President Donald J. Trump has been TWICE impeached. This is a first in American history. We have to come to grips as of WHY this happened, pragmatically.
The world is watching, again…
As I remain today in my house with “Restriction of Movement” (ROM), and while I’m waiting for my COVID-19 test results… and I take care of other issues here behind my computer, I am also watching live the Second Impeachment of President Donald Trump in the U.S. House of Representatives. Yesterday, the House voted 223 to 205 to call for Vice President Pence to strip President Trump of power under the 25th Amendment. This course of action came under a time crunch given the attack to the U.S. Capitol on 06 JAN2021.
Which by the way, both sides of the aisle (Democrats and Republicans) agree it was a despicable attack and that the attackers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Despite the mob chanting for violence, specifically also towards the incumbent Vice President Mike Pence – who was in fact in the Capitol building at the time – the crowd angrily chanted to have him hanged (yes, as with a gallows noose)… despite this, the Vice President rejected the effort in a letter sent to the Speaker of the House, Democratic Nancy Pelosi — who was also targeted by the same mob who attacked the Capitol that very same day.
All that I told you in my opening paragraph is a matter of public record, you can look it out yourself. The violence was not only recorded, but it was also even life streamed by the “media” – and by many of the attackers themselves. As I predicted in my last rant, the prosecutions have been conducted by the FBI and local law enforcement offices across the country. The findings of those investigations have been startling. I fear that we will see a lot more violence in the coming days.
For what I’ve gathered, the FBI has already given warning in all 50 state capitols of possible violence. The startling truth is that there are a lot of people out there who feel these attacks are justified. I can only hope people on the offense will look at things objectively and hope they will reconsider any violent actions.
Again… as I’ve ranted before, I do not lean right or left when it comes to politics. Whenever possible, I will watch the statements from both sides’ sans-commentary. If possible, from C-SPAN or whomever is just broadcasting the information without pressing any target audience bias – or commentary.
Twice impeached.
There are President Donald Trump followers who will be on his corner no matter what, who, or why others point issues deemed unacceptable. Before anybody who loves President Trump jumps at my throat, wait, and ask yourself… if all those observations were on a democrat, would you defend the same actions? I get it, many of you like the guy, and likely have preferred to often give your attention to outlets that share your appreciation for him (though I cannot remember when it’s the last time, or if I have ever seen Trump accept wrongdoing during or before his presidency about anything – let me know, send a video clip if that has happened).
This does not mean that President Trump has not achieved some significant milestones during his term, and he deserves credit for positive accomplishments. But that is unfortunately irrelevant… First off, that’s why a person is supposed to run for office, to get stuff done for the country, and second – even all good people have blind spots and make mistakes, just like every criminal is not out there committing crimes 24 hours a day. The accountability is based on whether an event has reached a level of concern that needs to be formally addressed. This is further amplified if a trend of similar activities (even if lesser in severity) have been observed or peculated over a period of time.
It is human nature, if a person is able to get away with small things (even if they don’t realize it is the case), then those boundaries will increase, and they will be able to get away with bigger things, and so on… because that behavior has been normalized. The question is, would you tolerate that from somebody else who has not earned your good graces or affection? Let’s address that question again in a minute. First, let’s review some recent relevant American History.
Republican President Trump was impeached for the first time on 18 DEC 2019
Charged with 1) Abuse of Power… and 2) Obstruction of Congress – by the house of Representatives – which had a Democratic majority. Then the Senate – which was had a majority Republican voted to acquit the President on 05 FEB 2020 and enabled him to remain in office. The vote was very partisan – virtually with Democrats ruling against Trump, and Republicans ruling for Trump. Each chamber won by virtue of the number of members each party had sitting in Congress. In case you were unfamiliar with the reason for impeachment, let me very quickly summarize.
President Trump called the President of Ukraine in July 2019, and during the call Trump alluded to the fact he would withhold Congressionally appropriated defense funds to the Ukraine in exchange for disparaging information against back-then former Vice-President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Yes Joe Biden, who by the way was not even really running for president at the time. This was the first impeachable offense the House of Representative found strenuous enough to pursue. Fun fact, Speaker of the House, Democrat, Nancy Pelosi actually blocked several previous efforts to impeach President Trump before this session – despite various efforts from her caucus. And the democrats, especially the freshman Representatives were mad at Pelosi for that.
This Ukraine call was really a catalyst, yet only a part (however significant) of this call was directly related to this first impeachment process – The call served more as an illustration to a pattern of behavior the Democrats found troublesome in President Trump. The Ukraine calls alone did not prompt that famous Special Counsel investigation, which is now known as the “Mueller’s Report” – known as such because FBI’s Robert Mueller was the cognizant authority behind this report (and the pertinent investigation). Yes, there were some precedents about this investigation. And through the course of this investigation there was, and still there is a lot of misinformation about this report. A couple of facts to dispel (before we move on) because the misinformation have been driven me nuts every single time… So, a short list hereby follows:
- Mueller was not looking for “Collusion with Russia” because that is not necessarily a prosecutable issue. Look it up… Legal terms means something… you might want to look at the term “conspiracy” — that would be more accurate in this case, and reason why Trump defenders on TV keep bringing “no collusion.”
- The Mueller investigation was looking into “Interference with the 2016 Election” and no, these are not the same thing as Collusion. Mueller did find evidence of interference… plenty actually. Read the report, It’s 400+ pages.
- Mueller DID find then Presidential Candidate Trump, and campaign responsible for the allegations. As a result, many of his close friends were prosecuted and sent to prison. But the Department of Justice guidelines did not allow for prosecution of a sitting president. Technically, Trump can still be prosecuted as soon as he leaves the White House based on the Muller Report findings. The difference is that this time the US of A won’t be paying Trump’s legal fees and won’t be able to claim “Executive Privilege” to miss court dates. There are plenty of other lawsuits waiting for him as he steps out, this would just be another one to the list. Again, you can look it up, it is all public record.
- President Trump did in fact used his presidential power to prevent further inquiries, or at the very least made it very difficult for the investigative authorities. Again, all these are public record, ranging from his tweets to actual press conferences – he was not shy about it – you can read them yourselves – I followed these stories very closely as they unfolded. Many Trump-friendly outlets would say “nothing to see” – but other so called “fake news” in the USA and international news around the planet in every imaginable language would state otherwise. Again, the information is posted, you can look it up.
- President Trump did obstruct Congress, particularly the Democratic majority House of Representatives. If not always directly by rhetoric -tweets, and press conferences, but also by proxy with many of the key witnesses choosing not to cooperate with Congress, and many in contempt of Congress (essentially plenty of them didn’t show up to the Congressional hearings, and most of those who did would evade answering directly). Again, you can look at these raw videos from CSPAN or many outlets in the public record.
- No subpoena was issued for the most part to the witnesses, because Congress knew these would be fought in the courts for months, if not years, rendering the process into a long, expensive and indefinite legal issue – Witnesses said themselves, they were going to fight those subpoenas in court… so should be no surprises why the Chairman of each committee decided against subpoenas. It was common sense… Mainly because those witnesses on the Trump side decided not to cooperate with the Democrat-majority House in Congress… and they very well know they cannot say in the record under oath a falsehood – under risk of perjury. They could however be able to state something along the lines “He did not do what he’s accused of doing, here is the proof” (providing irrefutable evidence). Those that had a story to tell showed up, even though they knew they were going to face the anger of the President and his followers, lose their job or livelihood, and even face potential death threats… and death threats were a plenty to those testifying against Trump.
- Senate Majority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell from Kentucky essentially broadcasted that the impeachment effort would be dead on arrival when it arrives to the Senate floor. And so it was, President Trump was not removed from office. In other words, it was not a “failed attempt” to remove the President from office… the outcome was just a product of partisan votes. You might dislike these facts, but you can always look up yourself in the public record, they will say the same thing. As will history.
Again, you can always fact-check me. Just do it objectively, look at the actual public records before getting mad at me. While you’re at it, looking at the public records, also fact-check your news caster(s) of choice. Telecommunication management already has intrinsic bias, because it is based on the target audience. In other words, they will be happy to give you and me an echo-chamber so we can go back and look at their content and their advertisers. There is a comment section below in this article for well-though-out-arguments. I will not allow trolls and misinformation be displayed on my site, though. Arguments should be logical, measurable and demonstrable… otherwise it is just conjecture, and will be dismissed as such. I did my research before writing this, I would expect the same level of preparation from anyone who would like to present with a counter argument.
Republican President Trump second impeachment was on 13 JAN 2021,
As I type this – the President is charged with 1) Incitement of Insurrection. These were again drafted by the still Democrat-led House of Representatives, and upon successful impeachment will be sent to the currently Republican led Senate. Spoiler alert, the Senate will take no action until after inaugurating Joe Biden as the new President of the United States. Yes, it will cross the time frame when the Democrats assume their majority elected control of the senate. Yes, that is a consequence of the last 2020 election (to include the Georgia run-0ff election – which ultimate gave Senate control to the Democrats – and I’m sure that angered McConnel because he lost his rank as the Senate Majority Leader).
In other words, it is very likely President will be convicted in the Senate trial, even when he’s already out of office. But that will prevent Trump from ever pursing the presidency again, and for many this will be a symbolic closure in the name of accountability, stating that “no person is above the law, including the president.” For my red- aisle friends, that means that Congress would have to play by the same standard with the new incumbent Democrat President.
This time, the Impeachment proceedings are very different than the last time Trump was under this type of scrutiny. Sure, President Trump still has many loyal Representatives and Senators who will defend him to the bitter end, but a significant number of Republicans in both Chambers have jumped ship. Yet, some already jumped ship the day the Capitol got attacked. Whatever the reason, they don’t seem to be able to further defend his actions, and are asking for accountability, despite party affiliation – though they might still have voted against impeachment.
In fact, 10 republicans voted for impeachment and six did not vote. The final vote was 229 votes for impeachment, 196 against impeachment, and 8 who did not vote during the allotted time to vote. I think there were some stragglers from the non-voting column, but mathematically the Impeachment decision became irreversible. Making Donald Trump the first ever Twice-Impeached President of the United States of America.
The argument being fought as I watched this impeachment debate still did not justify the attack to the Capitol, or even argued that President Trump was not responsible (you can see the debate yourself online, multiple outlets will save it for historical record until the end of time). The argument against impeachment boils down to the fact Trump will be gone in about a week, and this opposition argues this process is unnecessary, that it is dividing the country, and that this process is being unfairly rushed because there have not been witnessed or not afforded that long-drawn process, as it was the first time Trump was being impeached (No witness testimonial, except for every Senator and House Representative, and the Vice President, all staff & capitol police, news agencies, and the self-incriminated dissidents live-streaming their actions at the time of the attack).
The pro-impeachment crowd states that Trumps actions, which led to the attack to the Capitol is the greatest betrayal of the duty of the President of the United Sates History, and that they cannot let this pass without accountability. Also, impeachment and removal would prevent Trump forever holding Office again, thus squelching his ambition of running again in 2024.
Further, Mitch McConnell has gone on record saying he would support impeachment and conviction for the good of the country, and that comes to no surprise after he publicly broke ranks with Trump the day the Capitol was attacked… or even days before that, when McConnell recognized Biden as the new President Elect. As I sit here and watched the debate, many Republican representatives have stated they will vote for impeachment.
They recognize the difference between a Trump fan and a Republican. Again, even if President Trump have accomplished good milestones during his tenure, remember, that’s what he was elected to do, to accomplish milestones in service of the American people, and to maintain the status of the United States of America as the Shinning City on the hill. The Presidency holds their incumbent to a much higher standard than the average citizen… that’s a requirement for that duty. That’s why it’s the highest office in the land!
Intellectual honesty
All of us are required to do the best we can each and every day… be good and decent people. We are subject and required to follow our society’s laws. In America, our constitution allows for debate if laws can be improved for the wellbeing of everyone. That’s a whole other complex process, but at least there is a process in place, as opposed to authoritarian countries where you don’t even have that choice. That’s a whole other rant.
We all have to admit that Donald Trump as a President and as private citizen has been able to get away with a lot of stuff… Stuff no other President, or person on this green Earth could get away with. Below is a small list with a few examples, but the information is out there if you choose to dig for it. You won’t need to dig too far either. I’m keeping my list short for a reason… The reason is because I am sure most people would not tolerate a much craziness from a person they sit in opposition, and maybe – they would want to debate any of the items listed below.
So, I don’t feel like spending my time or bandwidth on that. After this post goes live, my life moves on… specifically, I’m cooking pork chops for dinner. Maybe one day I’ll make a full list of all the stuff Trump has gotten away with, whereas most people would not be able to get away with similar stuff – if Trump even remains relevant after he leaves office. Even if those things he got away with have been celebrated by his fans – good or bad is subjective as we continue to evolve as humans (seriously, some crazy $#!^ was legal and acceptable throughout history – that stuff today would be unacceptable, because we know better – such as using cancer-causing asbestos in our home). My question to any Trump fan before reviewing this list is: If a democrat would be doing any or all of the following, would you still unequivocally support that person?
- Freezing Ukrainian (or any country for that matter) congress appropriated aid (reason that was catalyst for first impeachment)
- Refusal to testify during the impeachment investigation – and some other probing, such as the taxes to unequivocally demonstrate no foreign influence
- Interference with the election process via rhetoric (tweets, rallies, press conferences, news appearances), resulting in divisiveness
- Solicitation aid form a foreign government in an election -and campaign funds mishandling (where many of his allies went to prison for)
- Not keeping records when talking one-one with other foreign leaders
- Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in “hush” money to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal while cheating on his wife Melania
- Breaking treaties with other countries, where the US was leading those efforts
- Using non-profit funds to pad his own bank account
- Golfing with the government’s dime ~$ 141,000,000 as of 31OCT2020 – that would be ~ $96,575 a day for 4 years. The presidential salary is $400,000 a year or $1,095.90 per day (which he donated, yeah… good on you Mr. Trump). But we footed $95.479.10 a day… or essentially 352.5 Presidential yearly salaries just pay for his golfing. Yes, that’s 348.5 more Salaries than he was entitled to, for all you eagle-eye mathematicians.
- Tweeting and re-tweeting thousands of times, often attacking political or private citizens… by name… sometimes resulting in death threats
- Admitting to grabbing a woman’s genitals without their consent because he was a celebrity
If any of these situations (they all happened) where pinned on a Democrat, would you unequivocally support this person? Just as have unequivocally supported Trump…? If you cannot support a democrat under the same allegations, then you’re not being intellectually honest. Don’t’ beat yourself up about it, yet… we all have biases, and it can be very hard to change your mind after being very emotionally invested on somebody you admire. Not unlikely when you’re in an infatuated relationship, and that person means the world to you. At that time, you might think they can never do you wrong, maybe end up marrying this person and eventually things turn no-longer-cute- and the relationship ultimately goes to hell. This is how some people ended up jumping ship with President Trump.
The first step to recovery is seeing the facts objectively… be your own devil’s advocate. If you reach to the same conclusion, you as you did after looking and finding flaws on your previous convictions, then you are intellectually honest. Unfortunately, some former Trump followers just were opportunistic followers, and because they saw the writing on the wall that his presidency was over, they moved away from him.
Again, before you lunge and get mad at me, let me remind you that I don’t lean Left or Right. Which is refreshing for me, because I can leave my emotions to the side when it comes to scrutinize political parties. I’ve seen right-wing and left-wing comments online about your Pro/Against Trump opinions and against everyone else for the past four years, and I didn’t attack you. I just ask for the same courtesy as I express these facts. Everything I stated here can be independently verified with public records.
Again, if you want to get mad at me, that won’t change the facts or the actual historical events. I’m still going to enjoy my p0rk chops tonight after my post…. We control what we own, and one thing we own is our loyalty towards what is right, good and decent. True, there are some terrible people out there, but I am convinced that most people, even hard-core Trump supporters are good and decent people. But we are all subject to be misled by anyone with an agenda, especially if we have been hanging out in an echo-chamber for too long. I’ll rant about that in particular some other time, so you can see what I mean by that. I don’t have an agenda, I really cannot care less for what people think, as long as it does not affect my lifestyle, or damages the sanctity of my family. Most civil conversations can ensure you preserve both lifestyle and household sanctity. That is really what makes America Great. HLC