{"id":136116,"date":"2018-04-13T14:44:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T20:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=136116"},"modified":"2018-04-15T18:27:54","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T00:27:54","slug":"trump-is-his-own-worst-enemy-his-opponents-best-ally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/13\/trump-is-his-own-worst-enemy-his-opponents-best-ally.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump is his own worst enemy, his opponents best ally"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump continues to do more to both publicize and lend credibility to Comey’s memoir than any other imaginable factor. His tweeting and public rhetoric not only ignores the Streisand Effect<\/a>, but validates every point that Comey makes about his personality.<\/p>\n

Comey says Trump is untethered from truth; Trump asserts, without proof, that Comey is a perjurer and criminal. Comey says Trump has no respect for institutional values; Trump uses his Twitter account to call a former FBI agent an \u201cuntruthful slime ball\u201d and to demand his prosecution, violating longstanding norms against presidential interference in criminal cases. Comey says Trump disputes basic facts and normalizes lying; Trump asserts leaks and perjury without proving them, claims without evidence that Comey was terrible at his job, and without substantiation says there was unanimous support for his firing. Trump also claims he fired Comey for mishandling the Clinton investigation, even though Trump has repeatedly contradicted the official explanation the White House gave for dismissing Comey.<\/p>\n

Comey says Trump ignores, excuses, and rewards unethical behavior; Trump, even as he blasts Comey as a perjurer, issues a pardon to former Dick Cheney aide I. Lewis \u201cScooter\u201d Libby, convicted of lying to federal investigators. Comey says that Trump takes an us-versus-them mentality and places his own well-being above all else; Trump declares all-out rhetorical war on Comey, after firing him for refusing to clear Trump\u2019s name publicly, and after Comey refused to ease up on a case against Trump\u2019s fired national-security adviser. There is scant need for a fact-checker on a book when the president is eager to prove it right.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, the key issue here is not Comey or even Comey vs Trump, but does the President get to tell the Justice Dept. what to do, even arguably illegal or unethical stuff, and fire anyone who refuses to do what he says? Trump continues to make the case that he believes the answer is yes, and why the answer must be no.<\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a>
\nTrump’s Rush to Confirm Comey’s Accusations – The Atlantic<\/a><\/span>
\nThe White House teased an elaborate plan to push back on the former FBI director\u2019s book. Instead, the president took to Twitter to validate its central characterizations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump continues to do more to both publicize and lend credibility to Comey’s memoir than any other imaginable factor. His tweeting and public rhetoric not only ignores the Streisand Effect, but validates every point that Comey makes about his personality. Comey says Trump is untethered from truth; Trump asserts, without proof, that Comey is … Continue reading “Trump is his own worst enemy, his opponents best ally”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,1071],"tags":[1499,1077],"class_list":["post-136116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-trump","tag-comey","tag-trump"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/trump-across-the-table.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":133634,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/06\/08\/first-thoughts-on-the-comey-hearing.html","url_meta":{"origin":136116,"position":0},"title":"First thoughts on the Comey Hearing","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 8-Jun-17 11:16am","format":false,"excerpt":"So I was able to watch about 95% of the hearing. My immediate take-aways ...... Public hearings are largely to let Senators posture in front of the press. That was on display here as usual, though they actually did seem to have actual questions that they wanted answered. I'd give\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133493,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/16\/another-day-another-wtf-trump-moment.html","url_meta":{"origin":136116,"position":1},"title":"Another day, another "WTF, Trump?" moment","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 16-May-17 9:52pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Today? Unclassified memos written by (now fired) FBI Director James Comey back in February about a chat he had with Donald Trump. The memos haven't been turned over to the meda, but were read over the phone to NYT reporters by two of Comey's \"associates.\"Actually, there are two such WTF\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133437,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/09\/trump-plucks-another-thorn-from-his-side.html","url_meta":{"origin":136116,"position":2},"title":"Trump plucks another thorn from his side","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 9-May-17 7:57pm","format":false,"excerpt":"James Comey drew plenty of criticism from all quarters over the last several months, and with good reason, but his abrupt firing today from his job of FBI Director is noteworthy for a few things:1. Comey has been a thorn in Trump's side on repeated occasions. Though arguably his announcements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133451,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/11\/tweetizen-trump-2017-05-11-why-is-everyone-talking-about-comey-still.html","url_meta":{"origin":136116,"position":3},"title":"Tweetizen Trump – 2017-05-11 "Why is everyone talking about Comey still?!"","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 11-May-17 7:38am","format":false,"excerpt":"This one doesn't seem to be going away, Donald. Which is, perhaps, why you keep talking about it.\u25ba Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey. Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites! [1P]\u25ba The Democrats should be ashamed. This is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Trump%2Bcomey%2Bfiring%2Bhypocrisy.PNGimgmax%3D660.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Trump%2Bcomey%2Bfiring%2Bhypocrisy.PNGimgmax%3D660.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Trump%2Bcomey%2Bfiring%2Bhypocrisy.PNGimgmax%3D660.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136107,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/13\/the-politics-of-personal-attack-and-presidential-power.html","url_meta":{"origin":136116,"position":4},"title":"The Politics of Personal Attack and Presidential Power","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 13-Apr-18 7:49am","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/comey.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":133495,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/17\/in-case-you-missed-it-trump-suggested-jailing-journalists.html","url_meta":{"origin":136116,"position":5},"title":"In case you missed it: Trump suggested jailing journalists","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 17-May-17 2:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"As I noted about the Comey memo in which Trump leaned on his FBI Director to \"let it go\" related to continuing to investigate Michael Flynn, there was another story buried: Trump suggesting Comey arrest some journalists who were printing leaked \"classified\" material.Supposedly this would be done under the century-old\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136125,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136116\/revisions\/136125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}