If you are looking for a short, entertaining explainer of this Susan Rice “unmasking” email flap, I recommend this one from Tim Miller of the Bulwark. It’s a really stupid pseudo-scandal but what do we expect?
I thought this part about how the right is dealing with the act that there’s nothing there was quite interesting:
The same people who tried to help the administration fabricate this scandal in the first place remain undaunted by the fact that the email release debunks their own conspiracy theory. Instead, they’re steaming full speed ahead as if nothing had happened. For instance, the Federalist summarizes the email as proof that Flynn was “personally targeted” in the meeting. That’s a tough case to make, since the email shows the opposite. So the Federalist piece references neither Obama requesting the investigation be done “by the book” nor the sentence where Obama specifically suggests that nothing should change unless he is briefed again.
Ted Cruz took the Federalist article and ran with it, tweeting that the leak proves that there was “ongoing spying” of the incoming POTUS directed by President Obama. Even though there is no discussion of spying in the email. Or even in the Federalist article.
It’s like a game of Infowars telephone.
A twitter troll helpfully translated for me what Cruz was probably alleging here: It turns out some people are under the impression that intelligence officials listening to a call with a Russian agent is “spying.” You know whose calls to Russian agents are spied on, particularly in the weeks following an attack on our elections? Everyone’s! It doesn’t matter your politics, race, or creed. Surely you would imagine someone who used to be . . . checks notes . . . director of the Defense Intelligence Agency for Barack Obama would be aware that these calls may be monitored!
Meanwhile Lyin’ Ted is trying to stay on his bully’s good side by pretending that this SOP email is akin to Obama planting bugs in Flynn’s shoe like he’s Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State. It’s complete bullshit and Ted knows it. But this way he gets a presidential pat on the head, and Trump can use him to advance the perverse lie he is fabricating to try to rectify his flagging political fortunes.
So what we have here is further confirmation that there is a real scandal related to #Obamagate and the scandal is the Trump administration trying to weaponize America’s foreign policy and intelligence agencies to gain advantage in a presidential election…again.
The only encouraging bit is the realization that if By-The-Book Gate is the best these gubers have got, then it turns out that they’re as incompetent as they are corrupt.
Well yeah. I only wish I could be sure that there are enough Americans out there who will see through it to make it possible for these people to spend more time with their families in 2021.