No doubt. They’re also unveiling the GOP strategy about this, analyzing Barr’s bad faith, and trying very hard to get sources to paint a picture of what is actually contained in Mueller’s report, vs. what Barr has characterized. The trick with being a media consumer is knowing whom to listen to.
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If by “whom” you’re referring to individual journalists (as opposed to publishers), then I agree.
Yet I would still argue that your trick means more or less ignoring all but a minority of journalists.
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What of the majority of media consumers who can’t distinguish noise from signal?
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Remember when Rudy said, " We never said that the campaign didn’t collude with Russia." And then he wasn’t allowed to be on TV for awhile ?
I believe Mueller might have recommended impeachment as he felt he could not indict a sitting president…and he told Barr as much…three weeks ago. Barr realized that Mueller might tell a House committee the same thing if asked, so he made the decision to give Trump his exoneration on Russia while reserving it on obstruction.
Sometimes the answer to a puzzling question is right there in front of you. It’s not that Trump isn’t guilty of something, it’s that Mueller felt he could not indict with the information he had on Russia. Nor did he think he could indict Donald of obstruction when it was up to the House to do that with impeachment. You have to follow the logical legal path set out by the Constitution.
However, the Founders thought of themselves as gentlemen farmers and serious small businessmen. They never envisioned that a rich slob like Trump would ever have the nerve to seek office, be backed by the ruling class or be elected by the gentlemen of the Electoral College. A barely functioning illiterate accepting help from criminal elements and a foreign government is the last thing they thought to protect the nation from in the Constitution. It just was too improbable.
They didn’t think of everything. And they certainly didn’t think someone as corrupt as Trump or a political party as corrupt as the Republicans would rise to protect him. When the system fails, it’s up to the people to correct what the Constitution failed to do. Everyone must vote in 2020. Everyone needs to take this election seriously and not complain that they’re vote can’t make a difference in a republic that still treats its citizens unequally. It[s our responsibility to stop those that are undermining our democracy and alliances with allies around the world.
Ask not what your country can do for you. Do what your country expects of you.
Help others register, get the proper ID and vote to make America better again… now that Trump and the Republicans have tried to weaken it to please Russia. Mueller’s investigation didn’t answer the question of “Why” and it’s clear now why all this has happened: Greed, monopolies, unlimited power via Citizen United and mass corruption.
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Joe Scarborough wrote the most insipid of OpEds today in the WaPo. It confirmed how feckless is his anti-Trumpism, and also how weak NBC News’ political team are. Oddly enough, and despite how in the tank they are for the left, the four majors at MSNBC (Chris Hayes, Rachel, Lawrence and Brian Williams) all have more discernment and street cred than a single person at the network. Take that from someone who has worked for NBC News, btw.
CNN bites as well, I concede. And the NYT is always a toady first, but catches up in the end. So look to the Post. It ain’t for nothing that they broke Watergate. They will get this one as well. The Times has no David Fahrenthold. I believe they gave us Judith Miller, if recollection serves.
Meanwhile, Neal Katyal, who has a major hard-on agenda, is doing good, judicious analysis wherever he’s asked to. It’s not a minority, it’s just a question of ignoring the dumb pile-on and waiting to see what rises after. And it’s not all-Mueller, all-the-time. Look to Catherine Rampell’s resistance to national moron Stephen Moore, who has been nominated for the Fed. The press is doing important work. People need to get a hold of themselves.
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Believe me I’m not really optimistic here at all. But, I’ll repeat my wonderment.
Most or many of the charges brought by Mueller occurred when he gave the respondents enough rope to hang themselves (by lying under oath). In turn, Barr could have merely taken Mueller’s expected far worse executive summary, added his own cover sheet and let the chips fall even if the full report is/was weeks away from its full release. He didn’t!
Perhaps we’ll find later that Barr made a huge error here by merely quoting one tiny passage. Then, he could be accused if not charged with a cover-up. See Tricky Dik’s multi-layered defense by many…who ended up in jail.