As were millions of eyes this morning, in the states and abroad, mine were up bright and early to watch the 6+ hours of questions and answers as Robert Mueller finally vocalized for the public. The 400+ page report, 22 months in the investigation and making, ready to be provided to a populace who would rather see the movie than read the book.
My God we are dumb and lazy. I do not excuse any side of the aisle in that descriptor. The report is long. But because the report is long and no one has a magic wand or a game of Quiddich on the line, precious few have actually invested their time and energy in reading it.
I have found that inexcusable for months. The details uncovered in the investigation clearly lay out the multiple and repeated attempts by the Outhouse-In-Chief to obstruct justice. It details the attempts by his cohorts, cronies, and children to align themselves with Russia - forget the part that they all are as inept as Boris and Natasha in a Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon. The point is the attempts were made.
Republicans have not read it. Why would they? They get their talking points from FOX News and Mitch McConnell, not from facts, data, and the FBI. They live to parrot the "NO OBSTRUCTION! NO COLLUSION! tweets of Trump. And as recently as yesterday, FBI Director Christopher Wray himself admitted to not having read it. What the actual...?
I mean, I get it. Why threaten the pollution up on Bullshit Mountain by plugging in a fan of clarity? Cognitive dissonance is not something of which they are fond. Having them face hard truths that collide with what they want to believe is painful for them.
Which is the operative word for what watching GOPers address Robert Mueller this morning absolutely was. Painful. And embarrassing.
Painful because what we watched was the destruction of what has been their playbook for years. The old saying which Jonathan Swift originally penned as “Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it.” - subsequently attributable to Mark Twain with the funnier “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
For years now the Republicans have enjoyed the absolute silence of Robert Mueller and his team. In the absence of leaks, briefings, and interviews, they were free to weave a narrative all their own. FAKE NEWS! WITCH HUNT! NO COLLUSION! NO OBSTRUCTION! And when the report was given to Barr, Barr wrote his own summation of 448 pages that had little to do with the reality contained inside. That was strategic as well - they know Trump's base are Trumper bumper sticker thinkers, that they were never going to download the report, much less buy a copy at Barnes and Noble. So they have spent every day since the end of May when the report was released, concocting their own version, filling their base with lies, and circling the wagons so that no one can get near them with the truth.
And you know what? You don't have to like the findings. They can make you really angry. Whatever. But that does not make them NOT real. You ignoring them? That makes you a complete traitor to this country you proclaim to hold so dear. It says that everything this country is supposed to stand FOR, you stand AGAINST.
But today, there Robert Mueller was to finally put paid to their fairy tales, obfuscation, and outright bullshit on behalf of Trump. Today the truth had its shoes on and was ready to Usain Bolt their asses around the track.
Right out of the gate, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, asked the questions that left zero to interpretation:
NADLER: Director Mueller, the president has repeatedly claimed your report found there was no obstruction and completely and totally exonerated him. That is not what your report said, is it?
MUELLER: Correct, not what the report said.
NADLER: You wrote, “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are not able to reach that judgment.” Does that say there was no obstruction?
MUELLER: No.
NADLER: Your investigation found “multiple acts by the present that were capable of asserting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian interference and obstruction investigations.” Is that correct?
MUELLER: Correct.
NADLER: Can you explain what that finding means so the American people can understand?
MUELLER: The finding indicates that the president was not exonerated for the act he allegedly committed.
NADLER: In fact, you were talking about incidents in which the president sought to use this official power outside of usual channels to exert undue influence over your investigations. Is that right?
MUELLER: Correct.
That's it - right out of the gate - the two most cherished lies, the two deadest horses Trump keeps beating, were shown to be boldfaced lies by the 10,000+ Liar In Chief.
None of that stopped the Republicans, however, which is sad. Once upon a time, party affiliation had to do with actual difference in policy, not bootlicking idolatry. Once upon a time Republicans cared about what happened, not just about who made it happen. And today made it crystal clear that they are willing to look past anything and everything to cling to the corpulent power teats of Trump.
Every GOPer who asked a question - wait, scratch that, "question" is being really generous. What they did was offer up a five minute mashup of names they hate, scenarios they wish were true, and outright lies and hurl them, loudly, like an ALL CAPS 4chan comment board. Mueller sat there throughout, and when given a chance to speak, had to ask what the question even was to begin with.
Jim Jordan, who is still convinced not wearing a jacket makes him some kind of tough guy cool, smirked, scowled, and demeaned Robert Mueller for refusing to answer certain questions because they pertain to ongoing investigations or reference confidential deliberations and information. If ever a throat needed a punch...
Then there was everyone's favorite drunk driver, Matt Gaetz. Dripping condescension, refusing to hear the answers or explanation, just determined to put his Q Anon game piece on the board.
Louie Gohmert Pyle made everyone's favorite Marine grunt look like a Mensa candidate as he blew his bare top. His line was to weave a Grimm Fairy Tale of Trump as a lover of justice who was victim of mean people who "hated him."
And on and on it went. Democrat question, Republican rant, Democrat question, Republican hissy fit - it was a tennis match between Serena Williams and squirrel shit in a blender.
And I just kept shaking my head. I know the tactic. I have two brothers, MAGAts both with whom I no longer have any connection, who truly believe that the louder they are, the redder they turn, the more they shout - the righter they are. Well, I guess a part of that is correct, they are righter.
This afternoon in front of the Intelligence Committee was marginally better, yes, I will actually choke out that compliment to those GOPers. At least they didn't beat their chests and throw their feces across the room. It began with Chairman Adam Schiff, who laid down an opening for the ages. I will provide both the video and a link to the transcript. I urge you to watch and listen.
Devin Nunes, whose legacy will be that of a thin skinned little pissant who sued a make believe cow and his make believe mom on Twitter, used his opening to essentially hold up a skull and perform his own version of Hamlet. He lamented this "hoax", this "witchhunt", moaned that this was the Dems "last gasp". Yet as the minutes wore down and it came back to him for final comments, poor GOP Yorick had died, and Devin had literally nothing left to say, yielding his minutes back to Schiff.
This will indeed be a Tale of Two Hearings - not because there were two, but because there will be two versions splattered across the pundit-sphere. The right will denigrate Mueller, a man whose Bronze Star boots they are not worthy to polish. They will say he was evasive, tired, partisan. Then there will be the left that points out what really showed throughout - Mueller was not ranting, he did not come with an agenda, when he answered, he answered forcefully, thoughtfully. He refused to speculate, he would not speak out of his purview. He would not violate investigations that are ongoing. He would not corrupt the process, the integrity of it, or allow the people involved to be badmouthed.
That last one is important because try as the right might this morning, Mueller would not allow his people's work ethic, or his own to be tarnished. One after another, Republicans tried to paint his team as highly partisan - laughable as Mueller himself is a Republican; they tried to point to some of them having donated to Hillary's campaign as evidence that the whole thing was a sham - as if Republicans on the team who donated to Trump were somehow sacrosanct. In the end, Mueller shot them all down.
"We strove to hire those individuals that could do the job. I've been in this business for almost 25 years, and in those 25 years, I have not had occasion once to ask somebody about their political affiliation. It is not done. What I care about is the capability of the individual to do the job and do the job quickly and seriously and with integrity," Mr. Mueller said.
Sadly, lost in all the ranty, overtly obsequious, ALL CAPS SHOUTY tirades on which GOPers launched themselves, only one showed any concern at all for the conclusion that not only did Russia interfere with our 2016 election, but that they are still interfering "as we sit here."
Only one. The same number of lifeboats that held crew brave enough to turn around and save people in the Titanic sinking.
Because it is not in their best interests to have uncorrupted elections, just as it is not in their best interests to have districts that have not been gerrymandered like some topographical origami.
I was a child when Nixon and Watergate went down. But I know all about it. About the corruption, the lying, the obstruction, yes. But what I have always been most struck by are the Republicans, how they, when presented with incontrovertible evidence, cared not about protecting the criminal President, but about protecting the body politic, the integrity of our highest offices, protecting the Constitution they had sworn to serve.
They were true patriots, true citizens, true believers in this country, her ideals, and the preservation of this grand experiment called America.
What we have now is a party that is the living embodiment of hate and ignorance. They have open disdain for science and the rule of law. They embrace conspiracy theories and those that disseminate them.
They are a 4chan board of losers, who if they had not lucked into their positions would be in their moms' basements making misspelled memes, attacking everyone with ALL CAPS, and shouting at her for more Pizza Rolls.
Today the truth laced up its shoes and started running. By this afternoon, the lies had already been lapped several times. The truth is going to win this race.
I watched the entire two sessions of the Patriot Robert Mueller's testimony. To say I was appalled at the behavior, with a couple of exceptions in the afternoon session, of the Republican members of these committees doesn't scratch the surface. You did far better than I in describing how despicable most of them are.
Reading your post brought a lump to my throat as I reflected on the indignity the Republicans attempted to heap upon Mueller, a true gentleman who dedicated over five decades in the service of the country he so loves. No wonder he did not want to testify; he knew what was coming. No wonder he looked far older and beaten than his years. My heart breaks for him. I hope that now that it is over he can retire and enjoy his days in Peace.
And the rest of us are left behind to clean up this godawful mess.
Posted by: Constance Ciampanelli | Monday, August 05, 2019 at 01:25 PM