Most politics is grey. There are deals done, concessions made and principles compromised. To not know this is to live in fairyland. To understand and acknowledge that both sides of politics “compromise” and at times sell out on their promises in the interests of expedience or self-interest is empowering. It enables you to call out hypocrisy and hold politician's feet to the fire.
There is also black and white in politics. Good and bad. The rule of law as opposed to corruption on a scale of biblical proportions.
You simply cannot excuse it when a politician or a political party crosses that line.
But people do – they do it all the time. Because, you know, it's a lesser evil or some other mind-numbing comfort candy that they swallow.
Let's take Bill Clinton as an example. I admit, in my days of being asleep, I thought that Bill Clinton was pretty cool and all those accusations against him were smear tactics, I'd never heard of Juanita Broderick. I'd never understood Whitewater. I felt sorry for Monica Lewinsky, but kind of rationalised it away as “one of those things.” As I said, I was asleep and the information I was getting was coming through an MSM filter.
When I did get all the information and reached at least a partial understanding of the man, I realised that he was a fraud at best.
Anyone who understands Clinton's history and in particular his history of sexual assault cannot justify supporting him on any level. Yet a string of left-leaning elites has spent the best part of twenty years defending him and smearing his accusers. I'd like to excuse this as the work of stupid people, but it isn't. The people that have defended Clinton have made conscious decisions to do so. They have weighed up the evidence, reached a conclusion and decided that his victims were necessary collateral damage. Let that sink in.
Of course, those on the right are just as guilty. They nail their colours to the mast just as blindly.
There are many right-wing apologists who still support the whole Bush weapons of mass destruction lie, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Which brings us to the now and the Trump Russia dossier FISA memo scandal/furore/nothing burger (choose your own narrative).
If any politician colluded with a foreign power that would be treason.
I don't think anyone can dispute that.
Elections have been and always will be exercises in dirty politics, where those watching getting a glimpse of the Machiavellian mindsets of all players. Generally, though, when the dust settles losers accept the will of the people and engage in some rigorous analysis of what happened (pun intended).
Not this time. For well over a year we have witnessed a meltdown in Mainstream Media and DNC circles as they try to shift the blame to some never quite explained dirty trick that the Russians played.
There's a point long passed when they should have been advised to drink some cement and harden up.
But the narrative continues. There is a deliberate attempt to delegitimise an elected President. People still cling to this false narrative that “collusion” influenced the election. They clutch at straws hoping that the latest revelation will be the clincher that enables Mueller to bring charges against Trump. The irrational hatred, fuelled by a brain-dead media is pathetic.
The FISA memo is a four page document that does certainly suggest collusion, but not on the part of Trump or his campaign. If you haven't read it, you should - don't rely upon an interpretation- read it yourself or have someone read it to you
If the facts outlined in the FISA memo are correct, there is no grey.
Lines have been crossed and they have been crossed by people who were invested in seeing Mrs Clinton elected as President. How far this leads and who it implicates remains to be seen, but there is one thing for sure.
You can't explain it away, as being in the normal grey area of politics.
I bet many will attempt to do so.