Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice, Wikipedia
Late last week, the New York Times ran a story about The Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein allegedly offering to wear a wire to record President Trump and his top officials after the 2017 firing of FBI Director James Comey.
This broke from sources familiar with memos authored by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. These memos claim Rosenstein offered to wear a wire to get information which could be used against President Trump to invoke the 25th Amendment and take him out of office.
Rosenstein has been the whipping boy for President Trump and his Republican acolytes since the start of the Russia investigation, which he currently oversees. Rosenstein has unequivocally denied the allegation stating, “The New York Times story is inaccurate and factually incorrect."
Many conservative commentators have since called for his immediate firing based off of this allegation. If one thing is clear, Trumpian allies loathe Rosenstein and have sought to oust him since Mueller was appointed Special Council to investigate President Trump.
While I have yet to see any substantial evidence of collusion, I believe Mueller should undoubtedly finish his investigation without interruption. We don’t know what he knows, so we cannot say with certainty whether its tripe, or in fact, Russia colluded with Trump to allow him to steal the election.
But this is what the outrage is about. Trump’s allies want any reason to fire Rosenstein, so now they have a wild allegation which, if true, is undoubtedly credible grounds for firing. The problem remains with this accusation that without evidence, it would be unjust and seem politically motivated.
In these instances we need to acknowledge our cognitive dissonance because tribalism is wrong, and judging wrongdoing is based upon the act, not which party is complicit in it. Everyone needs to be held to a unilateral standard despite party preferences. Restoring dignity in politics is the first step in uniting America.
If Rosenstein were to be fired, it’d be a huge mistake politically for Trump. It’d be seen as a cover up to suppress the Russia investigation right before midterms. His base would support him, however Republicans would lose support of many moderates and independents.
Rosenstein and President Trump were at odds since nearly the beginning of his presidency, making the right so quick to believe these allegations. However, unsubstantiated allegations do not deserve credibility without evidence.
This slippery slope has become more acceptable in this partisan moment of politics. With leftists, Kavanaugh is guilty of the sexual assault he is accused of, without any evidence, because we should “believe all women”. With the right, the Russia investigation is completely fake, and President Trump is unconditionally believed.
Take a step back, look at the evidence, and discuss the facts rather than running with any allegation because you refuse to stifle your cognitive dissonance. The court of public opinion has become a court of law in today’s society, and it’s making politics insipid.
gnesta@ramapo.edu
