Appearances

Matthew 23:28 – “Outwardly, you appear righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

We can’t really say this applies to 45, his administration, or even to the Republican senators or congresspeople. Their corruption is right out there for the world to see. Yet, even with all that we see and with the indictment of 12 Russian agents, there are still secrets to be discovered. There are still questions to be answered, such as, “Why is 45 meeting with Putin and why does he defer to him?” Outside of his bad judgment, I mean. We may never know. We have not yet reached the full depth of his corruption or that of his cabinet and Republican leaders. Yet, his behavior – and their willingness to let him destroy our democracy – is clearly a sign of distress in our democracy.

His corrupt behavior – calling the press the enemy of the US, destroying families at the border, caging children, making damaging remarks about our allies, sucking up to dictators, calling for his political rivals to be investigated and/or locked up, having a loose relationship with the truth, saying that there were some “very fine people” at the Nazi rally, tweeting word salad – this behavior is why some are calling for his impeachment. I have a few thoughts on that but first, I’d like to recommend the book, “To End a Presidency,” by Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz. They discuss the history of impeachment from its birth to now, the meaning of “Treason, Bribes, and high crimes and misdemeanors,” all the possibilities we as citizens need to consider about impeachment, what actually happens when a president is impeached, and the 25^th amendment. It is well researched, easy to read, and as non-partisan as its possible to be nowadays.

1.  Impeachment. Impeaching 45 will not magically solve the problem, which requires more complex solutions than that. Pence would become president and all the other problem people would keep their jobs. So, it might be appropriate, but it will require more to enact lasting change.

2.  The 25^th amendment. This amendment discusses what to do when a president is impaired and cannot perform their duties. The definition of impaired here is more unconscious, having surgery, or otherwise unavailable and less unfit for office. In addition, the procedure, which I will not bore you with here (read the book), is more complicated and doesn’t actually remove the president from office. So, that’s not an answer either.

3.  There would be no point in even trying either of these as the Republican leaders are complicit with 45 in all he does. They haven’t even tried to censure him. The votes just are not there in the house or the senate. Given this truth, let’s instead spend our energy on more useful pursuits: making sure we’re registered to vote, helping others register to vote, calling our senators and representatives – even though this may feel useless, doing what we can locally to strengthen our democracy. I like the idea of telling our senators, representatives, and members of 45’s administration what we think of them when they’re in public. This is not rude in response to separating children from their parents and saying nothing about it or, worse, lying about it for 45.

Sure, none of these things will get rid of 45. What they will do is help keep us engaged and connected to the truth. In the age of a president who gets his talking points from Fox News, Sean Hannity in particular, it's important to be able to recognize truth from lies. Many people do not seem to be able to do this. If we cannot all agree on truth, our democracy will suffer and may even die. This is that important. So, it’s important to call out those who appear on the outside to be okay, but inside are corrupt and rotten. Democracy is not a spectator sport and our job is to not look away from this sh*tshow, but to speak out against it every chance we get. We white people especially need to get our sh*t together and step up for those who were fighting persecution, voter suppression, and death by police long before 45 showed up. This fight is not over until we can say that we are a country where everyone is treated equally. In other words, it’s a daily necessity.

Finally, DailyKos has a good news roundup every morning. Check it out. It’s very helpful in putting all the bad news in perspective. Perspective is what we all need. Yes, 45 is bad for the US and bad for democracy. Neither impeachment nor the 25^th amendment are practical tools for the current situation. Facing this is hard, but necessary. The good news roundup helps that go down easier and encourages us to keep fighting.