I have a secret to share: I think both the Trump and Biden classified document scandals are big fat nothingburgers.
It’s not that I don’t think classified documents are important, or that they shouldn’t be protected, or anything like that. If anybody outside the elite of the elite did what these guys did they would be toast.
But at this level? Does anybody think that a former VP or President isn’t a walking classified document already? These guys write their own rules, for good or ill. If either of them wanted to blow the whistle on anything nobody could stop them. Hillary Clinton did much worse and got away with it–literally taking hammers to the evidence, and everybody shrugged. Sandy Berger stuffed documents in his underwear and it was a mild scandal.
Presidents? People only care if it benefits them politically. So no big deal, right?
Well, MSNBC apparently doesn’t think so. They have gone into full panic mode on Twitter for some reason. Maybe it is just that they are a bunch of juveniles who once again thought they had Trump dead to rights only to find out that he was, once again, that wascally wabbit evading their Elmer Fudd.
Whatever the cause of their obsession, the “news” outlet has tweeted out 7 different things about the document story, whacking Trump, defending Biden, clarifying…you get the idea.
This is a really really big deal to them. For most Republicans it is a useful way to deflect from Trump’s document scandal and point out hypocrisy, but nobody thinks Biden will go to jail or anything. Most Americans barely care. Eggs cost too much.
But MSNBC has a bee in its bonnet for some reason.
Biden vs. Trump's classified documents, by the numbers: https://t.co/EWa1BPZQN4 pic.twitter.com/McFVmxCIcT
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 17, 2023
Oh, two could play that game, guys. Trump had the power to declassify, and Biden didn’t. Locked basement vs. Corvette storage. But who cares?
When it comes to Republican chairmen of the House Oversight Committee, the GOP hasn’t always sent its best. (via @MaddowBlog) https://t.co/U58TcIn9fO
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 17, 2023
Really?! Double standards from the folks who wanted Trump in jail because nobody is above the law? Are they trying to get a joke-writing job for Colbert? On this issue MSNBC shouldn’t be talking double standards.
Trump must have forgotten about Mar-a-Lago's numerous high-profile security breaches. (via @MaddowBlog) https://t.co/y86VIr8phN
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 17, 2023
Garage. Corvette. No security system. ‘Nuff said. Don’t even.
The appointment of a special counsel is helping feed GOP talking points, but in reality, the differences in the two cases are glaring. (via The ReidOut Blog) https://t.co/6zs1Dxjm54
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 17, 2023
I don’t even know where to begin. Merrick Garland? All I can say is thank God Mitch McConnell kept him off the court. You may hate ol’ Cocaine Mitch, but for that alone he will have a spot in heaven. The Special Counsel appointment was a masterstroke on his part because now everything is going to be hidden for years, and Joe will be dead before anything comes out. That is a fact. That is why the special counsel was appointed, and why Ron Johnson was so ticked that he was. All it did was hide the ball. Don’t trust me? Here is what the president’s lawyers said about disclosing info about the scandal:
Bob Bauer, the president’s personal attorney who has been handling the documents matter, has determined that public release of details on the investigation could interfere with the ongoing probe, which now rests with special counsel Robert Hur.
In his first public statement about the case, Bauer said Biden’s personal lawyers “have attempted to balance the importance of public transparency where appropriate with the established norms and limitations necessary to protect the investigation’s integrity.”
“These considerations require avoiding the public release of detail relevant to the investigation while it is ongoing,” he wrote.
The small circle of White House advisers who were aware of the case over the past two months – and Biden himself – have stuck closely to that guidance, believing releasing more information could potentially hurt the investigation.
The Special Counsel appointment was about helping out Joe, nothing more.
A memo to the GOP: The Biden classified docs story is an apple. Trump's is an orange. https://t.co/z28arq321R
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 17, 2023
Neither apples nor oranges. Lead balloons. Does anybody actually believe that a president or vice president doesn’t just take what he wants out of the documents available, whenever he wants? All of these people are famously bad with classified stuff. Bill Clinton LITERALLY lost the launch codes to the nukes for months.
If I were a soldier or intelligence agent whose future was at stake every time I touched a classified document, it would infuriate me to know that the top dogs are careless. But guess what? They are. And nobody says boo except for political reasons. So spare me the high and mighty “what he did is worse” stuff, because they all suck at this stuff.
Jessica Levinson: Neither Biden nor Trump should have been in possession of classified documents after they left office. These are the people’s documents, not theirs. But the similarities mostly stop there. https://t.co/45BRZheuR1
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 17, 2023
Remember when nobody was above the law? Yeah, neither do I.
A special counsel investigating Biden will likely get to the truth. For Republicans, that could be bad news. (via @MaddowBlog) https://t.co/Kl4wTGbTlp
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 16, 2023
This last evolution is too nice to ignore. The special counsel’s report will be years in the making, so this is pure spin. As is everything here. Nobody at MSNBC cares about these documents. Very few people care about either set of documents.
What they care about is having weapons to use against their political opponents. That’s it. And since MSNBC doesn’t even pretend to be a news organization except in name any more, all it is doing is pushing out talking points.
That’s fine if you admit it, I guess. Their talking points are pretty bad, generally, but whatever.
So why is MSNBC so apparently panicked about this issue? Perhaps it is because there is a brewing civil war in the Democrat Party over whether Biden really should run. It seems to be an interesting coincidence that these document dumps happened just as Biden was supposedly getting set to announce his reelection bid. Is it related to that?
I don’t know, because Democrats at that level don’t confide in me. But the timing sure was strange.
But newsflash: neither Trump nor Biden will ever face consequences for having classified documents. Politicians never do.
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