Mueller report thread - Mueller testimony July 24

[Thatkat04]

This is going to change no one’s vote either way in an election that’s over a year and a half away.

Especially with how short term the memory of the American voter has gotten.

[Lourdes]

This is going to change no one’s vote either way in an election that’s over a year and a half away.

[Reaganfan]

This is going to change no one’s vote either way in an election that’s over a year and a half away.

If it pinned Trump to the wall, you red avatars would be saying it dooms Trump in 2020.

This report was so good for Donald Trump, it can't be said enough. It was good for the country as well.

[QAnonKelly]

This is going to change no one’s vote either way in an election that’s over a year and a half away.

Especially with how short term the memory of the American voter has gotten.

President horse in the hospital will charge the baby incubators or get in a fight with the Hippo again within a month and everyone will forget about this.

[QAnonKelly]

This is going to change no one’s vote either way in an election that’s over a year and a half away.

If it pinned Trump to the wall, you red avatars would be saying it dooms Trump in 2020.

This report was so good for Donald Trump, it can't be said enough. It was good for the country as well.

Lol no. I’m not some #resistance twitter type. I’ve always though Trump has about a 50/50 shot of winning again next year and anyone who thinks the Russia stuff is what will do him in if he loses is smoking something pretty powerful. His fate lays in when the incoming recession happens.

[Beet]

The Democrats have to keep the investigations going through all channels possible. Look what happened with the Benghazi investigation - it appeared closed in July 2016 before a big fat apple (which had nothing to do with Benghazi) fell out at the last minute.

[ProudModerate2]

This is going to change no one’s vote either way in an election that’s over a year and a half away.

We still have a year and a half of House Committee investigations on the Orange Clown, his son, and other related issues. The link of trump to Russia will not go away. At the very least, it will tease trump on his continuation to talk and Tweet about it, which will keep the status quo of making him look like the childish, narcissistic psychopath that he is. This will continue to hurt him up until election day 2020. Even just a small percentage of GOP voters and a moderate amount of (add'l) independents that vote for "anyone but trump," will go a long way.

[136or142]

This is going to change no one’s vote either way in an election that’s over a year and a half away.

We still have a year and a half of House Committee investigations on the Orange Clown, his son, and others related issues. The link of trump to Russia will not go away. At the very least, it will tease trump on his continuation to talk and Tweet about it, which will keep the status quo of making him look like the childish, narcissistic psychopath that he is. This will continue to hurt him up until election day 2020.

Likely a much more accurate thread title.

[GoTfan]

Perhaps Dmeocrats can attack Trump on things that actually are real, like his support for keeping the minimum wage as low as possible?

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Donald Trump just won re-election.

That depends on whether Russia decides to help him again or not, now doesn't it?

But given how useful he's been to Putin, and how he and the GOP have refused to secure our elections, you're probably right that Russia will once again hand him victory.

This is a wild idea, so bear with me...

But, what if it's possible that Trump wins reelection because he gets more votes in enough swing states to win the electoral college, rather than because the big scary Russians rigged the election?

[136or142]

Perhaps Dmeocrats can attack Trump on things that actually are real, like his support for keeping the minimum wage as low as possible?

Maybe we should wait to see what's in the report first, rather than just taking the word of a Trump employee.

[cinyc]

Russia, Russia, Russia!

Oh wait....

[gerritcole]

DELUSIONAL DEMS are devastated by the presidents exoneration. I’m sure they’ll start up a new witch hunt soon tho. The average voter is over the entire Russia collusion/ trump. Is illegitimate bullsh**t. Economy is booming and so are re-election chances

[Hindsight was 2020]

DELUSIONAL DEMS are devastated by the presidents exoneration. I’m sure they’ll start up a new witch hunt soon tho. The average voter is over the entire Russia collusion/ trump. Is illegitimate bullsh**t. Economy is booming and so are re-election chances

The economy is no different now then it was in Obama’s second term

[gerritcole]

DELUSIONAL DEMS are devastated by the presidents exoneration. I’m sure they’ll start up a new witch hunt soon tho. The average voter is over the entire Russia collusion/ trump. Is illegitimate bullsh**t. Economy is booming and so are re-election chances

The economy is no different now then it was in Obama’s second term

It’s trumps economy now!! I thought the tariffs were supposed to ruin the economy

[Del Tachi]

Any other president whose investigation led to dozens of indictments, including several members of his inner circle, would be doomed by this. Teflon Trump is going to spin the fact that he isn't personally leaving the White House in chains today as a win, and it looks like that narrative is going to win out.

Democrats have themselves to blame for buildingthe narrative that Trump was a Russian plant. 

[Bojack Horseman]

DELUSIONAL DEMS are devastated by the presidents exoneration. I’m sure they’ll start up a new witch hunt soon tho. The average voter is over the entire Russia collusion/ trump. Is illegitimate bullsh**t. Economy is booming and so are re-election chances

The economy is no different now then it was in Obama’s second term

It’s trumps economy now!! I thought the tariffs were supposed to ruin the economy

Ford and General Motors have been ruined by the tariffs.

[Xing]

Russia, Russia, Russia!

Oh wait....

Uh, the letter itself claims what we know to be true, that Russia DID try to influence the election. The investigation was about potential involvement with the Trump campaign. Finding no evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians doesn't change the fact that we know that Russia did try to interfere to elect Trump.

Now, Democrats shouldn't run on this in 2020, but it's not like Russia did nothing wrong.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Here are two ways I am looking at this report:

The measured, calm way: I am not going to make any excuses for the result that has been discovered. Mueller did his job to the best of his ability over the past two years and unfortunately, despite much of the evidence and expectations, it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. There was nothing that could have been done about it and it's better that he did investigate after Trump fired Comey, than if he didn't and we just let that slide. I always had a feeling that proving collusion with a foreign power was going to be difficult. This still doesn't mean that Russia didn't interfere with the election though, there is no denying that they did, especially with several Russian nationals being indicted.

Also some justice was indeed served for some Trump campaign staff-Gates, Manafort, Papdopoulos, etc. Also, Mueller seems to have tried to have his cake and eat it too with this report by leaving it up to the Attorney General to indict for obstruction of Justice or not. That was never going to come to reality though, considering that it's Trump's Justice Department. Furthermore, impeachment/removal from office never would have happened even if the result of the report did support that. So with that said, there is some small room to spin this defensively for Democrats in regards to Barr. They can, and should, definitely demand the full report being made public. But after that, Democrats, and he country as a whole should probably move on and be more cautious with their investigations, even when they're completely warranted.

Finally, I guess we should be glad that this dropped in March of this year rather than being an October surprise in next year's election or something. That definitely would have caused a Trump re-election. It's also fairly ambiguous this early on, if it will still even matter. A year and a half is a long time in politics, and Trump is capable of veering off course and distracting the country with more publicity stunts and scandals that will move the media cycle and national conversation. It's even ambiguous is enough Americans care now. It's hard to think they won't, considering the ubiquity of this investigation over the span of almost two years, but it's possible that it's only the partisans of either direction that care the most about it.

Now for my more honest, less wishful thoughts: I F***ING TOLD YOU SO! This report was exactly what I expected when I heard that there would be no further indictments. This is a travesty when it comes to taking how the mind of the average American thinks! My thoughts in the above paragraphs are not going to matter in the long term as long as Trump gets to set the narrative! He always does manage to do it and will undoubtedly do it again! Republicans may be saying "let's move on from this" but they don't mean it! Trump can remind us constantly about this and how much of a win it is for him and his party.

And as I have said before in earlier posts, it now delegitimizes future investigations. They are all partisan witch hunts now and surely lack the gravity that this one had. Democrats do actually have to move on though, and it kills me to say this because Russian interference and Trump's corruption still exists as problems. But this country is too short-sided and vapid to remember that when Trump keeps being human teflon. I am still adamant that Trump should have attempted to fire Mueller, that would have been a better result. Instead Trump actually does the reasonable thing and benefits from it! I told you, the guy is invulnerable, even though he shouldn't be! The way things should be and the way things are could not be any different. Accept that Trump got to where he did because of ow susceptible the average American is used to seeing things overly simplistically like he does.

This is a f***ing disaster, and it's not even because of the report itself. Like I said, there is some grey area within Barr's statement alone, but it's still not going to stop Republicans from declaring this a 100% win. As long as they can insist that they won, they won because shallow-ass American voters are going to buy into it. I swear, the Southern District of New York better not wrap up its investigation late next year, because that will spell doom for the Democratic candidate when he ends up exonerated in that one too. In spite of the many objectionable things Trump has done, he always finds a way to get away with it, whether it's due to apathy or having such potential crimes hidden well enough or delegating them to his patsies like Cohen. Trump wins again. Th country may not be the ones tired of winning, but I wonder if he is?

The Democrats have to be as masterful as possible if they want to win next year. They need to play it as safe as possible. They need to only focus on Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. To hell with everything else. I think the Senate might even need to be written off at this point. Beating Trump can still be done only because Trump still probably has very little room to grow in this increasingly partisan country, but there is a pattern of Trump always managing to squeeze himself out of situations, and it can, maybe even will, happen again. I don't see a recession happening, and I don't see demographics bailing the Democrat out. It's made even tougher because Americans don't actually care about issues or policy either. But either way, the best chance we had to be rid of him was in 2016, and this country failed that test. We're at a point of no return. Our history is stained forever and whatever redemption that could happen in 2020 still won't undo it.

Actually real quick, let me touch on 2016-that is a perfect example of how Trump and the right manages to get away with things. Clinton got exonerated too, but she suffered for that exoneration and to make it worse, Republicans didn't accept it and still insisted that she committed crimes, only for that to work! Some Democrats may be thinking that we should do these same thing, but the double standard is going to make us seem like the partisan hacks while the Republicans and their warnings of emails were just them being patriotic ethics watchdogs.

What a load of bulls***. I hate this country and I don't know if I can take another four years of this. The country can't either. If he wins again, this country will be even more of a reactionary "paradise" than it already is and the world will be made more vulnerable too. Please, everyone reading this who may even have the slightest inclination to vote Democratic, do so. It's not worth f***ing around. I know that the Democrats may not always be perfect, and I know that this argument often gets mocked, but what is there really to gain from enabling Trump for another four years? You can hate the Democrat all you want when they get into office, but can't we at least let that happen first?

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go do something else to keep my mind off of this. My mental health is in a very tenuous position right now. I wish I could receive a brainwash to gain the mentality of a Republican, it's probably so much less stressful...actually maybe not because then I'd perpetually feel persecuted and angry even when my side is winning. So maybe there is just no peace of mind when it comes to the current politics of our country.

[ProudModerate2]

Russia, Russia, Russia!
Oh wait....

You say "Oh wait" because you forgot about Flynn, didn't you?
We understand your error.
(President Trump’s former national security advisor, Lt. General Michael Flynn, was secretly communicating with Russian officials at the same time Russia was attacking our democracy. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his communications with Russia. His final sentencing and more than likely prison-time, will be decided very soon.)

[Suburbia]

DELUSIONAL DEMS are devastated by the presidents exoneration. I’m sure they’ll start up a new witch hunt soon tho. The average voter is over the entire Russia collusion/ trump. Is illegitimate bullsh**t. Economy is booming and so are re-election chances

The economy is no different now then it was in Obama’s second term

Then Hillary should have campaigned about it in the Electoral College in WI, PA, MI. They didn't feel the economic gains.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Perhaps Dmeocrats can attack Trump on things that actually are real, like his support for keeping the minimum wage as low as possible?

I don't know how somebody can spend so much time on a forum about a subject and still be so incredibly misinformed.

http://mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases/110118-digital/

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) November 1, 2018 – The Wesleyan Media Project has previously reported on digital spending in federal races this cycle. In this report, we show the frequency of issue mentions in TV and Facebook ads for the general election nominees in the twelve most competitive Senate races.

[...]

Not a single Senate candidate mentioned Robert Mueller, the independent counsel, in television or Facebook advertising.

[...]

Taxes are the most commonly mentioned issue on television (of the coded issues), appearing in 16.5 percent of ad airings. It is an issue mentioned frequently by both Democrats and Republicans. Immigration is the second most mentioned issue on television (again, of the listed issues in Table 1), appearing in 11.8 percent of airings overall (8.4 percent on the Democratic side and 16.5 percent on the Republican side). Domestic violence was mentioned in 3.8 percent of television ad airings.

http://theconversation.com/the-big-lessons-of-political-advertising-in-2018-107673

3. The election was about health care.

Even in a fragmented media era with a hyper-polarized electorate, advertising in 2018 shows that it is still possible to find agreement across campaigns on the importance of particular issues.

In this cycle, that issue was clearly health care.

More than a third of the record-breaking number of ads aired in federal and gubernatorial races mentioned health care, and the attention to health care as an issue only grew throughout the cycle, with 41.4 percent of all airings in the post-Labor Day period mentioning the issue. In total, 1.4 million airings mentioned health care and 979,249 of those aired between Sept. 4 and Election Day. Health care was by far the most mentioned issue.

The dominance of health care was driven by the laser focus on the issue on the Democratic side. A little more than half of pro-Democratic ads in federal races during the post-Labor Day period mentioned the topic. By contrast, the second largest issue was taxes, at 14.7 percent of airings.

[...]

Pro-Democratic gubernatorial airings also talked more about health care – 45.5 percent – than any other single issue. Education and taxes ranked second and third, respectively.

http://mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases/issues-110518/

We break down the percentage of ads mentioning six key issues tracked by the WMP. Health care continued to be the most mentioned issue in October, appearing in 47 percent of federal ads (up from 41 percent in September). The issue was mentioned even more in pro-Democratic advertising, appearing in 57 percent of airings compared to 32 percent of Republican airings (both percentages represent an increase over September which featured 50 percent and 28 percent respectively). Republicans were slightly more likely to talk about taxation (which appeared in 35 percent of their ad airings) than health care, which also represents an increase in discussion of taxes over September (when 32 percent of pro-Republican ads mentioned the issue). Immigration was discussed in 18 percent of pro-Republican ad airings compared to 5 percent of pro-Democratic ad airings.

Like, what's the point of posting on this forum if you aren't even going to be minimally informed about politics? Why are you here?

[ProudModerate2]

DELUSIONAL DEMS are devastated by the presidents exoneration. I’m sure they’ll start up a new witch hunt soon tho. The average voter is over the entire Russia collusion/ trump. Is illegitimate bullsh**t. Economy is booming and so are re-election chances

How many times are you going to repeat the (almost) same post over and over again.
You sound like a (trolling) parrot.
Do you want a cracker or something?

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

Donald Trump just won re-election.

That depends on whether Russia decides to help him again or not, now doesn't it?

But given how useful he's been to Putin, and how he and the GOP have refused to secure our elections, you're probably right that Russia will once again hand him victory.

Where was this collusion in the 2018 midterms?

Why is Russia ready to start Vietnam 2 in Venezuela? 

Source: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/russian-air-force-planes-land-in-venezuela-carrying-troops-report-1.7047639

[cinyc]

Russia, Russia, Russia!
Oh wait....

You say "Oh wait" because you forgot about Flynn, didn't you?
We understand your error.
(President Trump’s former national security advisor, Lt. General Michael Flynn, was secretly communicating with Russian officials at the same time Russia was attacking our democracy. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his communications with Russia. His final sentencing and more than likely prison-time, will be decided very soon.)

"The special counsel’s investigation was long, thorough and conclusive: There was no collusion."

Edit: That's not a direct quote from the letter. This is:

“The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 US Presidential Election.”