Back when the 1973 New York Mets, aka “The Amazins,” were making their very improbable run all the way to the World Series, team member Tug McGraw coined a phrase. It was “Ya Gotta Believe.” And believe the Mets did, going from last place in their division on a very late in the season August 30th all the way to a 4 games to 3 World Series loss to the Oakland A’s. Tug’s tug on his teammates passion to unite behind a cause was a winning formula.
So too it is in politics. Tell people something enough and eventually they will accept it as the truth and a way of life and unite behind a cause. Just a few months back, and several hundred billions less in debt, the US Senate held a hearing to either approve or reject Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. Quickly Christine Blasey Ford became the centerpiece of the effort to block his confirmation. She claimed a then teen Kavanaugh about 30 odd years ago attempted to rape her at a party. Where? She didn’t know where. When? She didn’t know when. Her friend that she said was with her at the party said she wasn’t.
It mattered not. You gotta believe her some said. Kamala Harris, Democratic Senator on the Confirmation Committee said she did. She is now a candidate for President. Others did too. Hawaii Senator Hirono went so far as to state that Ford needed to believed, she believed Ford, and that men needed to shut up. This was before the testimony to reveal any credible evidence. You know, everyone is guilty if they are on the wrong side of the argument until proven innocent. When the hearings concluded, the unconvinced of guilt lefties felt like yet another “victim,” who just came forward, needed to be heard. She was represented by the honorable, but now indicted for attempted bribery of nike, Michael Avenatti. Nothing credible came of that either. Shocker. Another delay.
Eventually Kavanaugh was confirmed. But, that was only after the delay and the narrative could be heard and heard and heard. After all, what better free advertising for the party attempting to regain control of both houses in 2018?
Enter the Trump Collusion Mueller Investigation. Enter Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee (House and the word Intelligence together, like politicians, make strange bedfellows). Pencil Neck, as someone calls him, claims to have evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians. Twenty-three months of Mueller, his cadre of lawyers, investigators, over 500 subpoenas and over one million pages of info requests of Trump’s team later, we have the Attorney General Robert Barr echoing Mueller that there was no collusion. And, Mueller stated no legal reason to think Trump obstructed justice. Barr said, too, that it fails to meet the legal bar for it.
Harry Reid said that he had evidence that Mitt Romney cheated on his income taxes. Give em hell Harry. No evidence yet. None ever coming.
“We need Mueller to testify before the Oversight Committee,” comes the cry. “Surely there is more to this,” comes the cry. “What’ll we do with all of these pitchforks and lanterns,” comes the cry.
We now have government officials asking for government officials to interview under oath a government appointed special prosecutor who investigated the executive branch of our government for two years and came to no legal wrongdoings. Ya Gotta Believe says Adam and others. Adam, show us your evidence. It was your civic duty, not political hay to make, 23 months ago.
Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good narrative it seems. Oh, and if we can keep this up till, say, 2020, we can use this cloud hanging over Trump to beat Trump, can’t we?
Seems like one party would rather try to win running on what the other party did wrong (ya gotta believe) rather than what that party did itself right. Right? Wrong? The American citizens lose either way.
