Impeachment

I’ve watched many hours of the impeachment hearings by both House committees. While I would often like to see Donald Trump impeached from the human race, I still wanted to gather information to form my point of view and to observe the process.

The process was tedious and repetitive, but not boring. Much time was wasted, particularly among Republicans, criticizing perceived Democratic motives and strategies. Democrats did the same thing, but not as much, and focused much more on the core issues. There were some arguments that were persuasive and well articulated from both sides that demonstrated that the issues were complex and needed careful scrutiny.

Republicans insisted that the whistleblower testify, but had no problem with Mulvaney, Bolton and Pompeo defying the subpoenas of their own  House. Republicans saw the accusations against Trump as having little merit, while the Democrats saw them as clearly impeachable. The Republicans accused Democrats of coming into the hearings with their minds already made up. But it was crystal clear that the Republicans had done the same thing. The Republicans claimed there was weak evidence to support an impeachment claim, but made no effort to get the very men who could clear this up to testify. What should have been a deliberative process often turned into strident confrontation and rudeness.

Maybe this is just the way it had to go. But it was a revelation in many ways. The courage and professionalism of the dedicated public servants was an obvious contrast to Trump’s tweets and public comments. Their willingness to put themselves on the line, an obvious contrast to those Trump officials who failed to respond to subpoenas to testify.

No matter anyone’s political views, this is an important exercise in American government. It’s about checks and balances, the power of the Presidency, the enduring meaning of the Constitution and the ability of elected officials to do their jobs with integrity, adhering to their oaths. And in the end, it is about all of us and how we live out our roles as citizens.