Imagine if ‘8647’ seashells had been ‘8644,’ for Obama

OPINION:

James B. Comey, the former director of the FBI, an agency that investigates gang activity to include interpreting street signs and hand gestures and coded messages of members, said he was walking along the beach when he encountered a curious formation of seashells, “8647,” that he knew was a “political message” but had no idea was a call for violence against President Trump.

Sure. That’s possible. It’s also possible Comey believes raising the middle finger at someone is simply to say ‘hello.’

It’s hard to imagine the guy who previously served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and as lead prosector for the federal case against John Gambino and the mafia — whose members conceal their criminal activities with coded language — was thrown for a loop by the term “86,” rendered completely clueless. Most everybody else, meanwhile, knows “86” means to nix, or take out, or obliterate, or kill, and that “47” is a reference to Trump, currently serving as the 47th president.

Comey got the political part of the numbers.

“I assumed [the seashells] were a political message,” he wrote on Instagram.

But he professed shock — shock! — at the suggested call for violence against Trump.

“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he said in an Instagram post. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

So what did he think the 86 meant?

Regardless, he’s being investigated by the Secret Service. As well he should.

After all, if seashells had been formed to read “8644,” Barack Obama’s number as the 44th president, Democrats would have demanded Secret Service investigate. They demanded more for less. Think 2013. Think Missouri State Fair. Think rodeo clown Tuffy Gessling, who donned a mask of Obama and performed a skit poking fun at the president — a skit he says was similar to what was performed at the rodeo for years using other presidents as the subject.

Didn’t matter.

“Rodeo clown mocks Obama at Missouri State Fair,” CNN wrote in August of 2013.

And shortly after, this: “Rodeo Clown Behind Obama Skit Is Banned From State Fair,” NPR wrote.

And one more, from U.S. News & World Report, a headline that read, “It’s All Fun and Games Until Obama’s Feelings Get Hurt,” and that reminded, “Making fun of the president was a grand American tradition … until now.”

At minimum, Comey should face the same fire Gessling faced.

At minimum. 

Because chances are, Comey, schooled in crime lingo as he is, knew what he was doing; knew what “86” meant; knew how ”8647” would be received; and with a different president, never would have done it.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.