These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Thomas Paine 1776
We have a president who should be impeached. He is being backed by people in the Republican leadership who originally were going to stand up to him. They made a deal with him to give him a pass on whatever he did as long as he supports the Republican long-term agenda to lower taxes and make it easier for financial companies to loot the United States and defund programs for the needy. They turn their eyes from his lies and misdeeds.
I’ve pointed out before how he lies. He even lies about simple things like civil war battles. I’ve pointed out how he tweets in a vicious manner about people. I’ve pointed out how he is a coward to one’s face but stabs one in the back when out of the person’s presence. He has the worst traits of any person I know or have read about.
Not only does he lie so does all his staff around him. Nothing like this has ever happened in America before. Five times Vice President Pence said the reason for Comey’s firing was “to accept the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney General and the Attorney General,” to ask for the termination. So also did his staff like Sarah Huckabee (And most importantly, the rank-and-file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director. Accordingly, the President accepted the recommendation of his deputy attorney general to remove James Comey from his position.“) and Kellyanne Conway (“he acted decisively. He took the recommendation of [Rosenstein ]”and Sean Spicer (president was not aware of the probe until he received a memo from Rosenstein on Tuesday, along with a letter from Attorney General Jeff Sessions recommending that Comey be fired. The president then swiftly decided to follow the recommendations . . . ” As you know Rosenstein’s memo related to the handling of the Clinton email investigation.
Sarah Huckabee, who has pushed Spicer aside as a better liar, is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, the same place her father graduated from. As noted she said Comey had “lost the confidence” of the “rank-and-file” FBI employees . Acting director McCabe in his testimony under oath stated: “I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard. I have the highest respect for his considerable abilities and his integrity . . . . I can tell you also that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does until this day.”
Why all the lying? How do I know they are lying well because Trump gave us his reasons for firing Comey.
“I was going to fire regardless of recommendation (Rosenstein) made a recommendation … He made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.”
It wasn’t the recommendation that brought about the firing. That was the cover story. It wasn’t that Sessions and Rosenstein came to him with a memo. Trump met with Sessions and Rosenstein on Monday. He told them to provide him with a memo..
What is another lying excuse for the firing. Trump said contradicting McCabe that Comey is “. . . a showboat, he’s a grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that.’
All lied. But there was one statement that was not a lie. Trump told us what he was thinking about that made him decide to fire Comey before any memos arrived. He said: “In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats . . . . ”
Comey was not fired for what was the purported reason put out at the time but for the “Russia thing.” This is an investigation of Trump and his involvement with Russians in interfering on his behalf with U.S. election. That is a clear attempt to interfere with a federal investigation which is obstruction of justice which is an impeachable offense.
The lies were not limited to that. Trump wrote Comey told him three times he was not under investigation. The first was when Comey asked for a private dinner with Trump. Another lie. It turns out Trump brought Comey to the dinner, Comey didn’t ask to meet with him. Trump at that time demanded his loyalty. Comey said he could only give him the truth.
As for Comey telling him he was not under investigation, only true Trump believers would accept that. Of course just by putting that in the letter firing Comey Trump disclosed it as a reason for the firing. And, look at the cowardly way he fired him. Sending his former body-guard over with a letter. Was not able to tell him to his face. Agh!
Comey was not my favorite guy. I was most upset at his announcing the opening of the Clinton investigation 11 days before the election. I questioned his earlier news conference stating they were not going to charge Clinton which should have been done by Loretta Lynch. But I figured Lynch had recused herself and the department from commenting because Bill Clinton put her in a spot when he met with her. Comey was the logical one to speak.
I also saw in Comey shades of J. Edgar Hoover who called the FBI Headquarters the “Seat of Government.” Yet I never questioned Comey’s integrity. He was not a crook. He did what he believed was right and was open about what he was doing.
The FBI director is appointed for 10 years. He is not supposed to be removed during that term so that he does not become a part of the political shenanigans in this country. Trump fired him to protect himself. That is plainly wrong. He fired him to cover up his dealings with Russia. If he did nothing wrong he would welcome the investigations. He doesn’t. He has thwarted both the House and Senate investigations and fired Comey. This is not how things are supposed to happen in America.
Correction: In the original version of this post I had in my mind the name of the Deputy Attorney General was Goldenstein rather than Rosenstein. When writing it, except when I took two quotes from other publications which had the name Rosenstein, I used Goldenstein. This was on four occasions. For that I apologize to Mr. Goldenstein.
Only in Trumplandia can somone fire Comey one day for spending too much time on the Russia investigation and the next have a back-slapping photo op in the White House with a couple of Russians. You can’t make this up, folks!
Oh, and the Washington Post is now reporting that Trump relayed highly classified information to the Russians during the meeting. Benedict Donald at it again!
Just considering Presidential lies in my lifetime. I am skipping over Truman and Ike as I was a child during their tenures and watched baseball more than presidents and find it difficult to hold Boss Pendergast against Harry or hold Kay Summersby against Ike, which he probably did!
But let us begin with JFK, the faux Catholic whose entire Camelot was a deceit. Then came the “peace” candidate, LBJ. How are we doing Honest Abe?
Nixon was a paragon of virtue to all; Ford made too many helmetless tackles but was honest other than that Nixon pardon. We gain in integrity but lose in all other matters under the lustful Carter though the vicious rabbit he clobbered with an oar may doubt his sincerity!
Reagan countered Tip’s guile with a few white lies and Iran Contra. Bush was trained to lie at the CIA on taxing matters.
Clinton was a man of impeccable virtue and as honest as…..hmmm. Of him they said he would rather climb a tree to lie than stand on the ground to tell the truth.
W may not have been clever enough for misinformation. Then we come to the Hall of Famer of falsification…why Twain offered you cannot pray a lie but I believe Obama could. There was gambling at Rick’s Place I am told.
I tend to discount Washingon and the cherry tree and prefer Twain’s summation:
“Let others lie, wantonly, gratuitously, if they will, but let you & me make it the rule of our life to lie for revenue only.”
I see Trump has moved into full Watergate mode by talking about secret tape recordings. It’s not clear to me whether he’s paranoid, and believes Comey wore a wire to their dinner, or whether he’s trying to silence Comey by suggesting that he can counter any Comey comments with his own secret tape recordings. Whew. This is not presidential behavior.
Trump is also threatening to cancel daily press briefings. This is no big deal for ordinary citizens since they don’t usually yield much in the way of news. They are used by presidents to shape the narrative (Trump gets a “F” on this). And, of course, the media loves them. I’d hate to see the “Sean Spicer Show” canceled myself!
One has to understand how political Comey was. He clears Hillary because she was extremely careless handling classified material but claims she didn’t break the law which requires gross negligence. He does so only after the AG Lynch and Bill Clinton are caught on the airport tarmac. Lynch says after that she will rely on the FBI recommendation in the matter. The fix was in she knew what Comey was going to do that is why she let him make the call. 2 The Russia-Trump campaign connection is a fake story. Almost a year into it there is no evidence. It looks like the Probation case in Boston Federal Court. No wrong doing, nothing close to a crime. All smoke no fire. The Duke lacrosse case repeated. A manufactured scandal to create a diversion from the biggest political crime in American history. Obama , Hillary and the Dems using all the power of the Intel State to spy on the opposing political party. They used British Intel in this illegal effort too. America needs less of the Obama Orwellian state and more Constitutional protections. 3. Trump is going to make an effort at peace in Syria. The deep state is trying to hamper him in changing our foreign policy. The establishments plan of regime change has failed and left hundreds of thousands dead there yet they resist a move in a different direction. He has to drain the swamp. Comey was just a start. . McCabe should be the next to go. He and his wife were on the Dems payroll for 700 thousand.
NC:
1. You like to go off the rails. Comey cleared Clinton and then put in jeopardy her election with the fortnight announcement of opening an investigation against her while keeping quite about the Trump investigation. Does not seem like politics to me.
2. Your guy Sessions is the AG. If any crime was committed by Obama or anyone else in his administration he is the one who would know. Waiting to see what he does. By the way the spying was done by the Russians and not the Democrats but facts are sometimes a pain in the butt so best ignore them. You had more rights under Obama than you’ll ever have under Trump.
3. The deep state is another one of those silly expressions that means nothing. Trump’s effort in Syria will amount to nothing unless he is willing to prop up the murder Assad and be Putin’s crony. It wasn’t the regime change that left the many deaths but the actions of Assad in gassing his people and dropping barrel bombs.
Ah, Matt, it’s a wonder how you spin things.
First of all: a lie is to say something you know to be untrue. On the Civil War, Trump was told stuff he believed to be true.
Secondly, and most importantly, as I posted at length yesterday, there is no inconsistency in saying, “I accept the recommendation” and “I was going to fire him anyway.”
For examples: “I have accepted my wife’s recommendation that I mow the lawn today, but I was going to mow it anyway.” Where’s the lie? “My father told me to mow the lawn today, but I was going to mow it anyway.” Lie! you said your father told you to mow the lawn! Come on!
And as for his staff saying he swiftly followed the recommendation of the AG/AAG, that’s not “a lie”; that’s exactly what he did. He was going to fire him; the letters (Memoranda) presented an opportunity to decisively do so; he agreed with the letters; he accepted their recommendation.
As far as “vicious” twitter posts —-most are benign jabs: Pocahontas, crying Chuck Schumer, etc. A few may go overboard, like Hillary calling half of America “deplorables” and you know that long string of phobias and “isms” the left constantly hurl at folks who refuse to cater to the leftist’s lines. It seems leftists throw fits or riot every time a conservative speaks these days.
And the old leftist canards about Republicans stealing food from poor babies’ cribs to enrich their portfolios is risible. Is that all Republicans want to do, as you state with a straight face: “to loot the United States and defund programs for the needy.”?
As far as “cowardice”; Comey was not stabbed in the back; he was summarily discharged publicly. Bill Clinton was “a coward” not to fire Bill Sessions face to face? He only “telephoned” him. Perhaps if he had email, he would have emailed him!
As far as the Russian motive, McCabe forthrightly told Congress that the Russian investigation was proceeding unimpeded, that no one from Trump’s administration had interfered in any way with that investigation, and the investigation was amply funded.
(See my posts yesterday.)
Now, I can’t recall you calling for Bill Clinton’s impeachment when he fired FBI director Bill Sessions. Of course, you argue, that was different. 100 FBI agents had accused Sessions of some unethical behavior. Well a host of Congressmen and prior A.G.s and Deputy AGs and prior FBI agents and administrators had accused Comey of usurping power. (Read Rosenstein’s letter; recall how many politicans claimed to have “lost confidence” in Comey these last six months.)
As they say, if Hillary fired Comey that would be O.K. Since Donald fired him, it’s worse than World War III.
Oh, boy, well at least you didn’t compare Trump to Hitler, today.
2. One final note: You say “Trump fired him to save himself.” As stated, McCabe says the investigations have proceeded and will continue to proceed unimpeded. But ask yourself this: Did Rosenstein recommend that Comey be fired to save Trump? Rosenstein’s letter confirmed he consulted with prior AGs who also thought Comey usurped power; Rosenstein also noted Comey’s unapologetic defense of his usurpation of power as recently as last week’s hearings. So, while “Rosenstein’s letter related to Hillary’s email investigation” it also addressed Comey’s lack of insight into his usurpation of power. Both Democrats and Republicans praised Rosenstein’s “integrity” and “impartiality” when he was confirmed two weeks ago.
3. Do you impugn Rosenstein’s integrity? Do you doubt there was ample reason to fire Comey as stated in Rosenstein’s letter? You doubt there was ample reason to fire an FBI Director who uncontritely usurped power? Re-read the end of Rosenstein’s letter (Memorandum); where he states the Comey refused to “understand the gravity of his mistakes” and “refused to admit his errors.” So, it’s not just Comey’s usurpation of power in July and October 2016 (referenced in Rosenstein’s Memorandum), it’s Comey’s steadfast refusal to acknowledge he did anything wrong, in the face of near universal condemnation of his actions.
Bill:
‘1 A lie is telling an untruth. A blue car runs the red light. A person says it was a white car. That’s a lie. If the person thought it white or did not see the incident he is still lying. Trump is the world’s biggest liar. He even lied when he said Comey asked for the private dinner [“I had a dinner with him. He wanted to have dinner because he wanted to stay on. . . . I think he asked for the dinner. And he wanted to stay on as the head of the FBI”] People around him said Trump asked and Comey was reluctant to go. said someone told him something and when asked who it was doesn’t know.
‘2. Yes there is an inconsistency in saying he fired him because he received the recommendation (put the blame on someone else) or I was going to fire him no matter what was recommended. Here’s what he wrote: “I have received the attached letters from the [AG and DAG] . . . recommending your dismissal . . . . I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated. . . .” That’s all bull because he asked them for the letters after he told them his plans to fire him. The letter reads like the recommendations came first.
‘3 His tweets are vicious. Calling Comey a Showboat etc. is malicious. (Hillary didn’t tweet the deplorable comment and it wasn’t for publication.) Pocahontas (a Howie Carr term like Corrupt Midget) is offensive and beneath the dignity of a president. Insulting people as he does is plainly wrong and demeans the office of the president. Threatening Comey that he might have tapes of their conversations is puerile.
4. You seem to equate people who want a president that doesn’t do these things leftists. His approval rating is 35%. That’s a lot of leftists.
5. The Republicans do want to defund programs for the needy and give tax increases to the rich. That is the idea behind Trumpmare. The Obama tax on incomes over 200,000 is going to be repealed; is that helping the poor? The people with previous medical conditions are going into high risk pools – does that help the poor? It is not a canard to put the right label on the Republicans. They have been the party of the rich since the turn into the 20th Century. They opposed all the programs to help the poor and stop child labor.
6. That’s a joke about Comey’s firing not being cowardly. Comey was fired by a man who could not face him to do it or even telephone him. That is cowardly. Clinton at least spoke to Sessions. Trump did not even give Comey that courtesy. Obama brought General Petraeus into the office to fire him. If you can’t see the great cowardice and insulting way Comey’s firing was done that’s really bad.
‘7. McCabe said the Russians investigations would continue. That does not mean in his benighted mind Trump did not think kicking Comey out might stop them. Trump did say that was the reason he did it.
‘8. I read Rosenstein’s letter. It is a joke. The comments made by public officials are all over the place. We know the background of the Democratic complaints they did not like him announcing the reopening of the investigation which Trump praised; the Republicans did not like him clearing Clinton. None of them said to fire him.
He said Comey usurped the Attorney General’s authority. That’s a lie. She gave him the OK to go ahead.
He states: “the FBI is unlikely to regain public . . . trust.” How does he know anything about that after two weeks on the job. The letter was written at the request of Trump and wrongly criticizes Comey for making the announcement he was not going to recommend prosecution of Clinton without mentioning he was the only one who could do it after Bill Clinton compromised Lynch and she recused herself and the department.
McCabe said Comey had the full support of the FBI agents while Trump people said he had lost the support. .
‘9, Rosenstein did not consult with any prior AGs. He went on the internet and retrieved quotes of statements they had made in the past. He quoted six people. Four were upset over his announcement of the opening of the investigation; one (Mukasey) for his clearing Clinton; and the last a Republican appointment. As I said Lynch for whom he worked during this time had no problem with Comey acting as he did so there was no usurpation.
10. I absolutely dispute that there was reason to fire Comey. Rosenstein was directed by Trump to write the letter on Monday. He went and Google past criticism of Comey and put together fake reasons about events last July and October. There was no near universal condemnation of his actions. The FBI was going about its job as it usually does.
Are you deliberately confusing the names Goldenstein and Rosenstein in your post? Conspicuous in your constant maligning of the Jews in your posts, you are desperately looking for more Jews to blame or to ridicule.
Knock it off. Matt goes out of his way to avoid any sort insinuation or criticism about any minority member. He is a card carrying wimpy liberal.
If you are making a fuss about reporting the facts about Wyshak and/or Judge Wolf, how can you leave them out of the Whitey saga?
Being “Chosen” is a common religious trope one way or another in many faith communities. It does not entitle you and your ilk pass in the secular sphere. That includes Wyshak and Wolf.
This sort of blog by its informality and spotty editing gives rise to frequent typos. Especially in names and places one’s fingers can outrace one’s intent. I do it them all the time. Having read this blog for a considerable time I do not recall a single instance of Matt ridiculing anyone for membership in any of the PC list protected species.
Wow The anti-Jew card I’ve been posting over 5 years. Show me any post maligning the Jews What’s with you?
If I erroneously wrote Goldenstein rather than Rosenstein how is that anti-Jewish. How am I looking for more Jews to blame? Do you think I am suggesting two people wrote the memo?
For your information and perhaps to your dismay the idea of Jewishness did not even occur to me for the simple reason it is not relevant to the matter. You apparently think that it is.
I don’t know you or your background but let me suggest it is people like you that make false allegations like you did who do damage to Jews when you take a comment having nothing to do with Jewishness and suggesting that it does. You must live in a very narrow world
Comey made himself “a part of the political shenanigans in this country. ” That can be stated without dispute. As to the nonsense about the Russians tilting the election and lies, the Democrats and those who have become unhinged by the outcome of an election, have upset the political applecart because the lie to us and themselves. Enough of this nonsense!
Has anyone tested the ‘theory’ that mentions on the Russian TV station RT impacted the outcome of 2016? I challenge anyone to FIND RT TV! As Ring Lardner said, “You can look it up!” Here are the outlets, outside of additional hotels, it broadcasts on….
https://www.rt.com/where-to-watch/USA/#where-to-watch__form
Get a grip!
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