“While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime [obstruction of justice], it also does not exonerate him.”

This statement was released by Attorney General William Barr as part of the “principle conclusions” of Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation. If you watch cable news or get most of your news from partisan pundits on social media, you may feel like you’ve known what will be in the report since the day it began, as these commentators generally ignore fact and air on the side of ideology.

In contrast, most traditional print journalists and legal analysts have warned for months of an inconclusive report that brings nothing but further entrenchment into preconceived partisan notions.

I’ve believed, for a long time, that the report would do just this. President Donald Trump’s supporters will focus solely on the first twelve words of the quote, while his detractors will do the same with the last six.

This report confirms one thing — the chronic level of confirmation bias in the American population. We collectively dismiss fact that conflicts with our worldview or, even worse, take facts out of context to support our beliefs.

Hopefully, the entirety or most the special counsel’s investigation will be made available to the general public, as this increases the chances of quieting wild speculation by editorial pundits at Fox News and MSNBC. However, along with many moderate observers acting in what I perceive to be good fait, do not believe there will be any legal bombshell dropped on the president as a result of this investigation.

Nothing has changed in America. We know that the president acts in questionable ways. We know his administration has been left open to many instances of corruption and wrongdoing. We know his background is in shady real estate development.

Although we know these things to be true, they don’t come close to providing evidence that he or his administration has intentionally committed a crime while in office.

I strongly hope that more Americans will slow down and consider what can be definitively proven before calling for impeachment, indictment, or whatever other legal or political action that can be taken by the left.