After Comey: Will Democracy Die in Darkness?

Our very first kiss was the first kiss goodbye.

YESTERDAY, some 24 hours after the compelling testimony of Sally Yates and James Clapper made his shady Russia ties impossible to deny, Donald Trump fired James Comey, the FBI director leading the investigation into said ties. Today, Trump will meet with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian diplomat who the Steele dossier claims is his handler for Russian intelligence.

If you still think, after the last 48 hours—after the existence of the grand juries, reported on weeks ago by Claude Taylor, was confirmed by CNN; after the Mike Flynn imbroglio was exposed as either criminal negligence or collusion on Trump’s part; after the summary dismissal of the man many believed handed Trump the election for not leaving Russia alone—then you should just move to Moscow with Edward Snowden…but even Edward Snowden has called bullshit on this!

Set aside politics: every American should condemn such political interference in the Bureau's work. https://t.co/hROwSMg1vd

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 9, 2017

Firing Comey was, simply put, the stuff of banana republics. If this is allowed to stand, if Republicans in Congress laugh this off, it means that we no longer live in a functioning democracy. Yesterday, a journalist was arrested in West Virginia for shouting questions to Trump’s odious HHS secretary, Tom Price. Stephen Colbert was attacked via the FCC, a fancy federal way of threatening his First Amendment rights. Laws are being written to criminalize protest, and paid alt-right goons are appearing at events to stir up trouble and create the impetus for doing so. Oh, and the New York Fucking Times now has a feature in which we’re supposed to write nice things about our Great Leader.

This is Fascism, guys. As some of us said months ago.

The next few days are going to be critical. Will the media finally wake the fuck up, abandon its “fair and balanced” dictate, and cover Trump for what he is? Or will it continue to question sources like Claude Taylor and Louise Mensch, who have been right about almost everything in this case, months before the press has caught on?

Will presumed patriots like Jeff Flake, Ben Sasse, Lindsey Graham, and John McCain pull out the stops and lead the anti-Trump GOP movement? Is anyone in the Republican party currently holding office able to take the long view, and realize that doing so will make it easier, not harder, for them to remain after Trump and his Russian circus are gone?

Will the Democrats take a page from the GOP playbook and treat this like the life-and-death situation that it is? Well-crafted public statements are nice, but this is time for drastic measures. I’m not sure what those measures may be, but this is the time to activate them.

Will the attorneys general currently working on cases against Trump, such as New York’s Eric Schneiderman, move more aggressively?

A source with knowledge of the investigation says that nine sealed indictments came down in one case with sixteen more expected in others.

— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) May 10, 2017

Multiple sources have reported that there are tapes, audio tapes, of the Russian ambassador offering money and help to Trump, to Jeff Sessions, and to Paul Ryan. I’ve heard there is also audio of multiple Trump family members engaging in illicit conversations, recorded by foreign intelligence services. If these tapes exist, will they be leaked? Because if I’m Estonia, and I have this sort of smoking gun, it’s in my best interests to do so, stat.

And what of Comey himself? Although he was surprised by the timing, he knew this was coming, sources say. Does he have a plan in place for such an eventuality? Can this plan be activated? What might it involve? Leakapalooza is not out of the question here. He’s supposed to testify on Tuesday…is that still on? Will he be more glib now that he is no longer FBI director? Certainly it can no longer be denied that he’s on the right side.

This is going to be the end of Trump, or the end of democracy in this country. This is not a hyperbole and not a joke. This is the gravest threat to our way of life since the Civil War.

As former NSA agent John Schindler says:

At this point:

1. Let Congress know your view. Now.
2. Pray.
3. Stockpile ammunition, food, water & non-perishable goods.

— John Schindler (@20committee) May 9, 2017