READING COMEY: The book and the man!

MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2018

Part 1—First though, reading Mueller:
Many people will spend time this week reading James B. Comey.

Some are already reading Comey, thanks to the mysterious process by which major news orgs get copies of ballyhooed books before the book goes on sale.

Comey's book, A Higher Loyalty, goes on sale tomorrow. People will be reading Comey all week.

For the record, people will be "reading Comey" in two different ways. In the more literal sense, people will be reading Comey's book to see what the god has to say.

In a more figurative sense, people will be "reading" Comey himself. They'll be assessing Comey the person, based on what the person has said in his ballyhooed book.

Here at THE HOWLER, we'll be reading Comey all week. First, though, it might make sense to spend one day reading Robert Mueller.

Mueller hasn't written a book, nor does he give interviews. That said, mainstream pundits constantly "read" Mueller the person in a highly uniform, perhaps unhealthy way, the same way they used to read Comey.

For members of the mainstream press. Robert Mueller is one of the gods. In yesterday morning's Washington Post, Joe Scarborough offered part of the script:
SCARBOROUGH (4/15/18): Mueller, who led a Marine rifle platoon in Vietnam, has been awarded a Bronze Star, two Navy commendations, a Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. After being shot through the leg, the young Princeton grad continued leading his troops in battle. Later he would continue his service in Vietnam even after he was given the opportunity to go home.

Such bravery and dedication to the United States could never have been shown on the battlefield by the miserable crew who lined up to attack the special counsel [last week].
Mueller's service in Vietnam occurred in the 1960s. Using those distant events to assess his behavior today can perhaps be filed under "more prejudicial than probative," even if we assume that Scarborough's accounts of his service are accurate.

That said, the rules are clear whenever mainstream pundits read Robert Mueller. Mueller is one of the establishment gods—the latest man to be assessed as The Most Upright Person Now Living, if we might borrow from Plato's assessment of Socrates in The Seventh Letter.

A word of warning. Before his peculiar conduct during the 2016 presidential campaign, James Comey was uniformly presented as The Most Upright Person Now Living. He joined a motley crew of public figures so assessed by the mainsteram press, not excluding Paul Ryan, Paul Krugman's "flimflam man."

Comey was once the press corps' Most Upright Person; Robert Mueller still is. History tells us that this type of childish group assessment has often turned out to be disastrously wrong. Common sense suggests that lionization of this type may tend to produce the kind of hubris which may lead these lionized figures astray.

More on that as the week continues. For today, let's look in as Alan Dershowitz performs a public service by "reading" Robert Mueller. The assessment was offered yesterday on CNN's Reliable Sources.

During his interview, Dershowitz stressed the fact that he voted for Hillary Clinton in the last election. When it comes to Donald J. Trump, "I am not a supporter," Dershowitz said. "I am not a defender of Donald Trump the person."

Dershowitz isn't a fan of Donald J. Trump, but he also hasn't been blinded by the dust of stampede. Early in his interview, he made a rather obvious point—at the present time, a lot of people "want to get" Donald J. Trump.

In our view, Dershowitz was stating something which is blindingly obvious. True to mainstream "cable news" form, Brian Stelter, his CNN host, headed for the fainting couch in response to these statements:
DERSHOWITZ (4/15/18): I think the key point is to make sure that in an effort to get Trump, we don't diminish our civil liberties and create bad precedent—

STELTER: Oh, who's trying to get Trump?

DERSHOWITZ: Oh, a lot of people are trying to get Trump, a lot of radicals, a lot of lefties. A lot of people, a lot of my friends—

STELTER: You're throwing out words, you're throwing out words now.

DERSHOWITZ: —a lot of my friends and relatives are furious at me because they want to get Trump and I'm in their way, and I'm standing in the way of getting Trump by raising Article Two issues, civil rights issues, civil rights issues. If you don't think there are people out there trying to get Trump, just like they were trying get Hillary Clinton, people were trying to get Hillary Clinton, lock her up—

STELTER: I think many people are opposed to President Trump, but when you say "get Trump," it implies to me some coordinated, almost conspiracy, "Let's go out and get him." Is Robert Mueller trying to get him?

DERSHOWITZ: When they said "get Hillary," there was no conspiracy. Just a lot of people wanted to lock her up. A lot of people want to lock up Trump.
Is it true? Are "a lot of people trying to get Trump?" Do a lot of people "want to lock up Trump?"

Dearest darling, use your heads! Few statements could be more obvious.

Dershowitz was making obvious statements; Stelter recoiled in shock. That said, along the way, Stelter had asked a useful and important question:

"Is Robert Mueller trying to get him?" That's what the cable host asked.

Is Mueller trying to get Donald Trump? We think that's a useful question. Beyond that, we think Dershowitz's reply supplied a useful corrective to the era of lionization which has saddled us with deeply flawed poobahs like Comey:
STELTER (continuing directly): Do you think Robert Mueller is a part of that?

DERSHOWITZ: I think Robert Mueller has a target that he's after. When you're a special counsel, you don't want to come away with nothing after you spend millions of dollars.

STELTER: He's already got plenty.

DERSHOWITZ: So—no, I don't think he has plenty. I think he has low-hanging fruit, and right now, if he could get Trump, it would be a great feather in his cap, just like Ken Starr wanted to get [Bill] Clinton. That's what special counsels do. Their object is to get—

STELTER: You're saying it's about ego almost.

DERSHOWITZ: No, it's about reputation. It's about their perception of integrity. In the end, ego plays a role. But it's the role of the civil libertarian to make sure that they don't use means to justify their ends that lie around like loaded guns that can be used as precedents against all of us.
Does Robert Mueller want "to get Donald J. Trump?" Does he view Trump "as a target" in an unhealthy or even improper way?

Is it a matter of reputation for Mueller? Does ego play a part?

We don't know how to answer those questions. We also don't know why Dershowitz seems inclined to think such things about Mueller, if he actually does.

That said, of course it's possible that Mueller is something less than a flawless moral god! Of course it's possible that his personal feelings may lead him to make imperfect decisions as his probe continues.

Over the course of the past thirty years, the mainstream press corps—people like Stelter—have anointed a series of morally upright gods. Paul Ryan was one such selection. So was Comey the god.

No matter how many times the children are wrong in these group assessments, they just keep inventing new moral gods to lionize. These moral gods are often played against official mainstream press corps demons. This is not a healthy, intelligent process. Again and again and again and again, it has turned out extremely poorly.

In our view, and stating the obvious, citizens should regard Mueller with a normal degree of skepticism. The same process should have been followed with respect to James B. Comey, AKA Comey the god.

Instead, silly children all over the press made James B. Comey the new Socrates. This led to disaster in 2016, even as our favorite liberals refused to speak in opposition to the behavior of the establishment god.

We'll be "reading Comey" all week. For today, a spoiler alert:

In our view, James B. Comey, Comey the god, seems almost as nutty as Donald J. Trump. But so it has gone, again and again, when the children of the press corps decide to give us new gods.

Tomorrow: Reading Comey! Kakutani's true belief v. Lozada the skeptic

What Plato is said to have said: In his famous alleged Seventh Letter, Plato described the political events of his young adulthood, around 404 B.C.

Despite his brilliance, Plato spoke no English. In our view, Professor Lee probably has the translation just about right:
PLATO: The existing constitution, which was subject to widespread criticism, was overthrown...and a committee of Thirty given supreme power. As it happened some of them were friends and relations of mine and they at once invited me to join them, as if it were the natural thing for me to do. My feelings were what were to be expected in a young man: I thought they were going to reform society and rule justly, and so I watched their proceedings with deep interest. I found that they soon made the earlier regime look like a golden age. Among other things they tried to incriminate my old friend Socrates, whom I should not hesitate to call the most upright man then living, by sending him, with others, to arrest a fellow-citizen, and bring him forcibly to execution; Socrates refused, and risked everything rather than make himself a party to their wickedness. When I saw all this, and other things as bad, I was disgusted and withdrew from the wickedness of the times.
The democracy was soon restored, but Socrates was brought to trial on “a monstrous charge.”

Was Socrates "the most upright man then living?" We don't know, but the press corps' attempts to name successors have routinely led to disaster and are profoundly unwise.

Mueller is their current god. We'll try to read Comey all week.

88 comments:

  1. As usual, Somerby continues his gallant defense of Trump, as he defended Roy Moore earlier. The only howler is the notion that Somerby is some sort of liberal -- he is more a fifth columnist. Fortunately, his audience is largely composed of Russian trolls like Mao these days.

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      Delete
  2. As Bob points out, "the press (and the liberals) made James B. Comey the new Socrates." But, shortly before the election, when Comey said he might need to re-open the Hillary investigation, these same admirers castigated Comey. (It would be easy to find examples of such comments.) Now, with Comey 100% against Trump, liberals and the media again consider Comey to be the new Socrates.

    Sadly, most liberals (and their allies in the media) are motivated more by loyalty to their side than to moral and ethical standards.

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    1. Why would liberals admire Comey when he was a Republican who was sabotaging Hillary Clinton's chances to win the presidency by pursuing an actual witchhunt against her? Comey broke the rules to interfere in an election outcome.

      Somerby attacks Comey and Mueller today because that is the talking point issued to Republicans trying to mitigate the damage done to dear leader by Comey's book.

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    2. David, you really are a sad sack of shit lying bastard. As has been repeatedly stated here which always ignore, most liberals can't stand Comey for his unprecedented interference in the 2016 election.

      By the way, Comrade, Mueller already has president "golden showers" pussygrabber on at least 4 counts of obstruction of justice.

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    3. I wonder if David's wife still wears her "I'm with stupid" shirt from time to time?

      You see, David was one of the very people he now castigates when Cruz was still in the Primary and David couldn't throw enough shade on Trump - probably the only time David was ever close to the truth.

      Now, to this stupid troll, Trump's pee doesn't stink.

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    4. "Sadly, most liberals (and their allies in the media) are motivated more by loyalty to their side than to moral and ethical standards."

      Concern troll's concern is noted. Now FO.

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    5. "Sadly, Sean Hannity (and his allies in the White House) are motivated more by loyalty to their side than to moral and ethical standards."

      FTFY - HAND

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    6. DH is a skeptic. He warns us to always question narrative, especially when that narrative is pleasing to us. When he writes that Scarborough’s accounts of times long past may not justify current judgments “even if we assume that Scarborough’s accounts are … accurate”, he’s telling us to question Scarborough, not Mueller.

      Scarborough tells us that after Mueller was shot in the leg, he “continued leading his troops in battle.” We have to be careful not to conclude that though wounded, he lead a gallant counterattack. The citation for Mueller’s commendation says that he “ably maintained his position.” Upon recovery, did Mueller return to lead his platoon? Wikipedia says so. The Washington Post says that his job after recovery was aide to the commanding general of the 3rd Marine Division. Neither source says that he was offered the opportunity to return stateside.

      None of this is to suggest that Mueller wasn’t at least as heroic as Scarborough relates. And, of course, it might be possible to chase down sources that confirm that Mueller chose to stay in Vietnam even though he could have finished his service at home.

      This is simply the standard Howler warning: when people relate stories about their heroes and villains, don’t automatically take them at face value.

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    7. I would be disingenuous if I said that Bob Somerby never employed his main theme - that you describe so well - to criticize the subject of certain media narratives while criticizing the media narrative and the media.

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    8. Nobody cares what Mueller did in Vietnam. When Somerby criticizes these narratives, he is tearing down Mueller in real time and that affects Mueller's current attempts to investigate Trump. If Somerby isn't trying to defend Trump, there is no reason for him to tear down Mueller by attacking the veracity of his medals (echoing the swiftboating of Kerry). Somerby cannot hide behind the skeptics shield when his efforts serve those who are defending Trump.

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    9. Anonymous 3/17/18@12:02P:

      Nobody cares what Mueller did in Vietnam.
      Nobody? Apparently Scarborough cared, at least enough to mention Mueller’s war record. Or do you mean that you don’t care what Mueller did in Vietnam?

      The problem here is that it’s narrative all the way down, including

      1. Reports from the participants of the battle. We have no access to these, as far as I know. But they must have been the basis for…

      2. The Navy citation for bravery. This text commends Mueller for keeping his embattled unit together as an effective fighting force even though he was wounded. This commendation ends up…

      3. In secondary biographical sources like Wikipedia and The Washington Post. These sources disagree on the details, and they are likely the source of

      4. Scarborough’s words as quoted by

      5. Somerby. Did he quote Scarborough correctly? I didn’t bother to check. After the quote, Somerby warns agains trusting narrative too much, which leads to

      6. Your narrative that Somerby is “tearing down” Mueller, which affects Mueller’s investigation, an argumentum ad consequentiam so devoid of evidence that you don’t even have more narrative to support it.

      Somerby notes that reports of behavior from over half a century ago might not be the best foundation on which to judge current character and behavior, even if those reports faithfully represent the truth.

      Any other conclusion is, well, narrative.

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  3. It is possible to simultaenously believe that neither Comey nor Muller are the most upright persons alive, and still believe they are orders of magnitude more upright people than Trump.

    But curiously Somerby focuses on Muller or Comey rather than Trump. Or maybe not so curiously, since SOmerby wants liberls to lose so be can bitch for another 18 years about 2000. Somerby is a moron.

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  4. Socrates lived a long time ago, too long ago, imho.

    Personally, I feel that we're going through reenactment of something like Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars.

    Rationalism and monotheism have failed, and so - you're right, Bob - we're back to polytheism, with plenty of minor deities like Mueller and Comey, and a few mighty ones like Obama, Clinton, Trump, and Putin. It's quite charming, actually.

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    1. Rationalism has never succeeded. It's always a struggle. And it's an essential one.

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    2. Comrade, what's your panelka like? Do you still share it with your parents?

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    3. Mao, has Orthodox Christianity failed?

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  5. Kellyanne Conway said Comey swung the election, but she was only joking.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/kellyanne-conway-james-comey-interview-was-revisionist-version-of-history

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    1. As I heard Conway, I think she was implying that Comey couldn't have swung the election, because he is so flawed. (BTW I don't agree with her. The election was so close that Comey's statement, or any number of other factors, could have made the difference.)

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    2. You don't have to guess about whether Comey swung the election. Nate Silver shows the impact in the poll numbers. And that impact was clearly large enough to make the difference. No one is disputing this except conservatives.

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    3. "The election was so close ...."

      Not according to Trump or the final popular vote.

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  6. "That said, of course it's possible that Mueller is something less than a flawless moral god! Of course it's possible that his personal feelings may lead him to make imperfect decisions as his probe continues."

    Duh.

    No one has said that Mueller is a "flawless moral god." That is a Somerby straw man.

    No one can demand that an investigator be a "flawless moral god."

    We flawed humans have to rely on other flawed humans to investigate crimes and seek out the truth. In the end, we look at the evidence presented and make a judgment about it. We trust that our legal system will correctly assess the evidence put forward in court, where it is reviewed by many people: lawyers, judges, juries.

    In the Mueller probe, we unfortunately have a party in control of Congress that doesn't seem too interested in any evidence that may be damning to Trump. But the theory is the same. People will be able to assess the evidence presented by Mueller. (Some evidence has already been presented and found convincing).

    There really is no current alternative to Mueller. Congress is unwilling. But it is essential.


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  7. The investigation being pursued by Mueller doesn't depend on Mueller's personality but on the evidence. That evidence will be summarized in a report presented to the Attorney General and presumably made public and presented to Congress so that our elected representatives can make a decision about impeachment. Presumably those who have broken the law will be prosecuted based on that same evidence, not based on Mueller's probity. Our courts and juries and our congress will make its decision based on facts collected not only by Mueller but by his entire staff, most of whom are Republicans and presumably have no partisan reason to be "getting" Trump or anyone else, except that they have sworn an oath to the nation to uphold its laws.

    Dershowitz should know this -- he is an attorney. Trump should know it but he is an idiot. There is no reason why Comey and Mueller wouldn't understand this. Why doesn't Somerby? What is wrong with Somerby these days? Too much time reading Plato and not enough civics?

    And he tries to blame liberals for his mistakes! We didn't lionize Comey, no matter what the press said. We are not lionizing Mueller. He too is a Republican and whatever he was in Vietnam, he is a full blown member of the intelligence community. But he seems to know how to do his job, unlike Trump, unlike Somerby.

    Why is Trump suddenly calling Dershowitz and asking him for legal advice? Why is Somerby trying to make Dershowitz into some kind of God so that liberals will believe whatever Trump-serving nonsense he dishes out? If Somerby wants to lionize some attorney's opinions, he should start with Jeralyn Merritt at Talk Left. She is not particularly liberal but she is a criminal defense attorney and she has been explaining the intricacies of the legal proceedings for laymen and I would trust her before I would believe anything a slimeball like Dershowitz says. He lost his credibility eons ago. Maybe Somerby didn't notice.

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    1. I think the investigation does depend on choices made by the investigator. E.g. when Hillary was being investigated over the e-mails, Comey questioned her NOT under oath and NOT keeping a record of her answers.
      http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/286849-fbi-didnt-record-clinton-interview-no-sworn-oath

      Mueller has offered NOT to question Trump in this way.

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    2. >The investigation being pursued by Mueller doesn't depend on Mueller's personality but on the evidence.

      Ahahaha, what a retard. You seriously believe this? All that matters here is what is politically possible.

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    3. Yes, @1:30, we know that things like "evidence", "facts", or "truth" don't matter to today's Republican Party. Unfortunately for them though, that is an unsustainable stance.

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    4. mm - Flynn has been charged with lying to investigators. This tells us that, unlike the questioning of Hillary, a record of what he said was was retained. That's an example of how choices made by the investigator mattered.

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    5. They made notes you jackass, just as they did with their interview of Secretary Clinton you fucking lying sack of shit. Don't try to use your deductive reasoning to guess that there was anything different. It just makes you look more ridiculous. The redacted report of the notes from HRC's interview is available for all to read you lying sack of shit.

      By the way, Comrade, Mueller already has your hero, president "golden showers" pussygrabber, on 4 counts of obstruction of justice.

      I'm loading up on the popcorn, asshole.

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    6. mm - Does your comment acknowledge that Flynn's interview was recorded and Hillary's was not?

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    7. Comrade DinC, you treasonous bastard.

      No, my comment does not acknowledge that guess that you pulled out of your sorry ass.

      What pray tell is your point in repeatedly stating that Secretary Clinton was not under oath when she willingly agreed to be interviewed. Are you trying to imply something by that, you dishonest piece of shit?

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    8. mm -- I am trying to imply that the conduct of the investigator matters. I am disputing a statement made by Anon 11:35 AM, namely, "The investigation being pursued by Mueller doesn't depend on Mueller's personality but on the evidence."

      AFAIK Mueller has not offered to question Trump without an oath and has not offered that Trump's responses go unrecorded. IMHO that's because his goal is less to find out what, if any, Russian collusion there was and more to get Trump.

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    9. Works for me.

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    10. DinC:
      I saw an amusing thing on CNN the other day, where Erin Burnett was interviewing Representative Jim Jordan, representing the planet Wingnutistan.

      Burnett, being exasperated with Jordan repeatedly avoiding her questions and invoking the evil Hillary Clinton in his every response, asked him if it was possible for him to answer one single question without using the word "Hillary". He agreed to try. He failed. He couldn't do it.

      That is you David. You're both infected with the same disease.

      Comrade DinC: You stated above the following:

      when Hillary was being investigated over the e-mails, Comey questioned her NOT under oath and NOT keeping a record of her answers.

      Your first point is true but totally irrelevant, yet you repeat it continually because you want to suggest, just as your hero President "golden showers" pussygrabber does, that Comey gave her special treatment by not administering the oath when questioning her. Of course that is laughable and everyone knowledgeable about FBI standard practices has explained this to you on multiple occasions. You come here, you say it, people respond and you ignore it and then you come back again a month later and say the same thing, clearly showing you have no interest in intellectually honest dialogue.

      Your second point is demonstrably false. There is certainly a record and the redacted Form 302 summarizing their interview questions and her responses is publicly available to read. The FBI does not video record interview subjects. Since 2014 they have started recorded suspects but they would have to be in federal custody to warrant that.

      The first thing to note about the new DOJ policy is that it only applies to individuals who are in federal custody, meaning those who are detained and held by federal authorities. There is no question that Clinton was never in “federal custody,” so the recording requirement likely would not apply to her situation. https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/so-why-the-heck-wasnt-hillary-clintons-fbi-interview-recorded/

      You do remember when President Clinton was questioned in the Monica Lewinsky investigation he had to do it under oath and it was recorded because it was given in front of the Grand Jury. You will also note that President Reagan refused to allow Lawrence Welch to video record his interview in the Iran Contra investigation. And then GHWB pardoned every body on his way out the door and everyone went home happy.

      Then you stated,

      Mueller has offered NOT to question Trump in this way.

      pulling that straight out of your lying ass, as we see in a follow up post you write:

      AFAIK Mueller has not offered to question Trump without an oath and has not offered that Trump's responses go unrecorded.

      So, when you first stated that Mueller did not offer these conditions to Mr. "golden showers", he had no fucking clue and you still do not whether any of that was true or not.

      My understanding is that the Mueller team has been negotiating for months with trump and at this point no one knows what the terms requested were, but please remember the famous of president pussygrabber claiming he was eager to be interviewed and he wanted it to be "under oath". Just more lying bullshit from the chickenshit coward, your hero President Golden Showers.

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    11. David,
      It must be eating you alive that 8 official GOP-led investigations (and 2 dozen more unofficial investigations) could only uncover her "corruption" being that she was "sloppy with her emails".
      Don't worry, David. As soon as they find the "sloppy with her emails" statute, they'll throw the book at her.

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    12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    13. 11:35, I agree with you. Dershowitz is a slimy reptile, a term I usually reserve for Lawrence Kudlow, now a player for team Trump, though the term itself doesn’t make biological sense. It just fits. Bob cites Dershowitz because he actually makes sense, in this case. And your faith in the “system “seems misplaced, given Republican control, and seeing as that only Presidential pardons and the AUMF seem to be the only “Constitutional” laws left functional.

      “We didn't lionize Comey, no matter what the press said. We are not lionizing Mueller.” But boy oh boy, we sure are rubbing our thighs! And Scarborough did a thorough job lionizing Mueller. I wonder why. Perhaps it legitimates the chase for “liberal” viewers and keeps the profitable ads rolling.

      As far as Comey: We will, yes we will, lionize! That is when Comey will achieve true godhood, when liberals line up to praise him, and the bucks start rolling in for those following what is mostly political theatre. I’m no seer, but I feel sure that’s what will happen. Comey is a scumbag. It doesn’t matter. I can only hope that Mueller carries out his mandate. On that point, I’m sure you and I agree.

      Leroy

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    14. "... we will, lionize! That is when Comey will achieve true godhood, when liberals line up to praise him, and the bucks start rolling in ...."

      Didn't you previously comment to CMike that you are a conservative?

      I am confused.

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    15. Good catch! Like many, my views fall within both conservative and liberal political perspectives, with a sprinkling of radical socialism, at least as they might be considered today.

      But the current views of those labeled conservative in this climate are so far to the right of the political spectrum that my self-identification as a conservative isn’t as far-fetched as it may seem. And the fact that I’m appreciative of this blog should, I think, identify me as someone with liberal views as well.

      It was a mistake to label myself at all in terms of political philosophy. I should just stick with my identity as a secular humanist and leave it at that. As Kurtz said, “There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.”

      Leroy

      Delete
  8. "DERSHOWITZ: When they said "get Hillary," there was no conspiracy."

    Good Lord, that's just effin' insane.

    The conspiracy was called the Republican Party, and has existed since 1992.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Maybe Dershowitz is just trying to suck up to Trump. He is making lots of TV appearances. He had dinner with Trump a few nights ago. He plasters his face all over TV. Maybe he is a "slimeball", like Avenatti?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob, the God, gets to pick who among the lawyers is a slimeball.

      Delete
  10. Here is the weirdness about Dershowitz's current stance. He is placing civil liberties ahead of other values, such as maintaining the integrity of our elections. Then when none of the other civil rights organizations supports his viewpoint, that Mueller has overstepped his bounds, he thinks they are wrong, not himself. These civil rights organizations, like the ACLU, have been opposing liberals and presidents for decades to uphold rights of people like Nazis and religious groups, but for some reason they are now biased and unwilling to speak out against Mueller's violation of Trump's rights because he is Trump? I don't think so. That would be contrary to the many courageous stands they have taken in the past, to defend despicable people's rights. Now they are silent while Dershowitz speaks? That doesn't make Dershowitz a God. I believe he is flattered by Trump's inclusion of him in his Middle East (i.e., Israel) policy making and I believe Dershowitz is turning a blind eye to Trump's flaws in order to manipulate him into pursuing his favored goals in Israel. Either that or Dershowitz is an ego-driven fool who has lost his ability to see issues clearly in his old age. Much like Somerby has.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I and/or my wife have been members of the ACLU for many decades. It's not the case that they routinely uphold rights of people like Nazis and religious groups. Forty years ago, the ACLU defended right of Nazis to march in Skokie, IL. Their reputation for defending all sides is pretty much based on this one case.

      Here's a link showing that as late as 2010, the ACLU was boasting about defending the Skokie Nazis in 1978.
      https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-history-taking-stand-free-speech-skokie

      Delete
    2. Actually it is based on a number of cases, including the rights of minority religious groups, communists (always unpopular), porn producers and authors who write smutty books, criminals, etc. No need to smear the ACLU today -- they aren't really a party to this argument.

      Delete
    3. 1:25 - I didn't mean to smear the ACLU. They do a lot of good work. But, the people and causes they defend and support are seldom on the conservative side.

      Delete
    4. "Forty years ago, the ACLU defended right of Nazis to march in Skokie, IL."

      I hate Illinois Nazis.

      Delete
    5. IF the ACLU "do a lot of good work" and "the people they defend and support are seldom on the conservative side," that means one of three things: your wife forces you to support an organization that works against what you believe in, or you voluntarily support a group that works against what you believe in because - deep down - you know what you believe in stinks, or you're simply being deceitful to try to prove a point.

      Delete
    6. Well-reasoned, 5:17 PM. The first explanation is correct.

      Delete
    7. David, you agree that the ACLU works against what you believe in. How so?

      Delete
    8. If number one is correct, how can you say that the ACLU is doing "a lot of good work?" Does "good work" mean the same on your planet as it does here?

      Delete
    9. My uncles fought for Colin Kaepernick's right to kneel during the National Anthem.
      They were lawyers for the ACLU.

      Delete
    10. Caesar - the ACLU is a liberal civil liberties organization. They're supported by liberals. Two problems from my POV:

      1. They represent a conservative with a free speech problem only now and then.

      2. Sometimes their liberal POV outweighs their civil liberties POV. A current example is their recent statement supporting the raid on Trump's lawyer. See https://www.dailywire.com/news/29347/aclu-supports-fbi-raid-trumps-lawyer-rule-law-paul-bois

      IMHO (and Dershowitz's not so HO) if a similar raid were made on on a Democrat's lawyer, the ACLU would strongly oppose it as an invasion of privacy, interference with legal representation, etc.

      Delete
    11. Here's the comment by David Cole, ACLU legal director:

      https://www.aclu.org/blog/executive-branch/crime-fraud-exception-michael-cohen-case

      I don't know if the government, including Trump appointees, was violating the attorney-client privilege or if this is a valid crime-fraud exception. Maybe we'll find out.

      Delete
    12. Today, a federal judge said they were not, in denying Cohen's application of a temporary restraining order.

      In an alternate reality, perhaps David would be right, but other than issuing a statement supporting the legality of the search via a duly-authorized search warrant, the ACLU is not involved at all in the collateral litigation to the search.

      As for Anon @8:23 PM - I would like to know how the ACLU uncles fought for Kaepernick's right to kneel during the National Anthem since neither the NFL nor the 49ers did anything to prevent him from doing so. As far as I know, the only ACLU involvement in this matter was the SouCal ACLU chapter giving him an award for his advocacy in supporting Black Lives Matter.

      Currently, Kaepernick is suing the NFL owners for blacklisting him and I am unaware of any ACLU involvement in that and it is unlikely since the matter is now in civil litigation.

      Delete
    13. There are such a thing as 'precedents' in the courts. My uncles have fought in court for rulings which have set precedent on 'freedom of speech".

      Delete
    14. Thank you for your response and my apologies for misunderstanding your post.

      Delete
  11. "In our view, James B. Comey, Comey the god, seems almost as nutty as Donald J. Trump."

    Thus, any hope that Somerby can objectively critique Comey's book is out the window.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I assume Somerby is making a sideways allusion to Claudius the God when he keeps referring to Comey the God and now Mueller the God. But I find his use of that religious language to describe secular situations and people to be annoying. Christians (and Catholics) do not make gods out of mortals. It is offensive language to suggest that we are doing that. Mao referred above to pantheism and he is right, the Greeks may have believed that mortals could become gods and that gods walked among humans and that there were many gods, but that is not the way liberals think, the way Christians think, and not the way most of us separate religion from government. And it isn't cute.

    Those of us who inhabit the reality-based community are not busy following gods or adhering to god-like pronouncements or worshipping individuals, as Somerby implies. We are trying to make sense out of the world by looking at facts and evidence (as pointed out above) and trying to set aside biases to see situations clearly. It is what fair-minded people try to do. I assume it is what Mueller has been trained to do. So Somerby's language here today is offensive, demeaning, and wrong.

    More and more I am glad I don't live anywhere near the East Coast so I do not run the chance of meeting Somerby and disliking him in person. He is what he attacks, an effete snob who cannot talk about politics without gloating about having read Plato and cannot get over the fact that he helped throw this election to Trump by following Bernie and the Bros over their cliff. In Pee Wee fashion he has righted his bike and is now claiming "I meant to do that" as he supports Trump in his final days. He would be sad if he weren't so mean-spirited.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Was Plato a member of the press when he called Socrates the most upright man living? He did so in print (or scroll). Maybe that's when the media started going downhill.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Was Gore running for President then?

      Delete
    2. I want more discourse on intercourse.

      Delete
  14. Reading Mueller -- Mueller hasn't written any books and he stays out of the limelight. That makes it difficult to malign him, but Somerby tries. He even implies that his Vietnam record might be fake -- we can't know one way or the other, despite the medals he was awarded. What a creep Somerby is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed. Bob has sunk pretty low this time.

      Delete
    2. Bob dodged the Vietnam draft by inflicting
      himself as a classroom God on black children he still doesn't care about.

      Delete
  15. Putin's alleged bitch will be announcing additional new sanctions against Russia today.
    https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/15/politics/nikki-haley-troops-syria/index.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. What difference does that make if he doesn't follow them, implement them?

    ReplyDelete
  17. "even if we assume that Scarborough's accounts of his [Mueller's] service are accurate."

    Why wonder if the account is correct? You, Bob, the media critic, can fact-check it. Just like we readers can.

    It is correct.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is Somerby's snide way of implying it is not correct. Because there are no facts any more. Just fake news.

      Delete
  18. Speaking of Gods, many conservatives seem to view Trump as some kind of God, anointed by the Almighty to MAGA.

    The fact that a man like Mueller, with his impeccable Republican record of military and law enforcement service, can be the target of a smear campaign BY REPUBLICANS in order to defend their godlike cult leader is truly astonishing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sanctions? Alrighty then.
    What happens after Putin releases what he knows about Trump?
    Address the facts that:
    Trump is a liar and a thief.
    And Putin's bitch.

    Sanction this, chicken shit.

    ReplyDelete
  20. 2 of the stories that Somerby spent all his time denouncing (Russian interference and the Moore case) just won Pulitzers. Somerby was a gallant defender of Moore, and was doubtless heartbroken when Moore lost.

    Somerby is a Trumptard pretending to be a liberal.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Earth to David: Trump undercut his Haley by telling his staff to hold off on implementing the sanctions. It's in today's Post.

    Trump - just like a dog on a leash, and you're the parrot.

    Sad.

    ReplyDelete
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  23. A quick reminder to Bob, DinC and Mao.
    Putin came to power as a KGB agent.
    In your view, a true friend of the USA.
    Trump has as much of a chance against Putin as you do against me.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The ONION has a harsh parody version of Comey's book

    Comey: ‘What Can I Say, I’m Just A Catty Bitch From New Jersey And I Live For Drama’

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Feel better now?

      Delete
    2. Comey's "Rationalization of the Unjustifiable Tour" is boring, but has nothing to do with Trump's obstruction of justice.

      Delete
  25. Boy what a dumb post. Many people want to get Trump, and many people will defend him at any cost. Bob is really becoming a sad old man, dumping on the parkland kids, Mueller’s service record, celebrating Alan Dershowitz who is a cheesy a TV hambone as Stormy Daniels lawyer.....

    ReplyDelete
  26. I assume, for consistencies sake, Dershowitz supports the governments right to water-board Trump to get to the bottom of this treason charge.

    ReplyDelete
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