Pay more attention to Mueller probe, not less

When was the last time a newspaper urged readers and citizens to be less curious and less informed about events of the day? On Monday, The Baltimore Sun’s editorial board took a glib approach to the attention many Americans pay to news related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election (”Holiday treat: Less speculation about Mueller,” Dec. 10).

The board cites “a new distinctly American illness,” where we all spend far too much time untangling the daily minutiae of the various investigations into charges surrounding President Donald Trump, his family and his associates.The president’s relentless tweeting and braying are, indeed, exhausting. We have fond memories of American life before we had a commander-in-chief who rarely seems commander-of-his-own-faculties. And yes, many of us are worn out from normalizing the abnormal.

But it’s not at all clear that the editorial board understands the significance of the special counsel’s investigation. It’s not hyperbole that American democracy is at stake. Still, The Sun’s editorial board is tired of hearing about it. Just read the CliffsNotes to them when this unprecedented moment in history is over. The board urges us to leave the whole matter alone. Use the holidays to take a break from the daily goings on of the investigation and the president’s alarming reactions. “The big losers are the rest of us who find the whole miserable thing nauseating and depressing,” says the board.

Wrong. The big losers are The Sun’s readers who believe it’s important to be curious about the nation and the world. Shouldn’t a newspaper want readers to know more rather than less?

Patrick Smith, Baltimore