The people in the Primary who put her on the ballot.
“Usually used” does not mean it doesn’t apply. And - wasn’t Comey a government official when the “hope” moment happened? If he thought that was obstruction of justice, wasn’t he required to report it?
He should have reported straight to the head of the FBI! 
I’m under the impression that he discussed the memo and the meetings with FBI staff, so he certainly didn’t keep it secret from law enforcement.
It is interesting, but this is really the only thing they have left to hang their hat on. That, and the Ryan defence of “Trump does not know how government works, so what do you expect?”
It’s not really incredible when you look at the gutless, ethically void republicans in the house. Their only thought is "what action on my part will keep me personally in power?
In any event, one thing that’s surely remarkable about Comey is the way he’s gone back and forth from being defended/attacked by Democrats/Republicans to the reverse and then reverse again, in a relatively brief time. Can’t think of another public figure this has been true of.
Agreed. I was going to start a poll after the hearing asking Democrats & Republicans if Comey was back on their shitlist or if they liked him again, but I couldn’t find the appropriate place to do it.
Here is an opinion from a law-talking person who has experience in this area. II happen to agree with him. I note that there are a variety of opinions on the subject, that come to diverse conclusions.
Of course, prosecuting a sitting president is another can of worms entirely, and depends more on politics and who holds the majority in the house. But the political equation is another set of questions entirely. Does the president enjoy immunity from prosecutions? Who knows - it’s never been tested.
I not only voted for Clinton, I donated money to her campaign and urged my friends to vote for her. I am so, so sorry for everything I did to get Trump elected. Please forgive me.
Maybe I should have supported Sanders in the primary. Maybe he could have beat Trump. Who the fuck knows? And maybe half of my fellow voters could have used their goddamned brains.
I neither like nor dislike Comey. I don’t know him. I only like or dislike his actions. When he harmed the candidate I preferred, I was pissed. When he undermined Trump, I was pleased. Neither of those statements requires me to commit to a personal realtionship with Comey. Saying “so, you hated him, and now you like him, so which is it, huh? Huh?” is not particularly helpful.
I think this is incorrect. People on both sides of the aisle have criticized his actions, but very few have criticized him personally.
Well put.
The language used in this is quite revealing … Republicans rely on “feelings” and emotion. “Do you like someone” is the critical question for them.
Whereas for others, the critical questions about public figures are more along the lines of “Is this person ethical and honorable? Do they do a good job? Are they efficient?”
It’s conservative logic that doesn’t get it. Since they value loyalty, they think that someone should have to still like someone if they do bad things or still dislike them if they do good things. Unless they also violate the loyalty bond (as Trump does often).
What Comedy did with Clinton was a bad thing. He made Clinton sound like she was a criminal despite being cleared, and then, when that had settled, stirred it up more by discussing a new issue. He played right into the Republican playbook. My initial assumption was that he was doing so Willi fly and intentionally, so I disliked him for that.
Now, however, he is standing up for integrity against the most crooked president in our time, if not ever. This makes me question my previous assumption. It still doesn’t mean I think he did the right thing before, but it means I may have misjudged his motivations. Nothing about how he has responded in this hearing seems like he’s holding water for either political party.
So, yes, I like him more now. This should not be a problem. But the usual conservative tactic is to pretend liberals only do this GS for nefarious or contemptible reasons, and ignore the obvious rational reasons.
Comedy is a complex man, and I can both like and hate different parts of him, and change my opinion with changing evidence.
This distinction between Comey’s actions, as opposed to some more personal animus towards him, seems strange to me.
NYT: Comey: Hero, Villain and Shakespearean Character Who Lived Up to Hype
Newsweek: FBI Director James Comey is Unfit for Public Service
I’m curious: Do you guys feel the same way about Trump? You don’t know him, so you make no comment on him personally, you just disagree with his actions? Because the way he gets talked about here sometimes doesn’t seem to fit this narrative.
Over on conservative message boards, Republicans are making the exact same charge, except about Democrats. It’s one of the nearly-universal truths of our politics: both sides believe the other is driven by emotion and devoid of facts.
That loyalty things also why they are so gung ho defending Trump. Though it is loyalty to party more than Trump the man. It’s okay to use dishonest tactics if it helps the party.
It’s the same shit they would complain about with Clinton (as she is a relatively conservative liberal), only more so. It’s a speck/mote situation: it’s easier to see the speck in your opponent’s eye than the big two-by-four in your own.
I don’t know what “GS” means, or if it was a typo, but if you’re talking about my post #666 ( :eek: ), I’ll note that I said that I wanted to ask both “Democrats & Republicans” the question. I certainly wasn’t trying to “pretend only liberals do this”. Frankly, both sides exhibit head-spinning levels of hypocrisy on all sorts of issues (filibuster, nuclear option, budget deficits, Presidential powers / executive orders, etc) with great frequency.
It wasn’t a partisan hit job, it was a “hey, there’s an interesting level of flip-flopping here” on both sides of the aisle. Personally, I think it would be a good thing for Washington to have an FBI director that wasn’t viewed as particularly beholden to just one party or the other, so I rather liked Comey in that position, and was disappointed when he was fired.
Maybe it’s a topic for another thread, but which issues did you see Clinton as relatively conservative on?
That’s my take, too. My opinion of Comey has, and has always been, that he was a squared-away boy-scout, so meticulous he probably organizes his combs. That worked out kind of like shit for Clinton, which sucked. But as tool of justice it’s working out pretty well in regard to Trump.
Trump is vastly different than someone in a position like James Comey. While certainly no one here knows Trump personally, all of us likely have a decent (if perhaps one-sided or limited) idea of Trump’s personality from his time as a minor business celebrity doing interviews/books, to his time as a TV celebrity doing interviews/books, and all of the public appearances, interviews, statements, speeches, and of course his actions during the campaign and as president.
Comey’s life has largely been as a civil servant, with a few periods here and there of being a private attorney. Comey has given limited testimony to Congress before and has made a few speeches during his tenure as FBI director, but not much that would reveal many details of his personality or his politics.
It was probably not common knowledge that Comey was a registered Republican for apparently most of his life, but testified in 2016 that he was no longer registered as a member of any party. He also donated to John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008 and Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2012.
Shirley, you can’t be serious. Speaking just for myself, it’s not just I “disagree with his actions,” but that he is a vile person through and through. Plus, everything he says and everything he does.
Hmm, I seem to have hit a nerve there. Sorry, guys …
No, we do not. We voted for someone who CAN do the job. There was no excuse* for anyone to withhold their votes from someone who CAN do the job.
*outside of imbecility or hatred of America.