Libertarian Scott Sumner: Ideology good, reality bad

The people who leaked are imputing obstruction of justice as the meaning of Comey's memo

That was the political purpose of drafting the memo in the first place and showing it to others.

But Comey will testify under oath that he never saw it that way.

Otherwise he'll be in trouble himself.

He's a Niebuhrian. The end justifies the means.

What this is about is the deep state not wanting improved relations with Russia EVER . . .

. . . and it and the Clinton wing trying to criminalize the policy change by Trump & Company.

From the story here:

[T]he two [Flynn and Kislyak] discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the U.S. national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations, four current U.S. officials said.

The sound the special prosecutor makes

Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching, as everyone lawyers-up.

If Comey concealed Trump obstruction for three months, he's guilty of misprision

Comey testified under oath May 3rd he wasn't told to stop his investigation for a political reason EVER, which would rule out Trump in February, and March and April

The New York Times has nothing on Trump, who only expressed a hope, that's all, IF the memo is legit

Meanwhile the dishonest media keep reporting such things as "Trump asked Comey to cut short the Flynn investigation" when Trump did nothing of the kind. 

Here, claiming to quote Trump from Comey's memo:

“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” 

That's why Turley says there's no evidence in the memo. Trump asks for nothing, threatens nothing, and only expresses a hope.

And even if it were "evidence", it would only be "he said" vs. "he said", a form of hearsay and inadmissible.

Princeton's Stephen Cohen blames false Russia narrative about Trump on Clinton wing of Democrat Party and the intelligence complex

Here:

"Two motives have dirven this false narrative about Trump, that he is somehow a Kremlin agent. There have been two forces. One is the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party, which doesn't want to admit she lost the election... and that may be because she wants to run again.... At the same time, there has long been in Washington, let's call it the fourth branch of government -- the intelligence services, who have opposed any rapprochement or cooperation with Russia." 

If Comey suspected obstruction of justice in February, he was obligated to report it immediately

From the story here:

Under the law, Comey is required to immediately inform the Department of Justice of any attempt to obstruct justice by any person, even the President of the United States. Failure to do so would result in criminal charges against Comey. (18 USC 4 and 28 USC 1361) He would also, upon sufficient proof, lose his license to practice law. So, if Comey believed Trump attempted to obstruct justice, did he comply with the law by reporting it to the DOJ? If not, it calls into question whether the events occurred as the Times reported it.

Jonathan Turley: The Comey memo is not proof of an impeachable offense

Here:

[W]e need to move beyond the hyperventilated pronouncements of criminal conduct or impeachable offenses based on this memo. This conversation in the Oval Office is a valid matter of concern and worthy of further investigation. It is not proof of an impeachable offense any more than it is proof of a crime.

My congressman, Justin Amash, trusts Comey more than Trump, would impeach over memo

Well, I never vote to reelect Justin Amash, and I'm not about to start now.

Story here.

Hey Comey, I write memos everyday!

Mark Levin: Let's see ALL Comey's memos

Levin correctly asks why Comey reveals a memo about a possible Trump misdeed now. If it's the real deal, he might have lied to Congress months ago when he said Trump was not a target of his investigation.

Here's the testimony of Comey's number two, who stresses there has been no interference "to date":

The notes taken by Comey appear to contradict testimony offered just last week by his temporary successor, acting FBI director Andrew McCabe.

"There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date,'' McCabe said last week in response to a question posed by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. "Simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.''

Law enforcement officials declined to explain the apparent contradiction between Comey's notes and McCabe's testimony.

New York Times blames housing unaffordability on mortgage interest deduction, never mentions how the Fed just reinflated the housing bubble quite apart from it

Here.

Housing was on its way to being affordable again until the Feds stepped in to stop foreclosures from rising and prices from falling, late in 2008. As a result of rock bottom interest rates which existing owners used to refinance their mortgages, housing is now more expensive than it has ever been, but the Times attacks the mortgage interest deduction for causing the problem.

Prices are up 47% since the 2009 low, in just eight years! The mortgage interest deduction was invented over 100 years ago, and helped to build the post-war middle class.

The Times seems bent on further destroying it.

Thousands of Muslims march through a German village, shouting about something

Remind you of anyone?

Here.

Why did the president cross the road, Mark?

Because he was chasing the chicken.

Voter fraud: Is it really unimaginable that 3 million voted fraudulently in 2016?

In 2004 there were just short of 114,000 polling places in the United States. The number has doubtlessly grown considerably since then, but take 114,000 for a fact even though 12 years out of date and all it takes to get to 3 million is 26 illegal votes per precinct.

Fraud is complicated by in-person early voting in 21 states and DC, making it possible for determined fraudsters to vote multiple times in one state and/or states. Alternative voting methods other than by in-person on election day are now estimated to account for more than a third of all votes cast. These include absentee/by-mail voting in many states, which liberals typically find more susceptible of fraud than in-person systems.

Governments often raised funds with lotteries in the past, but how about $7 trillion in FY2017?

I don't think so.

Lotteries started to fall out of favor after 1830, according to the story here, mostly due to corruption. The guys running the things would run off with the dough. So much for the golden age of the past.

Government at all levels in the US will shell out $7.04 trillion in fiscal 2017, 36.5% of GDP.

In 1817 the number was in the neighborhood of $23 million, about 3% of GDP.

The problem with raising revenues today is only a problem because government is too damn big. Spending 3% of GDP today on government at all levels compared with current outlays means they are twelve times the size they should be, $7 trillion instead of $0.6 trillion.

Besides, you couldn't possibly raise enough using lotteries. In fiscal 2014 lottery revenues countrywide barely totaled $70 billion, just 1% of current total outlays.

Every man, woman and child in this country would have to purchase at least $21,757 in lotto tickets this fiscal year in order to fund government at all levels. And that's before any jackpots are paid out, or lottery workers paid.

Or we could just tax everyone that much.

It would be easier and fairer, right?

After all, we're all "equal".

Except 60 million Americans don't make even that much. If government took it all what would they live on?

Hope, no doubt.

Wow, Sen. Mike Lee falls 28,000 feet directly into the sea from Mt. Tea Party Olympus

Another phony like Sen. Ron Johnson and Rep. Justin Amash.

Somebody please tell The Nation that Hillary won Middlesex County MA with 65% of the vote