Gerard asked Alan E. Johnson:

Dear Alan, I am just about to start contributing again (a health related hiatus) aware that I have missed much of the current conversation that might try to help me understand what on earth is happening in the US around the rapidly evolving constitutional issues confronting the administration. I can see a thread about the immigration issues but is there one about the current investigations being run by Mueller?

Alan E. Johnson Gerard, I'm sorry to hear about your health issues and hope you have fully recovered. In the "Political Philosophy and Ethics" Goodreads group, I am trying to avoid the subject of the investigations run by Mueller and various congressional committees, because it's almost impossible to handle them without becoming involved with intense partisan warfare (at least in the US). I make an exception to my usual rule against current events with regard to the immigration issues, because the latter can be treated as constitutional and legal matters in which the courts have clear input with published judicial opinions. But discussing the investigations against Trump would be weighing in on almost purely political issues. It would be like discussing Watergate in the middle of the investigation decades ago. True, there are constitutional dimensions to the current investigations--dimensions that may result in impeachment proceedings against Trump. But in the "fog of war" it is virtually impossible to be objective and to separate heat from light. The media are handling these matters fairly well on a day-to-day basis, though largely on the basis of leaks. We won't have access to much of the actual evidence for some time. Under such circumstances, I think it is best to avoid the subject for now. Alan

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