This exchange chilled my blood. Jailing journalists is no laughing matter and the image of these two supremely powerful officials sharing a good chuckle over the prospect of it is simply nauseating.

It shows a shared indifference to the first amendment and ignorance, even, over why we have a first amendment. The founders of the United States were deathly afraid of overcentralized government power and saw the press as the bulwark against despotism and corruption. Thomas Jefferson famously said that if he had to choose between a world with government and no newspapers or one with newspapers and no government, he’d choose the latter. The Comey memo confirms his good judgment.