The nation is seemingly going to hell in a handbasket. Honestly, I personally have never been so thrilled as to see a hearing / "trial" come to an end as I was the recent impeachment hearings. And yes, there are quotation marks around the word TRIAL because what we just experienced was no real trial. It was a sham of political posturing conducted by a body of cowards we call the US Senate that are too scared of repercussions from the sitting president to stand up for what's right and what's fair.
Don't get me wrong. If the Republicans can hold an impeachment trial regarding a Democratic president that had a shameless extramarital affair, the Democrats are well within their right to hold one regarding a Republican president who may have been trying to steer the upcoming election in his favor by basically bribing a foreign country. I personally feel like articles of impeachment should be a thing that's a last resort, not just an angered kneejerk reaction by a political party, but regardless, here's my takeaway in the fractured aftermath of this debacle.
The House of Representatives made a HUGE mistake in not bringing the impeachment articles to the Senate immediately upon passing them. I know the party line was that Mitch McConnell would have blocked them from ever reaching a hearing at that point, but wouldn't that have just made him and the Republican party look far worse in the realm of withholding? It's a tactical error that probably cost them the verdict.
The Senate made a GRAVE mistake in not allowing witnesses (WTH? It's a trial! There are witnesses in trials!) While it may have truly been in an effort to 'speed the process on behalf of the American citizens,' you can bet that if one them was being charged with high crimes (or any crime!) and it went to trial they'd never let it out of the courtroom without witnesses being called for verification of the subject matter. All their 'no witnesses' decision did was solidify the argument that every single one of them has been bought and paid for by corporations that are within the interests of the sitting president AND that they do not remotely represent the interests or needs of the citizens that elected them to office.
The sitting president is a despot. We've seen despots before throughout history. Hitler, Mussolini, half the monarchs that ruled countries when monarchs were still the political seats of power, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un .. here's the thing. This is AMERICA. Our ancestors fought to End this kind of rule, and now we're sitting back letting it take the highest office in the nation and saying "poor pookie, he's just misunderstood"?! The man literally fired the people in his cabinet who were brave enough to stand up and say "This is wrong". He's had more turnover in the first 3 years of his administration than an engine in an Indy 500 racecar. But anytime someone uses their 1st Amendment right and questions his actions, he reverts back to his reality show tactic of "You're Fired" and slams them on Twitter in a grammatically incorrect fashion. Seriously? It's like the cast of Jersey Shore took the oath of office.
The country is now a fractured mess. Tell me I'm wrong. Please. Better yet, SHOW me. The ominous pall of the cloud that encircled this nation has yet to part and show anything except for an atmosphere of distrust. The Republicans don't trust the system and don't trust their Democratic counterparts. The Democrats don't trust the system and their Republican counterparts. Neither party can stop in-fighting long enough to present a united front to the American people on ANYTHING except the fact that everyone is pointing fingers at every side. It's literally like watching a group of Tammany Hall preschoolers who can't figure out which bully took their lunch money so they're determined to blame everyone.
The idea of a capitalist democracy is that every citizen has a voice, everyone can voice that opinion without repercussions, and every citizen is innately entitled to life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness ... but not like this. The current climate of this nation is more like every citizen has a voice if they're saying something the president approves of, everyone can voice their opinion if it's something that everyone else in political power agrees with, and every citizen is entitled to life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness if those tenants are ones that align with the sitting president.
George Washington is probably turning over in his grave.
We, as nation, HAVE to come together and decide what we want our future as a nation to be. The only way to dispel the ominous pall of those horrid clouds is to do exactly that. Political parties are not the answer, and neither is blind allegiance to any person in office. Is there a quick fix? No. But if we remind ourselves of what this country stands for and are willing to get out there and intelligently fight for it, we as Americans may actually have a solidifying chance.
~ The Girl in the Little Black Dress
Don't get me wrong. If the Republicans can hold an impeachment trial regarding a Democratic president that had a shameless extramarital affair, the Democrats are well within their right to hold one regarding a Republican president who may have been trying to steer the upcoming election in his favor by basically bribing a foreign country. I personally feel like articles of impeachment should be a thing that's a last resort, not just an angered kneejerk reaction by a political party, but regardless, here's my takeaway in the fractured aftermath of this debacle.
The House of Representatives made a HUGE mistake in not bringing the impeachment articles to the Senate immediately upon passing them. I know the party line was that Mitch McConnell would have blocked them from ever reaching a hearing at that point, but wouldn't that have just made him and the Republican party look far worse in the realm of withholding? It's a tactical error that probably cost them the verdict.
The Senate made a GRAVE mistake in not allowing witnesses (WTH? It's a trial! There are witnesses in trials!) While it may have truly been in an effort to 'speed the process on behalf of the American citizens,' you can bet that if one them was being charged with high crimes (or any crime!) and it went to trial they'd never let it out of the courtroom without witnesses being called for verification of the subject matter. All their 'no witnesses' decision did was solidify the argument that every single one of them has been bought and paid for by corporations that are within the interests of the sitting president AND that they do not remotely represent the interests or needs of the citizens that elected them to office.
The sitting president is a despot. We've seen despots before throughout history. Hitler, Mussolini, half the monarchs that ruled countries when monarchs were still the political seats of power, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un .. here's the thing. This is AMERICA. Our ancestors fought to End this kind of rule, and now we're sitting back letting it take the highest office in the nation and saying "poor pookie, he's just misunderstood"?! The man literally fired the people in his cabinet who were brave enough to stand up and say "This is wrong". He's had more turnover in the first 3 years of his administration than an engine in an Indy 500 racecar. But anytime someone uses their 1st Amendment right and questions his actions, he reverts back to his reality show tactic of "You're Fired" and slams them on Twitter in a grammatically incorrect fashion. Seriously? It's like the cast of Jersey Shore took the oath of office.
The country is now a fractured mess. Tell me I'm wrong. Please. Better yet, SHOW me. The ominous pall of the cloud that encircled this nation has yet to part and show anything except for an atmosphere of distrust. The Republicans don't trust the system and don't trust their Democratic counterparts. The Democrats don't trust the system and their Republican counterparts. Neither party can stop in-fighting long enough to present a united front to the American people on ANYTHING except the fact that everyone is pointing fingers at every side. It's literally like watching a group of Tammany Hall preschoolers who can't figure out which bully took their lunch money so they're determined to blame everyone.
The idea of a capitalist democracy is that every citizen has a voice, everyone can voice that opinion without repercussions, and every citizen is innately entitled to life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness ... but not like this. The current climate of this nation is more like every citizen has a voice if they're saying something the president approves of, everyone can voice their opinion if it's something that everyone else in political power agrees with, and every citizen is entitled to life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness if those tenants are ones that align with the sitting president.
George Washington is probably turning over in his grave.
We, as nation, HAVE to come together and decide what we want our future as a nation to be. The only way to dispel the ominous pall of those horrid clouds is to do exactly that. Political parties are not the answer, and neither is blind allegiance to any person in office. Is there a quick fix? No. But if we remind ourselves of what this country stands for and are willing to get out there and intelligently fight for it, we as Americans may actually have a solidifying chance.
~ The Girl in the Little Black Dress
