Oh look…. more sensationalism…
Who could’ve seen this coming! James Comey is writing a book about his career that includes his time under our genital grabber in chief Donald Trump!
Mr. Comey has been unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight in recent months. When he was fired, Mr. Comey was four years into a 10-year term. He didn’t go quietly. Instead, he leaked the contents of memos he had kept that documented his conversations with Mr. Trump, including, according to Mr. Comey, a conversation in which the president urged him to drop the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn.
Almost immediately after his firing, agents and publishers pounced, setting off speculation that Mr. Comey was contemplating writing a book. News outlets ran articles positing that Mr. Comey could land an eight-figure advance for a memoir.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/15/us/politics/former-fbi-director-james-comey-book.html?
While an advance can have strings attached… and their probably would be some caveats in Comey’s contract if publishers were honestly considering an eight figure advance… that is a buttload of money when it comes to books.
So why would any publisher be willing to pay eight figures? $10,000,000+?
The same reason publishers pay buttloads of money to former presidents, politicians, anybody in the public spotlight. The books of famous people require little to no effort to create (often using ghost writers for books that are maybe at most 300 pages), already have inherent marketing, and will sell millions of copies regardless. Giving a former president a no strings attached multi million dollar advance is a no brainer in that equation.
It’s voyeurism… it’s sensationalism… it’s gawking at the famous.
James Comey’s book will be no different. While Comey may want to write about his feelings / views / investigatory principles… I promise you his publisher will make sure there’s just enough little voyeuristic nuggets interspersed in his book that it’ll feel like a Jerry Springer episode.
But that’s where it will stop. It will be voyeurism without any fundamental, revealing, information. It will not help society find truth and justice. It won’t do anything… except make money.
We waste an insane amount of time and money on people who don’t deserve it.