In the Washington Post, national security correspondent Greg Miller has a book review of former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe’s new book: THE THREAT: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump. What I found of most interest was McCabe’s assessment of Jeff Sessions. You probably won’t be surprised to see it confirmed that Sessions is a virulent racist and bigot.
He didn’t read intelligence reports and mixed up classified material with what he had seen in newspaper clips. He seemed confused about the structure and purpose of organizations and became overwhelmed when meetings covered multiple subjects. He blamed immigrants for nearly every societal problem and uttered racist sentiments with shocking callousness.
This isn’t how President Trump is depicted in a new book by former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe. Instead, it’s McCabe’s account of what it was like to work for then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The FBI was better off when “you all only hired Irishmen,” Sessions said in one diatribe about the bureau’s workforce. “They were drunks but they could be trusted. Not like all those new people with nose rings and tattoos — who knows what they’re doing?”
I guess I’m more startled to learn that Sessions is so stupid that he can’t juggle basic concepts and that he didn’t even bother to read intelligence reports.
McCabe’s disdain for Trump is rivaled only by his contempt for Sessions. He questions the former attorney general’s mental faculties, saying that he had “trouble focusing, particularly when topics of conversation strayed from a small number of issues.”
Logs on the electronic tablets used to deliver the President’s Daily Brief to Sessions came back with no indication he had ever punched in the passcode.
There’s a reason Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was the only one of 100 senators to endorse Donald Trump’s candidacy for president. They saw eye to eye on Islam, race and immigration.
The attorney general’s views on race and religion are described as reprehensible.
Sessions “believed that Islam — inherently — advocated extremism” and ceaselessly sought to draw connections between crime and immigration. “Where’s he from?” was his first question about a suspect. The next: “Where are his parents from?”
I’ve been writing about Sessions’ Neo-confederate beliefs for a long time, but I never saw him as a dunce. I actually thought he was cunning in an evil kind of way. Maybe it’s fortunate that he was overwhelmed in his job as Attorney General. He could have done a lot more harm if he’d been as smart as I thought he was.
I guess I am just glad that he flamed out so spectacularly. He gave up a safe Senate seat to fulfill his lifelong dream of running the Justice Department, but it ended in disgrace with even the president trashing his performance on a regular basis. Not many people seem to get what they deserve these days, but I’m satisfied with how Sessions’ career came to an ignominious end. That Doug Jones won his Senate seat is just gravy.
I don’t think he has gotten any where near what he deserves.
Well that’s true — but, for whatever reason, he did recuse himself from the Russia investigation and he left Mueller alone. That does put one chit on the other side of the balance.
No nose ring but I do have about a dozen tattoos, some pretty big. I guess Mr. Jeffy wouldn’t like me.
God I miss the days when our federal government wasn’t run by the worst fucking people imaginable.
I’m too young to remember the New Deal administration.
There is an entire subset of Americans who can’t focus on anything outside their narrow set of agendas. ANYTHING placed before them that doesn’t line up with their bias is rejected. If it doesn’t originate from within their bubble, then they can’t comprehend it.
Sessions’ family goes way back in Alabama and South Carolina. His bigotry is inbred and blinds him to the normal human experience.
Him wanting the job of AG that badly and losing it is a fine first step in getting what he deserves.
. . . actually genetic. “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught.”
I must have heard that a thousand times as a kid. My parents loved South Pacific.
. . . Though, now I think on it, there’s a good case to be made that our society was more broadly liberal (and increasingly so) then, and has been regressing since — roughly — Reagan.
I’m waiting for the Mueller indictment for perjury.
The doanld burned his bridge with Beauregard. Betcha Sessions has already cooperated and turned over any tapes he made. Sessions knows what Cohen learned…the donald is no one to be afraid of.
. . . reciprocated from.
have to admit i’m relieved in a small way to hear that these asshats and boneheads aren’t interested in doing their homework. sure, it means that they can’t do their jobs effectively (even if they wanted to), but their stupidity and apathy may be the only thing limiting the amount of damage they can inflict on the country and the amount of critical intel they can pass to bad actors (hiya, vlad! salaam, mbs!) who actually know what to do with it.
Interestingly (and a bit surprising) is that Rick Perry has managed to keep a very low profile and also avoid scandal and corruption at DOE. Of course, he is absolutely no one’s idea of a policy wonk and, while governor of TX was big into cronyism with big business but that’s the Texas GOP for you. Seems to be partly because he is virtually the only Cabinet member with actual substantive executive experience (now that Mattis has left).
There is just no question that Trump and Session’s painful imbecility is the only thing that has saved us so far. If any of that worthless crew had been as clever and insightful as their hero Vladimir Putin we would be living in a permanent dictatorship by now.
Instead Trump is bungling so spectacularly he’s actually alienating a swath of voters who voted for him in 2016. He realistically needed to expand his base to win re-election and instead he’s alienated a section of them.
That led to the Democrats winning 42 seats nationwide in 2018 and lead to his crushing defeat in 2020 barring some massive and unprecedented fraud. But, we don’t have to just accept that lying down. This ain’t 2000 and we’re not going to just lie down when they try and steal another national election. There will be blood in the streets if they try that kind of garbage this time. No, Trump is not getting away with it. He’s losing and losing badly right now, and that is going to continue until we drive him out of power and restore the nation.
Not that I disagree but Jones is just holding that seat until the balance of Sessions’ term is up. When it is, if Sessions were to run for the seat he gave up I expect he’d stand a good chance of winning it back.
Sadly.
Maybe not since Individual 1 hates him.
Trump hates everyone but Trump. If it came down to a motion to convict on an impeachment, Jones would — I assume — vote to convict. Sessions, though probably no Trump fan himself by now, would be voting to conciliate his constituents and keep the far-right neo-segregationist movement alive and flourishing.
If it came down to it, Trump would be crazy not to support Sessions. Bigly. Better the devil you know…
. . . cut him loose.
I think there are instances where he was persuaded to campaign for people he hates during the midterms.
Oh to have the ear of that person that is able to get the donald to do stuff he does not want to so.
. . . didn’t get all he deserved.