CT Blue

I realize that everything I’m about to say has been said ad nauseum, but inasmuch as this is my blog and no one has to read it if they don’t want, I will proceed to vent.

First, lets stipulate that when people read newspapers, they often just scan the headlines, or read the first couple of paragraphs of any given article. Everyoneknows this to be so. It, therefore, behooves the press to make sure those headlines reflect that actual state of affairs for any given piece it chooses to publish. It’s simply not enough to put qualifying statements in the last paragraph of a piece.

Robert Mueller sent his report to Barr, and Barr proceeded to provide a “summary” to Congress and the public. Lets step back and recall some rather salient facts.

• Before he was chosen as AG, Barr wrote articles in which he essentially argued that Trump could not possibly be guilty of obstruction of justice.
• Barr was chosen to be AG precisely because Trump hoped and expected that he would do what was necessary to protect Trump from Mueller.

These facts, in the eyes of any but the most rock ribbed Republican, would lead one to conclude that one must be wary of any summary he would provide, particularly when that summary includes his own admission that Mueller felt there was evidence that Trump obstructed justice, and Barr decided he hadn’t after giving it a nanosecond of thought.

So why do all the headlines blare that Trump has, essentially, been cleared? Sure, the op-ed pages are full of caveats, but no one but junkies reads them. It’s probably the case that by the time one reaches the final paragraphs of these articles that it is conceded that one must consider the source, and that perhaps this “summary” might be somewhat slanted. Given Barr’s background, and given the overall mendacity of Trump and his criminal cohorts, the headlines and leading paragraphs should reflect that reality. Instead Barr and Trump got just what they wanted.

Have I said anything original? Nope. I’m even a little late, but that’s because I was away yesterday and couldn’t write this rant until now. Who knows, maybe if enough people scream about this we’ll see a change in behavior from our media elites.