The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Blumenthal willing to work with Barr after all
WASHINGTON — It’s hard to avoid impeachment talk in the Capitol these days. Democrats now in control of the House are feeling the heat from those for whom the presidency of Donald Trump has been a horrifying experience, shaking their faith in American democratic values to the core.
But some of the selfanointed cooler heads on the Democratic side say, “Let’s wait for the Mueller report.” They feel any move to impeach the president on less than solid evidence would be seen as crudely political — kind of a Democratic version (on steroids) of the GOP’s Benghazi investigation or obsession over Hillary Clinton’s emails. Count Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., in that category, more or less.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., shares those concerns. But, he adds, “I’m getting a little impatient.” What does that mean? The longer it takes Mueller to complete his work, the further away from the 2016 election it gets. Hard to believe that anyone could get lulled into complacency, given the rat-a-tat headlines and revelations that are by now a steady diet on cable news and the big papers. But I guess Murphy doesn’t want to take any chances.
“If he gives us a report in December, it’s kind of too late,” Murphy said. “The president will have been in office nearly three years. (Mueller) has to give us what he knows about the president’s culpability real soon. At some point, we won’t be able to wait.”
This subject is uppermost in my mind because I’m set to appear on a panel discussion on Feb. 12 at the Institute Library in New Haven (pardon the shameless self-promotion!).
The announced topic: “Everything You Wanted to Know about Impeachment But Were Afraid to Ask.” Showtime is 7:30 p.m., so please come by if at all possible. And feel free to introduce yourself to me, especially if you’ve read about this in the Buzz.
As a Senate Judiciary Committee member, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, DConn., is set to vote “no” Thursday on the nomination of William P. Barr to be attorney general. He ominously suggested Monday that if confirmed, Barr could be complicit in a “cover up” of special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings in l’affaire TrumpRussia.
But if nothing else, Blumenthal is a facer of reality and his practical streak reached out to Barr during his one-on-one meeting with him Monday.
“I look forward to working with William Barr if he is confirmed,” Blumenthal told reporters. “And we agreed we would work together.”
Turns out they have a couple of similar views on policy points. One of them is “risk orders” or “risk protection” — giving friends and families of troubled individuals the chance to petition judges in order to temporarily take away their firearms. It’s been on the books in Connecticut since 1999, and a few other states have it too.
“Mr. Barr said he would look very seriously at that kind of proposal,” Blumenthal said.
So file that under “You never know.”
For all history aficionados who plan future travel to Washington, take note of the National Museum of the U.S. Army, now under construction in nearby Fort Belvoir, Va. Earlier this week, the staff hosted a media preview to witness installation of a Sikorsky R-4B, known simply as “The Sikorsky” helicopter.
The R-4B was the nation’s first mass-produced helicopter. It had a seating capacity of two and was actually used in the China-India-Burma theater in 1944 in World War II. We usually think of helicopters as making their combat/rescue debut in the Korean War, as portrayed in the movie and TV show “M.A.S.H.” But this antique truly was the first combat-rescue chopper ever used by the U.S. military.
It would certainly be a special treat for anyone employed by Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford — or any military aviation buff in general.