The Mueller Report thread

[Belsnickel]

(05-02-2019, 11:16 AM)Dill Wrote: Certainly Dems would "Dance around with language in a way that obfuscates but is not a lie." Or in extreme cases even lie. Think of Bill's non-cooperation with the Starr investigation at times.

But this is not the usual/normal obfuscation, is it?  Barr is arguing the president can order people to lie to investigators. He has argued the president can quash an investigation into himself if he thinks he is innocent. He is ok with the president praising a felon for not cooperating with law enforcement. He is illegally withholding a document from Congress and trying to redefine that as legal.

This is about a redefinition of legal norms and standards. Neither Hillary nor Obama nor Biden nor Warren nor Bernie would be doing this.

Bothsidesism here only normalizes what is happening, makes these extraordinary legal arguments and maneuvers seem ordinary.

I think that there has been an escalation in this behavior over the years. With each administration we see it growing in a way that is intended to shift more power to the Executive. I do think this behavior is extraordinary, but that is why I said "same sort of thing." I don't think it would be the same, but similar. I side with Democrats because my policy preferences more often align with them, not because I have any sort of faith in their holding of a moral high ground with things like this.