Charles P. Pierce: We Were Close to a Eureka Moment During James Comey's Testimony

[babylonsister]

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a55541/comey-hearing-renegade-presidency/


We Were Close to a Eureka Moment During James Comey's Testimony
This has been a powerful two days.

By Charles P. Pierce
Jun 8, 2017


WASHINGTON—So, James Comey asked the Senate Intelligence Committee and, through it, the nation, paraphrasing the old joke, who're you going to believe, me or your lying president*?

If there was a single theme running through Comey's much anticipated star turn in the Hart Senate Office Building on Thursday, it was that, as far as Comey is concerned, nobody should buy an apple from the president*, who cannot be trusted as far as one can throw an over-leveraged Fifth Avenue skyscraper. Right from the very first minutes of the hearing, Comey was careful to call Donald Trump a liar every time the opportunity presented itself.

Comey eschewed the reading of the prepared statement that was released to the media on Wednesday in favor of beginning his appearance with a scathing denunciation of the president* who fired him, and who then proceeded to lie to the nation about why.


"Although the law requires no reason at all to fire an FBI director, the administration then chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader...Those were lies plain and simple. And I am so sorry that the FBI work force had to hear them and I am so sorry that the American people were told them."

snip//

There were very few eureka moments in Comey's testimony. The closest we came to one was Comey's admission that he had arranged the leak of one of his memos concerning a meeting with the president* in the hopes that its publication would result in the appointment of a special prosecutor, which eventually happened. (Comey also said that Robert Mueller, the special counsel who was appointed, has copies of all of Comey's memos.) This, of course, is further proof that James Comey is quite the instinctive bureaucratic gut-fighter.

snip//

In one sense, the release of Comey's opening statement on Wednesday, while serving his purposes admirably, sucked some of the drama out of Thursday's proceedings. But, taken as a whole, the two days represent a powerful indictment of a renegade and corrupt presidency of which we do not yet know the worst. That's going to be discussed only in private, for now, anyway.

[mcar]

1. K&R

[humbled_opinion]

2. Yes and by and large

The majority of the public does believe dump is a LIAR, but then they are hit with the old adage "They all lie." and it is back to being OK for the majority of them. The meat here is the obstruction of justice if we do not have enough Democratic Reps proclaiming Obstruction with no doubt than this is all just a bunch of nothingness.

[Big_K]

3. OMG - a Doug and Dinsdale Piranha reference!!

(from Monty Python -- kids, ask your parents)

[PCIntern]

4. Did he nail his head to the coffee table?? Nt

[Saviolo]

11. No...

He just screwed my pelvis to a cake stand!

[Hekate]

5. Kickety-doo-dah, Babsis

Chaz Pierce is always a good read.

[davidmp]

6. ALWAYS A FAVORITE

Charles P. Pierce is a National treasure.

[orangecrush]

7. Thanks, Babylonsister

That was a great read.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

8. POTUS Corruption reflects the Republican Party as a whole.

We are not even a factor in Russia's interference. So long as the moat gets wider and deeper between the haves and have not, they feel justified in allowing Putin free rein. I think that's why McCain cracked.

[malaise]

9. Today was a disaster for Don the Con,

Sessions and ReTHUGs in general

[MrPurple]

10. The Eureka moment should have been yesterday...

when Coats et al dodged answering the question whether Donald Trump had asked them to lay off on investigations. When they repeatedly declined to answer whether they can say that Trump did not ask them to lay off the investigation that's a tacit admission that he did. There's no way it would be too confidential to report that something alleged did NOT happen.

There's also no way that they had the grounds to refuse to answer the question. They should be cited for contempt (not that the Republican majority would do that). The Eureka moment would have been if the intelligence chiefs had truthfully answered that question yesterday. Then, there would be a clear pattern of behavior between what they described and Comey said today. The purpose of open hearings is so that the public can know the truth and when public opinion shifts, there is more pressure for Congress to act on it.

That bullshit yesterday allows all the right wing media to keep their followers deluded that Trump obstruction/collusion is a fabrication of liberal "fake news" and reduces the public pressure for something to be done about it. I wish Al Franken/Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren were on the Intelligence Committee, because I think they would have done more to vocally call out what happened yesterday.

[druidity33]

12. Always a K&R for CPPierce! nt.

[Generic Other]

13. That was worthy of a Photoshop!

[onecent]

14. I love Jim Comey when he holds up his hand to take a pledge.....

He is just sooo awesome, I guess many people don't like him, but I have never found
anything to dislike!

His hand SURE doesn't look like Dump's....

[groundloop]

16. Sorry, I see nothing awesome about the SOB that put 45* in the White House

He had no business interfering in the election, and if anything should have released information indicating that the tRump campaign was under investigation... NOT the bullshit about fucking emails.

Granted, Comey may now be doing the right thing by disseminating the truth about 45*, but IMO he's only doing it now because he had his feelings hurt.

[bresue]

15. I believe we did reach a Eureka moment when he defended the FBI staunchly!!

And by his professional demure and humble behavior and genuine concern for our nation. In addition, rarely did he characterize or name called Dump! I really believe this calming effect will reach moderates and independents.