Washington, locked into bitter debate, has become the eye of the storm. Chief Justice Roberts reminding people to keep a civil tongue. Imagine that, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court reminding elected officials and the President’s private council that they should act with some sense of decency. My 3rd grade teacher, Sister Georgia Marietta would have said: “Act like you have some sense.”
Have we really fallen that far? Probably.
But, there are some things to be learned from the opening act of the Washington Self Immolation Extravaganza, the show that never ends.
- There are 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. Every motion is going to be approved and denied with those numbers. Motions to request documents from the White House, the State Department, the Pentagon, the Office of Budget and Management, the need to subpoena and question witnesses, all fell by a vote of 53 to 47. We can expect to read those numbers quite often.
- It is time to recognize Senators Murkowski and Collins are not the moderate, independent free-thinkers they advertise. If anything they are co-conspirators. Look, it is easy to say they don’t think the President is guilty, but to vote against the documents and witnesses that could offer proof of his innocence seems suspect at best, probably complicit and definitely willing to look the other way.
- Lindsey Graham is not interested, not even a little, in what Lindsey Graham had to say. Not when Clinton was being impeached and not when Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump were locked in the Cage Match of Death during the 2016 presidential campaign. Yes, every candidate can change stripes once the primaries are over, but the transformation has been frightening.
- Donald Trump’s lawyers, built for televised debate, have claimed Trump was not allowed representation during the House of Representatives hearing. The administration declined to send council. They have claimed abuse of power is not an impeachable offense, while mostly it seems it is. So far, they don’t seem to go as far as the President himself in making claims of innocence. They are settling for the guilty, but not a prosecutable defense.
Of course, there is a lot of theater left. But, in the end he will be found innocent. And I would probably wager quite a bit on how the vote falls. It offers proof of how foolish it is to actually believe in our elected officials. They might not be guilty of anything but they certainly aren’t innocent.
Still, voting is important, now more than ever.
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