Let's get this out of the way first.
There was no collusion.
Sound familiar?
That's not longer just the mantra from President Trump. It also is the belief of special counsel Bob Mueller, the result of his exhaustive, two-year investigation into the Russian effort to affect the 2016 presidential election.
The special counsel's investigation "did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated wit it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election." That's according to the letter to Congress from Attorney General William Barr released Sunday summarizing the findings of the Mueller report.
Obstruction?
Well, that depends on who you ask.
Again Barr indicated that while the Mueller probe "does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
In effect, Mueller passed this off to the Justice Department. It is Barr's conclusion, in conjunction with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, that the evidence compiled by the Mueller team "is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offense."
Of course, the president, who has been strangely silent most of the weekend, called it a "complete and total exoneration."
Democrats were quick to disagree, saying they want the entire report released to the public and would likely call both Barr and Mueller to testify as to the findings.
I'm not completely sold on that idea.
But I am sold on this. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to move on.
Here's my take:
By all means, let's see the entire report. Let's hear from Mueller and Barr.
But I don't think it's going to change anything. This is going to be left to voters to decide in 2020.
In the meantime, there are other important issues that are not getting done.
This isn't done, not by a long shot. Democrats are already indicating that. But maybe it should be.
What does this have to do with health care? Education funding? Immigration? Jobs?
Nothing.
It's been two years. Mueller turned over every rock - and he came up empty.
No one is ever going to accuse me of being a Trumpite. But it's time to move on.
There are other - much bigger - problems with this guy. But this phase should be over.
Of course, Democrats are not going to see it that way. They are going to continue to drag this thing out.
And in the process they just might drag Trump right back into the Oval Office in 2020.
As it should be, the voters will be the final arbiter on this affair, and they will have their say at the ballot box.
The longer Democrats harp on this issue - as opposed to things that really affect most people - the easier it is going to be for Trump to make the argument that this whole thing has been an unfair, rigged effort to drum him out of office. Or, in the words of the president, "an illegal takedown that failed."
Donald Trump isn't going anywhere - at least and until the voters decide.
It's time for Democrats to do the same.
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