In looking back as to what number this Saturday Political Soap Box would be, I was startled to see that the last one was in September, four weeks ago!
With so much happening, how could I be gone so long?
Part of the problem is taking the Saturday title so literally, and I have been busy most Saturdays recently.
Another part is the incredible speed with which events are happening, it is hard to keep, to say something relevant and current.
I'm going to kitchen sink it by throwing several topics against the kitchen wall and see what sticks.
The Impeachment Inquiry
We are now to the point that even Mitch McConnell expects there to be an impeachment and Senate trial. Many recent polls are showing not only a majority supporting an impeachment inquiry, and even some showing majority support for impeachment AND removal!
These are stunning numbers, exceeding any percentage supporting the Clinton impeachment, and rivaling support for the Nixon impeachment (except for near the very end).
It's crystal clear that Trump committed an impeachable offense. There's no mystery about it. He used foreign policy to try to leverage dirt (real or fabricated) on his political opponent. There was even the elusive quid pro quo. We have the summary transcript of the Ukranian call that makes that undeniably so. We have a whole bevy of State Department officials that make it clear. We have Guiliani's Ukranian thug-buddies being arrested. We have the President of the United States openly resoliciting Ukraine, and even throwing China into the mix. We have the Acting Cheif of Staff Mulvaney publicly confessing at a press conference.
The only defense left to the Treumpeteers is - we just don't care. Preserving our erratic, narcissistic leader is more important than our country. Loyalty over patriotism.
But some other things are making support among Senate Republicans more problematic. And that is...
Abandoning the Kurds
An issue that unites all but the most extreme isolationists. The Kurds were instrumental to us in helping box in and diminish the threat from ISIS. They put their lives on the line to help us. And their reward? To see us turn our backs on them, and let Turkey come and slaughter them.
Republicans who have stayed silent over so many horrible things this President has done have come out in opposition on this front.
Because I opposed the Iraq War so strongly, some may see me as an isolationist. Bull hockey. I believe in engaging the world, primarily through diplomacy, but also, where absolutely necessary, through the judicious use of military force. It needs to be in conjunction with others, it needs to be in support of humanitarian and democratic goals, it needs to have a specific objective, and it needs to further American national interest. What happened in Syria does none of those things.
Who will ever support us again?
Has the US ever abandoned allies before? I'm sure, to one degree or another, we have. That does not excuse or justify this. And no one, NO ONE, can argue that this is in the long term national interest.
But that's not Trump's only problem. There is also...
Repeated and blatant violations of the Emoluments Clause
In the face of everything else, Trump still has the stones (or stupidity) to announce a sweet contract deal for next year's G-7 summit to be held at his own resort, the Trump Doral.
This is such a clear violation of the Emoluments Clause, it can be used in future textbooks to define what a violation looks like.
The Democratic Field
Yeah. I could nitpick here, give ammunition to my Trumpeteer friends, give them false hope as to think I might turn on one of the Democrats running. But let me reassure them - there is no one that I wouldn't vote for opposite Trump or whoever the Republicans select.
That said, I still believe a progressive choice is superior to a corporate choice. But trust me, reasonable Democrats will argue about this endlessly, but make no mistake - when the dust is cleared, regardless of who is nominated, all the chickens will come home to roost.
It is clear from the most recent debate that Elizabeth Warren is now the front-runner. At least it seems that way by how the other candidates relentlessly attacked her. She can handle it. That comes with the territory.
The one biggest disappointment to me in the Democratic field? Tulsi Gabbard. She is not who I thought she was. I don't think she's the villain or closet Republican or Soviet sleeper agent some are trying to make her out to be, but some of her political stances are not ones that interest me. If she's the nominee, I would vote for her. But I don't expect her to be the nominee. The way she's going, she may not even win back her Congressional seat.
UPDATE: Another sign that events move faster than I post. I was unaware of the extent of the word war between Tulsi Gabbard and Hilary Clinton. Nether is shining because of this, but I am more disappointed in Hilary Clinton, implying that Tulsi is a Russian agent. Not true and not helpful.
I'm so glad to see Bernie Sanders rebound back from his health crisis. He is stronger than ever. Even if he is not my first choice, I so appreciate the strength of his voice and vision. And if he does get the nomination, he will have my super-enthusiastic support.
The Young Constituents and the Waycross News
I can't say enough good things about this group and the vital work they have done in our local area. Offering young people a political voice in this area, bringing in candidates for a symposium - kudos to you! This is what participatory democracy is all about!
Shame on the new facebook group Waycross & Blackshear News for tilting as severely to the far right as the recently closed daily Waycross Journal Herald did. People who post things promoting events for moderates or the left should not feel harassed or intimidated or have their events withdrawn from publicity (whether the withdrawal is done by them or the one who originally put it up).
We need balance in this area. The Blackshear Times provided some of that. It also is under new ownership, and only time will tell how much of that neutrality will be preserved.
Also, only time will tell about the new weekly Waycross Journal Herald. I hope for the best, but I fear the worst.
Have I caught up yet?
Hardly, but It's probably not best to drone on forever, especially with my political posts getting fewer and fewer views.
Nevertheless, I persist.
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