Monday News: “The Very Political” James Comey “made a serious mistake”; Voters Must Vote to Correct It

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, October 31. Also check out John Oliver on the absurdity of Anthony Weiner, emails, etc.

• Eric Holder: James Comey is a good man, but he made a serious mistake (“I fear he has unintentionally and negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the FBI.”)
• The costs of Comey’s appeasement (“The FBI director’s actions surrounding Clinton’s emails represent a perversion of justice.”)
• Blow: Emails, Genitalia and the F.B.I. (“Trump wants to win through sleight of hand and Comey most likely just increased that possibility, however slightly. Voters of all ideologies who value the integrity of our electoral process must send the strongest possible message that this is not how we want our democracy to operate. They must vote with conviction in absolute opposition.”)
• Paul Krugman: Working the Refs (“…much of the initial coverage of the Comey letter was based not on what the letter said, which was very little, but on a false, malicious characterization of the letter by Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. You might think reporters would have learned by now not to take what people like Mr. Chaffetz say at face value. Apparently not.”)
• Clinton Forges Slim Lead With Early Turnout in Swing States (“In states likely to decide the election — like Florida, Colorado and Nevada — close to a quarter of the electorate has already voted.”)
• FBI obtains warrant to search newly discovered Clinton-related emails
• The foreign leaders who are rooting for Trump (“The less committed a U.S. ally is to liberal democracy, the more likely its government is to favor the Republican presidential nominee.”)
• Analysis: The Vengeful World of Donald Trump, and Why it Matters (Extremely disturbing.)
• Harry Reid: FBI Director’s ‘Partisan Actions’ May Violate Federal Law
• The Latest: Iraq forces enter last village to east of Mosul
• Trump stokes skepticism of Colorado voting system
• Abedin tells colleagues she’s in dark about new email trove (“Clinton aide said to be unsure how emails ended up in her husband’s laptop, and what their significance could be.”)
• Trump rally speaker fantasizes about death of Hillary Clinton (This should be a much bigger headline than the stupid emails.)
• The Very Political James Comey (“The FBI director says he doesn’t “give a hoot” about politics. But when it comes to Clinton and her emails, he’s made a series of political decisions that have jeopardized the integrity of the FBI—and the U.S. election process.”)
• Donald Trump and the “twin insurgency”: He’s half plutocrat, half criminal and entirely ruthless
• Donald Trump blamed a microphone for his sexual assault brag. It’s not the first time.
• Hillary Clinton Tries to Move Past Email Issue; Donald Trump Revels in It
• Tim Kaine Says FBI Investigation of New Hillary Clinton Emails Is “Unprecedented”
• Deeply Disturbing (“I will suffice it to say that there seem to be at least two investigations on-going into issues related to Donald Trump. Comey has felt no analogous need to proceed with what we might call the extreme transparency he has chosen with the emails probe of Hillary Clinton. Again, he’s driven by fear of Republican criticism and leaks by agents trying to strongarm superiors.”)
• NBC’s Pete Williams: Trump’s bogus ‘rigged’ talk pushed Comey to break DOJ rules on elections
• Editorial: Republicans rig elections by suppressing minority votes (Yep, this is from the Republican Times-Disgrace editorial board.)
• Eric Holder and 100 other former Justice officials sign letter blasting Comey’s ‘breach of protocol’
• FBI Director’s Letter Receives Criticism From Across The Political Spectrum
• Clinton Had a Bad Week, But Trump is Still Lagging
• James Comey and the Destruction of Norms in American Politics
• Dittmar, Garrett race for fifth district seat
• Donald Trump’s unpopularity saps support for Virginia Republicans (“VA-10 probably is a pure tossup, almost entirely because of Trump”)
• Changing Chesterfield a key battleground in presidential race (“A changing Chesterfield County, long a reliable stronghold for Republicans in presidential elections, is becoming a key battleground in swing state Virginia.”)
• 9th Congressional District candidates discuss coal, jobs
• FERC pipeline ‘sessions’ to harvest comments about project’s draft environmental impact statement
• Virginian-Pilot editorial: For Suffolk, Johnson, Ward, Milteer and Fawcett
• A cooler, fright-free Halloween, but the ghost of summer could haunt us midweek