And this will never be over.
(The Scream by Edvard Munch)
Some reflections on the Impeachment Show.
Here are some brief thoughts on the Impeachment Trial
itself along with what it tells us about the Democrats.
1. To those who keep asserting that if there is
some personal motive or gain then that makes an otherwise legal/unimpeachable
act illegal/impeachable: My guess is that every official act/vote by the
senators is done in part for personal gain or other personal motive (most
likely for better re-election chances).
The actions of senators may be done for other reasons as well (to
further policy they believe in & on which they campaigned for example) and
the acts then are constitutional but to follow the reasoning of the Schiff
crew, the fact that a senator might also place him/herself in a better position
for an upcoming election would make the acts impeachable. Essentially, to follow their logic, the
entire Congress, both chambers, should all be impeached.
2. Does no one understand how our system of justice
works? In a trial the prosecution or
plaintiff brings a complaint. If that
complaint is insufficient, the case will be dismissed. If after discovery
(investigations, depositions of witnesses, etc.) the case is still insufficient
to state a claim, then it will be dismissed. During the period of discovery, some subpoenas
as well as other discovery requests and even specific questions may be challenged
and decisions on those challenges may be appealed. Asserting one’s right to question the
legitimacy of a discovery request is not an obstruction against the body that
made the request. It is not some sort of cover-up.
Justice requires time and patience; its goal
is to get it right, not to meet some deadline favorable to an upcoming
election.
It is not the duty of the deciding
body to find the witnesses and do the investigation. Some trials will be decided on the pleadings
and discovery alone. Contrary to Ms.
Pelosi, witnesses are not required at the trial for it to be a “real” trial. When a case reaches its conclusion, with or
without witnesses, if there is a decision that the defendant is acquitted, then
that is a valid decision.
In this case, the House did its
investigation, called its witnesses, etc. and determined they had an “overwhelming
case” for impeachment. They brought that
to the Senate where, for the first time, the President was able to present his
position. It became clear that the House
did not have even an arguable case. It
further became clear that new witnesses, while they might dislike the President
and have negative things to say about him or his policies, had no relevant
information about the charges brought to the Senate by the House. Their testimony would be nothing more than a
waste of time. This is not some sort of
cover-up, much as the Democrats would like it to be, but is simply an
appropriate decision about their case.
3. It ain’t over til it’s over, and this will never
be over. The Democrats will refuse to
accept the acquittal just as they refused to accept the very through
investigation and conclusions of the Mueller report, just as they refused to
acknowledge evidence that disproved their 11th hour me-too assault
on Justice Kavanaugh, just as they have refused, since November of 2016, to
accept Donald J. Trump as the duly elected and legitimate President of the
United States of America. They have yet
to understand that their hatred of President Trump does not make him
illegitimate, just as it does not make his policies with which they disagree illegal
or his manner and leadership style in effectuating those policies unconstitutional.
Yet, it is clear from the Democrats and
their supportive media that they will continue to dig and dig for dirt that
will give them the opportunity to try once again to remove the people’s choice
from office. They would rather do that
than the business that they were elected to conduct.
4. In the end, it’s the People’s decision. You cannot impeach a President just because
you don’t like him and you fear that he will continue to act in a manner you
don’t like. The way to fix that is to
present an alternate candidate at the next election and let the People
decide. The Democrats seem to think that
they know better than the voters who should be president and they are willing
to usurp the People’s voice in order to install their choice into the Oval
Office. That is simply un-American. It is indeed a coup attempt.
5. For this country to work, we must both
understand and respect our Constitution and our laws. As a
lawyer I have been and continue to be appalled by the Democrats’ continuing
disregard for our Constitution, our legal system, and this country’s core principles
of justice. They, of course, are doing
it for very political reasons, all of which extend from their desire for power. But even more appalling is that so many are
willing to accept their distortions about our core principles and values, to
accept their contempt for our Constitution and system of justice. In part I blame this on a lack of education
about these things; that, combined with a mainstream media that presents and
supports the Democrat agenda rather than objective facts places our democracy
in a precarious position indeed.
I can only hope that as the dust from this
ridiculous impeachment settles that the People will begin to realize what a
farce it really was. I can only hope
that the People will begin to demand that their representatives begin doing their
business rather than continuing to pursue their jihad of hate against the
President as they seek to grab for themselves what is the People’s power.
