Mueller: Letter to Barr says Summary, “Failed to Capture Context, Nature & Substance” of Report

I'm really glad I haven't been forced into defending the indefensible at the altar of my credibility like so many of the mistake-in-chief supporters. Except for those who lack the cognition to know better, it must burn. I feel for you guys. I really do.

 

..

 

Wow... this is embarrassing...

 

David Brooks gave a very long interview on KQED this morning and he talked about exactly this.
https://www.kqed.org/forum/20101018...ism-over-individualism-in-the-second-mountain
I know a lot of people hate him now, (especially on the left), but I really like how he put it.

Trump supporters at some point, on the main, have a split:
(a) a private view of Two Scoops that realizes at least many if not all of his ugly traits
(b) a public view where they can't risk showing misgivings so they are steadfast in support.

At some point, this schism cannot be maintained -- the distance between the two gets too great -- so many people start to deny themselves their own private view. They just decide (maybe subconsciously) that it is far easier to merge (a) and (b) given the threat of losing power or losing face or both. So they start to dismiss all of their earlier misgivings.

A lot of Christian principles in what the man preaches now, which is interesting to me, but maybe boring to others.

 

quickly skimming this thread I'm not seeing much of a mix of perspectives. For instance here's how Jonathan Turley interprets the day's events:

Barr Testimony: Mueller May Have Some ‘Splainin’ To Do
Posted by jonathanturley


One of the big takeaways from the first day of the testimony of Bill Barr concerns a number of failures that may be attributed to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The most significant failure concerns his decision not to reach a conclusion on obstruction, as I discussed in today’s column. With an hour of the release of the Report, I criticized Mueller for his decision not to reach a conclusion which has no basis in law or policy. The only question was whether Mueller had been told not to reach such a conclusion. Barr answered that questions today in no uncertain terms. Not only could Mueller reach a conclusion, both Barr and Rosenstein pressed him to do so. Mueller’s decision remains both unsupported and incomprehensible. And that is not all that Mueller will have to explain.

Barr understandably said today that he still does not understand Mueller’s rationale for not reaching a decision and questioned what Mueller thought he was supposed to do as a special counsel. What is weird is that Barr and Rosenstein made clear that they did believe Mueller could and should reach a decision. That should have resolved any question as to DOJ policy.

Another glaring revelation from Barr was that he and Rosenstein expressly and repeatedly told Mueller to identify grand jury or Rule 6(e) material in his report to allow a rapid public release of the report. Barr said that he was surprised when Mueller simply ignored that request from his superiors. The result was a longer period for the public release of the report.

A third disclosure was that Mueller spoke to Barr and expressly said that he did not view the summary letter to be misleading or false. That is categorically in conflict with the media coverage over the last 24 hours claiming that Mueller believed Barr “lied” or “misled: the public. Barr said that Mueller stated clearly that he wanted the executive summaries released to help explain why he did not reach a conclusion.

Finally, Barr said that Mueller repeatedly told him and Rosenstein that his decision not to reach a conclusion on obstruction was not due to the Office of Legal Counsel memos barring the indictment of a sitting president. That is also in direct contradiction with ongoing coverage. It also makes senses because, as I have written, there is nothing in those memos that even remotely suggests that a Special Counsel cannot reach a conclusion on criminal conduct.

If true, Barr is clearly more sinned against than sinner in all of this. Regardless, we have to hear from Mueller and he has much ‘splaining to do.​

https://jonathanturley.org/2019/05/01/barr-testimony-mueller-may-have-some-splainin-to-do/

Would appreciate links to thoughtful pieces that have less histrionics and more balance.

 

So next time I get a parking ticket I don't agree with, I can photoshop a picture of my neighbor's car in that spot or tamper with the parking meter or threaten the meter cop? Think of the possibilities here!

 

If the questioners were smart they would bridge his answers into hypotheticals for real world and common scenarios, whereby defense attorney's across the nation can now reference his testimony for a basis of dismissal for their clients.

 

A lot of potential indeed

 

Gee, what could be wrong with the attorney general misleading congress?

Fox News legal analyst says Barr 'probably misled' lawmakers in prior testimony on Mueller report

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/...-probably-misled-the-house-in-prior-testimony

 

{Yawn}

So, that's it then.

 

I'm struggling with 'yawn'.

 

(c) a strongly held belief that the hypocrisy of the Presidents accusers is out of control. Combine with formerly trusted news sources repeatedly reporting false accusations allows for justifiable skepticism of "smoking guns".

 

Yes, she is very good at examination. Unfortunately she isn't terribly impressive otherwise.

 

It doesn't burn them. They do not really care because he is pursuing the policy they want and Supreme Court Justices they want.

 

Barr will not show tomorrow before the house, I’m sure they will cry because they didn’t get their shot to grandstand. It’s time to turn this around now Barr and get to the bottom of the real crimes.

 

Well, that's not what Brooks said (unless I missed it). I recommend listening to the interview.

But I hear (c) if you're offering that as your experience. It makes sense to me, to a degree.

 

To be clear, I meant it as my view of a 3rd option.

To continue on, Trump with all his faults isn't pushing the following:

1. Allowing current felons (even the worst of them) to vote.
2. Opposition to a bill requiring babies born alive to be given medical attention.
3. Open borders (Beto)
4. Claiming the VA doesn't need to be fixed.
5. Offering up the Green New Deal
6. Abolish ICE
7. Eliminate the Electoral College
8. Increase the number of USSC justices and enact term limits on them.
9. Reparations for African Americans and Native Americans
10. Free college for all (without regard to the costs or consequences of such a policy)
11. Medicare for all (because the government has done so well with Obamacare and the VA) Also, see 10 above.

No amount of Trump is a scumbag/liar/cheeto/blowhard/twoscoops comes close to being as scary as all of the above is to many ordinary americans.