After the 4-page Barr Report

By Roger Straw, March 27, 2019

OK, Attorney General Barr.  OK Rosenstein and Mueller.  OK Donald … I’ve had it.

We stood out in the rain here in our small west coast town during the Inauguration and in February and March of 2017, we stood vigil, stood strong here and vowed, promised, to remain vigilant against the corruption we knew would spew forth from the p****-grabbing narcissistic liar who took a near-majority of the nation and a fateful majority of the Electoral College down a hateful path to the presidency.  We promised to remain vigilant.

And we did.  And what did it get us – so far?

Every blankety-blank day, we watched the news.  Sickened at first – for maybe 6 months, then allowing ourselves for the next 6 months to laugh at the ludicrous shenanigans reported on the daily “Trump Show” on CNN and MSNBC…  Every single day for these last 22 months, we’ve tuned in and read the papers in print and online, tracked the indictments, the leaks, the investigative reports, the fact-checks and distillations of uncovered seamy stories and the ridiculous “presidential” pronouncements, one after another after another…

And it’s filled our brains.  And yes, our hearts have been strong.

We lit votive candles with Robert Mueller’s saintly image on them, fully expecting he would bring us indictable facts that, indicted or not, would lead to impeachment and removal of the malingering sore on our nation’s face.  Most of us took the advice of our truth-telling Democratic congressional leaders and were patient.  Wait until Mueller issues his report.  OK.  Wait.  Wait.  Wait…

And what do we get?  A Barr Report.  Bar none, the worst news of our 22-month vigil.  A whiteman wash.  An exoneration that promises a bump in electability for the ninny who holds the office but does not serve.

What do we get?  He didn’t do it.  No culpability in the Russia attack on our democratic election.  Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t obstruct justice.  NO WAY!  We’ve watched the evidence pour in for 22 months and we know that the Barr Report is a mischaracterization at best, a conspiracy of obstruction in its own right at worst.

Well, for a day or two, I seriously considered quitting.  Maybe move to Canada, maybe just retire and eat ice cream.  Think and act locally and forget globally.  Give up on my nation, a nation that was.  And yes, a nation born in genocide and raised on slavery.  A nation whose heart is spoiled, whose lingering hatred flows unstopped in bloody red veins.  It’s not just Donald.  What, 40% of us support him?!

For a day or two, I was convinced that only evil lay on our horizon.  War, civil and/or otherwise.  Reversal of human rights.  A wall to define a gated people, a wall to unwelcome the masses, a tearing down of the Statue of Liberty.  A stiff-arm to the world and to human kindness.

Yes, for a day or two, I was ready to give it over to Donald and FOX and Kellyanne and Rush and Ann Coulter and Mitch and Lindsey and the mercenary breath of Sarah Sanders.  OK, Barr and Mueller – you can have it.  I quit.

But today is day three.  And I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.  My time – our time – isn’t over yet.  We will swamp you in 2020, and meanwhile, we will remain vigilant.  And who knows, the Democratic House and New York’s Southern District may yet send you packing before then.

Watch out, Donald – we’re still here and we’re not going anywhere!