THIS is Required Viewing

It goes without saying that our nation is politically divided.  That division is demonstrated in many layers of emotion; ranging from unspoken personal dislikes of a comment or event to open and visceral screeds about the evils of the Democrats or Republicans (i.e. Trump).  How many of us have wondered to ourselves….How in the world did we get to this place?  How can people be so inordinately disposed to rabid behavior over something as arbitrary as politics?

In my lifetime, I have witnessed the impeachment adventures of three Presidents.  Nixon resigned before his inevitable impeachment occurred.  Had it unfolded, it would have been an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in the Senate to remove a sitting President for just cause.  Clinton’s impeachment was not only more partisan; it also involved the difficult matter of considering abhorrent personal behavior as a function of elected office conduct.  Clinton was ultimately impeached by the House for his personal indiscretions (and related perjury); but the Senate, while acknowledging the irresponsibility and criminality of his behavior, determined that this display of personal behavior did not merit his removal from an elected office. 

The raw emotions that were unleashed during the Clinton impeachment left unhealed wounds for many Democrats and they carry them even today.  And to the discredit of many Republicans, they have carried that impeachment around as a scalped trophy of political victory.  This underlying animosity had festered for over twenty years; seeking an opportunity to rise and vent.  Donald Trump offered that opportunity.  To a very large extent, that is what lies at the heart of what we are currently witnessing in WDC and the mainstream media.

But the untold story, the elephant in the living room, is that the current tumultuous events in WDC could not occur unless our system of government and social consciousness were willing to allow it.  We as a nation have allowed this to happen.  To a large extent, we have done this to ourselves.  What changed in the years that have passed from Nixon to Clinton to Trump?  How did we get to a place where our government could spy on private citizens for political reasons?  How did we get to a place where it is accepted behavior for federal agencies to be politically weaponized?  How did we get to place where the President regularly uses executive actions to bypass the legitimate rights and obligations of Congress?  How did we get to a place where the legislative process that is supposed to rule this nation has, in fact, become a blood sport?  We now stand at a point in our nation’s history where the impeachment of a sitting President, an act that essentially overturns a national election, has become a legislative tool to use against a political opponent.

Not only has the shallow and power-hungry ambitions of our elected officials been emboldened, but the essential elements of standing government have been corrupted.  Those professional, career employees who serve lifetimes working for both Democrat and Republican Presidents have been revealed to be infected by rogue individuals who place their personal beliefs and ambitions above their appointed duties and responsibilities.  The combination of these developments has resulted in a general lack of faith regarding the competence, credibility, and fairness of our government as a whole.  Tragically, even our Judicial system has been drawn into this partisan fever swamp of “the ends justifying the means” rationale that has rendered our government dysfunctional.  Rogue federal judges throughout our country have openly defied the clear intentions and actions of both our Presidents and the Congress.

The Legislative portion of the dysfunction that has its roots in past Presidential impeachments will simply have to work its way out.  I honestly don’t know and do not see the solution to the Legislative partisan impasse that currently exists between Democrats and Republicans.  Neither Party appears to have sufficient leadership to re-institute the statesmanship and civility that will be necessary to get us back to some form of normal order.  And until citizens come to grips with their awesome power to vote and the implicit obligation of self information that accompanies that right, that political conflict will continue into the foreseeable future.  We really do need to think harder about the people we choose to represent us.

The Judicial element of this problem is perhaps on a path to solution.  The infusion of federal judges who honor and respect the Constitution as it was written is slowly bringing our federal courts back to a place where they will reliably serve as a compass not only for our society, but as a neutral arbiter between Legislative and Executive disputes.  It will literally take generations to work rogue judges out of the system; judges who have exercised their authorities and powers in ways that exceed their duties and expose them as partisan hacks.  But that slow movement back to a Constitution-centric federal court system is underway and will eventually be realized.

And finally, there is the part of the problem that deals with irresponsible and rogue federal employees who use their positions as opportunities to implement their personal and political agendas.  I have previously addressed the issue of civil service reform here: http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-place-to-begin.html .  I continue to stand by those words.  I have also vehemently argued for the deconstruction of the FISA.  The corruption that we have witnessed from both Republican and Democrat Administrations should convince any sentient being that we simply cannot continue to empower government officials with the abilities to use discretionary authorities in the violation of our constitutional rights and liberties as private citizens. 

If you have any interest whatsoever in how our government has evolved to its current state of corruption, please take the time to listen to this presentation: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/01/ball-of-collusion-the-video.php .  This man is not a MAGA-wearing, over the top enthusiastic, rah-rah cheerleader for Donald Trump.  He has written a lot of print that is clearly critical of both the man that is Trump, his policies, and his actions as President.  He is a professional, intelligent, objective man that speaks with clarity gained from knowledge and experience.  I have not witnessed any print or video that more clearly sums up what has brought our Department of Justice to the place where it is today.  This is not a political presentation; this is a civics lesson.  This is a reminder that we cannot cede our personal liberties to elected and appointed federal officials who do not have the capacity to safeguard and honor those freedoms.  If you never read another word of what I or anyone else says about this issue…listen to this.

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For our government to get back to a place where it needs to be, there must be a reckoning that defines exactly what the government should do and what the government should not do.  This perpetual identity crisis that our branches of government are going through has resulted in a maelstrom of overlapping ambitions, power grabs, ego contests, and paralyzing performances.  Our government must return to a role of serving for the people and not a philosophy that requires the people to serve them.  This nation was founded on personal freedoms, not on a premise of a government that controls and mandates our individual freedoms of self determination and accountability.  Government is not all knowing and has no business trying to micro-manage our lives.  We have a blueprint; we have a plan; we have a foundation to govern.  It is called the Constitution.  We need to get back to it.