Ok, I am not going to lie. I had vivid fantasies of Trump being led out of the White House in handcuffs upon the release of the Mueller report. That, of course, was a complete fantasy that could not come true under any plausible set of circumstances. But hey, I did spend some time living in Illinois, where heads of executive branch doing perp walks and serving real jail time is a thing. But Bob Mueller has spoken. For two years I’ve said and believed that Mr. Mueller is a hardworking, honorable public servant who has nothing in his history that would suggest that his integrity or loyalty to his country should be questioned. I continue to believe all this about Mr. Mueller. I believe that his investigation was conducted to the best of his ability with utmost integrity and competency.
Now, based on Mueller’s report we know that a hostile foreign power has interfered in our most sacred institution, our elections. The interference was undoubtedly undertaken to ensure the victory by Trump. Whether Trump conspired with Russia to win the election or not (according to Mueller, he did not), the question remains, why did hostile power want to ensure that Trump occupies the White House. One obvious argument is that Putin had a grudge against Hillary Clinton and this was his way to get revenge. I think that Putin is much more strategic than to spend time and energy on petty revenge. I believe his motivation for installing Trump was to inflict real, long lasting damage to our country. The question that neither Mueller, nor any of our institutions have answered is what is that damage. Just because Tump did not collude to win, does not mean he is not Putin’s asset. Mueller has concluded that Trump did not commit this one very particular crime (actually the crime that was investigated is that of conspiracy, collusion is not a crime). Nothing in Mueller’s report and conclusions indicates that Trump did not (or is not continuing to) commit other crimes. All the acts that were undertaken and brought to light partly by the Mueller investigation, like meetings with Russian operatives, continuing to do business in Russia (something not really possible without consent and involvement of political powers in the country) long and deep into campaign, etc, etc and the lying and denying ties and deep relationships with Russia, they all happened. Not having committed a crime should be a minimum price of entry to be a presidential contender, not a conclusive referendum on the fitness to serve in the most powerful office (or at least it used to be) in the world. But where do we go from here? Having Mueller report become a lightening rod for impeachment was a fantasy. He was never going to save us from this burning garbage dumpster of a presidency. A different conclusion in the report would have just made us feel good. Ensuring that our institutions function, preserving our democracy, and ensuring that only the most worthy, competent people focused on serving our nation and its people get to serve our nation is dependent on honorable men and women protecting these institutions. Unfortunately, we are at a point in history when there is a distinctive shortage of honorable men and women willing to stand up for our institutions even if it might cost them their agenda or personal loss of political power. So where we go from here is to a place of finding and supporting people who are willing and able to restore our institutions and ensure that our democracy prevails, at any cost. The reason Putin wanted Trump in the White House is that he knew that Trump will weaken our country, possible irreparably. This was Putin’s Trojan Horse and we took it without batting an eye, and now we are being destroyed from inside. We need to make sure that we are as laser focused on ensuring that people are willing and able to protect our democracy and institutions our founding fathers deemed imperative for a functioning democracy get elected as the other side was on installing people who can implement their agenda. And just like the other side was willing to elect a philandering, immoral incompetent in pursuit of a religious agenda, we might have to compromise to ensure we are able to advance our agenda. The difference is that our agenda is actually supported by the majority of the country. Our agenda is focused on ensuring that people’s rights and livelihoods are expanded and protected as opposed to restricted and curtailed. But moral superiority does not win elections . A unified goal with everyone focused on the agenda and victory is what gets us there. And that requires us to make compromises (it needs to stop being a dirty word), to prioritize agenda items and get unified behind these priorities (and as sweet as the thought might be, putting Trump to jail is probably not one of these priorities, we literally have bigger fish to fry). We might need to recognize that politicians that could deliver real progressive change are not angels and may have made mistakes in the past and acted in ways that are not appropriate, especially from today’s vantage point. We might have to recognize and admit that not all inappropriate behavior is created equal. If we fail to apply these principles and focus on winning elections, we will continue to exercise righteous outrage while we watch children gunned down, immigrants abused, voters’ rights eroded, access to medical care become a luxury unafforded by most, all safety nets eroded, and other side’s agenda flourishing. We will see our country destroyed and gutted from inside.