Editor’s note: The political opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author. Neuse News encourages viewpoints from all sides of the political spectrum. Would you like to be a Neuse News columnist? Contact Bryan Hanks at bryan@neusenews.com.

There are now 2,139,585 unaffiliated voters in North Carolina — an increase of 13,527 in just one month — and the number keeps growing. This same trend is evolving throughout the U.S., which seems to indicate a moving away from political partisanship by voters.

There is still a divide, but it seems to be more philosophical than political, with one side promoting the free enterprise system, Constitutional government, individual initiative and liberty and the other side promoting bigger government and greater control of the lives of the people. They want things under the control of the Establishment.

We see this more clearly now as we come to the end of the Mueller investigation and its aftermath, which was and still is an attempt to destroy an anti-establishment President using a legal rather than a political process of adjudication. That they have not been able to succeed is a tribute to his unbounding faith and fortitude.

He cooperated fully with the so-called Independent Council, made up of 17 anti-Trump zealots and directed by Andrew Weissman, complying with every document request and allowing any of his associates who were called to do so, to appear before this committee and cooperate fully. Also, thousands of requested e-mails were turned over to the committee.

And yet, many of those appearing were treated appallingly, with close associates of the President being grilled for hours, resulting in countless jobs and homes being lost and families torn asunder. Testimony has been given which reveals that some of those being questioned were advised thusly: "Here is what we want to hear. Tell us this and we can be very lenient with you."

Are we living in America?

And now we come to the Mueller appearance before Congress last week. It became obvious early on in this charade that Mueller had not been in charge of the Independent Council probe but was used instead as a coverup for the shenanigans that transpired during that episode.

He was even unaware of the Fusion GPS-produced Steele Document, which was one of the central parts of the investigation.

But now things are turning around. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is now investigating whether the FBI abused the Forever Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by conducting surveillance against Trump campaign associate Carter Page.

At least one "key witness" outside the Justice Department and FBI has reportedly begun cooperating with the Horowitz investigation.

In spite of all this, there are still some in Congress who continue to call for impeachment of the President. Interestingly, that call was brought to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives a few days ago and was voted down 323-95.

This brings us back to the beginning of this column. This is much more of a philosophical battle than a political one. It's all about power! It can be described as an Andrew Weissman Witch Hunt blessed by Rob Rosenstein and the Justice Department, a criminal attempt to remove a sitting president from office.

Now to close with a couple of humorous asides: Question from Little Johnny: "Mom, was our baby sent down from Heaven?"

His mother's answered, "Yes, Son."

Johnny's responded, "I guess they like to have things quiet up there, huh?"

Have a great day!