The man who Brought Us Trump is now giving ethical lectures.
26
I wonder if Trump will give Mr. Comey a medal for giving him tremdous help prior to the election to defeat Hillary Clinton. He has had his fifteen minutes of fame.
12
Mr. Comey who shares a great deal of the blame for putting in the White House a divisive, ignorant bully should apologize and do penance rather than pretend he somehow is living on a moral high ground and dispensing wisdom. This op-ed piece is a little too late and a bit sanctimonious.
11
"Traveling around speaking about ethical leadership"? More like traveling around selling books.
6
Voting is not easy in most states. The path to victory for values is to make sure it is nearly impossible NOT to vote. Early voting and vote by mail initiatives need to be developed in each state that does not have them.
7
Values like Spying on elected Representatives?
Values like absolving Hillary before you even completed the interviews?
Values like lying to the FISA Court?
Values like Stalin Style investigations?
3
Mr. Comey repeats something that has taken hold in popular consensus - that America is becoming a majority minority country or that white Americans will soon be in the minority. I believe that this characterization inflames some people.
The truth is much more subtle. Because of the weird way we deal with race, the child of a black mother and a white father is considered black, not white. If your mother is from Puerto Rico and your father is white you are considered Hispanic.
The truth is that America is becoming mixed race. In the 1950's when my parents married they were considered a "mixed" couple because my father was Catholic and my mother was Protestant. There was a lot of acrimony in the family over that. Even a few years ago there was scandal when there was a Cheerio's ad with with a black father and white mother depicted.
Most of the younger generations simply don't understand this type of thinking. They have grown up with mixed couples (religion, race, gender, etc.) and just don't see it the same way. I can't wait until they take over.
17
I cannot listen to James Comey comment on the state of our nation while knowing he gave Trump the 2016 election with his release regarding Hillary Clinton just before the 2016 election. I can appreciate that he may feel the need to expiate his conscience — I can only hope he feels remorse, despite his defense of what he did — but I can never read anything he offers without holding him contemptible for what he did in 2016.
22
Yes, it is more than just an election. It is an awakening. Maybe a reawakening of the Nationalists. Covering my laptop computer eye cam now with just a piece cardboard after thinking of once not too long ago Mr. James Comey said that the F.B.I. employees do that at work. So who's watching us? Some far off planet that we don't or our government knows? And then there is the Freedom of Information that anyone can obtain your voting record. Of which I received a letter recently from someone I will not name. Shows compared to others I voted a lot of General Elections. But as I said before not this time. For many that may sound like a cop out but you know it isn't. It's when you are up against the wall. Like we Americans are. Vote but also know that if you don't America will be okay. It always will be but with many not just the one. Unless it's Jesus come back for one thousand years. Who knows we don't or won't know until it happens. And it will keep going. Life when there is death and death when there is life. It won't take much to know that we are going to face obstacles as we have in the past. It will get better but voting in this Mid Term Elections is just the beginning. Don't worry there's more voting ahead here in America. It won't become a dictatorship under President Donald J. Trump. Even if Big Brother is knocking at our door. Orson Welles' "The War of the Worlds"? Donald J. Trump is not the Devil and he's not a Saint either. He is human.
Mr Comey writes that after WWI the USA went through some great changes, women received the right to vote...etc
I feel compelled to point out that whilst some women were given suffrage, at that that time, black women’s voting rights came much later, all of which makes me question Mr Comey’s true colors.
5
It’s hard to read an article about what’s wrong with the country since Trump was “elected”...and there is a lot wrong indeed...that is written by the man who had such a huge influence on Hillary Clinton losing that election. I want to believe it was a Terrible error in judgment on Comey’s part and not a deliberate effort to influence the election against her. But I still wonder if Comey can sleep at night, Seeing what a monster has unleashed by what he did. Maybe that is why he goes around the country now, trying to atone.
18
@Ce Dawson I truly believe that Comey did what he thought was right. If he had to do it over again, maybe he'd have chosen a different course of action, but I think he is a man of integrity.
8
James Comey: 'I talk to God but the sky is empty, so I settle for NY Times readers to help me atone'.
5
I hate to have to be the one to break this to you jimmy boy but, as you can clearly see, you are not yet forgiven for poisoning the last election.
Try again in 2020.
Until then crawl back under your rock and leave us alone.
13
Hey Jim, thanks for giving us the opportunity. Just kidding. You should have kept your mouth shut two years ago. It's all on your head. Sorry to be so brutally honest with you.
18
You've "...been traveling around the United States for six months speaking about ethical leadership". That must be nice for you, considering you should be in jail!
That you believe you are qualified to lecture people on 'ethical leadership' is worrying, that some are listening worries more.
The FBI is and was meant to be APOLITICAL - that all changed under your 'leadership'. And, still you push your political bias in opinion pieces like these, thank g_d Trump fired you.
7
You, leaker, you slanted the 2016 election and the NYTimes still welcomes you the luckiest guy in both party.
8
Our nation's values do not include the Obama KGB-Gestapo under Comey spying on US citizens,covring up Clinton crimes, and attempting to remove a legitimately elected government.
Comey needs to be in Guantanamo, not on a book tour
2
Much criticism of Comey here in these comments because of his perceived effect on Clinton's loss.
Wonder why The Times picked Comey to write this op ed today, of all people? How does the Times regard Comey?
3
Really????
You have some nerve James Comey.
Do you think you are fixing what you did?
You violated your oath of office through bypassing your superior. When you can pay for the troops now sent to the border, repay the taxpayers for all golf trips and other nonsense, reunite families separated at the border and put our environmental protections back in place then you can speak out. Until then you are responsible for chaos and nothing less.
15
On October 28, 2016 you wrote and made public a letter stating that you were re-opening the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation because other government agencies discovered additional Hillary Clinton E-MAIL criminal violations of federal security law on the laptop computer of US Congressman Anthony David Weiner (D-NY) along with selfies of his genitalia that he was publicly broadcasting (sexting) to generate new underage sexual partners while Weiner was married at the time to Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Hillary Clinton was apparently e-mailing that SECRET classified information to her aide Huma Abedin and other associates VIA unsecure public e-mail.
Since you and the DEEP STATE government employees at the Justice Department and the FBI would still not prosecute Hillary Clinton for these felonies, then the US Congress should also illustrate the politically unbiased orientation of the members of their Congressional Investigative Committee by having this Committee prepare a report recommending the indictment and arrest of Hillary Clinton for her actions that did indeed violate 18 U.S. Code § 798 - Disclosure of classified information – PL 114-38 Federal Law, Title 18, Section 2071 since those actions probably harmed the USA.
3
The Federalist Society packing the courts will kill the American dream. White rich men and corpirtations, those super citizens, will rule.
3
Dear Mr. Comey:
Well said.
In fact, I shall add two other stains upon this Republic:
(1) The late J. Edgar Hoover;
and
(2) Section 215 of the Patriot Act.
(See, e.g., Charlie Savage, "N.S.A. Purges Hundreds of Millions of Call and Text Records," NYTimes (June 29, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/us/politics/nsa-call-records-purged.html.)
After all, as an American author (and journalist) once said:
"Washington is no doubt the boss town in the country for a man to live in who wants to get all the pleasure he can in a given number of months. But I wasn't built that way. I don't want the earth at one gulp. All of us are always losing some pleasure that we might have if we could be everywhere at once. I lose Washington, for instance, for the privilege of saving my life. My doctor told me that if I wanted my three score and 10, I must go to bed early, keep out of social excitements, and behave myself. You can't do that in Washington. Nobody does."
— Mark Twain, quoted in the St. Louis Post- Dispatch (May 19, 1889)
Take care, sir.
2
At 77, I hope I will live long enough to see change for the better. The US has a long road back to restoration of a once great country.
I hope to live to see Trump out of office 1st. Then to at least see a Democratic president.
To see our 3 branches of govt liberated from domination by a rw nationalist extremist party allied with corporate money, seeking power, the country be damned.
I hope to live to watch the news again without feelings of revulsion and anxiety.
And to see our democracy and economic equality start to be restored, so that we can again help lead the world, not lag other democracies.
At my age, in hopes, I am eating my veggies, and exercising for a longer life!
71
Interesting - "Let’s Vote to Uphold Our Nation’s Values"
Ok, just what values are defined as the Nations? Those pushed by the radical Left - especially failing to enforce immigration laws, or the radical Right? There was enough evidence to go after Hildabag, but Comey made sure the deep state looked the other way. Sure, some values .
1
There are some things we can all agree on.
1
The 19th Amendment was also accompanied by the Volstead Act, which was eventually appealed, but had the effect of the most massive subsidy of bootlegging conceivable and 'organized' crime. The KKK became ascendant under President Woodrow Wilson, who brought back segregation to our Postal Service and actively discriminated against African Americans in our Civil Service and Armed Services. Wilson celebrated and promoted "the Klansman" a.k.a., "The Birth of a Nation," not only by screening it at the White House, but by allowing his name to be used in advertising endorsing it and quoting him by name in its titles.
Mr. Comey helped elect Trump by failing to publicly disclose the FBI's active investigation into collusion with Russia during the 2016 election in the months when it would have made a critical difference. He further helped by allowing his NY office to run a renegade operation coordinated with corrupt money launderer and former organized crime prosecutor, Rudy Giuliani to pretend and promote fake reports that Hillary Clinton was "about to be indicted." And Mr. Comey is responsible for his decision to hold a public press conference publicly critical of Secretary of State Clinton for minor lapses of judgment, while failing to point out that candidate Trump was possibly engaged in treason along with his campaign.
That said, yes Mr. Comey has 100 times more integrity than Donald Trump. That's damning with faint praise.
5
On July 05, 2016 you stated in your news conference on national TV that you found documented evidence that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did commit 90+ criminal E_MAIL violations of federal security law after Hillary had her staff destroy all of their hard drives, cell phones, laptops and other e-mail devices with hammers to prevent discovery of US security law violations by the legal system.
That was the time and place for You to arrest Hillary Clinton.
Why is not anybody else mad over this preferential treatment and selective law enforcement that you (and your boss Loretta Lynch) bestowed onto Hillary Clinton?
Why did you let Hillary walk free?
Julius and Ethyl Rosenburg were electrocuted for violating this very same US law that Hillary Clinton violated.
You stated on TV that at your own personal discretion you personally elected not to recommend the arrest or prosecution of Hillary Clinton.
2
I suspect the FBI knew all about Trump’s money laundering, Russian mob connections, bogus Real Estate deals, and Conspiracies against United States etc, and felt some emails were vastly insignificant in comparison.
5
I find it really hypocritical that a bunch of people talk badly about the current President's morals when these same people were high diving each other when hearing the Bill Clinton made it with an intern in the Oval Office. These same people then voted for Hillary Clinton who shamed the women who were sexually assaulted by Her husband.
1
When I read this op-ed, my mind fixated on last night's split-screen TV image of President Trump haranguing in the smallness of his bigotry set against President Obama articulating hoarsely, passionately and inspirationally for a return to truth and common decency.
Only one of these split images holds the promise of making America great again.
6
Mr. Comey, I will never be able to forget what you did to Hillary in the 2016 election. Your arrogant attitude sunk this country to deal with the monster you helped get elected. The majority of the country knew ahead of time what an incompetent evil man he was, yet, you helped him get elected. You, with the help of the Russians, have caused your fellow Americans the worst nightmare we could ever have imagined...worse than 9/11...
2
Even for Comey, it seems dishonest to try to conflate the ordinary task of border control, which every nation practices, with the actions of the KKK. I suppose in Comey's world, Mexico is anti-Hispanic for controlling their borders, primarily against South Americans.
And then to use this already nonsensical argument to pitch for the Party that founded the KKK, and still supports racial preferences to this very day is really beyond the pale.
Comey never really even attempts to mount an argument to prove his absurd premise. He simply starts by begging the question, and continues begging it right to the end.
One good takeaway from the article is his claim that 16 Democrat Senators became members of the KKK.
Will people believe the orange lying snake oil salesman, or will they see through to the truth? That is the question that will be decided today.
Um, immigration was cut way back in the 1920s
1
You, sir, don't have a leg to stand on regarding this question.
James Comey writes, "Then the Klan fever broke in the late 1920s and we resumed our upward progress. That’s the story of America."
Alas, this optimistic assessment in misleading.
The KKK resurgence, indeed its most popular period, was a response to mass immigration c. 1880-1924 from East Asia and Eastern and Southern Europe.
These immigrants caused a panic in the US *not* because of their skin color but because they were peasants. Accounts from the period focus on the primitive culture peasant immigrants carried. "White" Poles were just as frightening as "yellow" Chinese. Both were peasants.
Quota and exclusion acts ended this immigration. Only then did the KKK die back. The Scientific Racism of Madison Grant and others only lost popularity *after* the Holocaust revealed its ugly application. Hitler called Grant's book his own "Bible."
It took shattering events to prompt Americans to give up their xenophobia against peasant immigrants.
1
US citizens must always remember that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton committed treason against the USA with her inaction as the Secretary of State concerning the URANIUM ONE sale that transferred US owned underground Uranium Military Assets to Russian Businessmen in return for financial benefits for the Clinton family.
$143M was laundered by Russians through the Clinton Foundations (that then pays the Clinton family member’s high six-figure salaries plus first class world travel expenses) in return for Hillary Clinton’s inaction in the Uranium One sale of US nuclear security assets to Russia that harmed the USA.
The US congress could also illustrate the politically unbiased orientation of the members of the Congressional Investigative Committee by having this Committee investigate and prepare a report recommending the arrest of and an indictment against Hillary Clinton for her treason, since the DEEP STATE employees of the FBI will not.
The US public has the right to expect that FBI employees such as yourself will not show political favoritism to any citizen that commits any crime against the laws of the USA.
I am mad over this preferential treatment and selective law enforcement that was bestowed by you, the Deep State FBI employees, other DOJ employees, plus maybe their boss Loretta Lynch also onto Hillary Clinton?
1
If Mr.Comey had not gone against the guidelines of the Justice Department and do something close to an election which can have an effect on that election, we wouldn't be in the position of having someone from the Gambino family in the White House.
2
Mr. Comey if you see "Torches and death in Charlottesville. Children in cages at the border. The lying, misogyny, racism and attacks on the rule of law from our president" you facilitated it with your actions in the fall of 2016. A bit too late for crocodile tears.
2
Yes. Never forget. There is a great giant of truth in all of us. However slowly to awaken. Whose steps are needed now to lead us — by great leaps — over the soul of great hatred. Whose action justice is wholly dependent upon. I pray for that giant in all of us to awaken today.
While Comey makes many valid points, it is hard to listen to him. His actions AGAINST Hillary Clinton in 2016 changed the outcome of the election. Without his actions we would not have had the nightmare of trump for past 2 years.
3
As a newly minted citizen, although denied the right to vote by my naturalization being 2 days after the FL deadline for voter registration, Mr Comey echoes my thoughts about the strength of the democracy that I’m proud to now be a part of...Ethical Leadership is the name of the game - Bravo!
1
I remember that Friday before the election of 2016 like it was yesterday, when my heart fell miles into an absolute abyss once James Comey announced the HRC/Huma Abedin-Weiner nonsense.
Yes, Mr. Comey, your words today are soothing, but may I remind you that many Americans, myself included, feel you stuck the knife in our candidate’s back and twisted the election for Donald Trump.
I will never forgive that error in judgement.
And America will never be the same, despite your hopes and words.
The genie has left the bottle.
6
I wish that Mr. Comey had posted several days ago, since there's usually a lag of several days between and article's appearance and its possibly-broad influence. It's a little late, Mr. Comey. But bless you.
James Comey:
I am discouraged. Even more I am angered.
When Supreme Court justices can be selected based on their law-breaking skills (underage drinking is a crime, so is sexual assault, so is lying under oath), our laws are corrupted. Our laws are meaningless if they are applied based on skin color, or wealth, or citizenship, or membership in a chosen political party, or family.
When our elections are explicitly biased so a majority of the people must be a super-majority to hope to compete with the lawbreakers, the ballot box loses its ability to remedy wrongs.
When a "News" source is permitted to monopolize the information flow (Sinclair, Fox, AM Radio) with no checks on honesty or accuracy, an informed electorate becomes impossible.
Mr. Comey, after you take away legal redress of wrongs, take away electoral redress of wrongs, and allow falsehoods to flood all available sources of information, exactly how do you expect those who would rectify the wrongs to act?
Or risk will be compounded from the impact of climate change, especially if we continue to ensure maximum damage from it, now that we have stripped ourselves of the powers of law, of elections, and of accurate information.
Mr Comey, your beloved FBI has been reduced to running fake investigations and you want us to not be angry? Our president has offered over 6000 lies while in office, to raucous support from his party, and we should be anything but desperate?
2
@Mark Johnson. All those allegations have been shown to be baseless
I am reading a lot of commentary on Mr. Comey having essentially caused Trump's election due to Hillary Clinton's leaked e-mails. To be honest, while the situation certainly swayed the election, I think that voter suppression, gerrymandering, and hacked votes, (along with Russian collusion), had more to do with the outcome than anything else. Corruption won the day; the blame cannot be placed at Comey's feet. And on this Midterm Election day, if we don't have a blue wave that should rightly follow at this point in time, given how upset the majority of citizens are, then it will be because of the same problems with voting that we STILL have not remedied. We must do something to change the system of voting to make it transparent, easy, and managed by non-partisans. Otherwise, I am afraid we are going to be doomed to stolen election after election.
59
@LM
Best advice to remedy rigged elections.
1
@LM
You leave out the possibility that the reason for the last loss and the potential loss tonight is, not any of the reasons you mentioned and is, rather, that America isn't buying what your guys are selling. I know it's hard to imagine that everyone wouldn't race to get back to that anemic sub 2% growth rate we were told was a fact of life given the developed state of our economy, but, believe me, there are some people who really don't agree with you and kind of view Trump as a breath of fresh air that was much needed in this country. His results are also hard to argue with given that economic indicators, namely stock market indices and confidence metrics, took off like a rocket ship almost immediately upon Trump's election (merely in anticipation of a lower taxes and less regulation regime), the economy promptly followed suit and has not lost a step ever since. Your problem isn't Russia; Russia is an ant, and we are the 800 pound gorilla. Your problem is, fundamentally, that democrats have a loser's outlook, and Americans view themselves as winners.
As to the current election, yes, the dems have an upset base because they've taken a lot of bruising losses lately and have been unable to accept them and therefore move on from them, but, guess what? There are a lot of people on the other side that are sick of all the virtue signalling and constant lecturing we're subjected to at every turn by the unconscionable whiners on the left.
1
@LM Comey was in a no-win situation. Imagine what would have happened if he hadn't said anything until after the election and Hillary had won as predicted. The right wing media would still be screaming. People usually don't take a step back and consider what would have been the result if the alternate path was taken in many of such situations.
1
I wish this piece had been printed about ten days ago so that it could have been picked up by other news distributors. Regarding voting in my neck of the woods, Oregon and Washington have mail-in voting only. During this midterm it is predicted that my county (King County, Seattle) will have close to 60 percent participation. In 2016, 80 percent of the registered voters cast a ballot. Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii and Montana allow permanent mail-in voting but primarily have walk up polls. Permanent mail-in voting should be an option in every state as it definitely gives the voter a choice whether to stand in line or to mail.
38
As the person who created and developed the Officer of the Month Program for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in DC, I've always admired Director Comey and I was profoundly upset at what Trump did to him. The fact that Jim has continued in a variety of ways to support American is amazing; many would have thrown up their hands and quit. The US is the last best hope for humanity and the world. If we fail, then the world population fails. I'm hoping that by tomorrow we can shout to the rooftops that our Democracy works and then clean up the mess caused by Trump et al. We can do this.
32
@Lee it's long past time we had another Church Committee to expose abuses flow the IC
Lordy, I hope he is right.
38
Sorry, Jim. I appreciate the thoughts, and the information. But you too are complicit in the situation this nation finds itself in. No, Donald Trump did not form and rise to power overnight, that is true, but as the director of the FBI you made some critically bad decisions, and failed to follow your own agencies protocols, and that in part helped push him over the edge to the presidency.
You are now making money lecturing the rest of us about what this nation needs to do to return from the brink and begin healing itself. I do not think you have sufficiently absorbed, appreciated, and acknowledged your own role in this mess to be doing this. Sadly, although you may have had a very distinguished career in public service, you chose to act in a way that ultimately hurt the country and, in the end, yourself. That is a part of your legacy for which, in my view, you have not sufficiently accepted responsibility.
There are other voices from whom this message would have more meaning to me. Yours, not so much.
48
@cirincis
Other causes of CLINTON not carrying away the presidency have been proven (read that portion again, please.) Mr. Comey's impact was much less than other causes. Russian troll farms salting our social media outlets with divisive intent was major. Trump used numbers in states to tilt the EC despite Hillary gaining over 3M votes over his. Millions of voters falling in love with a brash, loud, inexperienced and know-nothing charleton was a huge cause. Comey part was unfortunate, but minor
3
Said he was running for president "to shake things up", and that's exactly what he's done. Few countries even allow an outsider to aspire to leadership. The Trump presidency, to me, is testament to the brilliant, peaceful vigour of the American 'marketplace of ideas.' Today is just another great day for democracy.
6
@Private
If only he weren't using the politics of division to do so and benefiting financially from most of the "goodies" that are falling from the tree.
21
He’s shaken up decency with minimal mental curiosity and narcissism and is showing us clearly what are unacceptable qualities in a leader. He claims to solve problems he’s made or made up. Wait till he has to try balance a budget or will he pass that mess up to the next president.
4
@Private
Well, there's the marketplace where you can buy crack cocaine and have it mess with your brain, and you can also buy healthy foods. In 2016 Americans chose junk food.
5
Mr. Comey, you have done some good things. But there is one gigantic problem, and the harm it did cannot be undone.
Your arrogance! You thought you alone could walk the tightrope about Hillary's email server, which was never a crime, only a misstep, while you hid the evidence of Russian interference and the all-too-obvious multiple violations of the law on the Trump side.
I'm sure you're a fine man, but you did a horrible thing, and it's quite possible the entire world will never recover. We were already on the knife's edge about climate, and you have delayed action almost beyond remediation.
You fed the quarter-century-long mythology about Hillary's "Crimes" (which never were crimes, no matter how hard people yelled about them: Benghazi, for example: Republicans voted to defund embassy security and spent millions and years trying to pin the result on Hillary).
Nothing you can do will erase this.
Actions have consequences.
7
I'm sure that in his day Mr. Comey was a fine lawyer. I have little doubt that he was a faithful and dutiful public servant. And while I can't judge his honesty, comity or probity, I find him an unsettling actor on the public stage. There was something about that "Oh Lordy, I hope so" comment that clanked when he said it and clanks again in my mind every time he speaks. I fear that his "aw shucks" boy scout persona is hyper-conscious and the amount of duplicity exposed in the FBI after his tenure as leader reveals either ineptness or intrigue. His reassurance that "America is going to be alright", does not comfort me. He exudes a confidence and self-assurance that seems out of proportion in one who made such a botch of things. His encouragement that salvation lives in the middle reminds me that people who try to walk the fence sometimes slip and land right on it in the most painful ways.
107
@Michael
And yet a good friend and former FBI investigator, a man of great integrity, told me he had nothing but respect for Comey as FBI director. Maybe this new role is not yet a comfortable fit--his writing is a bit wooden--but I'm pleased he is not invisible, is speaking his mind as best he can.
107
Also: a friend of 45 years, who was an Assistant US Attorney for a long time and a liberal Democrat, worked with Comey and held him in the highest esteem. He was extremely distressed by Comey’s actions leading up to the presidential election. It is possible to hold two ostensibly conflicting opinions at the same time.
16
@Larry Levy "Speaking his mind" is what got us into this mess rather tham simply following the law and the norms of an FBI director. No forgiveness or benefit of the doubt here.
10
Yes, let's uphold American values like lying to Congress, leaking secret information, using the FBI as a bludgeon to your detractors, covering up Hillary's Russia collusion and writing a book so you can make millions off your own wrong-doing.
4
Mr Comey. Write all you want. You, sir, are very much responsible for Donald Trump being President. Live with it.
6
I hope the Times will recall this and Mr. Comey's other recent Op-ed piece for them when he is finally indicted for his obvious breaches of law and oath-taking. As for Mr. Comey's reminder of how quickly Senator McCarthy fell from grace, he might want to remind himself that most of that was accomplished by the efforts of public watchdogs like journalist Edward R. Murrow and attorney Joseph Welch, and that his own FBI was complicit in and totally supported everything that the truly evil Senator McCarthy did, and that that same FBI was run for a half-century by J. Edgar Hoover, one of the most fascistic and duplicitous men this country has ever produced,
6
James Comey led a team who conspired to throw a presidential election. He concealed criminal behavior on the part of one candidate and promoted fictional crimes by the other. His continued efforts to portray himself as a paragon of virtue and good old American values are a travesty. I'm glad his only influence anymore is the NYT's opinion pages.
7
Is Comey going to run for President?
Mr. Comey, I must assume that you know we are a nation of laws.
We are not a nation of core values or shared values. Some Americans value their church and others value their families and others might value another unique aspect of their local culture.
Your childishly simplistic op-ed is not a sincere wish for a better United States. Instead, it is a whiny cheap hit at President Trump ... and more accurately, it is a cheap hit at his supporters. You are not even man enough to call him out by name.
2
This column sounds - part confession part consolation.
4
Yes, some irony...or hypocrisy...that Comey is writing these words...
...but I think "Poke the giant!" is a contender for the 2020 Democratic slogan!
2
I see so many negative comments here. I totally understand people’s anger. Mr Comey made some mistakes and they had consequences. But he alone did not cause Hillary to lose, and I welcome his uplifting words. Thank you.
4
@Vivien Hessel
Made some mistakes? He made THE mistake that was most responsible for the gravest risk to our democracy since Watergate, and arguably since the Civil War. And he did it with plenty of forethought, and repeatedly, as when he dressed down HRC even while declining to indict, and while ALSO KNOWING of possible collusion with the Russians. He cannot be rehabilitated.
5
If Comey really thinks what DT represents in this country can disappear almost overnight, I think he’s delusional. Now we have the Internet to keep stuff alive and strong forever.
And as the man who played a major role in getting this sociopath into the White House, thereby bringing to life the monster his former political party spent 50 years creating - the angry mob and its amoral leader - he's got some soul-searching to do, because this op-ed is too little too late, but appallingly disingenuous.
8
@William LeGro. I'm sorry but 99% of the angry mobs these days are Democrats...and they physically attack conservatives and Republican officials. Own it.
Comey: It's a little late for you to chime in as far as I'm concerned, because your last-minute revelation played a huge part in handing the 2016 election to Trump.
7
@joynone NONSENSE. No one was paying attention to this...and it had nothing to do. She was gonna lose no matter what.
@Ed You do realize that she won by nearly 3 million votes, and only our weird system made the loser pres. He would never have won without
Comey's last minute assistance, not to mention Putin's.
1
As I said, posting to another article last night:
*Not voting for the candidate you do want is voting for the candidate you do not want.*
Go out and vote!!!
3
Our original sin began when we stole the land from the Native Americans.
4
A guilt-edged piece! (Not that I don't agree with every word, James ... but, my oh my, you've got a lot to answer for.)
4
Mr Comey, you already voted ten million times.
1
By breaking precedent with justice department norms and inserting yourself into the public debate just days before the election of 2016, you did more than any one individual to shape its outcome. You gave us Trump the Destroyer. He has used the last two years to destroy international relationships that have kept us safe in the post-war era, to remove us from the Paris agreement with its goal of addressing climate change, and now to destroy nuclear disarmament agreements with Russia. And beginning with his campaign, he encouraged all those with bigotry and hatred in their hearts to raise their voices high, while denying any responsibility when their words of hate turn to deeds. What part of this parable tempted you to consider lecturing on ethics?
14
Comey can't tour the country speaking about "ethical leadership" because he knows nothing about it. On the other hand, if someone was looking for a speaker to discuss "Out of Control Ego Driven Leadership That Leads One to Make Bad Decisions" then Comey should be the first call.
6
James Comey tours the country speaking about “ethical leadership”? Ha! Someone somewhere actually pays money for this farce? He was disqualified a long time ago.
12
Glad it's voting day so i don't have to read any more reader commands to VOTE!
We need a comments section to compare how long we had to stand in line to vote in different cities and towns.
1
I have some small edits to this piece:
"I'm Sorry"
By: James Comey
Dear Americans,
I am so, so sorry. Please vote for Democrats this time and help fix the mess I made two years ago. I will now retreat from public life forever.
Sincerely,
James Comey
17
@JB
Hillary couldn't get the job done with the wind at her back nearly the entire campaign. Trump got one freebie relative to the hundred enjoyed by Hillary. No election race involves zero luck that benefits one party over the other, but the fact is Hillary lost. She got a lot of votes, but could not win the states she needed to win. Luckily for all of us, Trump did win the states he needed. Get over it.
1
For God's sake, Comey, just shut up and go away. You have done enough damage as it is. No one cares what you think.
16
@Doc Who Either you are with the ideals he is promoting or you're not. You clearly prefer to pout rather than to take action. Slinging mud doesn't count.
2
Comey really screwed up in 2016. His redemption will only be complete when Trump is ousted. That's up to the Mueller investigation and Congress.
11
It's difficult to read this column.
James Comey raised the specter of possible new HRC email problems (later debunked) while not mentioning the fact that Donald Trump's campaign was under investigation for collusion with Russian interests relating to his 2016 presidential campaign.
Yes, America is in a dark period. Mr. Comey was instrumental in ushering in the dark period now enveloping us. Is he looking for some sort of absolution? Not from me.
24
As a follow-up to my earlier post about being "deregistered" from voting I've contacted the agencies responsible for elections in my county and state, several voter assist hotlines, and my local, state and federal representatives. None can explain what happened to my registration.
I'm attending a meeting of the Board of Elections tomorrow where, hopefully, my ballot will be certified. There is no assurance however that this will happen.
I'm retired and have the time and resources to see this process through but imagine if I were working a wage job I that could lose if I took time off and had no internet and political connections. What, Mr. Comey would you suggest that someone in that situation do?
5
If Mr. Comey had not defied precedent by inserting himself into the presidential election campaign by re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails ---- while neglecting to inform the voting public that the FBI had opened a CRIMINAL investigation into the Trump campaign ------ perhaps he would not have had the need to pen this article. His action --- more than any other ----altered the course of the election and he has yet to take responsibility.
10
I have asked Trump supporters the following questions in an effort to discern what I might be missing about their allegiances to Trump:
1. Trump has told over 6300 documented lies and/or misleading statements since taking office. Your thoughts on that?
2. If you have children and/or grandchildren, would you teach them that Trump is a role model worthy of their emulation?
3. If you have a daughter, would you leave her alone in a room with Donald Trump?
To Q. #1 - the majority answer is, "I believe in his results and policies. All politicians lie, so what?"
To Q's #2 and 3: I *never* receive an answer.
Conclusions:
(1) Trump has convinced a disconcerting minority of Americans that the truth is irrelevant, as is the rule of law. They are primarily concerned with their own lives, morality coming in a very distant second.
(2) Trump supporters *know* they are being hypocritical when there is no defense of Trump's actions and behavior. But they can rationalize their hypocrisy only so much - they know very well that they don't want their children to be like Trump, nor their daughters alone with him.
So, Jim Comey, I will hope for the best but wonder where so many Trump supporters deposited their morality two years ago and continue to do so till this day.
14
@Robert
(1) Yes he lies more than most. I don't like that. I think his good qualities overcome that shortcoming. For one thing, in some ways he's very honest. He's honest in the sense that you know he's kind of a jerk. I'll take a guy like that because at least I know where things stand. Other politicians generally pretend to be moralists and then turns out to be jerk like all the rest.
(2) I would like to teach my children about nuance. No one is entirely good or entirely bad. I would encourage my children to emulate his confidence and self-belief, his incredible work ethic, his willingness to stand behind what he believes in even if the popular view is something completely different etc. I would probably discourage them from being so confrontational and would encourage more honesty.
(3) No. I would probably select someone else for watching my daughter alone. He does seem to be kind of a dog with the ladies. I would note that although he's said some weird things about Ivanka, she's clearly well raised, rather impressive, and genuinely loves and admires her dad. I'd also note that the job of president is different than that of being a babysitter. Trump surprisingly happens to be well suited to the job of president.
More to the point, your questions and the implications you draw from them are flawed: I do not endorse everything about Trump just because I endorse him. Everyone has good and bad about them. If you only endorsed perfect people there would be no one to endorse.
1
@Robert I trust Trump more than Bob Menendez. I also trust that Trump has more smarts than to attend a church that makes Farrakhan Man of The Year and takes smiling pictures with Farrakhan or who gets his political start will Bill Ayers. Democrats have no business lecturing anyone on morality.
1
To those who still blame Comey for Hillary's defeat, give it a rest. It was a two year race with many acts, of which Comey's decision to reopen the investigation was but one. Each decision had voting consequences. For example, in the last act of the campaign Trump was flying all over the middle america to speak to his constituents while Hillary was raising money in the Hamptons and singing karaoke with Bruce Springsteen. That was a mistake, and it had consequences.
And Hillary had all kinds of advantages: (1) celebrity/media endorsements, (2) more money from corporate donors and political connections than G-d, (3) the hot mic situation, which was an unbelievably lucky find right before the second debate, and (4) Hillary walked into one or more primary debates having received at least some of the questions in advance, which was a clear breach of protocol also known as cheating. No different than showing up to the SATs having prepared answers to the questions everyone else is seeing for the first time.
It's never all blue skies in any competition. You get some good luck, you get some bad. Trump got served some of the worst luck I've ever seen. The tape resurfacing from some ten years prior, which he probably thought was a private conversation, was incredibly unlucky.
Did he make excuses for losing or did he come back and beat the "most prepared person to ever seek the presidency" on his first bid for public office? See, that's the difference between a cry baby and a winner.
3
@Bill Trump whines all the time about his circumstances. Most recently it was because his followers were murdering people and throwing a wrench in his nonstop fear mongering about nonexistent threats.
He's put himself on the line by admitting this election is all about him. Let's see how much of a winner he is tonight.
4
@Bill,
You forgot one other Clinton advantage: The biased Democratic National Committee that tilted the primary election in her favor and against Sanders. Given how some polls show that Sanders had a better chance of Trump than did Clinton, one can plausibly argue that the DNC squandered the Dems' chance to win the presidency.
Oh yes, and one other Clinton faux pas: What Sanders called "those damn emails". Acting expressly against State Dept. policy, she kept them on her own private server, impairing their status as a collection of public records because she was in a position to edit or delete them.
2
@Aram Hollman
I agree with your second point. People seem to forget that the reason Hillary was being investigated is that...she was doing something she was not supposed to be doing.
I think that it should have blown over faster than it did, but the fact is she messed up too. And it wasn't just the fact that she used the private server. After her team got the subpoena, 30,000 emails from the server were deleted in violation of the subpoena. Someone broke the law to do that. The official story is that an underling did this unilaterally after discovering that he'd accidentally failed to delete these emails pursuant to instructions received prior to the subpoena. Maybe that story is true; I suspect someone upstairs gave the go ahead.
As to Sanders beating Trump, I'm familiar with the polls that said he matched up better than Hillary, but I doubt he would have won. I think Sanders was never viewed from the lens of an election involving two parties, and I think Trump would have probably chewed him up just like he did Hillary and the 16 experienced republican contenders Trump dispensed with. Obviously we'll never know. I also think Hillary probably would have won the primary even without the DNC tipping the scales in her favor. But the fact is, the honorable thing to do when someone tries to give you the answers to a test, is not accept them and possibly report the person who was trying to cheat. Hillary did not do that; seems rich for her now to be calling the election unfair.
1
Rather preaching to the choir. It is the NYT after all, so easy paycheck, huh, Comey?
But, just a thought: I think pretty much everyone on the Democratic ticket is giving way too much credence to American intelligence. Trump isn't. He clearly concentrates his energies on the... less than observant and more malleable segments of society, shall we say. Those who wouldn't vote for anyone wearing blue just because it was blue, and not red, and not based upon anything else but the color -- much like supporting your home tea: all other colors are the opponents, the enemies, as it were.
If the Democrats came out wearing red, it just might confuse them enough to wonder. After all, it's the red that's been hijacked as the patriotic color. Blue has connotations of being French.
It really might be that simple to sway some people in some parts of the country. Because at your local football game the enemy's color stands out immediately. We have become ingrained to colors denoting friend and foe. Red is often considered a more successful color on many sports fields; soccer more than most. So why not politics, too?
1
@James Devlin
The French added red to their flag after the 1789 revolution which abolished royal absolutism.
1
As a college educated immigrant woman, it hurts me to listen to the sitting President speak about denying citizenship right to children born to all non citizen parents. My home country will deny citizenship to my son who was born in a foreign land and if America denies him citizenship because his parents were not born in this country? Where does my child belong? Mr. Comey, you did what you had to do in 2016 -10 days before the election but look at the consequences of where we are and what we've have been reduced to as a nation.
1
"The history of America consoles us, but also calls us to
action". That last sentence of this article written by James Comey really CONSOLES this 71 year old woman's heart
today! I'm going to read and meditate on the words of Constitution of America,as well, all day as I do my work and then make plans be a volunteer to do what I can in my town
and county here in north jersey during the next two years to help register voters and to help the Democratic Party defeat
Mr. Trump in 2020. I want so badly to see a courageous and
worthy man or woman be President of America for my two
grandchildren!
12
I am sorry, but after World War I, quotas were instituted to prevent Jews and Italians from " flooding in as immigrants." They had flooded in during the late 19th century, but now due to racism and xenophobia, they were restricted. They flooded Argentina, and to a certain extent, Brasil, instead, hoping to immigrate to the USA later on.
5
@dianlneu
You have a point, as my Prussian Jewish grandfather was brought into the US on false papers, having been born in the last years of freedom of the Weimar Republic...
1
I came in on a quota system as did others of my generation.
1
Come on Times, I don’t want to hear another word from Comey or the woman he kept from being President.
7
Dear Red Bubble ("Rubble") States: You are about to experience "Big D" democracy at work without Russian Cyber Attacks/Wikileaks, Trump Campaign Collusion, The 11th Hour Comey Letter, and a flawed Hillary Clinton as candidate. Welcome to the real, fact-based USA.
4
@Val Landi. Wanna bet?
@Val Landi
Some welcome! I note (1) You're insulting entire states and everyone in them. Very unpersuasive stuff. (2) You imply that people living in these Red states are living in an unreal and fact-free USA; but it's you that is living in a fact-free USA. Frankly, Hillary was flawed, but no one in the Democratic party had an answer for Trump, just like none of the 16 Republican contenders had an answer. He had nothing but schoolyard insults etc.; you'd think that would be easy for a seasoned politician to overcome, but apparently it wasn't. Jeb was the pride of the party, a successful governor of Florida who managed to persuade donors to invest $130 million in his campaign, but he lacked an answer to the claim that he was "low energy" and was dead in an instant. Russia/Wikileaks/Comey - all these things were a distraction. Maybe they persuaded a few tens of thousands of people to vote for Trump, but you can't just look at the votes at the margin when evaluating an election; it ignores the other 138 million people who voted in the election. Fact is that Hillary lost because she could not get the voter support in a lot of states in the middle of the country. These folks know when they're being talked down to by people like you. Trump may not have all the policy answers to what ails them, but at least he doesn't say they all belong in a basket of deplorables. In fact, Trump would never even think to say a word like deplorables.
And we'll see if this blue wave materializes...
The American giant may indeed be stirring again but, after 20 years of Fox News, GOP gerrymandering, Citizens United, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Koch brothers influence, this American giant is a morbidly obese type II diabetic with an enlarged prostate, erectile dysfunction and a grade school education.
It is hardly something to get jazzed about.
21
@Victorious Yankee
.............. I think we pretty much agree on the particular nature of the sorry condition in the U.S.A.
But your moniker, Victorious Yankee (The Superior North),
shows your are forgetting the single most important fact about the Civil War and its aftermath: the "Victorious Yankees" plodded through an attempted "Reconstruction"
in the defeated South for twelve years, and then, due to a combination of factors, gave up and surrendered the fate of the freedmen and freedwomen to the will of the defeated, embarrassed, angry, scared, vengeful white people for almost one hundred years before the Civil Rights Movement began to bring about significant change
in the 1960s.
As someone who grew up, son of enlightened parents, among the descendants of the Confederates (with their
Jim Crow and their Ku Klux Klan) and the betrayed and oppressed descendants of the freed slaves; all I can say to a Victorious Yankee from the Superior North is that your
ancestors did the whole country grievous harm by not
following through with a real victory and real change after the armies stopped battling.
No dotted line here. There's a solid line from Victorious Yankee Reconstruction Failure to the racism of the current GOP.
Now, let's you and I pull together to work for long overdue corrections to the sorry parts of our country's history.
Mr. Comey, you belong in prison. It's grotesque in the extreme to talk about values when you have done so much to undermine the President from a position of great power and great trust.
63 million Americans voted for Trump. Nobody voted for you and you betrayed your office. For shame.
10
@FredO So you voted for a Sociopath who has a history of Tax Evasion, Money Laundering, Mafia Friends, and you think Mr. Comey belongs in prison ???
2
A lot of nice words, Mr. Comey, but I'd have preferred a simple "I'm sorry."
56
@JB
How about, you're welcome. Enjoy that lovely economy, and good day!
I Hope you're right, Mr. Comey
I'm so scared they'll break it so it can't be fixed. I'm particularly thinking of how many judicial appointments Trump has made, and the prospect of redistricting after the 2020 census. We are gradually getting shut out of the process.
5
this, from a man who did more, personally, to influence the outcome of the last presidential election than any other individual.
yes, Mr. Comey, you have a lot of good points but many of us are still mad at you for the needless October surprise. just look at our booby prize.
17
@[email protected]
138 million people voted in the election. They had all kinds of motivations for voting the way they did. You're saying Mr. Comey caused more people to vote for Trump than any other person? Just not true. Even if we accept that Mr. Comey swayed the tens of thousands of votes to Trump that he needed to win, we're essentially engaging in the same fallacy many sports fans engage in when they say things like "the ref's blown call cost us the game." A lot of people actually think like this, but it's out of touch with the reality. These kinds of statements ignore the inconvenient facts that a whole series of occurrences during the contest determined outcome. For example, that your quarterback fumbled the football in the red zone back in the first quarter, that the wind gusted right as your placekicker was about to take a field goal attempt which caused him to miss right before halftime, and the failure by the receiver to hold onto the football in the end zone in the third quarter (together with perhaps a hundred other errors or missed opportunities). Hillary had way more advantages than Trump. It wasn't even close. Of course not all of the luck would be in her favor. It never is. Some luck went against her. It always does. Blaming Comey is as losery as it gets. Her job was to win. She failed at that job. Luckily for us all, Trump did not so fail, and now we Americans get to enjoy this period of tremendous opportunity and prosperity.
James comey, even more than vladimir putin, put trump in power.
Real Americans will never forget.
16
Thank you SO MUCH, James Comey for uplifting words of hope in what have been the darkest political days of my life. You have shown a perspective on this madness that I had not kept in mind as I reeled from day to day on the most incomprehensible, hateful agenda of my long years.
5
Can Mr. Comey and the NY Times ever understand that everyone has different values. what is so hard to understand about that? we are all different. this will not change. you cannot legislate this.
3
@bacibear This is not about different values in terms of political belief, this is about standing up for AMERICAN values: values our president and his administration are trying to undermine.
9
@Fry
If you think you're the arbiter of what "American values," you surely are out of touch.
@bacibear,
Defending nazis and kkklanners is not a value.
It's a defect.
2
At age 82, I can’t take the long view, and there are many worries. Global warming, of course. With a masters degree in meteorology from MIT, and 22 years as an Air Force weather officer, warming is surely occurring and it is due to human activity. But my major worry is that one of our largest religions asserts that the Bible is the literal inerrant word of God. So what? The Bible is homophobic, tolerates slavery, supports polygamy and genocide, and is anti science and education. One of our major political parties wants to weaken the wall between church and state.
26
@JSK The Bible is passionately selfless. Many Dems say its the base of their politics. Democracy, business regulations and the welfare state are based on selflessness.
1
@JSK
I am a 72 year old MIT grad. Climate change is unlikely to be a big factor in your personal future--or mine. Unless you chose to live on a seashore--and if you did, it is on you. By the late 1970's, the impact on our seashores should have been apparent to every MIT graduate (including the Kochs.)
It should be obvious that Jesus was not someone who believed that the Bible was the "literal inerrant word of God". This is one reason he preached very different behavior than that described in the old testament. Jesus was describing a different way of knowing God then the high Priests of his day--and was killed for it.
My own worries about climate change are focused on my children and grandchildren. I just read a nursery rhyme about a pussy-cat going to London to visit the Queen before nap-time to my grandson. My grandchildren will have to explain to their grandchildren that London was once a great city before we flooded it, Florida, and NYC. All because of a few women and children 700 miles away walking slowly towards us in the hope they could live here that we were told to be afraid of.
@JSK It's sad that at age 82 you continue your ignorant anti-Christian bigotry, espousing unnuanced views of the Bible and it's historic and religious significance to billions of people around the globe. I would have expected more rigor from a person with an advanced degree and years of distinguished service.
Perhaps Mr. Comey is trying to make up for his action prior to the 2016 election. He must have plenty of guilt considering the outcome.
10
I've read some of the comments here, and although I too was disheartened - and angered - by Comey's misstep re Secretary Clinton's emails, let's keep in mind that it was just that...an error in judgement. He did not cause Ms Clinton to lose. It was more about Russian interference and Trump's feeding on a President Obama backlash. That is that he handed his followers the racism, bigotry, and nativism for which they lusted. And he lied, lied, lied, selling a dirty bag of tricks and hypocrisy that he was for the "working man," the unborn child, ad infinitum.
That being said, let us take to heart what Mr. Comey is trying to tell us. What we are going through now is nothing new. It is the jagged line of democracy with all its intricacies, yet it always ascends. Over the last several hundred years, in spite of all the ugliness this nation has endured, we got through it. The scales of justice eventually tilt toward fairness and morality. But we are the ones that make that happen. And I am convinced that there are more moral and ethical Americans than not.
12
Comey almost singlehandedly gave the election to Trump - that will be his legacy.
8
An optimistic message from a strange messenger. I truly hope James Comey is right. I'm not sure I want to hear this opinion from James Comey though. He doesn't have a great reputation regarding election outcomes and public speaking. Silence is a virtue or so they tell me.
Another note, I believe the phrase is "don't poke the bear." You don't wake a sleeping giant but you don't pole the bear. Comey is mixing metaphors. The bear is more appropriate anyway considering how Russia is tied to Trump's presidency. Wake the American giant; poke the Russian bear.
2
It's interesting that Comey talks about the Democrats winning the popular vote but Clinton losing. He doesn't mention, and won't confess that a very important reason that she lost was his fault when a few days before the election he told the country that another investigation was being undertaken of Clinton's e-mails, even though he had been told by superiors not to mention it. Seems a bit hypocritical.
52
@Sea Nymph I'm glad he mentioned the popular vote because that doesn't get enough notice IMHO. He was in a no-win position regarding the emails, and I don't believe that his actions swung the election.
5
@cljuniper I agree - I think that had he not done what he did, the NYC field office, which was very anti-Hilary, was prepared to leak.
1
The Republican Party and the unashamed chief executive who controls the party must read Director Comey’s well written, conscientiously informative opinion. Ignoring (refusing) to read such instructive eloquence only serves to reinforcing their myopically skewed perception of America. We have witnessed and experienced seismic shifts before. Richard Nixon falsely believed that wielding absolute executive power to punish political opponents and silence critics, many in the press, that his actions were beyond reproach. The American people finally saw more than enough to convince them of the morally bankrupt position Nixon and his lieutenants advanced, and a political tsunami occurred after the resignation. The Vietnam War is another cold example. Persistent lying, uttering mistruths, threatening the press, and experiencing the greatest domestic turmoil since the Civil War, America spoke, though that expression, too, was misplaced to a certain degree by Nixon’s secret efforts to influence the 1968 election, something we are witnessing with the Special Counsel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. The parallels are strikingly similar. Again, America is responding. To the GOP and 45, they summarily refuse to accept these realities. Playing racial animosities, fomenting antiimmigrant fear, marginalizing LGBTQ individuals, and denouncing diverse religiosity are tactics Republicans promote. Their 1968 Southern Strategy is doomed to failure now. Race matters.
12
@Dean Browning Webb, Attorney at Law
Beautifully written. Sounds like you will be a bit disappointed when the GOP takes 220 to 225 House seats and 60 to 65 Senate seats tonight. Sorry. Hope you will write something equally elegant in 2020.
1
@Gibmente
On the contrary, I am especially positive and extremely upbeat that the party of FDR and LBJ will see Andrew Gillum your governor and Bill Nelson returned for another term as your senator. The politics of racial division, hate, and promoting racial internecine have no place in the political arena, and the Republican Party is master of its own device as well as being a victim of its own device. RFK in 1968!
2
Dean, you could've stopped with "The Republican Party and the unashamed chief executive who controls the party must read."
Imagine if they actually read stuff like constitutional law or American political history. Sad.
1
When the democrats lost in 2016, they said "holy cow!" and started trying to understand what the heck happened and how to respond going forward.
When the GOP loses in 2018, they will call the outcome illegitimate and their anger will be stoked all the more.
That is the difference between the parties. Between a political party and a cult.
17
@Jasoturner You're saying that Dims didn't call President Trump's election illegitimate? That's a huge relief... I'm thankful to know that Kavanaugh was nominated and confirmed by those legitimately elected. That takes away much of the objection to his confirmation.
2
Mr. Comey pronounced, in July of 2016, that “no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case” against Hillary Clinton, referencing her email server scandal. This set off a cascade of events that played a significant if not definitive role in getting our current president elected.
This nation may recover from the cascade of events into which Mr. Comey threw a keg of gun powder but he, should he ever accept responsibility for his actions, and should he ever apologize for his role in what happened to all of us, will forever have been the guy who threw the keg.
This op-ed, telling us that nobody's actions have an infinite effect, while true, deflects the issue and isn't yet the apology we deserve.
And apology would help.
6
"The history of America consoles us, but also calls us to action."
It doesn't console me that much. We haven't been around very long and we have a history of self-inflicted wounds.
Who would have thought that "voting to uphold our nation's values" would be in question?
6
The two most important issues are:
1. Health-care to all;
2. The 34th or 35th Amendment to the Constitution, where the words EVERYWHERE AND ALWAYS will be inserted in the text of the 2nd Amendment.
1
@Tuvw Xyz
Combat weapons, everywhere and always?
More Sandy Hook Elementary Schools? Las Vegas concerts? Parkland High Schools? Movie theater massaces? You want innocents and their families to pay the price for your distortion of the 2nd Amendment?
1
but they are opposing sets of values. crassness and greed have won over the modest support that upholds civility and reason.
4
@Jack T Really? Civility and reason? Was that what we were seeing when a mob was beating on the door of the Supreme Court and chanting "Tear it down!"?
1
Mr. Comey, you carry a huge amount of the responsibility for our current situation. It is not too much to say that you put Trump into office.
Don't tell us what we should do about it. What are YOU doing about it?
6
@Shar Guess you already forgot the first sentence of the article.
What else would you like him to be doing, exactly?
2
I suppose he threw the election to awaken the giant. No amount of hiding behind curtains or claiming inaction was not an option will change his legacy
8
Mr, Comey:
I worked for the FBI for 5 and a half years. I had great hopes that you would live up to your promises to de-politicize the BU; that you would change the promotional structure from one based upon seniority to one based upon accomplishment; that you would bring, on-board, the best and the brightest; that you would understand that as the BU changed its emphasis from crime, alone, the BU would require more than just Special Agents to serve in management and administrative positions.
I worked with some very fine Units, Special Agents, Analysts Technologists and Unit Chiefs who were among the most motivated and dedicated people with whom I ever worked and I served proudly.
But your actions as Director made your words ring hollow. Many (not all) of the best and the brightest left for the private sector because of a glass ceiling that had nothing to do with gender.
And all the while, I harbored some doubt that my perceptions were unfair and that you simply needed more time to enact that in which you professed to believe.
The 11th hour grandstand convinced me that my gut feelings were right and for that I am profoundly disappointed.
The man who stood up to people who would take advantage of an ailing attorney general was a one-hit wonder. Glib, personable but, ultimately, shallow.
I believe this to be a sincere mea culpa.
But as the saying goes, "too little too late."
9
@SeanMcL "Glib... but, ulimately shallow." Yes, well put.
1
We live under ONE PARTY RULE. Let's vote for a more balanced debate.
7
Thank you!
I am full of hope but also fearful of what the election may bring- hatred and lies are powerful tools (as we also know from history).
Furthermore the clock is ticking Re:climate crisis and we need leadership now- will it come??
8
I can't forgive Comey who more than any other individual gave us Trump and the destruction of our values.
19
@Daniel A. Greenbaum
Don't forget that if Comey had gone along with what Trump asked of him, then you and I would never have known. Comey has blundered at times, yes. But when confronted with Trump's bald-faced corruption, he did call him out to the American people, at the cost of his job, and stood up to the demagogue, and continues to do so.
9
An empty barrel makes the most noise, and a "prideful" FBI officer who violates protocol to help defeat Hilary, I mean, to "keep the FBI looking good", is not to be listened to.
10
@vandalfan An empty barrel was filled with vodka until all the Russian Trolls drank it toasting to their successful hack first of the Republican Primaries, and then of the Presidency itself.
1
Just like there is no magic bullet that will cure cancer with one treatment, there is no way we will cure the cancer that has metastasized in our current government with one election. But we must not give up hope.
I, like Mr. Comey am certain that good will triumph over evil, eventually. How long that takes will depend upon those of us who are willing to join the struggle to restore sanity to this nation.
5
@J Amerine One election? Pelosi, Waters and Schiff have been there for years...
2
@J Amerine - At this point, thanks to the failure of the FBI, the success of Russian, Trump, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and organized crime bosses, America is Cancer riddled. Let's work now for stopping it from progressing and then systematically for its detection, and sector by sector elimination with the goal of Making America America Again. The byproduct of this will be jailing the Trump clan and its many criminal associates. It will take years and it will be a burden, and this must never be allowed to happen again.
1
@J Amerine your good is anothers evil. and vice a versa.
Mueller (Unlike Comey) knows not to hit the airwaves and interfere with an election. (In his mind) Comey tried to the right thing although it didn't work out that way. Meanwhile Comey is atoning but the ship has sailed.
I'm hoping the Mueller investigation will be right back after the mid term elections and countermand the grievous 2016 election interference of Mr. Comey and others (Many people tell me it was that guy in the basement).
It must be a mob of radical racist democrats making up the militia headed to the Mexican boarder spurred on by Mrs. Clinton and the fake news.
7
I accept Comey’s message because it is positive and upbeat. I still despise Comey for his “good two shoes” attack on Hillary Clinton just prior to the election 2016.
10
" Have you no since of decency left at long last?
Your unethical and unprofessional hubris regarding the handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail farce aided and abetted the selection of Trump. The fact that the FBI building still carries the name of it's corrupt misogynist racist xenophobic founder John Edgar Hoover is a lingering and looming dark threatening cloud to the survival of our republic.
21
Thank you so much James Comey
2
At no time in our nation's history has there been an attack on information itself. If these prior cases of regression, we didn't have a major political party led by a demagog, who has been able to convince about 40% of the public, not of any particular position or platform, but that all information in the public sphere is suspect and only the demagog will provide the truth.
We have never had a gigantic privately owned media machine that constantly sells and reinforces the lies of the demagog. That machine provides free 24/7 brainwashing propaganda to get people to follow the demagog.
We never had an internet that allows group think to run amuck and create the reinforcement of others believing that that the lies are true.
Because of these structural changes in our society, I fear that this regression of which Mr. Comey writes will be a permanent drag on moving forward. We just had eleven Jews murdered in their synagogue. Those murders had little, if any, effect on Trump's popularity. This is our reality. A woman came forward to claim that she was assaulted as a teenager and was dismissed as a liar because there was no evidence as if her sworn testimony meant nothing.
We will have to fight a continuous battle against all of these forces in order to uphold our values. This isn't over after today. This is just the beginning of the effort to regain our nation.
396
@Bruce Rozenblit. You are absolutely correct and propaganda is truly the scariest problem we are facing. The removel of the fairness doctrine has lead us to a place where self serving partisan propaganda is pretending to be free speech. POTUS spreads conspiracy theory and fear mongering to entrench his base into an US V THEM mentality with the full support of a “news” organization dedicated to absolute partisanship. Until we solve this propaganda problem we will be unable to solve other problems facing our country.
40
well said!
11
@Bruce Rozenblit: you reliably combine incisive analysis with an unflinching realism, the same mental space I inhabit. This combination is often mistaken as pessimism, but it most assuredly is NOT! Your realism leads NOT to despair or surrender but to determined perseverance and energized resistance. Kudos to you!
But victory and defeat occur at the margins. The vanguard can only lead by example, it still takes numbers to triumph. I hope enough Americans have survived the gauntlet of propaganda they had to negotiate on the way to adulthood not just to do the right thing, but to even remember what the right thing is!
7
Perfect example of “hero syndrome”. Someone who creates a problem and then wants to look like the hero fixing it. Coney, you turned the election with your unexplainable need to announce an empty spew about Hillary’s email one week before the election. Now you get engagements and opinion spaces to denounce the horrific situation you helped create. How do you sleep at night?
17
Hey James Comey, how about you sit this election out and keep your thoughts to yourself? We wouldn't be here today had the American public not heard you obsess about Hillary's emails over and over again in 2016. By the way, did anything come of that?
Still feeling guilty? You won't find absolution here.
22
@EmDee
I went to write a comment, but you's was right at the top of the list. I could not agree with you more. Still I don't agree that Mr. Comey is beyond redemption. He did tip the election, but I don't think he did it with any malice.
6
@Edwin Cohen
I don't think he wanted Trump to win, but in releasing that letter in October, he was thinking only about his reputation and legacy. While not malicious, it was incredibly shortsighted and selfish. And we are all paying for his mistake. It's too soon for him to be lecturing us.
3
@EmDee
Yes, absolutely.
Go away, Comey. Take your 30 pieces of silver and sink into the bowels of history. We have heard more than enough from you.
2
While I agree that Donald Trump is the worst sort of vulgar grifter, this opinion by James Comey in the New York Times is really rich: since both Comey and the Times enabled this miserable travesty of a human being to become president.
20
Too bad Mr. Comey comes two years too late to his sense of patriotism and propriety. Nothing he can say will erase his culpability for selling out the American Democracy to protect the reputation of his agency in 2016. No matter how the future of our republic plays out, he will always be remembered for his part in endangering it.
20
This cat suffers from a severe case of believing he needs to be heard from right before an election.
21
That's why voted for Marsha Blackburn this morning in Tennessee. Thank you.
2
@Southern Boy And this old Southern gal canceled your vote on the second day of early voting.
3
Talk about lying. Aren't you the fellow who allowed a ginned up Steele dossier to be used to spy on an American Presidential candidate? Great value's? Might you be the what rational Americans are alarmed by. Non-elected people in power who decide what values are American? I wonder how much people like you, Brennan, Clapper etc. profit from your activities? The President may be rude but the "People like us" crowd" like you made him a possibility.....
5
@Indy2000 Nothing ginned up about the Steele dossier. The Trump campaign were dealing with a hostile power and they got caught even before there was a Steele dossier.
11
@Indy2000
"Non-elected people in power who decide what values are American" --- that would be Trump, of course.
Obviously some people are so bedazzled by this phony and his illiterate yammering that they have abandoned any primitive sense of justice or objectivity they once had. I hope Trumpers enjoy the taste of crow because a huge meal of it awaits them.
In overall terms, America may survive, prosper and move forward. However, these turns to the dark side affect human beings one at a time. The Jews killed at Tree of Life Synagogue were individuals who will not survive. The children separated at the border may never rebound. There will be a long list of casualties… individuals who will be permanently hurt or killed because of the darkness America has let in.
There’s no way to fix it without pain, but the sooner we start, the fewer casualties there will be when the damage is eventually added up.
6
Really nice piece for today. Thank you for sharing it.
2
The head of the FBI should always be suspect and should retire to silence. Some of us remember J. Edgar Hoover. He blackmailed and intimidated Presidents, members of Congress and private citizens for decades. Comey and his buddies, Rosenstein, Mueller, etc. expected to wield power for the rest of their lives. He feels personally cheated by Trump. Trump's mistake was not firing him on the first day of his administration. If Democrats are honest, they felt he should have been fired too for his actions with Clinton. They only give him credence because they use him as a club to hit Trump.
5
@Mike
No, "Trump's mistake" was his demand that Comey suborn perjury in order to keep his job. He misjudged Comey and got called out. Trump is the one who should be locked up for an aggregate of reasons, but his cult followers don't care what laws he broke or what American values he warps.
This sounds like a mea culpa to me!
Comey's actions are the reason we have this hateful, racist misogynist in the White House to begin with!
Shame!
20
@Richard Marcley
Well, one of the reasons.
Trump's puppet master, Putin, was front and center.
8
In the early 1970's I was finishing up my four year enlistment in the Air Force. Near the end, I adopted the attitude of most short timers: Whatever was the result of the work I was doing that day was not my problem. I was going to be out of there and free.
I recently retired from a legal career. I didn't have the same nonchalance about my clients and their fortunes and futures, but once I was officially out of business, I felt relief that I no longer was stressed out about what may be going on with my former clients. I could distance myself from it all, like I distanced myself from my Air Force job.
I compare that feeling to how I think about what's happening and going to happen to this country in the next decade or two. Because of my age - closer to the end, for sure - I feel like I could take a vacation from worrying about the state of the nation. But, I can't. I have kids who are going to have to deal with this awful period we're in; and they aren't going to be able to escape from it (at least as long as they continue to live here - my wife and I have discussed moving out but won't go as long as our kids are here).
If the Democrats don't win the House (and a goodly number of Governorships) we are well and truly in for a hellish future.
18
@RH
Yes especially now that China just approved another 16 NEW trademarks for Ivanka Trump's including a trademark for "VOTING MACHINES"!
Yep, TRUMP VOTING MACHINES.
Winning doesn't get any easier than that.
And STILL CONGRESS DOES NOTHING.
3
@RH, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in two years and I don’t even have kids.
1
Complicated dude, this James Comey. A registered Republican, he re-energized hatred towards Clinton in the final few days of the campaign by going public with re-opening the email investigation. After Trump's disastrous debate performances and ugly campaign, Clinton held a wide lead in the polls at the time. That lead evaporated in days after Comey's grossly unfair revelation. James Comey was responsible, in large part if not completely, for Trump winning the election. Then it got weird. Once Trump's ego caught up with the fact that he'd won, admitting Comay had a role stole some of the glory. Then Trump went all mafia boss and demanded Comey's loyalty. Meanwhile Comey's ego, by all accounts considerable, was under assault from his conscience. Culpability for President Trump's election win would be a heavy load for any sane human. Refusing Trump's loyalty demand bought back a little dignity.
Only in Trumpworld could Comey then be fired on the grounds of mishandling the Clinton email scandal, after that very mishandling won the election for Trump. Then Comey wrote a book. Apparently his ego had been fully restored, because he justified his late campaign email announcement. And now he tours and speaks against Trump, the man who fired him, in further defense of that ago. He credits "courageous leaders" with correcting previous American flirtations with injustice, and follows immediately with his own efforts to speak out. It's a good message, but the guy's a piece of work.
11
Pontification from a political hack doesn't cut it. As the chief law enforcement official in the country under the Atty. General, you overstepped your bounds and revealed the existence of an investigation into emails, blah blah blah, to the extreme detriment of the Democratic candidate. Apparently, though, you also must've simultaneously had a moment of ethical clarity when you failed to reveal the existence of another FBI investigation, that of collusion with a foreign adversary by the other candidate's campaign. The upward sloping line? In yours, we saw the line slope toward the gutter of partisanship. Get lost.
18
If we look closely at the last 50 years of American history, right up until this time, we will understand that we are at the beginning of the decline and eventual fall at the American Empire. This is not something said with pleasure or for sensationalistic effect . And while America has had the extraordinary ability to heal itself, it becomes more and more difficult when it has been accosted by many spiritual and political viruses at the same time . Whatever may be the result of the election today , we will need to ask ourselves - what kind of country will we want to have for the next 50 years?
8
Axios reports we spent $5 billion on TV and digital ads for this election. That doesn't include staff, yard signs, rallies and rubber chicken, travel, promotional costs, or shoe leather.
Our election-industrial complex has grown out of control. We've already begun the 2020 election, which will cost more than twice as much.
One thing we can do to resolve political train wrecks like Donald Trump is mandatory public campaign financing. Once we take the money out, only public servants will remain.
23
Sounds like FDR's postulate that the arc of history tends upward. This might be more believable coming from Mr. Comey were the FBI and its former director more involved in promoting that progress rather than the reactionary, preserve-the-status-quo posture that has been the agency's mission from its inception. Integrity of the voting process might also help with that belief. However, leading up to almost every election day in my rather extended memory, we witness filthy tactics designed to disenfranchise voters, as well as the corruption of the process with machines running easily hackable privately sourced software.
12
@Vincenzo The arc of history quote has been repeated numerous times, but its author was Theodore Parker (1810-1860), an abolitionist and unitarian minister. There is another relevant quote by John Maynard Keynes, the great economist. When told that over time market forces would eventually correct their deviations, he reportedly said, "Yes, but eventually we will all be dead." A little food for thought for those who have lost their appetite for pablum.
2
Excellent!
3
Sweet lord, this guy again?
Did you bring us another letter about emails? Was intervening in one election not enough for you?
20
@Jordan Comey made mistakes of judgment during the 2016 campaign for president, criticizing Clinton for her use of a private email server and bringing up and then dropping the server issue again just before election day. That said, what he says in his opinion piece is cogent and heart felt. It is truly patriotic. At this time of peril, let's focus on the current situation.
80
@Alan Mass Perfectly said.
3
@Alan Mass
Agree, but that said, would be nice to know if the current FBI feels strongly about investigating Trump's use of an unsecure cell phone. One of the biggest lies of the 2016 campaign was Trump's suggestion that an actual crime was committed because of Clinton's use of a private email server. It feels sloppy (but maybe wasn't if no real government information was discussed). I don't see how it was criminal, as Trump's parallel behavior indicates.
"we are on a path to the white majority becoming a minority. History shows us that with so much progress"
How is it "progress" for white America to become a minority?
6
@Real D B Cooper We are all one, human beings with the same God given rights. The planet gets smaller and smaller each day, the planet get overcrowded each day, the planet gets less bio diverse each day with the loss of plants, trees, animals, little creatures, the planet Earth which I am talking about it screaming back at us. ENOUGH
2
@Real D B Cooper
Because it proves that we have eliminated racist immigration laws that prevented non-whites from immigrating prior to the 1960s. The decline is a natural consequence of where whites live globally - mostly in countries from which they do not wish to emigrate, combined with the ethnicities of those who do wish to immigrate, combined with birth rates of first-generation immigrants relative to others.
1
@Real D B Cooper You misread Comey's remark that the white majority is becoming a minority as approval. All that Comey is saying is that it's a fact.The paragraph addresses "progress and change" that has occurred in the country as generating a "backlash." The eroding white majority is a major factor.
4
Comey wanted President Clinton indicted for corruption for pardoning Marc Rich, but couldn’t get others to agree. His frustration apparently impaired his judgment when he helped to take down Presidential candidate Clinton.
6
Very encouraging, especially for those of us who are wondering whether a blue wave will be followed by Republican screams of "voter fraud" and "rigged election" and Trump inciting his followers to an American Kristallnacht.
6
Thank you Mr. Comey for reminding us of the “sins” of our past and how brave men and women fought to restore virtue during those turbulent times. You have given me a glimmer of hope and optimism which seems to be so lacking in our current state of politics.
12
@Sue M, If this article heartened you, I recommend you read the book Mr. Comey references, The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels, by Jon Meacham. I'm going to reread it today, instead of obsessively following the election results.
7
de Tocqueville commented before the Civil War that it seemed unlikely a centralized government could rule over such a geographically and culturally diverse country as the U.S. This has proven to be true. With the exception of times of crisis, we spend most of our time fighting, and I’m not sure what binds us is more than what estranges us from one another. The South has not internalized the moral lessons of the Rebellion, the robber barons now trade junk bonds rather than sweat shops, and the misinformed insist on leading. Only a great leader could forge some sort of consensus out of this situation, and Trump is certainly not that, nor anybody else on the current horizon that I can see. If the arc of history bends toward justice before extinction, I would like to see some more evidence.
11
I think we need to get over our recriminations towards Mr Comey. Hey, he did what he thought was right at the time. Let's not get into that. What we need to focus on is that his terrible professional experience is bringing some good. Mr Comey has a wealth of knowledge and study that not everyone has and he is using it the best way he knows by going around the country and helping people understand America's history and - above all - giving people the means to find some hope in this mess. This is GOOD. Mr Comey knows what he is talking about. Let's just be thankful that he is sharing his knowledge and reassuring some very scared people. I'd give him a big hug if I could!
20
@Jane
Thanks for this. I heard him speak in person in September. He's the real deal. The choice he had during the last election was lose-lose. Regardless of which way he chose, half the population would have hated him.
3
@Jane Exactly! Must everything be seen from a partisan lens, all the time? I love the Times' comments, but they suffer from too much tribalism. I especially dislike readers criticizing the Times for perceived violations of team loyalty, such as when it published the news about Rosenstein's 25th Amendment comments. Unlike Fox, the Times is not here to promote one party's interests. It's a news organization, and its mission is truth. Can we please remember that? That's what sets thinking people apart from sheep. Let's be better than that. Comey's message is good and true, regardless of his past mistakes.
1
@Eb Maybe, but but how does that explain Comey only announcing the FBI's investigation of Clinton and not the investigation into Trump's campaign contacts with Russian agents which was also going on at the same time??? This Enquiring mind still wants to know.
2
It’s 3:00 a.m. where I live as a citizen of two countries. In my hometown, it is 8:00 a.m. yesterday and the polls are starting to open. I am living in Wednesday, but I am hoping for another Wednesday. I am hoping for the upward slope. Good thing I voted a couple of weeks ago.
I worry not just for my beautiful birthplace. The world needs a stable America.
Here’s to Mr. Comey. Write on!
10
Much of the media and many influential Americans get a second chance today to come together as a country and not question the results of the election that followed only 2 years ago. I'm hopeful.
1
Well, we are all imperfect messengers, so it's legitimate to point out Mr Comey's failings and complicity in our current situation.
But, we can also choose to hear the message independent of the messenger, like the rational beings so many NYT readers think themselves to be. This is the path I choose.
Whether there is a giant being awakened? We will know this around midnight tonight.
13
Jim Comey is quite a piece of work.
I think the Gold Standard in terms of honor, patriotism and public rectitude is Robert Mueller. I would give him an A+. I would give
Jim Comey a solid B. Most of the rest of us are scurrying around
around trying to make a Gentleman's C.
In the age of secularism who else says "Lordy" or "Original Sin."
Speaking as someone who aspires to a Gentleman's C, I'm glad to hear someone does.
Amy Klobuchar has known Comey a long time. They went to law school together. I remember a comment by Klobuchar right after the 2016 Election when Democratic anger towards Comey was intense. She said, "Jim Comey is exactly the same now as he was in law school." The tone and context of her comment made clear she thought he was a decent honorable person.
Hang in there Jim Comey.
www.wednesdayswars.com
14
@Tom Callaghan
I noticed that, too. There are plenty of tin pot theocracies. I think the very worst piece of legislation pased in my lifetime is the Restoration of Religious Freedom Act. Religion was never endangered except in the public square, and that is the way to keep the peace. We are relitigating settled law - it's a waste of time and effort.
1
I wonder what gives Comey the courage to come into public view, and on top of that, preach to us? It probably stems from the same shamelessness and denial of any responsibility that is the hallmark of his target. People should read books like Cyberwar, and see the impact of Comey's actions. One might not like Hillary, but goodness, the alternative..... Comey has no moral authority from which to talk to us, whatever his message.
18
Tax returns of the 45th? American people want to see how much money he got from Russia over the period of time. Probably it disqualifies 45th to occupy that office.
11
@Trevor Diaz
Trump offered to release his tax returns.
As soon as Hillary releases the 30,000 emails under subpoena she deleted.
Where was Comey when that happened?
1
@George Orwell As Bernie Sanders said, "Enough about the emails." The legal issue was use of a unsecure server not the content of her emails, despite GOP efforts to make the emails an issue. Trump was mixing apples and oranges.
4
@George Orwell
Where was Comey on the secret Russian meetings with the Trump campaign? Or the Russian hacking? He knew about both and only spoke about Clinton. Why did he keep quiet on Trump?
Education is key. How about reinstating civics education from the earliest levels of schooling? And actual study of the US Constitution in the upper levels as part of learning both our rights and responsibilities as citizens? There is so much ignorance out there, which, of course, results in fear among the electorate and susceptibility to demagoguery. Let’s fix this!
16
@Concerned Citizen - All: raise your hand if you believe Donald Trump could pass a 5th-grade Civics exam. Do you believe he could speak knowledgeably about our system of government if required? I'm certain he'd refuse to do so if asked. The other thing he'd refuse to do publicly? Take an IQ test.
5
Interesting, Mr Comey has a lot personally invested in this mid-term. If the Dems take control of the house - it could derail an investigation into his personal actions surrounding the highly unorthodox and possible illegal use of the intelligence apparatus of the Obama administration to spy on a political opponent .. If Republicans continue to control the house - their will almost certainly be a new AG with a mandate to fully investigate what happen - including prosecuting senior members of Comey's staff - that already qued up for a Grand Jury... ( McCabe, Stuck, Page) ..
2
@Kojo Reese
They can investigate that stuff right AFTER they investigate the secret Russian meetings with the Trump campaign, the Russian hacking, and the cozy relationship between the NRA and Putin's operatives.
I also want to know which politicians in Congress are getting secret donations from Russians.
There seems to be more Russians crawling around the Republican Party than there are in a Tolstoy novel.
With respect, the present situation is due in large part to yourself, Mr Comey. Now you get to write a book and make some money.
7
With all due respect, Mr. Comey, I would imagine the question you got asked most often as you toured the country was “why did you throw the election to Donald Trump by damaging Hillary Clinton in the last two weeks?” This will be your only legacy, regardless of how much feigned hand-wringing you exhibit now.
19
If mr. comey worked as hard at the FBI as he's been working trying to rebuild his shattered legacy since poisoning our last elections, maybe he could sleep at night.
10
Took your advice Jimmy. Just voted a straight republican ticket to ensure it. Thanks Jimmy..
2
@J. Scott a bit of advice for your "straight ticket" mind..When comparing criminal indictments of those serving in the executive branch of presidential administrations it's so lopsided as to be ridiculous. Yet all I ever hear is how corrupt the Democrats are. So why don't we break it down by Presidents and the numbers?
Obama (D) - 8yrs in office. zero criminal indictments, zero convictions, and zero prison sentences. so the next time somebody describes the Obama administration as "scandal free" they aren't speaking wistfully, they're simply telling the truth.
Bush, George W. (R) - 8yrs in office. 16 criminal indictments. 16 convictions. 9 prison sentences.
Clinton (D) - 8yrs in office. 2 criminal indictments. one conviction. one prison sentence. that's right nearly 8yrs of investigations. tens of millions spent and 30yrs of claiming them the most corrupt ever and there was exactly one person convicted of a crime.
Bush, George H. W. (R) - 4yrs in office. one indictment. one conviction. one prison sentence. Reagan (R) - 8yrs in office. 26 criminal indictments. 16 convictions. 8 prison sentences.
Carter (D) - 4yrs in office. one indictment. zero convictions and zero prison sentences. Ford (R) - 2 1/2 yrs in office. one indictment and one conviction. one prison sentence. Pardoned Richard Nixon.
Nixon (R) - 6yrs in office. 76 criminal indictments. 55 convictions. 15 prison sentences.
con't..
1
Will this election bring back the principled honest G-Man? Or is this more years of continued smears and undermining trust with a fickle FBI?
1
Mr. Comey
Wow!!!!!! Thank you so much for your optimistic and well thought out comments and history lesson. You have been inside the belly of the beast, were belched out due to your integrity and honesty and lived to tell the tale. Keep up the great work!!!!!
Gosh, I wish you hadn’t put your thumb on the scale for Trump. Maybe then we wouldn’t be in this predicament?
17
Much as I admire your work and your words, I cannot help but hold you directly responsible for the debacle that is Trump. Your last minute Hilary doubting put the electorate where it is today.
17
Why would this man be given a platform AGAIN, right before an election? It's remarkable that he hasn't crawled into a cave in shame.
16
Influencing another election, after your great success at it in 2016, Mr. Comey?
7
I think it is more likely America is like the roadrunner cartoons where the coyote has run off the cliff but just doesn't realize it yet.
4
@john zouck Thats called Pragmatism ,the call to deal w/each mentally isolated moment without ideological trifling about past and future. See mainstream Leftist and Rightist professors for scholarly rationalizations.
Right. You mean the value of bringing charges that don’t exist days before an election.
Keep digging Comey!
2
The spikes of progress may be higher than the backward steps and our values might be more resilient in the long run but this jagged course is not so forgiving for our environment and our fellow species. All for a buck for a relative few, we are destroying our precious planet and its inhabitants. Vote with this in mind.
4
@TMS >All for a buck for a relative few....
........Dont forget the 2B people who rose from ancient, environmentalist poverty into the capitalist middle class over the last 30 years. Sustain man. Exploit the environment. Green is the color of money.
1
Mr. Comey, with all due respect, your last decision a few days before the 2016 election tilted this country into its current turmoil and path toward self-destruction behind an uber-narcissist, 7th grade bully demagogue and his sycophant party. Not the Russians, not stupid Facebook ads, not voter suppression and gerrymandering, not the anachronistic Electoral College--you. So thanks so much for writing about upholding the values of democracy and fairness.
6
It's difficult for me to read this article coming from you, Mr. Comey, because if it were not for your actions, Hillary would be president and we wouldn't be having to vote out Trumpism and all the vile behavior that goes with it – violence, racism, hate, misogyny... and the list goes on.
11
@Kathleen Forsythe Theres no basic difference between Hillary's Leftist, "It takes a village" and Burke's conservative, "We suspect that the individual can't think for himself." Both hate the Enlightenment ideology of man's independent mind.
I will NEVER forgive you, Mr. Moral Vanity. Just go away.
Seriously.
10
I wish I felt as comfortable as Mr Comey. Joseph McCarthy the individual went away and but not all he stood for, and now it is all back with a vengeance. We can trace that resurgence to Ronald Reagan, another supporter of McCarthy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Cohn
2
.Donald Trump has turned this Country into an us against them ,He is A white Supremecist that wants to turn this Country back to the re Jim Crow times ! Who do you think he was talking about in his Campaign when he kept mentioning Extreme Vetting? Anyone who is not White!
1
Oh the irony! In October 2016 what were you doing? Lest we forget, I believe you were “sabotagingl the presidential elections.
I’m glad that you were able to cash in with your book and new found fame. Thanks for you service.
4
So ironic that the man who gave us trump is such a decent and morally upstanding person. The gods must be laughing.
3
@jsutton
The gods of the ancients always punished hubris. Comey's overweening pride and ego went before a fall, and he took the nation down with it.
1
@jsutton,
But therein lies the rub.
Clearly james comey is an un-American partisan amoral hack.
Ps
Is there were gods, they would be bawling their eyes out.
1
@jsutton
Comey only gave us Trump if people who voted for Trump as a result of Comey's late revelation are truly so foolish as to base their entire decision on that investigation while disregarding everything that was already known about Trump. You can't blame Comey for that level of stupidity.
Is James Comey really trying to influence another election? He bears at least some of the responsibility for the “lying, misogyny, racism and attacks on the rule of law” that we have seen over the past 2 years. Any Election Day op-ed from him decrying the president’s actions aught to include a mea culpa.
4
Mr. Comey thank you for reminding us of our history since we tend to focus on the immediate. This time around as a consequence of the immense evil of trump we must awaken the giant with a good swift kick.
2
“After everything else has been tried, Americans usually do the right thing.”
—Winston Churchill
5
You gave him the election by mishandling the Hillary Clinton investigation’s public statements just prior to Election Day.
4
Dear Mr Comer,
Wait a minute ... you have been “speaking about ethical leadership” for the past 6 months ? Whoa !
How ethical was it for you to reveal the Clinton email dump days before the election? Another few days would have shown that the FBI had already seen most of them.
Did you ever consider that this event was PLANNED to yield the same consequence? I thought the FBI knew all about counter intelligence.
I find that your expertise in ethical leadership to be questionable.
At least the Mueller investigation is apparently withholding further reports until after today’s election.
You were used and we have been paying for it.
3
"our core values are secure in the middle with the giant lump of busy, normally disengaged, distracted people" That may be...but the operational power of the government is not there in the middle with those values. And you, Mr. Comey, own some of that with the way you mishandled the email investigation twice in 2016.
3
Thank you, James.
I uphold James's view, that in general our actions will lead to a better outcome.
I'm recently converted to an absolute belief in God, but that belief, for me and for many, doesn't rely upon the bible. We view the bible as a guide to the spiritual life rather than a book of laws. And we also see it as malleable, that we in this generation of fatalism must provide a new chapter to the book.
I can say yes to so many things. Yes, I was contacted. Yes, I'm trying to help. Yes, it might come at the expense of my family. Yes, it doesn't matter in the LONG view.
In the long view, we need to make sure that people ruled by the amygdala don't rule us!
We need to ensure that people ruled by the cerebral frontal cortex rule the people!
1
Why do so many people believe that their political opinions are "national values" or "moral values"?
6
The honest answer to their question is no, America will never be the same again. Trump may not succeed in making this country into a autocracy, but he has laid the groundwork and written the blueprint for future generations to do so. Unless we undergo a paradigm shift in human thought, the upward sloping line will come to a sudden end.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer, which will have at its base a "survival algorithm. This will provide us with irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
3
It's astonishing that the man who may be the single most responsible person for getting Trump elected in the first place has the gall to write this article. He may be trying to atone for his sins, but I wish he'd just disappear from public view.
17
@Chuck
Or at least admit what he did. He allowed himself to be intimidated by right wing Trump lovers in the NY FBI office who were repeatedly ciolating the rules, and likely the law, leaking information to damage Hillary. Rather than uphold his oath of office to protect our constitution and democracy Comey (and McCabe) decided to protect his own reputation and that of the FBI by trying to appease them.
2
@Chuck I used to feel that way and then I read his book. I understand now and appreciate his insight.
No wonder the FBI became so politicized under his leadership. Why did the inspector general recommend he be fired?
Partisan politics as he engaged in has no place in law enforcement.
1
We can only hope Mr. Comey continues to move to the left carrying an upbeat message.
3
@The Iconoclast
I would rather he just go away. I won't buy his book. I have no intention of paying him any part of his 30 pieces of silver for betraying the trust of the American people.
I find Mr. Comey to be a calculated politician who shot his own foot when he optimized his own move by rationalizing the decision making process of an irrational man.
He tried to get himself impossible to be fired, expecting a Hillary Clinton presidency, by revealing investigation on HRC a week before election day. He very likely flipped a close election by doing that.
Then he tried to get himself impossible to be fired, by getting in the middle of investigating Trump. Any sane president would have avoided firing Comey so as not to get entangled with obstruction of justice. But Trump is anything but rational.
And Comey got fired. I wouldn't care what he has to say, honestly, no matter which side he is on.
2
Oh James, the Kavanaugh 'investigation'. And it was hardly the
first instance of the incredibly corrupt bureaucracy that has been the bane of this country for many years. Resuming an upward march? There is no 'march' to resume.
2
After the Trump Republican Party is swept off the political stage, what will replace this near treasonous, corrupt, bigoted, and totally compromised interest group? More importantly, who will step forward, untainted by any association whatsoever with the Fake President, to attempt the Herculean task of forming an entirely new political party? There needs to be a legitimate, moderate, prideful choice provided for the American electorate in the future. Although enticing for Democrats, one party rule will not be a good thing for our democracy. Is John Kasich the only possible potential candidate available for this enormous challenge?
1
This is an article that should give us hope but will today’s election give it validation. In a few hours we will have our answer.
5
What seems to be confusing some voters is that what Trump does openly politicians used to do behind the scenes out of public view. Trump publicly uses racism, lies and fear, has close ties with the public "news" network Fox and is openly breaking campaign rules.
Just because he does it in the open doesn't make it right or legal, it just means that we don't have a system of checks and balances any more.
Today must be the defining moment that we will be taking this country back to some semblance of normal. If we cannot do it now, we won't recognize this country 2 years from now.
7
@VMG - Yes. If we cannot do it now, later will be too late.
1
Mr. Comey this column was upbeat and hopeful, something I sorely need. I have lived nearly 3/4 of a century and have lived through some trying, horrible times but this is an era that stands for me by far the worst. An incompetent, despicable president has his own national network to promote his hate. There are no checks and balances when it comes to Fox and social media. There is the difference today. Social media forums that can spread conspiracies and lies 24/7. Does this change the bell curve? I just hope I don't 'pass on' before the slope starts to rise starting today.
This is a personal note to Mr. Comey. My friend's granddaughter is in high school and transitioning from female to male. It has been a difficult time for the new James. Ideas of suicide, hospitalization. My friend wrote to me that he went to hear you speak in CT. and that experience energized him. He is now thinking of a positive future perhaps in politics. Even if you can't accomplish all you wish, helping just one trans kid will have been worth all your efforts.
5
Can we remove the man from the message for a minute and acknowledge that this is a potent and grounded call to action.
6
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the earth."
2
Reading this essay made me feel mildly nauseated.
2
By his performance as FBI Director and deputy AG, Comey has demonstrated that he is ignorant of both American core values and the will of the electorate. His firing was a just and courageous decision by the President. Comey is a self-serving political hack masquerading as a career civil servant dedicated to furthering the best interests of American society.
2
Never until now - this year - these last few days - have I felt ominous about an election.
I’m afraid to hope. I live in fear.
Not fear of immigrants. I’m all for diversity. I relish it.
But in fear that somehow the Republicans will again trample upon the electorate and upon our best traditions and values.
I fear those who want to carry concealed weapons, who vote only for their own interests, not for the “general welfare.” I fear those who believe that white people are the only ones deserving of being American - and I’m a white person. I fear those who would further eviscerate our public school system, when that should be the place where people mingle with the glorious diversity should celebrate. I fear those who want to deprive us of clean air, clean water, biodiversity and a beautiful, clean environment - in order feed their own greed or loosen regulations or make corporations the god of a nation - instead of We the People. Meaning ALL of us. Every single one of us.
I am grateful for public servants like James Comey. For the Obamas. For those with power or name recognition who work for the General Welfare, for Justice, for Equality, for Compassion.
And I will pray today for every single one of you who goes to the Polls or has already voted or cares deeply for a peaceful nation, a home to refugees, a place of safety, a refuge, a sanctuary, a beacon of hope.
13
Trumps appeal is not an appeal of some overarching ideology at all but just a binary choice between the likes of the author, his hand picked and now mostly departed team, the GPS outfit, our ex CIA chief, the IRS crowd, the people who organized the Kavanaugh circus, the media, the celebrities, and so and so on versus just not them running our lives. The absurdity if this manipulative and dishonest man lecturing us on values is either apparent to the reader or it is not.
1
Many Americans will vote to uphold the long held values of our country....but, Mr. Comey, they are not your values. We value integrity, honor, trust, and honesty.
We believe in majority rule. Not rule by a select group of Deep State bureaucrats that believe they know best.
We believe in the value of our political system. Not using the vast resources of our federal government to circumvent the will and desires of the people.
You speak for a very small segment of our population, and for your actions you deserve to be investigated and charged with crimes against this nation. You deserve to spend the remaining years of your life in prison.
You believe in "integrity, honor and trust" yet you support a loathesome creature that has NONE of those qualities?
You believe in majority rule, yet you support one who improbably captured power without the support of the majority, using the antiquated electoral college and a Gerrymandered congress?
You believe in justice yet you end your comment with an echo of a mob chanting "lock her up"?
Surely you must be either a conscious hypocrite or a blind fool.
You got it right Jim. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We fought some terrible wars and lost many good young men in our fight against tyrany and hate. Your hope is my hope and I think is the hope of most Americans.
3
OK Mr. Comey I will try to join your optimism for the future you envision is one I would want to. However, your words do not change my mind that it is you who so almost gleefully set us on this downward course of Trumpian division fueled by hate and fear.
Yes, we nominated a woman to be a candidate for the highest office in the land. And at the same time the country was exploited by the GOP media blitz of hate against that woman. Even the NYT couldn't get enough of the 'emails'. So good for clicks and profit.
And as Director of the FBI Mr. Comey you solidified the denigration of the agency you served with partisan actions which lead nowhere and delivered us Trumpian hate. The FBI remains mired in a fight for dignity and questionable partisan loyalty.
Too little, too late Mr. Comey.
5
Many commentators remind me of the sore winners in the GOP. Comey, a lifelong Republican and a Republican appointee, is (now) on the right side of history. Be grateful for small favors; don't form a circular firing squad.
5
It is just such a shame that Comey made such an unconscionable error during the presidential election. We would just not be here today if he hadn't made that HUGE blunder. I see that he is trying to make it better, so I try not to really continue my resentment. It's hard.
4
No redemption for you, Mr. Comey. Despite your current thoughts, it is quite likely we wouldn't be here but for your antics of October 2016.
3
The only thing I want to hear from Comey at this point is the truth about what was going on in the New York FBI office that led him to speak up just days before the election. Until he comes clean, everything else he has to say is nice, but too late.
3
It is a good piece of writing, by the guy who threw the election to his nemesis. I don't think I can forgive Comey for that Hillary Clinton email (not scandal ) torpedo, just days before the 2016 Presidential election.
4
Thanks, Jim. I pray (and I’m not normally a prayer) that you’re right.
2
This man should have the decency to hide his face in shame after the way he influenced the 2016 election. Hiding behind your “ethics” will not change what you did.
4
I agree with the message but do not believe that the messenger has a leg to stand on in the ethics department. He is an unrepentant liar who has never admitted to his misdeeds perpetrated when he was a trusted government employee.
What Comey did to Hillary Clinton and her candidacy is unforgivable and must never be ignored, forgotten or swept under the carpet.
Let Comey live with the consequences of his unjust, unwarranted, reprehensible actions just as we all are forced to live with them every single day of the Trump administration.
He exacted a price on every single American citizen when he abused the trust of our government and perpetrated his multiple offenses against Hillary Clinton.
There must be a price to pay for his offenses, and at a minimum, he should never be allowed to be published on the editorial pages of this or any other news organization.
4
Thank you, Mr. Comey. You're redeeming yourself.
(Yes, I understand why you made the now infamous announcement in October 2016, that might have tipped the scale in favor of anti-republican forces assuming power.)
2
We are here in no small part due to Comey's reckless insubordination.
5
Grab your slicker, your umbrella, a plastic bag from the dry cleaners and stand proudly in the raid - with your fellow Americans. Meet your fellow voters. And refuse the Republicans who hope you’ll stay away from the rain or the cold. Show your courage and your citizen voting muscle. Refuse to be refuse for those who would triumph over you. Make your vote count! Stand in long lines no matter if the rain pours. For it will show the haters that love triumphs over hate and rain and cold. Feel the love and warmth of fellow citizens who turn out regardless. Put on your smiles and show the bullies they do not own this nation.
We the People do.
7
When the Democrats take the House and, with some luck, the Senate, Trump will go to his raving rallies and expound that the election was "rigged." If he isn't the winner, he becomes the whiner. One can only shudder at what he will say and, more ominously, do in 2020 when he is sent away.
3
I'm ready for civility to triumph over incivility. I'm ready for people to sit down to dinner together and enjoy each other. I'm ready for this country to turn its back on the ugly taunts and lies of the present. With that in mind, I quit Facebook. I honestly think Facebook, FOX News, the current Republicans in the legislative branch, and the doom and gloom media personalities have said enough. Our current culture celebrates a winner take all point of view. Pop culture celebrates sales and money, leaving artistry in the dust. Popularity at any cost is the name of the game. Well, I'm tired of the game. I'm tired of the simplicity of algorithms. I'm tired of blank looks on Facebook executives when they say they the ugliness of Facebook isn't their responsibility but it's something they will fix. They won't. Neither will FOX be fair. But I can't fix them. What I can do are two things - I can walk away from Facebook and today I can vote. I can vote against those crass racists and liars in congress. I can vote as a protest to Trump. I can start to create my own America where I will talk directly to people if I want to say anything, where I will listen to contrary opinions without putting up walls, and I can quit the tribe. In other words, it's up to me - and you - to become independent, thinking, and caring Americans. Go vote.
7
I still remember my visceral shock when the sanctimonious Comey told us that the FBI had decided to reopen the case against Hillary Clinton. All his verbiage since then cannot erase the fact that he did that while keeping secret the growing case against the Trump campaign staff's playing footsie with the Russians.
4
Our nation does not value using the state to spy on political enemies even when you detest them, and you were an active part of that effort.
It does not value you making decisions about Ms Clinton's case based on polltical calculus. You failed to uphold your sworn duty, and you did it knowingly.
Whatever this country needs, the people are entrusted to vote for it on their own. You're part of the problem, not the solution. Please enjoy your pension and move along.
1
Haaa, this guy. He's not hitting the comeback trail, he's selling his book defending his unethical actions.
1
Wow, it's so easy to keep blaming someone, and ignore the complacent, as well as the hate, oppression, and backward thinking that raised its ugly head with trump. The same people who voted for Trump would stifle the voices of the press, scholars, entertainers, and women.
Speaking of women in the armed services, a 77 year old man said, "No gentleman would put a woman in harms way." There is no draft, and women have always served in some capacity.
This is not 1950.
In my book, it’s highly likely that this election wouldn’t be so critical to the state of the soul of America if it weren’t for one man, Donald Trump. And in my book, it’s highly likely that Donald Trump would not be president if it weren’t for one other man, James Comey.
Of course my book has other chapters on Trump’s ascendency: the Russians, white nationalism, Fox News, desperate coal miners, even the vast Kentucky that lies between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Nevertheless, Comey’s reopening of the bogus email investigation, so close to the election and amid chants of “lock her up” certainly greased the skids to begin the most shameful, disgraceful two years of American political life and the disintegration, perhaps permanent, of our very social fabric.
2
NOT SO FAST! Mr. Comey, those million who support you are a small fraction of the many millions who want to see you in prison.
Today's Red Wave will take care of that.
I just voted in Michigan. Voted straight republican. Praying John James defeats Debbie Stabenow. I love America and my vote reflects that. No communism and socialism here. I hope it is a red tidal wave.
@debbie
What in the world are you talking about, Debbie.
There is no Communism or Socialism in the U.S.
We do have programs that benefit many people, such as social security, medicare and so forth. Chances are that you benefit from them now or will in the not so distant future. Are these programs socialistic in nature in that we as a society have decided to help and benefit one another, it is not Communism or Socialism that motivates such programs. It is that we are all together, and as we age we want programs to help us. There are other things you might call socialism as well...decent schools, good transportation systems. We all benefit from these.
You might do well by not watching Fox or listening to talk radio, if you do those things.
3
Oh please. Do you even know what those terms really mean? I doubt it. Will you accept Social Security and Medicare when you retire, if you haven't already? Does your family have health insurance? ...Any pre-existing conditions? I will never understand people who vote against their own self-interests.
4
So, Jim Comey has been traveling around the country presumable making paid-for speeches on ethical leadership.
Read that slowly again. Eth-i-cal lead-er-ship.
Seriously? Who would pay a criminal to make that speech?
2
Look who's still unemployed!
"Destroyer of American Democracy" is not exactly a skill many employers want is it Jimmy?!?
3
"Let justice roll like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream." "If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land." May the reasons this country was founded be true today as we vote. We will not be tyrannized. We will not be attacked, bullied, co opted to be victims of propaganda from the state run news. We are a free people, who value our four freedoms as Roosevelt so aptly described we should bequeath to the world in the United Nations, that is freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship God in our own way, freedom from want (of health care or the right to vote) and freedom from fear (that this president has engineered successfully in disturbingly making all immigrants out to be someone to be afraid of). "America, America, God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea".
1
Too little, too late. Had you not sabotaged the 2016 election (it does not matter whether it was malice or neglicence), we would not be where we are now.
3
As usual, James, you are spot on, but this cycle is somewhat of a variant not unlike the “Mule” of Azimov’s “Foundation” trilogy.
Certainly Trump and his sycophants are an abomination and they are a resurrection of McCarthy in that the Trumps were trained by Roy Kohn, McCarthy’s corrupt legal hit man. Evil always seems to resurface cyclically - this time aided by “social media” fake news, unabashed lies and propaganda.
It is my fervent hope that today, after two years of ceaseless moral, ethical, fiscal and political insults, degradation and incompetence, enough Americans have awakened to this existential threat to our Democracy. Beneath the daily obvious lies the calculated overthrow of our legal system by stacking the courts with prejudiced Judges in hopes of a long-lived control of power by partisan rule of law. This cannot be allowed.
Even with a big “win” today, the forces of reason must undo the crimes of the Dotard and his hard core cult followers - they must level the playing field by limiting campaign funding, restricting false propaganda, truly enforcing ethics laws and fair redistricting to name just a few.
Onward and upward - I hope.
1
Thank you, Mr. Comey, this was inspirational and uplifting, and your service is so appreciated. Yet we can't ignore the fact that, in the days that saw the rise and fall of the venomous Senator Joseph McCarthy, Americans still trusted their press and journalism was respected. Everyone needs to watch the two-part Frontline expose of Facebook's direct role in the rise of Trump and authoritarian/nationalist regimes not only here, but all over the planet. It's chilling. Our problems in this regard require an all hands on deck approach. We will find out soon if we've worked hard enough to counter the menace that algorithm amplified fake news has become.
I will always hold James Comey primarily responsible for the situation in which we find ourselves today. Had he followed long established FBI protocols and kept his opinions to himself, there would have been no "October Surprise" which tipped the scales (and votes) into the Trump camp.
That said, his hindsight is, as expected, 20 / 20. He now knows first hand what we long expected - Trump demands total and complete fealty of all his minions. Any deviation, and you are not one of his favored few. This has led to the "us : them" climate that so divides our once great nation. Only by working together, collaborating and compromising, will we save ourselves. There is no white knight to save the day.
6
I'm 78 years old now. I wonder if in my lifetime I'll see a change for the better. I've been very disillusioned not so much by trump, as he has always been known as a liar and cheater, but by the citizens who voted for him and continue to support him. The divide among us now is virulent and I hope it doesn't lead to all out civil war again. People, especially right wingers, are armed to the teeth and dreaming of killing liberals, I fear. Let's just hope that we can swing back to decency again, as Mr. Comey predicts.
169
@jsutton
"People, especially right-wingers, are armed to the teeth and dreaming of killing liberals..." Right-wingers, I take it, are Trump voters. I voted for Trump, have never owned a gun, have liberal social views, and am highly educated. I predicted a Trump victory the minute he announced his candidacy and enjoyed every minute of the media's utter shock at his winning. Why? Two things: (1) illegal immigration, and (2) Hillary Clinton, the biggest criminal and pay-for-play expert of our time.
1
@jsutton...i'm 1 year younger than you and wonder the same---will i live long enough to see the change for the better. To see Trump out of office 1st. And then to at least see a democratic president. Then watching the news won't be such an upsetting experience.
But also to see our democracy and economic equality start to be restored, so that we again lead the world, not lag it.
At my age, in hopes, I am eating my veggies, and exercising for a longer life!
10
@rocktumbler You sound intelligent. I'm totally mystified that someone such as yourself could support this evil man and the hatred that he spreads every time he opens his mouth. At least you're not a gun fanatic.
1
Let’s Vote to Uphold Our Nation’s Values
That's exactly what I'm doing--by voting against the Democratic Party, the party that would turn America into a government-dominated society where individuals count for nothing, where the only thing that matters is your "identity" and by official policy some of those identities are favoured and some are not.
I'm voting against the party that over and over again has expressed its collective contempt for me and everyone who thinks like me, that has made it clear that the society that I and half the country want are unworthy of consideration and will be discarded.
My values celebrate the individual and, for 90-plus percent of America's counties, those are America's values. But they're not the values of the Democrats. Their values reject the individual in favour of the group. Their values are of spineless compliance and dependency. Their values would punish individual thought and individual action. Their values are an utter repudiation of the values on which this nation was founded.
5
Dear Mr Miller,
I’m sorry you feel that an entire group has contempt for you. As a Democrat, I don’t have contempt for an entire group and I know many fellow Democrats who feel similarly.
I wonder if we could agree on this: it was and still is the effort of the collectives that provide us the freedoms to be individuals.
If we spent more time finding some common ground, we might find solutions to our differences.
4
@Henry Miller Your characterization of the Democratic Party is ridiculous, pure paranoid fantasy. If there were a party such as you describe, I'd vote against it too, but there is not.
2
A nice example of the things you have to tell yourself over and over in order to hold your nose and vote for a lying traitor. It’s ok to vote for Trump because even though he has and will sell this country out to our enemies (Putin, North Korea) you can imagine a story where Democrats are even worse. When he sells us out he is counting on you to look the other way, and here you are doing just what he expected. Your vote makes it official.
2
Great op-ed. Thanks for this on election day. I am reading Jon Meacham's book and it's well-written, engaging, informative and hopeful, which I think is his point. Be hopeful and know that these tumultuous years with Trump won't last forever, but we need as Americans to be engaged in the process of our government. Now more than ever.
12
YES. Now this is a post both energizing and strengthening. Well done, Mr. Comey, well done!
17
James Comey's view that America will inexorably continue its upward progress is complacent. Paul Krugman's assertion yesterday that a midterm vote keeping both houses under Republican control will put the nation in danger of a descent into autocracy "hammers out a warning" to all of us, to use Pete Seeger's words.
In 1963, when he was in jail in Birmingham for civil rights activism, Martin Luther King received an open letter from white clergy in the area advising him that if he moderated that activism some of his goals would be achieved with the passage of time. He replied to it with an open letter of his own that became famous as his "letter from Birmingham Jail." In it, he replied to the clerics' advice: "actually, time is neutral." He meant that in human affairs not much that is important is inevitable; to achieve a worthwhile objective people have to act of their own free will through the eternal neutrality of time. That is what we Americans must do at the polls today; and if the result of the vote keeps the Republicans with their legislative majorities we must reject Mr. Comey's smug words that the "sleeping giant" will awake simply as part of the sweep of our history and we will resume our "upward march." No. Time is indeed neutral. Democratic action is essential.
16
@CT
Thank you for your comments. You clarified for me what was 'wrong' with Mr. Comey's observations. Democratic action is our only hope.
1
Like you Mr. Comey, I too feel that the giant is stirring. We are in an existential moment in our history. Good people, decent people, people who have been otherwise preoccupied with life, have had to pause in the midst of the hate-mongering and mass killings and say, "this isn't us." The absence of moral leadership has left a vacuum. People who thought we were being led, and who realized we’ve been misled, have had to step forward and assert leadership. Collectively, it will be a righting of our course. Today should be a good day for achieving that in large measure. By the way, I read your book. I salute your service as a public official. Only wish you had balanced your scrutiny of Hillary’s emails with an equal scrutiny of Trump’s finances and electioneering escapades. Things might have been radically different now that they turned out to be.
20
@East End
Well said, East End - especially the last two sentences. i would add that people who fear anyone different from themselves should imagine what may have been had the indigenous people 500 years ago built a wall to keep the invading, disease bearing Europeans from crossing the border to take their lands and kill their people and repress the survivors. As you said, things might have been radically different now than what they have turned out to be. Onward.
1
@East End Yeas,had Hillary won, things would be dramatically worse.
@Jim Smith
Nope. Not possible.
I've voted in every election for which I was eligible for more than 50 years. I've lived at the same address for the past four years and have all manner of state and federal issued id to prove it. I have a Virginia issued voter id card. Never-the-less, when I went to vote this morning, I found that I've been wiped from the voter registration book.
I was issued a provisional ballot and, in order for it to count, must appear at an office in Manassas at noon tomorrow to prove my eligibility by which time the election will most likely be over. I live in a county in which Corey Stewart is the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
I have heeded the call to action and attempted to vote. Despite being white, solidly middle class and a disabled veteran, I've been effectively disenfranchised. What exactly, Mr. Comey do you suggest I do now?
62
@Raphael Warshaw
In Queens, NYC this morning, where we vote, there are 4 scanners to tally the votes. Only one works and we were told that there was nothing to be done about it. The polling place was packed with would-be voters. Another technique in the voter suppression tactic. I repeat Raphael Warshaw's question - what exactly, Mr. Comey do you suggest I do now?
5
@Raphael Warshaw
God almighty, Raphael. Fury has arisen in me on your behalf, and on behalf of the scads of people who share your experience. I am so disgusted by the vote suppression that is surely sweeping the country. I somehow am not wondering about your politics.
5
@Raphael Warshaw
I don't know how it is in your state, but in Connecticut you can go to your town's Registrar of Voters office (it is open on election day), and bring you proof of residency, get registered, and be able to vote the very same day.
Make sure you got correct information about having to go to an agent tomorrow. Maybe you can still vote today. Check it out. There is a lot of misinformation floating around.
The giant is waking up all right, but is tied hand and foot. The financial ties go from employee to employer to elected official, binding us all tightly and preventing change.
Couldn't believe my ears last night when I heard on a major-market radio station (AM 770 in San Francisco) , "As practicing Christians, we must vote Republican."
Whatever their reasoning, it sounded like nonsense. What happened to the separation of church and state, one of the founding principles of our democracy.
We've got a ways to go yet before we are an honest, beneficial, humanitarian civilization. Looking forward to some change for the better, it's overdue !
17
@Kevin
Call the sponsors and advertisers of that radio station and complain about the show, and ask them if they want only Republicans to buy their products.
I sincerely hope that James Comey is right when he says that the ides of history tell us that the giant which is American Patriotism and faith in American Values, Justice, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is waking to jag us back toward a more perfect union. Unfortunately, because of the unholy alliance that has been created between the oligarch class and people who are unaware of their implicit biases around patriarchy, gender and race, because of the shocking amounts of gerrymandering and voter suppression (in a country that holds itself up as a beacon of freedom) because of the arcane ridiculousness of the Electoral College, because of voter apathy, because of the vast sums of money being spent to cloud the judgement so people who are already jaded and exhausted can be persuaded to vote against their self interest I am less confident or hopeful.
I want to be proven wrong today. I want to believe that this country that I love can recognize when it is time for a reset. I want to believe that people will realise that having over two thousand men serve in the Houses of Congress, and only fifty women is a history that needs to be challenged and changed. I want to be proven wrong, but I will not be shocked or surprised if I turn out to be as right as I was in 2016. I hope many many people turn out and vote their values today, because all that is needed for tyrants to succeed is for good and fair people to sit back and do nothing.
12
Sometimes I don't want any of the candidates on the ballot. Why can't I withhold my vote and signal to the political parties that they need to do better to get my vote? I think that's a valid option for any voter.
@David Anderson
That option allows your lean to be lost.
We all have a lean - a direction that we know is better than the other direction.
I urge you not to loose your voting contribution by picking the candidate that leans in your preferred direction. That is of course unless you are REPUBLICAN in which case please wait for the perfect candidate before voting!
5
@David Anderson Please, not when Trump is in the White House. He must be stopped. The Republican majority is NOT doing it's job. Checks and Balances are gone! Our Democracy is in peril and we have a dictator-in-chief instead.
2
@David Anderson Please vote! Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good!
3
I am leaving in about fifteen minutes to go and vote. Today, common human decency is on the ballot, and who gets to decide what American values are. I am voting for common human decency.
21
@Michele Underhill So clearly not Democrat then?
A clearly written description.From a very selective perspective.Trump, as a person, and President, and a range of his known, as well as more hidden supporting individual and systemic stakeholders, currently, are only part of our conflicted reality.Today. Mid-term election day. One surely needs to consider, be aware of, what has enabled, fostered, spread America's toxic WE-THEY culture. Violating, by words and deeds,created, selected and targeted "the other(s)-" people, concepts, norms, values, behaviors- from the time of the Colonies UP and onward. THEN, and NOW. All over this nation. A nation which created the Marshall Plan to reconstruct a distraught-destroyed global world, post WW II,
and is unable to effectively marshall internal resources to vanquish a very potent, harming, daily culture of personal unaccountability by elected and selected policymakers. At all levels.Both parties. Mr. Comey, concerned as he presents himself, about America- country, heritage, traditions and diverse Peoples-uses the semantic image of a jagged line for noting the trajectory of progress. As well as lack of!. This is quite "in-line" with the contemporary use, and belief, in numbers representing people. % representing wanted as well as unwanted changes.Just as a map does not, can not, ACTUALLY present the area it was created to graphically represent no word, single or combined, can BE, what it was created to describe. Explain. Answer. Question.All of US need to go beyond words."Fail better?"
Thank you James Comey for your insight, integrity and true patriotism. I’ve witnessed first hand the post war evolution of our American democracy and society. The cards of our future are being dealt today. I have hope!
5
Yes thank you Mr Comey for not being in a position of prominence and therefore not being able to upend this election as you did in 2016. Your integrity and patriotism pushed out the beginning of a decent future at least two years and who knows how much time to repair the damage done in the interim.
13
Take the long view of American politics, 2018 pales in comparison to where this country was in 1968.
One may suppose that the general change over time Comey describes is “positive” in the sense of achieving justice, if not decency, to increasingly greater extents in this land. And for those so inclined about this but are discouraged presently due to “set backs,” there is historical reason to be hopeful nonetheless. Hopeful of having it their way, anyway. However, there are those still who don’t agree about the changes Comey describes as “progress;” and act out accordingly as to go back, believing they’ll “make America great again.” The question I think is not considered in this life-draining battle that yields what one side of the divide wants and the other does not, is, How do you reach out to those who feel as though they’re losing? In other words, how is compromise that truly satisfies, achieved? Humility, in the best sense, does not seem to come into the picture for most of us in this land. Instead, no matter the side one’s on, far too often one thinks s/he’s “right,” and literally fights for it. Trump, of course, has exploited this for his own self-serving purposes. He’s cunning. Our basic problem (that has nothing to do with Trump really) no matter the “political” side, may be arrogance, the enemy of “perfect union.”
When people see the possibility for advantage, or are concerned that they may be knocked from their perch, then then they look the other way. Eventually the issue is so in your face that you cannot look the other way. Leaders provide these folks an off ramp. Taking back the House in 2018 would be such an off ramp. Not taking back the House will only delay the inevitable reckoning to 2020.
Comey's piece suggests that the system is in place that will prevent the eventual off ramp from being blocked.
@Monty Reichert We cannot afford two more years. There has been too much damage done in the past two.
8
Mr. Comey:
Thanks for the history lesson! Unfortunately President Trump and his followers rewrite these events to suit their needs. Someday we will once again see a leader that exemplifies honesty and comprehension of the events that shaped this country.
14
Thank you for a hope filled, message of encouragement. The giant has stirred in the past and may it do so again.
8
Think of the message, and not the messenger.
Yes, undoubtedly the USA will turn again to being a world leader in democracy, if not common decency.
But how far will it fall from its pedestal before that happens?
14
Hillary would have fired this guy even faster than Trump did, and She'd have been right to do it too.
He's been riding a wave of attacking the guy who isn't popular. Yet this guy hasn't changed.
9
@Mark Thomason, What he did was debatable, but at least he has a sense of values and ethics. Trump has none. He's attacking actions, behavior, and values that are damaging the country. And he's right to do so.
@Mark Thomason
Obama should have fired him in July for dishonoring the FBI when he went on a political rant about recklessness.
1
I never lose faith. Because there are people, millions and millions, of people, who love humanity as much as they love their Lord and this country.
I hope every last one of them votes today.
Thank you Mr Comey, for your words and the hope they inspire.
21
Long past time to do the right thing to save our country. Comey is right, this is not about taxes or personal wealth. Vote Blue. Once in office, the Dems will tackle wealth inequality and the rule of law. No one is above the law, not even the President.
28
@jbk So you have to vote blue to see what blue will do? Why didn't Dems tackle wealth inequality when Obama was elected with a super-majority?
Is history no longer taught to avoid repeating the failed policies of the past?
@Constance Underfoot The Dems couldn't"tackle wealth inequality" under President Obama because the Republican majority flat out refused to agree to anything he wanted. That fact Obama was "elected with a super-majority" has NO bearing on how Congress acted once he was in office. Remember Mitch McConnell saying he'd do everything to make Mr. Obama a one term president? Remember how not one Republican voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act? Remember how the Senate Judiciary Comm. refused to even consider Merrick Garland for the open Supreme Court seat? Republics obstructed pretty much everything for 8 years; that's why Obama couldn't tackle wealth inequality. Republics wouldn't allow it!
2
Thank you, Mr. Comey. I appreciate your optimism, but I have difficulty sharing it.
History also shows us that great civilizations can disintegrate. There is no guarantee that we can avoid that fate.
Perhaps I'll feel differently tomorrow when the results are in, but today I'm pessimistic.
That won't stop me from voting, however, and hoping that in doing so I can help to put us back on that upward sloping curve.
24
Is there really a great moral majority out there? Just waiting to be reminded and prodded?
Or, is the reality more complex, like any of us on any day of our lives can pay homage to one value (you name it) and ignore it on the next.
The influences constantly at work on our consciousness are innumerable. Political leadership is one these, certainly, but its limits are nowhere made clearer than by the rhetoric of the president or by the silence of his enablers.
What may count just as much, if not more, is the dialogue we have or could have with each other and the reading we could undertake for those encounters.
5
Every time I see what appear to be people of "modest means" cheering at those Trump rallies, I think the middle class, lower middle class and poor in this country are in for a really bad future in this country. The surplus in the Medicare Trust Fund is now projected to be exhausted in 2016. The surplus in the Social Security retirement fund is projected to be exhausted in 2034. Congress has been authorizing shifting funds from the Social Security retirement system to its disability fund now for a few years. With a booming economy and low unemployment, the trend should be opposite, that is, these accounts should be in BETTER shape.
No doubt, those in the Middle Class and below will be more dependent on these programs, if they are cut significantly, in their "golden years", those seniors will be required to rely on their kids to take care of them, pay their expenses, etc. I can tell you from experience, families usually don't rally around their parents, in their time of need.
I feel sorry for those people at Trump's rallies, but I guess they are making the decision to support Trump and the GOP, so I guess when the train comes into the station, they will finally understand how that support has cost them so dearly.
17
@ejr1953 "I feel sorry for those people at Trump's rallies." Sorry for what?
Excellent analysis and unfortunately true
1
@ejr1953 when that train pulls in, Trump supporters (and I believe that they, and he, will be a permanent part of our political landscape),will brand the engineer and conductor as Democrats and avoid all responsibility. When have Repiblicans ever owned their mistakes? They still support the invasion of Iraq and the notion of WMDs.
Thank you James Comey. You are an inspired leader, representing honesty, integrity, justice and hope. Please continue your truly patriotic work, helping us to recover our American values.
19
@Judith Lockman
This is either sarcasm in excelsis or babe-in-the-woods naivete. James Comey gave us Donald Trump; let us never forget that. Now he seeks praise for the "patriotism" that gave us the October Surprise of 2016.
3
@Judith Lockman This is a little bit too little, too late.
2
The rule of law calls for "Innocent until proven guilty." The rule of law calls for a secure border. The media posts 96% of Trump reports negatively 24/7 and Trump is no angel to be sure. But Trump's angelness, or lack thereof, literally has no bearing on my life or yours. In two or six years he'll be gone, but the polices that have ushered in a vastly improved level of prosperity will hopefully remain. The trade deals being ushered are creating 1,000 new jobs a day in manufacturing after a decade of serious decline.
No, Trump isn't Obama behind the teleprompter, but Shaq not being able to hit free throws or Ewing having a poor inside game didn't mean you'd cut a great player just to feel better.
5
@Constance Underfoot; "The trade deals being ushered are creating 1,000 new jobs a day in manufacturing after a decade of serious decline. "; have to show me those 20,000 great jobs a month being created.
6
"In two or six years he'll be gone, but the polices that have ushered in a vastly improved level of prosperity will hopefully remain"
Excuse me, but those "policies" you speak of were already ushered in at a time when the economy was on the brink.
In 2008, 2009, and 2010.
By President Obama.
41
@Constance Underfoot. No bearing on my life or yours? Only if you have no soul, no concern about the future of decency in America. Your “stats” on negative reporting of his activities are right out of his playbook. Sure, more people have disposable hourly-wage jobs, but not due to his trade deals. (Just what are they, btw? Are you crediting him for the new NAFTA, which is virtually the old NAFTA?). I CARE about this country, and the division and hatred he has wrought will far outlast his (hopefully) single term.
1
We must not be so fearful of the demise of our democracy as that is the fuel for its demise. It has survived many pulls and tugs to take it off its course but it emerged from all those stronger than before. The situation we now face with an authoritarian-leaning president and a Congress who refuses to use its powers to keep things in balance may appear worse. But it appears so because we are living in it. We may not easily comprehend how the society felt during the McCarthy era because we are removed from that period. Like the old saying, there is no bigger headache than your own headache.
The systemic problems that need to be fixed are two-fold. First, get the unlimited money supply from politics. Second, eliminate gerrymandering. These are not easy challenges, but they will be repaired, I am certain of it.
22
I'm glad that James Comey is trying to get us to the better angels of our nature.
To those who disparage him because of the report before Election Day 2016, ask yourself this: If Clinton had behaved differently, would there even have been a report to give? Would there even have been an investigation in the first place? And if she'd been a better candidate, would it have ever been close enough that the report would've been able to tip the election? And can you even say for sure that it did?
I voted for Clinton, but she was not the best candidate in 2016, and the Democrats chose not to run that candidate.
8
Bernie Sanders didn’t win the primary. He had his chance, it went better than even he had hoped for, and in the final counts, he did not win.
17
@Brian
Comey had a difficult choice in October 2016 -- follow the long established rule on election-impacting announcements and risk looking bad in retrospect, or break the rule, announce the re-opened investigation and thereby preserve his own reputation for purity. We know how he chose. It was not an ethical choice; it was a selfish choice.
12
@Brian
"Democrats chose not to run that candidate."
Um, if by "chose", you mean tallied the vote and found that Bernie lost. Then, sure..."chose".
1
A wonderfully acute and uplifting message at a time most desperately needed. To those who would continue to shoot the messenger, many of us believe that James Comey was in a strictly no-win situation caught between two unqualified candidates, one with a never ending gift for self-infliction; the other a never ending exercise in dishonesty. Lots of luck to any mere mortal trying to referee that battle.
10
@DB. Considering this messenger violated DOJ practice and his superior’s guidance in releasing documents and reopening the investigation so close to the election, I still say shoot him. (Metaphorically. I’m not a Republican.)
1
@DB
It was not his job to referee. By speaking about Clinton, and not speaking about the secret Russian meetings the Trump campaign had, or the Russian hacking, Comey put his big fat finger on the scales of the election, and tilted it to Trump. He's only against Trump now because he was fired by Trump.
He grabbed the umpire's job and then made a hugely bad call that no one except his huge ego had asked him to make. He's a bum.
Typical centrist nonsense coming from someone who had a direct hand in causing the very problems he's writing about.
59
I do harbor resentment that Mr. Comey may have had an effect on the election that gave us a despotic moron as president.
However, he does speak volumes about the current state of affairs in our political environment. If we, the non-red hats, fail to elect those who would be part of the check and balance our founders sought to achieve within our government we will have an authoritarian leader, an imperial president, that Congress and the judiciary, you know, those co-equal branches, will be loathe to check, in other words, Trump's toadies.
You may scold Comey, you may dislike him, but, I believe his writings in this piece do provide us with guidance as to what our actions should be this election day.
56
@Dan It seems to me he is a honorable man who did what he felt was the right thing to do.
Said the liar, the leaker and the embarrassment to the FBI. The man who was fired from the FBI for misconduct and the man who attempted and succeeded in torpedoing Hillary Clinton's investigation. A man with no integrity who lied and played games to help the democrat party talks of values. What values James? Not our great nation, but your own. Power to the establishment and to use the establishment against your opponents. Comey speaking about values is like listening to a hooker or Hillary Clinton talk about virtue.
9
@Shane Regardless of what you think about Mr. Comey personally, is there anything in the piece here that you would disagree with? This was a healthy perspective on America and the challenges it has always faced.
Although I too felt the election was skewed terribly by Mr. Comey's actions, I always felt it was the result of poor decision-making, not evil intent.
34
@Marc Do you actually believe that Comey did not know the extent of the damage he was inflicting on the Clinton candidacy when he went outside of the chain of command and acted against the express instructions of his commanding officer? Give me a break.
2
@Shane the men and women of the FBI, the rank-and-file officers, were not embarrassed by Mr. Comey ; while recognizing that any executive makes the occasional mistake, they were largely proud of him and his work. He was fired by a person who has criticized and maligned the FBI, embarrassing only himself as a poor and self-interested executive in the process.He was fired because he would not become the personal property of a mendacious and self-inflated POTUS who does not understand or respect the necessary separation between himself and the Justice Department as a whole. He was fired for standing against obstruction of an on-going investigation of improper connection between the Trump campaign and Putin's Russia.And as for lying, at the risk of offending the Paper of Record, please consider the over 5,000 lies and misleading statements made by this POTUS as outlined by the Washington Post. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-false-or-misleading-claims/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.abe4c072be47).
While I like Mr. Comey's analogy of the "bell curve", I view America more like a pendulum.
Sometimes the swing of the arc is narrow, but sometimes it swings hard to one side. For example, during 8 years of Bush/Chenney, America swung so far to one side that it was bound to swing hard the other way. And it did, electing of all things an African American as President. I never thought I would see that day.
And while Obama was a good steward of America literally saving our economy as it was about to slide into a financial crisis abyss, with a GOP that stymied six years of his administration, not enough Americans felt the recovery and the pendulum flung the other way smashing through the entire GOP all the way to Trump.
After just two years of Trump, it is clear that the pendulum is swinging back the other way. How far this swing goes will be clearer by tomorrow morning. But regardless of this swing, the momentum is most certainly moving the pendulum away from Trump far sooner than expected.
As some posters suggest, America is not a cohesive set of values and positions. But America has always been a home for decency. And while Trump has opened the closet door to release some of our worst boogymen, Americans recognize that decency is on the ballot today. And they are going to vote in numbers unlike any other mid-term.
The pendulum is in motion swinging toward decency. As Dr. King said "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." That is America.
17
@RichardS
Hope you are right.
So a flunky walks into the President’s Office today and asks him whether it would be a good idea to rename the G.O.P. and Trump thinks for a moment and says “Let's call ourselves
The Aristocrats.”
20
As a strong Hillary supporter, I am still glad that James Comey is getting out there with this message. We need many messengers with this message. We should know now no one is perfect. We can measure much by the word itself. I say that as one of the 20% of Evangelicals who is staunchly opposed to Trump. When I saw a heroine of mine, Christiane Amanpour lob soft balls at Tony Perkins a prominent Evangelical who goes round coaching pastors in how to get their congregations to vote for Republicans, I realized how much ammunition I had that Christiane could not use because she had not grown up in an Evangelical community. My point is we need a diverse group of messengers. Comey is importantly decrying the scourge of White Nationalism and Trumpism.
45
Statesmanship at its best moves and inspires. Seldom have I read such a concise description of what it means to be a resident of the United States of America.
27
@Male Well, you don't get out much do you? There are plenty of American citizens who are not awash in ethics violations who espouse American values and history every single day.
1
Beautifully said as always. Its time to put a speed bump in the way of a hateful, deceitful man and hope it results in 4 flat tires
15
Mr Comey, please run for president. You have my vote!
1
@Michael Klein I wouldn't vote for Comey. As much as I admire his good qualities, I'll never forget the disastrous decision he made that took down HRC. What if he made another such disastrously wrong decision while president?
7
@Michael Klein,
He does not have my vote or my respect!
1
James Comey has hit the comeback trail and it will probably work for him because Americans have short memories. If he'd kept his ego in check and his mouth shut he would still be head of the FBI. Instead he's just another used-to-be who keeps resurfacing in the media from time to time even though we all just wish he would go away.
11
Great timing. On Election Day the New York Times gives valuable column space to the man who gave us Trump, by baselessly attacking Hillary Clinton in the eve of the 2016 vote. I don’t care what Comey has to say, unless he apologies for inserting Trump in the White House.
20
Just learn to ask one question: "Is it right?"
9
From your lips, sir, to god's ear.
3
Mr.Comey: if you had not cooperated with trump in vilifying Mrs. Clinton , we might of had her as president instead of the Russian traitor in the White House now.
So these thoughts are indeed noble but too little too late.
27
How about you fade away Mr. Comey? Perhaps you should have thought all this through 12 days before the last election.
20
Mr. Comey, I respect your honesty, your intelligence, and your integrity, and thank you for your service. I know you've given your all.
What I don't respect is your judgment.
No you're not wholly responsible for the horrible mess we're in that unleashed violent right-wing forces, but you bear some for it. As FBI Director, like other before you, you focused on foreign terrorism, and ignored, mostly right-wing terrorists and their rapidly growing violence, despite their recent history of it going back to Oklahoma City. Dreadfully bad judgement (that you share with other FBI directors).
Your terrible, horribly wrong actions in late October of 2016 weren't the only or even the main cause the winner lost, but your timing and decision were unprecedented... and just plain wrong. Not dishonest, but dreadfully bad judgement.
I am hopeful, but not optimistic. Like Pandora's Box, we opened a HOST of troubles 2 years ago. And like that box, Hope was the one good thing we still had. But all the violence, the racism, sexism, vandalism, and even murders? On that dreadful morning of November 9, 2016, my wife and I looked at each other and said: "They are going to start killing, soon, and they'll be killing Jews again." (we're Jewish).
And so they are. And dissing women. They were already killing Blacks, Muslims, Sikhs, Immigrants.
Today is a watershed. Perhaps more than any election since 1860. If the GOP holds, I see few paths back to Democracy & away from dictatorship.
31
James Comey was once an enemy so to speak of the Democrats. Now he is beloved by them because he is demonizing the Republicans and especially President Trump. He is a has been and does anyone really care what he thinks? Only those who hate Mr. Trump are all ears. The rest of us couldn't care less. He has become irrelevant to those of us who like what Presodenf Trump has accomplished and we ask James Comey who?
2
We liberal majority in this country (and multiple studies have shown that - indeed nearly 2/3 the country is liberal or liberal-leaning; the problem we have is that we tend to be internally argumentative and far too many don't vote as a result, allowing a monolithic conservative severe minority to have authority in the U.S. all out of proportion to its numbers) are still angry with him over his behavior prior to the election. However (in complete disagreement with you and those you agree with), we also believe that a person can reform themselves and be given a second chance, regardless of ideology, religion, cultural status, wealth, etc. That requires actions, and Mr. Comey at least seems to be trying. To be honest, I don't regard his speaking engagements or articles as something he's doing for the rest of us. I think he's doing it as a part of the process he's slowly doing through in order to redeem himself. We all go through redemption processes differently. Some turn more devoutly to religion, others write books. Some teach, others go into politics; it's different for each person.
My advice to you? Don't be so cynical.
3
This election was never really a referendum about Trump. From the moment that demagogue came down his escalator and talked about Mexican rapists, Mexican drug dealers. From the moment he mocked in a public forum a disabled reporter from the NYTimes. From the moment the infamous tape caught atrump bragging about touching women inappropriately. ( There’s not enough room in this space to continue listing this man’s outrageous behavior and comments and actions!) This election has always been a referendum on us.
15
That Comey is right is borne out by numerous trends: the growth of social entrepreneurship, the improvement in social awareness and increasing tolerance of the LGBT experience in our world, the growing and determined efforts of committed principled individuals from both right and left to fight the fascist forces rising in our society, the slow conversion of our society to renewable energy sources, the MeToo movement, and the efforts to free wrongly convicted prisoners. These are just a few examples. However, in the shifting sands of history, nations can be swallowed up or nearly destroy themselves. It is by no means a foregone conclusion that the U.S. will survive in a form that reflects the essence of democratic principles upon which it was founded . Look at what happened to the Roman, Islamic and Persian empires. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and Franco caused a lot of damage before their destructive flames were extinguished. There is the question of whether, and there is the question of when. The giant may be stirred, but will it rise quickly enough to prevent disaster?
Mr. Comey, your pious words ring hollow in this tumultuous election year. It was you who ushered into the country this lying, misogynistic and racist president with your grandstanding that torpedoed Secretary Clinton's presidential election bid. It's too late to lecture voters about the sanctity of American values now.
You saw this disaster of a presidency coming, yet gave aid and comfort to a man who despises freedom, justice and equality. If Secretary Clinton were the president today you'd still be the FBI director and your agency's stellar reputation would still be intact. You put this man first and, to show his gratitude to you, he shoved you out the door. Think about that for the next two years.
26
Sorry, you lost me right after you unilaterally decided to (unfairly) tip an election for republicans.
I say so with all due respect, of course.
27
I filed my first comment here before any were showing. Now there are 25 but since I am about to leave for the Red Cross (see below) I file this second with information about the documentary film 22 July to which I refer, a film about a young Norwegian man, Anders Behring Breivik, who believed he was a true bearer of Norwegian national values.
The documentary is based in part on the book by Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist, author, and scholar examining in great depth how Breivik became a terrorist, killing 77 people, first in Oslo and then on an islan Utöya.
Seierstads book, "One of Us", and now the documentary have these two goals among many others:
1) Understand that the next terrorist to strike may be "one of us", one who states that he, rarely she, is about to act to preserve the nation's values.
2) Every citizen of a country who has values that Mr. Comey has in mind when he writes about "the nation's values" must speak out at every opportunity given.
Seierstad says: Words matter, and they do. But they must be heard.
22 July - Netflix - opens as we see Breivik preparing to commit his horrifying crimes. You will hear survivors speaking out. Breivik is in prison, showing not an iota of repentence.
Speak out today. Vote.
OnlyNeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
For the next 2 hours my Red Cross colleagues and I will be conversing with asylum seekers and former seekers, now citizens from Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Somalia and many more.
5
@Larry Lundgren - Here is the reason for mentioning Red Cross. A 9-person conversation went on for 2 h with every single person giving and taking. If only more of the people who write here could have that kind of experience, they would learn what new arrivals can contribute to making a country better and in making that country better able to be part of the world.
1
Keep trying. You may someday make up for our mistake that partially enabled the person currently in power.
17
While I appreciate your optimism and patriotism, Mr. Comey, you lost me at “after all, we were born in original sin.”
Not everyone shares your religious views, and assuming they do is off-putting.
17
@Joanne On the other hand, I appreciate Comey's statement that our Founders were majority slavers. That can be seen as an original sin, but in less religious terms, as a terrible and lastingly harmful flaw in our very foundations.
1
@Joanne
read the next sentence.
While I want to share the optimism of Mr. Comey, I find it hard to rationally accept it. Mr. Comey's view, as well those who dwell in the study of American history, is based on democracy as a self-correcting system. It is not! Democracy, here and else where, can be easily overwhelmed by demagoguery, xenophobia, racism, sexism, etc. When the checks & balances are not being used or applied actively by every branch in the government, then you have a system that is able to correct itself. In fact, once the system reaches a steady-state for a period of time sufficient enough to control the various branches of government, you most likely have fascism in some form. Democracy tends to like a dynamic-state of being with minimal efficiency. I do not see this vote today as infusing the needed energy to get us out of our current steady-state of being.
5
America stirring? The “sleeping giant” after Pearl Harbor? Lordy, we hope! But as Professor Blight teaches us (NYT yesterday) the current unraveling of our values, laws and institutions is not an attack as much as a symptom of a virulent disease that has come in and out of remission since our founding—a sickness with no known cure.
3
Nice words from the person I blame most, along with Putin, for Trump being in the White House.
18
Sorry, you lost me right after you unilaterally decided to (unfairly) tip an election for republicans.
I say so with all due respect, of course. '
7
So flexible in his ethics. A little hard to listen to this redemption hail mary.
11
It's an imperfect world and we are all sinners. That said, I am grateful for this essay which I think is civil, thoughtful, and humble. Add that to decades of service to the country at a very high level, and we have an admirable citizen.
1
I may not like Trump as a role model or as a person, for reason only I can understand. I do however gratefully appreciate his 1) tax reduction agenda, 2) border security, 3) immigration reduction, 4) and US Citizen first policies. The core of people that dislike these growth policies are those getting by on social subsidies, or Wall Street dividends. I like my wages and could really benefit by keeping more of my wages. Politicians are a DRAIN on the economy and a DRAIN on my paycheck. THAT is a boots on the ground perspective. It is all about MY paycheck. Just like it is all about YOUR subsidy.
1
@Arny Plumb
Hmm, let's see: the tax reduction policy which you as a wage earner will see very little benefit from and certainly not in keeping more of your wages--you like that. Border security which under Trump has become less secure, immigration reduction which hits us both ways, and US Citizen first policy which is antithetical to the Dems, "any other Citizen but our own first"? You like that and the idea that I must be on the dole because I'm in favor of the safety net. You are so, so, poorly informed and are digging your own grave, with a shovel you must pay for with your diminished wages.
4
@Arny Plumb: You care about your paycheck? Then you should recognize that the Trump/GOP tax cut went overwhelmingly to the richest 1% of Americans. Your income likely increased by somewhere around $1000/year. The upper 1% saw their yearly income increase by more than what 50% of Americans make the whole year, over $32,000. Re your concern for immigration and border security, there are fewer people coming over the border now than there were at the beginning of the Obama administration, and the bulk of the decrease occurred while Obama was in office. (So immigration is somehow an emergency now?) And study after study shows that immigration doesn't depress overall wages. If you really think that a new immigrant is going to take your job, then I suspect your job is cleaning offices at night.
The victory of the Fox News/Trump/GOP coalition is that they are getting people like you, with concerns that are real and pressing (and which I think need urgent attention) to believe that they are on your side.
3
@Arny Plumb So far, you have zero "likes." And my zero is emphatic. I hope this continues.
2
Contrary to a piece elsewhere in today’s Times, and as you, Mr. Comey, suggest, today’s election is not a battle between two visions of patriotism. It is, as Charles deGaulle said, a battle between a patriotism that places love of our own people first, versus a nationalism that places hatred of others first. As you so eloquently state, America and its citizenry is like a sleeping giant that inhales and exhales, and its democracy similarly has its ebbs and flows, forward and backward steps, and progress an regress. In the spirit of your wonderful service to our nation, lucid book and commentary on honor, integrity and values, let us hope that today results in the freshest breath of air we, as a people, have taken in for a long while.
11
I would also highly recommend the Jon Meacham book; I’m almost finished reading it, and it is truly excellent. Mr. Comey, I appreciate your words now, but am still mystified at your conduct in fall 2016, which I believe threw the election to the result with which we are now living. If you are trying to atone, I’m glad of it. If you are trying to act like you are above the fray, I wish you had tried that approach two years ago.
19
Me. Comey, your actions 10 days before the 2016 election changed the outcome of that election.
11
What a milquetoast piece of directionless, self-serving tripe. Comey states he has hope yet offers no historical perspective other than the trend line goes up after it sometimes goes down. He cites gay marriage as an example of the country moving forward yet fails to mention the continued assaults, some victorious, most vicious, against such marriage and all alternate, read non-white Christian, relationships. With no mention of the sweeping changes to the US and global political scenes, while not initiated by Trump and his Republican faithful, have been broadly implemented by them, allowing the denigration of political discourse and governance around the world. The denial of fact and science, the blatant lies and hypocrisy and the fealty to party rather than country does not give rise to hope. Comey played a significant part in allowing this reality. This encomium to American resiliency offers neither a mea culpa of equivalent significance to Comey’s failure in judgement nor any insight as to how or why hope should be even be considered.
Please fade away from the public sector.
8
The American democracy is at stake and that is why Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstien must IMMEDIATELY obtain an send to Congress what ever parts of the Mueller report are ready. Tonight might be the last night that it may be possible.
When the Republicans lose the House, Trump will fire Rosenstien and bury the evidence with the help of the GOP lame ducks.
7
Mister Comey is thanked to find a deep dark hole and stay there, pondering his errors and the damage he was wrought.
18
Here at our sea-washed sunset gates shall stand, a mighty woman with a torch whose flame is the imprisoned lightning and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon hand glows world wide welcome, her mild eyes command, “Give me your tired, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door. This, my friends, is the America we love, it is who we are: compassion, hope, and the abiding fulfillment of life long dreams.
7
Among the list of things gone wrong, you forgot to mention when the FBI was so politicized that its leader - YOU - inserted yourself into the election and helped to cause the very thing you now lament. Thanks for the words, but please rest assured we will never, ever forget what you did.
23
Lofty words from someone who tipped the scales in 2016 when it mattered most. Whatever your moral or career calculus was, you bear responsibility for our weakened our democracy. We do not need to hear from you before our nation’s elections ever again.
21
Thanks for this reminder, and you're probably right Mr. Comey. I wonder if you speak out of guilt...I can't help but feel that you played a hand in getting us where we are today, with your late October 2016 surprise...that amounted to NOTHING. We'll never know. I hope you take your speaking fees and book income and donate generously to causes that promote democracy.
14
James Comey brings up such complex, disparate feelings for me. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have Trump. I believe he thought he was doing the 'proper' thing, because he's such a Boy Scout and I do believe he has a good heart and good mind.
He treated Clinton differently for some reason. When he 'reopened' the investigation a couple weeks out and tied Wiener's laptop to her via Huma, that was it. Election was over. I felt it in my bones and went to bed at 8:30 on election night, knowing it wasn't good and I couldn't face it.
I can't live with Trumpian hate. I won't live in Trumplandia. I'm waiting to exhale on this day, waiting to find out if I seriously, at 67, have to leave this country, going alone somewhere else. I will not die in Trumplandia.
Mr. Comey, I wish you well and all your girls at home. You have a good heart. But I'm not sure I can ever forgive you.
21
Let’s Vote to Uphold Our Nation’s Values.
Like when the FBI doesn't try to overturn an election, with an "insurance policy"? Those values?
Somebody needs to go to jail. You, Mr. Comey, are at the top of the list.
10
Your comments are purposeful and to the point, upholding our values is essential...if we know what they are; and it depends at least partially on how educated we are in civics, and recognize the importance of participating in the process. But did we have to lose by voting for demagogue Trump before we realized we lost our soul? As imperfect and with as many flaws that Hillary was endowed with, she was infinitely better than the current brutus ignoramus, cruel and devoid of feelings for anybody but himself, occupying the Oval Office, Too bad you took upon yourself to contribute in giving relevance to this malevolent snake...days before the presidential elections, and likely allowing the anti-democratic Electoral College to elect Trump while losing the popular vote. An outrage, you may agree...and for which we may pay much beyond his misrule.
7
We need less of pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.
We need more of prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope and charity.
1
Wow. This is quite rich, coming from the man whose actions led to the implosion of Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency.
20
@John Jabo, did they or was something else amiss?
1
James Comey failed as a public servant through a series of poor judgments emanating from his Messianic view of himself. I simply don’t care what he has to say!
8
Oh wait..was that an ethical letter reopening email server investigation..your lot enable the zags in the upward curve..but hey thank you for having a platform to rewrite your role in history. It reads like fiction. It probably is.
8
I'm still waiting for Mr. Comey to apologize for saddling us with this mess in the first place.
14
Thank you! I needed this !
I hope we'll be OK but I worry about those Americans -- better than 40% of our population if polls are to be believed -- who think Trump is the answer to our nation's problems when he is, in fact, THE problem. It could take decades to erase the racism, misogyny, political polarization and hate that he has stirred up, let alone restore our international standing.
7
Comey in his imagination probably thinks that without him at the top America won't survive. The fact of the matter is that half of America thought he was not fit to be at the top to lead America. His actions were one of the reasons why we have Trump as President.
4
Patience and fortitude: the very qualities this hideous government of panic and recrimination cannot exemplify. It remans to be seen if the other Party can.
I am an optimist too, but James Comey put us in a very big hole that we now (hopefully starting today) have to dig out of.
7
Comey's hubris, narcissism and incompetence lead to Trump's election victory in 2016. It's as simple as that.
I'm glad to see him on the right side of things now, but he will never be able to make amends for the terrible disservice he's done to our country.
17
Thanks for the reassuring article. If history repeats itself, then we should all be hoping for that.
Hmmm, Comey going around the country speaking about ethical leadership. Tell me, Mr. Comey, why did you treat an investigation of possible classified materials on Ms. Clinton's email server more harshly than an investigation of Mr. Trump's possible collusion with Russia?
This is a wonderful opinion piece, just can't get past the fact that Comey, who intervened in the election and was one of the reasons Clinton was defeated and Trump is the president, is the author.
25
@Janet. I agree with Janet. I am in my 60’s, and the last 10 years have been an eye opener. Racial and mysoginistic prejudices thought to be behind us, or diminished to the point of being unimportant, have been on full display for all to see.
5
I had to stop reading when he mentions the girls in the church in Mississippi. I wish that there was a similar national 'stop moment' after Sandy Hook. For me, that was the start of our downward spiral. I guess we'll find out today if it can turn around.
As an aside, in voter suppression states, please vote out your election officials today. If you're in a long line for the polls, chat with others about the election officials that are to blame for those lines.
18
If Mother Nature could speak, if the planet we are fouling had a voice, if the animal kingdom we are decimating could talk back, what would they say about the progress the human animal is making, to say nothing of the millions killed during the 20th Century wars. The reset required for our kind goes far deeper I imagine than any of us can conceive. We probably need to start to think in these terms rather than the spasm of the moment. Are their any leaders to take up this challenge?
9
I wish Comey would just go away. I recognize he carries a lot of guilt over his impacts on the 2016 election but personally I’m not ready to forgive this guy yet.
20
@Derek
That's sad. It was really the American people, who bought the Trump junk, and his Russian buddies interfering.
Hillary still won the popular vote.
Our antiquated system needs to be overhauled.
1
Our remaining values are down to two: money and celebrity. The rest is what the Sixties' dreams were made of and vanished. (Who killed the Sixties? is another story.) We have two capitalist parties because capital bought the political system. They own it and "socialism" (democratic or other) is not allowed to field a team. Besides, a substantial majority of Americans think "socialism" can only be Bolshevism with commissars and Gulags. Even if Trump suffers a setback today, the fundamentals still apply: money talks, the people listen and endure. Are we learning to be good at this? Looks like it. The "resistance" is 90% whining.
4
I can't figure out who the real Comey is: the one who speaks and writes so thoughtfully and convincingly; or the one who made such a bad decision about the Hillary Clinton fiasco 9and thus gave the presidency to Trump)?
15
I've never heard anything so unintelligent. There is no necessary trajectory to greater democracy, following some platitudinal 'pendulum' of freedom. For Comey to suggest otherwise in the present context is not only to minimize Trumpism; it is also to erase an entire process of illiberal and anti-republican action at the level of: voting rights [gerrymandering and voter supression]; refugee rights [detentions in lieu of asylum reviews]; minority rights [differential policing and enforcement]; civil rights [under the Obama administration the U.S. assassinated one of its own citizens abroad, in lieu of capturing him and trying him in a criminal court]. All of these have characterized the U.S. for longer than the current presidency. The U.S. of Mr. Comey's 'upward curve' is actually a preferential democracy. It would be far better for him to stick to what he knows --policing-- and leave political theory --or even better, the everyday understanding of our polity-- to the Americans who correctly understand that the republic is actually at stake, and not just in this election.
6
Amen. I believe that in the United States the rule of law an justice will prevail. The problem is, justice is now defined by our president and his supporters. It’s justice built on fear of the “other” and conspiracy.
If you don’t like the direction the country is headed in, vote.
Don’t let the voices of hate and bigotry prevail. If you here or see something you disagree with, say something in response. If you remain silent, you’re complicit.
6
I fear that Mr Comey is addressing rationally minded individuals who fear for liberal democracy and not the irrational outraged on the right. It appears that some 40% of the electorate actually want fascism as an alternative to the status quo. They’re happy doling out a chastening to those effete forces that shredded working class dignity. When one thinks about it in that light, the outrage isn’t all that irrational. Whatever Comey thinks of Trump, he did his fair share to ensure he got elected. If he thinks tyranny beckons, he has to bear some responsibility. As a result of his efforts, he helped deliver Trump to a class who didn’t know they wanted him but treasure him now he’s here.
It’s one thing to thrash Trump. It’s something else to make sure he, or his replicant, doesn’t come back.
7
Mr Comey reminds me there are more of we the people that will been seen/heard this mid term election.
The values I grew up with were a bit diluted because I grew up in Hawai'i. While we were taught love of the US, we also celebrated many cultures. I served in the military as well as a retired fed employee. I have been part of the "American giant" hoping when I wake up tomorrow morning my gov is Gov Gillum. As well as all blue to raise a winning hand!
7
Nice sentiments from a man who probably helped to put Trump into office. He offered rationalizations for his actions in late October 2016 while he was on his book tour. No real meal culpa or apology, however. Anyone notice that the Republican controlled Congress did not investigate HIM?!? No US attorney did either.
11
Mr. Comey, given your conduct and actions leading up to the last election, I must tell you that you don't get to spout off about "our nation's values". Trump is arguably in the White House because you helped put him there.
22
Mr. Comey, It is time that you issue a sincere and heartfelt apology to America. Among the many and varied reasons Donald Trump was elected president, your role as head of the FBI was not as a protector of law but as a facilitator of the lawless. Penning an op ed piece on election day will not unscramble the egg you helped break.
19
Please define what you mean by the 'far left'. How have they significantly figured into the national conversation in the last 2 years? Looks like more questionable equivalency from a guy who had a lot to do with the predicament we now find ourselves in.
6
I have commented at Brooks and now, here. I like less and less reading about national values, both here in Sweden and in the Times about my other country of citizenship, the USA.
Only we citizens have values, opinions, behaviors and we should be making those values clear in conversation, here in comment land, and in all settings where political choices are being faced.
These values must be expressed. That message is stated very eloquently today by Åsne Seierstad, the extraordinary Norwegian journalist-author-scholar, in an interview in my Swedish newspaper.
She states: Words do matter. Listen to and read the words of those who claim they are preparing to take action. Her prime example is Anders Behring Breivik, killer of 77 at Utoya and in Oslo, Norway in 2011. Everyone who is deeply concerned about learning what leads individuals to become terrorists, white nationalists, neo-nazis should study her book One Of Us.
She suggests for those who cannot or who do not want to read the book that that they view the Netflix documentary on Utoya and listen especially carefully to one of the survivors. I have not done that yet.
I am sure you will learn from the film that Breivik thought he would become a national hero because he was defending his view of national values. He is in prison. The young man he did not manage to kill is there speaking his words, words that matter.
So too in the USA, speak out.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
3
“The murder of little girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 stirred that giant, which led to bipartisan support in Congress to pass the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts.”
They were girls (females are weak and must be protected). They were in a church (a good God-fearing, Christian Church). OK, so the result was outrage.
Fast forward to a young black boy getting murdered by police while holding a toy gun... the response I heard/read a lot of in TN was well, he did something wrong, it looked like a real gun, etc. Yes, I realize there were protests after Tamir Rice’s death and the city of Cincinnati settled with the family for millions of dollars. But a more widespread, far reaching response to the murders of unarmed civilians by law enforcement/the government? Haven’t seen any.
The limit of America’s ability to atone or even acknowledge its original sin, as Mr. Comey cals it, may have been the Civil rights and voting acts of 1964.
5
Says the person who did as much if not more than Russia to interfere with the 2016 election.
19
What if the Democrats were to magically win everything—the House, the Senate, the White House, and the Supreme Court?
What if there’s a blue tsunami, but the world’s ills continued growing, unabated?
What if left/liberal/socialist/progressive power turns out to be just as impotent as right/conservative/nationalist power?
What if it turns out that 21st century problems are too large and complex for any political system to manage? What if humanity has come to a historical apex—when technology produces successively larger waves of incomprehensible chaos?
What if everyone is well-intentioned, means the best, and tries their hardest—but it doesn’t change outcome?
1
@Questioner
What if the right actually tried to solve problems, rather than actively create them?
3
I can only imagine the gifts Comey must receive for keeping Hillary out of jail...and the damage he has done to the FBI's once stellar reputation will take years to recover. I have been shocked to learn of the depth of corruption at the FBI, the DOJ, and the collusion and conspiracy to deceive the FISA Court just to spy on Trump's campaign...just stunning.
1
@Richman
What corruption? The FISA court permitted wire taps to ferret out treasonous actions on the part of several members of Trump’s campaign. The court vetted intelligence and triangulated data before issuing the wire taps.
Trump’s campaign was (and is) being investigated for illegal conspiracy to affect an election. The only corruption is the administration.
2
“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-June 1965
5
James Comey didn't have to say it, but I can read between the lines. He knows what the solution is and that is to vote all the Republicans out of office, to show Trump and his "base" that this isn't their America, with their hateful rhetoric and histrionic rallies. I wish he had said those words but he is trying to be above board and classy. However, Captain Sully, George Will, David Jolly, Max Boot, Thomas Friedman, and many other erstwhile Republicans ARE saying the words, "vote all the Republicans out." Willie Nelson even has a song titled "Vote 'em Out."
7
Sadly what may be unique about this setback is the existence of media outlets willing to ignore the dangers of our current Administration as it happens to be on their side and the power of small numbers of people to drown out reasonable voices. The cacophony and the attacks from the President himself drown out any conservative voices that wish to separate their ideology from the abuses.
The people who need to read this piece never get near an op-Ed of any sort, let alone one in the NYT.
Jim Comey’s recklessness, arrogance and poor judgment, as reflected in his announcements about the Clinton email investigation just days before the 2016 election, were a large factor in its outcome and the election of Trump. I’m sure his words in this article are sincere, but he’s in no position to wax lyrical about the importance of elections and ethical leadership. He ain’t no hero.
7
I just wish that Mr. Comey would just go away without lecturing us what to do. If he had said that the FBI was investigating HRC's emails and at the same time the collusion between Trump's and Russia, who knows, the result might have been different
6
So say it by the former FBI Director with questionable ethical standards. Comey leaked sensitive information and when dismissed for his actions cried foul. You can't have it both ways Jimmy!
2
Right views, wrong person! If only you'd had this perspective in 2016, we probably wouldn't be in this existential threat to our democracy. Like Prometheus you decided to play with political fire against all the rules and advice. And now that our house is on the verge of burning down, you arrive with a bucket of advice.
21
hope you are correct Mr Comey. I bought your book, mostly to bring up your numbers an pd annoy Trump. Then I read it - you are sincere, I think you did the wrong thing before the 2016 election but I believe you did it for reasons you say.
I am also generally an optimist. I think there are pendulums in history - very bad periods generally swing back. Unfortunately lots of people can and do get hurt in the bad periods. This is a bad period, not the worst in our history - yet. But people ar e being hurt - and killed. I hope the swing to better happens before it gets and more people are hurt.
3
these famous American values seem rather mythical/wishful.
as is, 'only in America is it possible to......'-- in a positive way--when it's demonstrably not true.
and too often said without a clue what's possible or has already happened in other countries.
most recent was trump's claim that 'only in america' do newborns automatically become citizens if their parents aren't American.
multiple countries include automatic citizenship under those circumstances.
or only in America can anybody become potus when, in reality, it's more difficult because of the country's huge underclass, per capita, compared to other nations.
'rising above your station' is, in fact, more difficult in the usa.
and the reality that Australia and Canada both have had more than one prime minister born outside the country.
or how about, as a senator said several months ago, 'only in America are you innocent until proven guilty!'
and on and on and on.
3
This is a wonderful essay to wake up to on this day that hopefully will end with that curve of progress and moral values smoothly ascending. So many of us seem entrapped and overwhelmed by the vitriol, cruelty, and corruption spewing from the Oval Office. We are deafened by the vociferous and bigoted rants from the most rabid of Trump’s followers. We are disheartened and outraged by a Republican Congress consumed by greed and power at its constituents’ expense. But Mr. Comey reminds us so movingly of our history as a nation. For every action there is a reaction, both good and/or bad. It’s the human condition, our better angels within too close to our darker sides. Yet if history, if humanity itself has shown us anything, it is that there is more good than not in most people. We eventually find our way through, look to, and embrace a universal moral code. God speed to us. Now let’s go vote!
4
Straight up and to the point. The way an editorial should be written. Best and most important one on these pages in a long time. VOTE.
1
How does a Supreme Court factor in the so-called progress, the one that destroyed the Civil Rights Act and will not tackle gerrymandering. This Court embodies Trump’s racism, but in black robes.
2
I find it rich indeed that Comey speaks against misogyny after the actions he took against Hillary Clinton, the first woman to run for President. His utter disrespect for precedence and guidance also shows him to be careless about rules and laws. One should not believe what he says or writes; look at his actions. He is just another GOP ogre trying to gain a public platform with false positions.
5
One can only hope this surge in voting will include more people who see the danger in our current times than those who've jumped aboard the hate train.
3
What a great source of hope from a man who for reasons still unbeknown to any of us brought on America the shameful state we finds ourselves in for the past 2 years.
2
I agree with these sentiments, but I still blame you, Mr. Comey, for us being in this mess to begin with. You're the biggest reason he won. I may have held my nose voting for Clinton, but you effectively killed any choice in the last election.
8
Although I cannot use the precise words to explain American values, but for sure Trump is a bad example representing the American values. I have never seen a sitting president can change its interpretation or twist its meaning of his own words. And our elected officials just sat there and did nothing is a tragedy.
11
I tire of the usual accusation of symmetry in our politics. Far right balanced by far left. There is no meaningful "far left" in the USA. Who in the Democratic party is arguing for nationalizing the means of production? Progressives are arguing for a model like the Scandinavian countries ie social democracy.
14
@Ian,
9 of the 11 states of the old traitorous confederacy are insolvent (unable to pay their state's own bills) and rely on our Socialist Federal Tax system to survive.
Mississippi, for instance, gets more than 40% of its total yearly operating budget by bilking it from the tax revenues raised by Blue State juggernauts like California and New York.
Whenever I hear rightist whine about socialism while ignoring the fact that without our Socialist Federal Tax system 85% of red states would not survive, I giggle...and weep.
3
Thank you, Mr. Comey, for the reminder of American and democratic ideas, and human values so many Americans need at this time.
Rejection of these uniting values and ideas is a consequence of fear and hate, heightened and politicized negative emotions some of us are old enough to remember from the 1960’s.
As a young teenager, the pro-segregation elements in both major political parties in the 1960’s were stances I considered morally wrong and contrary to what I had been taught about this country. The “better angels” in us did the right thing.
As an adult, I perceived that time as politicians redefining right and wrong to justify wrong, which is what is occurring today in the Republican majorities in Congress and in the White House.
President Trump’s racist nationalism is anti-democratic and morally wrong. GOP congressional majorities have abdicated their duties and responsibilities to the Constitution and to this country with refusal to speak truth to lies, using justifications and excuses for facilitating corruption, turning a blind eye to inhuman policies and inconceivable 19th century isolationist ideas.
I cannot transfer my youthful experiences to the way others think about this country, but having lived about 200 km from East Germany during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s and experienced real threats to life and liberty, I can say with conviction American democracy is the best form of government ever. Let the better angels in us win again.
11
It used to be that our national conversation on "American values" was curated by adults who had the nations best interests at heart. Even during the height of the McCarthy era we heard the voice of Edward R. Murrow reminding us of those values. Network TV and the News Media controlled the national message and routinely seeded it with healthy doses of what it meant to be a good American citizen. To be sure, there was a dark side to this era which facilitated many evils and prejudices, especially against African Americans and Jews and women. The modern era has "democratized" the national conversation through the internet and social media. There is no longer any curated conversation, just a cacophany of competing narratives with no guideposts to navigate toward solving the critical problems that confront our nation and our world. I'm with David Brooks on the only viable path forward. We need to restore, rebuild, reinvigorate our local communities and the face to face friendships and partnerships across racial, ethnic, and political lines. Only then will we have a chance of plotting a path forward through the looming existential crises that challenge this generation of Americans. We live in interesting times that call for courage and faith and bold, selfless action in the face of insurmountable odds. We have risen to such challenges in the past. I have no doubt we can do it again.
6
Thank you for your encouraging words. I know we can make it through this 'President' but I worry alot about the damage he has and is doing to the foundation of our democracy. We will be stronger, but this person is dangerous, more dangerous than anyone in my lifetime. I share your optimism. My hope is on todays vote. That will say a great deal. Please come speak in Maine!
10
Where does Director Comey hear the "far left" shouting in this country? What passes for left in our political discourse is pretty common sense moderate progressivism: equitable taxation, access to healthcare, support for working people, support for families trying to raise the next generation of Americans. All majority positions in this country. The sleeping giant is a progressive giant, so let's not stick a fear mongering label on these values.
14
@teach Yes,yes, yes. I feel the same. Horse sense my mom used to call it, but I like common sense better. And not only do the moderate progressives have common sense, they have the common good of everyone in mind.
5
Thank you, Mr. Comey for this article. Your words have encouraged me more than anything I have read in the last two years. I will read Mr. Meacham's book.
7
Thank you Mr. Comey for sizing up this travesty that we have been experiencing for 2 long years! I am encouraged by your words and positivity.We must hope and react positively.
10
From an historical perspective, this piece is a good reminder that progress (or whatever you want to call it) is not linear. It actually reminded me of the stock market...upticks and downswings along that gradual upward trend. If you are in for the long haul, you ride those out. I suppose the analogy for this article would be to stay engaged.
13
Mr. Comey:
Well said, as always. I look forward to your writings, even on Twitter.
Keep up the good fight.
8
"Our country has changed dramatically in recent years. We elected a black man president for two terms and a woman won the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election."
Mr. Comey, with all due respect, are you the one to be talking about what's at stake in this election after what happened two years ago, partly attributable to your dubious interventions?
I'm glad you're optimistic about the arc of history, but I also wonder if you've got a bad case of pollyana syndrome.
Of all people, you should realize what's at stake here: nothing less than the future of democracy. Yes, I'm one of those liberals scared to death of the next two years under a man, who has managed to eradicate dissent within his party.
Today is really about our last guardrails, whether or not they will hold to ensure the president starts being checked by Congress and the courts.
I hope voters realize this (even if you don't seem to), and vote accordingly. So far, Trump has racked up nothing but wins by shattering norms.
But now he's coming for the constitution. Remember how feckless Congress has been to date, that the GOP will do anything to hold onto power, even if that means radically expanding executive power at the expense of checks and balances.
You say that said checks and balances are working--what makes you so sure?
108
Thank you James Comey, I say through tears. I hope so. These have been the darkest two years of my life in terms of faith and belief in America and Americans.
32
I would agree with Mr. Comey general historical arc. This is not the first time the nation has swung back towards those darker values.
While we often focus on the idealistic values this countries was founded on, the fact is the country was also founded on racism, corruption, and cut throat capitalism.
These values - of heritage, tribalism, and birthrights - seemingly contradictory to freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, were there from the beginning and will this always remain.
From time to time things occur that allow these values to gain access to mainstream policy making and ideas. We all act shocked, or we are pulled in. And eventually the pendulum shifts back. But those characteristics are what this country was founded on as well. And they well always remain, surfacing from time to time.
It is our job now to push the pendulum back, quell these misfounded attitudes mascerading as values, until we forget that they are there again.
10
Mr. Comey, why did you treat Hillary Clinton so different than Trump? Why did you put out your statements on her emails 10 days prior to the election, all the while hiding that Trump was under investigation. It is naïve to think that that did not influence some voters to vote for Trump. While this is a good article, I need the answer to the above question before I can view Mr. Comey as a positive force.
165
@PK I agree completely and would like an answer as to why Mr. Comey chose to insert his statements into our election 10 days prior to the 2016 Presidential election. I felt ill listening to him make the unnecessary commentary, that I believe, two years ago changed the course of our republic into a fiasco of moral degradation. I’ll give him points for trying his best to fix this mess.
10
@PK Enough already PK. Live in the present with an eye toward the future. Mr. Comey may have made a error of judgement back when as anyone of us would over a long career. But this is a sincere, insightful and powerfully written message. Stop whining and relish this moment.
8
@PK,
Don't bother trying.
James Comey poisoned a United States Presidential election!
He's been busily trying to rebuild his shattered legacy ever since but for real Americans James Comey is America's new Benedict Arnold.
6
To talk about "our nation's values" is itself misleading for the nation has several values. America is part liberal and part conservative. The pretense of Democrats that THEY are the nation is the cause of so many of our fights.
Neither party is "the nation" and the nation does not have a single set of values.
It is best to acknowledge that and learn to compromise.
8
@Ludwig
Oh, for God's sake, Ludwig. Even as you pretend to want compromise, you cannot help yourself and throw another misleading lie out: "The pretense of Democrats that THEY are the nation is the cause of so many of our fights."
Have you not watched as "conservatives" vilify and denigrate the Democrats with extreme misrepresentations and false narratives and uncountable lies? Have you not watched the Trump's Nuremberg rallies and listened to the epithets and evil speech with which the *Republican* man at the podium assaults anyone and everyone who hasn't joined his cult?
It's far, far more accurate to say "The pretense of *Republicans* that THEY are the nation is the cause of so many of our fights."
Remember, it's not Democrats who seek to stop as many as possible from voting. Democrats consistently outvote Republicans but because of unfair, duplicitous practices by Republicans their votes are always diluted and devalued (and, wherever possible, are uncounted if Republicans control the process).
No, that's not "compromise", it is rank mendacity.
5
@Ludwig,
And the pretense that republicans from the confederacy are the nation is ludicrous on its face.
Compromise is as dead in trump's America as releasing tax returns.
4
@Ludwig
The pretense of Republicans for the last 30 or so years is that they are somehow entitled to run the country forever regardless of who is elected by the majority. They proved during the Clinton and Obama administrations that they are the biggest of sore losers and refuse to acknowledge that many people in this country do not subscribe to their policies and refuse to consider compromise. They are more interested in staying in power by kneeling to oligarchs and coddling "useful idiots" than they are in actually governing. People who are opposed to this are going to speak out against it because it is not good for the country or its citizens.
3
I still don't understand WHY you, Mr. Comey, did what you did in 2016. Every word you say is tainted by this unanswered question.
It's too bad, because I like and appreciate what you say, and I need someone who I knows the system and I can trust - and that's not you.
The giant may be awakening but the bad dream continues.
87
Doesn't it all come down to capitalism vs socialism? America went to war with Korea (communist), Vietnam (communist), tried a coup in Venezuela (socialist), bombed Iraq (Baathist), and Libya (socialist). There were oil & gas interests in taking over these countries, but at bottom it was capitalists fear of socialism with its loss of profits.
When we speak of a nation's values, what are these values?
Are we anti-war? Our leaders have led us into one after another, disregarding the will of the people.
Are we serious about what global warming is doing to our habitat, not just climate change but pollution of the planet? Trump seems to be denying it with impunity.
Are we for a strong social safety in this time of technological change? The people are for social security, universal healthcare, and a minimum wage. The capitalists see them as impediments to their profits.
When republicans castigate any socialist stirrings they allow the 1% to run the government, denying the rest of us our right as free citizens to pass laws protecting us, our children, and the planet.
So let's make socialism a permitted word as it is in the rest of the world, and elect people who are anti-war, take climate change seriously, and demand a social safety net as they have in Europe with healthcare and affordable education for all.
103
@betty durso "Trump seems to be denying it with impunity."
Yes, and Democrats are steadfastly denying that global warming began long before Trump even ran for president and that China is responsible for the major part of global warming.
Global warming is real and something should be done about it. But as long as your real interest is not in saving the planet but in Trump bashing, we will get nowhere.
6
@betty durso Nobody is seriously advocating for Socialism in America. That is ridiculous. A strong social safety net is not "socialism." Social security and universal healthcare are not "Socialism" I really wish people would stop throwing that term around. Socialism is an economic system in which the state owns the means of production and distribution. Period. If you want to make the word "Socialism" okay in the U.S. please make an effort to learn what it means first.
3
@Ludwig
Democrats are not claiming that global warming began long before Trump became president or that China is the largest contributor. Quite the opposite.
Almost all of us, along with many moderate Republicans however, are by Trump's behavior, especially his authoritarian tendencies.
2
Comey is the cause of our predicament. He is now saying the right thing. But his lack of courage to stand up to the Republican congress stole the election for trump and Republicans/
125
We must be careful in not trying to find a scapegoat, which is precisely what we see in Trump. Blaming Comey accomplishes nothing. If Trump voters ignored sexual assault and racism, why would they care about an obscure Russian thing?
5
If Comey erred as we all do, it is apparent he has acted out of good faith, and he is hardly "the cause of our predicament." It is the really bad faith action of our President and the bad faith of his Republican enablers that we must challenge and transcend. Comey is clearly standing up to Trump as must we.
4
@tom. How can lies be the right thing?
1
Thank you, Mr. Comey. This is the best article I've read in a long time.
"the American giant is stirring". This line made me cry. I've been so discouraged, borderline depressed, with our political situation. I desperately needed to hear the convincingly hopeful tone in this article. I had lost hope. But this article has given me a glimmer of hope. I'm so nervous about today's outcome.
238
@Milly You expressed my sentiments, feelings precisley!
5
@Milly We have to vote our values as Americans and not succumb to our fears. One party traffics in fear, disinformation, and lies and the results will be a dystopian society. We can be (and usually are) better than that. This president is a challenge to all that makes America great--our values of inclusion and support of the diverse body of citizens that we actually are.
VOTE your values, not your fears. We are all in this together. Tonight we watch and wait as the tallies come in. Together. E pluribus unum.
12
The essays and responses of former US intelligence leaders--Comey, Brennan, Hayden--reflect highly on those institutions. Articulate, well reasoned, and historically grounded. Well done Mr. Comey.
94
@SHJ. That Rogues Gallery shows we need another Church Committee on our intelligence "community"
Without accusing Mr. Comey of doing something nefarious, the unintended consequences of your mishandling of Hillary Clinton’s emails and the political fallout at such a critical time enabled Trump to win in 2016.
Comey raises a great point about voting today but in my view, at least the 80,000 votes in 3 states turned this election. He is right, our nation’s values need to be upheld but part of our fix today is an unintended consquence of Comey’s untimely decisions.
150
@JT FLORIDA
That is the common myth about the 2016 election. But is it proven that Comey's action alone resulted in Clinton's defeat? I suspect it's a factor, one of several. Clinton might have helped herself more with a more rigorous campaign presence in the upper Midwest states that she lost.
21
@JT FLORIDA To be clear, Hillary lost the election because she came across as a corrupt, soulessess, power craven Bureaucrat who was a terrible retail politician. The fact that she mishandled classified information and was never charged by the DOJ was a gift like I have never seen before...two tiered Justice is a result of people like Comey...it will take years for the FBI to recover it's reputation.
1
@Larry Levy
"...is it proven that Comey's action alone resulted in Clinton's defeat?"
Alone? Why does it have to be alone? Elections are complicated things with lots of moving parts. The best that you could spin what happened is that Comey swung the election by between one and three points toward Trump. But, think about what you are saying when you admit that. The current FBI director took an action late in an election that changed the outcome - and, then, let's not forget, admitted a few days later that he was just kidding...that they didn't actually have anything. And, you are seriously going to go with: "well, it's one factor among several"?
This line of thinking leads one to place like: "well, the challenger only stole 100K votes in one state. Sure, that state put them over the top in the electoral college...but it was one factor among many."
9
We really don't have national values, because we simply aren't one nation. We don't share the same lives, responsibilities, educational opportunities or pretty much anything else. The rich live far longer than we poor for they own every system, including the medical system.
Now, if we used our heads and brought back the draft, and had all Americans, male and female, serve either two years under arms in the military, or 2.5 years in national public service, and thereby qualify for national health care and a leg up on jobs, then we could have a common mindset.
As it is, the rich like Trump get the absolute best in terms of medical care, housing, education, legal care when they get impeached, but the poor, not so much.
Trump's values are the Republican Party's values, and they are about self aggrandizement and looting the treasury, pure and simple.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
247
@Hugh Massengill -- I agree about the draft. If everyone had "skin" in the game, if every family had sons and daughters serving, they would pay close attention to policies that determined how that service was used. Today not so much. Those serving "volunteered" and thus are somehow less significant in how they are used. I am a veteran and someone thanked me for my service the other day which bothered me. If you want to appreciate my service then put a stop to this Republican nonsense that risks putting more of our children in harms way.
14
@Hugh Massengill
Great comment as always--thank you!
6
One reason we don't have a draft, aside from the "bone spur bonus babies", is that our armed forces remain largely invisible. This is by design. Where they are, what they're doing is unknown even to many members of Congress and would astonish most folks. Answerable to nobody, just getting carte blanche from Washington, the military and their contractors have decided this is the best arrangement to keep the billions flowing with little muss or fuss.
8
Mr. Comey, like all Progressives, believe that the only values that matter are those supported by his fellow liberal friends. For example, is gay marriage a positive or negative development? One can disagree on this subject and different opinions should be respected. The same can be said of the role of women in our culture and the proper control of immigration. Who has the authority to determine what is right and what is wrong and what is progress and what is not?
6
@Aaron Adams
300 of the foremost corporations in America wrote amicus briefs to the Supreme Court on behalf of marriage equality. At the same time over 30 states had already made marriage equality legal. The Supreme Court did the right thing.
And you ask whether same sex marriage is "a positive or negative development"? In our conservative mid-Michigan area I am aware of several same sex partnerships--people who had been together for many years, in some cases raising very healthy children--who were finally able to marry. They were finally granted the same citizenship rights that you readily grant yourself and take for granted. And their marriages appear to have the same integrity that the best so-called "traditional" marriages have.
There is no question it is a positive development. If you have to ask, maybe you need to get to know some of those couples better.
113
@Aaron Adams Comey is writing about a forward trajectory for rights - for the self-evident truth that all are created equal. Your personal comfort with your fellow Americans claiming and exercising their rights is not the point. Equal rights are the level ground on which we can have discussions about values, culture and what is right or wrong. Not the other way around.
41
@Aaron Adams: Using your logic, we could reinstate slavery or segregation. At the time they were abolished, there were large parts of the populace who thought they were good systems. OK, there are people who feel that women should not earn the same wages for the same work - should we leave things as they are because some feel it is correct?
24
Mr. Comey - while I appreciate your optimism and hope for this country, the world is a different place today than it was in the 20's and 60's. People, in their heart, might be similar.
But the way information and news travels makes the situation a lot harder to gauge when, and if, things might turn around. With Fox operating as essentially a propaganda wing of the White House a large portion of the electorate is not seeing the same news as you and many on here do.
I can imagine the headline on Fox if that bombing happened today - "4 Girls Dead from Bomb, but Pelosi/Schumer talk about taking away guns." Or something in that vein in order to obfuscate and change the narrative.
I don't know what the solution is, but I know the change will be much harder when so many people are being lied to on a regular basis.
168
@Michael Clearly the consensus of the NYT readers is one center right news outlet is too many, and dozens of far right news outlets is not enough...why is this crowd so afraid of hearing opposing view points?? This is the the most secure echo chamber in the Country.
1
@Richman I'm not afraid of hearing opposing view points - I read Fox News as well as other right leaning new sources regularly to stay up to date on both sides.
However, it's the frequent misinformation, exaggeration, and fear-mongering from those networks that makes me fear for the future of this country.
How can we ever come together to an agreement if both sides are hearing different "facts?"
11
@Richman...
Fox News is not a News outlet.
They don't do Journalism.
They only do Propaganda.
9
Thank you, Mr. Comey, for your years of public service and hopeful words about America’s future.
All of the historical threats to our national values, and the reaction to mitigate them, cited in your piece occurred at times without the Internet, social media, and the technological capabilities acting together as centrifugal forces to separate - not unify - our highly diverse society. That is the new reality that suppresses any optimism I may hold for our nation’s response to Trumpism. In the past, we could mostly coalesce around a set of national values which defined us as Americans. Today, we take refuge in whatever media platform defines our individual biases.
I have no answer on how to rekindle a sense of the shared American experience regardless of one’s background. But certainly we need a lot more people like you speaking out and modeling the behavior necessary to remind us all of our obligation to one another to unite rather than divide.
29
What an optimistic and partially redeeming article by Mr. Comey.
Hopefully it will still seem as optimistic and partially redeeming tomorrow.
33
Enforce the anti-trust laws. No more cherry picking. Support small community banking. In other words, undo the control the few have over all the rest of us. While the elite has us at each other's throats, they pick our pockets clean. If the left and the right understood who their real enemy was..the extremely wealthy elite of .01%..they would band together like they did in Norway (the conservative farmers and the labor class) and overturn our oppressors. Social justice is the real issue. The distribution of income is at the heart of our injustice. It's ok to be wealthy and prosperous, but not at the expense of the well being of the rest of us.
204
@Carolyn Egeli
I just read that Trump's federal reserve has lowered the banks' requirement for reserves by 30%. This will go unnoticed in the election hysteria, but it puts us back at square one before the 2008 disaster.
16
@Carolyn Egeli
The playing field is definitely not level. Warren Buffet has said it, Mitt Romney's tax returns show it to you (Donald's are hidden because of it). The major reason there IS a 1% and the 99% get nowhere fast is that Working Joes are beaten up by higher tax rates while Capital Gains rates tax the earnings of the 1%'s excess cash (cash not needed to simply survive) at a much lower rate.
9
@betty durso
Let’s not forget Bill Clinton’s lowering banking restrictions during his eight years. The Clinton's and Obama, were really, “Republicans," who were pro-choice.
3
Mr. Comey, you are a fine and decent American and you were a dedicated public servant, but these good thoughts that you articulate must be framed in the harsh, cold context of Republican sedition.
2018 America is a thoroughly corrupted America led by ruthless right-wing Machiavellis hellbent on 0.1% supremacy.
Even you were led to the slaughter in October 2016 by the rabid right-wing and their 0.1% malefactors.
Loretta Lynch, the former attorney general, recalled a conversation with you where you said “it’s clear to me that there is a cadre of senior FBI people in New York who have a deep and visceral hatred of Secretary Clinton.”
FBI agents in the NY FBI office were known partisans and leakers and they - with 0.1% funding by James Kallstrom, a former head of the NY FBI office, who founded a nonprofit that received $1.3 million in donations from Trump - and with Rudy Giuliani's psychopathic vote-rigging lust - played you and American voters like a Russian-Republican fiddle.
Rudy Giuliani referred in Oct 2016 on Fox to “a surprise or two that you’re going to hear about in the next few days” regarding the nothing-burger Anthony Weiner duplicate and triplicate emails to poison the election.
So Americans must realize that America's ruthless, rich, faux-religious Republican right-wing will always savage American democracy and should be viewed as America's #1 global enemy until evidence emerges that they have a shred of human decency and patriotism.
In the meantime, VOTE !
561
@Socrates Comey was complicit with the Republican bias of the FBI and lacked the courage to stand up to the Republican congress as well.
49
@Socrates
Mr. Comey was the boss of the entire FBI but instead of stopping the rule breakers (and possibley law breakers) in the NY office FBI office who were leaking to damage Hillary and get Trump elected, he wrung his hands and fretted about it. The OIG report clearly states that Comey told colleagues he knew that office was leaking but did not know what to do about it! Anyone with half a brain could have told him that as the head of the FBI he should have started an investigation into the leaks way back when they first started. He should have also made it clear that anyone caught leaking would have their careers destroyed. Instead he waited until the damage was done to refer to problem to the OIG. He was too busy protecting his own reputation and that of the FBI to do his job - protexting out democracy. Now this coward has the nerve to fo around the country giving speeches about how to be a strong, upstanding leader.
49
Irony of ironies, people still believe that their electoral power makes a difference in the government of the United States. Regardless of which shambolic party is elected, it is the multinational corporations who really rule the USA through their K Street lobbyists. Even the most cursory perusal of the "Federal Register" will indicate that innumerable line items of legislation are passed, written quite specifically and explicitly to benefit one or another lobbying corporation. We the Little People pay the lion's share of the revenue while these offshore behemoths pay virtually nothing directly from their bursting coffers, and laugh at us in our naivete.
54
Tournachonadar...it is the American right-wing that has systematically led America into the 0.1% gutter.
Democrats do not put up a strong enough and spirited fight and have been dragged rightward because 0.1% speech is the poisoned law of the land.
But your equivalence is false.
Democrats still produce public policy that helps millions, the ACA, the CPFB and higher taxes on millionaires.
The Republicans produce public policy that hurts millions.
VOTING matters.
Republicans can't stand democracy for a good reason; it puts them out of sociopathic power so they can't steal the country blind while raining guns and bullets and premature American deaths.
VOTE
299
@Tournachonadar, Of course there is truth in your critique of our system. BUT your defeatist, both-sides-are-the-same argument got us Trump in 2016. And I am old enough to remember when it got us Bush in 2000, Reagan in 1980, and Nixon in 1968. If you believe American history would have been exactly the same if those elections had swung the other way, YOU are the one who is naive. VOTE TODAY. It makes a difference.
33
@Tournachonadar the money is only effective if we let it be. Why do politicians do anything for money? The money (mostly; corruption is not yet that endemic) is for their campaigns. The campaigns are to get you to vote for them. So VOTE! Your vote is important or they wouldn’t be trying so hard to keep so many from doing so.
8
Right message - wrong messenger. Mr. Comey may be saying the right message but he’s the wrong messenger. If Mr. Comey had been following the FBI’s own protocols and long established policy he would not have inserted himself and the FBI into the 2016 Presidential campaign not once, but twice, and with the disastrous result of swaying the election to Trump.
498
@Don P. You are right. But, despite the messenger, the message is still the message and I am glad he is delivering it.
224
@Don P. Amen. The rules of decency and fairness at the FBI were established for a reason, to avoid just the result brought about by Comey's trampling all over them. He will never be forgiven for changing the course of history in 2016, and his role will certainly never be forgotten. I see his byline and just sigh in disgust.
Am I still bitter about the whole thing? Obviously.
30
@Don P. perhaps this tour of America and speaking to its core values is Mr. Comey's mea culpa. What he says here is the truth and bitterness over what his personal actions may have done to change the outcome of the 2016 election does not take away from that truth. Forgiveness is hard, bearing a grudge is easy.
11
Thank you, Mr. Comey. Let’s hope and pray for love to guide our actions going forward, not fear.
26
I hope you are right. It would be nice to feel that American leadership and American institutions can be trusted again. Policy and politics aside, it would be sad to see lying validated as a tool for winning elections and defining government in America.
62
@ACAwithout sounding too cynical I am tempted to ask what office you are running for? If not, why not? Your opinion sounds the right note that the country needs at this time.
EMS