It's All Politics

            My son Marc lives in Florida, but stays at our home when he has business in Norfolk. On the day FBI Director James Comey announced he wouldn’t recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton, Marc stormed in and said, “I have lost complete confidence in our government.” He went on to recall that during his long career as a naval officer he was subject to very strict regulations governing the handling of sensitive or confidential information, and that the punishment for violating those regulations was swift and severe. He was outraged by the pass Comey gave to Clinton after describing a long list of indictable offenses, not to mention proving that she is a serial and shameless liar.

            Marc wasn’t the only one to voice similar opinions. For myself, I find it terribly difficult not to be cynical about our leaders’ assertions of fairness and impartiality. Comey’s verbal acrobatics to preserve his reputation as a straight-shooter are a case in point. Placing politics above justice, he knew all along that he would not recommend that Hillary be prosecuted, in spite of having a solid case. So he found a way to justify his decision by basing it on a lack of intent on Hillary’s part, while dismissing her gross negligence. He failed badly to make his case, and the speciousness of his logic was laid bare repeatedly during his testimony before by the House Oversight Committee.

            Two points betrayed Comey’s impartiality. First, when asked if Hillary Clinton had lied to the FBI during her 3 ½ hour interview, Comey said no. That was a safe answer, considering he had not been present at the 3 ½ hour interview – how strange is that? -- and no transcript was available for anyone to examine. Second, Comey admitted that he had not factored into his decision Secretary Clinton’s perjured testimony before a Congressional Committee on Benghazi. That is really strange, as perjury is a felony and the FBI was conducting a criminal investigation.

            Is my son’s loss of confidence in the government justified? We might say that it’s just something in the air. I call it the stench of corruption.