A Moment of Reflection

Well, it is now reality.  For the third time in our history we are one vote away from impeaching a President.  It is a somber, serious moment that should make all of us stop and think realistically about what happens next.

Whether you are Democrat or Republican, we are all Americans and we all presumably revere our country, honor our Constitution and at some level believe that lying is wrong, that cheating is wrong, that ignoring facts is antithetical to the pursuit of truth.  We have reached an inflection point in our history as a nation.  Our values, the things we stand for as members of a democratic republic, are common to us all.  We are approaching a moment when those values, specifically the notion that a democracy is characterized by free and fair elections, adherence to the rule of law, and living our lives in honesty and integrity are about to be tested.

I watched much of the House hearings over the past weeks and it is distressing to witness the Republican response to the impeachment process.  As a group, there is denial of fact.  The defense of the President by these people is restricted to yelling, to demeaning the constitutionally mandated process, mirroring the character assassination of the President and to delay and obstruct the process as much as possible.  There has been ample opportunity for them to present whatever fact-based evidence they had to rebut the allegations made against President Trump, but they have failed in all cases to present either facts or any witnesses of fact. 

And now, we are about to witness a trial of the President in the Senate….a place where the end result has already been determined apparently---even before the trial begins!  In fact, we are now hearing news reports that the Republican controlled Senate is going to make rules for this process that will truncate the process in order to dismiss the articles of impeachment and acquit the President without the defense calling any witnesses.  The objective is to make the trial as short as possible and simply make the vote happen as quickly as possible.   What is wrong with this picture?  I submit that it is the obligation of all members of the Senate to have open minds and consider the evidence.  It is the obligation and right of the defense to present evidence that disproves the allegations.  The Republican allies of the President won’t do that because there is no evidence to disprove the allegations, and the fact witnesses the Democrats might call have been muzzled by the Executive branch in naked obstruction of the oversight rights of the Congress.

Add to that the inherent dishonesty of Mitch McConnell and it is easy to see why this trial is already a foregone conclusion.

However, this is a bigger moment than that.

I believe that the members of the Senate, and all of us need to use this moment to consider what kind of country we are.  If Trump is acquitted, then we have essentially approved of his lying; his invitation to foreign parties to affect our elections.  Our country will not be a democracy any more.  It will be an autocracy or dictatorship.  The separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution will be decimated.  The sacredness of free and fair elections will be sullied and rejected.  What kind of a country do we want to live in?  We will have a chief executive and commander in chief who does not believe in the rule of law.  In fact, there are some who warn that if Trump is acquitted, he will be completely unhinged going forward….as if he isn’t already!  Future presidents will have an unfettered path to break the law since nothing will be impeachable.

We must all think about what that means.  What can we all do at this moment?  I submit that each of us has a responsibility to take action in defense of our country.  We all should be calling our Senators and asking them to disregard party and honor our Constitution.  They need to understand that all of us are watching them and history is recording their actions.

A very somber momentous moment for ALL of us is at hand.