Words, my friends, are my stock and trade. Those of you who follow this blog are part of a community of folks who share the joy of the written word. I spend part of every day honing sentences for clarity and power. I spend part of every day reading. I suspect many of you do the same. Words entertain, words move, words influence. Words matter.
This weighs on me heavily this morning, because this weekend I began reading the Mueller Report. The report defines legal words and lays out the the scope of special counsel’s investigation with absolute clarity. In the midst of sloganeering, talking heads on CNN, Fox and others spinning the report this way and that, smoke screens, political posturing, and outright lies, (Many many lies) the actual report reads like a model of clarity. It would be a relief it it weren’t for the alarming picture it draws of the efforts of hostile actors (Russia!) to undermine our constitution, customs, and democracy.
I’ve just gotten started; I haven’t gotten far but I intend to read all 400 pages. Whatever your assumptions about the issues, whatever your political persuasion, I urge you to read it for yourself as well. The matters it explored will impact all of us here in the United States, and likely the rest of the world to some degree as well. We all need to be prepared to understand what we’re hearing the next few months. You can find it here among other places. Reading the report will take me a while, because I also have reading to do for a contest I’m judging, and of course I have stories to tell. I’m on it this week, but first, coffee.