In 1998, during the impeachment hearings against then president
Bill Clinton, Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, a married couple, began
a petition to have the U. S. Congress censure President Clinton
and move on to the pressing problems of the day. The petition
garnered over a half a million signatures by word of mouth alone.
The petition, however, did not dissuade Congress and President
Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives, though
he was found not guilty in the Senate.
Twenty years later we are facing a somewhat similar situation.The
President, Donald Trump, has been impeached by the House of
Representatives and has been tried in the Senate. The country is
awaiting closing arguments and a verdict. The verdict is, and
always has been, a foregone conclusion. Then, as now,
the world is watching what we are doing here.
If I may quote from an editorial from the Toronto Globe and Mail,
newspaper written by Lawrence Martin:
What happened is another bold illustration of how Mr. Trump
has taken the presidency by the throat and redefined it. As
historian Douglas Brinkley put it, "he's dynamited the
institution of the presidency."
As the impeachment shows, he's turned his party into a swarm
of lackeys. He's ransacked the reputation of the other
institutions such as intelligence and security agencies. He's
overhauled communications with his daily barrages and
attacks on the media. With his staggering output of falsehoods
and misinformation he's waged an unconscionable war
on truth...
His manhandling and obstruction of the justice system have
been amply apparent in the impeachment proceedings and
many other controversies. He's taken a wrecking hammer
to Congressional oversite.
This is from our friend and neighbor to the north; it is not the first
time they have taken our President to task. Trumps approval rating
in Canada is a dismal 22%. But what is done is done and it is time
for the country to move on. We must if we are to survive as a
Democracy.
Our country is as divided as I have ever seen it, and I lived through
the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby
Kennedy. I lived in Chicago during the 1968 convention riots, the
war protests, and the civil rights marches. I remember the Kent
State Massacre in 1970, and they all pale to the hatred I see today.
This impeachment has driven an even bigger wedge into the heart
of the country, and has caused a deeper divide than I thought possible.
The Democratic Party is in the process of choosing a candidate to run
against Trump. The election is in nine short months. I know, in
politics a week is forever and a year is a mere heartbeat. If Joe
Biden isn't the candidate, the impeachment will have been forgotten.
And if the economy is still booming, Trump may be a shoe-in.
In the background, unnoticed by most, are the drone strikes at the
heart of al-Qaida. This continuing 'poke the bear' strategy will
eventually bring a response, and an even greater response from the
U.S. Trump knows the public will not 'change horses in the middle
of the stream' even if he is the one who is causing the stream to
overflow. Trump's campaign is playing every card in the deck, but
this will be child's play when it comes to the attacks once a
Democratic candidate is chosen.
But we as Democrats, must not rise to the bait. We have to select a
centrist to represent the party. We must reach out with an open hand
not a closed fist, we have to stop the divisive rhetoric, the subtle dog-
whistle messages, the out-and-out lies. The Democrats must lift politics
out of the gutter and bring civility back to the White House, if we ever
want the world to look at us as a beacon of hope and promise again.
We must promise to restore the faith of our allies, the determination of
purpose to our enemies, we must say what we mean and mean what we
say. Open our doors to those who need our help and build alliances, not
walls. Walls don't keep people out they keep people in. We must embrace
our differences, they are what made this country great. And most of all
we must reach across the aisle and work with those whose ideas we
feel are counter to our beliefs, and work with them to find a common ground.
The Republicans tapped into a vein of resentment in 2016, they promised
to change lives and bring prosperity to the impoverished areas of this
country. And they failed miserably. They promised that coal mines
would reopen, manufacturing would rebound in closed and shuttered
factories. And they failed again. They promised that the wall, the
beautiful wall, would keep out the immigrants who were stealing their
jobs, and Mexico would pay for it. The wall remains a dream and Mexico,
they are keeping their pesos. The tariffs that were supposed to be paid
by China? They came out of all of our pockets, the money paid to the
farmers came out of our pockets, the higher prices caused by the tariffs
came out of our pockets. Every promise that Trump made has been an
utter failure, except for his lies.
Trump says his plans are working, look at the stock market. How many
Americans are in the stock market? It's hard to put money into you IRA
when you have bills to pay and the paycheck hasn't gotten any bigger in
years. The mega corporations are inflating the stock market by putting
profits that should go the workers, into buying company stock. Thus
inflating the price and making their shareholder happy, to say nothing
of making their portfolio happy. Are you happy?
The road to the White house will be an arduous trek, we will have to
endure name-calling at best and degradation at worse. But we must
keep our eyes on the prize. We must lift up the election process and
refuse to be dragged into the mud of lies and intimidation. And it
must begin with you and me.
I'm just sayin'.
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