Comey as the naive idealist

[andym]

Comey has always come across as a naive idealist to me-- a boy scout who wants to do right, but not fully equipped for political reality in the USA of the 2010's. From his comments on Hillary Clinton in July 2016 as "extremely careless" to his letter to Congress two weeks before the election (because he promised to keep Congress informed, but didn't understand the obvious political ramifications), to his inability to deal with an egotist like Trump who was clearly afraid of an honest man like Comey, the evidence is clear. Comey understood that he was dealing with key, sensitive situations, but lacked the political insight to prevent events from spinning out of control.

I think an argument can be made that Comey's actions (and the FBI investigations) so impacted Hillary Clinton, that she not only lost the election (popular vote notwithstanding), but her reputation with the American people still has not recovered (her favorability was mired in the 30's % even a year after the election in December 2017)-- which is incredible given that only 5 years ago she was the most popular political figure in the USA at over 60% approval. I doubt that Comey in any way intended this consequence. But the result was not only losing a chance for a historical Presidency, but instead we have the embarrassment of Trump.

The irony is that Trump's removal of Comey helped initiate the Mueller investigation, which at a minimum may help impede the damage Trump is doing to the American body politic for the time being.

[grumpyduck]

1. I agree with your points, but

Comey isn't a politician: he was a lawyer, U.S. Attorney, Deputy Attorney General, and corporate counsel until Obama appointed him head of the FBI. I'd say his chosen career path shows where his mind is, and it ain't politics. I would guess he hated the politics involved with the job.

[Nevernose]

2. Comey has hated the Clintons personally for years

He was an investigator on the Whitewater case twenty years before the elections.

He’s no Boy Scout, he’s just another Republican stooge who got buyer’s remorse when he realized that Trump really IS a narcissistic half-wit.

[dalton99a]

4. Excellent point

[cwydro]

8. Exactly.

Well said.

[dalton99a]

3. Comey's scathing televised speech and lecture to Hillary turbocharged the disinformation campaign

against her. It was absolutely uncalled for. And then, the memo.

I will not spend a dime on his book, but I will let him attack Trump without interference.

[irisblue]

5. Found on twitter today. Yeah, I can agree with this.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[dalton99a]

6. +1

[musicblind]

9. +2

[andym]

7. The more I hear Comey, the more I believe he is a Mr Smith goes to Washington type

This quote from the book:
"We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country, with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized and unethical behavior is ignored, excused or rewarded. What is happening now is not normal. … It is not fake news. It is not okay."

These quotes from the interview:
""A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it — that person’s not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds."

Truth matters, integrity matters."

"Values matter. This president does not reflect the values of this country," he said of Donald Trump.

His flawed reasoning on sending the letter to Congress, to protect Hillary Clinton from being an "illegitimate President."

He is a man out of sync with our jaded political times. I think he is hated by many partisan Democrats and Republicans. And his well-meaning but deeply misguided actions brought us the disaster of Trump. In fact, the Russian slander against Hillary would have been far less effective if not for the existence of FBI investigations lending apparent gravitas to the rumor mongering. Comey is essentially a key character in an American Shakespearean tragedy.