One More Mueller Time Again

Robert Mueller's testimony to Congress takes place tomorrow, and it's as eagerly awaited as the release of his original report on Trump.  And it may very well turn out to be just as disappointing as the release of the report.

Democrats hope that Mueller, who will not disseminate any more information that he already has in this report, will at least reiterate the findings in his own voice and give some drama to findings that most people have shrugged off or haven't even read.  This, they hope, will give some impetus to popular support for impeaching Trump, though the Republican Senate will acquit him. Republicans hope that their questions for Mueller in his testimony will shoot some holes into his report's conclusions in an effort to protect Trump, even though he is still generally unpopular outside of his base.  In the end , both sides will claim victory and America will lose.

I'm crossing my fingers that the tectonic plates of American politics will shift ever so slightly as a result of Mueller's appearance before Congress and will result in Trump's early ouster from office - and by that, I mean an electoral defeat for Trump in 2020.  But I'm not optimistic.  This show is more likely to be the Washington equivalent of an eagerly awaited big-budget movie that disappoints and flops once it opens.       

Mr. Toyoda Goes to Washington

I didn't learn much about or get any meaningful insight in the continuing story of Toyota's quality control problems after watching part of Akio Toyoda's testimony to the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the matter. Toyoda, the company president and grandson of the company's founder, apologized profusely for the malfunctioning breaks and accelerators that have caused many troubles - some of them serious - but I would have been happier if he'd sweated just as profusely. He actually took the time to say that Toyota remains a car company of good values whose quality control lapses are inconsistent with their business philosophy (why wouldn't they be?) and insist that electronics had nothing to do with the sudden acceleration problems. This latter statement contradicted that of James Lentz, Toyota's highest ranking U.S. sales executive, who said such a problem could not be ruled out.

Toyoda's statement, for all of its contrition, seemed to be divorced from reality, as he declared that his "personal confidence level is 100%" that there is no defect exists in his company's electronic throttles. Toyota wasn't always like this. Back in the seventies and eighties, they would be all over a car on the first report of a problem, but now they've waited for the problems to pile up before even acknowledging that something might be wrong.

I feel sorry for Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has been diligently investigating this matter based on patterns of complaints regarding the cars but has come under fire for not moving aggressively enough, despite all the evidence that he's done the best possible job. I don't feel particularly sorry for Toyoda, who says he takes this matter personally because his name is on every car his company sells.

Well, a variation of it anyway.

Meanwhile, good riddance to Hummer, which GM has announced will be discontinued after a deal to sell the brand fell through. Like anyone really needs an oversized SUV with military capabilities.