Author James Comey, the former FBI Director infamously fired by President Trump for any of a number of reasons, all of which have seemingly been denied by the President, is perhaps one of the most ambiguous figures in our little bit of national dramatic theatre to which we’re all witness. For the partisan zealot who views the world, and especially high-profile individuals such as Mr. Comey, exclusively through his or her favorite prism, their view of Mr. Comey, if contemplated seriously, brings a certain level of discomfort to their psyche, because his actions as FBI Director have been widely interpreted as favoring both candidates in the most recent Presidential contest, those being Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
The rabid personality, regardless of allegiance, no doubt thinks the worst of Mr. Comey, for that is the nature of such individuals. The world is black and white, and, in their view, Mr. Comey should select one side and ceaselessly work for its goals; any other effort marks Mr. Comey as an enemy, a traitor, or some other denigrative adjective.
In other words, he’s a shithead.
BUT for those of us who see the world in shades of gray, who are aware of our individual limitations, not only of ourselves, but of our fellow Americans, his conduct has certainly led to some questions. Whether we favored Clinton or Trump, the public announcements from Mr. Comey were troubling. Therefore, the publication of A HIGHER LOYALTY is an opportunity to see how he portrays the time in question.
First, this book is NOT a highly technical legal tome, for though Mr. Comey’s training is as a lawyer, spent mostly as a Federal prosecutor, he avoids stepping into the fatal peat-bogs of legal minutiae. Nor is this a catalog of cases in which he’s participated, or leaks in which he’s indulged. Such would be a dull tome. It is, in fact, an easy read. Mr. Comey’s goal is to present an account of his time with the FBI, the investigations into the Clinton e-mail incidents and the decisions he made, and his interactions with President Trump.
And in order to accomplish this effectively, Mr. Comey feels that he needs to describe what has shaped his attitudes towards public service and life in general, so we get a short, autobiographical sketch. It covers his time as a shy kid, forced to move from a favorite school to a new school, and suffer the slings and arrows of the local group of bullies. From there he describes his mistakes, his own set of lies, and how he handled
This eventually leads him to the lawyer’s guild, because this is where he believes he can make a difference for his fellow citizens. He makes no bones about it, his experience of the bullies leads him to want to expunge the adult bullies which we occasionally run into. He has experience with prosecuting Mob bosses, and during that experience, he spent extensive time with those Mob members who turned state’s evidence. That leads to his observations on the nature of the Mob landscape: “made men” and how they see themselves as honorable men, even as they strangle their rivals.
One of Mr. Comey’s themes is the nature of effective leadership. Does your boss lead through fear and intimidation? Or does he strive to elicit the best efforts of her subordinates through nurturing?
Once Mr. Comey enters Federal service, he slows down and discusses the various decisions he’s made as he’s moved up the ranks. At one time he served under Mr. Guiliani, who would later be Mayor of New York, as an assistant prosecutor, and describes his leadership style, which was basically self-centered; he later occupied the same position, and described how he tried to lead the department. Once again, this is not minutiae, but broad declarations of how to get the best out of your people.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book is his focus on protecting the position of the FBI. For most folks, the FBI is an crime investigation unit, and that is by and large very accurate. But there isn’t enough emphasis on a primary attribute of such an agency: its neutral position. This is of critical importance to the proper functioning of the US Government, because crime is not defined in terms of being a Republican or a Democrat; a crime is a crime. If we suspect the FBI of favoring one party or the other, then we’re in danger of losing an important agency which is dedicated to discovering truth.
Truth is one of Comey’s major focuses, and the importance being neutral in pursuit of that truth. For the partisan, this is a critical point, because a partisan, a member of the tribe, finds it hard to ascribe criminality to the tribal chieftain. Their loyalty to the tribe precludes it on an instinctual level; only the person who has considered the matter and has realized that fallacious behavior, whether it be an out and out crime, or simply lying to gain every advantage, will not lead the nation down the path to prosperity, but into the caldera of a volcano.
Once he has been confirmed as the FBI Director, he slows down more in order to give us a sense of what he was trying to accomplish, and how the shit-storm of the Clinton e-mail investigation upended all his efforts. He freely admits to self-doubt, examines alternative decisions, and wonders if he’d repeat certain minor decisions. On the major decisions, though, he sticks with what he did.
Once the election is past, he winnows his experiences down to those relevant to President Trump. This is a more familiar story, of Mr. Trump seeking Mr. Comey’s declaration of personal loyalty, and Mr. Comey realizing, to his horror, that Mr. Trump has little conception of how things should work in the Federal government, and his lack of concern about his ignorance. Indeed, Mr. Comey’s analysis of Mr. Trump’s personality suggests that he’s similar to a Mob boss, a man requiring personal loyalty while failing to return any, all the while gathering up all of value to himself, continually grasping.
One reads in order to gain knowledge and have it change you. How did this affect me? In two ways.
First, his discussion of the Clinton e-mail investigations disturbed me. They make me more hesitant concerning Clinton, particularly when learning that former Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) possessed a laptop containing copies of Clinton’s emails from her Blackberry domain. Mr. Comey cannot explain their presence, and that disturbs me. It makes me wonder about how she conducted herself during her tenure as Secretary of State. Was it really just ignorance of the vulnerabilities of email? We’ll probably never know, but I’d like to think the Democratic Party can present better candidates.
Second, Mr. Comey’s desire to dedicate his life to bettering the lives of his fellow citizens is inspirational. In some odd way, it makes me wish I had been a Federal prosecutor, although temperamentally I’m probably not suited for it. Still, there’s that niggling feeling that I could have done better with my life.
And what about our puzzled partisans who do not understand Mr. Comey? I’d encourage them to read the book, but for those who cannot be bothered, there’s a simple explanation. Mr. Comey, while nominally a Republican for most of his life, is not tribal towards them. Rather, he’s a member of the tribe of truth-seekers. He passionately believes that finding the truth will lead to the best results for this country, and if that shoots the leaders of either party inthe foot, so much the better. Corrupt leaders are a terminal brick tied to the ankles of the Party, and the more quickly they are recognized and ejected, the better.
Recommended.
