The DOJ’s Comey indictment goes way too far |
For an administration that has been all too willing to weaponise the Department of Justice, the recent indictment of former FBI Director James Comey marks a new low, according to the Tribune News Service.
Comey’s purported crime came a year ago, when he posted a photograph on social media of seashells arranged as “86 47,” and writing, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” The Justice Department alleges that the photo constituted “a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States.” According to the president, eighty-six is “a mob term for ‘kill him.’”
Trouble is, most Americans use the slang term in the same way that Merriam-Webster defines it: to eject or ban a customer (i.e., “eighty-six them”), or “to reject, discontinue, or get rid of (something).” As acting Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged, the phrase 86 47 “is used constantly” by Americans who aren’t........