If they were intelligent and competent we’d never know we were being fleeced.
Trump is more like Carmine Jr. from the Sopranos. The guy who said a movie had “the sacred and the propane”
“And propane accessories”…no, wait. Hank is smarter than trump.
While I do trust Comey’s intentions in his investigation of Trump and Russia, I must say that this is all making him look bad and just helping to support the idea that he has a personal grudge against Trump and, also, that he didn’t have the right personality to be leading the FBI, neither of which helps with the effort of keeping the investigation going and to keep it from being interfered with by the Republicans in Congress.
And this is why I have minimal faith that anything will come from claims of obstruction or conspiracy/collusion. Yeah, hur hur, Trumps an idiot and a thug. Acts like a mafia boss. That’s clearly been stipulated to long ago. And sure, he clearly meant to coordinate with Russia and clearly meant to get the investigation shut down.
But he’s not an idiot in all things. Steeped in NY/NJ real estate, he’s had plenty of role models and opportunities to practice staying just on the other side of the Meddling Priest line. Plausible deniability isn’t rocket surgery, and I won’t be surprised if even the most damning tape is of the “hey Russia, if you’re listening…” variety. We can hope for more, but the acting like a mafia boss thing means that talking around/skirting direct conversation about illicit acts is second nature and habitual, even in ostensibly private conversations — not some mode he has to consciously switch into.
Hell, I wouldn’t even be surprised if there’s tape of him “candidly” saying just the opposite. Cohen’s possible recordings are in the air now; a tiny bit of forethought would have one or two timestamped discussions of “darn those Russians, I’m certainly glad I’m not colluding with them!” variety that get leaked to the press.
My hope rests in paper trail-based money laundering and the like, not in obstruction or conspiracy.
I also hope I’m wrong.
I think you’re right. There’s far too much smoke here not to think that there’s fire. (Like conflagration-level.)
Except, of course, to Trumpists.
The media is having a ball with advance copies of the Comey book:
[Comey] painted Trump as a relentless liar who is obsessively unethical, devoid of humanity and a slave to his ego, who is clueless about his job and unconcerned about a Russian assault on American democracy … His book is a parable about the threat from a brazen President who demands a warped concept of loyalty and has only disdain for the rule of law.
By “the media”, of course, I mean media except Fox News. Over at Fox at the moment, they have unerringly zeroed in on the most important part of the book: there’s something in it about Loretta Lynch and Hillary’s emails! 
Just checked, right now its about the martyrdom of noble patriot “Scooter” Libby and how that proves everything.
Did Count Dickula visit the White House this week?
Brought a bottle of his favorite scotch: Evil Dewar’s
I regretfully accept partial blame for this incident, folks. I’m terribly, terribly sorry.
You should be. We gave up on Luci years ago, but still held out hope for you. Don’t let this happen again, understand?
Is that their “fire ball” label?
Dale Gribble, on the other hand…
Ah tell you what…
All kidding aside, Chump is a mobster. Comey nailed it.
Trump is Cupid Stunt. No, not what I know what you’re thinking, but Kenny Everett’s creation.
Truth be told, I’m reminded of a few Doonesbury strips from a couple of decades back when Garry Trudeau was going after Frank Sinatra for some reason. He depicted Sinatra as a mob fanboy who like to have his picture taken with made men and pretend that he was one of them. That’s how I picture Trump around criminals and dictators.
This is very mature. :rolleyes:
“RNC sending ‘Lyin Lion’ mascot to follow Comey around on book tour”
Let’s take a stop back and appreciate the the head of the FBI, who was fired by a president from his own party for investigating him, now thinks that it’s possible that said president is compromised by a foreign power and is working against the best interests of the United States.