President Trump wants America to know that he is totally innocent. At the same time, he seems increasingly nervous about the public seeing a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings, which Attorney General William Barr says he will release Thursday. Though Trump has in the past expressed indifference to the potential release of the report, he’s now railing against the efforts of Democratic lawmakers to obtain the full, unredacted report, while renewing criticisms of the investigation he simultaneously says has already proved his innocence.
"The prevailing take on Attorney General William Barr’s letter to Congress on the Mueller report is summed up in the New York Times: “The investigation . . . found no evidence that President Trump or any of his aides coordinated with the Russian government’s 2016 election interference.” But a careful reading of Barr’s letter suggests that that may be wrong."
"In fact, Barr’s letter quotes Special Counsel Robert Mueller as stating that the investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” Saying that the investigation did not establish that there was collusion is not the same thing as saying that the investigation established that there was no collusion. Two points are worth emphasizing."
"Robert Mueller may have completed his report, but other investigations into President Trump are expected to carry on for months."
"There are, broadly, two kinds: those being undertaken from within the executive branch and those being run by members of Congress — mostly Democrats in control of major committees in the House."
Not only is a stupid idea, it's stupid how much of a partisan our country has gotten -- 85 percent of Republicans support the idea, while 91 percent of Democrats oppose the idea. Whatever come out of independent thought, and considering proposals on the merit or lack thereof?
I have a lot of liberal friends that are very dismayed with Donald Trump. I tend to disagree with their dismal view of the president — they pay too much attention to what he says, not what he does. Two and a half years into President Trump’s presidency, I am actually fairly happy with the job he’s doing.
Not that I like his AM-radio style commentary on his conservative ideas he espouses on Twitter and television, or his views more generally, but because he seems like he has been a fairly competent administrator, even if he has a rather strange fetish over a wall that lead him to a rather pointless shutdown the federal government in January. There really was no excuse for that behavior by the president.
Morever, I don’t honestly understand the big deal over the wall — or the opposition to the relatively small appropriation to built it. In the grand scheme of things that wall is pretty inconsequential. It’s not like the wall is particularly expensive or unaffordable, or that it’s construction puts many Americans in grave risk. Construction accidents occur, but it’s not a war. It’s a an appropriation of a few billion a year, which really doesn’t add up to much when you think about a 20 plus trillion dollar economy.
While I would rather see more environmental reviews before constructing the wall, I am not sure it will be as devastating as critics say it will be. It might actually help ecologically sensitive areas by turning them into no-mans land where wilderness can thrive. And it’s a sure lot less devastating that war, which is a refreshing change from the war-mongers of both parties seem to elect.
Is Trump a good president? Well, he’s not done a bad job when it comes to growing the economy or keeping us out of war, even if he’s obnoxious. Could the Democrats offer somebody better? Maybe. I don’t really get involved in politics on a personal level anymore, but I will say that I will vote, although I may cast a protest vote for a third-party candidate in 2020, much like in 2016 with Jill Stein.
I think in many ways, the power of the presidency over our own lives is much overstated. How much more would Hillary have done on Climate Change compared to Trump? What I think matters more then whose elected, is that we continue to have competitive elections, with people having a serious discussion of the issues. Certainly, I would like to see more action on ensuring healthcare is affordable, and more action on climate change, but I’ll take my time to decide how I want to vote once the candidates are better known.