Another twenty-four hours of people giving the news out of Washington, D. C. a partisan spin -- and before you tell me, "Yeah, yeah, those damn [name of major party here], they distort everything, they lie, the facts are perfectly obvious," stop right there, because I'm hearing it from both Republicans and Democrats.
My opinion of Donald Trump the man is not flattering. I think he's an oaf and a boor. Unlike the Dems, I'm not sure if he's actually up to any really devious criminality; unlike his fellow Republicans, I'm doubtful that he's actually solving anything. We've had geniuses in the Presidency and they have a mixed legacy; we've had average(ish) men in the job and they varied, too. The President of the United States is not a king or the Pope. He's just Some Guy, put in there to do the executive stuff to keep the country running, and to shake hands with Kings and Prime Ministers. He's the guy who signs treaties -- but Congress has to ratify them.
The average citizen, in the course of their average life, commits an average of three felonies a day, mostly without even knowing it. It's unavoidable. Does that make those felonious acts any less criminal? Strictly speaking, no. However, these crimes rarely rise to the attention of police and prosecutors, and when they do, we expect -- and are Constitutionally promised -- that the due process of law will be followed. Saint or villain, we get our day in court. As does anyone, including Presidents. Oh, the court is different; the bar is higher, for reasons the Framers of the Constitution deemed sufficient;* but the idea is the same and the process, while far more exhaustive and partisan than any Grand Jury you or I are likely to face, is not all that dissimilar.
But all that side noise-- Don't we have Representatives from both parties, to sit at their high bench and make speeches (with occasional question-asking)? Are there not witnesses a-plenty, to make their ostensibly noble and usually rump-covering opening statements and answers? Politicians are their own cheerleaders and pep squads and I'm not going to get into spats with people online about hearings that neither they nor I have any direct influence over.
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* They appear to have been concerned about "lawfare," that Presidents might find all their time occupied by minor lawsuits and malicious prosecution; but there clearly needed to be a way to hold Presidents accountable for egregious acts, and thus they came up with impeachment.
A noble sentiment. But I fear that the nozzle of lawfare has been released and encouraged, much to the detriment of the citizens downstream.
ReplyDeleteRoberta,
ReplyDeleteI have tried on a couple of different occasions to watch the ongoing hearings of the House. And failed, miserably. The problem is just like you pretty much said, it is a partisan event, with little light being shed on anything of any actual importance. I am not completely informed about the events that they are contending over, but I have enough of an idea to understand most of what is being discussed. And it does seem as if most of what is happening is mostly each side taking turns at showing off for the cameras.
With less than a year until the next presidential election, it is unlikely that the house can get their impeachment process finished in time for the Senate to go through their work and find the president not worthy of being removed from office, and so fail to sustain the impeachment, before the next election is held. So it does seem to boil down to a mere political show.
I also have little respect for Donald Trump the man. He is what we used to call a creepy old man. Some say that Joe Biden is a touchy feely kind of man, who makes women uncomfortable. Trump is much worse than Joe Biden, at least as far as I am able to see on the outside looking in. At least Joe Biden seems to have some sense of decorum, which our president goes out of his way to avoid.
Whether or not Donald Trump will go down in history as a good president or not, his legacy is set. His legacy will be the change in the federal courts, and the Supreme Court, which he has turned much more conservative than it has been for decades. You can like that or hate it, but it is something that he has accomplished. Myself, I feel that the left has used the court to subvert the legislative intent of the conservatives for a long time.
The one thing that I suspect everyone will agree on, is that after having Donald Trump as our president, the office of president will be changed forever. No longer will it be considered an office for the upper echelon of our political class. Whether or not that is going to end up being a blessing or a curse, depends on the next few presidents to be elected. There are some very good, competent men and women out there who could do a good job as president, who have no political experience. Without the baggage of a Donald Trump.