Tag: Mueller

Principle Above Politics: Conscience Is Forever

Bill Clinton was acquitted of impeachment charges in February 1999. The next month, I was in Washington, DC, attending a conference on constitutional history. It included a session in the chamber of the Supreme Court. I was thrilled to be there. Years before, while earning my doctorate at American University, I had worked in the Supreme Court history office and had even sat in on one of the cases presented to the Court. The thrill, though, disappeared as I listened… Read more »

Mueller’s Report & Partisanship

In the world of politics, the big day is tomorrow. That’s when the Mueller Report—with redactions—will be released to the public. Until now, all we’ve had is the four-page summary written by Attorney General Barr, and all it seemed to accomplish is polar-opposite reactions. Republicans jumped on the conclusion that there was no collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia. President Trump, in one of his multitude of tweets, declared, “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA… Read more »

The Media’s Not-So-Good, Really Bad, Horrible Week

Rarely does the mainstream media self-destruct as demonstrably as it has this past week. There are so many examples, I hope I can contain them all in this one post without wearing you out reading it. Let’s begin with the annual avoidance of the largest mass movement in the nation–the pro-life community. As it does every year, the news media practically ignores the thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children who descend upon Washington in the cold of January,… Read more »

A Supreme Choice Tempered by Moral Equivalence

Give thanks today for an organization known as the Federalist Society, which vets potential federal court nominees for President Trump. The latest Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, even with a few question marks in the eyes of some conservatives, seems to be a solid choice. Of course, Democrats were poised to oppose whomever Trump nominated; it didn’t matter who it was. This political cartoon makes the point rather well: Pray for Kavanaugh—he is about to go through one of the… Read more »

Play It Cool, Mr. President

Calvin Coolidge once noted, correctly, “I have never been hurt by anything I didn’t say.” If only Donald Trump would follow that wise advice. In the middle of some positive developments in his presidency with respect to policy (don’t mention tariffs, though), the ongoing Mueller investigation on Russian collusion and whatever else fits into that bailiwick continues to arouse the president’s ire. He can’t seem to stop talking/tweeting about it. Then he goes one step further in his fusillade of… Read more »

Every Secret Will Be Brought to Light

I’ve been letting this whole FBI-Trump Dossier-Russian Collusion episode play out before attempting to comment much on it. It’s always best not to jump into something in the middle while it’s all still a muddle. I naturally want to trust the FBI in the hope that it is fair and impartial in its investigations. It’s clear now that some agents haven’t lived up to that standard, yet it’s not an indictment of the entire organization, even if some people think… Read more »