Not Guilty #159
(At least in the minds of 43 U.S. Senators)
By Hank Silverberg
I won't go into the play-by-play, because you have probably heard or read a great deal about the shortest impeachment trial in U.S. history. Somehow Donald Trump managed to escape responsibility for his behavior once again and now, as a private citizen, he can do any darn thing he wants politically--including run again for public office.
Does America even know what the truth is any more and does the general public believe ANYONE--our leaders, the news media or our neighbors?
Trump's lies are with us still and it may take a long time to recover.
He lied about immigrants, both legal and illegal, turning an already complicated and divisive problem into an exclusionary and racist one.
He lied about Covid-19, exacerbating a worldwide pandemic and indirectly killing almost a half- million Americans.
He lied about climate change, wasting four important years needed to combat it with time running out.
He lied about himself and his political opponents, opening old unhealed scars on racism and making them bleed again on our streets.
And then he lied about losing his re-election, inciting his followers to storm the United States Capitol.
That's just a few of the big lies. There were many more.
But somehow 43 U.S. Senators didn't see it. They put party before country. Much of the GOP (Grand Ostrich Party) just closed their eyes, put their heads in the sand, and continued to focus on the next election instead of the next millennium.
There were seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump, and they deserve some credit. But many of them came late to the reality of the destructive force of Trumpism.
This was not a divide over ideology. We have had those before and survived. The last four years have been Orwellian, a battle for truth over falsehood, fact over fiction, reality over cult of personality.
Now I hope it is over. I thought it was done on January 20th, but Trump seems to dominate things even when he is holed up at Mar-a-Largo worrying about all the disastrous financial set backs Trump Inc. is in largely because of the pandemic he practically ignored.
Last week I wrote how worried I was about the obvious lack of young leadership there is in this country. Basically, Trump was acquitted by a bunch of Senators over 60 who seem lost in the party politics of the past. I believe after watching some of the trial that many members of the House and Senate need to get out of Washington a lot more often. They need to get onto the streets of their states and districts and talk with real people struggling to feed their families and pay for education and health care. That's always been a problem, but somehow it seems worse now.
But I am a bit more optimistic this week after listening to one of the younger members of Congress speak during the impeachment proceedings.
Congressman Joe Neguse is just 36 years old and just re-elected to the House from the Second District in Colorado to what is just his second term. His parents immigrated here from war ravaged Eritrea a few years before he was born. First generation Americans always seem to have a better sense of what America is all about, especially more than people who can trace their ancestors back to the Mayflower.
Neguse's comments during the final arguments during the impeachment trial shows that:
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I hope there are a few others like Neguse, who we haven't heard from that much, who can restore our faith. Congress shared a large role in the rise of Trumpism by not checking an authoritarian- oriented president like our Founding Fathers had hoped they would.
And you have to wonder about Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, two of the notorious 43, who seem to have forgotten the struggles of their immigrant parents.
Speaking of Ideology:
Some very disturbing news out of Tennessee that you might have missed. No matter how you feel about abortion, this one should make you angry, especially if you are a woman! A bill has been introduced in the state legislature that would allow a man who gets a woman pregnant to request an injunction barring her from having an abortion.
Tenn. lawmakers introduce controversial abortion bill (aol.com)
The man would have to acknowledge paternity, though no DNA test is required.
But, and it's a big BUT, there's no provision that that man then take financial or social responsibility for the child once it's born.
And there's no exception for a pregnancy from rape or incest.
Last summer Tennessee passed a sweeping anti-abortion bill outlawing the procedure once a doctor could detect cardiac activity in an embryo. That usually happens about six weeks in, before most women even know they are pregnant. That was blocked in court. It's unlikely this latest bill, if passed, would meet constitutional muster because of a 1992 Supreme Court decision striking down a mandate that a woman had to notify her husband before she sought an abortion.
Post Office Update:
Now it seems DeJoy has a new plan that would include higher postage rates and the elimination of first class mail. First class mail is supposed to arrive in two days, though lately it's been taking a week or longer. That's things like letters, catalogs and magazines, credit card and utility bills.
Postmaster general's new plan could include slower mail and postage hike (nbcnews.com)
DeJoy wans to slow that down to three to five days, which would be particularly hard on small businesses which rely on mail.
It's all about money, of course. The Post Office, which is partially government funded, lost $9.2 billion in 2020.
There's a Congressional hearing coming up on all of this on February 24th.
They'd better not use the U.S. mail to send notices on that. It won't get where it's going on time!
Dumbest quote of the week:
No surprise that it comes from Kentucky Senator and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It came minutes after Donald Trump was acquitted at his impeachment trial and moments after McConnell voted "not guilty".
"There is no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it."
(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)
Copies of my book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
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