The Russian Government is just another American political Super-PAC. That’s the reality behind Robert “Sergeant Schultz” Mueller’s determination that, when it comes to whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russians to influence the 2016 election, “I see nothing, nothing.” There was never anything to see. The closest the gang that couldn’t collude straight came to actual conspiracy was when Donald Trump, Jr. blurted out, “I love it!” when blessed with the vision of carting Russian-supplied Hillary dirt upstairs to Daddy. Others involved in the suspected conspiracy, such as Jerome Corsi, escaped indictment. Have you seen Jerome Corsi? It would be like indicting Clarence the Angel. The other alleged conspirator –more likely, conspirator wannabe – is Roger Stone. Have you seen Roger Stone? He could have played Judge Doom in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”
In the post Citizens United era, unspoken collusion drives American politics. Super PACs are permitted to spend exorbitant sums on behalf of candidates as long as their efforts are “not coordinating” with the campaign. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert demonstrated the absurdity of modern campaign finance reality when Colbert declared his candidacy for the Presidency and Stewart ran his Super PAC to avoid “coordination” between the two. In one of the best civics lessons in history, they demonstrated how laughable the “no coordination” rule is.
You don’t need “wink, wink” subterfuge to circumvent the “no coordination” rule. Common purpose is sufficient. If two entities are on a parallel track to an identical goal, what need is there of coordination? The media spent too much effort looking for “collusion,” which is not the issue. This is: why do Trump and Putin pursue the same goals? Why did Putin value Trump’s election as much or more than Trump did? Putin acted like a Super PAC, spending money and effort in support of Trump without “coordinating” with him. He stated his support of Trump at the infamous Helskinki summit. Trump has supported Putin’s goals, such as undermining NATO, supporting Brexit, praising anti-Democratic leaders and fomenting a trade war within the Western Alliance. Trump has met with Putin one-on-one, sometimes with only Russian interpreters present, and confiscated his interpreters’ notes of the meeting. Trump has a common purpose and opaque relationship with the President of Russia. What’s in it for Vladimir?
Attorney General William Barr summarized Mueller’s findings in a report as long as an average Christmas letter and about as interesting. He said Mueller did not establish a conspiracy with Russia and didn’t decide whether Trump obstructed justice.
Barr wrote, “As the report states: ‘[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.’” It will be interesting to read how this sentence begins, since Barr left out everything before “(T)he.” And “not establishing” that an act occurred is not the same as proving it didn’t. Mueller’s finding is not “exoneration.” Barr admits Russia wanted to conspire with Trump: “(T)he Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts,” wrote Barr, “despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.” Who were those individuals and who did they reach out to and why? What made the Russians think their outreach would work? Do we know for certain it didn’t? After all, when Donald, Jr. exclaimed “I love it” when offered Russian dirt on Clinton, what better indicator is there that the Trump campaign will say yes to anything? Who needed “coordination” after a bat-signal like that?
Richard Nixon’s greatest act of public service was to tape-record himself committing felonies. That gave us direct evidence of criminal, impeachable offenses. Trump does not use email and rarely puts anything in writing. He speaks in a coded language that conveys intent without leaving evidence. Mueller apparently determined that, absent direct evidence like the kind Nixon provided, he could not state a case of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Trump cauterized himself like a good Don and escaped liability.
Mueller, the loyal soldier, could not bring himself to exonerate his Commander-in-Chief on the question of obstruction of justice. As Barr wrote, “The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’” Mueller left possible obstruction for Congress to evaluate within its impeachment power. Barr, however, tried to short-circuit that by stating, “the report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct, had a nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent…” He added each of these elements “would need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” In other words, he doesn’t believe a jury would convict Trump of obstruction. That is why prosecutors decline to prosecute; they hate to lose. Barr was also showing loyalty to a boss who hired him because of his disdain for the Mueller probe and who could fire him if he didn’t defend Trump from Mueller. Barr said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein agreed with him. Rosenstein previously demonstrated weaselness when he wrote the phony letter supporting Trump’s firing of James Comey. Rosenstein doesn’t want to jeopardize his pending retirement. Remember Andrew McCabe?
Three days after Barr’s letter to Congress, Trump is taking a victory lap, Junior is making Pornhub references in support of his Dad, and the Administration is working to take away health care from millions and kneecap the Special Olympics. What a glorious time to be corrupt!
Meanwhile, there is no serious effort to prevent Russian meddling in American elections, including the Presidential election in 2020, Russia shows no signs of stopping, and money is rolling in to the Trump election effort. The unanswered question remains: who, exactly, is our President working for?
© 2019 by Mike Tully
Want Some Cheese With that Whine?
I’ve had it with whiney white people. Totally had it. Yes, I’m a white person myself, although perhaps not the whitest. Ancestry.com informed me that I’m eight percent indigenous. Maybe it’s that one-twelfth of me that’s pissed off.
Many of us with a world view that extends beyond arms’ length have long been annoyed by whiney white people. They constitute the most pampered, privileged class in history – especially white American males – but posture as victims. They’ve been fairly easy to ignore until recently. It was able to dismiss whiney white guys as the dude at the end of the bar who winds up talking to himself after several drinks, or the cranky uncle you need to unfriend. Whiney white people were considered idiosyncratic, a legless animal that presented no threat. Not anymore.
Now they are a potent political force. The Republican Party, which at one time had an ethos, has degenerated into a gaggle of self-indulgent geese. They sing in harmony from the self-pity hymnal. Self-pity is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a self-indulgent dwelling on one’s own sorrows or misfortunes.” That’s too generous. The GOP has been taken over by people who dwell on perceived sorrows or misfortunes. Most Republican voters believe white people face more bias and discrimination than black people. Let that sink in: a pampered population who owes its wealth to three centuries of stolen labor believe they are more victimized than the people whose labor they stole.
David Corn, writing in Mother Jones, cited a recent Pew Center study that illustrates this phenomenon. “About 83 percent of Republicans are white (with 3 percent or so Black), and one out of four Republicans believe that white people have to contend with powerful forces of discrimination,” wrote Corn on March 24th. “This is 50 percent more than the number of GOPers who recognize that Black people encounter substantial discrimination.” “Many of these people, to put it kindly, are living within a world of paranoid psychosis” he adds. “And the GOP has become a vehicle to exploit and fuel their irrational resentment.”
That observation isn’t confined to his side of the aisle. Michael Gerson, who served as the chief speechwriter for George W. Bush, made a similar observation on March 1st in the Washington Post, writing this about the current Republican Party: “The party has been swiftly repositioned as an instrument of white grievance. It refuses to condemn racists within its congressional ranks. Its main national legislative agenda seems to be the suppression of minority voting. Trumpism is defined by the belief that real Americans are beset by internal threats from migrants, Muslims, multiculturalists, Black Lives Matter activists, antifa militants and various thugs, gangbangers and whiners.” It’s a paranoid ship on a sea of fear.
The ship was launched and steered by Donald Trump, but wannabe Captains are queueing up at the till. I’m not talking about Ted “Cancun” Cruz or Tom Cotton, whose claim to fame is that he can nail a fly in mid-air with his tongue. Both of them are sleazy and creepy, but not crazy enough for the self-pitiers who dominate the party’s base voters.
Which brings us to the Lucy and Ricky of lunacy, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz. Greene won a seat in Congress with the help of an opponent who literally fled the state before the 2020 general election. Greene is best known for her belief in the QAnon conspiracy and penchant for stalking and berating Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and David Hogg. But her super power is her over-the-top victimhood. Greene despises COVID-19 mask mandates. She disregards the obvious benefits of protecting herself and others from a dangerous, highly contagious virus because she feels that it’s inconvenient. And when I say she feels the inconvenience, I mean she REALLY feels it.
“You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,” she told the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody. “And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.” Yes, in Green’s self-pitying, self-centered universe, a health requirement is exactly the same thing as a forced march to the gas chamber.
Matt Gaetz is also a master of victimhood. Gaetz is currently under investigation for allegedly paying women for sex and sex-trafficking a minor but casts himself as the victim. “I may be a canceled man in some corners,” he tweeted on April 9th. “I may even be a wanted man by the Deep State. But I hear the millions of Americans who feel forgotten, canceled, ignored, marginalized and targeted.” That’s the formula for those who aspire to be the drum major of the pity parade. I’m a victim, just like you are.
Roger Stone, one of the convicted felons pardoned by Trump, sees a leader in Gaetz. “The ‘leaked’ smear on Congressman Matt Gaetz is an extortion play and an effort to destroy the up and coming conservative leader who has the balls to call the left out,” Stone wrote on Parler, reported the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Stone, who helped Donald Trump cheat his way into the presidency and sports a tattoo of Richard Nixon, sees another winner. If anybody knows about electing evil men to high office, it’s Roger Stone.
The mere thought is enough to make you pour a glass of whine.
© 2021 by Mike Tully
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