How is Comey like the Titanic?

It’s the morning after the “Comey Interview” and, believe it or not, Donald Trump is still president. 

If you watched the buildup to the release of the former FBI director’s new book and his prime-time ABC interview, this fact might come as a bit of a shock.  Based on the press hype – and partisan hopes – surrounding the publication of James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, you’d expect this insider’s expose of Trump’s shocking scandals to be, if not the end of his presidency, the beginning of the end.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of Trump’s political death continue to be exaggerated.  Comey’s book is unlikely to have any impact on Trump’s presidency – other than perhaps to strengthen Trump’s standing among his supporters. 

Trump haters counting on the former head of the FBI to have career-ending dirt on Donald Trump will be gravely disappointed by Comey’s book.  The only “big reveal” in A Higher Loyalty is how loyal Jim Comey is to… Jim Comey.  For Washington insiders who have been dealing with him since the George W. Bush administration, this isn’t breaking news.

Lacking evidence of actual wrongdoing – in last night’s interview, Comey yet again refused to accuse President Trump of obstruction – Comey turned instead to the petty and political.  He talked about Mr. Trump’s appearance (“His face appeared slightly orange with bright white half-moons under his eyes where I assumed he placed small tanning goggles”), the size of his hands (“As he extended his hand, I made a mental note to check its size. It was smaller than mine, but did not seem unusually so.”) and he called the president “morally unfit.”  It was the sort of snarky partisan punditry found on cable news 24/7. 

Then again, should we be surprised?  [I]f Comey ever did see actual wrongdoing by Mr. Trump, do we really believe we’d just be hearing about it from a notoriously leak-friendly fellow like Comey?