In what should have been an ordinary day at the beach, former FBI Director James Comey seems to have unwittingly taken the spotlight with a post that has raised more eyebrows than a botched political stunt. His post featured seashells arranged into the numbers 8647, along with the innocuous caption of a cool shell formation. Anyone can appreciate a nice day at the beach, but when those numbers started to hum with hidden meanings, the situation took a turn for the surreal.
People quickly decoded the numbers as 86 meaning to get rid or even, darkly, to murder someone. You’d think a man who wielded considerable power at the FBI would know better. After backlash erupted like an excited volcano, Comey deleted the photo and excused his post as a mere coincidence, claiming ignorance of the violent connotations associated with the numbers. Yet even the neighborhood burger joint knows 86 means something is off the menu, let alone someone who led the FBI. Was this fumbling or a veiled message? The questions linger, much like the tuna special from Tuesday.
This episode has not shied away from being part of the grand theater that politics has become. President Trump naturally wasn’t buying Comey’s innocent explanation, asserting that not only did Comey know exactly what he was doing, but he did so with intent. This was an interpretation likely shared by many, especially those already skeptical of Comey’s previous actions during his tenure at the FBI—an era marred by claims of bias and mishandled investigations like the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails and the Russian interference hysteria.
Adding fuel to this bonfire, the chatter suggests that such moves as Comey’s are hardly accidental. With his past in law enforcement, it seems improbable to most that he wouldn’t be aware of such a layered message. Theories abound about motive: taking a jab at Trump, riling up his base, maybe even drumming up attention for an upcoming book release. Ah, the tried-and-true strategy of “any publicity is good publicity,” even when it’s tangled in a web of potential violence.
With Comey’s history of controversy, from the Game of Thrones-esque handling of political investigations to questionable decisions cloaked in bureaucratic procedures, his latest move has hardly served to clear murky waters. Instead, it swirls the alleged deep state narrative, where political heavyweights scheme boldly and everyone beneath is left to wonder what true machinations lie beneath the surface. This latest beachside drama is just another act in the ongoing spectacle of political spectacle, where the stakes are high, and the shells, apparently, can be very telling.
