Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, JULY 27

by A. Joseph Lynch
& Past Commentary of Dr. David Pence

THE WEEKLY BRIEF
MUELLER'S TESTIMONY DEBACLE 

As Robert Mueller testified before Congress this week, we look back at what Dr. Pence had to say about Mueller and his report on April 27, 2019:

There is no discussion in the [Mueller] Report of the foreign manipulation by British and Australian agents. They expertly "recruited" the shared hatred for Donald Trump by John McCain and Hillary Clinton. The British as geopolitical actors were understandably against any new strategic alliance between the US and Russia. That would benefit the US but greatly diminish British importance in the asymmetrical Anglo alliance. Christopher Steele got paid but his motivation preceded requests for opposition research. Christopher Steele is in the best James Bond tradition of British intelligence. He will take whatever pleasures and personal benefits come his way but in the end he wants to serve his country and hurt her enemies. He despises Russia and considered Donald Trump a foolish immature American who didn't understand the adult world of international alliances. The American politicians and intelligence officers he manipulated were no match for a man toughened as head of the Russian desk for M16 in London. The Russian dossier is a foreigner's disinformation campaign which had plenty of willing American megaphones. There is nothing so easily manipulated by foreigners as the small mindedness of party and government careerists - it's a bipartisan coastal elite character fault.

The Mueller report has laid out a case for impeaching the President for obstruction of justice. Mueller clearly explained he didn't indict Trump because of a Justice Department legal opinion that the way to charge a President is by articles of impeachment not indictments. He did say in a footnote that Trump could be indicted when out of office. The rebellion against the elected President continues. Mr. Mueller has never been a neutral. He has put forth the case and now the House is called on to impeach. The fact that many of us think the case is not only weak but ludicrous does not mean Mueller has not deliberately put forth an impeachment brief. The impeachment temptation may be irresistible for the Trump-haters. Even knowing the Senate would not remove him from office, the House Democrats could say the House patriots impeached but the Senate partisans covered up.

...Still we can take heart that things are much clearer today than before the Trump presidency. Robert Mueller will not do well in the light. Myopia and misdirection are the defining characteristics of Mueller's career in the FBI. Maybe it is some cosmic Karma that the FBI chief's stunning lack of interest in the Saudis after 9/11 was balanced by the Special Counsel's dragged out investigations of Russians after the Trump election. Mueller's inattention to the Saudis as FBI head in the decade after 9/11 is like Comey's whitewash of  Hillary Clinton for obstructing justice. The contrasts with how they treated President Trump make the ugly truth even more clear.

Mueller's testimony was stunning, but not because of any bombshells he lobbed at the President. His refusal to answer many basic question and his stammering response to many others left views with the impression of an inept and incompetent investigator. His lack of knowledge about his own report leads on to believe he had little to do with its writing. The man who testified before Congress was clearing not of the same caliber as the man who led the FBI twenty years ago.

Mueller didn't know what Fusion GPS was - the organization tied to the Steele dossier and the origins of his own investigation - and he refused to assess whether or not Steele was lying in the first place. He declared he did not exonerate the President, failing to mention the fact that prosecutors never exonerate those under investigation. He attempted to make a distinction between collusion and conspiracy, only to be rebutted by his own report.

Although Mueller refused to answer around two-hundred questions, House Republicans came ready for battle and scored an impressive victory for the President. If House Democrats wish to press forward on impeachment, they will face a unified Republican minority and and divided Democrat majority. We invite our readers to look at Pat Buchanan's assessment of the situation. 

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

MORE BRANSFIELD FALL OUT: Both the state's attorney general and the lay faithful are demanding answers to the corruption behind Bransfield. Archbishop Lori, who failed to report to Rome that he had received $7,500 in "gifts" from his subordinate Bransfield, has felt the money pinch from the faithful and announced an independent audit of diocesan accounting. Bishop Brennan, Lori's auxiliary bishop, will soon become Charleston, West Virginia. Will yet another subordinate of Lori do the right thing or will the corruption continue?

A CHURCH WITHOUT GOD: Why it won't work.

CHRIST CATHEDRAL DEDICATED: The Chrystal Cathedral is now Christ Cathedral. The cost to Orange county Catholics was a mere $130 million.

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

SCOTUS AND THE WALL: In a huge win for the President, the Supreme Court ruled to allow $2.5 billion from the military to be spent on the wall with Mexico. A legal fight continues, but the SCOTUS ruling indicates this fight will also go Trump's way.

DRAINING THE SWAMP: Trump may slowly be moving the government out of Washington D.C. The move of several offices has led to many employees refusing to relocate. Some offices of the Department of Agriculture, for example, are moving to Kansas City. The move will lead to cost savings for the government, reduced government employees in Washington, and more jobs held by Trump supporters in Kansas/Missouri. Another brilliant move by the President.

A GOVERNOR TO RESIGN: Corruption and mismanagement of hurricane assistance funds has led to the ouster of Puerto Rico's governor, Ricky Rosselló. Hurricane Maria has not proved to be Trump's Katrina after all. The question now is: can Puerto Rico get a corruption-free governor or is it doomed to elect another Rosselló crony?

MN HOUSE RACE: Danielle Stella, seeking to unseat the wildly unpopular Omar, seems to have been recently arrested twice for shoplifting. We hope the Minnesota GOP does a better job in selecting a candidate who should be a shoe-in on election day. With Omar's seemingly Salafist foreign policy positions, now is the time to run a candidate with a strong background in both religion and geopolitics. Meanwhile, Omar is paying back-taxes and fines related to her questionable marital history.

III. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

DETHRONED BEAUTY QUEEN: Miss Michigan, Kathy Zhu, was stripped of her crown over her support for Trump policies. She says its harder to "come out of the closet" as conservative than has gay.

CORRECTING MARTIN: James Martin has called for women preaching at Mass. Fr. Dwight Longenecker responds. We would add that much preaching in Catholic Masses are aimed at and worded for all-female audiences, often because women comprise an increasing percentage of Mass attenders. As homilies are directed towards women, delivered in a feminine-motherly tone, it is no wonder we are losing the men. What we need most of all now is the homilist who speaks man-to-man. It's the kind of preaching you'll encounter when prophets and apostles preached in the Bible.