October 28, 2016: James Comey Kneecaps Hillary Clinton

October 28, 2016: James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sends a letter to members of Congress, advising them that the FBI was reviewing more emails written by, and to, the Democratic Party's nominee for President, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Members of Congress revealed the information to the public within minutes.

It may have made all the difference in the election, throwing it to the nominee of the Republican Party: A spectacularly failed businessman with no political experience, of malignant narcissism, of disgusting racism, of unacceptable misogyny, and compromised in disastrous ways. His name was Donald Trump.

Trump won 306 Electoral Votes, Clinton 232 -- although, with "faithless electors" kicking in, it turned out to be 304-227 in Trump's favor. Trump won Michigan by less than 11,000 votes, Wisconsin by less than 23,000, and Pennsylvania by less than 45,000. Had those 3 States gone the other way, presuming no faithless electors, the Electoral Vote would have been 278-260 in Clinton's favor.

To borrow a term Trump would appreciate, given his love of the Mob: Comey kneecapped Clinton.

And how did Trump thank Comey for this? By firing him.

James Comey ended up as the one figure from the 2016 Presidential election who was hated by both sides -- although, in the Republicans' case, it was for what he did after it.

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October 28, 2016 was a Friday. Game 3 of the World Series was played, the 1st World Series game played at Wrigley Field in 71 years. The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0. Coco Crisp singled Michael Martínez home with the game's only run in the top of the 7th inning. Josh Tomlin, Andrew Miller (winning pitcher), Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen combined on a 5-hit shutout. But the Cubs won the World Series in Game 7.

There were 3 games in college football:

* Number 22 Navy were upset by the University of South Florida, 52-45 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* San Diego State beat Utah State, 40-13 at Maverik Stadium in Logan, Utah.

* And the Air Force Academy beat Fresno State, 31-21 at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California.

There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-94 at the Barclays Center.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Miami Heat, 97-91 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 122-114 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Anthony Davis scored 45 points in defeat.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic, 108-82 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors, 94-91 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns, 113-110 in overtime at the Chesapeake Energy Arena (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City. Russell Westbrook scored 51 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Mavericks, 106-98 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 96-89 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena (as the Delta Center was then known) in Salt Lake City, Utah.

There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the Prudential Center. Artem Anisimov scored the winning goal, 3:45 into overtime.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Colorado Avalanche, 1-0 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-0 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick in Middlesex County, lost away to Freehold Township in Monmouth County, 36-21.

May 10, 2017: Donald Trump Meets Sergey Lavrov & Sergey Kislyak In the Oval Office

Left to right: Sergey Lavrov,

Donald Trump & Sergey Kislyak

May 10, 2017: Just 1 day after firing FBI Director James Comey, Donald Trump invites Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak to a meeting at the Oval Office in the White House. Lavrov was the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation. Before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, he had been a Colonel in their intelligence agency, the KGB. Kislyak was the Russian Ambassador to the United States.

This meeting received significant coverage as it was closed to the U.S. press, but the Russians brought in a photographer from TASS, their state news agency, and released photos of Trump, Kisylak and Lavrov laughing together. 

(The initials had stood for Telegrafnoye agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza, or "Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union." After the fall of the Soviet Union, the replacement government, the Russian Federation, officially renamed it Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia, but kept the informal name "TASS.")

On May 15, it was revealed, that during this meeting, Trump disclosed classified information about ISIL's bomb-making capabilities to the men, without taking the appropriate protocols, which was leaked to the press.

And that's what we found out. The really scary part is, what don't we know about this meeting? What else did Trump tell Lavrov and Kislyak -- and, by extension, their boss, President Vladimir Putin?

A friend of a Facebook friend of mine put it this way. I haven't changed a word, including the asterisks:

Remember when the GOP lost their collective shit over President Obama taking off his suit jacket in the Oval office?

Or when he wore a tan suit? Or when he awkwardly saluted with a coffee cup in his hand? Or when he didn't hold his umbrella? Or the fist bump? Or bowing? Dijon mustard? Teleprompters? Celebrity President? Beer summit? Feet on desk? Paper clip-gate? Golfing? Vacations?

Remember all that nonsense? I remember. And I remember the gullible clowns that played along?

Now, remember this: Yesterday, the president* held secret meetings in the White House Oval Office with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a former COLONEL in Russian intelligence, along with Henry Kissinger. Remember him?

he American press was shut out, and the only press allowed in the Oval Office was the Russian press, the day after the president* fired the FBI director for investigating his collusion with Russia.

Three months after this meeting, Kislyak resigned as Ambassador, and was elected to the Russian Senate. (A payoff from Putin?) As of May 10, 2022, Lavrov is still Russia's Foreign Minister.

UPDATE: On October 7, 2023, Hamas operatives crossed from Gaza into Israel, and committed terrorist attacks, starting a war. This was a massive intelligence failure on Israel's part, as Hamas knew exactly where Israel was weak enough to strike. They got their intelligence from Iran. Iran got it from Russia.

Where did Russia get it from? Did they get it on their own? Maybe. Did they get it from Trump? We cannot rule it out.

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May 10, 2017 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. One game was played in the NBA Playoffs: The Boston Celtics beat the Washington Wizards, 123-101 at the TD Garden in Boston.

Two games were played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 2-0 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. And the Anaheim Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 6-5 at Citi Field. The Mets led 3-2 going into the 9th, but reliever Jeurys Familia melted down in the top half, allowing the Giants to score 4 runs, and the Mets could only score 2 in the bottom half.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-6 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Nationals beat the nearby Baltimore Orioles, 7-6 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins, 7-5 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami.

* The Texas Rangers beat the San Diego Padres, 4-3 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-7 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-4 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-0 at Coors Field in Denver. Germán Márquez pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Greg Holland finished the 3-hit shutout.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins were rained out at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 21. The Twins won the opener, 10-2. The White Sox won the nightcap, 7-6.

* And the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds were not scheduled.