It Wasn’t the Russians- Hillary Lost!

Dear Editor: 

In last week’s Letters, Joan Mettler was right to say it is inappropriate to gloat over the Mueller report’s conclusions but she then proceeded to demonstrate the “collusion delusion” Harold Paez wrote about a week earlier. 

Beyond being weak on the facts, Ms. Mettler seems committed to the desperate hope there is a “smoking gun” in the Mueller report and that Attorney General Barr is trying to hide it. If you have read anything about Barr (and his relationship with Mueller), you know that idea is nonsensical. 

When the Mueller report is made public, I hope Ms. Mettler and others in the MSNBC/CNN crowd will finally acknowledge that candidate Trump did not conspire with the Russians to steal the 2016 election. What the report will show is a lot of embarrassing behavior. Donald Trump has lived his professional life surrounded by people (himself included) who are ethically and morally challenged. The six Trump-relevant Mueller indictments (Manafort, Cohen, Flynn, etc.) speak for themselves. And they speak of wonton avarice, not treason. 

Of course, Ms. Mettler completely ignored Dr. Paez’s larger and more important point: The national new media has abandoned its vital role as an objective source of information. When I was growing up, the Fourth Estate was filled with giants; patriots who spoke truth to all without indulging their personal political biases. 

Now, news people like Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon and institutions like the New York Times have betrayed their integrity and their professional responsibility to become key players in “The Resistance.” It doesn’t matter what you think of Donald Trump (or any particular President). When our free press forgoes truth, pursues a political agenda and stokes divisions among the citizenry, it is a terrible blow against American democracy. 

I join Dr. Paez in urging people to challenge their entrenched positions. Escape the binary “we’re good, they’re bad” trap. Only by working together can we approach our nation’s highest aspirations. 

PAUL KING