the same can be said of opponents who assume the worst about Trump's actions at every turn. The trick is recognizing when you are yourself falling into one of those two traps due to personal bias.

A big point of contention is framing the ultimate finding of no conspiracy; no evidence of conspiracy vs evidence but not able to make a criminal case. There is much haggling over the political interpretation of this point. However, it is possible that the truth is not so clear cut as innocent vs guilty but he got away with it. There could be instances that appear on their face to be conspiracy. Yet those events, upon closer examination don't turn out to confirm suspicions while still being unethical.

Barr is charitable in framing the issue as though Trump is a victim. He is to blame for there being a special council in the first place. Trump's opponents, however, are taking every point of investigation as proof of conspiracy that Mueller somehow couldn't nail down enough to please a court. But, when all is said and done, Mueller's team picked apart the evidence and found no conspiracy. Just a campaign delighting in his opponent's victimization.


Wittes wrote, "In other words, Barr is not merely translating the absence of sufficient evidence for charges into a crime’s not taking place; he is translating the crime’s not taking place into an absence of misconduct in a more colloquial sense. He is also using the president’s specific talking point in doing so. This pair of mischaracterizations has the effect of transforming Trump into an innocent man falsely accused."

However, Trump was innocent of the wild public speculation for two years; conspiracy. Unless we're operating on the guilty until proved innocent standard in which case no amount of investigation will sate that conviction.

At this point, democrats can only call Mueller himself to testify, because anything short of his commentary will be picked apart in the partisan struggle over message. The cynic in me wonders if even that would settle the furies.

Polling on voters souring on this sideshow may be more adept at that feat.






[Post edited by Hoo05Dave at 05/02/2019 2:54PM]