ArcaMax

There are many things to be depressed about these days, although they all boil down to one thing: Donald Trump.

One of the things that depresses me most is that Trump does and says so many outrageous things every hour of every day that we not only can’t keep up with them, we’ve grown numb to it. We have, and the mainstream media have, too. Trump’s strategy of “flooding the zone” works. If any other president said or did the same things he’s guilty of, it would make banner headlines and drive crowds into the streets. But Donald Trump says it, and people just shrug it off.

On July 22, for example, talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s request that the Justice Department launch a criminal investigation into whoever was responsible for the FBI’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election to help candidate Trump – which Trump still calls “the Russian hoax.” Who should be charged with a crime?

“Well, based on what I read, and I read pretty much what you read,” replied Trump, “it would be President Obama. He started it.” Then Trump rambled on, concluding a meandering response with these blockbuster words: “Look, he’s guilty. It’s not a question. … This was treason.” Which, of course, is punishable by death.

Woah! I couldn’t believe it. This might be the most explosive thing Donald Trump’s ever said. I couldn’t wait for the front-page New York Times headline the next morning: “Trump Accuses Obama of Treason!” Instead, the Times, like every other mainstream media publication, buried the “treason” quote in the middle of another story on page 14.

And, of course, slavishly following Trump’s orders, Attorney General Pam Bondi this week launched a criminal investigation into alleged treasonous activity by former President Obama. So much for Trump’s promise not to “weaponize” the Justice Department.

After nine years, we shouldn’t have to say this, but there’s not one shred of truth to anything Donald Trump, Tulsi Gabbard or Pam Bondi are saying. In fact, there’s no doubt Russia was meddling in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump. It’s been proven beyond doubt. Seventeen U.S. intelligence agencies came to that conclusion. So did a three-year Senate Intelligence Committee investigation led by then-Senator Marco Rubio, who cited “irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling.” And so did the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which not only showed that Russia was interfering in the election, but that the Trump campaign “expected it would benefit electorally” from it.

Again, we shouldn’t have to say this, but it’s ridiculous to blame Obama for starting the Mueller investigation. Mueller was actually appointed Special Counsel by Trump’s Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in May 2017 – five months after Obama had left the White House.

But that’s not all. In January 2020, unhappy with the Mueller report, Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr appointed yet another special counsel, John Durham, to investigate the origins of the Russian investigation for what Trump claimed was a “conspiracy” against him by the FBI, the Justice Department, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Three years later, Durham reported he found no evidence of a criminal conspiracy by Obama administration officials to sabotage Trump.

Add it up. The Russian operation to influence the outcome of the 2016 election was real. And Donald Trump’s attempt to paint any investigation of Russia’s involvement as a politically motivated attack on him is a giant nothing-burger. That should be the end of it, except now Trump has an attorney general who’s willing to politicize the Justice Department and keep the conspiracy alive – as one more distraction from Jeffrey Epstein.

Speaking of attorney generals, we wouldn’t even be in this mess today if it weren’t for Merrick Garland, Biden’s spineless attorney general. If Garland had not waited two years before pursuing Trump for stealing presidential documents and sending an armed mob to attack the Capitol on January 6, the cases against Trump would have been settled long before 2024 and Trump might even be in jail. Clearly, there was one former president guilty of treason. Not Barack Obama, but Donald Trump. And Merrick Garland looked the other way.

Democrats can learn an important lesson here from Republicans: When you’ve got power, use it. Don’t hesitate. Don’t worry about rounding up bipartisan support. Use your power to do good things. And forget about what Michelle Obama said. When they go low, don’t go high. Go even lower. That’s how to win.

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(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: “From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire.” His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod and on BlueSky @BillPress.bsky.social.)

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