Are we proud citizens of a republic or are we “poor players” -- stinking bit players -- as William Shakespeare’s Macbeth claimed, in a “tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing?”  Following more than two years of the most defamatory reporting ever seen in American political history about Pres. Donald Trump, the Senate Intelligence Committee, after reviewing more than 300,000 documents has, on a bipartisan basis, said there was no evidence of collusion. NBC, reporting on this, still chose to emphasize that members of the Trump campaign actually met with or talked to numerous Russians during the campaign as though meeting with foreign nationals were itself suspect or even borderline illegal.  Nevertheless, NBC’s article is still looking forward to some accusations of wrongdoing, although not of illegality, coming out of the Senate Committee’s final report.

The mass hysteria (Shakespeare’s “sound and fury”) about this matter has brought incessant, daily cries for impeachment of Trump since even before his inauguration. The outrage at Trump’s “impeachable conduct” for this length of time is parallel to the outrage at the alleged "hate crime mistreatment" of Jussie Smollett, two false narratives that were promoted by the media to get higher ratings and promote social and political disruption on an unparalleled scale. All attempts at impartial reporting and discriminating sorting through of the facts or having a wait-and-see attitude were thrown out the window by most of our Fourth Estate.  Today’s newsrooms are filled with newscasters seeking and finding celebrity status by being glamorous, articulate troublemakers.

Truth be told, this manipulation of the public cannot be laid entirely at the feet of the egregiously partisan and unprofessional media moguls and their lackeys who appear so polished and beautified on air. And let me add that the term “fake news” is actually a somewhat lighthearted way of accusing a lot of major media outlets of doing something much more egregious than mere “fake news.” This term has a slightly comic or jocular dimension as if the President were saying the reporting cannot be trusted, but is, at the same time, in the category of mere self-serving mischief or sleight-of-hand. 

In truth, these incessant accusations are a betrayal of every standard of journalistic ethics. In the Preamble of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, it is stated, “An ethical journalist acts with integrity.” Integrity involves a judicious attempt to assess the facts and not draw conclusions that are more hyperbole than they are circumspect.  If one then goes on to read the listed planks of the Code of Ethics, one will see that coverage by major leftwing media print and TV outlets are failing to apply each and every item. When do you see or hear opinion pieces on major leftwing outlets that even begin to discuss or adjudicate between competing narratives? 

Nonstop accusations are also egregious violations of the 3500-year-old Ten Commandments which says “Thou shall not bear false witness.”  Don Wilton, writing for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association says, “There are several ways in which false witness can be borne. A person can help spread a rumor and thus join hands with a perpetrator. One can indulge false witness by turning a blind eye when truth is known. Someone can determine to bear false witness and therefore be guilty of premeditation. A person can simply fail to come forward with the truth or insinuate falsehood without actually saying it is so. And, perhaps worst of all, a person can spread gossip about another, thus engaging in some of the worst forms of character assassination.”  Every single one of these deviations can be found in the reportage about Trump collusion by the MSM for the past two plus years.

But, despite their violations of the Journalist Code of Ethics and, even worse, their ignorant contempt for the Ten Commandments, our foul Fourth Estate is being encouraged by the sinister cabal that has led our Justice Department, and by the traitorous, hateful rhetoric of the Democratic Party which has, striven to undermine the unity of our country. It is incredible to this writer that Andrew McCabe can go on national TV and calmly claim -- seemingly without regret -- that he participated in discussions about leading an effort to remove from office a duly elected President of the United States, and not be arrested and/or immediately be interrogated at length by federal law enforcement.  Those conversations are unlawful since the Justice Department has no legal authority to participate in, let alone initiate, a takeout of the President.

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Despite the fact that a real assassination with a real knife was not used, those conversations in the American Department of Injustice are a replay of the conspiracy against Julius Caesar depicted in Shakespeare’s play by that name.  When Caesar at the moment when his close associate Brutus stabs and kills him cries out “Et tu Brute?!” he is uttering a cry of betrayal that has stood through the centuries. This phrase expresses the utter psychological torment of the victim of egregious betrayal.  Our entire country, as if one person, should be crying out “Et tu Brute?!” But no. There are only polite discussions of the pros and cons of McCabe’s revelations, and the royalties for his book keeping pouring in.  And we are the stinking bit players or props in this pathetic scenario. 

But we cannot leave this story of ignorance and betrayal without looking for a moment at the fetid collection of leaders amassed by the Democrats in their persistent intrigues against the President. Adam Schiff, Gerald Nadler, Maxine Walters, Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Charles Schumer, Dick Durbin, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren are continuing the feeding frenzy about Trump, and hope to drive him out of office. 

If they cannot get him out with Russian collusion, they will try to get him for obstruction of justice. If they cannot get him for obstruction, they will try to get him for tax evasion. If they cannot get him for tax evasion they will try to get him for mental health issues. If they cannot get him for mental health issues, they will try to get him for violating the emoluments clause.  Every single day for the remainder of his terms, they will blast, belittle, and besmirch President Trump.  They will never once say they support this or that action undertaken by the President. They will never once express gratitude for even one executive decision or legislative initiative. They will never once compliment any members of the first family. They will never once deride opposition to the President or call for greater national unity.  Thus, they become a coven of witches -- male witches as well as female -- who are stirring a cauldron. The cauldron is not the melting pot of unity, but a real witches’ brew of pig snouts and rats’ tails intended to cast a spell and a pall over this administration and the USA.