Pearls of expression on the issue of flimsiness.

Some long overdue skepticism about the whole Skripal saga and its alleged links to the latest incident in the mainstream media is to be found in an article by Simon Jenkins in The Guardian on 6 July 2018. Jenkins correctly points out many of the absurdities of the Skripal story and its many still unanswered questions. He points out that where knowledge is non-existent (as in both of these cases) ignorance is bliss. He says that does not apply to government ministers, for whom ignorance is not a sufficient condition for silence.^[1]

And . . .

The willingness to blame Russia in the absence of even remotely compelling evidence is a political instinct deep within the western political psyche.^[2]

Robert Gore has a good take on this last point, the flimsiness of the evidence:

Some are inclined to write off the Trump-Russia collusion story as yet another fantasy, irrelevant to most Americans, but it’s much more than that. That it’s pure concoction finds ultimate confirmation in one simple fact: its proponents have not offered a scintilla of actual proof.

We’ve had assessments, assertions, maybes, might haves, could haves, and “informed” speculation; a remote “hack” that couldn’t be a remote hack, but rather an onsite download because of the high transmission speed; a Democratic-funded dossier used as the basis of a FISA court surveillance request and its subsequent renewals; indictments against potential defendants who will never be tried; banner headlines for and endless media trumpeting of inconsequential developments, and prosecutions and plea bargains that have nothing to do with the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia.

They’ve thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this gargoyle, but the kitchen sink for which reasonable people keep looking is any hard evidence from those who bear the burden of proof that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.^[3]

Notes
^[1] "Second Salisbury Alleged Poisoning: Still More Questions than Answers." By James O’Neill, OffGuardian, 7/10/18.
^[2] Id.
^[3] "Now or Never, by Robert Gore." Straight Line Logic, 7/28/18. H/t: The Burning Platform.