By Andrea Shorter–
What’s on your summertime reading list? If you’ve actually read the entirety of the long-awaited Mueller report, bravo to you. According to a CNN poll, you’re among less than 3% of those polled representing the general U.S. population who claim to have read all of the report.
While the Washington Post-Scribner paperback publication of the officially titled Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election became a No.1 bestseller immediately upon its release in April, buyers haven’t necessarily read the 448-page report. Whether purchased or downloaded for free online (check out NPR’s website) if read at all, readers report to have consumed on average about 10% of the investigative account since speed reading to complete this summer’s non-fiction top choice for those who want to be fully engaged by the time Mueller utters his first word in testimony.
For those not into cramming a 448-page read over the next 6 days, luckily there are two video showcases of the report for your YouTube viewing pleasure. Up first is Vice News’ “The Mueller Report: Watch as We Read the Whole Thing Live.” Seriously, reporters live-streamed a 12 hour and 22 minutes reading of the full report (with redactions). There’s a reader at a desk, a pitcher of water, some weird background music and musical interludes, a plant, and framed photo of Mueller; no bells, no whistles—well, actually, for some odd reason there is a bell.
Most importantly, there is no commentary, no interjection and no spin; just journalists reading a big ream of a report. Well, I believe there is a series of “journalists” reading aloud. I just saw what I presumed was the first person up within the first hour or two I watched, and then paused. That was this past Tuesday. Twelve hours is a lot of time to commit to YouTube.
Second, if an onstage mass ensemble of award-winning actors dramatically performing the report is more up your alley, and Annette Bening and Zachary Quinto are involved, then hold onto your seat. Now This News presents “The Investigation; A Search for the Truth in 10 Acts.” 10 Acts. Get it? The report posits that there are at least 10 charges that can be levied at Trump for a series of collusive and obstructs to justice to assist Russian interference in our elections, and to erode the now infamous investigations.
The night of many stars of the Hollywood Literati features, along with Bening and Quinto: John Lithgow, Danny DeVito, Wilson Cruz, Jason Alexander (as Chris Christie), Alyssa Milano, Alfre Woodward, Gina Gershon, Justin Long, Joel Grey (as Jeff Sessions) and many others reading the report aloud. John Lithgow takes the part of President Trump. As one reviewer noted, “John Lithgow’s natural charm and charisma make Dimwitted Donald sound almost intelligent and sophisticated.”
It is all really quite gripping, and mildly entertaining in so far as the performances are inviting. The subject matter is such that you have to laugh to keep from crying when faced with the stark reality of just how off the rails, corrupt and compromised this president and his associates are.
Whether you read, watch or listen to the Mueller report (or don’t), comedian Wanda Sykes’ latest stand-up special on Netflix, Not Normal, is sure to keep you woke on just how out of whack life has become in the Trump era. She isn’t reading from or reenacting the Mueller Report. But Sykes’ commentary is just as potent. Her hallmark “keep it 100” rendition of the insanity of all things Trump is quite sane. And who couldn’t use a little Sykes sanity these summer days?
Andrea Shorter is a Commissioner and the former President of the historic San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women. She is a longtime advocate for criminal and juvenile justice reform, voter rights and marriage equality. A Co-Founder of the Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, she was a 2009 David Bohnett LGBT Leadership Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
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