Comey testimony

[PalJoey]

 

And ponder on this:

 

COMEY: The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. It was an active measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that. It is a high confidence judgment of the entire intelligence community and the members of this committee have seen the intelligence. It's not a close call. That happened. That's about as unfake as you can possibly get. It is very, very serious, which is why it's so refreshing to see a bipartisan focus on that. This is about America, not about a particular party.

The reason this is such a big deal is we have this big messy wonderful country where we fight with each other all the time, but nobody tells us what to think, what to fight about, what to vote for except other Americans. And that's wonderful and often painful. But we're talking about a foreign government using technical intrusion and lots of other methods tried to shape the way we think, we vote, we act. That is a big deal. And people need to recognize it. It's not about Republicans or Democrats. They're coming after America, which I hope we all love equally. They want to undermine our credibility in the face of the world. They think that this great experiment of ours is a threat to them, and so they're going to try to run it down and dirty it up as much as possible.

That's what this is about. They will be back, because we remain, as difficult as we can be with each other, we remain that shining city on the hill, and they don't like it.

[Kad]

BroadwayConcierge said: "This was another win for Trump. Sorry, y'all. "

How is having the Speaker of the House's only defense of the president be "He's still new to government..." (aka he's not malicious, just incompetent!) a win?

How is having the former director of the FBI spend three hours depicting the president as inherently untrustworthy and nothing but red flags a win?

It's a win in the sense that Comey revealed no smoking gun, but no one expected him to. What happened was a widely-watched deconstruction of a sitting president, depicting him at best as a man who has no idea how to govern and obsessed with loyalty.
 

[LYLS3637]

Like every controversy surrounding this President, it feels like a draw. Not a win. Not a loss. A draw.

His critics are going to jump all over him (like Pussygate, his tax returns, not paying contractors, having the Russians in the Oval Office, tweeting insanity at the mayor of London, firing Comey, the Michael Flynn fiasco, etc. etc. etc.) and his defenders will still support him. It's been like that since he announced his candidacy. 

I don't see how this testimony is any more damaging than any of the other scandals. I hope I'm wrong. We'll see in the coming days, but he's been averaging 40% approval for the past month (trending downwards though!). Let's hope that continues. 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

If you need to see where BC is coming from, just go on Breitbart or search alt-right Twitter. They really are dedicated to Trump and spinning anything in his favor. It would be quite the sociological/psychological study one day to add to the whole study of how societies crumble and fall under despots or despot-like figures. Trump makes them feel safe and taken care of, for whatever reason, and they don't want that security blanket to go away. And many of them just hate minorities, women, and gays and everything they think is attributable to them (like PC culture, black lives matter, etc.).

The problem is that they are so dedicated that we'll be at a stalemate with him until at least the end of his first term or if he decides to resign. The "moderates" (I never believe people are really moderate if they want to be totally honest but rather may be on the center-to-far right on some issues and center-to-far-left on others...political ideology, IMO, cannot be measured on a quantitative aggregate scale) will have to be persuaded, but I feel those who voted for Trump or abstained and didn't mind Trump winning won't be willing to admit their mistakes in masses but rather will desperately cling to anything that can be spun in Trump's favor to alleviate whatever guilt they may have, if any. Some have turned that guilt and doubled-down on being more anti-Hillary and anti-Dem Party just to take away any responsibility (everyone is responsible for this mess) because the last thing Americans want is to take responsibility for their actions.

[javero]

You mean Breitbart that's lost 90% of its advertisers in 2 months on the trot?

(WaPo) Breitbart lost 90 percent of its advertisers in two months: Who’s still there?

I sense that the tide is turning.  Trump is toxic and the GOP establishment is working on contingency plans as I type.

[LYLS3637]

javero said: "You mean Breitbart that's lost 90% of its advertisers in 2 months on the trot?

(WaPo) Breitbart lost 90 percent of its advertisers in two months: Who’s still there?

I sense that the tide is turning.  Trump is toxic and the GOP establishment is working on contingency plans as I type."

 

I hope the tide is turning, but right now 75-85% of Republicans support him (depending on which poll you look at), so if the GOP establishment is working on a contingency plan, they are going against their own voters, which did not work out well for them when they tried it during the primary. 

[javero]

The cynic in me suggests that Trump supporters are the least of the GOP's concerns.  Everyone has caught a whiff of Trump by now.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

javero said: "The cynic in me suggests that Trump supporters are the least of the GOP's concerns.  Everyone has caught a whiff of Trump by now.

 

"

Oh gosh, I just gagged a little.

[theaterdrew]

At today's press conference, the temporary resident of the White House pulled out his go-to lie when addressing the charge he demanded loyalty from Comey: "I hardly know him, why would I ask him to pledge allegiance?"  He followed that with "But even if I did, there's nothing wrong with it."  People will dwell on the latter, but the former is more telling.  In deposition and trial testimony in civil case after civil case, that was his dodge.  He would claim he didn't know someone or hardly talked to them, etc., so he couldn't have been in on some unlawful scheme with them, when there was a trail clearly showing otherwise.  He obviously has not grown in his skills of deception, and that gives me heart.

I took great joy from Comey letting us know the really smart people in law enforcement spotted this guy for what he was right from the get-go and have been planning to make sure he doesn't get away with it.  I know Bob Mueller is astute enough to know how this guy lies, and they will let him trap himself.

[adamgreer]

Bob Mueller's appointment of mafia prosecutors (the guys who got mob bosses to turn) and foreign bribery experts to help lead the investigation should provide some clue as to the direction of his investigation. 

[javero]

Could we play a game of what-ifs?

What if impeachment proceeding for Pence, Sessions, Kushner and Ivanka commenced before the Dems went after the Twitter in Chief? Which one would rat out Trump first?

[PalJoey]

[PalJoey]

 

Link, for those who might wish to buy:

 

Lordy, I Hope There Are Tapes

 

[javero]

The reason I inquired about the prospect of Pence, Sessions, Kushner and Ivanka being impeached is due to my understanding that each is a civil officer, yet neither has immunity from prosecution.  If I'm off base, then please correct me.

[theaterdrew]

^It's true they can be impeached, but they can also be criminally prosecuted (more likely) because only the president is (understood to be) immune.*  But, the president can pardon them. 

Some believe the first rat to flip was Flynn, who probably brings down Kushner first.

*not all legal experts agree the president cannot be criminally prosecuted

[Steve C.]

FYI and Heads Up Everyone!

Now, that Comey has testified it is essentially DEFCON 5 on TrumpCare. Please call Washington! Please call your Senators now; flood the phones Monday morning. I've included a link to look up your Senator's phone contact:

https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state 

You can also call the White House at:

Switchboard - 202-456-1414

Comments Line - 202-456-1111

This is so important. This is how it starts; next they will move to cut Medicaid, Medicare, Veterans have already been pinched. Please voice your support.

Thanks