No Checks, No Balance
As political tribalism far exceeds its boiling point, half of America has watched the impending impeachment of Trump with critical, keen interest, while the other half has decided that facts just don’t matter at all anymore. The fact-free crowd is certainly more interested in cheering Trump’s vulgar, tweet-drivel comments toward a young environmentalist, Greta Thunberg, who was just given the accolade of Time Magazine’s Person of The Year. Republicans revel in Trump’s juvenile bombast. Republicans voted for Trump precisely because of his belligerent disdain for tact, institutional norms, and protocol.
The hard truth laid bare in the hearings is that Republicans continue to show that they have no respect for the checks and balances of our government. Senate Majority Mitch McConnell has shown that he is ruthlessly Machiavellian and obsessed with maintaining partisan power at any cost.
For those who embrace facts and the truth, watching Trump’s acolytes defend the indefensible during the impeachment hearings is the dark harbinger of a despotic, greedy oligarchy that is replacing the proud representative democracy that was once America. Predictably, the fact-free crowd will say that Trump’s blatant abuse of power and unrelenting obstruction of Congress is just delusional hysteria from liberals who can’t get over the fact that he was elected in the first place.
In Alabama, former U.S. Attorney General and Senator, Jeff Sessions remarked, “That’s just flimsy. That’s flapdoodle. That’s not an impeachable offense. You can just say anything. You make me mad. I’m going to impeach me, you’ve abused your power. I didn’t like what you did. You shouldn’t have done that. I’m going to impeach you. That’s not what the constitution says.” I hate to be the one to inform Sessions that withholding Congressionally approved foreign aid for personal political benefit is, indeed, a high crime. Further, ignoring lawful Congressional subpoenas and refusing to hand over requested documents is obvious, in-your-face obstruction.
Maybe, Sessions thinks that extorting another nation and ignoring the law is flapdoodle, but he’s just like every other Trump sycophant that’s flapping his doodle because they’re too cowardly to stand up to Trump.
The House is certain to rightfully impeach Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate will refuse to convict and remove him from office barring some miraculous ‘deus ex machina’. That will be the death knell for the checks and balances that were enshrined in our Constitution. It will set the malignant precedent that the President is above the law.
During the hearings, Republicans have voiced the mantra that Democrats have wanted to impeach Trump from his first day in office. That’s actually a fair statement because Democrats have always recognized Trump as a charlatan. It seems like it happened an eternity ago, but before he was elected, Trump mocked a disabled reporter, paid off pornstars, and used his charity as his own ATM to purchase paintings of himself. His faux university was a scam. There are so many things that make him unfit for office, that it’s dizzying and overwhelming. The worst part is that he is exactly everything that Democrats believed he would be and, perhaps, the only surprise things are the unfathomable depths of his acute narcissism, his purposeful, willful ignorance, and his penchant for obnoxious indecency.
Republican Rep. Gohmert described the House Judiciary Hearing on Trump’s Articles of Impeachment as “a day that will live in infamy” and he’s right. It will live in infamy because America watched the Republican party advocate for the dissolution of the checks and balances that are the foundation of our democracy. They yelled and argued a plethora of absurdities to avoid confronting the mountain of substantive and obvious evidence that Trump abused his power and obstructed Congress. Sadly, these acts aren’t really the worst in his lifelong pattern of unethical behavior, criminality, and constant pathological lying.
History will remember Republicans as eager accomplices in Trump’s scheme to destroy our nation’s checks and balances. This is bigger than impeaching Trump, it’s an existential fight for our Constitution and what it means to be an American.
Clete Wetli is former Chair of the Madison County Democrats and a liberal political activist.
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