A brief observation about the vote on President Trump’s impeachment:
One of the things we journalists were taught early in our careers is that a “not guilty” verdict in a criminal court case does not mean the accused person is innocent. It only means the prosecution failed to convince the jury “beyond a reasonable doubt” of the guilt of the accused.
Another word sometimes erroneously used after such trials: “exoneration.” Finding someone “not guilty” does not absolve someone from blame, which is what “exoneration” means.
The partisan nature of the vote on the impeachment articles aside, the outcome in no way bestows innocence on President Trump. If the results would have been identical but reversed they would not have bestowed guilt.
To use a tired phrase, it is what it is. Claiming it is more is dishonest.
Of course, all of this is lost in today’s world of “Forever Trumpers” vs. “Never Trumpers,” a world in which reason, perspective, and understanding of a process are lost in the shouting.
But somebody had to mention this and it might as well have been mentioned here.
There is a third word that is appropriate: acquit.
The word “acquit” seems to be a better fit. The Senate vote discharged the president from the accusations against him, which is one meaning of the word. There is a second meaning: to conduct oneself in a proper way, particularly in stressful situations
So now that the president has been acquitted, we shall see how he acquits himself, to use both definitions in the same sentence.
It wasn’t an impeachment. It was the longest, most boring and, I suspect, ineffective campaign commercial of the season. The WSJ editorial headline characterized it most succinctly: “James Madison 1, Nancy Pelosi 0.
So what to make of a character like Trump end-running an entire slate of Republican party preferred insiders in 2016, then edging past a veteran political insider to become president, and a character like Sanders end-running the Democrat heirs-apparent in Iowa, probably for the second time and New Hampshire most certainly for the second time?
Much can be made…not the least of which is that the centrist citizens who still constitute a majority of voters are sick and tired of electing people to govern but who instead get political apparitions…white shirts and blouses inflated with hot air who mouth platitudes and endless canned rhetoric instead of working together in the best interest of the nation.
We the people….remember us? We made this nation. And we are fed up with hollow promises when we elect and pay you — well– to govern.
We want a solvent social security system because we paid for it. We want you to destroy the people who slaughtered 2,000 innocent New Yorkers….not bribe war lords or corrupt officials. Finish that job or get out.
We want medicine we can afford. We want a realistic plan to manage the national debt and we want you to actually pass a federal budget rather than endless continuing resolutions.
We want really bad people in places where they can’t hurt innocent people and we want people with addictions and other mental issues to have access to treatment.
We want an efficient, humane and ongoing system that continues this nation’s heritage of becoming a new home for people from other countries who want to legally come here to live and work.
We want a real energy plan that reduces pollution efficiently…not a spoils system the rewards energy carpetbaggers for their failed green schemes.
We want you, most of all, to understand that we are just as smart as you and your talking points are not persuasive. Do not insult us… we the people… with political noise. We hired you…both sides.. to do a job, not squabble. Get to work. There’s a list above, far from complete, or we the people will find someone, other than partisan heirs, who can do the job. Remember… Madison 1, Pelosi 0.