Sunday, October 30, 2016

Getting Played



Donald Trump knows how to play people for suckers. That talent -- if you can call it that -- has been on display throughout his presidential campaign. The latest example is FBI Director James Comey. Frank Bruni writes in the New York Times:
How strange but how fitting. This entire election is being conducted in the key of hysteria, and Comey just found a way to amplify that ugly music.

Listen, Clinton made an awful decision in setting up a private email server, then compounded that error by dragging her feet through defensive non-apologies that gave the story such legs. Now she limps to the finish line when she should be hitting full stride.

But Trump is as much of a part and player in this latest chapter of the email saga, because of the one-syllable grenade that he keeps lobbing at the body politic, his furious mantra over these final weeks.

“Rigged,” “rigged,” “rigged.” Many Americans have come to believe that. Many others are rightly determined to prove to that group how wrong they are, or at least not to add accelerant to the wildfire.
And so all of us, including Comey, operate in a befouled atmosphere, tailoring our actions to it.

There are established rules for FBI investigations -- rules which Comey has ignored:
Indeed, he broke with the longstanding F.B.I. policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations. He also defied the wishes of senior officials in the Department of Justice, according to various news reports early Saturday afternoon. And he frustrated everyone — conservatives, liberals, Trump, Clinton — because his disclosure was all questions, no answers.

Regardless, the media went nuts, declaring that the development could bend the shape of the race and assuming damage to Clinton without any polling or other evidence to back that up.

 However the investigation turns out, things will not end well:
How is this supposed to play out? If, a few days from now, the F.B.I. determines and announces that none of the emails contain classified information or anything else of concern, will Trump and Clinton’s other enemies conceivably believe that? Hah! They’ll be shouting “rigged” all over again. They’ll be shouting it louder than ever.

Well played, Mr. Comey. You're getting played. 

Image: WCCftech 

26 comments:

Toby said...

Regardless of winner, one can imagine that a few weeks after the election James Comey will continue his FBI career as an agent in Alaska.

Owen Gray said...

The heat is sure to be less intense there, Toby.

Anonymous said...

Clinton made an awful decision to set up an illegal email server in her basement that had one function no other server would have: the ability to destroy evidence that would otherwise be subpoenaed. Hillary data-shredded 33,000 emails AFTER an FBI subpoena, smashed her old smart phones with a hammer, lied to the FBI, mishandled classified documents or worse.

The state of journalism in this post-truth era is pathetic. Talking heads run defense for politicians, campaign for them, coordinate on memes, suppress information. You'd think we were barbarians who could never imagine objectivity in journalism.

That's another gravy train of corruption coming to an end.

If Trump becomes president Hillary is in hot water. She won't have any political pull left at the top. Republicans investigated Hillary 7 times over some Benghazi nonsense and found nothing. But an investigation into this illegal server is going to uncover evidence of pay-for-play corruption that runs deep. 25 years of the Clintons and others getting rich liquidating the public trust.

Trump could very well be the "human hand grenade" that blows up the corrupted system. I'm betting on another "up the establishment" Brexit result. This time, up the establishment with Donald J Trump. (Will make for very interesting reality TV.)

Owen Gray said...

Everything you write is pure speculation, Anon -- except that Trump is a one man wrecking crew.

Toby said...

Hillary made a mistake but it was probably a common one amongst the high players. I understand that Colin Powell showed Hillary how to do it. Hillary's biggest mistake may have been getting caught.

There was a time when the powerful used Blackberry's because of their security features. The switch to Ipads and other toys was a huge mistake.

The temptation to have some communication outside official channels must be overwhelming. Hey, I use an alias on line. Being scrutinized 24/7 would drive me insane. I simply don't know how politicians can stand it.

Owen Gray said...

Diplomats have used "back channels" for a long time, Toby. Those channels ended the Cuban missile crisis. This is nothing new. What's changed is the poisonous nature of politics.

Anonymous said...

"Everything you write is pure speculation, Anon"

All the facts I referenced can be researched and verified by the reader. All these post-truth neoliberals have to offer are lies and manipulation plus a promise of more of political corruption and economic misery.

When Trump wins on Nov 8th, this will mark the beginning of the end of the disastrous neoliberal/neocon era that began with Reagan. All bad things must come to an end.

Green New Deal 2020! Hillary for Prison 2016!

Steve said...

Owen the forest is full of trees. Its not the crime its the money.

Anonymous said...

Not Anon 1.40 pm.

You know what is annoying about partisans?

When Comey had called Hillary's actions "extremely careless" but undeserving of criminal indictment, the Republican supporters were furious and accused him of helping Obama cover up Hillary's crimes. Now they praise him for his courage to reopen the investigation.

Similarly, three months ago, Hillary and the Democratic supporters had nothing but the highest praise for Comey for doing his job without fear or favour. Now they are furious and suggest that he had committed a felony in interfering with the election and Hillary's anticipated victory.

Anyone who is not a partisan, perhaps even anyone who is capable of some critical thinking, would have concluded a long time ago that neither of these two candidates is fit for the highest job in their nation.

There are two other candidates on the ballot but we keep hearing how a vote for Johnson or Stein would be wasted as he/she would never win. Of course these two would never win if people talk themselves out of voting for them.

And of course voting for either Trump or Hillary will only ensure getting either the "Groper In Chief" or the "Grifter In Chief". Which one is the lesser evil? Partisans - sigh. :)

Owen Gray said...

The unfortunate truth is that neither Johnson or Stein can win, Anon. But they will ensure that either Trump or Clinton will win. It's not a matter of partisanship. It's a matter of making a difficult choice. Life is full of difficult choices.

Owen Gray said...

Either way, this election will have international consequences, Steve. Americans don't think much about international consequences. But we will all be affected by their decision. God help us.

Owen Gray said...

There is a lot that has been written, Anon. But there are few hard facts. This latest missive from Comey contains nothing factual.In fact, it says one thing: we are looking at more emails. Comey has made no case at all. And, in the past, the facts did not support the accusation.

Anonymous said...



RE"Everything you write is pure speculation, Anon"

All the facts I referenced can be researched and verified by the reader. All these post-truth neoliberals have to offer are lies and manipulation plus a promise of more of political corruption and economic misery.

Don't expect that comment to be welcomed.
We live in a world that expects the future to cure our present day ills.
In other words we have our heads firmly inserted in our arse!!
For starters...Spend our way out of recession!!!

TB

Anonymous said...

OWEN .
Simple question
Why do you and other Canadian bloggers become so agitated by an American election to which we, Canadians have no input?
Do we not have problems here in Canada?
If we have international issues that effect Canada why do we not approach them that way and not by aligning ourselves to one candidate of the other???


TB

Anonymous said...

Anon 5.59 pm here. @ Owen: "Comey has made no case at al"

Huma is not under investigation for sexting with a minor, her estranged husband is. Thus in order for Comey to examine Huma's emails, some of which may contain classified info. and may be related to Hillary, he would have to get a warrant.

ABC just reported that Comey has successfully obtained a warrant, meaning that he has persuaded a judge that he has a case to do so.

Additionally, Bernstein of Wategate fame had publicly said that the FBI would not reopen the case unless the new evidence was a bombshell: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/10/28/bernstein_fbi_would_not_reopen_case_unless_new_evidence_was_a_real_bombshell.html

I suspect this is bigger than you think. :)

Owen Gray said...

Spending your way out of a recession is the polar opposite of neo-liberal doctrine, TB.

Owen Gray said...

The problem, TB , is that -- as Pierre Trudeau pointed out -- living next to the United States is like sleeping with an elephant. We are affected by every twitch of the beast. We cannot influence the election. But we do have an interest in its outcome.

Owen Gray said...

It might be bigger, Anon. But you get the warrant. You examine the emails and you go public with what you have. The latest report is that the FBI has known for weeks about the emails. Why the delay? Coming forth with no information this close to an election suggests gross incompetence.

Steve said...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-31/dilbert-creator-explains-how-do-i-know-emails-are-bad

Owen Gray said...

I agree that human beings can be irrational, Steve. But I disagree with the basic premise that we're irrational 90% of the time. If we are, then democracy is doomed.

Anonymous said...

@Owen: "Coming forth with no information this close to an election suggests gross incompetence."

Aren't you jumping the gun here? We really do not know yet if the reopened investigation will yield evidence that would argue for indicting Hillary. The time to suggest gross negligence is when nothing comes out of the reopened investigation, no?

As for the FBI already knowing about this weeks ago, you must have read that the FBI agents took time to put together a summary/briefing to convince Comey last Thursday to reopening the investigation.

There are apparently 650K emails - rather than gross negligence, as you had charged, these agents could actually have exercised caution, and responsibility, before they decided that there was merit to reopen the investigation. Of course the Dems supporters are already crying foul, as expected.

Owen Gray said...

I will withhold final judgment until I see the evidence, Anon. We are told that Comey is highly competent. Although he's a trained lawyer, something seems to be clouding his judgement. Even the brilliant can be played for suckers. I suspect he's being played.

Anonymous said...

@Owen: Just saw this. Enjoy: "It was Hillary Clinton in 1992 denouncing President George H.W. Bush after special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh issued an indictment the weekend before the election against former Defense secretary Caspar Weinberger in the Iran-Contra case.

As Paul Mirengoff notes at the Powerline blog, "The Clintons seized on the new indictment, howling about a 'culture of corruption' that supposedly pervaded the administration." We all know what happened then: "Bush’s poll numbers declined and Bill Clinton won the election." Mirengoff is right: we should "keep this history in mind during the coming days when you hear Democratic hacks talking about how awful it is for law enforcement officials and/or prosecutors to 'interfere' in the presidential election process."

Here is the link: https://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2016/10/30/the-election-what-happens-now/2/

Not a Trump fan, BTW, but all this could have been avoided if Hillary had given the FBI all of her emails instead of bleach bitting them, apparently days after a Congressional subpoena had been issued to preserve them all.

Owen Gray said...

I would have been happier if Bernie Sanders had won the nomination, Anon. So would Robert Reich -- a friend and law classmate of the Clintons. But, as he has said, it is what it is. And you have to make a choice.

Anonymous said...

It appears that October surprises occur frequently just before elections. More often than not they appear to be driven by Republican players. Here is an interesting article by Robert Parry.

- Nixon in 1968 " Nixon’s campaign went behind Johnson’s back to persuade South Vietnamese President Nguyen van Thieu to torpedo Johnson’s Paris peace talks by refusing to attend. Nixon’s emissaries assured Thieu that a President Nixon would continue the war and guarantee a better outcome for South Vietnam."

- Reagan in 1980 "..evidence indicates that Reagan’s campaign director William Casey organized a clandestine effort to prevent the hostages’ release before Election Day, after apparently consulting with Nixon and Kissinger and aided by former CIA Director George H.W. Bush, who was Reagan’s vice presidential running mate. "

- George HW Bush in 1991

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/trumps-version-bs-heres-real-history-rigged-us-elections

Owen Gray said...

Comey is a registered Republican, Anon.