First of all, I think it’s disgraceful that the two major political parties of the great United States of America have created an environment of back-biting and infighting instead of devoting their time teaming up together to provide the kind of leadership our forebears envisioned. The two parties have devolved into debate teams, more dedicated to winning their arguments than in providing governance.
This was never more evident than at the Robert Mueller hearing yesterday (July 24, 2019). Unmistakably clear delineations between Democrats and Republicans were the modus operandi of both sides: Democrats were devoted to supporting Mr. Mueller and his report while Republicans were devoted to tearing him and his work apart. Neither side showed any interest in shining a light on the truth, except when that truth advanced their arguments.
Implicitly, Republicans were demonstrating their backing of the businessman-pretending-to-be-President of the United States while Democrats were demonstrating their abhorrence of the same. In attempting to shoot down the findings of the Mueller probe, House Republicans were saying that Trump should be vindicated, while House Democrats were using the same findings to support their belief that Trump might even qualify for impeachment (although I don’t believe the “I” word was ever used in the proceedings. Not sure about that, as I didn’t spend the entire day glued to the tube).
Since our elected officials have seen fit to frame their work in terms of winners and losers, I’m sure the media will latch onto that and run with it in their evaluations of what took place. That being the case, in my very humble and probably grossly misinformed opinion, I have to say that the Democrats will likely go away from yesterday’s event disappointed.
As a registered Democrat, and someone for whom little love is lost on our current President, I had hoped for better. Again, in my opinion, Mr. Mueller appeared tired, nervous, perhaps even a bit senile. At one point he looked so stressed and flush that I thought he might have a heart attack. He often asked for questions to be repeated (although I too sometimes had lost the drift of some of the lengthy questions that were asked). As with the beloved humorist Erma Bombeck, Mueller apparently is more effective in writing than he is in oral presentation.
For their part, the House Republicans presented themselves as well-prepared and determined. I will be interested to see how Democrats and the media try to redeem this long-anticipated, but now discouraging, hearing.
Despite the Republicans’ constant arguments to the contrary, there is ample evidence that Russia did, in fact, influence the 2016 election (and continues to influence the elections of other Western democratic nations). One of Russia’s prime objectives seems clear: to destroy democracy around the world as we know it.
The Russian president, Nikita Khrushchev, who ruled the Communist U. S. S. R. some 50 years ago, famously declared, “We will bury you.” He was right. Except that the Russians are not burying us in the debris of exploded bombs. They are burying us in the debris of our own invective.