were the target of a massive propaganda campaign. One of the event’s sponsors was a fossil-fuel advocacy group called Fueling US Forward, an outfit supported by Koch Industries, the petrochemicals, paper, and wood product conglomeratefounded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch.

    The gospel program was designed to highlight the benefits of oil and natural gas production and its essential role in the American way of life. During a break in the music, a panel discussion unfolded about skyrocketing utility costs. The lobbyists and businesspeople on the panel presented a greater reliance on fossil fuels—billed as cheap, reliable energy sources—as the fix. Later, a surprise giveaway netted four lucky attendees the opportunity to have their power bills paid for them.

    The event was one big bait and switch, according to environmental experts and local activists. Come for the gospel music, then listen to us praise the everlasting goodness of oil and gas. Supporting this sort of pro-oil-and-gas agenda sprinkled over the songs of praise, they say, would only worsen the pollution and coastal flooding that come with climate change, hazards that usually hit Virginia’s black residents the hardest.

    “The tactic was tasteless and racist, plain and simple,” says Kendyl Crawford, the Sierra Club of Richmond’s conservation program coordinator. “It’s exploiting the ignorance many communities have about climate change.”

    Rev. Wilson likens that gospel concert to the Biblical story of Judas accepting 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus. Like many African Americans in Virginia, he initially didn’t connect environmental policy with what he calls the “institutional racism”—think racial profiling, lack of economic opportunity, etc.— that can plague black communities nationwide. Now he considers “the sea level rising or the air quality in the cities” another existential threat.

    So in response to the Koch brothers’ attempt to sway their flocks, Wilson and others affiliated with black churches in Virginia have channeled their outrage into a new calling: climate advocacy. For Wilson, environmentalism has become a biblical mission.

    “The climate is changing,” he says. “And it’s black folk in Virginia who will lose the most.”

    ……………………………………

    In the months after the gospel concert, the backlash bubbled slowly through neighborhoods, led mostly by community activists and clergy like Rev. Harris. It picked up steam following the Times article. Ultimately, Fueling US Forward’s strategy of influencing one of the black community’s most sacred institutions—the church—would prove to be folly.

    Within environmental advocacy circles, Harris says, there was an increased urgency to tell neighborhood leaders that the concert was part of a public relations campaign for oil and gas interests. The campaign had the unintended effect of rallying the Richmond black community against the Kochs and their goals.

    Revs. Harris and Wilson now regularly tell their congregations how the fossil fuel industry harms low-income communities and people of color. Sea-level rise on Virginia’s coast has put low-lying cities in the Hampton Roads area, including Norfolk and Newport News—both of which are more than 40 percent black— at risk of extreme flooding. A hurricane during high tide could see entire neighborhoods populated primarily by African Americans and the poor swallowed up by the Chesapeake Bay.

  139. 139.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 12:19 pm

    New race ratings changes in 10 districts.

    Subscribers can read the full overview here: https://t.co/m4Q55C4aA0 pic.twitter.com/vgOSW2iJtr

    — CookPoliticalReport (@CookPolitical) March 16, 2018

  140. 140.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    SCOOP: US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is creating a new internal oversight division to more closely monitor the adjudicators who process immigration applictions, internal documents show https://t.co/bY0o163nIQ

    — Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) March 16, 2018

  141. 141.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    The new cover of the New Yorker: “Exposed” pic.twitter.com/v9FsIdmT9p

    — Axios (@axios) March 16, 2018

  142. 142.

    Brachiator

    March 16, 2018 at 12:26 pm

    @The Golux:

    To turn the pedantry up to eleven, there are actually four variants:

    por qué — why
    porque — because
    el porqué — the reason
    por que — for which

    Also barbecue porque, porque and beans, and the slightly redundant Porqué Pig.

  143. 143.

    gvg

    March 16, 2018 at 12:30 pm

    So, regardless of what Comey reveals in the book, his legacy will likely come down to this: Comey set the house on fire, but at least he notified the fire department on the way out the door.

    I don’t agree quite. Comey was minor compared to McConnel and Ryan during Obama’s administration, and Gingrinch, Duke, Stormfront, Fox news, Nixon, Reagan, years of rightwing radio, rightwing bribers like the Mercer’s and the Koch’s and on and on. Comey didn’t do as much and what he said wouldn’t have had much affect if it hadn’t been for all the rest training a percentage of the population into hypersensitivity about the Clinton name. Now he wasn’t right about his attitude about Hillary, but it was just a straw that collapsed and undermined fortress wall.
    My recollection at the time is that it was tougher for anyone to “do something” about the NY FBI office because they had connections to important loudmouthed GOP politicians that could make their side of the story sound more true than the actual truth, especially with so many people who weren’t even conservative trained for years to believe bad of Hillary. Its not like he could actually shut them up even if he fired them. Obama faced the same calculation about several things including why he couldn’t fire Comey himself. Basically taking action about the bad actors would make them seem more credible than their bosses. And also it would seem partisan and ramp things up by justifying retaliation. there were always problems with cleaning up the NY FBI even though the problems were known.
    Still comey would have done better if he had the self awareness to realize his own bias and mistakes. I don’t approve of him, I just don’t think as much of it is his fault as you said. Its also still going to apply when someone gets elected to deal with this messes cleanup. They will be constrained from completely firing all the bad apples. This will make ICE a real problem IMO.

  144. 144.

    Brachiator

    March 16, 2018 at 12:35 pm

    @germy:

    Ann Coulter used to talk a lot about following the Dead in her youth.

    I don’t think she meant the band.

    You win all the Internets today…

  145. 145.

    cosima

    March 16, 2018 at 12:45 pm

    P.S. Another dead Russian found in London. Now I’m off to take Little C to a weekend camp, then have my bday/anniversary dinner, so out for hours, but thought I’d drop that here before I go!

  146. 146.

    Bruce K

    March 16, 2018 at 1:01 pm

    The scary thing is that George Lucas damn near predicted this train wreck twenty years ago, except that he didn’t figure on Jar Jar Binks ending up on top of the scrap pile afterwards.

    (Admittedly, comparing Jar Jar to Trump isn’t fair. Jar Jar deserves better, for all that he wasn’t a good character.)

    What really scares me is that there’s a Palpatine somewhere in the wings, waiting for his chance.

  147. 147.

    TenguPhule

    March 16, 2018 at 1:02 pm

    He deserves to be spared the death penalty for hiring Mueller.

    But for his crimes, the man needs to die in poverty.

  148. 148.

    TenguPhule

    March 16, 2018 at 1:03 pm

    @Bruce K:

    What really scares me is that there’s a Palpatine somewhere in the wings, waiting for his chance.

    Paul Ryan.

  149. 149.

    TenguPhule

    March 16, 2018 at 1:04 pm

    @No Drought No More:

    But his subsequent behavior informs me that however egregious an error in judgement, his was an honest mistake.

    Uh no. Looks more like last minute asscovering for actions he knew were wrong to begin with from over here.

  150. 150.

    Van Buren

    March 16, 2018 at 1:15 pm

    @Elizabelle: My brother has a niece, same school, same double major. she is devoting her life to fighting abortion rights.
    Must be something in the water in Williamsburg.

  151. 151.

    Stan

    March 16, 2018 at 1:15 pm

    @No Drought No More: The naval officer at Pearl Harbor who told the radar operators to disregard the blip on their screen as a flight of incoming B-17’s from the mainland committed an egregious error

    Army Lieutenant Kermit Tyler, 78th Pursuit Squadron USAAF. Lived to the ripe old age of 96.

    Sorry, history nerd on duty here.

  152. 152.

    The Midnight Lurker

    March 16, 2018 at 1:20 pm

    It’s about time they started to take Comey to the woodshed. I don’t buy the made an error in judgement argument either. It is clear to anyone with two motor neurons to rub together that in the run up to the 2016 elections, the FBI was sitting on a ton of info that Trump was unfit to be President. Yet, this sanctimonious fool was running from microphone to microphone with the latest on Hillary’s e-mails. And what ever happened to Trumplandia, you know, the pro-Trump, New York branch of the FBI that was obsessed with Clinton Cash? The same branch that looked into a private server in Trump Tower that was connected between a Russian bank and a company owned by the DeVos, and said, “Nothing to see here.” The same branch that was feeding Giuliani tasty tidbits for his frequent appearances on Fox & Fiends. And where in the world is Rudolph Giuliani?

  153. 153.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 1:28 pm

    @Van Buren:

    she is devoting her life to fighting abortion rights.

    She fighting *for* protecting women’s access to medical care, or *for* more restrictions to outlaw the medical procedure?

  154. 154.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2018 at 1:30 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I am never going to be able to unsee that, am I?

  155. 155.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    @Bruce K:

    (Admittedly, comparing Jar Jar to Trump isn’t fair. Jar Jar deserves better, for all that he wasn’t a good character.)

    Jar Jar Binks needs to be stricken from all mention in the history of everything. George Lucas needs to die a penniless and broken man, preferably locked into the stocks in town square where folk can throw rotten fruit at him every day.

  156. 156.

    dww44

    March 16, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    @tobie: Could be he’s also a partisan, no? Or just a lily livered coward?

  157. 157.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    Carson, Mnuchin give Trump reasons to keep firing cabinet members

    Rachel Maddow looks at how Donald Trump secretaries Ben Carson and Steven Mnuchin are garnering the kind of embarrassing scandal headlines that seem likely to draw the ax-wielding attention of Donald Trump.
    Mar.15.2018

  158. 158.

    PaulWartenberg

    March 16, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    If I had to create a list of people to blame for the atrocity that is Cadet Bone Spurs AKA The Shitgibbon, it would go like this:

    1) trump himself, the SOB
    2) Mitch McConnell
    3) Putin
    4) Trey Gowdy
    5) Prince Rebus
    6a) Every other cowardly Republican who refused to tell their rabid voting base to stop being assholes
    6b) Fox Not-News
    7) Jill Stein and the BernieBros
    8) Every Beltway media talking head obsessed with Hillary’s Emails
    9) Every Beltway media talking head obsessed with Both Siderism
    10) Vote Suppressors in key battleground states who blocked more Dems from voting
    …
    9278076) Me, for failing to yell louder JESUS FUCKING CHRIST AMERICA DO NOT VOTE FOR TRUMP

    I hope this helps.

  159. 159.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 1:33 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Don’t worry. When Stormy wins her court case and the pic of Trump comes out where he’s trussed like a pig and has a ball gag in his mouth. That will push that magazine cover right out of your brain.

  160. 160.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    Mueller demands Russia documents from Trump Organization: NYT

    Rachel Maddow relays a report by The New York Times that Robert Mueller has sent a subpoena to the Trump Organization for Russia-related documents over a time that extends to before Donald Trump declared his candidacy.
    Mar.15.2018

  161. 161.

    Ruckus

    March 16, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    drumpf has always been the way he is. He can’t hire anyone who might be better than him, which means all but the total dregs are out. He can’t have anyone who outshines him, gets more press (especially any positive press at all) than him, is seen to have some controlling influence on him, working for him. Which means of course that there will be a revolving cast of very dubious assholes around him. In his private life he could get by with screwing contractors, in this public life it doesn’t work at all. There are jobs to fill, stuff that has to happen that matters to more than just his shitty ego.
    He has no way to do any of that himself, he’s not capable of anything positive. Everything he touches turns to shit, instantly.
    What we are watching, to our great horror, is the result of total incompetence. Not just incompetence on some level, but total incompetence. And it feeds upon itself, one downward thing leads to another downward thing, leading to a cascade of shit. One thing can be said for drumpf, he is a world class leader in total incompetence.

  162. 162.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 16, 2018 at 1:38 pm

    @PaulWartenberg: I see that you have left out the sage of Vt, himself.

  163. 163.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 1:38 pm

    Trump skips Russian sanctions law, meekly echoes Mueller instead

    Rachel Maddow reports on new U.S. sanctions on Russia, the first action against Russia by the Trump administration, but instead of implementing the sanctions passed into law by Congress, the Trump administration instead copied Robert Mueller’s list of indicted Russian hackers.

  164. 164.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 1:39 pm

    New sanctions reveal Russian hacking of US energy infrastructure

    Nicole Perlroth, cybersecurity reporter for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about new details of Russia’s efforts to hack vital U.S. infrastructure accompanying new sanctions on Russia

  165. 165.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    Mueller subpoenas Trump Org, Democrats point to Russian bank deal

    Rep. Eric Swalwell talks with Rachel Maddow about evidence House Intel Democrats say they’ve seen that shows the Trump Organization negotiating a deal with a sanctioned Russian bank during the election season.

  166. 166.

    Ruckus

    March 16, 2018 at 1:42 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    found it awfully easy to decide ‘the right thing’ was to use his high level government position to attack her.
    Fixed it for you.

  167. 167.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2018 at 1:42 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Don’t need a picture. Your description is more than sufficient!

    (I am not actually sure what a “ball gag” is, and not sure I want to know — PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME — but it sounds both unpleasant and unattractive.)

  168. 168.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 1:43 pm

    @dww44: Don’t think that one is too difficult to determine:
    Ideas With Consequences: The Federalist Society And The Conservative CounterRevolution
    That’s a link to a blurb from the book. It has a sentence highlighting Michael Horowitz. In case the link fails, this is a part of the page:
    “Simlarly, Michael Horowitz, who mentored many of the fledgling Federalists in the Reagan Administration, said that the Federalist Society was “so important”…

  169. 169.

    Ruckus

    March 16, 2018 at 1:45 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    It was his job to stop them from engaging in partisan activities, and he didn’t.

    As I said above he not only didn’t stop them, he was effectively one of them.

  170. 170.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 1:45 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    (I am not actually sure what a “ball gag” is, and not sure I want to know — PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME — but it sounds both unpleasant and unattractive.)

    But this is a full service blog!

  171. 171.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    March 16, 2018 at 1:45 pm

    @Corner Stone: You hate me.

  172. 172.

    TenguPhule

    March 16, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    (I am not actually sure what a “ball gag” is, and not sure I want to know — PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME — but it sounds both unpleasant and unattractive.)

    It is exactly what it says on the rubber ball.

  173. 173.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: Friends take the good with the bad.

  174. 174.

    TenguPhule

    March 16, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    But this is a full service blog!

    Bondage does cost extra though.

  175. 175.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    But this is a full service blog!

    Service with a smile — a sly, silky, sinister smile.

  176. 176.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    It is exactly what it says on the rubber ball.

    “CAUTION: Choking Hazard”?

  177. 177.

    Ruckus

    March 16, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    LMAO
    Thank you!
    Of course that was an easy answer in the year 2018.

  178. 178.

    Ruckus

    March 16, 2018 at 2:06 pm

    @raven:
    baiseur de la mère

  179. 179.

    Kay

    March 16, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    “A Higher Loyalty”

    The name of the book is as insufferable as he is.

    I’ll never understand why it was necessary to hold that media event to announce Clinton hadn’t done anything wrong, yet they kept the fact that Trump was under investigation under wraps. Why didn’t the public need to know about Trump?

  180. 180.

    joel hanes

    March 16, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    The Christian Science Monitor is often quite good.
    BBC News occasionally.

  181. 181.

    TenguPhule

    March 16, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “CAUTION: Choking Hazard”?

    So you’re familiar with it then.

  182. 182.

    James E. Powell

    March 16, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    @catclub:

    He feared the wrong people House Republicans, and fed them as much as he could.

    He did not fear them, he served them.

  183. 183.

    TenguPhule

    March 16, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    @Kay:

    Why didn’t the public need to know about Trump?

    IOIYAR.

    The GOP spent 30 years convincing the country that Republicans deserved every benefit of the doubt and that Democrats were guilty upon accusation.

  184. 184.

    joel hanes

    March 16, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Grima vs shoulderdevil

    Really doesn’t make any difference.
    Trump is no Theoden.

    Trump really only consults his dark palantir, his gut.

  185. 185.

    Mnemosyne

    March 16, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @No Drought No More:

    Isikoff was one of the primary reporters who pushed the completely bogus Whitewater narrative on our country so, no, I don’t trust him when he claims the Democrats are mostly responsible for 2016’s result. But I’m not surprised that you’d rather listen to a guy who hates Hillary and the Democrats as much as you do.

  186. 186.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 2:19 pm

    @Kay:

    I’ll never understand why it was necessary to hold that media event

    I’ll never understand why Comey was FBI Director.

  187. 187.

    Ruckus

    March 16, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    @Kay:
    The book should be named “A Lower Loyalty” because he certainly didn’t have a loyalty for the country that he worked for.

  188. 188.

    Kay

    March 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    I don’t believe Comey’s media event was about the public’s right to know. I think it was about Comey’s ego and his sense of himself as a hugely honorable person. I think that’s why he screwed it up. He put himself at the center of it and he shouldn’t have been there.

    We really would have been better off with someone who just didn’t complicate things, followed the rules and stayed in their own lane. Instead we got this great moral anguish and he fucked it all up. Keep it simple, stupid. No one ever could have touched him if he just treated it like any other investigation. That’s the reason for the rules- to insulate them from charges of bias and favoritism. Once he threw that out and decided to use his personal moral compass he was bound to screw it up because then it became about him.

  189. 189.

    Corner Stone

    March 16, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    @Kay:

    “A Higher Loyalty Ego”

    The name of the book is as insufferable as he is.

    Oh, I don’t know. it sounds about right, IMO.

  190. 190.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 16, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: It’s a comedy routine involving baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, soccer–

    What? What did you think it meant, you of the dirty mind???

  191. 191.

    PaulWartenberg

    March 16, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    He’s Number 13, just ahead of Comey.

  192. 192.

    SgrAstar

    March 16, 2018 at 3:49 pm

    @Hermann Fegelein: oh ffs. Comey was never in the tank for trump.

  193. 193.

    DissidentFish

    March 16, 2018 at 5:42 pm

    @rp: I’d say a fine “auf Weidershen” to Zinke for his “quip,” to remind him of her German heritage, but you know, I’m not so sure we should encourage Trump’s team to get in touch with their inner Germans.

  194. 194.

    J R in WV

    March 16, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    @joel hanes:

    “The Christian Science Monitor is often quite good.”

    Don’t rely on them for health care news or advice. In the end, the answer is always prayer. Otherwise they are pretty good.

  195. 195.

    dopey-o

    March 16, 2018 at 8:02 pm

    I might be wrong, but AFAIR, Comey sent the letter to a few House / Senate committees. The media didn’t catch wind of it until Jason Chaffetz tweeted about it.

    Comey’s letter was brief and, evidently, carefully stated. Remarkably, though, its release wasn’t accompanied by any contextual information or background briefing to either lawmakers or the press. It made its way to much of the media in the form of a tweet posted shortly before 1 P.M. by Jason Chaffetz, the Republican Congressman from Utah who chairs the House Committee on Oversight, and who is a longtime Clinton tormentor. “FBI Dir just informed me, ‘The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation, Chaffetz’ tweet said. “Case reopened”

    From the New Yorker. Read John Cassidy’s article at the link.

  196. 196.

    Bruce K

    March 17, 2018 at 6:33 am

    @Corner Stone: And even granting everything you’ve said, it’s still unfair to Jar Jar to compare him to Donald Trump.

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