Canned Comey!

[Burning Petard]

The FBI has ingested much of the values and culture of the Mormons. I do not mean theology, but a general viewpoint on daily work life. This comes from a long standing FBI upper management bias that Mormons become better agents than the general run of American subcultures.

IF and a big if, the fired director managed to cultivate an impression that he was very loyal and supportive of underlings, then this Mormon culture will recoil against Trump. Yes, Mormons are 'conservative' and generally supportive of authority, but that support includes a whiff of paranoia, that outsiders are out to get them and treat them unfairly. The FBI culture will have a bias to defend their martyed leader and pursue any and all things that can reflect badly on the President.

snailgate.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Well worth reading.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ne/526230/

Talks about the firing of Comey from a civil libertarian perspective; and notes that even those who do not normally side with the squishier civil libertarians are now of the same view.

Edited to add this, from CNN, on a story about Trump's latest iteration of the 'why I fired him'story:

Trump sharply criticized Comey in the interview as "a showboat" and "a grandstander" and argued that Comey had thrown the FBI into "turmoil."

Isn't that a compliment coming from Trump?

[ex-khobar Andy]

You couldn't make this stuff up. Now he fired Comey because Comey is a grandstanding showboat. No comment.

More importantly, he apparently had three conversations with Comey in which Trump was assured that he was not under investigation. Does anyone recall the (somewhat justifiable) Republican apoplexy about Bill Clinton meeting Loretta Lynch on the tarmac at Phoenix?

[Sue U]

And from the Daily Beast:

In the wake of FBI Director James Comey's departure, a Republican senator has told the White House he thinks Merrick Garland—the judge nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Obama, who never even received a hearing—would be perfect for the position. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) tweeted on Thursday, "Instead of a special prosecutor, @realDonaldTrump should nominate Merrick Garland to replace James Comey." His spokesman, Conn Carroll, repeated that desire to The Daily Beast. "He's been sharing this idea with other Senate staff, and communicated this to the White House. It's something we want the administration to take seriously," said Carroll. "There was some interest [from White House staff]." Sen. Amy Klochubar (D-MN) also tweeted her support for the idea on Thursday. “Good idea @SenMikeLee. Former prosecutor Merrick Garland for FBI Director is great idea,” she wrote. “Need special prosecutor too.”

Now there's a Republican idea I can live with. But I am not taking bets on it . . .

Not only is that a terrible idea, I can't imagine Garland would even consider taking the job. First, he's a judge, not a LEO or agency administrator, so his background is not well suited to the job (even though he once was a prosecutor). Second, he's 64 years old and has been on the bench for 20 years; a radical change is unlikely at that point in anyone's career. Third, he has a lifetime appointment to the bench where he has complete judicial independence; why would anyone trade that for a political appointment and all the pressures that job entails, especially when it is a maximum of 10 years and can be terminated at the whim of the President?

[Lord Jim]

Not only is that a terrible idea, I can't imagine Garland would even consider taking the job. First, he's a judge, not a LEO or agency administrator, so his background is not well suited to the job (even though he once was a prosecutor).

Well, I've heard that he was actually under consideration for FBI Director job earlier...(and saying he was "once a prosecutor" somewhat understates his experience...He was the federal prosecutor who oversaw the prosecution of Timothy McVey for the Oklahoma City Bombing...)

But the strangest part of this suggestion, is who it's coming from...

Mike Lee of Utah...

Lee is one of the the most consistently hardcore right-wing members of the Senate...

He's shown himself on occasion to be something of an odd ball, but his general reputation is as Ted Cruz's less intelligent side-kick...

Wherever Ted is, Mike is generally right behind him...

Which raises the interesting question of whether when Lee floated this trial balloon, Gilligan had the go ahead from The Skipper...

[Crackpot]

Less intelligent Ted Cruz.... that's harsh.

[Lord Jim]

Less intelligent Ted Cruz.... that's harsh.

Ted Cruz is actually a very bright fellow...

Which is part of what makes him so dangerous...

Cruz graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy[34] from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs...

...After graduating from Princeton, Cruz attended Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude in 1995 with a Juris Doctor degree.[8][41]

While at Harvard Law, he was a primary editor of the Harvard Law Review, an executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and a founding editor of the Harvard Latino Law Review.[35]

Referring to Cruz's time as a student at Harvard Law, Professor Alan Dershowitz said, "Cruz was off-the-charts brilliant".

Clerkships

Cruz served as a law clerk to J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1995[46][48] and to William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States, in 1996.[8] Cruz was the first Hispanic to clerk for a Chief Justice of the United States

Appointed to the office of Solicitor General of Texas by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott,[48][55] Cruz served in that position from 2003 to 2008.[33][46] The office had been established in 1999 to handle appeals involving the state, but Abbott hired Cruz with the idea that Cruz would take a "leadership role in the United States in articulating a vision of strict constructionism".

As Solicitor General, Cruz argued before the Supreme Court of the United States nine times, winning five cases and losing four.[51][Not a bad record...]

Cruz has authored 70 U.S. Supreme Court briefs and presented 43 oral arguments, including nine before the United States Supreme Court.[42][48][56] Cruz's record of having argued before the Supreme Court nine times is more than any practicing lawyer in Texas or any current member of Congress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz

Mike Lee is a moron...

Tailgunner Ted is an evil genius...

[BoSoxGal]

Mr. Trump said in the NBC interview, “Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.”
“In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,” Mr. Trump said.

He's a supervillian - or insane.

[Econoline]

Why not both?

[Crackpot]

Trump is a Scooby Doo villain:

Blames others for his failures (I woulda gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling leakers)
Would probably get away with it if it wasn't for thier bizarre need to constantly draw attention to themselves
Costume consists of bad hair and unnatural skin colors

Come to think of it he has a healthy bit of Scrappy Doo to him too:

Makes it all about himself all the time
Vastly overestimates his own ability
Surrounds himself with people of questionable ability who nonetheless have to constantly bail him out

[Guinevere]

Not only is that a terrible idea, I can't imagine Garland would even consider taking the job. First, he's a judge, not a LEO or agency administrator, so his background is not well suited to the job (even though he once was a prosecutor).

Well, I've heard that he was actually under consideration for FBI Director job earlier...(and saying he was "once a prosecutor" somewhat understates his experience...He was the federal prosecutor who oversaw the prosecution of Timothy McVey for the Oklahoma City Bombing...)

But the strangest part of this suggestion, is who it's coming from...

Mike Lee of Utah...

Lee is one of the the most consistently hardcore right-wing members of the Senate...

He's shown himself on occasion to be something of an odd ball, but his general reputation is as Ted Cruz's less intelligent side-kick...

Wherever Ted is, Mike is generally right behind him...

Which raises the interesting question of whether when Lee floated this trial balloon, Gilligan had the go ahead from The Skipper...

Duh people. Garland is the Chief of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. That's the most powerful appeals court in the country behind the Supreme Court. If Garland has another job, the Trumpanzee gets to nominate his replacement. It's not about making Garland whole, it's about screwing him yet again (out of a job with lifetime tenure). But no worries he is way way smarter than the opposition.

[Joe Guy]

[rubato]

Cruz's weak performance versus Sally Yates suggests that whatever intellectual talent once had has gone. She dissected his pathetic attempts to trap her and showed only that he knows little and cares nothing for the truth.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

Mr. Trump said in the NBC interview, “Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.”
“In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,” Mr. Trump said.

He's a supervillian - or insane.

That's what I was referring to when I said in another thread that he had publicly confessed to obstruction of justice in his interview with Holt...

The man has admitted that he fired the FBI director because he thought Comey was doing too zealous a job investigating connections between him and his campaign and Russia...

You would think there would be some legal mind around him somewhere in the White House who could tell him just how damning that admission is...

If there's an Impeachment Trial, I expect that tape to played at it...

I think it's now time to make a change to my sig line...

[Lord Jim]

Cruz's weak performance versus Sally Yates suggests that whatever intellectual talent once had has gone. She dissected his pathetic attempts to trap her and showed only that he knows little and cares nothing for the truth.


yrs,
rubato

My take on that is Cruz knew full well how that would play out, and that it would make him look foolish and played to most normal people, but he did it anyway because he knew it would please the Trumpanzee chuckle heads that he's counting on to turn out for him in his re-election bid...

He knows that a lot of them aren't thrilled with him because of his campaign against Their Hero, so he wants to win them over...That was the audience he was playing to...

I'm certain that Cruz was well aware that Yates would be completely prepared for the tack he took, and he didn't care.

And he seems to have achieved the desired effect, when you look at all the bizarro stuff on the net in the Alternative Reality of Trumpanzee Land praising him for what a great job he did "demolishing" Yates...

[BoSoxGal]

Mr. Trump said in the NBC interview, “Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.”
“In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,” Mr. Trump said.

He's a supervillian - or insane.

That's what I was referring to when I said in another thread that he had publicly confessed to obstruction of justice in his interview with Holt...

The man has admitted that he fired the FBI director because he thought Comey was doing too zealous a job investigating connections between him and his campaign and Russia...

You would think there would be some legal mind around him somewhere in the White House who could tell him just how damning that admission is...

If there's an Impeachment Trial, I expect that tape to played at it...

I think it's now time to make a change to my sig line...

It would look much nicer if you had just the one banner - impeach Trump, of course!

[rubato]

"...

My take on that is Cruz knew full well how that would play out, and that it would make him look foolish and played to most normal people, but he did it anyway because he knew it would please the Trumpanzee chuckle heads that he's counting on to turn out for him in his re-election bid...
... "

So someone who crashed the government and hurt his own party purely for self-aggrandizement has now been redeemed and is willing to look like an asshole to all of the intelligent people in his party and out?

Good crop of 'shrooms this year?

Cruz may have had some talent at one time but his intellectual and moral corruption washed it out of him.


yrs.
rubato

[Gob]

I keep reading the title as "canned comedy", which, seeing it's about US politics, is rather apt.

[dales]

I keep reading it as "canned corn" which I believe is also apt.

[rubato]

I just love hearing from "Brexit boy". Always a good laugh.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05 ... exit-vote/

Surge in Britons seeking German citizenship post Brexit vote

There has been a sharp rise in the number of Britons applying for German nationality after last year’s Brexit vote.

According to an investigation by the Local, there has been a more than fivefold rise in applications made in major metropolitan areas.

With no deal in place guaranteeing the rights of Britons living in the EU after the UK leaves the European Union, the move reflects growing anxiety among the expat population.

It is estimated that 100,000 Britons live in Germany.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/busi ... .html?_r=0

‘Brexit’ Imperils London’s Claim as Banker to the Planet

By PETER S. GOODMANMAY 11, 2017


LONDON — From a skyscraper in Canary Wharf, the once-bustling cluster of docks transformed into a global banking center, traders at Citigroup’s regional headquarters move unfathomable sums of money around the planet. They are exploiting London’s unrivaled connections to the intricate plumbing of the international financial system.

Now the flow of money is in doubt, imperiling London’s fortunes.

Many of the transactions Citigroup oversees here are dependent on Britain’s inclusion in the European Union. Italian banks tap London’s vast pools of money to strengthen tattered balance sheets. German manufacturers borrow funds for expansion. Swiss money managers ply their fortunes. Citigroup and other global banks manage much of this activity, executing trades, and ensuring that money lands where it is supposed to, leaning heavily on their London operations.

In March, Prime Minister Theresa May set in motion Britain’s pending divorce from the European Union, starting talks with Europe to resolve future dealings across the English Channel. The negotiations come with a two-year deadline. If no agreement is struck — an outcome that cannot be discounted — Britain’s relationship with the European marketplace would be thrown into chaos.

That prospect was seemingly enhanced this week as France elected as its next president, Emmanuel Macron, who has vowed to ensure that Britain emerges the weaker from negotiations. He has promised to fight any agreement preserving access to Europe for London-based financial services companies, while openly calling for bankers to decamp for Paris.
Continue reading the main story

“It’s the British who will lose the most,” Mr. Macron said in a pre-election interview with the global affairs magazine Monocle. “The British are making a serious mistake over the long term.”

If a rupture across the channel results, global banks like Citi stand to feel significant consequences.

Somewhere between one-fifth and one-third of London’s financial undertakings now involve clients based in Europe. Much of this business is dependent on so-called passports that give financial firms in one European Union nation permission to operate in the others. Free of a deal preserving the essentials of passport rights, many of these trades would be effectively illegal. The rules and regulatory proclivities of 27 remaining European Union nations would have to be satisfied.

“I wouldn’t even be able to service some clients, theoretically, once the U.K. exits,” says Jerome Kemp, a New Yorker who is Citi’s global head of futures, clearing and collateral at its London headquarters. “If the client driving the order is sitting in the European Union, then we’ve got a problem.”

Whoops!


yrs,
rubato