One Week Later...

So it's been a week since the release of the Mueller Report. Or at least the redacted version of the report.

When it was released I posted that I wasn't going to argue with people about it because nobody is going to change their minds. And I stand by that. I won't argue with people about it.

That doesn't mean I won't talk about it. Or share my opinions on it or even wonder out loud how anyone could read the report (the actual report not the Barr summary) and walk away thinking Trump is FULLY EXONERATED! But I won't argue. Because we aren't dealing with facts so much as we are feelings around Trump and the report itself.

So after sitting with it a week where are we now?

I don't really know. I don't know what happens next. Mueller seemed pretty clear that he was leaving it to Congress to follow up. Though Barr tried to step in and fill that that gap. But is Congress willing to act? And will they be allowed to? Trump is already suing (yes, suing, his favorite pastime) to stop access to his records. He's trying to stop people from testifying before Congress. He's basically doing the obstruction shuffle he's been doing all along. And again, I don't think this is how innocent people act.

There is a part of me that wants the impeachment proceedings. It galls me that he's been crooked all of his life (look at the reporting on his business dealings, look at the brilliant series that was done on his family and decades of tax evasion) and yet he sits in the Oval Office untouchable. I'm old enough to know that life is not fair. I've watched the world work for long enough to know that rich people get to play by a different rule book than the rest of us. I've seen it. I know it. But that doesn't mean I like it anymore than I did when I was younger  and "That's not fair!" actually seemed like something we could fix.

And you know that with the Senate under McConnell's thumb he wouldn't be removed anyway. So impeach him but don't remove him. That's what happened to Clinton. Hell it's what happened to Johnson as well. We've impeached two presidents in our history and neither one was removed from office but just filing the articles of impeachment was a statement. Johnson's was a rebuke on overreach (wouldn't that be nice right about now?) and Clinton's was for lying under oath. Which Trump avoided by answering "I don't know" over and over and over again on written questions and refusing to answer in person. So much for his great memory.

But impeachment is a stain. And it's one he should wear.

But again...we live in very political times and it would be framed the same way the entire investigation was. As just a political hit job. Never mind that the investigation uncovered extensive Russian meddling in our elections, which Trump still hasn't really addressed and we are well into the next cycle. Never mind that numerous indictments happened. And not just indictments people pleaded to and were found guilty. There were crimes committed. Mueller outlined 10 obstruction of justice areas for Congress to consider. This was no witch hunt, unless Trump would melt when hit with a bucket of water. Which come to think of it, he did skip visiting the American Cemetery in France because it was raining so...

So would impeachment proceedings actually be anything more than Democrats saying, "look at this!" and Republicans saying, "Can't make me!" Would it actually get the message across that he shouldn't be able to once again slither away? I cannot imagine that it would. From what I've seen from my Republican friends they are more than happy to keep looking at the shiny objects and ignore the filthy ones.

So I guess we are where we were before. November 2020. I know it's against what I normally preach about well informed voting. I know it's not at all in line with how I normally approach a ballot and those on the ballot. BUT...as long as he's the Republican nominee I'm #VoteBlueNoMatterWho.

All in for the Democrats in 2020. I'm not going to argue about it. I'm just going to do it.

If Congress won't do it, we really have to.

All of us.

Not even kidding.