Ed: With good weather upon us and plenty of things to do out and about, we thought our readers’ interest would swing away from things political. Boy, were we wrong:
Dear Editor:
While much of the national obsession with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report continues to rage I find myself growing weary of the argument after sliding towards an inevitable truth: Russia wanted then-candidate Trump in place as president and the man himself was surprised to find he’d been elected.
Although Mr. Mueller found no smoking gun in regard to collusion between the Russians and the Trump Team, his work gave oxygen to the slowly burning trash fire of circumstantial evidence that has given the country – or that part of the country interested enough to look – insight into a man uniquely unqualified to lead a lawful business, much less a nation.
Despite the president’s own braying and the carefully scripted commentary of his enablers, Mr. Mueller’s report flatly declares that investigators could not clear Mr. Trump of obstruction of justice and describes in detail 10 episodes in which the wannabe New York Mob Boss tried to undercut the investigation – including a particularly revealing comment supposedly uttered when he first learned he was under investigation.
Our leader’s claim of no obstruction, like so much of what he repeats and tweets, is as absurd as it is false.
Ray Fields, San Ramon
Family Feud
Editor:
It was clear even without the release of the Mueller Report that Russia was busy messing with our 2016 presidential election (something we admittedly have done ourselves to other countries with varying degrees of success).
Despite the fact that our own hands are far from clean when it comes to international hacking and dirty trickery I was amazed at how successful a campaign the Russians were actually able to wage against us.
The lengths to which Putin, Russian, and the GRU were willing to go in order to divide the country and put a willing stooge in command have now been made clear. The extent of their campaign’s success to divide us is becoming clearer with time.
Although we have been alerted to the vulnerabilities of our election systems and who is playing with it, this country seems unwilling or unable to understand that foreign disinformation campaigns aimed at confusing voters and inciting conflict was very much in play. Slogans and catch phrases we once heard only at the most strident political rallies have gone mainstream, with people wearing “Better Red Than Democrat” t-shirts with apparent pride and more than a little conviction.
These beliefs have become entrenched, with more than one family dinner or outing utterly ruined because of the expressed political beliefs of certain family members – each of whom is equally convinced that they are right and the other party wrong.
Currently, I feel great harm is being done to the county and that Congress and the states have a very short window of time to address election security vulnerabilities prior to the 2020 presidential election.
John Ostermann , Walnut Creek
LET’S GO OAKLAND! Summer is coming… not to late to book those summer vacations. Travel safely and have a great time!
Too true! Oakland is THE undiscovered place for summer fun! The new zoo is amazing, and at night, street side shows are great fun for family and friends alike.
I thought I saw you at the latest side show. Talking politics the entire time. No need for OPD when a political discussion will have the same effect – and save the taxpayers money.
Yes – those family dinners can get a little dramatic sometimes….. especially when Uncle Jim flies in from Dallas.
Fatigued is a good word. I’m tired of the whole thing. It showed us how deeply flawed our system is – and who it favors. We’ll see what happens when the people speak next.
Edit: “too late.”
Seriously… there is a wise old saying. There are three subjects you shouldn’t discuss in polite company. Two of them – politics and religion. It’s too divisive, and it can destroy friendships and family relationships. It does ruin gatherings. Why would you want to? It can also get you fired at work – or alienate your colleagues. If you insist on discussing – find an anonymous political blog. Or blog anonymously on a new site. Who cares what Bob in Lafayette thinks of your political opinions. Your family, friends and colleagues might not grant you that some courtesy.
I keep waiting for the country to wake up and realize what they’ve done and then do something before it gets any worse but no – it just keeps getting worse.
abre los ojos…abre los ojos…abre los ojos…
All nightmares end eventually. This one will too
All nightmares do end eventually– often, historically speaking, in tragedy. We have less than a decade to make monumental changes to the way we live on this planet or face runaway climate disruption. This is perhaps the worst consequence of electing an anti-science administration. Far too many Americans are in a state of deeply frozen denial about this. At this late stage of the game, NOT talking about some of these things will, not so long from now, be murder. The debate on this is over and denial or reliance on junk science is not the strategy of a thriving country, it is the strategy once used by Easter Island. As it stands, Trump has a better than 50% chance of winning reelection unless the Democrats offer the country something substantially different– a positive vision of the future that does not rely upon the failed business as usual neoliberalism they have been preaching for the last forty years or so– and that has led to the inequality and rage that has permeated our country. But the Democrats are superb at doubling down on failure…
Agree.
“Each of whom is equally convinced that they are right and the other party wrong.” The far left and far right are equally holier than thou in their political opinions. The reasons most Americans are moderates who couldn’t care less about politics. Politics are toxic, and political people can be very toxic as well. I’m saddened that people don’t understand this. Or maybe they do, and they just don’t care.
Most Americans support Medicare for all. Most Americans support expanding not cutting Social Security. Most Americans believe that the rich should pay more taxes and most believe in a $15/hr minimum wage. Most Americans are not political– they are concerned with actual issues. Most Americans can not cover a $1000 unexpected expense and nearly half can’t come up with $400 to pay it. Most Americans are concerned with the vast and toxic inequality that is defining our broken society and our broken age. Oh, and most Americans believe Climate Change is a serious issue that government ought to be dealing with rather than leaving the whole catastrophic mess to your children to deal with. Most Americans still believe in science and most still hope that one day we can restore the American Dream and make it available to everyone instead of an overly entitled few. There is no such thing as a “moderate”. It’s just a lame rhetorical device that obviates away from the actual issues that people DO care about.