SeaShellGate: If Comey can be prosecuted, then none of us are safe from Trump's goons
News and commentary for Floridians and other concerned Americans
By J.C. Bruce
So, now we have SeaShellGate.
Little did former FBI director James Comey realize what a tempest in a teapot he was stirring up when he posted his innocuous picture of seashells on a beach spelling the numbers:
For this seaside arrangement of innocent shells, Comey has now been indicted — nearly a full year later.
Apparently, it has taken this long to find a grand jury dumb enough to go along with the Justice Department’s charge that this was not a simple expression of Constitutionally protected free speech, but represented an actual threat to the life of the president of the United States.
So terrifying a threat that it took two weeks shy of a full year to bring charges.
This is, on one level, absurd. But, on another, alarming.
First, the absurdity:
The number 86 is slang for throwing out or getting rid of something. It likely originated in the 1930s as an expression used at soda fountains to show that something was out of stock.
It does not commonly mean “assassinate."
The number 47, clearly, refers to Trump, the 45th and now 47th president.
So, taken together, these numbers translate to “Dump Trump.”
Which is exactly what voters did in 2020 when they elected Joe Biden to replace him. It’s also what Congress tried to do when it impeached him twice, including for trying to overthrow the government in 2021 when he threw a hissy fit over losing to Biden.
There is nothing wrong with suggesting any public official be removed from office. There is nothing wrong, either, with expressing the hope that a public official might choke on his cheeseburger.
There is a huge distinction between wishing someone ill and making an actual, actionable threat.
And let’s not forget, Trump is the guy who suggested that Liz Cheney should have “guns trained on her face.” So, who is he to complain?
What’s alarming is Trump’s continued abuse of power to exact political vengeance on people who have failed to kiss his ring.
I’m not a fan of Comey. His arrogance and inflated sense of self-importance were never more evident than when he announced mere days before 2016 presidential election that he was reopening an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. Which came to nothing other than contributing to Trump’s victory.
Nope, not a fan.
But that’s irrelevant.
His indictment is just one more example of how Trump treats the presidency as his personal fiefdom in which the rules don’t apply to him. His new minion in the Justice Department, Todd Blanche, is all too happy, evidently, to enable this corruption.
As CNN reported:
The new case represents a reinvigorated effort to satisfy Trump’s demands to investigate his own foes, including Comey, who he sees as a key leader in the perceived effort to “weaponize” the justice system against him.
It also comes less than a month after the president dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump had for weeks complained that Bondi was not aggressive enough in executing his agenda.
Todd Blanche, Bondi’s top deputy and a former Trump personal attorney, is now in charge of steering the department, and has moved quickly to act on matters that the president has publicly pushed for.
“While this case is unique, and this indictment stands out because of the name of the defendant, his alleged conduct is the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate and that we will always investigate,” Blanche said at a press conference Tuesday.
What exactly won’t Blanche tolerate?
Freedom of speech, evidently.
And that is cause for alarm.
J.C. Bruce is the founder of Tropic Press. He is an award-winning journalist and author. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida.
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J.C. Bruce
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So many people want to 8647!
What a colossal waste of time and resources. The Comey Prosecution is going nowhere, won't even survive a Motion to Dismiss unless they forum shop it to one of Trump's Judges, even then on appeal it's out on it's ass. Meanwhile, Prosecutors who should be prosecuting actual criminals are toiling in this political cesspool. But you really have stand in awe of the disdainful and contemptible attitude the President of the United States has for the 1st Amendment of the Constitution he's sworn to protect. This, not to mention the sycophantic, servile and duplicitous Todd Blanche. If there was ever a model for how not to act as President, old Donald has created it.