You are ringside to one of the greatest political brawls in the history of this country. And chances are that we are only in its early rounds. You will likely witness more bruisings, knockdowns and perhaps a knockout.
Of course I refer to the current Washington slugfest over Trump. In Round 1 and 2 the Trump haters roared out of their corner. They challenged the election. They accused him of colluding with Russians. They thwarted his every move. They appointed Mueller. They leaked. They threatened impeachment if they regained control of the House. Still do.
They struck some solid blows. A guilty plea from Flynn. Indictments of several Russians and a few guys who worked on the Trump campaign. Comey’s claims. Accusations galore.
Trump played rope-a-dope. Then, he and his supporters counter-punched. Highlighted conflicts of interest within Mueller’s team. Uncovered what sure looks like a plot to stop or thwart Trump. By top guys at the FBI and other intelligence agencies. Revealed what looks like their go-soft project to protect candidate Hillary from her email mess.
You are marking your own scorecard. Maybe you watch and believe CNN. If so, your card shows the Trump haters have won most of the rounds. You see Trump on the ropes. You expect huge revelations – haymakers – to deck him any day. One of his guys will flip and destroy him, for sure.
If you watch and believe FoxNews your scorecard has Trump trouncing his opponents. Wait ‘til the Inspector General’s report pummels the FBI, you say. Wait ‘til the agencies cough up those incriminating emails. Wait ‘til Trump declassifies the emails the agencies have been secreting. Wait ‘til we get special prosecutors to dig into the corruption of The Swamp.
Maybe you read stuff from the Left. If so, you figure Trump’s lies will doom him. You read that his actions are destroying our country. You know his impeachment is only one midterm election away.
Maybe you read stuff from the Right. If so, you may feel this is the greatest scandal in the country’s history. (As Newt Gingrich and Trump do.) You may suspect the Obama White House ordered intel agencies to spy on Trump’s campaign. Or knew about it. You may believe top Obama officials colluded to keep Hillary from being charged.
Whichever side you are on, you might admit you love this brawl. For selfish reasons. You love slugfests and murky intrigues. You get to watch this one, with its assorted villains, for free. Every day you get to scream at your television or laptop. “Did you see what these SOB’s are claiming now? Low blow! Those guys should be in orange jumpsuits!”
You might even love this battle for a reason to do with pride of country. You see, this is a very American fight.
Here, the fighters wield subpoenas. They force documents to the surface via the Freedom of Information Act. They pry admissions from witnesses before Congress. Their media dig, reveal, uncover and embarrass. America’s massive legal-political-propaganda-media machine lurches and grinds and digests. Little by little, swamped with spin, it coughs up something resembling the truth.
In most countries all this would never happen. Governments would never give up the emails. Agencies would rub out squealers. They would shut down media that revealed too much. Our government has inflicted nasty things upon Michael Flynn and other people caught up in this. But they are paddy-cake compared with what many other governments do to people in similar situations.
This fight will continue for many more rounds. It may be a few years before the judges make their decision. I have a feeling this ain’t gonna be a draw.
From Tom…as in Morgan.
Find Tom on Facebook. You can write to Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com.