The long-awaited Mueller report, finally released in redacted form, clearly reveals that President Donald Trump tried in multiple ways to obstruct the investigation. No surprise here, as much of it was in plain sight prior to the report. Seasoned prosecutors insist they have successfully prosecuted with less evidence of obstruction of justice.
So how does Trump appear to be in the clear? Trump, his enablers in Congress and Attorney General William Barr have declared the investigation over and refuse to cooperate any further. Any steps followed up by congressional Democrats will go through the court system. That takes time. Enough time that the election of 2020 will be upon us.
Consider this hypothetical situation: A Democratic candidate for president publicly declares, “Hey China, if you’re listening — find those Republican National Committee emails, and while you’re at it, hack the IRS computers and get us Trump’s tax returns. We’ll be ever so grateful.” Preposterous. But that is the hypothetical counterpart of the real situation for which Trump is being forgiven, and his enablers insist we must move on.
The Mueller Report affirms Russians clearly attempted to intervene, prompting investigation by the FBI. But now, Republicans are insisting FBI investigators themselves be investigated. Not only is this entirely unwarranted, it puts the FBI in the position of not following up future suspicious leads for fear of themselves being punished, depending on which candidate wins the next election.
Barr has clearly succeeded in doing what he was appointed to do: set the narrative and use his power to protect Trump. With Trump and his Republicans having framed the report and stopping any follow-up, Democrats have been rolled again.
Democrats are left with the ultimate solution; defeat Trump in 2020. It has to be resoundingly, lest Trump declare the election invalid.
Democrats have many achievements of which they should remind voters.
During the Great Depression, Democratic enactment of the Social Security program was a crowning achievement of FDR’s New Deal. It was denounced as “Socialism” by Republicans at the time. These necessary measures contributed to decades of macroeconomic stability. Recessions were mild and short lived. That is, until lessons of the Great Depression were forgotten Unfortunately, these lessons must periodically be relearned.
Rising incomes of union labor contributed significantly to a thriving post WWII middle class. The Keynesian fiscal pull of WWII defense spending propelled the nation to full employment prosperity. To make the goal of full employment official government policy, Harry Truman and Congress passed the Full Employment Act of 1946. Prior to the late 1940s, America’s armed forces were segregated by race. Truman integrated the armed forces in 1948.
During this time, interesting political coalitions blurred party lines. The South was exclusively dominated by Democrats, most endorsed racially motivated Jim Crow laws, which resulted in coalitions of southern Democrats and northern conservative Republicans standing off against a coalition of more liberal northern Democrats and moderate Republicans. In the presidential election of 1960, While Republican candidate, Richard Nixon, remained silent, John F. Kennedy reached out to Martin Luther King Jr. when he was jailed for his role in organizing protests. The major shift of African Americans to Democrats was due to white southern Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson. Through long friendship with his fellow southern Democrats and his unmatched political skill, LBJ muscled through the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is doubtful whether JFK, or even his brother Bobbie, had he become president, could have accomplished this historic achievement. The Civil Rights Act, legacy of Democrat LBJ, was opposed by Republican icon Barry Goldwater.
The act was followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, yet another remarkable achievement led by a white southern Democrat. As LBJ had predicted, the initial defection of white southern Democrats to the Republican Party soon became a flood. In addition to his accomplishments on racial justice, LBJ is responsible for another monumental achievement, Medicare. Republican Ronald Reagan early on lobbied against Medicare as “socialized medicine” that would end American freedom. Former presidents had toyed with health care issues. But it remained for President Barack Obama to make it happen. His success with the Affordable Care Act affirmed the old adage, “No good deed goes unpunished.” He and the Democrats got hammered for three election cycles over the ACA. Not until Republicans came within a hair of abolishing it in 2017 did the sleepwalking mainstream media, and a few Republican politicians, discover that millions of people benefit greatly from the ACA, pejoratively referred to as “Obamacare.”
Voters’ memories are short and young ones don’t remember. That’s the past. Relevant questions today are, “What have you done for us lately?” and “What do you propose to make our lives better in the future?” Democrats can win, but while Republicans play hardball, Democrats toss marshmallows. To win, Democrats must avoid traps, and get much tougher than they have been, lest they get rolled once again.
— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Saturdays in the Monroe Times.
