His performance lacked oomph. He was low energy. Can we take a Muell-igan? Maybe they should have hired a stunt double. Was that Rob Mueller or Rob Zombie? What we really learned during Robert Mueller testimony is what we’ve known all along: The way we cover politics is the rot at the core of a system that, at the moment, seems broken beyond repair. (Insert ominous soundtrack here.) In the analysis most representative of the broader media narrative, Chuck Todd proclaimed, “On optics, this was a disaster.” Todd’s criticism was in line with the way most of the media covered the day. David Graham in The Atlantic: “Call this what you want—theater criticism, optics-obsessed punditry—but it’s far more disappointing than the Mueller hearings themselves, if equally predictable.”

+ Meanwhile, the most urgent question following Mueller’s appearance isn’t will they impeach Trump? It’s why aren’t we doing anything to keep Russia from hacking another election?