Wednesday, January 15, 2020

CITIZEN TONY ON IMPEACHMENT



Donald J. Trump should be removed from office and charged with more crimes than I would have room to enumerate in anything shorter than a 500-page book that would break his brain if he tried reading its contents page. You know this is true.

Why would anyone support this criminal president? Maybe you’re as evil as he is, a grouping that would certainly include his closest “advisors,” Mitch McConnell, and, sad to say, most Republicans in the Senate, the House of Representatives, and Republican-held state and local governments.

Why would anyone support this criminal president? Maybe you’re an insane evangelical “Christian” eager for the end-times and anxious to get to Heaven. When you meet God, She will probably have stern words for you.

Why would anyone support this criminal president? Maybe you’re too delusional to accept the incontrovertible facts that have been put before you. Maybe you’ve bought into the lies with which Fox News and its ilk have assaulted the truth for decades.

Why would anyone support this criminal president? Maybe you’re just plain afraid of the most powerful bully our nation has ever seen. As the shortest and often smartest kid in school, I saw good kids flock to and follow the neighborhood bully, hoping they would not be his next target.

Why would anyone support this criminal president? Maybe you’re just ignorant of the Constitution, the rule of law, common decency and the diversity which once made America great and could make it great again.

The articles of impeachment will go the Senate soon. If McConnell and his vile henchmen have their way, Trump’s trial will end before the sound of the opening gavel has faded. Violating their oaths of office and the established rules of fair trial, they have already stated they will work with the President on his defense and vote to acquit him.

McConnell, the foreman of the jury, should himself be impeached for his pre-trial pronouncements or, at the very least, stripped of his right to vote on this matter. The same goes for any other Senator who has made similar statements. We need impartial jurors on both sides of the aisle. That means the presentation of evidence. That means the questioning of witnesses. That means showing the public everything and casting your vote in a manner that upholds both the Constitution and basic decency. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Republicans who could lay claim to basic decency.

Trump is unfit to hold office. It would be a true miracle if McConnell and his fellow Republican bootlickers - be careful of Donald’s painful bone spurs - did the right thing and voted to remove him from the office he disgraces on a daily basis. I don’t expect they will.

That said, impeaching this President was the right thing to do. It shouldn’t be a question of how that might affect someone’s chance of being reelected. It should be a question of making the choice our Constitution demands.

The United States of America is the middle of a disaster. Even if Trump is removed from office by impeachment or election defeat, it will take our country decades to recover from the harm he’s done to it. I don’t expect to live long enough to see that full recovery. Honestly, if we don’t get rid of Trump and crush the power of the Republican Party, I expect I’ll be murdered at the hands of one of the GOP’s white supremacist bedfellows or “Christian” zealots. If you think I’m exaggerating, look at the blood-drenched history of those groups.

Impeaching Trump and removing him from office is the right thing to do. Even if this fails to happen, it will still have been the right thing to do. Even if Trump tells another ten thousand lies, it will still have been the right thing to do.

Regardless of the outcome, decent Americans who believe in the rule of law, who welcome diversity of people and thought, who recognize the danger of would-be tyrants like Trump and the murderous world leaders he so clearly admires, will have a lot of work ahead of us. There will be no quick fix.

Either by inaction or obstinacy, we helped break the United States of America. For example, we have countenanced every President in my lifetime lying about our wars. The reasons for going to war or the progress of our wars or if we have any plan for bringing our wars to an end. To my way of thinking, such deceit should be consider an impeachable offense for all Presidents, even the ones I voted for.

We have allowed cruel discrimination against so many of our fellow Americans and those immigrants who have come to our country seeking to be part of our nation, seeking to make better lives for their families, seeing to contribute to our greatness.

I have no purity test for politicians. I fear I will always choose the candidates who are somewhat better than their opponents.  However, better, by its very definition, is still better than the palatable evil of Trump and the Republicans.

We broke this country. It’s on us to fix it.

“Citizen Tony” will be back tomorrow to write about his unexpected candidacy for a local office. I didn’t see it coming either.

© 2020 Tony Isabella

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