America and its democracy are currently facing the greatest crisis since the Nixon years. It all comes down to Republican partisans putting party before country. Led by President Trump who maneuvered to get out of the draft during the Vietnam War and who has always placed his business interests and himself before his country, the GOP is almost unanimous in its support of this corrupt president. It has reached a point where a number of Republican Senators have said they are not even going to watch the impeachment hearings, having already made up their mind about the president’s innocence before hearing the evidence.
Has there ever been a time where so many elected officials were willing to protect an obviously corrupt and deceitful president. In fact, Trump appears to have a greater allegiance to Putin and Russia than he has to the United States. His initial withdrawal of US troops from Syria benefited Russia and Iran and betrayed our allies, the Kurds. His denigration of NATO was helpful for his buddy Putin. His withholding of Congressionally approved weapons for Ukraine was again beneficial for Putin and Russia.
And when has a president met with a foreign leader without any other American officials in the room as Trump did with Putin in Helsinki? Doesn’t that raise suspicions about some sort of covert agreement between Trump and Putin. Yet the Republicans who were once very leery of the Russians made no fuss over the meeting.
The Mueller report also put things in perspective in terms of the Russian aid to Trump in 2016 when he was running for president. Again, the GOP ignored the evidence about Trump and Russia’s participation in America’s affairs.
In reality, the impeachment is not just about Trump’s attempts at bribing Ukraine’s President Zelinsky to find information that showed corrupt behavior by Biden’s son Hunter and withholding needed US arms from the Ukrainians. It is really about the entire catalogue of self-dealing, lies, fraud and corruption by Trump which the Republicans have refused to acknowledge, much less condemn.
What happened to the days when patriotism ruled this country and elected officials did what they believed was in the best interest of the US. Trump avoided the draft during the Vietnam War and none of his actions have ever showed patriotism. He even stole money from a Veterans Charity- $2 million- to help his presidential campaign. Trump doesn’t care about the sacrifices veterans made for America as they are beyond the understanding of this self-dealing official.
But what is just as sad are the Republican members of Congress and Senators who listen to officials like Ambassador Taylor and Deputy Secretary Kent of the State Department who have served America well in both the military and diplomatic corps. They and others have delineated actions by Trump and his entourage that clearly indicate the use of bribery and extortion of the Ukrainian president by Trump to get dirt on Biden if the Ukrainians expect to get military assistance from the US. But the Republican officials twist the words of those testifying against Trump and smear them with all kinds of nefarious lies to challenge the veracity of what they are saying.
What happened to the patriotism of Americans elected to public office? How can they back Trump when it is obvious that he is corrupt and a danger to our country? How can their political party be more important than the Constitution and the norms of governing? And while all this is going on, the majority of Americans pay scant attention, continuing with their tribal allegiances, unaware or not caring about the corrupt behavior of those they elect. Resurrecting Democracy www.robertlevinebooks.com
Posted at 11:12 AM in 2016 election, broken promises, Budget Deficits, climate change, Congress, Conspiracy theorists, Corruption, Current Affairs, demagogue, Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Zelensky, Ukraine, Russia, Putin, Senate Republicans, McConnell, Pelosi, Schiff, impeachment, 2020 election, draft avoidance, election meddling, Foreign Affairs, global warming, Iran, ISIS, Islamism, nationalism, narcissism, Nazisim, fascism, communism, John Bolton, Iran, misogynist, Nancy Pelosi, Congressional Democrats, narcissism, Nationalism, NATO, partisanship, Political corruption, Politics, populism, President Trump, President Zelensky, Putin, Republican Party, Robert Mueller, Russia, Ukraine | Permalink
Tags: impeachment, Kent, patriotism, Republicans, Schiff, Taylor, testimony, Trump
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020