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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"James Comey's Fear of Everyone Except Democrats Helped Donald Trump Upset Hillary Clinton"
James Comeys Fear of EveryoneExcept DemocratsHelped Donald Trump Upset Hillary ClintonComey thought a lot about the rabid Republican zealots he could offend by doing his job and enforcing the law, and not at all about the Democrats he trusted would be docile and play by the rules.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/24/james-comey-s-fear-of-everyone-except-democrats-helped-donald-trump-upset-hillary-clinton.html
We see in three instances that he feared the wrath of the Republicans. One, if he didnt break precedent and speak harshly of Clinton while officially exonerating her last summer. So he spoke harshly. Two, if he didnt announce in late October that the investigation was reopened. So he announced the investigation (which, as we learned too late, again amounted to nothing) was reopened.
And three, if the Republicans in Congress decided post-election to include him and the bureau in its inevitable Clinton witch hunts. So he beat them to the witch hunt, and finally said she was clear just as she drowned. The article doesnt say this, but surely Comey also feared GOP wrath if he did confirm before the election that Donald Trump was under investigation too, which he finally confirmed last month.
<Snip>
But nowhere does the article say that Comey feared how Democrats would react if he raked Clinton over the rhetorical coals without bringing charges. Of course he didnt! Democrats dont scare anybody.
As I recall things, some Democrats expressed some outrage, but it was scattered, nothing like what the Republicans would have done had the shoe been on the other foot. It took the efforts of Matt Miller, a former Justice Department spokesman for Eric Holder, to crystallize for people the contention that what Comey did was in fact outrageous. Miller called it an abuse of power, and he was rightand I confess that even I didnt see things that way until I read Millers writings about it.
Much more at link.
I'm terrible at doing short excerpts, full articles is well worth reading.
It is commentary on the piece about Comey in the NYT the other day. But it connects the dots that the NYT did not connect.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)we need to stop being polite. If the rules are only to provide cover for sociopaths, then the rules have outlived their purpose.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)I'm with the Rude Pundit. Give unto them what they give unto us. Shit comes around. I have no interest in going high.
JI7
(89,274 posts)on minorities.
betsuni
(25,638 posts)Crunchy Frog
(26,647 posts)However "right" she may have been, it was terrible strategy.
I want our side to fight, but to do it effectively, rather than shoot themselves in the foot.
JI7
(89,274 posts)ffr
(22,672 posts)If only our side had an alarmist 24/7 Fox Noise channel to make a big stink, justice might get equal treatment.
philly_bob
(2,419 posts)niyad
(113,581 posts)StevieM
(10,500 posts)tblue37
(65,490 posts)Initech
(100,104 posts)That's probably the only thing they do well.
BigmanPigman
(51,630 posts)at other things such as lying, stealing money, abusing power, being hypocrites...
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,123 posts)Perseus
(4,341 posts)Bull!!!
Comey needs to be investigated...he has been investigating the republicans on the Russia/Collusion scandal for two years and has produced nothing, and I don't want to be a pessimist, but I have this bad feeling about the whole thing.
Justice
(7,188 posts)Perseus
(4,341 posts)"surely Comey also feared GOP wrath if he did confirm before the election"
Why is a "p u s s y" director of the FBI? That doesn't fare well...
meow2u3
(24,773 posts)At least he was born that way--and he has more guts than Comey!
July
(4,751 posts)SleeplessinSoCal
(9,145 posts)A good parent wouldn't reward bad behavior. And he seemed to be the good parent in the Ashcroft scenario.
certainot
(9,090 posts)and the left to do anything about rw talk radio the last 30 years, which is the only thing the republicans have going for them.
media and public officials are well trained and will continue to fear the power of 1200 radio stations until the left pull their ipods out of theirears and boycott and protest rcon radio into its natural market share of 100 or 200 stations, mostly in the swamps. all the left has to do is stand up and point to the talk radio gods and say "hey, is this what you're afraid of? a few hundred liars hiding behind call screeners?"
he feared the wrath of the Republicans
all that means is that a few hundred talk radio gods, led by limbaugh and few others, get the masses frothing and screaming about it and then their idiot reps do the rest. they had 30 years of unchallenged clinton hate to work with and a bunch of russian trolling piggybacking that. its easy.
JI7
(89,274 posts)with racism.
certainot
(9,090 posts)it used and excused racism. it made excuses for racist cops killing unarmed black kids, made fun of the notion of white privilege, labeled those who called out racism "politically correct" while calling for and enforcing conformist conservative political views, using racism re immigration to sell voter suppression legislation, et.
racism is much more acceptable today because liberals ignored talk radio for 30 years, while racists yelled from every corner and stump in the country and liberals/dems/ left stuck their fingers in their ears
JI7
(89,274 posts)now there is video and minorities speak out more.
but things were shitty back then and in fact worse .
at some point you have to blame the racists and call them out.
and these people have access to other media . they spend a lot of time watching fox news but they know what's on other channels also.
certainot
(9,090 posts)that's what they've been saying about liberals and brown people and anyone they hate for 30 years from every corner and stump in the country
yes it's true. we were making progress, then they bought up 1200 radio stations and when someone called anyone a racist they called that 'political correctness'.
because the left/dems/liberals/blacks ignored that constant racist fascist buzz it bacame more 'acceptable'
fox is visual icing on talk radio's lie turd pie. talk radio's dumb little brother. it doesn't compare.
and not, in most parts of 40 states with 80 senators there are no free easy alternatives for politics while driving or working
JI7
(89,274 posts)available to them since they get fox news.
they believe what they want to believe .
certainot
(9,090 posts)sounds like you're making excuses for it as inevitable - racism gets worse when it's made acceptable instead of shamed
racism is learned and if there are teachers on every radio station and no one gets in their face to call them racists then it becomes more acceptable. it's been used for 20 years to sell voter suppression legislation but the left and dems are ignorant about that. not complaining about limbaugh/savage/hannity daily racism is stupid for a society. that's why there's a racist asshole in the white house.
JI7
(89,274 posts)limbaugh, savage hannity etc.
they have ohter news sources and people do call them out on it.
what do you think blm does.
certainot
(9,090 posts)talk radio stations all over country attack and lie about blm, like they did OWS.
go back to the original comments- i'm saying talk radio is a major factor making racism more acceptable because non racists ignore it. you don't think 1000 radio stations getting a free speech free ride to lie about blm since blm became blm makes a difference in how blm is generally perceived? you don't know what they've been saying about blm every time they get a chance. about trayvon martin and mike brown. about the ferguson protests.
you seem to be suggesting people are born racists and stay that way.
i'm gone
JI7
(89,274 posts)these people insist obama was born in kenya and is a muslim.
certainot
(9,090 posts)if it was stuck on 5 kkk web sites vs 1000 radio stations playing with it for months
certainot
(9,090 posts)1000 radio stations spending 15 hrs a day calling racists assholes instead of making excuses for them? or attacking trump instead of praising him?
JI7
(89,274 posts)certainot
(9,090 posts)them because they go to them for traffic reports,weather, current events, news.
many of them are the only free easy and clear signal during the day as they do their work and drive around
at least 257 of those limbaugh stations are the stations they hear the sports from 88 major universities on
Response to emulatorloo (Original post)
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SHRED
(28,136 posts)red dog 1
(27,864 posts)Welcome to DU!
TeamPooka
(24,256 posts)red dog 1
(27,864 posts)He should have been fired, and DOJ should have sought an indictment..He's a criminal..Period!
JI7
(89,274 posts)then look at trump attacking mexicans,blacks, women etc and the reaction to that.
JI7
(89,274 posts)Nitram
(22,890 posts)We should never stop to the use of fear to inspire respect.
meow2u3
(24,773 posts)They only cringe when they're scared, but they're not afraid of us. We have to put our general niceness aside and make them too afraid of us to try any more shit.
Aviation Pro
(12,187 posts)...should start hitting the gym, taking steroids and profess a love of ignorance in loud, testosterone filled voices so they can become the scary apes that seemingly are the Republicant party. : :