Impeachment
COVID-19 has been around so long, the United States has experienced two Presidential Impeachments while it circulated. We watched the opening arguments, last night, regarding the constitutionality of impeaching a former-President. I spent a good portion of the broadcast howling at the TV, for Trump's attorney, Bruce Castor, to get to the point (video below). We sat up when he confirmed that Joe Biden had legitimately won the election, and we were on our feet when he suggested that, rather than impeaching, the DOJ should arrest Trump – genius defense.
Then, we slumped in confusion as Trump's second attorney, David Schoen, sped through a series of disconnected and exaggerated claims, twisting language, listing Constitutional contradictions, constructing possible loopholes. I again yelled at the screen, that he might as well read Green Eggs and Ham: do not impeach him here or there, do not impeach him anywhere. Ironically, he actually closed with a Longfellow poem, seeming to cry while he read it; it was overemotional and mystifying:
I know this is a lot to listen to at once, a lot of words, but words are what make our Constitution, frankly. And the interpretation of that Constitution is, as you well know, a product of words. If the text quote the President of the United States in the Constitutional provision requiring the Chief Justice to preside, can refer only to the sitting President, and not to former Presidents, then the textual identification of the President contained in Article Two, Section Four, which makes the President amenable to impeachment in the first place, also excludes anyone other than the sitting President.
[ … ]
Fear not each sudden sound and shock,
'Tis of the wave and not the rock;
'Tis but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest's roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,
Are all with thee, — are all with thee!
A lot of words.
Unity
Since the Inauguration, the big buzzword in Washington is unity. Biden's campaign promised unity; his Inauguration Speech called for unity; his Presidency is all about unity. Now, GOP representatives are demanding unity. Pundits and celebrities all over TV, in print, and on the internet argue unity to show the 'other side' is destroying unity. Like a librarian shouting "silence!", it's self-cancelling.
Clearly, we can not yet consider unity in policies, but we ought to hold unity in principles. All Americans should agree on the 'self-evident' – from our founding and essential documents:
- all men (gender non-specific) are created equal
- governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed
- government of the people, by the people, for the people
Though unambiguous, while most use these ideals to denounce the attack on the Capitol, millions of Trump supporters use the same ideals to justify the attack. If you believe in the principles that form the foundations of our representative government, how do you oppose: an election by the greatest number of voters in US history, an election certified by all fifty states, an election adjudicated in over sixty court cases, an election that already incorporated Republican gerrymandering, an election that was biased by Republican efforts to restrict minority voting (and that has fostered more efforts to restrict votes)?
If we share faith in representative government, how else can we explain the election of a President who lost the popular vote by three million; how else to explain how fifty-three Republican Senators, representing fifteen million fewer Americans, out-voted forty-seven Democrat Senators, and acquitted Trump in his first Impeachment?
Recall that Sen Lindsey Graham said, if Trump conceded, "there would never be another Republican President elected again." Similarly, recall that Trump said, if voters had easier access, "you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again." Believe in fair elections and consider: what's the issue?
Apparently, we do not agree on principles. And, if not policies (government actions), or principles (national ideals), then what is left for unity?
Unexpectedly, the most impactful and productive statement of unity I've heard during these weeks came from Republican Senator Mitt Romney, and his surprisingly emotional (for Mitt Romney) statement right after the Capitol attack – today, we might change "audit" to "impeachment":
No Congressional audit is ever going to convince these voters [who believe in the 'fraud'], particularly when the President will continue to say that the election was stolen. The best way we can show respect for the voters who were upset is: by telling them the truth!
Of course, after Sen Romney's stirring words, Republican Representatives and Senators continued to object to the certification of the election. And even after a decidedly lop-sided presentation at yesterday's Impeachment, only one Republican Senator, Bill Cassidy, was compelled to change his vote to proceed with the trial.
Despite a specific Constitutional oath to "do impartial justice", other Republican Senators were seen doodling, reading, or napping during the Impeachment presentation.
Trump's lawyers might as well read Dr Seuss, or Jabberwocky (as Jake Tapper suggested), as it will make absolutely no difference to the outcome of these proceedings. But let's hope the Impeachment will make a difference in terms of telling the truth to a broader audience – for now and for posterity. Maybe the evidence will convince more Americans to quit and abandon QAnon, to distrust the trumped-up lies, to renounce or part from Trump's Republican Party.
Even if the Senate votes to acquit, we must do everything possible to make dumb those subverting the truth – their lies allow us to disregard each other. Unity from respect.
Racists
What if we cannot unify?
Over the weekend Donna and I had a zoom call with some friends back in the Bay Area. They wondered, with Trump removed from office, would we consider returning? Unfortunately, I had to point out that there had been a string of attacks on members of the Asian community in the East Bay. Even after one suspect was arrested last week, but there was another attack yesterday in San Leandro.
There is no doubt that these are the lingering effects of four years of racist rants and rallies, including Trump's use of the terms "kung-flu" and "China virus". Attacks continue, even though he is out of the White House, even though he has been sequestered in some far corner, even though he has been 'de-platformed' on social media. Trump dropped the blood in the water; the sharks are still circling.
This is a big reason why we left the US in the first place. Bullies, zealots. Racists.
Pandemic
The COVID-19 'third wave' surge in Portugal spiked from three thousand (3,241) cases on January 2nd, to over sixteen thousand (16,432) cases on January 28th, but has dropped back down under three thousand on February 8th and 9th (2,505 and 2,583). Hopefully, the numbers will continue to fall, and settle at an acceptable base level. The graph's spike is sharp, the count is a shock, but the time span is short.
Georgia's recent daily case numbers are, again, above Portugal's (Jan 7-10, four-day average, GA: 3376.0 vs PT: 3,246.8), thought the current seven-day average is still slightly lower (4,077.4 vs 4,849.3). Georgia's total cases and deaths are still higher than Portugal's (950,906 cases, 15,421 deaths vs 774,889 cases, 14,718 deaths). Note the graph's Y-axis has been extended even further, and the graph's aspect ratio is now 'portrait' in order to maintain some resemblance to past graphs.
It is a harsh lockdown, but it is working.
cases: 107,703,144 global • 27,854,515 USA • 774,889 Portugal
deaths: 2,359,434 global • 481,545 USA • 14,718 Portugal
UPDATE (February 11th): The second day of the Impeachment trial, the presentation by the House Managers featured newly published Capitol security camera footage; it was riveting and disturbing. As I watched, I continued to roll the idea of unity around in my brain.
This morning I am watching the below video, which removes a level of hope, but does shine a light – not sure how the reporter, Donie O'Sullivan, lives on CNN Business; he was ground-level at the Jan 6th riots as well:
Frustratingly, another piece on SF Gate suggests that the QAnon, 'boogaloo' crowd is moving further from reality, and casting for more members:
When Parler shut down, the more influential people in the group were admonishing the others to knock off the pro-Hitler stuff. ‘This is our moment to explain to people what the Jews did. You can’t just show them a picture of Hitler, that will turn them off.’Everybody at every level understood there was audience to capture.
Finally, let me close with Sen Josh Hawley; he is the definition of a total dick.
UPDATE (February 12th): Today, Georgia's seven-day average for COVID-19 cases is, again, higher than Portugal's (3,724.7 vs 3,635.6).
An excellent summary piece on violence against Asian Americans is up on the SFGate web site.
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