THE ANIMUS OF JAMES COMEY - DID AMERICA’S TOP COP CHANGE THE WORLD?

938
0
Submitted Date 06/19/2022
Bookmark

Say more…is a term used by FBI Director James Comey, among others, in the two-episode series on Showtime, The Comey Rule, starring Jeff Daniels.

I have no doubt that the term is or could be used by the FBI, it is a way that its speaker can convey the desire to hear more information from someone else on a matter being discussed.

During the 2016 election year the FBI investigated Hillary Clinton twice and concluded there were no chargeable offenses. That didn't sit well for many Americans, especially Democrats who saw the investigation so close to the election as tipping the scales in favor of Donald Trump. And when Trump won the election, even more people looked at the FBI and at James Comey as its leader, to be responsible for Clinton's loss.

When James Comey made his July statement informing the public that the FBI found no chargeable wrongdoing by Clinton, it was puzzling when the FBI then reopened the investigation just days before the election. It does, when looked at on the surface, wreak of meddling in of itself.

It would seem for many that the lack of explanation by James Comey and the FBI (to the satisfaction of the American public) spawned conspiracy theories and outright anger and hatred towards the government, the FBI and James Comey.

I must confess I wasn't satisfied with Director Comey's brief explanation of the decision that the FBI reached. However, my dissatisfaction wasn't seeded in my dislike for Clinton or Trump, or my support of either candidate, it was simply in the lack of information given to the people. We have become much too accustomed to instant everything. Technology has bred a society of now, now, now and more, more, more.

So I blamed James Comey and the whole lot down at the FBI for sticking their noses into the whole matter to begin with. Even though I knew that the FBI never comments on investigations publicly, I held my own negative thoughts towards them, and James Comey.

So as we all know, Donald Trump was elected and everything that happened subsequent to that election has happened. James Comey became only the second FBI director to be fired. I cannot say that James Comey was fired for just cause, but regardless, he was in fact fired.

There were more firings and resignations associated with the 2016 election and its aftermath than during Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre!

It's been four plus years now, we have a new president resulting from the 2020 election.

I began to think how the country, and almost by default, how the world has changed – for good or bad, since Donald Trump became president. It is not my job to sit here and write anything good or bad about the last four years, I only wish to try to be objective.

But if one does sit back and look objectively at our country and the world as a whole, it has indeed changed as it often does when politics change. And though I cannot state one way or the other if that change would be better or worse if Hillary Clinton had won, it would also be a different world today than the one after four years of Trump.

An argument could be made on some deal of supposition that James Comey did in fact help to change the country and the world, obviously not something I think he set out to do. But by doing his job as director of the FBI, he knowingly or unknowingly may have influenced the 2016 election. Something I am quite certain he does not relish having accomplished if it is in fact true. After all, this is merely my personal opinion.

My purpose in writing this is not to recite the litany of events that arose out of the 2016 election. There is plenty available to the public to feed them and their consumption of that without my adding to the truth or falsehoods that plague the internet and news media as a whole.

What I wish to convey is this…I formed an opinion of an organization and its leader that at the time seemed more or less rational and on the side of right. Now, with the passage of time, with the cooling of the issues and a change in leadership, I have come to a conclusion, that I had wrongly judged the FBI and James Comey back then.

When I digested all that has happened and all the lies and deception (and yes some has come from the FBI) I began to see what James Comey was facing and up against from the get go. Reading his book, A Higher Loyalty – Truth, Lies, And Leadership sealed the deal and I knew I had to examine my thinking both of the FBI and James Comey. (By the way, I highly recommend reading his book!)

The head of the FBI manages more than 35,000 employees. James Comey apparently made it a point to visit all 56 field offices of the FBI early on in his tenure as director. Why does someone do that? Is it merely to meet the faces in the trenches or to be seen as a regular guy? Is it ego or micromanagement? I cannot speak to that.

What I can say is that if it were me, I think I may have done the exact same thing. My reasons would have been in part because I want to see the faces of everyone I am affecting with my choices and decisions as their leader. Being any leader of a law enforcement agency has got to be one of the most difficult and stressful positions one could ever endure.

As the director, James Comey had to make decisions or have subordinates make decisions that could very well affect the lives of the agents under their supervision. That cannot be an easy task to undertake. Two FBI agents were recently killed in the line of duty in Florida and they undoubtedly will not be the last.

The thing that the public needs to grasp and understand is this. We do not work at the FBI. We are not the director of the FBI. Unless you work for this agency I can almost guarantee that you have little knowledge or understanding of how it works, what rules must be followed and what norms are adhered to. Not to mention the political land mines that must be deftly avoided in the course of your employ.

It is insanely difficult to work within an environment of bureaucracy, red tape, political partisanship and bias that the FBI operates. All the while trying to serve the public good with Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity as is their motto.

When I look at all of the anger and hatred that has arisen in this country during and subsequent to the FBI's investigation it makes me sad. It is difficult for me to grasp or understand how a person can hold such anger and hatred within themselves toward a group of people they have never met, never known and don't hold all the facts on. How can you hate the FBI or James Comey because Clinton lost the election? That is psychological lunacy to harbor such ill feelings towards a group or person you do not know and have never met.

This country is full of too much hatred as it is. Misguided people holding misguided and ignorant views is the last thing we need.

Hatred doesn't punish who you think it does.

I feel that I harbor no hatred towards anyone; I realize that I would only be punishing myself in doing so. I would bet money that if you hate, whatever or whoever you hate has no idea that you do. So what gain is there in hating?

My digression is over, and while I do not hate, I did misjudge and think negatively of and towards James Comey. I have come to realize that in my misjudging I harbored a feeling that was wrong, that was misguided and yes, ignorant. I was not in possession of the truth, and still am not. But I have realized that I was in error and do not wish to remain so.

It is not my place or anyone within the public to cast judgements upon James Comey, or anyone else for that matter. Their rights or wrongs are for them to acknowledge and amend, not ours.

Did James Comey change the world? I cannot answer that. If he did, my hope is that it is in some way a positive change. What did change is me, my perception and view of James Comey, which in the end is all that is important for me.

I feel compelled to express my apologies to James Comey for thinking of him as I had. Regardless of what anyone else thinks of him, he has had to endure more than most of us would ever want to live through and I cannot imagine the degree of change that has come upon him and his family.

So now James Comey is a former FBI director. I do not know if that is a good thing or not for him but as a writer I can say that the pay is certainly better writing books than being FBI director.

I am quite certain James Comey will never read this or know my thoughts, both then and now. It is never easy to serve your fellow human beings, regardless of the capacity. It is hard enough just being ourselves and being the best person we can be. Or as James Comey has stated, to "do that good as long as ever you can." Something I would like to be able to say I have done when my journey is over.

It is my sincere hope that when we encounter someone we may disagree with or find ourselves wanting to find fault or hatred towards that we stop, and realize that we are all human beings deserving of love and respect.

Maybe if we change our thinking towards each other, instead of anger and hatred and lashing out against one another, we can sit down with those we oppose and tell one another…say more.

Comments

Please login to post comments on this story