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What a drama: So many debates, so many quarrels, so many tweets. And now that there is no evidence that Donald Trump has worked with the Russians to manipulate the US election, says US Special Investigator Robert Mueller in his report. But even that: whether Trump has subsequently tried to obstruct the investigation of the judiciary is a question that he does not answer clearly.
There is something for everyone: Trump and his followers triumph, they see themselves relieved. That's right. But it's only a half win. For the Democrats and Trump opponents in turn have starting points for more and more attacks on the President. Whether he has obstructed the judiciary or not, remains unclear and should therefore be the subject of further investigation by the Congress. As well as the various other procedures that are still pending in New York - and in which Trump is apparently involved in different ways. His dubious credit deals, the hush money payments to women, and, and, and.
The Mueller report fits in with the trump era: the already polarized American society will interpret these results along the usual party lines. The report does not heal the wounds that gap between Trumpists and the rest of the country, but will further deepen them. The election campaign 2020 is thus finally opened - along the usual break points.
The investigation was essential
It remains to be noted: Russia wanted Trump to win and helped him. It was demonstrably Russian hackers who captured Democratic emails and subsequently posted them on Wikileaks to harm Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election campaign. Russians have been trumpeting over Trump's Facebook and upholding the Democrats. And Trump and his people were only too happy to accept this support, even if they did not deliberately negotiate with the Russians.
The Mueller investigation was imperative to clarify the degree and intensity of electoral manipulation by Russia. Yes, they were a political, a democratic, a legal matter of course. It was about transparency, responsibility, truth. Robert Mueller is an American patriot who has defended these principles of any democracy with his work ironically.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has thwarted and defamed the investigation of these relationships by the US security authorities from the beginning. He, who would actually have to be the chief defender of the rule of law by office, has persuaded his followers that this very constitutional state in the US is corrupt, just because its institutions dared to put it at the center of its investigation.
With his incessant attacks against the FBI, against Robert Mueller himself, against Vice Minister of Justice Rod Rosenstein and against the other investigators ("17 angry Democrats") Trump may not have committed an offense that can be prosecuted. But he has sinned against the principles of American democracy. With his slogans he has systematically undermined the trust of many people in important institutions of the state. He did not behave like a man who is innocent, but like an autocratic autocrat who finds every form of criticism a personal insult.
Does Trump make the restart?
All that is not enough for impeachment proceedings. So now the American voters have to decide: Do you want to continue to tolerate such a man in office, yes or no? Do you want that kind of politics, those nasty tweets, those hate, those bad words, that contempt for democracy? Or would not it be time for a fresh start?
The paradox: Donald Trump is president, he could even risk this new beginning. He could offer his critics and opponents a hand for reconciliation. He could risk a restart of his presidency. Together with all Americans. He could reconcile the land with himself.
Is he capable of doing so? Does he own this size? It would be nice. Unfortunately, according to the experience of this presidency, the answer to these questions is no.