We talk about all things here — albeit, always respectfully.
Yesterday Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal inquiry of Pres. Donald Trump. Understand that it was not a vote nor an initiation of official impeachment proceedings. It is an investigation, with many commentators divided whether grounds for an impeachable offense exist.
Unsurprisingly, Twitter went wild… and not in a good way in the opinion of this craver of respectful conversation. I believe one could safely say that Twitter fosters very little healthy dialogue, consistent with most of social media. When I then searched what was trending with the anticipated inquiry, I found social media accompanied by multiple unfortunate calls that denigrated (and far worse) any who disagreed, any who didn’t believe it should have been done sooner, and actual calls for civil war. Hear that. Civil war.
I thus found myself not pleased nor displeased, neither thrilled or upset. My heart simply broke a little more for our fractured state of the Union.
As the Libertarian Party tweeted…
“News headlines will be dominated tonight about impeachment proceedings pertaining to Donald Trump. Some will accuse the President of being a criminal, undermining the Oval Office, and defying the rule of law. Others will say that the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi have gone off the deep end, and are setting a dangerous precedent with little evidence moving forward.
One thing is certain: we’re all losing either way. The reality is that this should never have gotten to the point where it mattered so much to so many Americans. Presidential activity should be remembered as footnotes in American history, not as grandiose epics. The Oval Office should be respected as a place for bill signing and vetoing, of implementation of checks and balances, not constant controversy. This isn’t limited to Donald Trump. It extends back dozens of Presidencies, from Obama to Nixon, Reagan to FDR.
The Government should never have gotten so large, and so powerful, that the actions of one person in one role could dominate the news day-in-day-out for years. It’s time we started reeling the monster of big government back in. It’s time we took back our rights. It’s time we started electing leaders that want to make these offices function how they were intended, not how they are run…”
I suppose that’s it in a nutshell. From a civilian’s stone throw away, government feels way too big, and politics feels way too important. It concerns me when politicians on all sides of these issues make themselves or their singular party most important, arguably forgetting the humility of their elected oath and the book on which they swore.
I’m reminded of the words widely-respected columnist Peggy Noonan penned on the 20th anniversary of the impeachment of Pres. Bill Clinton — an occurrence of which I was also not pleased nor displeased, thrilled or upset.
Noonan wrote: “I see it all now more as a tragedy than a scandal.”
Why a tragedy?
Had Pres. Clinton told the truth, Noonan opines that: “even accompanied by a moving public apology, the toll would have been enormous. He would have taken a hellacious political beating, with a steep slide in public approval and in stature. He would have been an object of loathing and ridicule — the goat in the White House, a laughingstock. Members of his party would have come down on him like a ton of bricks. Newt Gingrich and the Republicans would have gleefully rubbed his face in it every day. There would have been calls for impeachment.
It would have lasted many months. And he would have survived and his presidency continued.”
But she profoundly proceeds…
“Much more important — here is why it is a tragedy — it wouldn’t have dragged America through the mud.”
And that is why my heart breaks a little more, friends…
Regardless of any outcome of the current inquiry, when the truth becomes secondary to the politics — in the actual investigation or in defense of the investigated — the reality is that way too many are willing and wanting to drag the rest of us through the mud.
God help us. You surely know better than we.
Respectfully…
AR