News Burst: June 07, 2017

Hey All!

I’m totally fucking shot. Today’s been a day, I’ll tell you what. Never, ever underestimate how utterly time-consuming and obnoxious it is to run a business by yourself from an administrating point of view. Hoops to jump through. Hoops galore!

Anyway, I’m finally now getting a chance to sit down and write this up, so I apologize for its slight delay. After this, I’m gonna eat for the first time today. Chicken cutlet sandwiches! Then, it’s time to finish tomorrow’s video, which is as history-focused as any CLS video to date, and involves a special little tango between the United States and our British friends. =)

There are really only two stories of any consequence right now. Let’s not pretend otherwise!

James Comey’s Opening Statement: http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/336760-read-comeys-opening-statement-to-senate-intelligence-committee

My Take: It’s actually (yet predictably) outrageous how people are reading these seven pages from James Comey and interpreting them totally differently. Some people say there’s nothing here; others claim it’s the smoking gun they’ve been waiting for. What you should first do is what I just did. Read the seven pages yourself, which are linked above. Go ahead. I’ll wait, ever so patiently, for you to finish.

Here’s what I get out of all of this: James Comey didn’t (and presumably doesn’t) like Donald Trump, but way more importantly, he doesn’t trust him. While assuring him that Trump wasn’t under personal investigation by the FBI (which is a major deal, and something being swept under the rug by liberals with an axe to grind), he also felt compelled to keep documentation on all of his nine meetings with Trump (more than eight times more than he ever spoke with Obama one-on-one). However, beginning in late January, Comey indicates that, after an uncomfortable one-on-one dinner at the White House, it became clear Trump was trying to put Comey in a position of patronage; that is to say, Comey would owe something or be under the control of Trump in some fashion. Strange, since FBI Directors traditionally serve 10 year terms that could range through several presidents.

Things get a little stranger here, because Trump begins bringing up “loyalty” from Comey; Comey denies ever confirming he’d be loyal, but rather simply honest, to which Trump confusingly fused the two words together into a nebulous-meaning term. Interestingly, in regards to the early-2017 Russian memo of unknown provenance that indicated the Russians might have something on Trump of a more “salacious” variety, Comey seemed to try to help Trump out by not forcing the FBI to in essence open up an investigation into something regarding him that was never otherwise going to happen. It sounds like common sense was true in this regard: The FBI knew that dossier existed, but doesn’t (still) seem to think it contains real information. Just something worth keeping on the radar.

Now, things move into the Mike Flynn fiasco. Trump told Comey what the official line externally was: Flynn lied to Pence, but seemed to have done nothing untoward in regard to the Russians. Comey indicates that Trump asked him to “let things go” with Flynn -- and, interestingly, Comey confirms that he thinks highly of Flynn -- but that he didn’t think Trump was telling him or indicating to him in any way that he should drop the larger Russian investigation. Just things having to do with Flynn. So as to not poison the independent investigations into Flynn and into the Russian hacking, Comey and the FBI leadership kept the contents of this conversation to themselves.

One thing that seems to be being overlooked here, from what I’ve been reading, is that Comey then told Jeff Sessions specifically to ensure that he and Trump wouldn’t speak privately or one-on-one again. Tying back to the fact that Comey and Trump spoke privately nine times in four months, this is relevant, especially because Trump again contacts Comey to talk about “the cloud” of the greater Russian investigation. Trump specifically referenced the hooker part of the dossier; he claims he knew he was always being recorded. Comey then reached out to Sessions' deputy, and didn't hear back for two weeks, at which point he was fired.

In other words, this is all a really bizarre and muddled series of conversations that, to me, indicates that Trump is more unwitting and ignorant than anything approaching the agent of a foreign power or a Manchurian Candidate. Whether or not what he did is decidedly criminal, however, remains to be seen. I don’t pretend to understand the legal intricacies enough to be able to render a verdict on that. All I know is that, by this time tomorrow, we’re going to have a lot more clarity than we do right now.

(Related Story | An Alternate Rundown: http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/336848-comeys-dramatic-account-rocks-washington)

(Related Story | An Alternate Rundown II: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/07/comey-claims-trump-asked-him-in-late-march-to-lift-the-cloud-of-the-russia-probe-239251)

(Related Story | Trump’s Focus Revolved Around Personal Investigation Which Didn’t Exist: http://www.businessinsider.com/comey-told-trump-he-wasnt-under-investigation-2017-6)

The British Go to the Polls: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-election-idUSKBN18Y0PR

My Take: Mightily overshadowed on this side of the Atlantic (thanks to Trump v. Comey), but quite the opposite over in Europe, is the fact that the British people will go to the polls for a snap election on what some are referring to as “Super Thursday” (considering the election and the Comey testimony is happening simultaneously). Calling for this election was a bold gambit on the part of Theresa May, and there’s no guarantee it’s going to play out as she may have so confidently expected some seven weeks ago.

Here’s my major concern about this election, regardless of who wins: As the Reuters story linked above shows, polling is all over the fucking place. The most bullish of predictions are unlikely to be met, but having polling ranging over 11 points is fucking insane. British polling was woefully inadequate back in 2015, and the same can be said for Brexit, so this really does beg the question of what in the fuck is going on over there with the numbers. In any case, many of us over here in the States will be watching this one with great interest; I have no doubt that’s doubly and triply true in mainland Europe, and obviously, this will be all-consuming in the UK.

My prediction? May and the Tories do very well, probably better than recent May stumbles would have indicated, with the perpetual rise of terror gripping the UK. Perhaps a 70 seat majority, which will absolutely strengthen the UK’s position in Brexit talks with the EU. I’ll be watching this one closely, and as I’m a night owl and I live in California, maybe I’ll even get a glimpse of some early exit polling before I hit the sack.