Like the Flat Earth Society - it would be funny, if it was not so serious - Failure of leaders to acknowledge truth takes us down a dark and dangerous road.
When anyone impetuously defends the indefensible, history tends to be an uncompromisingly harsh judge.
It therefore continually surprises me that leading political figures on both sides of the Atlantic fall headfirst into this knee-jerk reaction of rushing to the defence of poor if not illegal behaviour.
This behaviour is way beyond some misguided loyalty; this is about the lack of personal integrity, pride and honesty. What has happened to the honour, the dignity and probity of our political class?
No wonder the world is in a mess. We are allowing ourselves to be led by mafioso type thugs who are driven by party loyalty opposed to being influenced by strong and grounded individuals, unafraid to stand up for what is right.
I watched some of the public Trump Impeachment hearing this week. It was striking how partisan the Republicans have become. How there defence is: If you didn't see it first hand - it didn't happen. Really? Who do they think they are kidding?
These congressmen; Devin Nunes, John Ratcliffe, Elise Stefanik, Jim Jordon, Brad Wenstrup, Michael Turner, Chris Stewart, Mike Conway - I mean really, talk about the Spanish Inquisition. Do they not understand logic? If they can't do better than that, they should leave politics and go and .............hoe sugarbeet or something. Justice should be blind, not partisan.
I believe that everyone is entitled to a defence, even Trump - but when the testimony comes out, and the facts are laid bare, the truth has to be acknowledged. Failure to do so heads society down a dark road that we don't want to go down.
Failure to acknowledge Trumps "High crimes and Misdemeanours" is living in denial. These Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen have started down the road of shredding their own credibility. By their own words, they are impugning their personal dignity and integrity. History will judge them and find them wanting.
Fortunately, The Diplomatic Corps of the United States is still endowed with people of character, courage and integrity. It appears that former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch exemplifies those qualities. These qualities were, ironically, brought to the fore and highlighted by the very Republican inquisitors on the Impeachment Committee who tried to malign her character.
Alas, these Republicans named above, and let's face it - so many republicans; have either capitulated to the "Dark Side" or have become "Trump-Blind". Either way - The USA is heading down a very dark road right now. One can only hope that the coming Presidential Election will throw Trump out on his ear, that is, if he isn't thrown out of office before, which appears unlikely.
Without any exaggeration, I think practically anybody elected to the office of President of the United States of America would be better than Trump. How any decent person can even try and defend Trump's behaviour is honestly, beyond me. The sadness is that Trump is sowing the seeds of moral corruption in society; his supporters, from those named above to the unnamed far right, are nurturing those same seeds. That, as we live and breath, is making our world a very unsafe place, now and for our future.
Rick - Suffolk - UK - 17th November 2019
rick@notesfromengland
Comments