As promised let's discuss last night's James Comey interview.

Here are some excerpts courtesy of the NYT.

Comparisons to a mob boss:

STEPHANOPOULOS: How strange is it for you to sit here and compare the president to a mob boss? 

COMEY: Very strange. And I don’t do it lightly. I — and I’m not trying to, by the way, suggest that President Trump is out breaking legs and — you know, shaking down shopkeepers. But instead, what I’m talking about is that leadership culture constantly comes back to me when I think about my experience with the Trump administration. The — the loyalty oaths, the boss as the dominant center of everything, it’s all about how do you serve the boss, what’s in the boss’s interests. It’s the family, the family, the family, the family. That’s why it reminds me so much and not, “So what’s the right thing for the country and what are the values of the institutions that we’re dealing with?”

Trump's impact on those around him:

The challenge of this president is that he will stain everyone around him. And the question is, how much stain is too much stain and how much stain eventually makes you unable to accomplish your goal of protecting the country and serving the country? So I don’t know.

Trump's bizarre response to news that Russia had interfered in the election:  

No one, to my recollection, asked, “So what — what’s coming next from the Russians?” You’re about to lead a country that has an adversary attacking it and I don’t remember any questions about, “So what are they going to do next? How might we stop it? What’s the future look like? Because we’ll be custodians of the security of this country.” There was none of that. It was all, “What can we say about what they did and how it affects the election that we just had.”

Are the Russians blackmailing Trump?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you think the Russians have something on Donald Trump? 

COMEY: I think it’s possible. I don’t know. These are more words I never thought I’d utter about a president of the United States, but it’s possible. 

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s stunning. You can’t say for certain that the president of the United States is not compromised by the Russians? 

COMEY: It is stunning and I wish I wasn’t saying it, but it’s just — it’s the truth. I cannot say that. It always struck me and still strikes me as unlikely, and I would have been able to say with high confidence about any other president I dealt with, but I can’t. It’s possible.

How Clinton's inevitability convinced Comey that revealing the newly discovered emails on Anthony Weiner's laptop would not hurt her campaign:

STEPHANOPOULOS: At some level, wasn’t the decision to reveal influenced by your assumption that Hillary Clinton was going to win? And your concern that she wins, this comes out several weeks later, and then that’s taken by her opponent as a sign that she’s an illegitimate president? 

COMEY: It must have been. I don’t remember consciously thinking about that, but it must have been. Because I was operating in a world where Hillary Clinton was going to beat Donald Trump. And so I’m sure that it — that it was a factor. Like I said, I don’t remember spelling it out, but it had to have been. That — that she’s going to be elected president, and if I hide this from the American people, she’ll be illegitimate the moment she’s elected, the moment this comes out.

 Concerning his possible impact on the outcome of the election:

But a whole lot of me was thinking, “Oh my God, did we have some role in this? Did we have some impact on the election?” And it’s an incredibly painful juxtaposition, but also thinking, “I really wouldn’t have done it any differently.” 

God, I hope we had no impact. I hope we had no impact. But it — I know — I worry it sounds arrogant to say, but it — it wouldn’t change the result.

Comey also revealed that though he did not vote in the election, that his wife and essentially entire family were Hillary supporters, which must have made the days immediately after the election especially fun for him.

And finally on Trump's stunning lack of morality:  

I don’t buy this stuff about him being mentally incompetent or early stages of dementia. He strikes me as a person of above average intelligence who’s tracking conversations and knows what’s going on. I don’t think he’s medically unfit to be president. I think he’s morally unfit to be president. 

A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it — that person’s not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds. And that’s not a policy statement. Again, I don’t care what your views are on guns or immigration or taxes. 

There’s something more important than that that should unite all of us, and that is our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country. The most important being truth. This president is not able to do that. He is morally unfit to be president.

I left out the more salacious information about hand size, Russian hookers, and the pee pee tape, because I think that has already been covered in previous posts.

My take away from this interview is that Comey is essentially reporting what most of us already know about Trump's unfitness to lead this country, but he is also demonstrating his own inability to admit his mistakes, and to recognize that he could indeed have made better choices.

At one point Stephanopoulos asks him if he thinks Trump should be impeached, and Comey say he does not because it lets the American people off the hook, and instead believes Trump should be voted out in the next election cycle.

I completely disagree with that because it would allow Trump several more years to damage the country, and also fail to send a message to future corrupt politicians that there are consequences for that corruption.

The articles of impeachment exist for a reason, and if this ain't it, then I don't know what would be.

In upcoming interview James Comey compares Donald Trump to a mob boss. Update!

"Was President Trump obstructing justice?”

Former FBI Director James @Comey sits down with @ABC's @GStephanopoulos for an exclusive interview airing Sunday night at 10/9c on ABC. https://t.co/IE4XwxvIih #Comey pic.twitter.com/WygOAoVQzN

— ABC News (@ABC) April 11, 2018

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Ex-FBI Director James Comey compared to President Trump to a "mob boss" in a taped interview with ABC News, according to a promotional video released Wednesday. 

“How strange is it for you to sit here and compare the president to a mob boss?” host George Stephanopoulos asks Comey in a clip shared by ABC News. 

The preview also shows Stephanopoulos asking Comey if he believes President Trump obstructed justice, or if he thinks the president should be impeached. 

Comey does not speak at all in the promotional clip.

This is just the beginning of  the media blitz that will precede the release of Comey's new book "A Higher Loyalty: Truth Lies & Leadership."

Comey also has interviews scheduled with CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and PBS.

I still have a lot of issues with how Comey interfered in the 2016 election, but there is no way I am not reading this book or watching the upcoming interviews.

Comey has a particular insight into Donald Trump, and his response to the Russia investigation that I do not feel can be ignored.

Update: Axios has more:  

According to the source: 

The Comey interview left people in the room stunned — he told George things that he’s never said before. 

Some described the experience as surreal. The question will be how to fit it all into a one-hour show. 

Comey answered every question. 

If anyone wonders if Comey will go there, he goes there.

Gonna need some more popcorn. 

ABC invites Eric Bolling of Fox News to join Sunday panel, because apparently journalism is dead.

Courtesy of Media Matters:

Fox News host and Trump shill Eric Bolling is scheduled to appear as a panelist on ABC’s This Week. Aside from cheerleading everything President Donald Trump says and does, Bolling was a prominent birther who challenged former President Barack Obama’s legitimacy, as well as a racist, sexist and Islamophobic conspiracy theorist. Bolling has been one of Trump’s most outspoken media sycophants, even on Fox News. 

He’s dismissed Trump’s lies, downplayed the controversies surrounding the president, and deflected blame from Trump and his allies. Even his colleagues at Fox News have called him a “Trump apologist.” Bolling has also criticized the integrity of the host of This Week, George Stephanopoulos. In October, Bolling speculated that Good Morning America, ABC’s morning show which Stephanopoulos also hosts, did not cover hacked emails from former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s top aides released on WikiLeaks because Stephanopoulos used to work for former President Bill Clinton.

MM goes on to list a number of sexist, racist, and Islamophobic remarks that Bolling has made over the years, complete with video, and then sums up the problem with his appearance on what is considered a serious Sunday news program at the bottom of the page: 

During his time at Fox News, Bolling has pushed a number of conspiracy theories. He was a big force behind the “birther” conspiracy theory that alleged that Obama was not born in the U.S. After Obama released his long-form birth certificate, Bolling still claimed, that “there is a legitimate question as to whether or not the president of the United States is allowed to be president of the United States.” 

Bolling took it upon himself to thoroughly examine Obama’s birth certificate on air, even speculating that the certificate’s border showed it may have been photoshopped. Bolling also speculated about the death of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich who was murdered in 2016, dismissing the police conclusion that his death was the result of a botched robbery: “It’s clearly not a robbery. There wasn’t a robbery. … This was a hit.” Bolling concluded that there’s “lots of smoke right now” and that the death was “like an episode of Homeland.” 

Beyond that, Bolling has pushed a number of other conspiracy theories, alleging that Obama was trying to “bring people closer to the cities” to keep an eye on them and questioning whether Obama “let” an oil rig leak so he “could renege on his promise” to “allow some offshore drilling.” Perhaps his most entertaining conspiracy theory came in 2011 when Bolling wondered if “liberal Hollywood was using class warfare [in a Muppets movie] to brainwash our kids.”

Simply put not only should Eric Bolling NEVER be given legitimacy by inviting him on an actual news show, but NONE of the Fox News talking heads, or Right Wing radio hosts, should be provided that platform to spread their lies to the American people. 

And yes I include Megyn Kelly, Greta Van Susteren, and Hugh Hewitt in that category.

These are NOT journalists.

They are purveyors of conspiracy theories, alternative facts, and Right Wing talking points. 

There is a place for that, but it is certainly NOT on actual news programs that advertise themselves as practicing journalism.

Donald Trump spokesperson claims that he simply does not believe that James Comey is telling the truth that Obama did not have the FBI tap his phones.

I am going to warn you ahead of time that this is going to make your damn head throb to watch this interview. If you thought Kellyanne Conway was bad, wait until you get a load of this Sarah Huckabee Sanders lunatic.

Courtesy of Politico:  

President Donald Trump does not accept an assertion from FBI Director James Comey that former President Barack Obama did not order an illegal wiretap of Trump Tower during last year’s presidential campaign, a White House spokeswoman said Monday.

Asked by ABC “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos if Trump was willing to accept the denial of his FBI director, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said he was not. 

“You know, I don't think he does, George,” Sanders said. “I think he firmly believes that this is a storyline that has been reported pretty widely by quite a few outlets. The wiretapping has been discussed in The New York Times, BBC, Fox News and we believe that it should be looked at by the House Intelligence Committee.” 

As he would wind up doing multiple times throughout their interview, Stephanopoulos interjected at that point to tell Sanders that what she had said was incorrect and that none of the media reports to which she referred actually backed up Trump’s accusation. All told, the “Good Morning America” anchor stopped Sanders five times to correct her over the course of their five-and-a-half minute interview.

I am not sure I would expect anything less from the progeny of Mike Huckabee, but that is quite a batshit laden performance right there.

I also do not think we should be surprised that Donald Trump is absolutely defiantly against admitting that he got suckered by Right Wing news outlets and does not have any real evidence that anybody actually tapped any of his phones.

Gee so I guess Trump won't be blowing any more kisses to Comey in the near future.

Trump just literally blew a kiss to James Comey at a WH reception for law enforcement pic.twitter.com/HwVq9DNdZd

— Richard Hine (@richardhine) January 22, 2017

Isn't it a shame to see a bromance come apart like this?

By the way Jason Chaffetz, who has absolutely no intention of investigating allegations of collusion between Trump and the Russians, is chomping at the bit to go after former President Obama on this one.

Donald Trump doubles down on Muslim database and suggests bringing back waterboarding.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

After pointing out that a majority of the Syrian refugees were, in fact, women and children, Stephanopoulos wondered if Trump would bring back waterboarding, which was banned by President Barack Obama. 

“We have to be strong,” the candidate insisted. “You know, they don’t use waterboarding over there, they use chopping off people’s heads, they use drowning people.” 

“I would bring it back, I think waterboarding is peanuts compared to what they do to us,” he opined. “I would absolutely bring back interrogation and strong interrogation.”

Earlier in the exchange you can her Stephanopoulos pointedly asking Trump about the Muslim database, which he had walked back earlier, and he reiterates that he "definitely wants a database and other checks and balances."

So not only would Trump be willing to single out all Muslims and force them into a database, but he also likes the idea of perhaps doing a little waterboarding if there is any suspicion of terrorist proclivities.

Gee, you would think he had a side job as a recruiter for Daesh.

Most recent polls have Trump leading the rest of the pack by ten points or more.

Author of anti-Hillary book is not, repeat not, also writing a book going after Jeb Bush as previously reported.

Courtesy of Media Matters:

Journalists have suggested that conservative author Peter Schweizer's forthcoming book attacking Hillary Clinton is more credible because he will follow it up with a similar book examining Jeb Bush. But according to his publisher, no such book is in the works: Schweizer's reporting on Bush will be published on the website of his non-profit organization. 

Over the past few days numerous media outlets have begun reporting on allegations Schweizer makes in his forthcoming book Clinton Cash about allegedly unethical ties between the Clinton Foundation and actions Hillary Clinton purportedly made as secretary of state. Critics -- including Media Matters -- have noted that Schweizer is a Republican activist and strategist with a history of reporting errors. 

Pushing back against this narrative, Bloomberg Politics reported on April 23 that in contrast to the "left-wing clamor that Schweizer is simply out to get Hillary Clinton," "Schweizer is working on a similar investigation of Jeb Bush's finances that he expects to publish this summer." 

Picking up the story, Politico reported that Schweizer "is reportedly working on another book that he expects to release in the summer. Only this time, he'll be writing about Jeb Bush." CNN likewise reported that the "book on Bush... would be published this summer." 

But HarperCollins, the publisher of Clinton Cash, denies that any such book is in the works.

So to be clear there will be no big media tour promoting a book about what a scallywag Jeb Bush is right before the 2016 election, like Schweizer is now doing for his Hillary book.

Gee color me unsurprised.

Here is Schwiezer on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, essentially admitting that there is no "Smoking gun" but that the "pattern of behavior," none of it based on provable fact, is the troubling part.

Media Matters, who is all over this Schweizer guy,  also brings to light one of his previous books that essentially accused Disney of promoting homosexuality:  

In the 1998 book Disney: The Mouse Betrayed, Schweizer and his wife Rochelle Schweizer set out to investigate the dark side of Disney, and they claim that what they uncovered "was downright disturbing -- even shocking." Their book touches on a wide range of offenses, and includes an entire chapter devoted to "growing gay activism" at the corporation. 

The Schweizers document Disney's gay-friendly hiring policies, noting "gay employees fill a variety of roles at the company," even explaining that founder Walt Disney stood by an animator arrested in the 1930s on a charge of homosexuality. 

Well that is certainly the kind of courageous investigative journalism that one would expect from the author of "Clinton Cash."

By the way if you wish to see more positive coverage of this book just turn on Fox News at literally anytime during the day, because they have now become the 24 hour "Clinton Cash" promoting network lately.

Believe me, I am not even kind of exaggerating.

There is little doubt that they really think this book is going to severely damage Hillary, and are pulling out all of the stops to make sure the wound is deep and potentially fatal to her political aspirations.

Watch Indiana Governor Mike Pence outright refuse to answer any of George Stephanopoulos's questions about his state's new controversial law.

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

This Week host George Stephanopoulos absolutely grilled Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) over the newly-signed “religious freedom” bill, which critics maintain would allow businesses to refuse services to LGBT customers. Pence argued that the bill’s intentions had been misrepresented in media coverage, and insisted he would not change the bill, though he did continue to say he would “clarify” it. 

However, Pence refused to answer two “yes or no” questions posed to him by Stephanopoulos over the potentially discriminatory ramifications of the bill, including whether it would allow a florist to deny services to a gay couple, as its supporters maintain. 

“There’s been shameless rhetoric about my state and this law and its intention all over the internet,” Pence said. “People are trying to make it about one particular issue, and now you’re doing that as well.” 

Stephanopoulos asked the question several more times. “It’s a simple yes or no question,” Stephanopoulos said. 

“The issue here is: is tolerance a two-way street or not?” Pence said. “There’s a lot of talk about tolerance in this country having to do with people on the left. Here Indiana steps forward to protect the constitutional rights and privileges of freedom of religion for people of faith in our state, and this avalanche of intolerance that’s been poured on our state is outrageous.”

Wow that is some of the fanciest dancing I have seen since John Travolta on Saturday Night Fever. 

Pence goes on to say that he would NOT pass a law protecting the rights of the LGBT community, which would of course make people less concerned about this new law. And at one point refuses to answer Stephanopoulos's question about whether or not it should be legal to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

By the way as Pence continues his dance more and more businesses are making the decision that Indiana is now a "no go zone" for them and their employees.

George Stephanopoulos gets first interview with Darren Wilson after Grand Jury decision.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

ABC News broke into scheduled programming Tuesday afternoon to give a brief preview of the interview. Stephanopoulos told viewers that he spent more than an hour with Wilson in a "secret location." He said Wilson told him that he is "sorry" for the death of Brown, but that he would not do "anything different" if he were to relive that day. "He does not think he could have done anything differently," Stephanopoulos said. 

"He says he did what he was trained to do. He has a clean conscience over his actions that day."

"He has a clean conscience over this actions that day." You know having a clean conscience after ending the life of another human being indicates a psychopath.

Even soldiers fighting in wars against individuals that are trying to kill them, do not usually say they have a clean conscience over the soldiers they have killed.

Even if you really feel you are justified that is a troubling way to put things.

And saying that he would not have done anything differently....well I don't even know what to do with that statement.

If you watch this tonight feel free to weigh in here to let us know what you think of Wilson during, and after the interview. I am interested to learn if it changes anybody's mind or not.

Let's start the day with a little James Carville shall we? ”Any day that you have more Sarah Palin and less Chris Christie is a good day for James Carville.”

Courtesy of Mediaite: 

“I think this one is somehow another one that’s particularly hard for the Republicans and they like are mad at each other right now to me in an amusing way but if i were a Republican, almost an unhealthy way. They’re really lashing out at each other and blaming back and forth every day. The Club For Growth story was kind of my idea for a significant story that they’re really going after — naming the people they’re going after right now which, of course, is gonna have a chilling effect on other Republicans who think they may be up,” said Carville. 

“CPAC to me has totally diminished its credibility as an organization. When you basically, Chris Christie s a national leader, and their explanation about why, the next day about why…It’s like an All Star Game, they said he didn’t have a good year,” said Matthew Dowd, a frequent This Week panelist and Republican strategist. 

“They invite Sarah Palin who wasn’t competent enough to keep a Fox News contract? But she’s invited to a CPAC meeting? I mean to me, they basically, many people, Karl and many people, decided that the voters out there don’t know what they’re doing. That the votes who like Chris Christie, and the votes who like other candidates, they’re really mixed up and we’re going to tell them what the truth is. And whatever that’s a strategy on either side, when you’re trying to tell the voters they’re wrong, it’s a bad move,” said Dowd. 

Carville got the last laugh, of course, saying,”Any day that you have more Sarah Palin and less Chris Christie is a good day for James Carville.”

"They invite Sarah Palin who wasn’t competent enough to keep a Fox News contract?" Gotta love that!

I assume that the folks over at the Sea O'Pee have not seen this one yet, as they have not managed to drum up the same sense of outrage that they demonstrated over Steve Schmidt's remarks from Saturday night's Real Time.

Personally I thought this was much more of an insult to Palin and the people who still fawn over her.

Oh well they have a lot on their plates what with charging up their scooters and waging that constant battle against reality.