The Comey firing (what else?!)

My dissertation advisor, Nelson Polsby, used to tell a story.  Lots of stories, but one in particular comes to mind at times like this.  The former executive editor of the Washington Post, Ben Bradlee, used to say that he wanted people to open up the newspapers every morning (remember those things?) and say, "holy shit!"  In order to get that to happen, they would call us, the professoriate, to get a few choice quotes for their stories.  They would say, "holy shit, right prof, holy shit?"  And, Nelson would say, it was our job to tell them, "no, not holy shit, this is normal and expected and here's why this is exactly what happens on a regular basis," or something to that effect.

Um...

HOLY SHIT!!!

The Trump era is so filled with true "holy shit" moments that we are in danger of becoming inured to them, but really:  HOLY SHIT!!!

So, when Comey introduced the first real October surprise that ever measurably switched an electoral outcome, I put up a few posts parsing his motives.  First, I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt with this post, arguing that the "mini-max regret rule" would push him to release the information about the re-opened Clinton investigation in October.  A few days later, I argued that a better predictor of Comey's general behavior was whatever would screw over Clinton, and the investigation even went back to his bizarre decision to castigate her during the initial announcement not to prosecute, while trying to usurp that whole thing from the AG.  Basically, yeah, the investigation looked at his overall behavior, and combined that with his latest lies about the Abedin/Weiner computer, and it really does look like he was just out to get Clinton.  Gotta agree.  That was my conclusion based on Mill's Methods, last year.

Is that the real reason Trump fired him?  Clearly no.  Does the phrase "lock her up" ring a bell?  Yeah, Trump isn't going to fire Comey for going too hard after Clinton.

When I first got news of the firing and the investigation into Comey, I had to re-read the story a couple of times, thinking I had mis-read it.  I thought that the investigation must have concluded that Comey was wrong to not seek charges, and that's why Trump fired him.  That would have made sense, given the whole "lock her up" thing.  Trump can't seriously be pissed off about what the investigation actually concluded.  He can't.  Yes, Comey was WAY THE FUCK OUT OF LINE.  In SO many ways.  But that isn't why Trump fired him.

Is this really about Russia?  Who the hell knows?  This isn't something that political science can really help with here.  I hate to say it, but we need....  damn, this kills me to type it... journalists here.  Real, old-fashioned, investigative journalism, of the type that has been pushed aside by a combination of laziness and market forces.  Get to work, journalists.

If this is about Comey looking into Russia...

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