Yessss, another self-important diary by, as always, your loyal 4CasandChlo.
Hang on, hang on, I honestly wouldn’t draw attention to myself (pfft) without something legitimate here that I think we need to consider. Promise.
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Alright, look, we’re not going to spend 250 comments drilling the media, there are plenty of diaries every day, some very legitimate, to pound upon. I bring this to you as a former minor player in the media who has a tad bit more sympathy for them than some. Hold the media accountable. But as you do, ‘best acknowledge the fact that their job is damn hard. Landmines, everywhere.
They cannot talk about a very important element of the Mueller story. We can. And we should, because I think we’re 2-3 weeks out from a zoo-break on this, and we best prepare ourselves with some calm thought.
I just saw Chris Mathews on Hardball ask “the” question of a great guest. Yes, he basically came out and asked; “Are they going to tie the president into this?” And he didn’t just ask a guy on the street, he asked a Congressman on the intel committee. Chris wanted an answer, as in “Yes” or “No” or “Here is what I think …”
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The Congressman gave the non-committal answer he must give. I am positive it drove Chris — and everyone watching — nuts. But, the Congressman has no choice. He is not some keyboard warrior spouting off his ass on a great blog site. Dude’s a Congressman. Despite it all, the good ones still hold to a decorum, damn right. You. do. not. come out and make a prediction/accusation that the President is a felon if you’re a federal employee, never mind a congressman. Period.
Chris turned to the very bright woman panelist, and I am sorry that I legitimately didn’t catch her name. You guys are so good to me there will likely be 200 comments and someone will know. I’ll fill it in.
SHE is the one that Chris probably thought he’d at least get some meat. He needed an answer. Don’t we all?
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She could not answer directly, but then she answered way too conservatively. Because she had to. She noted that Stone could have maybe been indicted in the conspiracy, yet he was not. And no other American has been indicted in the direct conspiracy. She said there is some reason to think that there’s no evidence of a real conspiracy.
Oh for christsake.
That’s a maddening answer, but it is the right one for her, and the wrong one here. I will explain why we can go where she cannot in a minute. For now, just know, these people in the media have never dealt with a political issue this serious in their lives. Nor are they likely, ever. Just like the Congressman, there is a ton of responsibility that goes along with being asked a question on live TV. If you are asked to speculate about the President committing a felony, you do not speculate, you point to what you know, then you answer cautiously.
I sit here and write knowing it’s a privilege to get the type of feedback I get, from diaries usually so well-received it still amazes me. That’s not even in the same league of responsibility one has when on live TV. Agonizing, I know, but it just is.
No whining. I’ll whine for all of us, promise. Not now, though. Time to think.
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Here is the fact that none of them can touch upon:
Take absolutely nothing from the fact that not a single American has been indicted on the conspiracy, yet. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Robert Mueller has to “price-in” the fact that if — and when, ‘cause it’s comin’ — he files something that directly links someone close to the president with conspiring against the United States, he might have one hour left on the job. One hour for some staff member to read it to Trump and tell Trump what it means and Mueller will be summarily fired. If he gets more than that hour, each following hour will be a bonus. But Mueller damn sure cannot count on it.
You can bet that Mueller knows what we do, only far more nuanced, gamed-out a million ways, deliberated upon. He knows that one single conspiracy charge against someone worth charging screams that it is more likely than not that the president of the United States colluded with Russia. Oh, and if that’s true, Putin ain’t letting him out. Trump’s a Russian agent.
That is a problem for Trump. Trump has one tool to deal with problems, a hammer. When you only got a hammer, everything is a nail: “You’re fired!”
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Robert Mueller knows this. Thus, he is smart enough to position himself to retort calmly; “Yes, and you sir, are finished as president,” all while he reaches across the table to fold up his computer, gather his coat, all with a sly smile across his face: “I am done here, anyway.”
No one in the media can say it, because it’s speculative, and it pretty-well states straight up: “Your president is a child, and cannot deal with the truth.”
We can.
I can.
Take absolutely nothing from the fact that no one has been charged with conspiracy. Shit, Don Jr. lied his ass off to the Congress, and he’s not indicted yet, for the exact same reason.
Mueller will get one shot, and one shot only. Until he has everything ready to go, office boxed up and a four-day weekend planned with his wife in Barbados, he holds on that shot.
He has prepared all his life for that moment. Let’s trust him.
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He is a prosecutor with a funny little twist to his job. The better he does his job, the more professional, thorough, ethical, conscientious, all that together by the pound, the more likely his reward will be termination.
Look at the crimes charged and note how he put guys on the hot seat with real felonies and jail, but doesn’t implicate the big baby.
That’s not an accident.
And neither is the fact that everyone around Trump has committed a felony lying about Russia.
At this level, there are no coincidences. Every word is planned, every move, everything matters.
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But you cannot say: “There are no coincidences,” on TV.
I can.
There are no coincidences. They lie about Russia because the truth is more dangerous. Mueller has not charged the real conspiracy yet, because he knows what logically follows if he does his job.
The better he does the last job he’ll ever hold, the more likely it ends with the first termination of his life.
I’ll say it. He’s got this. Take that away from it all.
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Peace, y’all. Always, love one another.
We will need it.