In terms of the national interest, it all comes down to one line: Special counsel Robert Mueller's declaration that his "investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."

Yes, Mueller's statement that "while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," will fuel many partisan fires to come. But the bottom line, the underlying question of conspiracy, has been addressed in favor of America.

All patriotic Americans should be grateful. Had Mueller found the opposite, evidence of a conspiracy of collusion between President Trump or his officials and the Russian state, it would have precipitated a constitutional crisis, and a painful reckoning over patriotism itself. Vladimir Putin's Russia is a primary adversary of the United States, and manifests the truth of its ill-intent across the globe every day. It's time to address that reality head on.