Bob Kerrey: How did Department of Justice get the Trump-Russia investigation so wrong?

[Omaha Steve]

Bob Kerrey is a Democrat and former Nebraska governor and U.S. senator.

RYAN SODERLIN/THE WORLD-HERALD

By Bob Kerrey

The writer, of New York, is a former Nebraska governor and U.S. senator.

Delusions fascinate me in part because I have so many of my own. Most often delusions are harmless. Sometimes they are not.

At the moment my fellow Democrats are suffering from two that are harmful. The first is that Americans long for a president who will ask us to pay more for the pleasure of increasing the role of the federal government in our lives. That this is a delusion can be seen in the promises made by six successful Democratic candidates in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan: three governors and three senators. Not one of them supported the Green New Deal, a tax on wealth or “Medicare for all.”

The second Democratic delusion is that Americans were robbed of the truth when Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller and Attorney General William Barr concluded that President Trump did not collude with Russia in 2016. All evidence indicates that the full report will not change the conclusion that Donald J. Trump did not collude with Vladimir Putin to secure his victory in 2016.

Rather than investigating the president further, Congress needs to investigate how the Department of Justice got this one so wrong. If the president of the United States is vulnerable to prosecutorial abuse, then God help all the rest of us. Members of Congress cannot do this themselves. We do not trust them enough with such a vital mission.

FULL story: https://www.omaha.com/opinion/midlands_voices/bob-kerrey-how-did-department-of-justice-get-the-trump/article_7b68c700-f356-5cb8-8baf-bbbdc5375bf4.html

[ProfessorGAC]

1. He Has His Opinion

I have mine.
I think he's off the rails.

[Liberalhammer]

2. His true colors

Hes a rethug.

[unc70]

13. No, still a Democrat

May not agree with him, but still a Dem.

[dhill926]

3. has he read the report...

of course not....so fuck 'im....

[Jarqui]

4. The first step for Senator Kerrey, is to let us read the effin report.

Once we do that, then we can ask questions, etc about were to go from here, etc.

Until then, all Kerrey is doing is like what Bill Barr just did: grandstanding on something nobody has seen. Nobody can have much of a foundation on what Kerrey is talking about.

This statement is grossly inaccurate - an overstatement:

"All evidence indicates that the full report will not change the conclusion that Donald J. Trump did not collude with Vladimir Putin to secure his victory in 2016. "

The Special Counsel would not have been asked to look into it if there was no evidence of collusion.

The Special Counsel did not examine "collusion" legally because there's no law for it.

According to Barr, the Special Counsel's report concluded that it could not prove conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt - and that might be because of the obstruction .... That does not mean that there wasn't a preponderance of the evidence that supports the President's campaign conspired with the Russians. But again, we won't know for sure until we read the report.

Until then, Kerrey should stick a cork in it and focus his efforts on getting the report released.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. WTF

speaking of delusions

[Wounded Bear]

6. Letting his DINO flag fly, maybe?

Like I've heard elsewhere, if the report had actually "exonerated" Trump he would be tweeting it to us line by line.

#ReleasetheReport

[UniteFightBack]

7. Well wouldya look at this shit? ANOTHER FOOL RUSHING IN. nt

[JHB]

8. Cool story bro

[anarch]

9. sure, ok, then let's look into the details of the investigation

maybe starting with the fuckin report? Just as a suggestion.


In all of this, it does occur to me that not having some utterly damning evidence in the public view (I mean aside from everything that's already there and all--if the man himself doesn't convince you of his unfitness for office, I mean come on...), not having some clear indication that the bastard should be immediately removed from office and certainly can't run in 2020, etc., or at least such that even the staunchest of those GOP loyalists who defend him just for the sake of maintaining the party's power can't support him, leaving the party in shambles and basically assuring that the Dems would take over...

Without that--with the report unreleased, and "exoneration" being the official story, it pretty much sets up a horse-race again for 2020...which is really what the media wants most, when you get down to it. It's fuckin stupid.

[Pompoy]

10. He sounds like a Republican

"Delusions fascinate me in part because I have so many of my own. Most often delusions are harmless. Sometimes they are not.

At the moment my fellow Democrats are suffering from two that are harmful. The first is that Americans long for a president who will ask us to pay more for the pleasure of increasing the role of the federal government in our lives."

[scrutineer]

11. Hey Bob Kerrey

Why don't you go have a lonely circle jerk with Jeff Flake?

[Leith]

12. What a bunch of BS

The whole piece is nothing but warmed-over-and-left-out-overnight rethug propaganda.

Some posters above are focusing on the second "delusion," I will comment on the first. Please don't pass it over and mumble TLDR.

The first is that Americans long for a president who will ask us to pay more for the pleasure of increasing the role of the federal government in our lives. That this is a delusion can be seen in the promises made by six successful Democratic candidates in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan: three governors and three senators. Not one of them supported the Green New Deal, a tax on wealth or “Medicare for all.”

Nobody is longing for a president who will ask us to pay more for the pleasure of having more federal government in our lives. That is nothing but a load of rethug propaganda right there. Let's check in with victims of floods, tornados, etc. Has a single one said that they don't need or want FEMA assistance? Are farmers turning down federal handouts because they would rather lose their homes, land, and livelihoods?


Governors and senators may not have campaigned on the Green New Deal (it is being championed by AOC - who is not a governor or a senator), they sure did campaign on the pieces of it: the economy and the environment.

Did gevornors and senators even touch on a tax on wealth? There already is one for the middle class (property tax - a tax on the middle class's main wealth). Other ideas for a tax on wealth that have been proposed in the past are a penny fee per stock transaction, taxes on items like yachts, jewelry, stock portfolios, private airplanes, and the like. Those are popular ideas among the not-so-wealthy (i.e., almost everyone who has ever been alive).

One of the biggest ideas in the 2018 campaigns was health care. Medicare for all was just one idea out of many. I think Medicaid for all would be even better (show your card, get your treatment, and carry on with your life without further complication).

Kerrey has drunk the rethug Kool-Aid and found it delicious.

[Downtown Hound]

14. Release the full report and prove it or shut the fuck up.

Not interested in hearing anything else.

[kentuck]

15. I think I can answer that?

All delusions begin with lies.

Mr Trump lies. A lot.

He lied about his relations with Russia. Also, he refused to cut his business dealings with Russia, even as he was telling the Americsn people something different. Everytime a rock was turned over, there was another lie about Russia. It was an overt challenge to the Intelligence establishment.

Every time Mr Trump lied about Russia, he only assured himself that the investigation would continue. It is a little early to blame it all on delusions, in my opinion.

[moondust]

16. Sucker.

Falling for the Dump lies and victory lap hype over what may be nothing more than a tiny morsel of a coverup.