The Trump Impeachments: Volume II

 S omeday perhaps there will be a two-volume book by this title.   

For now, we have only the transcript of today's opening Impeachment session in the United States Senate.  With it's moving and powerful beginning video and riveting statements from the House managers, we are off and running with what must be the nation's most important Impeachment in history.

Those best equipped to offer commentary (as well as those less equipped) will do their jobs.   As for this writer, I want to focus on the larger context and the nation's future.  To this end I hope to offer pertinent and maybe even poignant posts here which may help at certain points to illuminate and inspire.  

For while this is a frightening time what with armed hooligans assaulting the Capitol, it is also -- or can be -- a time of hope.  But for us to have a hope-filled future, a certain kind of thoughtful planning must be done.  If I am able to offer only a few suggestions of merit here I will feel gratified.  

 

Second Impeachment Trial of Donald John Trump -- All This Week

Information will be posted here from time to time.

January Attack Hit Closer to the Center of Power Than Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch : Noam Chomsky

Via Patriot in Exigency --  

 

Here is Noam Chomsky's contribution to the discussion:   

 January Attack on the Capitol Hit Close to Power's Center

The Tumultuous Transition

 If we are lucky, the Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden as the 46th President of the United States will go smoothly tomorrow.

In reality, of course, luck has nothing to do with it.  Only careful planning can assure this.  By all reports, the planning has been superb, if necessarily rather militaristic.  

So we can expect an event free of violence -- at least at the Capitol.

Of course, this is an historically very low bar, as we are used to cheering crowds, and a setting of a new vision for America.  But in these times, what we need is a national re-set.  We need a new base-line of normality, a new foundation for building a resurrected city on the hill.  

Best wishes, Mr. Biden. 

The Government at Washington Still Stands

 Amidst almost unimagineable chaos, the government at Washington still stands -- to echo a re-assuring statement from the past.  A famous quote from President Lincoln of the same era warns that a house divided against itself cannot stand.  

At this perilous time, and for a respite from televised news, I recommend the book shown above, "It Was All a Lie," by Steven Schmidt.  This volume by an experienced Republican operative details just how we got to the current moment.  

Insurrections do not appear suddenly.  The current boiling cauldron of revolution is no different.  This book tells the story in plain language.

Strongly recommended. 

CAPITOL BUILDING IN WASHINGTON, D. C., OVER-RUN BY FAR-RIGHT INSURRECTIONISTS

 Failure of Law Enforcement to Prevent Violent Intrusion of Pro-Trump Mob

(up-dated)

Thousands of pro-Trump marchers stormed the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, January 6, after attending a rally at which Donald Trump used incendiary language to urge attendees to march on the Capitol.  Masses of enraged rally-goers flooded first the Capitol grounds and then the Capitol itself forcing Congress to suddenly adjourn and members to depart to an undisclosed secure room within the Capitol building.

Washington, D.C. Police have now established a secure perimeter after hours of protestors and rioters having had effective control.  

The question now is whether this is a culmination or only the beginning of further unrest.

Meantime, Congress is reportedly anxious to get back to work.  First, our beloved Capitol must be made secure.  

Later:  Who Is to Blame?  Media Cannot be Absolved

Back from a Forced Break

Dear Reader:

 

Modern life has dealt me a couple of nettlesome blows recently;   thus I have been forced away from this blog for some weeks.   First, secondary effects of the societal pandemic crisis impacted me.  This meant I had to be away from normal blogging for many days.  Then, the blog host (Alphabet corporation and Google) threw up technical issues to my access.  This was quite annoying.  Having seemingly solved the technical problem of access, I am back to writing here again.   

It seems mostly the whole world is aware of the rough places in our political landscape owing to the marauding presidential wind force blowing from the Oval Office.  Our Military Leader (OML), who was so roundly defeated in the recent election, yet clings to the assertion that He (no, not that He) is the true winner of an election the world knows he lost.  (The Trumpistas hardly count, as they are, after all, in a world of their own.)

But how boring and flavorless to keep gnawing on this bone.  I, for one, am more interested in the Biden cabinet choices, and in his actual plans to help the country.  

And, by the way, if OML wants to remain in the White House after noon on January 20, I say just let him try.  The Constitution has a prescribed method for selecting and declaring that a new President has taken office.  The White House wasn't even built at the time the Constitution was approved, so who is in it at that hour doesn't come into it.  So let him stay there.  He will likely run out of bologna by about 6:00 p.m. 

A Different Kind of President

President Obama surprises citizens near the White House:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iZb6eP73rk&feature=share

Saturday Poetry

 

All your strength is in your union;  all your danger in discord;  therefore be at peace henceforward...And as brothers live together.  

 

                                                                  -- Henry Longsworth Longfellow

                                                                      as quoted in university yearbook

                                  

N. B.  It is in the kind of union that you find strength, for not all unions are equal in virtue.   

Accountability and Punishment for Any Crimes Is Essential Says Neuroscientist

 At the link below a noted neuroscientist states that in order for Americans to heal from the methods and practices of victimization, the American people will need to see punishment for the many crimes suffered at the hands of OML.  

Accountability for OML Crimes Necessary

 

 

Trump Forces Ramp Up Efforts to Overturn Election Results

 RED ALERT

Trump and his dead-enders -- as MSNBC is calling them -- are escalating efforts to try to overturn the election results.  Most recently they pressured two counties to refuse to certify their election results.  This, two weeks after the election. After the pressure, the counties gave in.  This is wrong on so many levels, including probably legally.

New York Times writer, Michael Schmidt, has stated that the Trump style -- now so long apparent --  introduces an unknown variable into the process.  I agree very much.  As Americans look to Thanksgiving and Christmas, distraction and fatigue are leading to accidental apathy.  This apathy is itself terribly dangerous.  For as former Governor John Kasich of Ohio energetically urged on national television tonight, the people watching at home must themselves  become leaders in ensuring that the election of 2020 is not, in fact, stolen.  

 

Biden Elected

From Saturday

 

Joseph R. Biden, Jr., has been elected the 46th President of the United States.

I will have more to say later. 

 From The Philadelphia Inquirer -- 

City elections officials said they were working to count ballots around the clock, as planned.

“We are doing the canvass, we are not stopping for nobody,” said Omar Sabir, one of three city commissioners, who run elections. “We’re here, we’re counting. The count has not stopped.”

If anything, another elections official said, Philadelphia is ahead of schedule when it comes to tallying mail ballots.

The confusion may stem from national news organizations' unfamiliarity with election results reporting in Pennsylvania. Counties do not always update the state system as often as they update their own websites, and at 11:40 p.m. the state’s website showed only 74,132 votes for Biden and 32,414 for Trump out of Philadelphia.

Were Polls Wrong Or Has There Been Vote Suppression?

 In these early hours after Election Day, there is already an opinion piece on the Philadelphia Inquirer website about hour wrong the pollsters supposedly were.  I won't read the article until a bit later, but as one who has seen his share of vote suppression over the years beginning twenty years ago in Florida, I have more than a mild sense of curiosity about the lower-than-expected vote totals for Joe Biden.  And the attempts at vote suppression continue at this hour with lawsuits already filed or being filed by Our Military Leader and his sycophants, as they are being called.

Yes, Mr. Biden was not the perfect candidate.  Still, he has managed to come out well in the end, currently leading in both the popular and Electoral College tallies.  We should give him credit.   And no one should tolerate any attempts to interfere with the legitimate vote count in America today.  With Covid concerns, we knew the results would probably be delayed, and they are.  This, however, is no reason to lose confidence in the process or attempt to create an alternative reality which comes from some alternative universe. 

Election Results Trending Toward Joseph Biden

Continuing the count

 On the morning after the U.S. election, Joe Biden looks increasingly to have captured the White House.  As numbers slowly pile up, the trend is reasonably clear that Mr. Biden has a path to win. 

This is not the first time in American history when there was a close election.  And considering the fact that it was conducted during a pandemic, Americans can be proud of the elections workers who have labored diligently and continue to do so to count every vote.