JaxPolitix

1. Question

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was widely praised for standing up to President Trump by refusing to “find” 11,780 votes for Trump.

Question: When did the bar get set so low that just refusing to commit a felony was cause for praise and celebration?

2  Question

The end of Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution reads:

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the end of their next Session. [emphasis mine]

Question: Trump has been allowed to appoint “acting” secretaries of Executive departments and avoid Senate scrutiny for nearly all of his presidency. Why weren’t his unconfirmed picks challenged when their clocks ran out?

3. A Question and An Answer

How is it that thousands of Americans rioted, defacing and violating the people’s seat of government and threatening murder, yet they see themselves as true patriots, even as they were clearly violating the Constitution and the law?

I have at least a partial answer for that one: These people have grievances that are very real to them. You might not like or agree with all of them, but they are powerful for these people.

For example, they really dislike being insulted and dismissed as “deplorables” by “elites.” They respond to that dumping of humiliation exactly as you would. And they most certainly don’t like being lied to, especially by people with a lot of money, which includes members of Congress, as they see it.

For decades politicians have been promising to bring back good jobs, the manufacturing jobs that pay well and allow for a solid middle class life for them and their families. Instead, they’ve watched as town after town lost their strongest employers and their towns became boarded up shells of what they once were.

It’s a huge impact on them to have their economic security undermined. They’re just like you in wanting to be self-sufficient and not needing to be dependent on others. I was reminded of that recently when I delivered a neighborhood collection of groceries to the local food bank. One of the workers told me how humiliated people feel when they have become dependent on handouts to feed their families.

You won’t like the next example.

Over their lifetimes these angry people have seen the increase in power and status for non-whites, women, religious minorities and concessions made to immigrants. To white men viewing everything through a zero-sum lens, that means less power, status and opportunity for them. They see the superior position that they believe is rightfully theirs being compromised and incrementally being taken away.

Yes, that’s racist, misogynist and xenophobic. But it’s threatening to these people and a powerful inducement to rebel. For additional clarification, refer to The American Civil War, which, clearly, isn’t over. We have to find better ways.

There’s far more, of course. Just get that people only act as they did on January 6 for powerful reasons and those reasons don’t include their being stupid. I urge you to read Thomas Edsall’s compilation of insights from expert thought leaders in his piece, “White Riot“.

As much as I insist on accountability, we urgently need to deal with our realities in more ways than just locking up the perps. We need to deal with the root causes of the anger and desperation that drive people to act in this most unpatriotic and dangerous way. Otherwise, we will be condemned to a never ending cycle of hate, violence and suffering.

4. A Snow Job

In the debate over the article of impeachment in the House of Representatives on January 13 I heard Republicans oppose it by invoking:

• • The Wright brothers (yes, really)
  • There is grievous harm being done to Republicans when they are confronted in public by meanies.
  • There was violence and vandalism done at BLM protests.
  • A list of imagined Trump good stuff was recited.
  • There were meanies who wanted Trump impeached from the beginning of his presidency.
  • Moon landings (yes, really)
  • Claims that Trump was cleared of conspiracy and extortion in the Ukraine affair (not true).
  • Claims that Trump was exonerated by the Mueller Report (not true).
  • Nancy Pelosi is a meanie.
  • Republicans are poor victims of a double standard. Woe is them. So unfair. They’re victims. Feel sorry for them. (Yes, they pretty much said those things.)
  • Swift justice is unfair.
  • This is a great country.
  • The economy.
  • Yeah, but Democrats are bad guys, too (the “false equivalence” and “dirty hands” defenses).
  • Trump didn’t conspire with the Russians.
  • Trump didn’t incite violence because all he did was to decry election fraud.
  • The bill of impeachment is a fraud against the people of the United States.
  • Impeachment will be divisive.
  • Trump wanted peaceful protest.
  • The protesters were peaceful. (Seriously, a duly elected congressman said this just days after the rioting mob was looking for him in order to kill him.)
  • There is illegal immigration going on.
  • BLM was founded by Marxists.
  • Democrats have encouraged and endorsed violence.
  • Democrats support defunding the police and taking everyone’s guns.
  • Republicans are victims.
  • We’re in a race to the bottom and we need to do better.
  • The president didn’t incite violence.
  • It’s time to put people over power.
  • This isn’t due process. (Actually, that’s correct, although dumb to say. Per the Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5, due process happens in the Senate.)
  • Can’t we all just get along? This needs to be a time of healing.
  • Democrats are hypocrites.
  • Impeachment will start us down the path of cleansing political speech.
  • Democrats have just realized that riots are bad.
  • We shouldn’t waste time on this and instead should get to work on issues for the American people.
  • There are only 7 days left in Trump’s term.
  • Impeachment will offend the people who voted for Trump.
  • This is just an effort to divide the nation.
  • Democrats are hypocrites.
  • None of the rioters has been asked if they rioted because the president told them to do so.
  • Impeachment is a political act.
  • Democrats are hypocrites – seriously, we really mean it, which is why we repeat ourselves.
  • Two wrongs [impeachments] don’t make a right.
  • Democrats oppose free speech.
  • Trump is pro-life and America First. Democrats hate that.
  • There is a double standard regarding people committing violence.
  • The other side only wants to attack and demean.
  • It’s not fair.
  • Democrat committee chairs lied; Republicans didn’t.
  • The assault on the Capitol was pre-planned, but that isn’t included in the articles of impeachment.
  • Trump did a lot to make America great.
  • We need to tone down the volume and heal the nation.
  • The Capitol police deserve our applause. (Actually, that line got applause.)
  • Many Lincoln quotes were quoted. (Nevertheless, he did not make an appearance.)
  • We should seek higher ground.

The old saying is that if the facts are on your side, pound on the facts. If the law is on your side, pound on the law. If neither the facts nor the law is on your side, pound on the table.

The list above, all from Republican congresspeople, is nothing more than pounding on the table. A few statements might be true; still, they miss the point.

THE ONLY ISSUE before the House in this hearing was whether Donald Trump urged violent insurrection and sedition against the Constitution of the United States and whether he should be impeached for his actions. It was not about any of the distractions listed above.

Not even a single Republican congressman/woman opposed the impeachment on the merits. Not one.

.

With the exception of the 10 Representatives who stood strong for the Constitution, these whining Republicans haven’t the courage to call out the traitorous acts that put lives and our democracy at risk. Again. They violated their supposedly sacred oath of office to protect and defend. Again. They put on display their profound moral incompatibility with truth. Again. A 2016 word comes to mind to describe these representatives: deplorable. And I’m no elite.

Now conspiracy hangs in the air, as we begin to uncover evidence of members of Congress giving tours – reconnaissance missions – to insurrectionists the day before the insurrection, and of Capitol police opening doors and removing barricades for the intruders. As ugly as things are now, they are going to become far uglier.

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Best Quote

Thanks to NK for offering this:

“[2020 was] like looking both ways before crossing the street and then getting hit by a submarine.” Clarke Smith, 9, Michigan

Ed. note: We need to spread the word so that we make a critical difference, so,

Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.