Where’s the Beef?

At The Federalist Saritha Prabhu thinks she’s being “gaslighted“:

By Saritha Prabhu
MAY 24, 2018
I am an ordinary voter living far from the Beltway who feels gaslighted by our political and media establishments regarding the Russia investigation. Our current Yanny versus Laurel political moment is probably confusing even for professional political commentators. But for ordinary Americans it is a bewildering, disorienting spectacle.

Which is it: Is Donald Trump a threat to the republic, or is the deep state the threat? Was the Russia investigation legit, or was it concocted by an out-of-control Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency? Was it an FBI “informant,” or was it a “spy”?

Has America become Venezuela, as Republicans say, because the Obama administration spied on the campaign of a political adversary? Or has it become Venezuela, as Democrats say, because our current president is attacking his investigators?

The answers to the above questions depend on which camp one is in. In our hyperpartisan times, each side has its own narrative.

Read the whole thing.

I continue to support Robert Mueller’s investigation but, as the late Mayor Daley used to say, let’s look at the record. So far no compelling evidence has been produced that a single vote was cast fraudulently or even one voter convinced by Russian meddling in our elective process. Might it have happened? Sure. But the preponderance of the evidence available publicly fails to support it.

The Mueller investigation has produced a handful of indictments, mostly on charges arising from the investigation itself. Might those who lied to federal investigators have been concealing collusion with the Russians? Sure. But the preponderance of the evidence available publicly fails to support it.

To date no compelling evidence has been produced of a criminal conspiracy between Donald Trump and the Russian government to swing the election in his favor. Might it have happened? Sure. But the preponderance of the evidence available publicly fails to support it.

There are some who want the investigation to continue as long as the Trump Administration does in retaliation for overreach on the part of Republicans during Bill Clinton’s presidency or Barack Obama’s presidency or both. As Ms. Prabhu notes, that is not a “good look” for Democrats. They’re ignoring similar behavior by Democrats during the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and W. Bush presidencies. Rather than seeking revenge why not model the behavior you’d like to see in others? Do-unto others, etc.? The maxim of reciprocity goes back at least 4,000 years. It is traditional wisdom that continues to be valid.