What really is and what should never be

It has to! It’s imperative. Thus, the current plight of our political rhetoric. I am witnessing the third impeachment trial of my lifetime. We have had one actual impeachment in our whole 200 year + existence of this country.  I guess my generation should consider ourselves lucky?

Impeachment is a harrowing experience. It divides the country, it draws political lines. But does it have to? Absolutely not. What the impeachment process has exposed is that our two party political system doesn’t work. Our society as a whole does not seem to understand the spirit of our Constitution. You don’t have to be a Constitutional scholar to understand the intent of what the framers were advocating for. Even in their day, times that in itself had questionable social mores, they understood that they had to think progressively about the future viability of the country as this great experiment unfolded. They were interested in truly forming a new and more perfect union in the spirit of truth, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, free from tyranny and oppression overseen by the rule of law, thus our Constitutional republic.

I’m disturbed by what I see today, with the third impeachment hearing in my lifetime. What has clearly astounded me is the lack of seriousness this process is engendering. Every classroom in America should be viewing this inquiry. This is American history. This is a teachable moment that can be effective in an environment where it appears no one understands what our Constitution means or what it represents. The framers warned us against entanglement with foreign powers. Why? Because it threatens the sovereignty of our nation and erodes confidence in the exceptional ism of our Constitutional republic.

I’m not going to delve into the details of the impeachment inquiry in this commentary but it is clearly the 5000 pound gorilla in the room. What I believe needs to be highlighted is the fact that this process is tediously and meticulously detailed. That means we need truth and accuracy in the reporting of this matter. As in the previous two impeachments, facts were reported ad nauseum. Some of those facts, especially in the Clinton case, were filled with a lot of T.M.I. However, we currently live in a world of social media, where you can actually have an alternative reality. How will history judge this period in our political discourse? Will we move closer to the truth or will we clumsily proceed under a false narrative redefining America as to what it really is and what it should never be.

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Jacque