Choosing a Scandal… and a Reality

The most fascinating thing about the era of President Trump, so far, is the degree to which it exposes our capacity to live in different dimensions of reality.  When that’s the case, the same new events manage to affirm people in contradictory understandings of the facts.

So, if you believe that there’s some major Russia scandal poised to take down the Trump White House hiding just beneath the noise, the president’s firing of the FBI director is an obvious attempt to move back from his inevitable fall.  That firing a single director could hardly accomplish his supposed objective doesn’t matter, because one can bridge the gap with the explanation of Trump’s ham-handedness.

If, however, you believe that the scandal is of a Democrat establishment trying to cover up its own malfeasance and take down a Republican president, with the help of a news media that is largely indistinguishable from the party, then you’ll be inclined not to fault the president for dismissing FBI Director Comey even if his intention was to stop the Russia talk, because that talk doesn’t indicate a serious investigation, but rather a misuse of government process to impede the administration and help its opponents.

My own view is that the second scenario is closer to reality, although I would fault the president for handling these issues in a way that generates noise rather than clarity.  For some evidence of the Democrat/media scheme, consider this tidbit, buried at the very end of a Washington Post article that the Providence Journal headlines, “Acting FBI director contradicts Trump White House on Comey, Russia probe“:

[Acting director Andrew] McCabe was also at the center of a controversy in the Clinton email investigation – the case that administration officials have pointed to as Trump’s basis for firing Comey. The Justice Department inspector general is investigating whether McCabe should have been recused from the case because his wife ran for a Virginia Senate seat and took money from the political action committee of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D, a Clinton ally.

The FBI asserted at the time that McCabe had checked with ethics officials and followed agency protocols. He also was not yet deputy director when his wife was recruited to run.

We’re not talking one small donation among many from McAuliffe — long known to be close to the Clintons — but a half-million dollars.  That fact, along with the decision of the journalist to hold this significant context until the very end (tacking it on as if in acknowledgment that it would be simply inexcusable not to include it at all) supports the idea that the real scandal (a noun that should probably be plural in this case) is an obstructionist establishment attempting to ensure that the people’s elected executive and legislative majority don’t actually manage to accomplish the sorts of things that they were elected to do.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in The Ocean State Current, including text, graphics, images, and information are solely those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of The Current, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, or its members or staff. The Current cannot be held responsible for information posted or provided by third-party sources. Readers are encouraged to fact check any information on this web site with other sources.

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