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The Politics of Personal Attack and Presidential Power

Comey’s book, from the advance leaks (and the GOP’s calculated smear campaign prepped against the author) doesn’t really give us all that much except a gloss on a story we already know (and, honestly, most people believe): that Donald Trump has no respect for the law except as a tool to use on his own, personal behalf.

There is no “he said-he said” here. Trump might officially deny that he pressured Comey to drop his investigation into Flynn. But he’s made it perfectly clear that he thinks he had the right to do so. The substance of Trump’s dispute with Comey is not about whether he has tried to compromise the independence of federal law enforcement; it’s about whether federal law enforcement should be independent of his will. For legal and political reasons, Trump’s allies have tried to pretend they’re having the former argument.

I disagree to the extent that they aren’t even having that argument (that the facts don’t support the allegation) but the argument that the accuser (Comey) is an evil, rotten, lying guy, and therefore any facts he discusses (even ones that are demonstrably true and corroborated, sometimes out of the President’s own mouth) should be ignored.

It’s worthwhile to note that the point team on these smears is not so much GOP politicians, but the GOP political apparat. The President, as head of his party, is happy to see them spending their time attacking someone’s character, as it distracts from the real issues at stake.




Why the GOP’s Campaign Against ‘Lyin’ Comey’ Makes No Sense
Comey’s credibility doesn’t actually matter — Trump has already, personally confirmed the former FBI director’s most damning allegation.

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7 thoughts on “The Politics of Personal Attack and Presidential Power”

  1. So I went to lyincomey.com, and the first things that I saw were the quotes from Democrats who were mad at Comey around the time of the election. I'd say that politics makes strange bedfellows, but between golden showers and Stormy we're already talking about Trump's bedfellows a lot.

    So then I did a WHOIS search on lyincomey.com. That was…revealing.

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    Registry Registrant ID:
    Registrant Name: WhoisGuard Protected
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    Meanwhile, I seriously doubt that establishment Democrats from the Clinton camp will suddenly embrace Comey.

    If someone has a lot of enemies from all sides, they're probably doing the right thing.

  2. +John E. Bredehoft Well, as we've discussed before, nobody is without cases of bad judgment. Comey's October Surprise was an example of that, and I can understand the quote from the era (I suspect the GOP smear site isn't quoting prominent Republicans of that period who were stanch defenders of him, either; I seem to recall Trump had some positive things to say, too).

    But, again, it's not a question of the messenger (which is what the libel is all about), but the message, and that message (in Comey's sworn testimony) has held up against vigorous attempts to refute it.

  3. If you could describe Comey in one word, for better or ill, the word that comes to mind is "idealist." Idealists by definition are not pragmatic, and perhaps an idealistic pursuit of the truth is bound to run afoul of any election calendar.

    Contrast that with the word "opportunist."

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