The Mueller Report: Let Me Get This Straight.

I remain so incredulous regarding the Mueller report and the responses to that report that I simply gasp for air and wonder what universe, what dimension, what time warp I have slipped into.  So just to clarify for my own mind, the following are the facts as I know them to be, all subject to verification via multiple fact checkers.

In May of 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel for the Justice Department.  The task given Mueller was to investigate claims that the Russians interfered with the 2016 Presidential election and that there existed links and coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian effort to determine the outcome of our election.  He was also authorized to investigate any other matters that might arise as a result of the investigation.  Mueller is a Republican, and a former director of the FBI.

By August 2018 Trump had tweeted more than 100 times that the Mueller investigation was a “witch hunt.” 

By March of 2019 the Mueller investigation had led to the indictment and conviction of Robert Cohen, Trump’s lawyer, Paul Manafort, Trump’s election campaign chairman, George Papadopolous, Trump’s foreign policy advisor, Rick Gates, a Trump campaign aide, Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security advisor, Roger Stone, longtime Trump advisor, Sam Patten, Republican operative and lobbyist, Russian assets, and 3 companies.  6 pleaded guilty and 27 were indicted, as well as Russian nationals for a total of 34 criminal charges.  Trump continued to call the investigation a witch hunt despite the fact that no other President in history has had as many criminal charges filed against his administration as Trump.  Despite the facts that Mueller is a Republican, appointed by a Republican and all the evidence, the convictions, the guilty pleas, Trump continued to call the investigation a witch hunt.  The charges ranged from violation of campaign finance laws to obstruction of justice, witness tampering, making false statements to the FBI, making false statements to a Congress, lying to Congress regarding an effort to get in touch with WikiLeaks to smear Clinton, lying to Congress about a Trump effort to open a Trump hotel in Moscow, and failure to file as a foreign agent.  There were no charges of collusion.

Since his inauguration, Trump has appointed and/or replaced five Attorneys General or acting Attorneys General.  His most recent appointment is William Barr who assumed office in February of 2019.  Barr is on record as saying he does not believe a sitting President can be indicted, he does not believe a sitting President can be subpoenaed, and he does not believe a sitting President can be charged with obstruction of justice.

On Friday, March 15, 2019 Mueller submitted to Barr a 300 page report summarizing the findings of his investigation.  By Sunday, Barr issued a summary of that 300 page report focusing on the no collusion outcome and the exoneration of Trump.  No one has first hand knowledge of those findings save Barr.  Lawyers across the nation challenged Barr’s ability to read, comprehend and summarize such a lengthy report in a matter of 48 hours. 

No one has seen the Mueller Report except Barr.  Barr, who was appointed by Trump, has submitted the Mueller Report to Trump for editing and redacting prior to public release.

In other words, the administration under investigation now has the authority to edit the report regarding that investigation and such authority was granted by the person appointed by the administration under investigation.

Have I got that straight? 

Can this possibly be justice?

Update 3/30:  Barr announces that the White House will not review and edit report.  He will do it instead.  Is there a difference?  Do you feel better?

Fruit of the Tree You Chop

It is the 30^th anniversary of the initiation of the World Wide Web.  The potential for humans to learn, grow, share, explore, and improve has never been greater.  Knowledge and hypothesis are instantly available.  And yet, it continues to appear to me that the number one obstacle to real human advancement is fear based on belief systems, not knowledge and not science.  There are actually people out there who believe that there is such a thing as “alternative” facts.  How do we fix that?  The expansion and acquisition of knowledge reduces fear and empowers action for improvement.  But we are currently mired in the muck of anti-intellectualism and anti-science and cannot seem to find our way back to solid ground. 

So I propose consequences for people who are in denial of facts, denial of science, denial of the truth.  It is OK to believe the earth is flat.  It is OK to believe the earth is 10,000 years old.  It is OK to believe there is some kind of sky daddy who personally listens to 7 billion people and keeps score on what you do.  It is OK to believe humans are not causing climate change.  It is OK to believe that there is not a connection between the number of fire arms and the number of deaths by fire arms.  It is OK to believe that the biggest threat to our nation is poor immigrants from south of our border and not white male extremists with weapons.  It is OK to believe that the Mueller investigation is a witch hunt despite the number of indictments, convictions and prison time by Trump’s top men.  It is OK to believe that Donald Trump is anything other than a crook, a con-man, a liar, a serial sexual assaulter, a bigot, a Russian asset, a misogynist, and a white supremacist and that he was chosen by some supernatural deity for his current role.  Believing all that in the face of what we know to be true, what we know to be fact is OK for that segment of the population who prefer beliefs over fact and Fox over real news.

But, one cannot have it both ways anymore.  If you believe any of the above, all of which are in direct conflict with science, truth and fact, then you have clearly taken a stand that is anti-science, anti-math, anti-truth and anti-fact.  Therefore you will no longer be allowed to enjoy the fruits of science while you rail against science.

We will set up collection stations for the folks who believe the above to be true.  These folks will be asked to surrender all the fruits of science since they do not believe the science.  We will collect all cell phones, all computers, all microwaves, all smart TV’s, all prescription medications, all home based HVAC units, all drones, all routers, and all remotes.  These items will be stored until such time as these folks agree to accept science and truth over propaganda, conspiracy theories, and lies. 

Seems only reasonable that those who chop at the tree of science should be denied the fruit of that tree.

The New Segregation Rules

Jim Crow is not dead.  He is alive, still in costume and still dancing.  The Methodist Church has helped resurrect him. 

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in 1955.  Under the Jim Crow laws Blacks could ride the public bus but they must sit in the back and they must surrender their seat if a white person did not have a seat.  Rosa did not think that it was right to say she could ride the bus but she had fewer rights once on the bus.  The 1964 Civil Rights Act ended all that making segregation illegal, and declaring separate but equal facilities for Blacks were inherently unequal.

We have moved beyond laws and policies that segregate Blacks.  Current segregation is much more subtle.

But rejoice, we have a new group to discriminate against so all is well.  People who have the audacity to have sexual preferences different from the majority are now subject to discrimination.  They can ride the bus, but they cannot get married and they cannot be clergy.  These are the new segregation rules.  Methodists of course will be happy for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people to come to church and give the church their money, but the enlightened Methodists now forbid them to fall in love and get married in the church, and heaven forbid that they may want to serve a god they love as a member of the clergy.  Jesus, who do they think they are?  Please move to the back of the bus!

Two thoughts on all this.  First, he says sarcastically, thank goodness that specifying what triggers sexual arousal in a person is subject to policy and rules developed by Methodists, and other denominations.  My goodness, we may have men attracted to brunettes instead of blondes, or girls attracted to smart boys instead of the jocks  And the courts have been granting private sector operations the right to discriminate based on these preferences for a while now.  Hence I do not go to Chic Fil A or Hobby Lobby or anywhere else where some nincompoop has argued that they should be able to discriminate against people based on sexual preference. Jesus hates you this I know for my Bible told me so.

Second thought is that if so called Christians want to enforce what they think is in the Bible then I am awaiting the day when they support stoning adulterers to death, or stoning to death those who have been divorced, or stoning to death those children who do not obey their parents, etc.  Nope, these Christians are just bigoted cowards hiding behind one interpretation of their Bible.  Perhaps they do not know that sexual preference is not contagious any more than racial identity.  If these so-called Christians proposed to enforce all the rules written in their bible we would all gladly become atheists just to survive.

Shame on you, Methodists.