Christianity Today Op Ed

[rogue06]

Tired of whispering from the sidelines, eh?

Wormtongue.

[Sam]

Wormtongue.

Do you ever find yourself embarrassed by what your online persona has become?

[Mountain Man]

No, Mueller was not allowed to share an opinion about whether Trump committed any criminal acts.

Sure he was. Ken Starr set the precedent, and there is nothing in DOJ rules that would prevent it. The dirty cop would have certainly made Congress' job much easier if he had simply laid out a factual case and then said unequivocally, "The President is guilty of breaking the law." But he didn't. On the contrary, he said that he could not conclude that any crimes were committed and then tried to hedge his bets with his "can not exonerate" nonsense, which is trivially true but only because no prosecutor has the power to exonerate. They either charge with a crime, or they don't. That is the extent of their authority.

[Sam]

Sure he was. Ken Starr set the precedent, and there is nothing in DOJ rules that would prevent it. The dirty cop would have certainly made Congress' job much easier if he had simply laid out a factual case and then said unequivocally, "The President is guilty of breaking the law." But he didn't. On the contrary, he said that he could not conclude that any crimes were committed and then tried to hedge his bets with his "can not exonerate" nonsense, which is trivially true but only because no prosecutor has the power to exonerate. They either charge with a crime, or they don't. That is the extent of their authority.

Among other differences, Starr was lead of an Independent Counsel, distinct from a Special Counsel and not bound by the same DOJ rules.

--Sam

[Jaecp]

Tired of whispering from the sidelines, eh?

Lol,

You guys know I have better things to do these days than pay attention to TWeb, right? I only came to check about the oped because I thought it might have spurred a couple people into self reflection. I doubt you recall out last conversation, but like, I don't need TWeb as a sounding board anymore. I only came back last time because Star mentioned there was a discussion about Portland and I wanted to provide some first hand accounts of a protest there was a thread about.

That thread basically had me write you guys off, as a group. Like, you're fine and I've never had an issue with yw, but I really miss the Rogue from 10 years ago that wasn't a paranoid lunatic because I used to really enjoy his evolution posts and it's a huge shame the guys turned into a nutcase :(

[Teallaura]

That's not what the word "adjudicate" means. In this case, Mueller's report stated that because of a DOJ opinion that the President cannot be charged with a crime while in office, the investigation did not proceed to make any judgments as to potential criminal violations stemming from Trump's conduct. As the report noted and Mueller heavily implied in testimony, however, the remedy for that lack of prosecutorial discretion is Congress' ability to impeach and try a President for corrupt acts in office.

Congress fulfills that remedy by drafting articles of impeachment and adjudicating the question of the President's guilt.

--Sam

I'm going to concede partially as I think I'm right but in a very narrow sense and that isn't how I presented it.

[Teallaura]

Yeah, it's not. Adjudicate can simply mean "to judge between", which is what the Senate is charged with doing.

You're supposed to be irrationally on my side - didn't you get the memo?

[Mountain Man]

Among other differences, Starr was lead of an Independent Counsel, distinct from a Special Counsel and not bound by the same DOJ rules.

--Sam

But the fact remains, there are no laws or rules that would prevent a special counsel from presenting his case and plainly stating that the president broke the law, which Mueller, as dirty as he is, tried to do in a roundabout way by declaring, in defiance of the role of a prosecutor, that he wasn't exonerating the President, thereby deliberately implying that he believed Trump to be guilty without having the guts or integrity to directly say so.

[Sam]

"Aside from the fact that Mueller was limited by the OLC opinion preventing him from determining that the President had committed a crime and Starr was not, the fact remains."

That's similar to saying "Aside from the fact that Hector has legs and Randy none, there's nothing preventing either from running a marathon."

--Sam

[Mountain Man]

"Aside from the fact that Mueller was limited by the OLC opinion preventing him from determining that the President had committed a crime and Starr was not, the fact remains."

That's similar to saying "Aside from the fact that Hector has legs and Randy none, there's nothing preventing either from running a marathon."

--Sam

You do love your straw man fallacies, don't you?

[Mountain Man]

Lol,

You guys know I have better things to do these days than pay attention to TWeb, right? I only came to check about the oped because I thought it might have spurred a couple people into self reflection. I doubt you recall out last conversation, but like, I don't need TWeb as a sounding board anymore. I only came back last time because Star mentioned there was a discussion about Portland and I wanted to provide some first hand accounts of a protest there was a thread about.

That thread basically had me write you guys off, as a group. Like, you're fine and I've never had an issue with yw, but I really miss the Rogue from 10 years ago that wasn't a paranoid lunatic because I used to really enjoy his evolution posts and it's a huge shame the guys turned into a nutcase :(

What's hilarious is that you seem to think you have some unique insight or opinion with which to grace us, when in reality, you're just as ignorant and nutty as our resident liberals.

[Jaecp]

What's hilarious is that you seem to think you have some unique insight or opinion with which to grace us, when in reality, you're just as ignorant and nutty as our resident liberals.

Lol, oh sweetie, you have no idea

[Mountain Man]

Lol, oh sweetie, you have no idea

This suggests that you're even more ignorant and nutty than I suspect.

[Cow Poke]

You're supposed to be irrationally on my side - didn't you get the memo?

I have to give the appearance that we sometimes disagree --- this was a rare opportunity.

[Jaecp]

This suggests that you're even more ignorant and nutty than I suspect.

Get back to me when you can tell the different kinds of leftists apart, you silly old man