The Iraq war faceplant damaged the reputation of the press. Russiagate just destroyed it.
Nobody wants to hear this, but news that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is headed home without issuing new charges is a death-blow for the reputation of the American news media.
As has long been rumored, the former FBI chief’s independent probe will result in multiple indictments and convictions, but no “presidency-wrecking” conspiracy charges, or anything that would meet the layman’s definition of “collusion” with Russia.
With the caveat that even this news might somehow turn out to be botched, the key detail in the many stories about the end of the Mueller investigation was best expressed by the New York Times:
A senior Justice Department official said that Mr. Mueller would not recommend new indictments.
Attorney General William Barr sent a letter to congress summarizing Mueller’s conclusions. The money line quoted the Mueller report:
[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Matt Taibbi is a former editor of Rolling Stone and no friend of President Trump. But his analysis on how the media has behaved in covering this story is spot on. That is why his post is a must read, as well as this one that he posted yesterday .... As the Mueller Probe Ends, New Russiagate Myths Begin (Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone). Another journalist who has been proven right on Russiagate, and who has been on a tear since the release of the Mueller report is Glenn Greenwald. His Twitter feed is here.
As to what is my opinion on the release of the Mueller report and it's summary .... I am having trouble putting into words my thoughts and feelings. To begin, I was surprised that the final report was released on Friday. I thought that it was going to drag on for another year. I also expected the report would be very critical of President Trump, and would state that members of his staff were open to the idea of working with anyone from Russia who could give them an edge in the 2016 election. But as the summary clearly 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.
I did not expect that, nor did I expect the announcement that there would be no indictments. For President Trump .... this is the best result that he could have gotten. He does not even need to make a rebuttal. Robert Mueller did it for him.
I am also finding myself getting angry with each passing day. That we are where we are today because of a Hillary Clinton paid opposition research dossier that was made-up and used by the leadership in the FBI and intelligence community to target then candidate President Trump, and doubly so after he was elected. That their goal was to cripple and de-legitimize his Presidency, and to do this by working with their allies in the media and in Washington to put pressure on the White House 24/7. And they succeeded, as this poll that was released today reveals .... Despite report findings, almost half of Americans think Trump colluded with Russia: Reuters/Ipsos poll (Reuters).
In my lifetime this is the biggest hoax that I have ever seen. The fact that half of America still believes it makes it distressing. My hope is that one day those who are responsible for it will be held accountable for it , and called out. But I doubt it. The rot, corruption, and partisanship is deep. If I have any solace in this story, it is that we now have the evidence to call them out on their corruption, and to remind them on their role in the Russia-Gate hoax when the next manufactured scandal that the media wants to promote emerges.
5 comments:
A black eye from which they will never recover. And despite the ethical bankruptcy, 50% are still believers.
There is a Ken Burns documentary on Netflix called The Vietnam War. It's about ten episodes long and, IMHO, very good.
One of the many points the series makes is the turning point (roughly 1969) at which the American people realised that their president lies to them on a regular basis.
The Mueller report reminds me of that moment, except now it's that turning point where everyone now openly doesn't trust the media (on the Left and the Right).
This will only lead to more extremism and no middle ground.
This also damaged our relations with one of the world's most powerful countries and exacerbated Cold War 2. This is a war we didn't need, can't readily afford, winning is going to be problematic at best, and even if we "win" it's hard to see exactly what we get. I'm not sure how we will be able to get them or anyone else for that matter to trust us ever again.
They do respect and even fear Trump. Perhaps, in time, relations can be repaired. There seem to be a number of areas where Russian assistance is going to be extremely helpful for us to properly advance our interests.
I'm pretty sure ai called this as a hoax from the time HRC began the Russian interference narrative during the campaign. Maybe they all got caught up in their echo chamber and believed their own lies.
WNU Editor; I am a little surprised by your comment. I have been (like everyone else) following this story and when Trumps' lawyers stated that Mueller had nothing on Trump, I was confident on the results. Granted, we may think Lawyers would always claim innocence but their own political futures and marketability was on the line - thus I felt their comments made in public were solid.
As far as the Media, it will only get worse before it gets better. We need an "Event" to fix this situation and I believe it is coming.
Editor
"I thought that it was going to drag on for another year."
I think that timing relative to the next election drove the release date. That gives the people a lot of time to chew on the results, especially the impact of "does not exonerate" well before the election and perhaps spurs on those processing other charges, for which a pardon in not available to the President, so that the results of those investigations will surface in timely fashion before that election.
"I also expected the report would be very critical of President Trump"
Again the "does not exonerate" comes to the surface as in, that is the possibly the strongest expression of condemnation a person like Mueller would be willing to make against a sitting President. Likely he considered that a severe condemnation or at minimum a significant step.
He has now left it to others to take it the rest of the way and the mere fact that Barr seems to be sidestepping is in itself a condemnation.
When I think "Mueller report" I think of the same skepticism and uncertainty that followed the report on 911.
That half the people will continue to believe their President guilty of collusion, the other half not guilty is one more indication of a highly divided, perhaps even dysfunctional nation.
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