Then I watched Comey on the interview circuit and thought, hmm, what was the purpose of his writing this book? And what was the purpose of his writing this book now? What was the point? I also wondered if Comey really thought he was better than everyone else. That's the impression he was giving. I decided that I really didn't want to read this book after all.
A few weeks ago, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership should up on my iPad from the library. I didn't download it, but I didn't return it early. Then sometime last week, one of my Facebook friends posted a quote from the book on Facebook. I asked her if she thought it was a worthwhile read and she said she thought it was. I finished up what I was reading (Every Other Weekend). A Higher Loyalty was next up.
I think I'm glad that I read the book. I still do wonder why he wrote the book at this point since there was much information that he isn't at liberty to share right now. When I've mentioned that to other people, they said that he most likely felt that he had to vindicate himself. I get that.
In the book, Comey comes off as being a good guy with decent values. He doesn't come across as being superior, the way I viewed him on television. That was a relief. The bits of his background and family life that he shared were marginally interesting. His career path made total sense to me.
He addressed this:
The stuff that gets me the most is the claim that I am in love with my own righteousness, my own virtue. I have long worried about my ego. I am proud of the fact that I try to do the right thing. I am proud of the fact that I try to be truthful and transparent.
What I most realized, though, is that in his stint as FBI director, he was more often than not put between a rock and a hard place. The position is not a political position. Comey had no desire to be a politician - or even someone on the outskirts. Yet due the Clinton e-mail "matter" and Russian interference in the 2016 election, much of what he dealt became political. Information that needed to be shared with the country was, in fact, political. For some of these decisions, Comey weighs out what would happen if he introduced information one way over another. Should the Department of Justice be a party to disclosures? Or should the FBI go it alone? Should information be divulged to the public at all? I'm not even sure if tortured is too strong a way for how he felt as he made his decisions. He became a much more sympathetic soul in my eyes. I would not want to be him. His reputation is so damaged now, and I wonder if it will be restored in my lifetime.
I was interested in Comey's stories about the "Cosa Nostra." My Sicilian husband has told me stories. Comey's anecdotes confirmed and embellished what I'd already known. And I have my own "two degrees of separation" from John Gotti, Jr.
The ways in which he attempted to change the culture at the FBI were interesting as well. He described meetings of FBI senior executives the way I would have described morning meetings in my fifth grade classroom.
I asked entire conference room of FBI senior executives to tell the group something about themselves that would surprise the room, quickly adding, to much laughter, that it should ideally not be something that would jeopardize their security clearance. Weeks later, I went around the room and asked them to tell me their favorite Halloween candy as a child. In November, I requested their favorite food at Thanksgiving, and, in December, their favorite gift of the holiday season. Of course, these could be seen as childish techniques, the kind a teacher might urger on an elementary school classroom, but children open up and trust one another in amazing ways. We were in need of a little more childlike behavior in our lives, because children tend to tell each other the truth more often than adults do.How interesting! And exactly right!
In the end, I'm glad that I read the book. I'm sure as time goes by, my thoughts and impressions of Comey and his present situation might change.
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