“Follow his example. It
flows from there.” Reflections on Robert Mueller’s passing.
March
23, 2026.
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Robert Mueller was an American hero long before he accepted
the urgent but thankless assignment as special counsel to investigate Russia’s
involvement in the 2016 election. Mueller epitomized a life of service to
America. After a distinguished career as a prosecutor, President George W. Bush
nominated Mueller, and he became the sixth Director of the FBI on September 4,
2001—one week before the terrorist attacks on 9/11. A week into his tenure, he
quickly shifted the FBI’s focus from domestic crimes to anti-terrorism efforts.
Mueller helped America navigate the combined shock, grief, and national
security injuries suffered on 9/11.
Mueller performed his duties with such distinction and
professionalism that, when President Obama asked him to stay beyond his
allotted 10-year term, Mueller received unanimous support from the
Senate—serving 12 years in total and becoming the longest-serving FBI director
since J. Edgar Hoover.
But in the end, Mueller was willing to sacrifice the
bipartisan reputational acclaim earned after a lifetime of public service. He
did so by engaging in the simple but powerful act of speaking the truth about
Russia’s attempt to interfere in the 2016 election. For that act of honesty and
fortitude, he earned the enmity and hatred of Trump and his followers. In
making that sacrifice, Robert Mueller stands in the rarefied company of
patriots who can be recited by name by most Americans.
Upon Robert Mueller’s passing, Donald Trump issued an ugly,
hateful comment, which I will not repeat in this newsletter. James Fallows said
of Trump’s comment,
This
is the most despicable public statement by an American public official in my
lifetime.
It
needs to be recognized as such.
Any
head of state who can say this in public about a countryman, even about a
political adversary, is a moral monster. Either he has no ability whatsoever to
empathize with others; or he has no sense whatsoever of a leader’s duty; or he
has no remaining cognitive ability whatsoever to “filter” what he says. Or all
three.
See James Fallows, JF Breaking News (Substack), One Man a Hero. One Man a
Monster.
Fallows lists Mueller’s many achievements before his role
as special counsel and then posits the question of why a young man born into
privilege and wealth would devote his life to public service on a government
salary. Mueller provided his own answer:
I have
been very lucky. I always felt I should spend some time paying it back. One of
the reasons I went into the Marine Corps was because we lost a very good
friend, a Marine in Vietnam, who was a year ahead of me at Princeton. There
were a number of us who felt we should follow his example and at least go into
the service. And it flows from there.
“Follow his example . . . And it flows from there.”
There it is. Patriotism as leading by example. We can’t all
be Robert Mueller. But just as he followed a classmate’s example of duty and
sacrifice, Mueller set an example for us all. We can do that. We can be the
example for family and friends during a fraught moment for our nation.
It would be easy to glorify Mueller by ascribing to him
preternatural abilities or uncommon valor. In truth, Mueller’s example is one
of steadfast loyalty, integrity, and persistence. He did what was right every
day. That simple formula is within the grasp of each of us.
Trump’s ugly comment on Mueller’s passing says everything
about Trump and nothing about Mueller. But if, like me, you feel as though you
have been personally assaulted by Trump’s attack on Mueller, here is a
suggestion. Follow James Fallows’ suggestions:
—One
week from today, the next “No Kings” mass protest will occur. The preceding one, last October, was the biggest one-day
demonstration in the nation’s history. And that was before the
ICE murders in Minnesota, the war-on-a-whim in Iran, the surge in gas prices,
the “glad he’s dead” post. Next Saturday’s should be bigger. Find out
more about it here.
—Call
and write the White House and leave messages of outrage about this vile
expression from a serving president. The address as always is 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue, Washington DC 20500. The main phone number is the same one I remember:
202-456-1414. They now have a comment line, 202-456-1111. Flood them with
outrage.
—Call
and write your Senators and Representative, especially if
they are Republican. You can look them up on their websites. But the main
Capitol switchboard number, as always, is 202-224-3121. They notice when
people call and write.
There is one more thing you can do to disinfect your mind of Trump’s
grotesque insult on Mueller’s passing: Devote ten minutes to reading this
touching tribute and life history of Robert Mueller by the journalist who
likely had more access to Mueller than any other reporter. See Garrett Graff in
his blog, Doomsday Scenario, Remembering Robert
Mueller. Reading about Robert Mueller’s life of
service will help erase the vile comments of our current president.
Trump and Iran escalate the war
Trump is scrambling to find a way out of his illegal war on
Iran that salvages some semblance of plausible deniability that the war has not
been a debacle for Trump, the US, our allies, and the global economy. On
Sunday, the Washington Post reported that the new aim of the US and Israeli
efforts is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to the free flow of international
shipping.
In short, Trump is now hoping that he will be able to put
things back the way they were before he made the impulsive decision to attack
Iran.
Don’t hold your breath. Over the weekend, Trump threatened to bomb
Iranian power plants and water distribution facilities if Iran does not
immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz. See Jerusalem Post, Donald Trump threatens to
strike Iran power plants over Hormuz ultimatum.
Before discussing the lunacy of such attacks, let’s pause for a moment to
recognize that targeting and destroying civilian
infrastructure is recognized as a war crime under
the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the International Criminal
Court. See Rome Statute, Article 8, defining prosecutable war crimes to
include, “Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects,
that is, objects which are not military objectives.”
If attacks on civilian infrastructure lead to widespread civilian
suffering and deaths, the acts would also be classified as “crimes
against humanity.” See Rome Statute, Article 7. (Note:
The US is one of a handful of nations that refuse to recognize the Rome
Statute. However, the refusal of the US to abide by international law is not a
defense to the war crimes or crimes against humanity.)
So, in a normal world, a US president threatening to commit
war crimes or crimes against humanity should be a cause for a 96-point font
headline in every newspaper in America. But for Trump, threatening war crimes
is accepted by the media as “Trump being Trump.” Shame on the media for not
holding Trump to the standard that the rest of the civilized world accepts.
Looking past the threat to commit war crimes, Trump’s statement drew the
predictable response from Iran—that it would destroy the energy and water
infrastructure of countries in the Middle East, thereby exacerbating the global
oil crisis. See The Guardian, Iran vows to destroy
Middle East water and energy facilities if US attacks power plants | US-Israel
war on Iran.
To be clear, such a response by Iran would also constitute war crimes and
crimes against humanity. Neither the US nor Iran should be targeting civilian
infrastructure. But in the present situation, the US controls what will happen
because Iran has threatened to reciprocate attacks
on civilian infrastructure if such attacks are initiated by the US—as Trump
threatened over the weekend.
But Tehran has also escalated the war by using an intermediate-range
intercontinental ballistic missile to attack the joint US-UK military base
Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. See Wall Street Journal, Iran Brings Europe Into
Range With Missiles Fired at Diego Garcia | Attack on base 2,500
miles away signals more-aggressive military posture for regime.
Prior to the attack on the Diego Garcia military base, Iran
attempted to conceal the fact that it had intercontinental ballistic missiles
capable of reaching Europe. The fact that Iran used those missiles to attack a
military base in the Indian Ocean is a significant escalation in the potential
scope of the war.
In short, Trump’s threat to target civilian infrastructure
has resulted in reciprocal threats by Iran and a show of force that was
previously hidden by Iran.
In nearly every way possible, Trump’s reckless actions have
led to dangerous escalations in his illegal war against Iran. It is time for
Congress to stop the war. Democrats must not grant supplemental funding. And
patriotic Americans must register their disapproval in every way possible,
including a strong showing on March 28, 2026.
ICE Officers to fill in for TSA officers
The partial government shutdown of the Department of
Homeland Security continues. Democrats have offered multiple bills to fund TSA,
the Coast Guard, and other federal agencies that are not involved in the ICE /
Border Patrol mass deportation efforts. But Republicans have refused those
partial funding bills.
As a result, TSA agents are resigning and calling in sick as they forego
paychecks. Rather than ending the shutdown, Trump came up with the ridiculous
idea of using ICE and Border Patrol agents to do the work of unpaid TSA agents.
See HuffPost, Trump Says ICE Will Be In
Airports, and The Hill, Tom Homan: ICE officers
will not assist with airport security scanning amid TSA staffing shortage.
The obvious solution is to fund TSA, as Democrats have
offered. Instead, we will have paid ICE agents standing at exits and entrances,
while unpaid TSA agents perform luggage and passenger screenings. That is a
recipe for disaster.
Republicans should stop the gamesmanship and accept the
Democratic offer of compromise. While you are making your calls to your elected
officials about Trump’s ugly comment about Robert Mueller, consider leaving
comments about the Republican desire to force TSA to work without pay.
Concluding Thoughts
The New York Times Editorial Board has devoted an editorial to Trump’s
continuous stream of lies about his illegal war against Iran. See NYTimes
Editorial Board, Trump Is Hiding the Truth
About the War in Iran. (Gift article, accessible to
all.)
The Editorial Board starts by acknowledging that Trump lies
about most things. But it notes the particular danger in lying about war:
Yet
lying about war is uniquely corrosive. When a president signals that the truth
does not matter in wartime, he encourages his cabinet and his generals to
mislead the country and one another about how the war is going. He
creates a culture in which deadly mistakes
and even war crimes can become more common. He
makes it harder to win by hiding the realities of conflict and by making allies
wary of joining the fight. Ultimately, he undermines American values and
interests.[¶]
Starting
a war is the most serious action that a political leader can take. It ends
lives and can change history. . . .Whatever short-term gain Mr. Trump thinks he
is getting by lying about the war in Iran is far exceeded by the cost, for him,
the country and the world.
As the Times’ Editorial Board notes, Trump’s lies about the
war encourage generals to lie to him, to the American public, to Congress, and
to themselves. Those lies are written with the blood of American service
members, who are asked to fight a war that exists only in consultant-driven
focus groups that are used to craft social media advertising campaigns. Unless
Trump, the generals, and Congress are willing to acknowledge the truth, more
Americans will die so that Trump’s fragile ego can be protected from negative
stories.
Trump’s increasing desperation, as illustrated by his
threat to commit war crimes against the Iranian people, is a sign that he
understands the war is going badly. We must help him understand that the only
way out is to immediately cease hostilities. If he wants, he can lie about
achieving victory or saving the world or deserving the Nobel Peace Prize for
stopping the bombing of Iran. But the war must stop, now. As Congress flails,
we must raise our voices by the tens of millions so that no one can pretend they
do not hear us.
