Democrats are NOT The Bad Guys

Am I the only living American who actually went to Civics classes and didn’t fall asleep? I’m beginning to wonder…Especially now, with all these political highjinks of late going on in Trumplandia.

For the past 2-3 months, I’ve been avidly reading about our current Constitutional crisis and watching key players on TV emote about, then deny, their involvement. Although I lack a Ph D. in political science, I’m becoming more and more convinced that our current President isn’t just a fascist demagogue hiding in plain sight. No, he’s so much more than that. He’s really a dictator-in-training who genuinely believes he’s above the law. Every law. Not a good thing for our democracy.

And yet, most of the blame for this current situation has been directed at the Democrats, not at the Republicans. Most of the criticism now has been given to the Democrats — to the elected officials who still do not have all the requisite power to easily remove Trump from the Oval Office. Donkeys apparently make better scapegoats than Elephants.

Even when reasonable invective gets directed at Trump and his GOP cohorts, unreasonable accusations still get leveled against the Democrats! It’s almost as if the pundits, talking heads, and entire media circus must obey some warped double standard. That is, whenever there’s any problem with the Democrats, Democrats must be 100% responsible. But whenever there’s any problem with the Republicans, blame must be spread around to include BOTH Democrats and Republicans. Whatever happens, the Democrats are always at fault when Republicans screw up because Republicans always blame them.

The latest ire engulfing the Democrats has to do with Impeachment: SHOULD PRESIDENT TRUMP BE IMPEACHED?

Yes! So why is it taking so long for Democrats with the House majority to impeach him?

No! So why won’t the Democrats stop picking on Trump?

Either way, it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t for Democrats.

Over and over, the same political talking points from the same old script keep resurfacing on Talk Radio, TV panels, and GOPropaganda networks:
*Democrats are picking on Trump. Leave our President alone! Get to work!
*Democrats are dilly-dallying about Trump. So impeach him already! Get to work!
*Democrats can’t decide what to do about Trump. Can’t they do ANYTHING right? Get to work!

The real problem here has nothing to do with the work ethic or ineptitude of the Democratic Party. The real problem here has everything to do with understanding how our government works — and how it’s supposed to legally operate. Impeaching a President, in other words, takes a lot of work. Why? Because impeachment involves both serious accusation AND subsequent legal, Constitutional process.

Stop reading right now and Google the definition of “impeach.” (Or go old timey and look it up in the dictionary.) It’s a transitive verb that means “to charge with malfeasance in office before a proper tribunal.” For our American President, though, that means a serious accusation of “wrongdoing that is illegal or contrary to official obligations.” In other words, impeachment not only encompasses criminal acts but can also involve various breaches of conduct or decorum. So, in determining whether or not an offense is impeachable, Congress has a lot of subjective leeway.

Let’s suppose the President gets so stinking drunk at a White House function that he publicly whizzes all over the roses in the Rose Garden. Not very Presidential. But is it truly worthy of impeachment? Is it really an impeachable offense? Congress must decide.

Now there might not be anything in the Constitution that specifically prohibits the President per se from urinating in public on government property. And peeing on flowers isn’t exactly a major felony, either. It’s not like he robbed a bank or killed a nun. But such misconduct could be interpreted as being “contrary to official obligations.”

If enough elected officials in Congress consider his behavior to be THAT contrary, this POTUS who tinkled out in the open could face an accusation of impeachment.

But remember, after the accusation, there also has to be a trial. That means investigation and research. That means compiling information and evidence into a reliable, credible presentation. After the House of Representatives prepares its case, designated members present their findings to the Senate. Then members of the Senate vote on whether to convict or acquit the President.

It’s not an easy process, and Congress wisely takes this obligation very seriously. So seriously that our U.S. Representatives and Senators do anything and everything possible to avoid impeachment. It’s a long, involved process that takes a lot of time and work to do properly — AND IT MUST ALWAYS BE DONE PROPERLY.

So let’s stop criticizing Democrats who want to follow this legal process. Let’s start holding Republicans responsible instead for enabling and protecting The POTUS #45 who-would-be-King. Direct your ire towards him, the dictator-in-training, who keeps giving Congress no other choice BUT to impeach him.

And maybe start learning about the workings of our republic before attacking and blaming Democrats for our current Constitutional crisis?