So Democrats got what they wanted: a special counsel.
It happened sooner than I expected; I think probably no one expected it this fast. But after the Comey diary was revealed, Republicans apparently realized they can either hop on the train, or get run over by it. They chose to hop on. The administration, said to be frustrated and angry, broke under the strain. Enter, Robert Mueller.
And now what? One immediate result, it seems to me, is a certain slowing down of the breaking news. Nothing is likely to happen now concerning RussiaGate for a long time. Many months, at least; possibly years. There’s just so much stuff for Mueller to look into. I think Democrats were hoping to be rid of Trump sooner rather than later; I personally thought he’d be gone by late summer. Now, that doesn’t appear likely. The push to impeach him obviously will stall; Republicans can say, “Let’s let the special counsel do his job.” And there is some sense to that. It’s too bad, because I do believe Trump is an imminent danger to this country and the world, and a moral offense to all of us; the sooner we can get rid of him, the better. So maybe this development is good news for him. If he can get a little breathing room, and stop with the insane tweets, maybe he’ll be able to knuckle down and actually get to play president.
What can we expect, when Mueller issues his report? Some people are likely to be charged with crimes. Who knows who they’ll be? Flynn, probably (for lying to the FBI). But we really don’t know if other crimes have been committed. Perhaps this has just been a series of really stupid, inappropriate, unprofessional—but non-criminal—behaviors by Trump’s men. We just don’t know yet. Is Trump himself in danger? We don’t know that either. Democrats should be prepared for Mueller to find him blameless. It could well turn out that he did nothing wrong, nothing illegal. He might have been a useful idiot for Putin, and shown incredibly bad judgment, but that’s not against the law. So it will be very important for Democrats to oppose Trump on policy matters and not just sit back and hope he’s indicted. Democrats simply cannot assume Mueller will break their way, so let’s not get triumphalist quite yet. But we can continue to oppose Trump for his moral failings and lack of character. One of these days, Christians are going to have to decide how much longer they care to support such a reprehensible person.
It will be very nice if Mueller is able to see Trump’s taxes, which he seems to have the power to demand regardless of how much Trump wants to conceal them. That doesn’t mean Mueller is obligated to let the rest of us see them. As part of the taxes, of course, Mueller will want to be aware of every single business tie Trump has with Russia and anyone remotely connected to Russia. That’s a good thing. Why would Trump be fighting so hard to keep his financial dealiings secret, if he wasn’t afraid of something he doesn’t want the public, or the Justice Department, to know? We, the American people, need to know if he or his family or associates have sold out our country for profit.
Democrats and liberals—those who become part of The Resistance—ought to be very proud of this development. It would never have happened without us. It has been my privilege to have worked with The Resistance since early last September, when I changed the topic of my blog from wine to politics with the specific aim in mind of opposing Trump. We have done well, my fellow Resisters. Now, it’s on to the 2018 off-year elections. Be well, of good cheer, and never flag.
