The word "nothingburger" is now in general circulation, thanks originally I think to Mrs Clinton. It's so much in circulation, in fact, it's become an annoying cliché, so I shall avoid it from this segment on. That's what we have here though: a big fat nothingburger, with no pickles and no mayo. In fact it's exactly because millions of us see it that way that you're hearing the word "nothingburger" coming at you from every point of the compass.
From the little I could bring myself to watch of Thursday's hearings, Comey came across as deeply unimpressive. He came across in fact as a bit of a snowflake.
Quote: "I felt compelled to document my first conversation with the President-Elect in a memo." Quote: "I felt free to share that. I thought it very important to get it out." And then, quote:
The administration chose to defame me and more importantly the FBI, by saying the organisation was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. Those were lies, plain and simpleWell, no, actually, they weren't. If I forget to put the garbage out, and my wife asks me if I put the garbage out, and I say, "Yes, Honey, I did," that's a lie, plain and simple. Saying that the FBI was in disarray is not a lie, it's an opinion. It might be false, but it can be honestly held.
I have friends who believe that Abraham Lincoln was a mass murderer and a traitor to the Constitution. They may be wrong, but I don't doubt their sincerity. They may be wrong but they're not lying.
The opinion that the FBI "was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader" was a lot more plausible than that, after the shenanigans last year over Mrs Clinton's emails. It still might have been wrong; but it wasn't unreasonable. It certainly wasn't a lie; and it double certainly wasn't a lie "plain and simple."
To Comey, though, it felt like a lie. That's the realm we're in here, the realm of feelings. [Clip: "Feelings, wo wo wo feelings …"] I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that Comey burst into tears after Trump fired him last month.
Here's a suggestion for whichever publisher takes on Comey's memoirs. Perhaps a suitable title for the book would be: Trump Lied, I Cried. Just a suggestion.
Playlist:
02m43s — Radical liberalism strikes again. (Kills eight in London.)
09m56s — May Day! May Day! (Theresa the Lackluster.)
15m09s — The real political divide? (More and more of us just hate 'em all.)
22m06s — Comey: Trump lied, I cried. (An opinion isn't a lie.)
28m29s — The Empire strikes back. (The crack of doom would be a relief.)
31m27s — Does Trump care about the National Question? (Grading the President.)
38m14s — Aren't South Koreans ashamed? (Watching their compatriots starve.)
40m45s — The nadir of nationalism? (Watch France this weekend.)
42m52s — Hail to the Chief! (Cracks in the welcome.)
44m00s — Signoff.
