Lux Lucet

Okay, okay, okay. I confess. In the two full years of the Mueller investigation, I’ve written scarcely a single word in this space on the subject.

That’s not an accident. It’s entirely by design. Not anything nefarious, mind you. The truth is, I’m bored by political scandals.

Maybe some of that goes back to my early imprint of Watergate. I remember as a kid constantly hearing about it for, what then, seemed like my whole life. Of course, since I was all of seven or eight years old at the time, the couple of years it was front and center in the news pretty much was my whole life. My understanding of it was roughly that the President had done something bad, and some old guy Senator asked some question about what the President knew and when he knew it. The next thing I knew, we had a new President, oddly, a man named after a car company, whose main attribute seemed to be a penchant for falling down staircases.

Now my boredom with Watergate obviously had a lot to do with my young age. But fast forward forty-five years, and, remarkably, my attitude toward political scandals is not all that much different. For my part, I’d much rather write about ideas than about the Mueller investigation.

That said, with the close of the investigation into President Trump’s alleged Russian collusion, I think a few words on the topic are in order.

For starters, I’m simply blown away how anyone ever could have taken Russiagate seriously. Not only was it bogus from the beginning, it was obviously bogus. I mean, when the whole basis for the investigation is a document prepared by some third-rate James Bond wanna be, paid for by Hillary Clinton, and peddled by John McCain, a document so unconvincing that even the New York Times refused to publish it, it simply proves the old maxim that a sucker truly is born every minute.

Perhaps a more serious point is the damage done to the reputation of the MSM. Donald Trump has called the Muller investigation and the media circus surrounding a witch hunt. And really, it’s hard to argue with him.

Greg Hunter is a YouTuber I’ve followed for several years. Although he’s now an independent journalist, his background is in the MSM, having worked for ABC and CNN among other news organizations. Over the past several years, he’s repeatedly commented on how the MSM is destroying its own business model with its constant anti-Trump hysteria. Where once the MSM at least pretended to be objective, all that’s now gone out the window. These days, it’s all advocacy all the time. And their advocacy journalism is starting to hurt their bottom line.

It would seem that the MSM, after years of abusing its position of power and influence, has finally jumped the shark with its attack on Trump. How is it even possible to take seriously journalists such as Rachel Maddow and, for that matter, entire networks such as CNN, and newspapers such as the New York Times and others when for two years they’ve breathlessly reported seeing Ivan behind every bush on the White House lawn. For two long years it’s been Russia, Russia, Russia, only to have the whole narrative blow up in their faces like one of Wiley Coyote’s Acme bombs. May they get the ratings beat down they so richly deserve.

And what about the Democrats? They’ve devoted the past two years to investigations, impeachment threats and legislative obstructionism. If we take them at their word, we’re going to get more of the same for the next two years. I wonder, though, will they really be able to follow through? Right new Adam Schiff and company are looking pretty silly. No doubt, they would like to get reelected, so one wonders just how much more effort they’re going to put into further probes.

Here’s a thought for the Dems, why not channel some of that boundless energy you showed investigating Donald Trump and actually focus it on doing something constructive for the country? I know, I know, silly me! Why would anyone want to actually help the American people when there’s so much mud to be slung and so little time.

Support your local blogger! As bad as the MSM is, independent journalism is enjoying a true golden age. I have to say I’ve gained a lot of respect for certain independent journalists on the left, who, in spite of their not being big fans of #45, have shown great integrity in the harsh criticism they’ve leveled at the MSM its handling of the Russian collusion story. Founder of the Intercept, Glen Greenwald, speaking of the MSM’s coverage of Russiagate remarked, “This is the saddest media spectacle I have ever seen since I began practicing journalism in 2005 and what makes it even sadder is to watch all the people who invested their journalistic credibility into what proved to be a complete and total fraud and scam continue to try and cling to some vestige of credibility.”

Avowed socialist Caitlin Johnstone noted, “The political/media class which sold rank-and-file Americans on the lie that the Mueller investigation was going to bring down this presidency were liars are frauds, and none of the goalpost-moving that I am sure is already beginning to happen will change that…We must never let them forget what they did or what they cost us all. We must never let mainstream Democrats forget how crazy they got, how much time and energy they wasted, how very, very wrong they were and how very, very right we [Russiagate skeptics] were.”

The big winner in all this is, of course, Donald Trump. And, as far as I’m concerned, he deserves it. Never have I witnessed so much hatred poured out by so many on one man. In a just world, such an embarrassing defeat would end many a career. It would also cause those who remain in positions of journalistic and political power to think twice before they dish the dirt. And it may have that effect. At least for a time. But for some odd reason, I doubt it will be for very long.