Here are my observations on some of the news of the day.

I’D LIKE TO BELIEVE IN THE FBI – I have been highly critical of a number of high-level FBI and DOJ officials, who I have described as members of the deep state, Ohama administration holdovers, who are attempting to bring down the Trump presidency. I’m not going to again review the evidence.

FBI Director Christopher Wray, during his recent appearance at a Senate hearing, made a point that there are some 37,000 dedicated FBI agents who are doing what they do to keep America safe. I want to believe that.

Every time there’s a shooting or some other horrific incident, we are told to be observant, if you see or hear something, report it. Yet, when a concerned individual informed the FBI last year that someone, who turned out to be the Florida shooter, had posted on the Internet that he wanted to be “a professional school shooter,” he was cleared by the FBI.

I await the FBI’s explanation.

THEN THERE’S THIS – FBI Director Christopher Wray, during his Senate hearing appearance this week, reviewed the agency’s timeline of the year-long investigation of Rob Porter, who resigned amid accusations of spousal abuse. His timeline differed from that of the White House.

I was gratified to hear that Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) has said that he plans to look into this matter. By now, most people know that there have been a significant number of staff changes in the White House since the inauguration. The media referred to it as chaos. Could one of the FBI reports been misplaced during the tumultuous period resulting in the resignation of former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus? Just asking.

Unfortunately, the actions of those at the top of the FBI have caused me to distrust the words of the director, who I am reminded has done nothing to clean up the agency since his July 2017 confirmation.

Again, I await an explanation.

LOYALITY ONLY GOES SO FAR – An interesting story describing how President Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, helped convince Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to resign after a meeting with Trump is revealed in a New York Times preview of Priebus’ experiences to be included in Chris Whipple’s book, “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency,”

As the story goes, Priebus raced down a back stairwell to where Sessions car was preparing to leave. He encouraged Sessions to returned to his office, where Vice President Pence and Counsel Don McGahn would join them to discuss the situation.

While Sessions insisted that he would submit a letter of resignation, the others convinced Trump that accepting it would be a serious mistake.

The president was understandably furious over Sessions’ agreeing to recuse himself from all matters Russian, and repeated that on a number of occasions.

I always believed Sessions did so to secure his confirmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee for the job he coveted so much.

While I admired Sessions’ decision to put his reputation as a Senator on the line by vigorously supporting Trump during the 2106 campaign, and appreciated the president’s rewarding Sessions’ loyalty by appointing him to the position of the nation’s top law enforcement official, Sessions never impressed me as someone of dynamism and strength.

Ironically, I believe the other player in this story, Priebus, was appointed chief of staff because of his loyalty during the campaign. Clearly, despite his political experience derived from his position at the RNC, Priebus was ill-suited to control access to the president. In the end, he was unceremoniously fired by the president, while still expressing his admiration for Trump’s toughness

“Working for Mr. Trump,” says Priebus, “is like riding the strongest and most independent Horse.”

DUKE HISTORY PROFESSOR Nancy MacLean has raised the ire of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) for her comment on libertarian philosophy during a public lecture on her controversial book, “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America.”

During a discussion of Nobel Prize-winning economist James Buchanan in light of the American libertarian and conservative movements, MacLean was asked whether she believed Buchanan’s libertarian philosophy was motivated by “personal greed” or “malevolence.” Campus Reform reported that she responded by “speculating that support for individual liberty might actually be the result of a mental disorder.”

“It’s striking to me how many of the architects of this cause seem to be on the autism spectrum,” MacLean said, “you know, people who don’t feel solidarity or empathy for others, and who have difficult human relationships sometimes.”

A petition is being circulated on campus to demonstrate that the Duke community does not condone such remarks, noting that attempting to silence MacLean would be hypocritical as the YAL promotes free speech.