For those who are unfamiliar with my background, a brief summation is in order for the purposes of this post. I am a Christian, patriot and family man. I served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army for over two years and was honorably discharged at the conclusion of my enlistment. I have been a student of the history and politics of the United States for all of my life (my degree majors were history and political science). Recently, I authored a book (An American Family Bible) on my family's role in the history of the United States covering the period 1585-1987. Formerly, I was a registered Republican for many years, but I have been an independent and unaffiliated voter in more recent years. I have always flown the flag, recited the pledge of allegiance and enthusiastically celebrated Independence Day. And I used to enjoy watching episodes of The Apprentice on NBC.
Nevertheless, as past posts on this blog have indicated, I have been dismayed by developments of the last four years - the election and subsequent presidency of "the Donald." In just four short years, this man has succeeded in undermining my faith in the institutions and country which I have faithfully served and revered for my entire life. He has taken a divided country and erected an impenetrable barrier between the two sides. He has actively sought to undermine public confidence in the rule of law, the separation of powers, freedom of the press and U.S. intelligence gathering. He has also reshaped the once mighty Republican Party into a personality cult devoted to himself. However, I believe the most damning way in which he has undermined our republic is in the realm of the confidence we formerly enjoyed in the results of our elections.
By inviting foreign interference in the 2016 election and soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 election, he has called into question not only the legitimacy of his own presidency - but our ability to have any confidence that the results of all future elections will be the real verdict of the American people. Moreover, it appears that he has been completely successful in thwarting any efforts by the press or the U.S. Congress to put a stop to his cheating!
After successfully stonewalling the House impeachment inquiry (not producing a single witness or document subpoenaed by that body), he has succeeded in bullying all but two Republican senators into joining him in covering up his misdeeds. At the end of last week, the U.S. Senate voted 51-49 not to call any witnesses or subpoena any documents in the President's trial before that body. They did this knowing that John Bolton and others could provide incriminating or exculpatory evidence in Trump's trial - it simply didn't matter (Moreover, even when Bolton's book finally comes out, Trump has succeeded in completely destroying the credibility of a man who was formerly widely regarded within conservative and Republican circles). The paramount objective of my former party's senators was ending the trial and preventing Trump's removal from office! During the trial, Trump's defense team argued that the President is allowed to stonewall to protect executive privilege and can do anything to get himself reelected because he believes it to be in the national interest that he continue to be president!
Think about the implications of these assertions being allowed to stand - think about what these precedents mean for presidential power going forward. If the president cannot be indicted for crimes and can thwart any investigations into his wrongdoing and cannot be impeached and removed from office for abuse of power, then we no longer have a president - we have a king or dictator. The only check left on a rogue chief executive would be an election, uh-oh!
Add to all of this the fact that the American electorate has already elected this man once and at least half of them don't want to see him removed from office and there won't be any meaningful restraints on foreign interference in the upcoming election, and the prospects for Trump's reelection don't seem as remote as one might hope. Hence, I believe if Trump is reelected the game is up. American democracy will be a thing of the past - a story for the history books. The nation that I have served, loved and defended for all of my life will no longer exist! Hence, I may have to reevaluate my attachment to Independence Day celebrations and patriotism if the objects of my devotion no longer exist!
Nevertheless, as past posts on this blog have indicated, I have been dismayed by developments of the last four years - the election and subsequent presidency of "the Donald." In just four short years, this man has succeeded in undermining my faith in the institutions and country which I have faithfully served and revered for my entire life. He has taken a divided country and erected an impenetrable barrier between the two sides. He has actively sought to undermine public confidence in the rule of law, the separation of powers, freedom of the press and U.S. intelligence gathering. He has also reshaped the once mighty Republican Party into a personality cult devoted to himself. However, I believe the most damning way in which he has undermined our republic is in the realm of the confidence we formerly enjoyed in the results of our elections.
By inviting foreign interference in the 2016 election and soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 election, he has called into question not only the legitimacy of his own presidency - but our ability to have any confidence that the results of all future elections will be the real verdict of the American people. Moreover, it appears that he has been completely successful in thwarting any efforts by the press or the U.S. Congress to put a stop to his cheating!
After successfully stonewalling the House impeachment inquiry (not producing a single witness or document subpoenaed by that body), he has succeeded in bullying all but two Republican senators into joining him in covering up his misdeeds. At the end of last week, the U.S. Senate voted 51-49 not to call any witnesses or subpoena any documents in the President's trial before that body. They did this knowing that John Bolton and others could provide incriminating or exculpatory evidence in Trump's trial - it simply didn't matter (Moreover, even when Bolton's book finally comes out, Trump has succeeded in completely destroying the credibility of a man who was formerly widely regarded within conservative and Republican circles). The paramount objective of my former party's senators was ending the trial and preventing Trump's removal from office! During the trial, Trump's defense team argued that the President is allowed to stonewall to protect executive privilege and can do anything to get himself reelected because he believes it to be in the national interest that he continue to be president!
Think about the implications of these assertions being allowed to stand - think about what these precedents mean for presidential power going forward. If the president cannot be indicted for crimes and can thwart any investigations into his wrongdoing and cannot be impeached and removed from office for abuse of power, then we no longer have a president - we have a king or dictator. The only check left on a rogue chief executive would be an election, uh-oh!
Add to all of this the fact that the American electorate has already elected this man once and at least half of them don't want to see him removed from office and there won't be any meaningful restraints on foreign interference in the upcoming election, and the prospects for Trump's reelection don't seem as remote as one might hope. Hence, I believe if Trump is reelected the game is up. American democracy will be a thing of the past - a story for the history books. The nation that I have served, loved and defended for all of my life will no longer exist! Hence, I may have to reevaluate my attachment to Independence Day celebrations and patriotism if the objects of my devotion no longer exist!
There is an insightful interview about the impeachment trial at the 12:43 mark at http://21393.mc.tritondigital.com/CBC_ASITHAPPENS_P/media-session/4871b20f-fca3-4ed9-82cd-ee49016bfe1d/asithappens-dDmec54Z-20200130.mp3. You would like it.
ReplyDeleteAs to your third paragraph, the USA is receiving back what it has exported for decades --- interference in the selection of governments in sovereign states. You reap what you sow. The U.S. has sometimes even intervened militarily on foreign soil to ensure a particular government takes office, and I do not have much sympathy on this point. America is a commerce based empire masquerading as a republic. Trump, petty insecure bully that he is, is simply crystallizing the reality.
So, two wrongs make a right? Would it be OK for a foreign nation (like the U.S.) to wage a campaign to help separatist elements in Canada?
DeleteThanks for the posting. For the first time in my life I fear for our country.
ReplyDeleteThe following comment was posted to my e-mail address:
ReplyDelete"These results were not produced overnight.
A couple of trends have developed over several decades.
One is that Congress has become as supine as a poodle to the president if he and the congressional majority belong to the same party. The Constitution made Congress primus inter pares. Article I of the Constitution lists Congress first and is the longest article by far, describing at length the anchoring role of the legislative branch. Sadly, Congress (with rare exceptions) will not stand up to presidential overreach. So much so, that we have now become accustomed to presidents being given free reign to make decisions in areas that the Constitution explicity assigned to Congress.
A second trend, and one that actually makes Congress weaker and more susceptible to this presidential manipulation, is the degree to which political parties have gerrymandered election districts. This has led to a vast proliferation of "safe" seats which in turn has produced more extreme candidates of both parties, since they don't have to answer to a variegated electorate any more. This polarization makes it that much more difficult to find consensus or compromise on so many important challlenges facing the nation.
And I guess we, the electorate as a group, have given our representatives a pass and not called them to account for any of this. On the contrary, too many of us have encouraged these trends. O tempora, o mores."