The Diminishment of the Democratic Party

I have a lived for quite some time now and I can remember a day when the Democratic Party was a serious advocate for practical policy in America.  Whether or not one agreed with its ideals; I believe their leaders nonetheless brought forth initiatives that were grounded in sincere efforts to make this nation stronger, more equitable, and safe for future generations.  The Democrats for decades have boasted about their Party having a Big Tent; loudly proclaiming how marvelous their party diversity was.  Based on the behavior of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives, culminating in the spectacle I watched the other day labeled as the House Intelligence Committee hearing with DNI Maguire, the Big Tent has been turned into a Circus Tent.

Here is the point that both national parties have lost sight of: You cannot diminish the President without diminishing the Presidency.  The two things are inextricably linked.  There is a reason why the Presidency is the only elected office that is held on a national basis; why every single voter in our nation contributes to the selection of our President.  When the House of Representatives chooses to pursue impeachment of a President, they are essentially initiating the process of invalidating the most democratic exercise in our constitution. 

In the case of President Nixon, impeachment was based on an abuse of power that rose to a truly significant level and had Nixon not resigned, it most certainly would have resulted in the Senate removing him from office.  In the case of President Clinton, our President had clearly broken the law.  However, the severity of the violations he executed was open to discussion when considering removal from office.  In response to his illegal transgressions, it was entirely proper for the House to pursue impeachment.  It was equally proper for the Senate to acquit him for removal from office.  His crimes were publicly aired and the consequences of those actions have followed him since.  But his criminal acts did not disqualify him from accomplishing the duties the nation elected him to perform and he served out his second term as an effective leader. 

It is significant to recognize that both the Nixon and Clinton impeachments demonstrate that impeachment is a political exercise; strictly apart and distinguished from a legal exercise.  At the time of their impeachments, both men had already been re-elected to their second terms.  Nixon’s second election was essentially overturned because he himself recognized the gravity of his executive misdeeds and resigned prior to Senate consideration of his House impeachment.  Clinton’s second election was not overturned because even though his misdeeds were repugnant, they reflected more on his standing as a man and not so much on his qualifications as a President.  You may quarrel with this distinction; but that does not eliminate the reality of the distinction.

We see this same distinction with President Trump.  Few of his critics quarrel with the results of his policies and performance as the nation’s Chief Executive.  The most frequently cited sources of his criticisms are his personal habits and behavior; and, of course, resentment of the fact that he won in spite of the best efforts from both political parties.  But just as the case was with Clinton, the question that must be asked in Trump’s potential impeachment is whether or not his presidential activities in question rise to the level of overturning not only his initial election to office, but also his potential re-election.  It cannot be ignored that he will be standing for that re-election in roughly thirteen months.  If we accept that impeachment is a political and not a legal enterprise, what is the logic in beginning that process now when under the best case scenario it cannot conceivably be completed before a handful of months remain in his first term?  Doesn’t it make much more sense to conduct an honest and open examination of the act(s) upon which the impeachment centers, conduct this inquiry within the existing oversight context of Congress, and put the results of that investigation in the public domain for all to consider.  Once that is accomplished, President Trump will then stand for judgment in the ultimate political theatre; that of re-election to office.  In lieu of a clear-cut and prosecutable crime, this is the way Trump’s fate should be determined.  Have we learned nothing from the eternal, still-festering wounds inflicted on our government by the Clinton impeachment?

Here is the actual Ukraine phone call memo: https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/462959-read-transcript-of-trumps-call-with-ukrainian-president.  Here is the actual whistleblower complaint: https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20190812_-_whistleblower_complaint_unclass.pdf.  Before you allow the talking heads in the media to lead you around by the nose and tell you how to think, read these documents for yourself.  Remember that this concerns a conversation between the premier leader of our nation and the premier leader of a foreign nation.  In what alternate universe would this conversation not be considered private, privileged, and confidential?  What kind of individual would take it upon themselves to divulge the contents of such a conversation based upon hearsay testimony?  Who amongst us is qualified to take this one 30-minute phone call alone and consider ourselves to be in complete understanding of all that is the US/Ukraine dynamic? And most importantly, after you have read the phone call memo yourself, how factual do you find the complaint to be?

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The basis for this Democratic House effort at impeachment is highly questionable, at best.  It is a so-called Whistleblower complaint that looks as much like a political plant as it does a legitimate employee concern.  DNI Maguire clearly set out the reasons why it does not fall within the four corners of the whistleblower regulations.  Based on the actual phone call memo and further research, the basis of the complaint is in the range of 80 percent false and 20 percent accurate.  It is highly suspicious that the whistleblower regulations were actually revised to permit hearsay content as opposed to firsthand observation just before the submission (or re-submission) of the whistleblower complaint. Read here: https://thefederalist.com/2019/09/27/intel-community-secretly-gutted-requirement-of-first-hand-whistleblower-knowledge/).

The timeline of public comments and events surrounding this complaint (media reports and House member comments) certainly appears to indicate that there was some degree of coordination between the complainant and the anti-Trump forces.  The actual complaint appears to be written by a team of lawyers as opposed to a single, federal employee.  Many of the footnotes on the complaint do not refer to actual events that were witnessed firsthand or documentary evidence; but rather to media news items (we all know how reliable they are, don’t we?) that reported on these supposed events (does this pattern sound familiar to anyone?). 

The basis of the cover-up charges against the President centers on the fact that the phone call in question was preserved for the record in an extraordinary fashion.  My goodness…if your previous confidential calls had been leaked to the press, wouldn’t you take extraordinary measures to preserve their integrity? As unnecessary as it should be, it bears repeating that the Trump Administration had a very strong legal case not to release either the phone call memo or the complaint; but it chose instead to release both in a full, transparent, and expeditious manner.  Doesn’t sound like an attempt to hide anything, does it?  And what possible sense does it make for Democratic House leadership to publicly clamor for impeachment proceedings before they even have the phone call memo or actual complaint in hand to read and consider? 

Any objective individual should be capable of reasonably examining the details of this episode and noting the remarkable similarities to the shameless Democratic efforts at foisting the Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax on this nation.  I cannot for the life of me understand how the Trump Administration allows this cancerous Deep State Presence to persevere in this government.  Is this cabal of Democratic interests, rogue career employees, and ex-Obama appointees not sufficiently satisfied with the poisonous partisan environment they have fomented in our country’s citizenry for well over two years?  Can they not simply utilize their false perceptions and accusations in the political process (2020 elections) which is the proper remedy for situations such as this?  Can’t we just say that the Democrats got Nixon, the Republicans got Clinton, and the ledger is balanced?  Is it simply a harsh and tragic reality that no Democrat of sufficient stature will stand up and call out this political charade for what it is?  Is the Democratic Party so blinded by hatred for all things Trump that they are willing to rip and tear at the still open partisan wounds that afflict nearly every aspect of life in America these days?   Can’t we recognize the total impropriety of overturning a national election simply on the basis of President Trump’s boorish and arrogant behavior?  Does the love Democrats hold for their politics actually exceed the love they hold for this country?  Democrats… If you want to beat Trump, put up a better choice next fall!

The quality of the individuals we are now selecting to serve us in Congress is depressing.  I say this in full recognition that none of us are perfect and the challenges placed before our legislators are imposing.  But it is absolutely frightening to consider who the Democrats have placed in Committee Chairmanship positions in our current House (https://www.house.gov/committees).  These are people that we would not even consider to paint our porches, supervise our children’s or grandchildren’s field trips from school, or most importantly… be in charge of our checkbooks.  And yet, they have been placed in positions of authority to run our government.  Don’t take my word for this.  Take some time and research some of the history for these people.  Listen to what they say and how they say it.  Take a moment and think about this list…

Budget Committee, John Yarmuth, Kentucky (I know this one…my home state)

Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, California

House Administration Committee, Zoe Lofgren, California

Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, New York

Intelligence Modernization and Readiness (sub) Committee, Eric Swalwell, California

House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, California

Do you see a pattern here?  Do you want our nation to resemble the states (California, New York) that sent these folks to Congress?  Do you want America to look like these states?  Residents are leaving both states in droves due to the high taxation and regulation that is being administered there by Democratic officials.  The morale of New York City police is below water due to the Liberal group that runs the town and their lack of support for law enforcement.  Read about current New York City government here: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/09/new-york-city-bans-wrongthink.php .  Illegal immigration and homelessness has reached epidemic levels in California with the advent of open border policies and sanctuary cities.  The Far Left that runs California has taken what is most likely the most beautiful state in the union and turned it into a lawless, unprincipled, and bankrupt swamp of socialism light.

Look at the Committees we are talking about here…financial, judiciary, administration, budget, and intelligence.  I totally believe in the importance of a two-party system in our government.  However, for a legitimate two-party system to properly function there must be two parties who have some semblance of common sense and reason.  Today’s Democratic Party has crossed over the Rubicon, gone through the Looking Glass, and sufficiently sold their souls to the Resist Trump Demons so that they no longer meet the specs of having common sense and reason.  Until someone in their Party has the courage to stand up and call out the literal idiots that are presently not only part and parcel of this Democratic Circus but the actual leaders of the Three Rings, the American voters are complete fools to vote for any Democrat in the upcoming elections.  And by the way, which states do you suppose the top Senate Democrat (Chuck Schumer) and the Democratic House Speaker (Nancy Pelosi) represent in Congress?  New York and California; what a coincidence!

The Republicans dang sure ain’t saints or geniuses; but they have not yet sunk to the abysmally stupid depths of the Democratic Party.  Now don’t get me wrong; many of them would today qualify to walk directly into the Democrat’s Circus Tent and could fit right in.  But here is the point: For all the foolish things the Republicans did during the Obama Presidency because they didn’t like him or his policies, they never pulled stuff like this.  They had EIGHT years of opportunity (and if you don’t think the “opportunities” were there, you are only fooling yourself) and the ludicrous-level of their antics didn’t even approach the zip code in which the Democratic Party currently resides.  It is painfully true that the Republican Party is now the lesser of two evils in WDC; but they are a waaaaaaay lesser evil than the Democrats these days. 

History will show that under President Obama, with either his wink or his nod, seeds of corruption sprouted and were permitted to flourish.  Since our nation’s inception, there have been instances of both individuals and small groups of individuals who were corrupt in the performance of their elected or appointed duties to America.  Those despicable bureaucrats commandeered the government of the people for their own personal and private aspirations with no consideration for either the impropriety of their actions or the damage they were doing the institutions they were supposedly serving.    The true genesis of the corruption that we are now witnessing in full-blown form probably dates back to the Nixon Administration when the dreams of utilizing the IRS to further his personal agenda first flitted across his mind.  It is remarkable that what Nixon thought about doing but never did with the IRS was included in his prospective articles of impeachment while the IRS Director who actually did it for Obama retired with a federal pension. 

Since Nixon’s time, both Republican and Democrat presidents alike have occasionally pushed the corruption envelope out just a bit further, always seeming to stop right before their mischief was exposed or reached critical mass.  But when Obama came into office with overwhelming public and political capital and that was combined with the sheer adulation he enjoyed from the media, an opportunity was presented that was simply too hard for some to resist.  Obama’s narcissistic mindset and the absolute acceptance of that mantra by his true believers ushered in an unfettered government that ran amuck.  The dark temptations that arose from supreme political power combined with idealistic overzealousness seduced a President, his Administration, and most notably, several unethical and amoral individuals who were part and parcel of that group.  The type of political corruption that had been flirted with for years by both parties was fully institutionalized by the Obama Administration; in league with the Democratic Party leadership and the mainstream media.  And now our nation grapples with the dilemma of exactly how to put that genie back into the bottle.

I honestly lie awake some nights fearful of the consequences for my children and their offspring should the Democrats gain the White House and Congress in the 2020 elections.  Should that occur, there is always the hope that they are simply talking the talk because it will help them win and they have no intention of walking the walk because they know it is nonsense.  Even though we have pretty much come to expect this type of behavior from both political parties over the last couple of decades, that is a mighty big chance to take with the very future of our nation in the balance.  We must never forget the hard truth…We get the government we deserve.