Trump: I Was Going to Fire Comey Anyway, Regardless of Rod Rosenstein's Memo

I'm glad this is out of the way:

Rosenstein was apparently angry that it had been whispered or implied that he had "recommended" that Comey be fired, and that he was the main motivating force behind the firing.

Apparently he was angry about the put-the-blame-on-Rosenstein campaign (but see downpost).

Rosenstein's role, I'm thinking, was to write a memo informing Trump whether he had justification or cause for termination of Comey. He did this, I would guess, at Trump's direction, or at Sessions' request (who, if involved at all, probably was just relaying Trump's order).

So Rosenstein researched it and rendered an opinion that yes, Trump could fire Comey, and did have cause to do so.

If he wanted to fire him, that is -- if he wanted to fire him, he had cause.

But that's not the same as Rosenstein himself initiating this or directing it or "recommending" it.

So I'm glad that this shabby, poorly-thought-out decision to suggest that Rosenstein Did It is behind us.

Well, it's not behind us. It will be Maddow's Top Story for three months.

But at least no one will feel compelled to try to support a claim that seemed pretty implausible almost from the beginning.

If this can be called a lie -- I'm not sure it's a "lie," straight-up, but more of a manipulation or insinuation/implication by careful wording -- it's a dumb one. It's like using a buddy as an alibi, telling your wife you were doing Church Work with him on Friday night, when you were really out at a tittybar getting drunk and stanky, without ever asking your buddy if he was cool being your alibi or even telling him you were using him as your alibi.

It's very, very dumb to use Rod Rosenstein as an alibi without even clearing it with him first. That sort of thing results in... well, the current conflagration.

Beyond the dumbness of it, there is also of course the moral question about lying. Or misleading. It's shabby behavior, it's dishonorable, and the excuse that people being lied about by the media have latitude to lie in their own defense is getting really overworked lately. At some point, that dog won't hunt, and that point was a month and a half ago.

There is also the problem that lying is generally taken by people to be a sign of a guilty conscience -- few people lie about things they feel ethically confident about or proud of. It's the things people know they shouldn't do that they lie about.

I had no problem with Trump firing Comey, and I assumed it was all on the up-and-up. But if it were on the up-and-up, why mislead about it? Why misdirect people about the parentage of the firing?

If it's not shameful, why is deception being deployed to hide it?

The only good thing here is that now that Trump has admitted it was his idea, I can say "It was Trump's idea" without being yelled at by a contingent of Trump supporters who often take it upon themselves to be Trump's own Media Narrative Enforcement Brigades.

About Rosenstein threatening to quit if it were not "clarified" that this was not Rosenstein's call: Although there seem to be too many reports that Rosenstein was upset and/or angered by this, there seems to be some doubt about the Blue Checkmark Mafia Media's claims -- luridly retweeted and blogged for many hours today -- that he "threatened to quit" over the incident.

Not true, says Rod Rosenstein himself.

When asked by Sinclair Broadcast Group's Michelle Macaluso about reports that claim otherwise, he stated "no, I'm not quitting."

Macaluso: Did you threaten to quit?

Rosenstein: No.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that "Rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey," citing an unnamed source close to the White House.

Other reporters on Capitol Hill also stated he was upset at the administration over the matter.

Not sure if one can believe that -- perhaps some personal diplomacy was worked out behind the scenes permitting both parties to have some cover (Trump needing it much more) -- but Rosenstein says he didn't threaten to quit.

A little unsolicited advice for Trump: What made Trump popular among many was the fact that he couldn't be bowed by the stultifying, suffocating politically-correct received-wisdom-of-the-elites phony government/media complex, and would often blurt out unpopular and harsh truths. (Also some unpopular and harsh lies, but let's stick to the truths.)

And also: that he seemed like a brazen enough guy that he didn't lie like other typical Washington politicians. Not necessarily because he was a good man, but just because He Didn't Give a Fuck. And whatever the motive, that's refreshing.

Invigorating. Bracing. Enlivening.

Thrilling, even.

Trump really should get back to that and stop with the dissembling. We've had enough of that.

Lies are so tedious and so 2008-2016. And so... Beta.

Alpha Males aren't supposed to lie, because they don't have to lie. They don't try to get their way through indirect, scheming, feminine methods like deception. They just to straight to the thing they want and do it.

Or at least that's the theory.

If you want to fire a guy, be a man about it, be brazen about it, and just go on TV and say "I'm firing this guy because I don't like him and I think he's a water-carrier for Obama, Lynch, Hillary, and the Deep State/Liberal Media Establishment."

Just show your dick. Don't play with it in the dark corners like a guilt-ridden pervert.

Just whip it out and wag it around like a proud, confident pervert.

People are tired of being lied to. I know I am. And we actually like getting a dash of unvarnished, unscripted, un-focus-grouped truth every now and again.

Trump is a shitty, obvious, unconvincing liar and he needs to know that about himself. (Obama was too, but he had the media backing him up on every inch of deception.)

Don't do the shit you're bad at; do the stuff you're good at.

posted by Ace at 02:45 PM

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