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You are here: Home / Politics / An Unexamined Scandal / “Righteous” Monsters Russiagate Open Thread: No Violin Tiny Enough, Mr. Comey

“Righteous” Monsters Russiagate Open Thread: No Violin Tiny Enough, Mr. Comey

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I’m sure he really, honestly believes he was acting in good faith, there was nothing else he could do, just following orders, ma’am. Small consolation: His reputation seems to be “everything” to Mr. Comey — and history has never been kind to the “just following orders” defense.

Reader Interactions

124Comments

  1. 1.

    JMG

    The national media would spend a day headlining and talking about “Sun Rises in West” before they’d do “Clinton Got Screwed.” It has a collective hatred of both Democrats and women. This is most noticeable in women reporters like Maggie and, considering how they’re treated by Republicans it’s very strange, prominent gay male pundits (Sully, Bruno, Barro, etc.)

  2. 2.

    Baud

    The amount of national consciousness dedicated to trolling or hating on Democrats is truly remarkable.

  3. 3.

    efgoldman

    I wonder how the Last Bastion of Integritude’s book sales are doing
    Completely tanked, I hope.

  4. 4.

    lollipopguild

    @Baud: They make good money doing it and they get constant attention and for a lot of them it’s fun.

  5. 5.

    Это курам на смех

    Just to reiterate, fuck that self-righteous prick Comey and the sanctimonious horse he rode in on.

  7. 7.

    raven

    Lil Bit update, she’s in an oxygen tent for the night and will have “tie back” surgery Monday or Tuesday. It’s really her only shot.

  8. 8.

    Gvg

    I suspect that misogyny was at the root of Clinton hatred by the New York office too and you know, they did even more bad things than Comey. I’m not saying excuse him, I am just pointing out they seem to be getting away with it while he is getting a lot of citizen pushback every time he speaks or writes.
    I even think the Bill Clinton hate had something to do with his treating Hillary as a partner and someone he was proud to be married to. I remember there was an immediate hysteria when he was elected that I never understood.
    As to why some women and gay men also enabled the misogyny, fish don’t always notice the water I guess. Best I can do.

  10. 10.

    Mary G

    I tweeted at him that instead of showing pictures of himself in an Iowa cornfield that he should get himself to a monastery and repent his sins. Really, if he had a conscience at all, he would be hanging his head in shame, but he appears to be a typical Republican in that respect.

  13. 13.

    Mary G

    @raven: Keeping you, Mrs. Raven, Bohdi and Lil Bit in my heart. Hope the surgery works. Let us know if you need anything.

  17. 17.

    debbie

    Idly wondering what would have happened if Comey had kept his mouth shut. Wouldn’t the NY FBI office have come up with something bullshit to destroy Clinton and roil the country in the days before the election?

  19. 19.

    efgoldman

    @Mary G:

    he appears to be a typical Republican in that respect.

    RWNJs have their shame and empathy removed at age 16

  20. 20.

    Patricia Kayden

    Comey’s legacy is set as the idiot who helped get Trump elected only to be dismissed and ridiculed by Trump. He’s no martyr as far as I’m concerned.

  24. 24.

    B.B.A.

    Ironically, Trump had a perfectly legitimate reason to fire Comey. If only he could keep his story straight the Mueller investigation would never have started, and he’d be free to wallow in his own crapulence for the rest of his term.

  32. 32.

    Patricia Kayden

    @B.B.A.: The Lester Holt interview where Trump claimed to have fired Comey “because of Russia” will do him in.

  37. 37.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Comey’s just a piss poor manager, from reading Josh’s piece this seemed to be the old guard in the New York office. They should have been reassigned to field offices out in the sticks(to encourage their retirement).

  38. 38.

    jl

    @Baud:
    ” The amount of national consciousness dedicated to trolling or hating on Democrats is truly remarkable. ”
    Don’t feel discouraged,. Baud 2020! will break through someday soon.

  41. 41.

    efgoldman

    @jl:

    Baud 2020! will break through someday soon

    Scorpion and frog territory. It’s what they do.

  43. 43.

    Nicole

    @raven: Thanks for the update, raven; thinking of you all.

    And eff Comey. Misogyny. It’s exhausting to live through.

  46. 46.

    EZSmirkzz

    @JMG: Pretty much what Atrios has been saying for the last fifteen years. Not too sure what the Clinton’s did to make the NYC press gag, but it’s been this way since Big Dog ran in 92. What the FBI office in NYC’s problem is they haven’t really leaked to the world+dog, so speculation is all we have to go on there. That they leaked to Nunes and Guilianni, and probably FOX News, I think is beyond doubt at this point.

    There is no redress for the press open to the public. We remain and always will remain the product not the customer. Nominally, the FBI works for the public, but we’d have spin out one of Kant’s gossamer threads to consider that a truth. The press on the other hand has never atoned for the war on Iraq, nor admitted their folly and collusion with the Trump campaign in 2016. With enemies like that who needs friends, eh Mr. President?

    What the politically active tend to overlook, IMHO, is that they are a small subset of the American electorate, and universe of voters gets their news from the aforementioned sources. What could go wrong with media consolidation? Anyway I’m sure they think their hands are clean of the Trump legacy, ‘ we only report the news’ redoubt will hold for the most part until they can no longer fool most of the people most of the time. Jefferson was right, those who don’t read the papers, (and watch TV or listen to the radio,) are better informed that those that do. I still get most of my news from the blogs and alternative media outlets when I choose to be informed of nitty gritty of politics and governance. I can even choke down some conservative spins and views, as we all need an expectorant on occasion.

    Peace

  48. 48.

    chris

    @raven:

    “tie back” surgery

    Had to look it up. The prognosis is good, even great. Hang in there, Lil Bit and family.

  49. 49.

    J R in WV

    @Patricia Kayden:

    The Lester Holt interview where Trump claimed to have fired Comey “because of Russia” will do him in.

    I hope so, I wonder why, when he is so used to lying, why did he tell the bald truth that one time? When it was so deadly to him? Is it that he doesn’t really understand his vulnerability to indictment for obstruction? Because he’s a rich white dude?

    I guess so.

    To quote a distinguished statesman and fellow commenter, “Fuck’em!”

  50. 50.

    Mary G

    @Nicole: Isn’t that the truth? I get so tired sometimes. I know there’s been change in my lifetime, but not nearly enough.

  51. 51.

    jl

    If the Trumpsters get their way, we’ll have to break out more than tiny violins for Comey, and HRC, and others, who will be in some kind of legal jeopardy due to politically motivated and purely bogus additional federal investigations, and maybe prosecution (assuming they will bother with that before putting them away).

    I’m curious about the, IMHO, crooked, FBI people in this NY office. The more I hear about them, the more they seem to be a bunch of old timers, probably Rudy cronies, who were hanging on long past their expiration dates in order to inject their reactionary bigotry into the process. If there is a problem with having a woman boss, or a non-reactionary boss, or, heaven forbid, a Democrat running a government, or organization, or having any influence on anything at all, my guess is it starts there.

    Whether that was Comey’s main problem, I don’t know. As one commenter here said (I forget who), if Comey felt the heat and had to make something public, he could have issued a one sentence statement that there were ongoing investigations into both campaigns. And then tell those big bad Rudy cronies in NY to go eff themselves. But, it never occurred to him, apparently, or not sure for worse or better, it did, but for some reason he decided against it, or they scared him into acting like an ass.

  52. 52.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @raven:

    Best wishes to Lil Bit on a successful surgery. It sounds like she’s in good hands right now.

  55. 55.

    efgoldman

    @jl:

    we’ll have to break out more than tiny violins for Comey, and HRC, and others, who will be in some kind of legal jeopardy due to politically motivated and purely bogus additional federal investigations, and maybe prosecution (assuming they will bother with that

    Jesus. I don’t remember you in pure Chicken Little mode.
    Let’s start by beating the fuckers in November.

  56. 56.

    Mai naem mobile

    Well, Comey can be all self righteous but he is possibly responsible for the biggest fuck up ever in American law enforcement/DOJ history and will go down in the history books as pompous little prick. His reputation has taken a beating. Furthermore, he might be spending a good bunch of his book money on legal costs. Yeah, it doesn’t help us but at least it’s not all roses for him.

  57. 57.

    cmorenc

    The irony is, had Rubio or Kasich won the GOP nomination and won the election, Rod Rosenstein’s memo justifying Comey’s firing actually correctly stated what the valid grounds for taking that action would be, and that action would likely have earned at least a halfhearted cheer from progressives for at least one thing the new President did in following the recommendations for Comey’s firing. We would of course been angrily disappointed in other policies and nominees of the new Administration.

    But with Trump as President, Rosenstein’s memo merely served as a convenient fiction for Trump to use to get rid of an FBI director apparently unwilling to play along with being Trump’s notion that Comey should serve as Trump’s new fixer and loyal defender, as well as to kill the Russia investigation DOA . And Rosenstein should have realized that. How ironic that we depend so much on Rosenstein’s supposed integrity in steadfastly supporting the Mueller investigation. Well OK, we’re fools to put all our eggs in that basket instead of on prevailing strongly in the 2018 midterms and 2020, but we would be in even graver trouble had Rosenstein instead proved to continue being a willing tool of the Trump Administration wrt strangling investigations of Trump and his cohorts in crime and treason.

  58. 58.

    raven

    Thanks ya’ll, we knew it was coming and I wonder some if I just shouldn’t have done it sooner. This episode was really awful and made it clear what to do.

  60. 60.

    jl

    @efgoldman: There is a potential for, if things keep going this way, and nothing is done to stop current authoritarian tendencies, for the structural weaknesses in the sky to develop, some indefinite time in the future, which could lead to plausible non-zero probability of falling (!!??).

    Everyone should calmly schedule a time to prepare their ‘go bag’, at their earliest convenience!

  64. 64.

    Lulymay

    @Это курам на смех:

    Yes, for sure. Here’s my take as a female nearing 79 years of age and all that my life endured since being employed by my 17th birthday. Knowing my father’s extremely evangelical family: Rightousness is “evangelical speak” made by and for men. Most women, no matter what their role, be it political or domestic, rarely use those terms.

    I think James Comey made an “evangelical” decision, rather than an informed decision before embarking on his infamous indictment/investigation of anything related to Hilary Clinton. I firmly believe that his conclusions were heavily influenced by the fact that this was a female candidate he make his conclusions on, and not a normal (respected) male candidate. p.s. I’m not an American, but live north of the 49th and we do tend to have a vested interest in who is elected as President in your country.

  65. 65.

    jl

    @Lulymay: I agree in general. I’m not sure whether it was ‘woman’, or ‘Democratic’,. or ‘not-reactionary’ or ‘liberal’ or ‘not Republican’ or some combination. But there is definitely a double standard, and this time it lead to horrible consequences for the country. Will the country learn? I don’t know.

    edit: I check in with what is going in other countries, and I can’t help but notice the domination of rich old white male geezers in government here, and up-and-coming wannabee rich old white male geezers. In much of Europe, for example, legislatures mirror the population, in income, gender, race/ethnicity, much more than in the US. It is impossible to miss.

    Edit2: and as a future old white but not rich geezer, it is concerning. Now we seem to have the US archetype running the country and what a mess. Help keep us out of government for a few decades.

  68. 68.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    You well know that health shit with a pet is hard. Hell it’s hard enough with humans and they can tell you where it hurts.
    Hope for the very best. We all are.

  69. 69.

    Ken

    @B.B.A.:

    Ironically Trump had a perfectly legitimate reason to fire Comey. If only he could keep his story straight the Mueller investigation would never have started

    Am I misunderstanding what you mean? The Mueller investigation started before Comey was fired, and wasn’t about obstruction of justice. IIRC all of the guilty pleas and unsealed indictments are for other crimes, of which there is an embarrassing oversupply.

    It’s true that Trump’s big mouth has since put obstruction on the table, but it didn’t start there.

  70. 70.

    SWMBO

    I said it in real time and I’ll repeat it again. Comey wasn’t afraid of the NY office. They were a foil for him to do what he wanted to do. He was thrilled that Trump was elected. He tried to use his dignitude to justify the Russian investigation (my guess is Obama knew about it and he had to maintain the fiction until after the inauguration.) Other than Trump throwing a hissy fit and firing him, this was just fine with Comey. They were all Republicans acting like Republicans and everyone was surprised. Meh. Comey got time off to write his book and make his bajillions. Now he takes up the mantle of the martyred man. It sells with the rubes.

  71. 71.

    raven

    @Ruckus: I said earlier that some folks came in right after us with a dog that had to be put down. The bill was $1300 because they did all kinds of stuff to try to save the pup. These folks were stunned, they had no idea.

  73. 73.

    cmorenc

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @cmorenc: Who is putting all their eggs in the Mueller basket?

    I agree that not many of us any longer do place so much faith as in the earlier days of that the Mueller investigation that it will produce irresistible pressure on the GOP (if not directly on Trump himself) to prematurely remove him from office before the end of his elected term, and that the only thing we can count on to at least partly contain Trump’s malfeasance is to work like Hell to win at least a House majority in the 2018 elections. But I do think perhaps you forget that we once had greater optimism that Mueller would successfully dig out enough info to force the GOP to turn on Trump. We knew the congressional GOP and their propaganda apparatus was terrible and dishonest, but they’ve proven to be depravedly rotten and cruel and corrupt beyond our wildest dreams – enough to likely refuse to turn on Trump out of fear of his unshakable base, even in the face of irrefutably damning evidence of traitorous collusion and obstruction that would have driven any other President from office.

  74. 74.

    Nicole

    @Mary G:

    I get so tired sometimes. I know there’s been change in my lifetime, but not nearly enough.

    Right? I’ve been doing the Facebook list ten movies that affected you and remain in your rotation and tomorrow’s is going to include Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, because the second time I saw it, the scene where Kate McKinnon does her slo-mo Matrix parody shoot-em-up scene made me cry. Because you spend so much time, as a girl, and then a woman, being kept out of the cool and funny and interesting things (like, you know, seeing women do cool and funny and interesting things on screen) that you get used to it and don’t realize how bad it hurts you until you get a little bit of it.

    You’re right; progress has been made, but not enough. Hell, the backlash from broflakes about said Ghostbusters film is Exhibit A.

  75. 75.

    MaI naem mobile

    @raven: I missed your earlier post so i am not up to speed on the whole story but you can’t second guess yourself. You did what you thought was best at the time. I’ve seen your posts about LB and it’s obvious you love her a lot and go above and beyond for her. I hope everything turns out well.

  76. 76.

    jl

    @cmorenc: efg is right. Elections only thing that will make a difference. Can’t wait or hope for the Congressional GOP to do anything in response to anything, including tape of Trump plotting with Putin to let Russia take over the world. Waiting for the GOP to do the right thing is like waiting to see when rats who can’t swim decide to jump off a sinking ship. And we don’t even know whether the ship is sinking enough yet for them to ever jump. They might just start fighting to see who can climb highest on the mast to save themselves.

  78. 78.

    efgoldman

    @Nicole:

    Hell, the backlash from broflakes about said Ghostbusters film is Exhibit A.

    Broflakes and Leftier than thous should all be exiled to Elba or Alpha Centauri. All fucking useless.

    Fuckem

  82. 82.

    MaI naem mobile

    @Omnes Omnibus: Obama should have never appointed Coney to the FBI. Clinton should have never appointed Louis Freeh to the FBI. When the fuck are the Dems going to learn to stop burnishing the Defense and law and order cred of the GOP? In the back of my mind I know Mueller is a GOP so there is no guarantee of a thorough honest investigation. That’s not even considering all the pressures from the GOP DOJ,the GOP parts of the IC ,the GOP Congress and ofcourse Trumpov.

  83. 83.

    jl

    @MaI naem mobile: We need to change the national anthem. What tune works with ‘IOKIYAR’? We have a political culture where there is a double standard One for reactionaries, and another for everyone else.

    Edit: Sousa march in the back of my head would work. Name escapes me right now.

  84. 84.

    efgoldman

    @MaI naem mobile:

    In the back of my mind I know Mueller is a GOP so there is no guarantee of a thorough honest investigation.

    Seems to me, if Mueller were going to cave he would have, and his office would be leaking like a colander.
    Lotta’ fear mongering among the jackals tonite. Calm down.

  86. 86.

    Ruckus

    @jl:
    They won’t climb the mast, they will climb on each other. They have no what we used to call scruples, no better angels, no good side to turn to. They are deeply flawed asswipes with a fucked agenda to guide them to richer days. But they have sold everything to get there and it will never be enough to make up for selling their humanity. The wheels turn slowly, often way too slowly but they do turn. Look back at history, go back as far as you like and you will see the wheels have turned. And they run over those who try and sell themselves to stuff their wallets. Now that doesn’t say that a lot of people won’t be hurt in the mean time, they will, they always do get hurt. You or I or anyone may be among them, one really never knows ahead of time. It is what it is. Life is short, it can have many shitty stops along the way, and some good days. Good people work hard to make it better for those coming behind them, shitty people don’t care about anyone else, they don’t care if they leave the place in ruins, as long as they get theirs. What we have to do is insure that they do get what’s coming to them.

  87. 87.

    Doug R

    @jl:

    There is a potential for, if things keep going this way, and nothing is done to stop current authoritarian tendencies, for the structural weaknesses in the sky to develop, some indefinite time in the future, which could lead to plausible non-zero probability of falling (!!??).

    Everyone should calmly schedule a time to prepare their ‘go bag’, at their earliest convenience!

    Well, mass extinctions happen 37 to 134 million years apart and the last one happened 65 million years ago, so sometime in the next 10 million years I’d say.

  91. 91.

    Aleta

    @Patricia Kayden: Comey based his decision on his personal predictions of the future, while failing to include what might happen if DJT won. He’s still trying to control the future, his reputation and the story.

    Claiming credit (“I urged them to do this review” and “no prosecutable case against Mrs. Clinton, as we had concluded”). Lecturing everyone (“All of our leaders need to understand that accountability and transparency are essential”). Instead of apologizing to Clinton, to voters and to Mueller for complicating his work. And he’s still protecting the FBI agents who talked to Republicans and swayed the election.

  92. 92.

    SH121

    Comey knew exactly what he was doing per his vision of reality. What he didn’t calculate was the “American Psyche” as in everyday citizen’s reality versus the accepted version of “American Psyche” as told by people who loosely are American but in reality live in a rarefied world that does not fly in the same air currents much less brush wings with the brown and gray feathers of the most of us.
    He, “The Donald”, Hillary, Mitt, Bernie, Mitch, Paul and the guys have all lived in pretty cages in a wealthy household that has never had to fight for dinner with a Blue jay, a Cardinal or an
    Eagle in suburban wasteland. Gad we won’t mention the Vultures, Owls, Hawks, Crows and Magpies. Oh and lest we forget the migrating aliens of Canadian Geese, Nasty little sword wielding beaky Hummingbirds and exponentially reproducing Storks. We will try not to think of Grackles, Crows ,Pigeons or Seagulls…..the list of unknown inhabitants in search of a better life goes on and on but our betters need simplicity…… you know, emails, charity foundations, and tweets… wink, wink.

  94. 94.

    opiejeanne

    @cmorenc: I thought someone other than Rosenstein recently admitted that they had written that Rosenstein memo recommending Comey be fired.

  96. 96.

    opiejeanne

    @raven: Good wishes to you and Little Bit from all of us at chez opiejeanne. I hope all goes well and you have your baby back home soon.

    Annie would send the three elephant shrews she caught today because she’s generous like that, if we hadn’t taken them away from her.

  98. 98.

    MaI naem mobile

    @efgoldman: I am not so much fear mongering as looking at history. Iran Contra had a GOP special prosecutor and next to nobody paid a price. White Water had 3 GOP special prosecutors. Robert Fiske finding nothing wrong with Clinton’s action wasnt good enough to stop Ken Starr being appointed for a do over and Clinton gets impeached for a non related BJ. Pat Fitzgerald finds nothing wrong with Turdblossom and,oh yeah, he’s Comey’s attorney now. Anyhow,Trumpov gets a GOP special prosecutor because god forbid there should be a Democratic special prosecutor for Trumpov. All that said, I hope the faith i do have in Mueller is borne out.

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    @raven: Best to you guys and Lil Bit. Never a dull moment, chez raven.

    How good that the bride has retired just in time to nurse LB.

  101. 101.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    On bad days like today, all I have are rants. I just hope the VA can figure out what the hell is wrong and do something about it.

  109. 109.

    Mai naem mobile

    @jl:Invincible Eagle because the title sounds jingoistic but King Cotton because the music sounds like it’s from a long comedic scene in a movie.

  110. 110.

    James Powell

    Maybe I’m just not seeing it in the places I read, but there is almost no reaction to the fact that the NYC FBI agents had a deep & visceral hatred of Hillary Clinton. I mean, we on the D side got the story in real time, so it’s no great revelation. But now it’s out there and the press/media response is either to avoid noticing it or to give it a yeah, sure, of course. Nobody’s asking what the fuck did they hate her for? Why are they expected and entitled to use their law enforcement positions to inflict their personal hatreds into an election? Why isn’t “FBI agents used their positions to influence election” a front page story?

    Clinton hatred has been going on since ’92 and hating Hillary is practically a job requirement at the NYT. But this is beyond that and nobody seems to think it worth exploring. Agents hated her and were going to violate department policy to hurt her election chances? What were there names? Let’s get somebody to ask them what their problem is.

  111. 111.

    Duane

    @jl: I think the current tune will work, “IOKIYAR, and you do it in the name of God.” Catchy right?

  112. 112.

    Yutsano

    @James Powell:

    Clinton hatred has been going on since ’92 and hating Hillary is practically a job requirement at the NYT in the MSM.

    Adjusted. For once it wasn’t just the FTFNYT that hated both Clintons. Which also answers your question really. Who gives a shit that Hillary was fucking robbed? She didn’t become President thank the fates!

  113. 113.

    Ruckus

    @James Powell:
    I have a theory that the Clinton hating is somewhat reverse carpetbagging. Bill is a good ole southern liberal and Hillary left the nest to marry him. And they moved to NY and she became their senator. (After Bill was president of course) Do remember that he beat Paul Tsongas, Senator from MA in the primary and Jerry Brown, current Gov of CA. So local boy loses to southern gov.
    Now of course this may just be total crap, but I think it’s possible.

  114. 114.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @zhena gogolia:

    Sorry about the delayed reply… busy evening here tonight. I’m still reading, just not commenting much lately. It keeps the blood pressure lower and who in the fuck can keep up with Trump’s Trots (similar to Gish’s Gallop but with lots of excrement, pain and suffering). All I know is that the Republican party is dead and it’s time to drive the hawthorn stake into it’s heart this fall.

    Lately I just come here to watch CornerStone still weeping from Hillary’s loss. It’s the only comfort I can get from it. ;)

  115. 115.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @raven:

    Ditto… :) Only the best to you folks and your lil’ doggie. Our furry buds are like kids to us and I know we all hate to see them suffering.

  116. 116.

    Mnemosyne

    @raven:

    I hope it works and Bit recovers — I know it’s been a long road and I would hate for you and your bride to lose her.

  118. 118.

    Juice Box

    @Nicole: Or if you don’t stay out of the cool things, you’re unfeminine, a “dyke”, “aggressive”, a “tough broad”, etc. “Keep sweet” and you get ignored, underpaid, and taken advantage of, try to compete and you’re a terrible person. That’s why Michelle O. pretended that she was nothing but a humble wife and mother so she wouldn’t draw so much hatred.

    Comey had also been hunting the Clintons for 25 years. He just knew that somewhere under the pile of manure there had to be a pony.

  119. 119.

    tobie

    @Aleta:

    And he’s still protecting the FBI agents who talked to Republicans and swayed the election.

    Bingo! Until the IG investigates the collusion of the FBI’s NY Office with the Trump campaign and the House and Senate Republicans, the FBI will continue to be known as the partisan organization it was under Hoover. (The Wisconsin GOP cabal–Spicer, Priebus, Ryan, and Walker–should also be investigated. I can’t imagine there are not some FBI and Russian connections there.)

  120. 120.

    Procopius

    … a pretty good sign how whacked by Trump the current narrative is.

    No, Trump has nothing to do with it. It’s because the mass media are owned by half a dozen corporations which cater to and are owned by a small number of billionaires who have pretty similar beliefs, feelings, tastes, moods, etc. People who make careers in the mass media learn pretty early on what gives the bosses a sad. They print the stories that make the bosses happy. The New York Times has hated the Clintons for twenty-five years and has taken every opportunity to print negative stories about them, whether true or not. Sure, they are pleasing Trump, too, but he’s just a newcomer.

  121. 121.

    Chris

    You could’ve listened to your boss, but she was a woman.
    You could’ve respected protocol, but you wanted to punish a woman.
    You could’ve revealed Trump’s campaign was under investigation, but he wasn’t a woman.
    You could’ve been held accountable, but then again you’re not a woman

    This works about as well if you replace “woman” with “Democrat,” I think. But of course that comes with gendered overtones as well, what with Democrats being the Mommy Party and the Feminazi Party and all that jazz.

  122. 122.

    Chris

    @MaI naem mobile:

    In the back of my mind I know Mueller is a GOP so there is no guarantee of a thorough honest investigation. That’s not even considering all the pressures from the GOP DOJ,the GOP parts of the IC ,the GOP Congress and ofcourse Trumpov.

    To me the absolute best case scenario (as in “highly unlikely, but still conceivable”) is that Trump’s poll numbers tank enough and that that, in combination with the Mueller investigation turning up hitherto unrevealed and highly inflammatory things, is enough to persuade a large enough number of Republican politicians to turn on Trump and throw him out of office.

    That would mean, however, that Trump would be the fall guy, and that the narrative for this era would be that Trump was One Bad Apple in an otherwise mostly okay GOP that saved us from him in the end. Which means justice ultimately still won’t have been served, because the reality is that the entire party is guilty. But the system will never allow three or four hundred politicians to be put on trial for this.

  123. 123.

    different-church-lady

    Yes, it really is long past time we consider the possibility that Mr. Comey’s much vaunted integrity is just a schtick.

  124. 124.

    Rand Careaga

    @jl: You might be thinking of the “Liberty Bell March,” which a couple of generations have grown up associating with “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” All together now:

    “It’s okay if you’re a Republican…”

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