“Walk on By” — Burt Bacharach, as sung by Dionne Warwick
I was walking from the shower to my locker at the gym, when I heard one man say to another, “Ah, they just wasting our money.” I didn’t know, but I was guessing the comment concerned the impeachment hearing, playing on the TV in the locker room lounge area.
Usually, I’m glad to bestow my wisdom and insights on current events. Some men seem to like my unsolicited comments on current events. Some don’t. Occasionally voices are raised.
I had tasks set out for myself that afternoon and really didn’t want to get into a discussion right then. But, as I left, I thought about the comment I’d heard. If I was on the right track, the man was telling his companion that there is a real cost to impeachment. Had I tarried, I might have used the what about gambit, a distraction technique. It’s simpler than delving into whether impeachment is valid for a President that withholds $391 million, allocated by the Congress, in order to obtain assistance from a foreign power in his re-election. Trumpkins seem to favor what about ism, a favorite sort of distraction device. Two can play that game.
What about, I imagined myself saying, the last impeachment this country went through? Wasn’t that cost in excess of $40 million to impeach Clinton on a vote of 221 to 112 for lying about a sexual dalliance? Bad behavior, yes. Impeachable, I guess so, as it worked out. Cause for removal from office, no; that didn’t happen.
It seems likely now that Republicans, many of whom hold a private level of antipathy toward Trump, will somehow find a way, to be “concerned” of Trump’s behavior, but not to the point of removing him.
My thinking is that Trump, by soliciting help from a foreign state to try to sway an American election is intolerable. His oath of office is to the United States. Putting self-interest ahead of that oath is a betrayal. He can hug the flag all he wants. He can pardon war criminals (most veterans I know find those pardons appalling; it serves to besmirch the honorable service of all military and veterans).
The President of the United States owes his highest loyalty to the United States, not to his self-interest.
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