Mueller Begins Separating the "Wheat From the Chaff"

I made my debut in this newspaper on August 25, 2014, as a columnist representing the left-leaning views of its readers, all two of them.   I accepted this task with much trepidation and angst.  It wasn’t because my friends told me I may be “burned out,” but because I never considered myself a “writer.”   After doing this now for over three years, I had an epiphany.  I must be a writer because I have writer’s block!  

THIS ISN’T the first time I’ve had writer’s block, heaven’s no!  However, this time it’s very different. This is a weekly newspaper and my deadline is four days before you see it.   I have used my opportunity as a columnist in this newspaper to share my opinions on all things Trump from the time he walked down the escalator in 2015.  Now perhaps the most important news in this continuing saga of Russian Collusion is happening after my deadline.  The Special Prosecutor, Robert Mueller, makes his first arrest stemming from his investigation on Monday.  My writer’s block stems from the fact I want to write about THAT!  There is a myriad of other things going on in this country that is worthy of a column.  However, my mind won’t go there.   My mind is on THAT!

THE TRUTH is, it doesn’t matter who is charged first.  The real story will be in the aftermath—what will Trump and the lemmings on Capitol Hill do?  Last week we saw an outright conspiracy between Trump, his network FOX, and Trump’s Republican Party, to distract and divert the attention from the real threat to America.  Their brainstorming surely went something like this.  “Guys, we need to find something else to blame on Hillary.  We have so demonized her, people will believe anything if we just say her name.”  So, they pulled something out of their anal cavity that happened over seven years ago.  They say that Hillary is the one who actually colluded with Russia and gave Putin uranium resources.  Give me a break!  The uranium deal was approved by a nine-agency government panel and Hillary wasn’t even on the committee and had nothing to do with it.  But in Trump and FOX style, say it enough times, regardless of how ridiculous it is, and people will buy it hook, line, and sinker.

NOW TRUMP offers up proof that Hillary is the real “Russian Colluder” by pointing to the fact her campaign helped to pay for the infamous dossier.  The dossier was first commissioned by a Republican candidate for President.  When Trump became the nominee and they lost their funding, the company, GPS Fusion, approached Clinton’s lawyer and offered them the opportunity to continue the investigation.  Of course, they accepted.  That was authentic opposition research.  When the Russian’s offered the Trump campaign dirt on Hillary, they accepted, too, and said it was opposition research.  They admitted doing exactly what they are accusing Hillary of doing.  Except there’s a major difference between Fusion GPS and Russian agents.  Accepting information from a foreign government is “collusion,” not classified as opposition research.  Besides, ask yourself the common-sense question—Why would Hillary collude with Russia to lose the election?   

BY THE time you read this, FOX News’ Hannity, Carlson, and Pirro will ramp up their rhetoric to a fever pitch.  There will be calls for firing of Robert Mueller.  The Republicans on Capitol Hill will not only dance around the subject, but do a jig around it.  They will tell you they are only interested in doing tax reform for YOU.  The truth is, they are only interested in preserving their own power.  Trump’s tweets will become more insistent in having you believe his lies, and will become more desperate.  On Sunday he tweeted a long diatribe about Hillary Clinton and then said, “Do something!”  Coincidently, that’s the same thing I yell every day— “Do something!”

THERE’S AN old nursery rhyme that keeps me going and gives me hope.  “All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Trumpty Dumpty back together again.”  

SPECIAL ELECTION day in Monroe County is in a week, Tuesday, November 7^th.  As a resident of the Fourth Commission District, this is perhaps the most important election affecting the future of our district and our county in my 18 years of living here.  

I HAVE never been outspoken in my column about any particular local candidate, especially a Republican.  However, this election is too important to stay silent.  I know George Emami from my church as a hardworking Deacon.  I know him to be a man of faith and grace.  I have never had a political conversation with him.  I only know him to be dedicated to all his endeavors, whether it be his realty business or his service to his community.  And, I think it’s time we had some younger people on the Commission with fresh approaches and ideas.  If you live in the 4^th District, it’s your civic duty to vote and make your voice heard.