Rod Rosenstein: Good Guy or Bad Guy?

[RexCasual]

Exhibit A: He was appointed by 45, so I was skeptical (to say the least).
Exhibit B: He wrote that damning Comey memo, which was used to justify Comey's firing (until Trump accidentally told the truth), so that failed to reduce my skepticism.

But then. . .

Exhibit C: He seemed to get genuinely angry at how his role in Comey's firing was manipulated by the White House, so that looked good on him.

Exhibit D: After saying he didn't see the need, he turned around and appointed Robert Mueller as Special Council (prosecutor?) to investigate Trump/Russia, and did so by giving Mueller sweeping powers to investigate any and all matters related to or rising from the investigation. This must have seriously pissed off both 45 and Jeff Sessions, which suggests to me that Rosenstein may just be one of the Good Guys.

So I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. Appointing Mueller was a bold move, and I'll be eternally grateful to him for this. For me, it outweighs the (inadvertent?) role he played in Comey's firing. The Resistance should be elated that he had the courage and independence to appoint Mueller.

Yet, some left-leaning articles some still seem determined to paint him in a negative light. Like this one on Huff Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rod-rosenstein-james-comey_us_591f10e4e4b03b485cb1190e?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

So I'm confused. Is Rosenstein one of the Bad Guys or has he become a Good Guy by virtue of Mueller's appointment? Opinions are solicited and appreciated.

[atreides1]

1. Neither good or bad

He's in it for what he can get out of it, without risking his position!!!

[JenniferJuniper]

2. Ambitious guy

[patricia92243]

3. Trump threw him under the bus. Rosenstein turned around and threw Trump under the bus. So,

the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Rosenstein is ok.

Now Liberman is a whole different story,

[nycbos]

14. Colbert said

"Trump tried to throw him under the bus failing to realize that Rosenstein was the driver."

[StevieM]

4. Well he did acknowledge the heinous nature of what Jim Comey did to HRC.

Although he insisted on using loaded language like "criminal investigation" when describing the fake email scandal.

[lunatica]

5. Survivor guy

If he's smart and agile enough to dodge Trump's wrath now that he dodged being thrown under the bus and appointing someone as powerful as Mueller to go after Trump.

[nycbos]

9. He is also savvy enough to know...

... that even Trump
Would realize how bad firing him would look.

[Qutzupalotl]

6. Good guy.

Which is not to say Democrat or Republican, just a straight shooter.

His memo did not specifically call for Comey's termination. The fact that Rosenstein knew what was about to happen and did it anyway initially appeared self-serving, but it allowed Rosenstein to stay on and appoint Mueller as special counsel, with the authority to investigate crimes. If the White House thought they could make the Russia investigation go away, the appointment of Mueller sank those hopes. His investigation will take a long time, but it will eventually take down this administration.

Behind the scenes, I am hearing that Comey, Mueller and Rosenstein all admire and respect each other. I think they anticipated Comey's firing and took steps to keep the admin in check no matter what. Same with Preet Bharara; by refusing to resign, he had an additional 24 hours to transfer files to Schneiderman.

[Hekate]

10. Excellent observation

[geek tragedy]

7. as Comey described him, a "survivor" nt

[nycbos]

8. He had an impeccable reputation as a US Attorney

I think he realized what going along with Trump wouldn't meeting for him personally and for the country so he decided to appoint a special counsel. I don't often quote Joe Scarborough but he mentioned a Chillhill quote " America always does the right thing after they exhausted all other options"

Think that fits for this situation.

[leftynyc]

11. I think he got pissed

that degenerate donnie tried to pin the Comey firing on him when he knows it was decided long before he wrote that memo. So he got even by appointing a special counsel without giving donnie or klansman sessions a heads up. I could say it was two men waving their dicks around but I wouldn't want to be crude.

[Sculpin Beauregard]

12. Good guy working in a hostile environment, with people who would undermine him.

Remember: he chose Mueller unilaterally, Mueller is by all accounts a good guy, and gave WH only a half hour heads-up before he had done so. Before they could interfere.

[virtualobserver]

13. I don't know why anyone here would be critical of him

He was critical of Comey's treatment of Hillary.

He pushed back hard when they tried to use him as the reason for Comey's dismissal (as if anyone would believe that anyway).

He appointed a person of stature as special counsel (the most in-your-face thing that anyone has done to Trump)

Admittedly, he has never been observed walking on the surface of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, so there's that....

[PufPuf23]

15. The appointment of Mueller is a kick the can down the road

and allow time for current outrage to subside.

I don't think the appointment of Mueller was a bold move but rather an obvious move by a rational player.

Neither do I expect much of substance to come from Mueller's investigation.

Rosenstein is a bad guy and an opportunist for his own profile. It will backfire for him in the long run.

[jberryhill]

16. How about just "guy"

Does everyone need to be cast into a cartoon character role?