Dan Rather took to Facebook today to weigh in on the unpresidented occurrence of the current leader of the United States claiming that his predecessor wiretapped him, and how this and all that has led up to it should be dealt with:
It is understandable that Donald Trump's twitter attack on President Obama early this morning would immediately be consumed by the churning political hurricane that is America today. The deepening divisions that are pulling at the fabric of our nation are on raw display. On one side we see understandable outrage, with many questioning the mental fitness of our Commander and Chief. On the other side we see Trump's allies rallying under their shared hatred of our previous President. Perhaps it is my age or experience, but I feel no schadenfreude or eagerness to say, "I told you so." I feel only a deep and abiding sadness. This is my country that I love with all my heart. We are a weakened nation, in our own estimation, and that of the world. If this was happening in some distant land, we would shake our heads and thank our lucky stars that we are Americans. But this nightmare is happening here, and we have no choice but to confront that disorientating truth.
My reporter's instincts make me wonder at Trump's actions. It has the feeling of a classic smokescreen. What is he hiding? Is this a kind of trap? Does he have something he is about to drop? Or does he know something else is about to drop on him and his administration, which is facing a withering crescendo of scandal?
We must carefully separate what we know to be true, from what we think to be true, from what we do not yet know. And in the early days of a story like this, what we do not know will far outpace the other two. [...]
It is long past time that we have a complete and independent bipartisan investigation, especially since the director of the FBI is under such a cloud of political manipulation. Now is the time to breath the cool winds of impartiality and facts. We need statesmen of steady head and temperament, willing to put country ahead of politics. We cannot afford for our democratic institutions to be consumed by a bonfire of lies, innuendos, and conspiracy theories.
We need—scratch that—we desperately need an independent team of investigators to look into the accusations against Donald Trump. It’s no secret that progressives and others on the left would like to see Trump spending all his time at Mar-a-Lago on his own dime as a private citizen instead of repeatedly weekending there at taxpayer expense. The wretched policies the man is laying out for the nation are designed for the pre-New Deal 20th Century, not for a productive and humane 21st.
But the unanswered question, which can only be answered by an independent probe into what exactly Trump’s been doing in his interactions with Russia’s elite, is whether he should be spending his weekends and the rest of his time at Allenwood instead of Mar-a-Lago.