Since Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi announced that impeachment hearings against Donald Trump are officially
underway, there has been some discussion about whether or not this action has
any real point—especially given the lack of cooperation by even those
technically outside the grasp of Trump’s claws. To “normal” people it seems
unfathomable to understand how someone as immoral, unethical and even criminal
as Trump can maintain such a grip on people who have worked in his
administration; even those who have left under pressure or did so voluntarily
because they could no longer square their sense of lawful, moral and ethical
behavior with that of Trump’s seem to be unwilling to cross him publically.
Even if courts rule that Trump must turn over vital documents or force people
to testify against him truthfully, there is every reason to believe that Trump
will ignore even those rulings, given the utter lack of penalty for his actions
up to this point.
But Democrats need to proceed
with these impeachment hearings because given time it will be increasingly more
difficult for voters to ignore this administration’s near total contempt of moral, ethical and constitutional norms, let alone of the law or civil discourse. We have seen Corey
Lewandowski state flat out that he feels no obligation to tell the truth to the
American public, and no doubt few in Trump’s orbit feel any different. To tell
the truth would be to reveal the base instincts and contempt for simple human
decency that drives the thinking of those formulating policy in this
administration. If Lewandowski's does run for the U.S. Senate, by using soundbites of his brazen lying, voters should be continuously reminded of it in campaign ads.
Those persons with experience in
government and have respect for lawful behavior have all been driven out of
this administration, leaving behind not just a solid core of criminality, but
one whose gravitational pull is so strong that even those who believe in what
they doing is “right” are corrupted in an environment that cannot distinguish
between what is lawful and what is not. Trump has lived his whole life in
contempt for what is right and lawful, bullying people or getting them out of
the way if they fail to follow his lead.
The only true loyalty he feels is for his own brood, who all seem to be
curiously lacking in either personality (Donald Jr. and Eric) or a sense of
reality (Ivanka); if you don’t have a family connection, those who are welcomed
into Trump’s orbit must abandon all evidence of self-respect; Sen, Lindsey
Graham is a case in point.
Can it be that everyone in the Trump administration has
something to hide? What kind of gangster empire is he running here? Trump and
his stooges have lied or dodged so often that they no longer deserve the
benefit of the doubt, regardless of what comes out of their mouths. Did we
really expect the Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to sit next to Trump
and upset him by stating he did feel pressure to “please” Trump by promising to
investigate a bogus charge against the Bidens in order to get that U.S.
military assistance that was frozen just days before Trump made that one call
that we are privy too, now released as a second-hand transcript that almost certainly
is “redacted” by selective memory? Not
only is the phone call transcript Trump released suspect in its particulars, it
is only one of other aspects of unethical actions that prompted the
whistleblower complaint concerning what is clear evidence of collusion
with a foreign government to damage a
political opponent. It is impossible now for Trump to claim “no collusion,” but
that must be stated relentlessly and plainly so that people “understand” that
what Trump has done and continues to do is beyond the pale.
While Trump’s crimes are real, Rudy
Giuliani’s attempts to collude with a foreign government also cannot be
ignored, nor should he be allowed to escape unscathed. Ever wonder how he came
up with the idea that Joe Biden’s son received $3 million in a money laundering
scheme while working in the Ukraine? Isn’t it “coincidental” that if you
multiply the $50,000 a month he received as a board member for a Ukrainian
company by the 60 months he worked equals $3 million? And you want to know what
“fake” news really looks like? Giuliani is the master of ceremonies for that
gig.
If nothing else, the impeachment
hearings should provide loads and loads of soundbites of Trump’s stooges and
flunkies lying and denying even in the face of contrary evidence and testimony,
just as Lewandowski continue to arrogantly lie and deny even after being caught
red-handed in deceit. All this deceit may not add-up to a conviction and
expulsion of this festering pustule of a man who has ensnared himself in a web
of lies of his own making before the next election, but if skillfully used during in
2020—particularly in campaign ads—the very weight of it all should be
impossible to ignore for all save those who still choose to remain mired in
their own ignorance and hate.
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