Re: Comey woz fired!!11 ... and yet.
You know, D.A.M., I used to be quite in sympathy with the CIA = evil and FBI = evil position. The old-time anarchists used to say that if society's rules are sensible, then all men -- being fundamentally sensible creatures -- will follow society's rules. At least enough to make society work.
I don't think that anymore. Never did, completely, I guess.
We need laws, and we need law enforcement. Unfortunately, this enforcement requires human organization and judgment, and that is fundamentally flawed. So yes, the FBI and CIA are flawed. Human organizations cannot be otherwise.
But the Ron Paul essay you linked is not very sensible. He mentions the Waco tragedy: yep, bad decisions were made. On the other hand, it's probably a bad idea to allow religious cults to amass an arsenal of illegal weapons, and then just wait for their leader to declare Armageddon.
(Interestingly, the FBI tried to learn from Waco. In the Malheur, they didn't go in with an armored vehicle, they waited the gun-toting, loud-talking malcontents out. The only death was the one man who had vowed to die rather than be arrested.)
Yes, we need checks on the power of the FBI and CIA. Surprise: we have some. But eliminating the FBI eliminates one of the checks on government malfeasance. A President or Senator who covers up criminal activity should indeed fear the FBI. Because they are tasked with taking him down when he breaks the law. (Lookin' at you, ghost of Richard N.)
By contrast, in New Russia, FSB does not arrest Putin. Putin arrests FSB!
I don't want that to be the case in the USA.