"The people of the United States are entitled to assume that their President is telling the truth.   The pattern of misrepresentation and half-truths that emerges from our investigation reveals a presidential policy cynically based on the premise that the truth itself is negotiable."

To whom can we attribute this quote?  Rep. Adam Schiff?   House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler?  Nancy Pelosi?  

No, the actual speaker was one Caldwell Butler, U.S. Representative from Virginia before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the impeachment of Richard Nixon on July 25, 1974.*

And yet the quote could have been given in December 2019, some forty-five years later.  It could just as easily have been said about our current military leader.  

Nixon could be secretive, at best, and a criminal conspirator, at worst.  The impeachment committee said he had abused power, and attempted to obstruct justice (though not technically criminal).   But Nixon with all his faults still seemed like a President.  Even in his co-called crazy moments talking to the paintings of dead Presidents in the White House, Nixon still seemed presidential.

Such cannot be said in the America of today.  This individual does not always act presidential.  And now, says the House of Representatives, he is not fit to be President.  

Perhaps it is true that, as has been said, history does not repeat itself but it does rhyme.  It rhymes.   And it also echoes.   

May God yet save the United States of America. 

 





*The Final Days.   Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1976, p. 283.
 

 

Holiday Relaxation?

Some people put Christmas music on the stereo, radio, or computerized device.  Some people over-eat.  Some take trips, or walk amidst the winter moonlight.

As for me this year, I am reading books.   Finally, now that Christmas is over I am actually reading books again, after tending to musical endeavors. 

My main book at the moment is one I had never read:  The Final Days, about the Nixon Watergate scandal, written by those reportorial sleuths Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.  The book, published in 1976, covers those portions of 1973-74 in which the country slowly awoke to the festering pustule called Watergate. 

So much about The Final Days registers now.  While the Ukrainian fiasco is different from the Watergate crisis in many ways, the reactions of the President in both cases do have their similarities.  The secretiveness and furtiveness, the self-dealing and self-deluding are all familiar traits of both leaders. 

The value, of course, of the Woodward-Bernstein book is its contemporaneity, its careful attention to the details of events so close in time.  If we get a similar book out of the OML nightmare, we shall be lucky.

In due time, the truth will out, as they always say.  Truth has an energy all its own, and is not something a human being or any group of persons can simply twirl in the air and set down at will.  Thus, we the people still have truth on our side, if we will just honor it and swear by it.  

The president Is Impeached

Rush post


In a proud moment for the Constitution, though a sad day in the House, the president of the United States has been impeached.  This is only the third time in history the House of Representatives has voted out articles of impeachment.  It happens to be the only time articles of impeachment have been voted out of a Democratic-led House.

Speaker Pelosi has spoken graciously about the work of the committee chairs, and has make further eloquent statements in a press conference following the vote.

Perhaps tellingly, she has also said the actual sending of the articles of impeachment to the Senate will be predicated upon suitable arrangements being made by Senate leaders to receive them and conduct a fair trial there. 

The American people through their representatives have now said enough is enough;  that there is reason to believe this president should be removed from office through the impeachment and conviction process. 

While this is, of course, most laudable, it will take more than this to set the country on the right course again.  The entire history of this blog has been what constructive, non-violent things can be done to renew America's promise.   It shall be my honor to repeat these suggestions, and to add more as needed.

Nancy Pelosi Gives Impassioned Speech for Impeachment on House Floor

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, has just given an impassioned and eloquent speech not simply defending the impeachment effort, but our entire republican system of government.  This important statement lays down the foundation and rationale for impeachment of this president at this time.  How fortunate we are to have Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House now!

America is at a crossroads.  Shall we have rule by the people, or shall we have a king?  Have we become so cynical that we no w eschew the responsibilities as well as the freedoms of democracy for the expediency of a vaudevillian dictator who says he can do whatever he wants?

No, I say, NO!  We shall not have anything but democracy.   No matter how inconvenient democracy may be, under proper leadership, it is still the best system of government.  For every other way of governing is leadership by the powerful, the wealthy, the self-appointed or, usually, all three.

Let us be about the business of democracy!  Let us be about this unfortunate but necessary business of impeachment!

Huge Crowds Demonstrate for Impeachment All Across America Tuesday Night

Rush Link --

Often in freezing weather many thousands of people turn out to support impeachment of OML:
Thousands Demonstrate for Impeachment Across America 


 

Last Chance for Democracy?

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to approve two articles of impeachment this week.  This important development, so needed now, has the potential to re-invigorate our democracy.

In order for this to happen, impeachment must be seen as one of many activities which must occur now.  First, the people must be engaged in all aspects of the democratic experiment -- including reading and listening (learning), monitoring their Congress members, monitoring press and media, monitoring big business, advocating and proposing. 

I have made mention of press and media.  This key component of the democratic process has itself long been corrupted by complacency and hubris.  Lately, something of worry and anxiety -- if not humility -- has crept into the journalistic ethos.  For the attacks against the media have taken their toll.

What we do not yet have is open soul-searching on the part of media persons who helped enable a wolf in clown's clothing to seek the nomination of a major political party, transform it, then set about transforming an entire country.  This crime against humanity is a crime against truth and a crime against democracy.

Somehow, the notion of America as a good and just place endures.  The memory of the Founding Fathers and mothers, as well as the many torch-bearers of following generations, has not been expunged. 

So it is up to we, the people, to do our duty as we see it -- to see that this nation of liberty and justice indeed shall not perish.  Let us be about this business. 

Put Trump on House Arrest -- the U.S. House of Representatives: Columnist's Inference

Of course the House won't -- or cannot -- put Our Military Leader (OML) on house arrest.  But according to columnist Margaret Carlson, with the Republican majority leader of the Senate already raising money on the notion of making sure impeachment fails in the Senate, politicians and citizens should look seriously at the options available.  

I, for one, do not necessarily agree that the American people cannot tolerate a longer impeachment process.   For one thing, there is important news about all kinds of nefarious activities coming out almost daily, making for riveting television.  For another, the witnesses the House committee chairs are calling are first-rate and more than informative -- they are inspiring. In and of themselves they are a much-needed antidote to the dark perfidy of this White House.

I also do not necessarily believe the articles of impeachment need to be severely limited due to some limited brain-power on the part of Americans.   We can handle it, if it is necessary, and done in a dignified way.

Another advantage is the time it gives Congress to pursue other legislative remedies, while the corruption is on display daily.  

So, let Congress be on guard.  As Ms. Carlson says, this President who is acquitted might be worse than one whose impeachment is simply indefinitely investigated.  

Keeping OML in the House

Stop the Presses!

Powerful testimony from Judiciary Committee Witnesses


In Brief --

Witnesses before the House Judiciary Committee -- professors all -- gave stirring denunciations of the Presidential attempts to involve a foreign power in America's political campaign.  There can be no doubt that these Constitutional experts were appalled by the efforts of OML to enlist the help of Ukraine in our American election process.  

The import, stated clearly, was our democratic form of government itself is at stake.  In short, this attack on our republic must not stand.