"Moral Vanity" Quote of the Day (UPDATED)

"What [FBI Director James] Comey’s behavior makes clear – and has made clear to observers of differing political stripes – is that a public official can do great harm through the expression of a kind of self-important moral vanity. Comey has proved to be the quintessential bureaucrat, always focused on protecting his own back. That seems to be Comey’s prime motivation and appears to be fueling his intense drive to appear completely 'transparent.'” (emphasis added) -- Suzanne Garment, commenting in Reuters News today. "Moral vanity" could be the motivation, or caving to partisan FBI officials wanting to damage Democrats and threatening leaks. It could also be intense pressure from Rethug Hillary-haters like wingnut hack Rep. Jason "Inspector Clouseau" Chaffetz, who has promised four years of "investigations" by his House Committee if Secretary Clinton is elected, thereby ensuring his Party will remain in the fever swamps of lunacy, blind hate, obstructionism and conspiracy.

UPDATE:  Apparently, Comey's moral vanity took a different tack when it came to a potentially damaging disclosure pertaining to the campaign of neo- fascist Putin pal Donald "Rump" Trump:

FBI Director James Comey argued privately that it was too close to Election Day for the United States government to name Russia as meddling in the U.S. election and ultimately ensured that the FBI's name was not on the document that the U.S. government put out, a former FBI official tells CNBC. 

The official said some government insiders are perplexed as to why Comey would have election timing concerns with the Russian disclosure but not with the Huma Abedin email discovery disclosure he made Friday.

Hmmm.  We believe that falls under the heading of "situational ethics."