As I type this, the House of Representatives has voted to impeach Donald Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors – only the third time in the nation's history. Throughout the day Republicans have resorted to histrionics – one Republican insanely equated the day's proceedings to the biblical trial of Christ – and most importantly denied the existence of proven facts. Seeing the moral degradation of today's GOP – something that in my view directly correlates to the rise of the Christofascists within the party – I am ashamed to have ever have been a Republican. Like their Christofascist and white supremacist masters, today's congressional Republicans are morally bankrupt.
– Michael Hamer
Excerpted from “The GOP’s Closing Argument:
Denying Basic Facts”
Michael-In_Norfolk
December 18, 2019
Excerpted from “The GOP’s Closing Argument:
Denying Basic Facts”
Michael-In_Norfolk
December 18, 2019
No president ever wants to be impeached. And whether Donald Trump leaves in one month, one year or five years, this impeachment is permanent. It will follow him around for the rest of his life, and history books will record it. People will know why we impeached.
[Trump] received 3 million fewer votes than his opponent and became president only due to the perverse absurdity of the Electoral College, that relic of eighteenth century slave power. His approval rating has never reached 50 percent, and usually hovers in the low 40s, despite serving during an economic expansion, when any other president would command the approval of 70% or more of Americans. And now he is one of just three presidents who have suffered the indignity of impeachment.
Trump is a symptom rather than a cause of our deeper problems; if all we do is impeach or defeat him then we will simply be waiting around until the next iteration of neo-fascism arises. There are many more lined up behind him. We need to do more than fight the disease; we need to bolster our immune system. Only the most vital dedication to democracy, to our world, and to each other will provide the energy that’s necessary to override the lure of a charismatic authoritarian figure. We need to take the same integrative approach to healing our society that we take to healing our bodies. We must prevent disease where we can, and bolster our immune system to fight it off when it arises. That’s why we need a politics that addresses cause as well as symptoms. Any unhoused, unfed and uneducated child is a time bomb waiting to explode. Any large group of desperate people is a petri dish out of which there will emerge societal dysfunction. And any sell-out to profit over treating people right will ultimately lead to disaster. Treat the cause to prevent the effects. And [in 2020] elect a president who knows the difference.
Impeachment Trial of President Trump
Related Off-site Links:
President Trump Impeached by the House in Historic Rebuke – Philip Ewing (NPR News, December 18, 2019).
Trump Impeached for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress – New York Times (December 18, 2019).
Donald Trump Is Now the Third President to Be Impeached in U.S. History – Paul McLeod, Addy Baird and Kadia Goba (BuzzFeed (December 18, 2019).
“The President Is Deranged”: Critics Respond to “Unhinged” Trump Letter Demanding Halt to Impeachment – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, December 17, 2019).
Trump Is Leading a Revolution That Is Destroying America – Jesse Jackson (Chicago Sun Times, December 16, 2019).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Trump's Playbook
• Progressive Perspectives on the Rise of Donald Trump
• Progressive Perspectives on the Election of Donald Trump as President of the United States
• Trump's America: Normalized White Supremacy and a Rising Tide of Racist Violence
No comments:
Post a Comment