Perry Mason moments are a rarity

Perry Mason moments are a rarity

by digby

James Fallows: What history teaches us about uncovering coverups

The Atlantic writer says courtroom drama-style revelations are not how reality usually works – nor is hiding information in a democracy https://t.co/Z5SEByKxHE pic.twitter.com/7yyrfQxjUh

— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) March 24, 2019

I think we always look back the dramatic moments as the conclusive ones. He’s right. They weren’t. We remember John Dean and Alexander Butterfield as the turning points in Watergate, and in some respect they were, but really that cover-up was revealed over a long period of time and the cumulative effect of what we knew is what made those moments so dramatic. Ken Starr’s testimony in the Clinton impeachment hearing and Oliver North’s testimony in Iran Contra were big TV moments, but they didn’t change anything in the moment.

There has already been plenty of drama in the Russia scandal. In fact, there’s been so much of it that we are overwhelmed with it. But in the end, the conclusion to this scandal will be determined by what happens next, not what’s happened already.

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