The latest twist on the Russiagate scandal is Mueller's letter to Attorney General William Barr expressing "frustration over the lack of context and the resulting media coverage”.

We are being told by Democrats, the MSM, and late-night comedians that this is a big deal.

Do you remember the last time that "context" was a political scandal? Benghazi.



Much of the questioning and Morell's testimony focused on Morell's role in the production of flawed talking points given to Rice before she appeared on television and blamed the attack on an anti-Islam video.

"The White House needed the talking points to support their narrative that al-Qaeda was on the run," said Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, the committee's Republican chairman.

I'm guessing that Dems won't see the connection here.

Matt Taibbi famously wrote It's official: Russiagate is this generation's WMD.

He's 100% correct on that.

Taibbi also wrote The Press Will Learn Nothing From the Russiagate Fiasco.

On this claim he may be wrong. He should have said The Press Will Learn Nothing Good From the Russiagate Fiasco.

Let's go back to 2003 and Saddam's WMDs.

Remember that this was a Republican War first and foremost, and no one beat the drums of war harder than Fox News.

Fox passed CNN's ratings in 2002 and has never looked back. How did they avoid any backlash in viewership from it's promotion of the disastrous Iraq war?

It never stopped lying to it's viewers.



In a Public Mind poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University released Wednesday, more than half of Republicans — 51 percent — and half of those who watch Fox News — 52 percent — say that they believe it to be “definitely true” or “probably true” that American forces found an active weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq.

You can bet that MSNBC and CNN have learned this lesson well. They will not stop moving the goalposts and lying about Russiagate because all of the capitalist incentives are to double-down on the lies.

Speaking of lessons learned, Fox has made an industry out of promoting racist xenophobia against muslims. Well, Russiagaters have learned that lesson too.



During an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd on May 28, Clapper said, “If you put that in context with everything else we knew the Russians were doing to interfere with the election,” he said. “And just the historical practices of the Russians, who typically, are almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever, which is a typical Russian technique. So, we were concerned.”

The investigation and coverage has repeatedly turned to xenophobic language, yet it gets unnoticed. Which is ironic for a political party that is hypersensitive to racist words.

Fox News proved that jingoism and xenophobia sells, and MSNBC and CNN are following in their footsteps.

Finally, there is the lesson of why the Democrats will never drop Russiagate. Let's call it the Vincent Foster Rule.



In early 1995, however, Kavanaugh offered his boss, independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, the legal rationale for expanding his investigation of the Arkansas financial dealings of President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, to include the Foster death, according to a memo he wrote on March 24, 1995. Kavanaugh, then 30, argued that unsupported allegations that Foster may have been murdered gave Starr the right to probe the matter more deeply. Foster’s death had already been the focus of two investigations, both concluding that Foster committed suicide.

...His handling of Starr’s Foster probe helped elevate Kavanaugh’s career, but the lengthy inquiry enabled conspiracy theories to flourish and add to the tumult of the Clinton presidency. Once the Foster matter was closed, Starr’s office continued to investigate the Clintons and eventually veered into the president’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

... The Foster component of Starr’s investigation cost about $2 million and lasted three years.

Entertaining stupid konspiracy theories can both enhance your career, and be a political payoff if you keep it up long enough.

It also leaves the audience with doubts about what is actually true. At least one Fox News viewer still believe Vincent Foster was murdered. His name is Donald Trump.