This morning was one of those weekdays when must-see events unfolded for people at home in front of the television, drivers listening on Sirius radio, or office workers paying attention via tablets. What happened this morning was simply unprecedented. .
FBI Director James Comey delivered an implicit rebuke to Donald Trump, telling the House Intelligence Committee that he had “no information” to support claims by Trump that he was wiretapped on the orders of predecessor President Barack Obama.
Most dramatic was the news that, yes, the US government is undertaking a counterintelligence investigation of the presidential election. Investigators are not simply looking into whether Russia interfered with the election — by now that is a fact confirmed by 17 of the country’s intelligence agencies. Now the FBI is looking into who from Trump’s campaign might have helped the Russians. This might include Trump himself. Seriously. That is where we are in this nation tonight.
It was dramatic and riveting as Comey also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a clear preference for whom he wanted to see as the next US President — and it was not Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump, the national ass-hat then used his media operation at the White House to launch a political offensive even as the hearing continued. It was something that not even Aaron Sorkin could have dreamed up. Press spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump would not apologize to Obama for the wiretapping accusations, adding that questions remain about possible surveillance. It all simply underscores the fact Trump is not only divorced from a number of wives but also from reality.
In the hearing that gripped the nation Comey publicly confirmed for the first time that his agency is investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Not just Russian interference or political coordination but collusion. That was a major statement that rattled the Trump White House–though there is no way they did not already know it. But the mere public statement sent bowels quaking at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
That the Republicans Party, once seen as the party of law and order, has now in just a couple of months of Trump in the White House become connected to sinister moves to destabilize our democracy with Russian assistance is nothing short of stunning.
The undereducated provincial angry white men who created this national embarrassment with their votes are likely not able to comprehend what they did to our country. Those who do understand history, civics, law–in other words those ‘elitists’ who dare read and think–will never forgive the bastards.
Today was a sad and despicable entry into our national story. And it never need to have happened. That is what pisses smart people off more than anything else.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 