
Former F.B.I. Director Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation - lumens
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/us/politics/robert-mueller-special-counsel-russia-investigation.html
======
mstank
I know this is not tech related but I really wish it would surface to the HN
front page. HN is by far the most intelligible and thoughtful comment section
for news I've come across. There is a gaping hole in moderated discussions for
these topics.

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ReligiousFlames
Maybe there needs to be a separate political HN site with the same login so
people whom want to engage can do so and others can opt-out? Say:
[https://political.news.ycombinator.com](https://political.news.ycombinator.com)

Also, any stories deemed mostly political can just be moved there instead of
being censored/shutdown with flagged and reserve flagged for truly nonstories
and spam.

~~~
mstank
Heavy moderation is key, whether by the mods or community. Having a whole
political channel to moderate isn't worth the resources for YC.

It's an opportunity a startup. Think of what Quora did to Q&A sites like Yahoo
Answers. A startup that can deliver a higher-level of discussion but for
politics and current events.

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dboreham
Oh I see. Not _that_ former FBI director..

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openmosix
That would have been hilarious. Aaaand... I'm back.

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MrZongle2
So, what happens if this investigation under Mueller, who was FBI Director
under the Bush (43) and Obama administrations.... _ultimately finds that no
laws were broken_?

Because in a truly impartial investigation, this is a possible outcome.

Will _these_ results be accepted, or are we off for another round of whatever
the last 6+ months of daily outrage can be called?

~~~
fictioncircle
> Will these results be accepted, or are we off for another round of whatever
> the last 6+ months of daily outrage can be called?

Mueller is a partisan who offered to fall on his sword to provide Bush Jr
political cover during a scandal.

They needed to appoint someone genuinely neutral instead of someone like that.
Lol.

~~~
MrZongle2
Mueller was asked to stay on as head of the FBI by President Obama, and served
in the post all the way to 2013.

If you're going to accuse him of partisanship, by all means post some
citations.

~~~
fictioncircle
> Mueller was asked to stay on as head of the FBI by President Obama, and
> served in the post all the way to 2013.

I'm aware. You seem to believe it means something more than Obama didn't have
any major scandals to worry about that involved the FBI.

> If you're going to accuse him of partisanship, by all means post some
> citations.

He is a registered Republican that backed the vast majority of their programs
that were later found unconstitutional. He only ever pushed back when it
involved Bush trying to get a guy in a hospital bed to sign an order
overturning one small portion of it.

There isn't any way to "prove" someone is a partisan to people's satisfaction
if the man's career doesn't speak for itself already.

~~~
MrZongle2
The man's career _can_ say many things. To quote the Wikipedia article on him:

 _" In May 2011, President Obama asked Director Mueller to continue at the
helm of the FBI for two additional years beyond his normal 10-year term, which
was expiring on September 4, 2011."_

and

 _" Director Mueller, along with Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey,
threatened to resign from office in March 2004 if the White House overruled a
Department of Justice finding that domestic wiretapping without a court
warrant was unconstitutional. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft denied his
consent to attempts by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and White House
Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales to waive the Justice Department ruling and permit
the domestic warrantless eavesdropping program to proceed. On March 12, 2004,
President George W. Bush gave his support to changes in the program sufficient
to satisfy the concerns of Mueller, Ashcroft and Comey."_

and

 _" After leaving the FBI in 2013, Mueller served a one-year term as
consulting professor and the Arthur and Frank Payne Distinguished Lecturer at
Stanford University where he focused on issues related to cyber-security. He
gave a speech and Q&A on March 8, 2017 at Anderson University, where he
stated, "For the bureau, one of the most important things is integrity."_

The layman who reads such an account of his career would be well-justified in
asking how you have reached your conclusion, because the above would indicate
that Mueller is recognized as a man of integrity by Presidents from both
political parties. _So I say again: if you 're going to accuse him of
partisanship, by all means post some citations._

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mkhpalm
Didn't the NYT just get done suggesting that Trump fired Comey to stop this
investigation?

[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/politics/comey-
russia-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/politics/comey-russia-
investigation-fbi.html) [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/opinion/donald-
trumps-fir...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/opinion/donald-trumps-
firing-of-james-comey.html)

I'm starting to think there is something to what all those trumpsters have
been saying... I simply cannot keep up with the 180 narrative flips going on
in the media right now.

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gobengo
Did you click the link? The article refers to former FBI Director Robert
Mueller, not Comey.

~~~
mkhpalm
I fully understood that when I made the comment.

