“Oh my God, this is terrible. This is the end of my presidency.”
- Donald Trump in May 2017, when informed by then Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, had appointed Robert Mueller as the special counsel of the investigation.
Yesterday, of course, the big news story was the release of the redacted version of the Mueller Report investigating whether or not there was official collusion between Russia and Trump and his 2016 campaign.
Question: if this report completely and totally vindicated Trump and his political campaign of any and all wrongdoing regarding collaboration with Russia during the 2016 campaign, then why try to keep it from the public for as long as they did? Another question: why was it so heavily redacted to the point that it is literally a fraction of the total report that was released yesterday? If this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trump and his campaign are so completely innocent, why systematically go to such extraordinary lengths to keep as much of it from the public eye as possible?
Question: if this report completely and totally vindicated Trump and his political campaign of any and all wrongdoing regarding collaboration with Russia during the 2016 campaign, then why try to keep it from the public for as long as they did? Another question: why was it so heavily redacted to the point that it is literally a fraction of the total report that was released yesterday? If this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trump and his campaign are so completely innocent, why systematically go to such extraordinary lengths to keep as much of it from the public eye as possible?
For a long time, Trump and his political allies had been suggesting that this report effectively clears him of all wrongdoing, although it clearly did not.
Let us be frank, here: anyone who has an ounce of objectivity and common sense can clearly see that it does not.
In a more normal country, during more normal times, enough people would be able to see through this obvious con artist and have him removed from office, whatever the cost.
Unfortunately, this is not a normal country, especially politically. And these are certainly not normal times.
Trump was clearly worried that this investigation would effectively end his presidency. This is a corrupt man who has revealed, many time and in many ways, that he is blatantly and unapologetically corrupt, and that this corrupt behavior is so ingrained in his way of thinking and doing things, that it is apparently instinctive. He does these things without a moment's hesitation, going to unbelievable lengths all of the time to protect his own skin.
This would not nearly be so troubling, perhaps an isolated case, if he was not continually, and frankly, relentlessly enabled by his band of rabid supporters who enable this kind of horrendous behavior by this man and those who surround him, time and time and time again. This country is failing and drowning in the swamp now, and let us clearly and without wavering hold Trump supporters as mostly accountable for how spectacularly they are failing this country, and dragging it through the slime of the swamp that Trump, and by extension, his supporters, promised to drain in the first place.
And so, the con artist manages to avoid being removed from the office which he has relentlessly shown, time and time again, that he is completely unfit for and unworthy of holding.
Meanwhile, the whole world watches, and is either laughing, or crying. Other than those few Trump supporters - and let us remember that as loud as they are, they still are small in number compared to the rest of us - who are, of course, completely convinced of this man's innocence and that he has been victimized by what he continually describes as a "witch hunt"
(then why did he say "I'm fucked"?)
and they, of course, believe his every word.
Sad, sad time in America today.
Now, I also want to be clear about one thing: I was skeptical of these reports of the Trump administration working with Russia during the campaign. Frankly, I still am skeptical that this actually was the reason why Hillary Clinton lost. The reason that she lost? Because she was a very mediocre candidate, somehow making Donald Trump, of all people, seem the more honest, trustworthy and likable of the two major party candidates. That is really hard to do, but she managed it. Perhaps suspicious looking things like having her husband former President meet with the then Attorney General on a bus Phoenix Airport tarmac, officially just to shoot the shit, might have harmed her credibility, as did some other things. Guess maybe the mainstream "centrist" Democrats should reflect on the help that they insisted on giving her to make sure that she locked up the nomination, which made her indeed look every bit as corrupt and entitled as the public seems to view her?
Nah. The mainstream Democrats, like Trump himself, can never admit to any mistakes or errors in judgement. That is the reason that they keep losing to pathetic candidates like Trump, and it is the reason that they are likely going to lose the 2020 race, as well. Just look at how horrified they are at the prospects of having an agent for real change, Bernie Sanders, leading the Democratic presidential field right now. They will go to unbelievable lengths to make sure that he does not get the nomination, and if they succeed, it will once again hurt their credibility, and any chances at defeating Donald Trump. Because they want to be "centrist," and that is the one thing that both people clearly did not want in 2020, in either major party. Yet, they want to insist on it, and impose that mediocrity on the country, to the point that they literally seem willing to compromise their chances, and give Trump yet another undeserved term in the White House, then have someone forcefully break the too cozy relationships with Wall Street and big banks and corporations that mainstream Democrats have worked so hard to attain.
So, no, I do not believe, as many wishful thinking Democrats instinctively do, that Russian collusion was the reason that Trump won (despite losing the popular vote by 2.7 million nationally). But clearly, the Trump campaign tried to work with Russia, and had some contacts. And even the redacted version of the Mueller Report reveals this, even if, as Mueller himself said, it fell short of a complete and flawless case for official, legally defined "collusion."
Now, I also want to be clear about one thing: I was skeptical of these reports of the Trump administration working with Russia during the campaign. Frankly, I still am skeptical that this actually was the reason why Hillary Clinton lost. The reason that she lost? Because she was a very mediocre candidate, somehow making Donald Trump, of all people, seem the more honest, trustworthy and likable of the two major party candidates. That is really hard to do, but she managed it. Perhaps suspicious looking things like having her husband former President meet with the then Attorney General on a bus Phoenix Airport tarmac, officially just to shoot the shit, might have harmed her credibility, as did some other things. Guess maybe the mainstream "centrist" Democrats should reflect on the help that they insisted on giving her to make sure that she locked up the nomination, which made her indeed look every bit as corrupt and entitled as the public seems to view her?
Nah. The mainstream Democrats, like Trump himself, can never admit to any mistakes or errors in judgement. That is the reason that they keep losing to pathetic candidates like Trump, and it is the reason that they are likely going to lose the 2020 race, as well. Just look at how horrified they are at the prospects of having an agent for real change, Bernie Sanders, leading the Democratic presidential field right now. They will go to unbelievable lengths to make sure that he does not get the nomination, and if they succeed, it will once again hurt their credibility, and any chances at defeating Donald Trump. Because they want to be "centrist," and that is the one thing that both people clearly did not want in 2020, in either major party. Yet, they want to insist on it, and impose that mediocrity on the country, to the point that they literally seem willing to compromise their chances, and give Trump yet another undeserved term in the White House, then have someone forcefully break the too cozy relationships with Wall Street and big banks and corporations that mainstream Democrats have worked so hard to attain.
So, no, I do not believe, as many wishful thinking Democrats instinctively do, that Russian collusion was the reason that Trump won (despite losing the popular vote by 2.7 million nationally). But clearly, the Trump campaign tried to work with Russia, and had some contacts. And even the redacted version of the Mueller Report reveals this, even if, as Mueller himself said, it fell short of a complete and flawless case for official, legally defined "collusion."
Here are six indisputable facts from the Mueller Report which are beyond question which Dan Pfeiffer shared on a tweet, and which, I think, tell the story of the Trump campaign's guilt, really even beyond a shadow of doubt:
Dan Pfeiffer Verified account @danpfeiffer
Follow Follow @danpfeiffer More
1. Russia interfered
2. They did it to help Trump
3. Trump wanted their help
4. Trump's campaign met with the Russians to seek out that help
5. Trump and his campaign repeatedly lied about those contacts 6. Trump fired the FBI Director to stop an investigation into the matter 6:41 AM - 18 Apr 2019
Tweet taken from:
Dan Pfeiffer's Twitter page - https://twitter.com/danpfeiffer/status/1118872233064030208
Maybe, in a very technical, legal sense, this does not prove the very narrow definition of "collusion" beyond a shadow of a doubt.
But it most certainly does not completely and totally exonerate this president, or the band of crooks known as the Trump administration, as they continually, and shamelessly, claim that it does. Beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt, the details in this report reveal that the Trump campaign is indeed crooked and corrupt, and unapologetically so, at that.
Some day, this country will look back on these times, and these (mostly) men, and recoil in horror, and will put laws and regulations in place to absolutely make sure that nothing and no one like this can ever come to power again.
Until then, we have to keep bringing up how completely abnormal and unacceptable this is, however frustrating the adamant refusal and, frankly, willful stupidity and greed and blindness by those who support and defend this morally corrupt man and his administration. He needs to be held accountable,(and so should his supporters, frankly) for these crimes. So, we have no choice. Regardless of how politically futile it seems in these ridiculous times of this moment in this country's history, we need to continue to hold him and his polluted swamp of an administration to account for their crimes.
Crimes?
Yes, crimes.
We need to remind everyone - including ourselves - that there are standards. That this is a country of laws and standards, and that these have been put in place for a reason, regardless of how rabidly a band of clearly brainwashed people may want to undermine all of this.
Dark times this country is living in and going through. The bar just keeps getting set lower and lower. We have no one to blame but ourselves for letting this travesty happen.
‘This Is the End of My Presidency’: 4 Dramatic Moments From the Mueller Report By Sarah Mervosh and Liam Stack of The New York Times, April 18, 2019:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/us/politics/end-of-my-presidency-trump.html
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