Robert Mueller, Rest in Peace

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director and Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller, III, who oversaw the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 that helped elect Donald Trump, died Friday at the age of 81 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Born in 1944 in New York, New York, he earned Bachelor of Arts in politics from Princeton University in 1966 and a Master of Arts in international relations from New York University three years later. Military Service in Combat: Mueller joined the United States Marines in 1968, serving in the Vietnamese War, where he earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After three years in the military service, he added a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1973. Mueller alternated as an attorney in both public and private practice over the course of his career. Public Service as an Attorney Starting in 1976, he worked in U.S. Attorney offices and in 1982 was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts by President Ronald Regan, the first of a series of appointments by both Republican and Democratic Presidents. In President George H.W. Bush’s Administration, Mueller was Assistant to the Attorney General, then Acting Deputy Attorney General and then Assistant Attorney General, in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. He successfully prosecuted terrorists, organized crime leaders and former Panamanian dictator and drug dealer Manuel Noriega. Mueller returned to public service in 1995 in the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia and then was appointed three years later the U.S. Attorney for Northern California. F.B.I. Director: Because of his record as a conservative Republican, President George W. Bush appointed him FBI Director, to which he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. Mueller served during the War on Terrorism for a ten-year term. President Barack Obama asked the Senate, which concurred unanimously, to reappoint Mueller for an additional two years -- the only person to serve more than one term as the head of the federal police force since 1972. His public service earned him the Thayer Award, the United States Military Academy’s highest award, in 2016. Special Counsel: Coming out of private practice once again in 2017, Mueller was appointed Special Counsel by the Deputy Attorney General in Donald Trump's Administration to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and particularly to prosecute any links or coordination between the Russians and the Trump Campaign. The appointment received bipartisan praise because of Mueller’s integrity, patriotism, lifetime of public service and conservative credentials. Mueller successfully prosecuted several Americans, including Trump’s campaign manager and other political operatives, as well as Russians, whom the Trump Administration sanctioned as a result. The Republican Special Counsel found that Russia had engaged in sweeping and systematic interference in American politics since 2014 and which was still ongoing, including in the 2016 presidential primaries to back Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries and Trump in the Republican primaries and general election. Mueller found that Trump had welcomed Russian interference, that his campaign manager had shared private polling with a Russian agent, and that Trump's campaign had numerous contacts with the Russians that no one reported to the FBI, and that the Trump campaign had at times expressed a willingness to accept information from the Russians harmful to the Democrats. He also found that the Trump campaign had coordinated its messaging with the release by a third party, Wikileaks, from which it was given advanced notice, that had been stolen by the Russians and provided to Wikileaks, which published the stolen information. Mueller’s findings validated the unanimous determinations by all seventeen U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the election, including to help Trump, and which were validated by the Republican-majority Senate Intelligence Committee, which unanimously issued a report concurring with Mueller’s findings. The Special Counsel determined that Trump and other targets of the investigation had illegally obstructed his probe, but because of a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting an incumbent president, Mueller urged the House of Representatives to impeach Trump for obstruction of justice. Trump and his supporters have misrepresented Mueller's findings ever since, claiming that the lack of a prosecution “exonerated” Trump, which was the opposite of what the Special Counsel said in his report, and that Mueller had found there was no “collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Russians, but as the Special Counsel was charged only with prosecuting crimes and no there was no federal criminal law called “collusion,” the Trumpist argument misleadingly hides the aforementioned coordination between the Russians and the Trump Campaign. Moreover, Russian interference in the close 2016 election was significant enough to alter the outcome, regardless of the degree of coordination between the Kremlin and Trump and his supporters. The contradictory vilification of Mueller by Trumpists and false claims that the Special Counsel had proven Trump innocent will never alter the judgment of history in favor of Mueller and his investigation. Mueller’s legacy of public service, both in war and as a prosecutor of criminals, and his integrity and conservative record, for which he was honored with bipartisan praise at the time of his passing, will be remembered far more favorably than that of Trump, who publicly celebrated Mueller’s death, or Trump’s campaign, administration or supporters, and inspire others to serve the people patriotically, honestly and bravely.

Trumpist Interference in the Hungarian Parliamentary Elections for the Far-Right Ruling Party versus the Center-Right Opposition

Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and other far-right Trumpists have endorsed the far-right, anti-migrant, autocratic, pro-Russian Hungarian ruling party in Hungary’s parliamentary elections in April versus the center-right TISZA opposition party led by Peter Magyar. Magyar is a European Parliament Member who resigned from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Government because of its corruption. Hungary is a member of the European Union, where it was driven from the center-right European People’s Party because of its failure to live up to its conservative principles, and is also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Yet its pro-Russian policy, and even allegations of spying on behalf of the Kremlin, have undermined those organizations' effectiveness in response to Russian aggression. The former Soviet satellite of Hungary, which had prospered after the fall of Communism, has become the poorest member of the EU under the corrupt autocracy and anti-migrant policies of Orban. Given the willingness of Trump and his allies to interfere in the Hungarian elections to back the Kremlin’s man in Budapest, we principled conservatives should publicly advocate for support for TISZA and Magyar.

Returning to Standard Time Would Be Better than Permanent Daylight Saving Time

As I do every year at this time, I advocate for the elimination of having to change the clocks twice a year. But there is a division on whether to eliminate Daylight Saving Time and remain on Standard Time, or the make Daylight Saving Time permanent. There is more legislative momentum for the latter, but the former is optimal. Nineteen States in the American Union have passed laws to remain on Daylight Saving Time permanently, pending federal approval of a similar law. There is also some support in the United States Congress for permanent Daylight Saving Time. Although it would eliminate the twice-a-year cost and burden of the changing the clocks and reduce some of the sleep deprivation and consequent physical and mental health problems and accidents caused by springing forward and falling back every year, it is not the optimal option for health reasons. Because Standard Time is based on the course of the sun in the sky, with noon corresponding approximately to the sun’s highest point in the sky, our circadian rhythms (the body’s natural sleep/wake cycle) are aligned with both with the sun and Standard Time. Disruptions of the circadian rhythm are injurious to health. Plus, the darker mornings lead to more traffic accidents. Therefore, although permanent Daylight Saving Time would be better than the status quo, a return to Standard Time would be better. I also note that our circadian rhythms are already under enough stress because of artificial light, which is one of many reasons to support the Dark Sky Initiative, in addition to reducing the disruptions to wildlife and especially to allow for better astronomical observation. Laws and practices ought to be promote all aspects of health, instead of undermining them.

The Trump Administration’s Anti-Migrant Policies Are Adversely Affecting Healthcare

The policies of the Administration of Donald Trump are adversely affecting healthcare, not only for migrants, but for all Americans. There have been instances when Administration officials have directly impeded healthcare for migrants, but mainly they discourage access to healthcare through the fear their policies are causing among migrants, including those present legally, and refugees. The Trump Administration has been illegally requesting from healthcare providers data protected by federal privacy law. As a result of the targeting of healthcare providers for its anti-migrant policies, there have been significantly fewer healthcare visits to doctor’s offices or urgent care centers, just as I had observed in my last post that church attendance is down because of the targeting of churches. As peoples health problems worsen, costlier hospital emergency room visits, which thereby increase the wait times for all other patients, become inevitable. The budget of healthcare providers has been negatively affected, which puts all patients at risk of reduced care. Furthermore, decreased vaccinations put everyone at risk. For example, there has been a decade-high spike in pertussis (whooping cough) in Texas, in addition to the measles outbreaks I have been posting about.

More Resistance by Faith Leaders against the Trump Administration’s Anti-Migrant Policies

Catholic clergy won a court case last month granting them access to minister to the spiritual needs of Catholic refugees, including distributing Communion to them. The Trump Administration had previously denied their access to migrants for ministry. Catholic Bishops have been complaining about reduced church attendance because of the Trump Administration’s targeting and harassing of Catholic Parishes. In addition to the one I posted about last year, more Catholic Bishops, including one each in California and Louisiana, the Bishops of all three Dioceses in Tennessee, and even a conservative Bishop in Ohio, are excusing immigrants from the Sunday obligation to attend Mass if they have a reasonable fear of being targeted by the Trump Administration’s anti-migrant policies. Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pontiff, declined an invitation from the United States to celebrate the 150th anniversary of American independence and instead is sending a thinly veiled message by announcing instead a visit at the time to Lampedusa, the Italian island south of Sicily that is a hotspot for migrants. Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance admitted that his calumny against the American Bishops that they were pro-migrant out of financial gain was false. Trumpist and other nativists and xenophobes have been accusing the Catholic Church of “human trafficking” for aiding migrants, even though ministering to strangers, especially refugees, is one of its religious duties. Last month, Jews protested the Trump Administration’s anti-migrant policies. More than 150 rabbis and cantors protested outside the Washington, D.C. headquarters of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of Evangelical Protestant Christian scholars and pastors signed a letter last month condemning the Trump Administration’s treatment of migrants. As I have posted, the Trump Administration has targeted migrants unjustly, including those who are present legally, violated due process and court orders, used excessive force against migrants and peaceful protestors, broken up families, violated the liberty of refugees who credibly fear persecution, and even violated the freedoms and rights of American citizens. Opposition parties, States, immigrant and human rights organizations, lawyers, business organizations and owners, and faith leaders have been among those opposing the anti-migrant policy of the Trump Administration.

American Catholic Cardinals Rebuke Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy

The Catholic Cardinals who lead the dioceses of Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Newark, New Jersey issued an extraordinary joint statement last month rebuking Donald Trump’s foreign policy. Their statement was issued in light of American-born Pope Leo XIV’s recent criticism of the trend by the superpowers (the United States and the Russian Federation) to use force to assert dominion that is undermining peace and the international order, especially when it disrespects internationally recognized borders, instead of relying on dialogue that leads to consensus. The American Bishops lamented the destruction of international relations, the use of war as an instrument of narrow national interests, the violation of sovereign rights to self-determination, and foreign policy that is partisan and polarizing. They reiterated the Pontiff’s call for a moral foreign policy that respects the right to life and religious liberty, noting that abortion and euthanasia undermine the foundation of every other right, and respects freedom of religion versus liberty-crushing religious or ideological purity. The Bishops also echoed Pope Leo's criticism of the decrease by wealthier countries in foreign humanitarian aid. The Bishops’ remarks were clearly aimed at Trump for his threats to seize Greenland, the self-governing Danish territory, by force, his focus on Venezuela's oil industry, and his Administration's steep cuts in humanitarian aid. The letter by the three Cardinals was issued only a few months after the United States Catholic Bishops Conference issued an extraordinary rebuke against the Trump Administration's immoral anti-migrant policies, as I had posted in November. And in my last post, I noted the Holy See’s declination of the invitation by the Trump Administration to join Trump’s “Board of Peace.”