My Response to Mueller Report Conclusions

So the Russians may not have needed to collude with the Trump campaign to get what they were after: a Trump presidency, undermining public confidence in US elections, and paralyzed the US in two years of turmoil that is unlikely to end anytime soon. Somehow an echo of Judges 14:18, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.”

For all of the rhetoric attacking Mueller’s integrity, he seems to have produced a fair, objective report and not a political hatchet job. While not directly connected with collusion with the Russians, Mueller’s investigation certainly has brought to light considerable disgusting slime in the highest levels of power. How this plays out will be interesting as I speculated when the Mueller report was completed before anything was released, in the post below.

My First Reaction to the Completion of the Mueller Report

Whether the Trump campaign or the Clinton campaign colluded with the Russians, or perhaps the Russians were shrewd enough to manipulate both campaigns for their own purposes, which may (or may not) have included getting Donald Trump elected, the Russians have succeeded in one thing much in their interest – effectively undermining the confidence of the US citizenry in the integrity of their elections.

Regardless of how much, if any, of the Mueller Report is released to whom and how it is redacted, we can expect a long ordeal of innuendo and denial, accusations and evasions, claims of exoneration and calls for consequences, leaks and cover-ups, from all along the political spectrum, perhaps simultaneously among political adversaries and allies alike. This is not to say the Mueller Report will be meaningless, but conflicting meanings will be assigned and debated for decades to come.

My own opinion is that these observations of mine are not causing the fragmentation and polarization of US society. They are symptoms of much deeper issues that orbit around relentless demands for “getting what I want for me and people who are like me,” and an intentional repudiation of concern for the common good and for "those who I think are not congruent with me."