Reflections of Me : Disgust. Is It A Virtue?
Well, been a while since I let my thoughts roam a bit. Been a bit under the weather, so to speak. But Spring approaches ( slowly, as it usually does for me ) and so much has happened, my steadily decreasing brain capacity simply refuses to keep up. Spring has always been the time when, no matter how bad things were, the optimist in me woke up and cheered.
That hasn't happened this year. Major League Baseball continues to slide down the garbage-strewn ramp into nothing but business and the quest for more and more. More money, more offense, more effrontery to the rules that made it the greatest game on the planet. Not as if I hadn't seen it coming the past 50 years, but I deplore it. The game I grew to love, and grew up loving, has been taken from me as surely as my own youth and exuberance have been taken. It's change, and change is inevitable, but the conservative in me resists that change. Like a toddler who doesn't get it's own way, I toss the occasional tantrum. Means nothing. The game does live, will live, long past my childish behavior. And, it is still the greatest game on the planet. My puerile desire to keep the game 'pure' is but a dewdrop into the ocean. This I know. I'll still bitch about it, though.
Society, too, changes. This is also inevitable. Each new generation has a hand in reshaping the society in which they live. Previous generations, also inevitably, do their utmost to resist it. Generally, however, the two factions find they have enough in common they can accomplish the change easily. This is made possible by having mature, decent leaders who excel in bringing compromise where it would seem impossible. Our Nation, the United States of America, has been fortunate in it's short historical existence to have had numerous leaders possessing just that trait. We have had a founding document which was at the time and continues to be a shining example of what hope, intelligence, forethought, and courage can accomplish. It was meant to be a outline to provide a steady, solid, but amendable course for the Nation itself to follow and maintain the freedoms the creators of the document felt were sacred. It provided for the citizens to have a voice in who their leaders might be, and checks and balances within the system to prevent any one person or group of persons to obtain sole control of the Nation's resources, laws, and citizens.
Provisions which certain groups of people have been planning for decades to undermine, rewrite, and even destroy. They succeeded. Currently, there is determined effort to undermine our Nation's right to a free press. That, too, is succeeding. I have watched, I am watching, it happen. We have allowed ourselves to be controlled by media influence. We have men believing they are under attack from women, women believing they are under attack from men, entire groups of people fearing they are under attack for their skin color, religious preferences, sexual orientation, even fearing we are being invaded by, well, someone. Anyone. And we put people in positions of authority who will propagate those fears, so that we may feel justified in having those fears. Otherwise, we might actually begin to think, and realize we fear only shadows. And begin to question ourselves.
I hold Kentucky Fried Chicken partly to blame! Hear me out! They charge us extra if we want our fried chicken all white!! It's a conspiracy! We white folks are under attack for being white!
Ok, done channeling my inner Steve Bannon. I am wandering off my subject, again. In fact, a little help here : what WAS my subject? Oh, right! Disgust!
Disgust certainly isn't the worst reaction a human being can have, and the word itself has, like so many other words, suffered a lot of overuse. Especially in the last three years. Still, we have all been disgusted by something at some point in our lives. It is a descriptive term ( used either as a noun or a verb ) of a lesser degree of, but often causing, revulsion.
On February 5th, 2020 ( a Day Which Will Live In Infamy ), the U.S. Senate, one of the two houses which comprise the Congress of the United States, voted to acquit the current President of 2 Articles of Impeachment voted on earlier by the U.S. House of Representatives. This, in and of itself, should cause no feeling of disgust, or revulsion. Until you examine the circumstances which led up to this vote. To do that, we must understand the basics of the duties of the U.S. Congress and the 2 branches.
As part of our founding document's checks and balances system, it is possible for a sitting President to violate his/her oath of office by, in some fashion, abusing or misusing the powers vested in the Presidency. These are known as Impeachable Offenses. One of the duties of Congress is to evaluate the actions of the Executive branch and, if necessary, issue rebuke or even remove a sitting President for said violations. It is the responsibility of the House to determine if any action by the Executive Branch is a impeachable offense and vote to either impeach or exonerate. Their responsibility could be seen as equivalent to the duties of a District Attorney and local police investigators and a Grand Jury. They must gather statements, documents, and even live witness testimony to decide if a Executive Officer has in any way committed a offense that is impeachable. The Executive Office in question is required by the Constitution to cooperate fully in all requests or be held to account for Obstruction ( a Impeachable Offense ).
The current House did just that when allegations surfaced that the current President, in a personal phone call with the leader of a foreign nation, seemingly used the offer of a financial aid to that nation as a incentive for that nation to investigate the son of a current candidate of the opposition party for the nomination to campaign for President in the 2020 National Election. Subsequent documents and witness statements proved that this did indeed happen; further documentation and requests for witness statements were made, and denied by the Executive Office in question. Which of course is obstruction. Also, several witnesses who did testify before the House did so despite being ordered by the Executive not to do so. Also obstruction. In the end, the House voted affirmation that yes, indeed, the current President had committed impeachable offenses. Thus, said President is Impeached.
The next step, not a totally necessary one unless the House deems the issues resolved, is for the case to be presented to the Senate for possible trial. Knowing this, the Majority Leader in the Senate and several ranking members of the Senate had already stated they had no intention of dealing with this, and if and when the House did refer the case to them, they would spend little time in dismissing it. The House, taking them at their word, did not refer the case to them just yet. Especially since the President already impeached continued to perform and act in a manner that again violated his oath of office, and the tenets of impeachable offenses under the Constitution.
The Senate then chose to have the impeachment trial anyway. Yes, they can do that, but then they commit to having to do a bit more than pay lip service to it. So, they did. Despite the fact that everyone in the Nation and around the world knew what the outcome would be. It was. In fact, they voted to not have witnesses nor evidence presented, moving on directly to voting the outcome. Which, of course, was acquittal. No one was surprised. By instigating the trial themselves, they were forced to do the bare minimum required of a impeachment trial--and that is exactly what they did. The bare minimum.
In so doing, they violated their own oaths of office. And that brings me to the word disgust. I know, despite the fact I expected no different outcome, I feel disgusted at the majority of the members of the Senate. Not for the first time, I should add. 52 voted acquittal on one count, 53 on the other count. This in essence means that the majority party in the Senate openly refused to do their duty to the Nation. Something this Senate has been noted for since Mitch McConnell became the Majority Leader. There are 395 pieces of legislation sent on from the House that he has publicly stated will not pass, while not admitting that he will not even allow them to be discussed. Which, I am reminded, is his--and the Senate's--job. Fine, so you won't pass them. But you could have them discussed, debated, and voted on. See, that is your job. It is inherent in the oath you took.
So, really, disgust may be too mild a term to describe how I feel about our current Senate. Indeed, I have no confidence in them whatsoever to adhere to or protect the Constitution. But, is it a virtue to feel disgusted at such a thing? Why yes, yes it is. I see the United States as being destroyed from within, and that no one trustworthy is at the helm, guiding this Nation to the greatness it has dreamed of attaining. Night is falling, and I fear it may be a long and cold, dark one. Some Senators who voted for acquittal admitted privately--allegedly--that they feared voting any other way. One allegedly claimed they feared the eruption of violence if the vote went against the President. I find that somewhat weak, as arguments go, since the President himself has already alleged that was going to happen should he lose the next election. Which is a very real possibility, if one still has optimism in our voting rights.
However, one other possibility occurs to me, one which would possibly explain how the majority of Senators were convinced it was safe to vote for acquittal. That possibility is that they were convinced, somehow, that the 2020 National Election was, in effect, already decided. That possibility scares me more than a little, and I admit, it is only a personal theory, and I have no substantiation for it. But I know that among those who voted to deny evidence and witnesses and voted to acquit without examining anything, there are a few---perhaps a handful--who actually felt disgust at themselves for abandoning their own personal morals and ethics. I feel there must have been a reason, and my own pessimism here rears it's head.
I hope I am wrong. I fear I am not. And that, too, disgusts me.
That hasn't happened this year. Major League Baseball continues to slide down the garbage-strewn ramp into nothing but business and the quest for more and more. More money, more offense, more effrontery to the rules that made it the greatest game on the planet. Not as if I hadn't seen it coming the past 50 years, but I deplore it. The game I grew to love, and grew up loving, has been taken from me as surely as my own youth and exuberance have been taken. It's change, and change is inevitable, but the conservative in me resists that change. Like a toddler who doesn't get it's own way, I toss the occasional tantrum. Means nothing. The game does live, will live, long past my childish behavior. And, it is still the greatest game on the planet. My puerile desire to keep the game 'pure' is but a dewdrop into the ocean. This I know. I'll still bitch about it, though.
Society, too, changes. This is also inevitable. Each new generation has a hand in reshaping the society in which they live. Previous generations, also inevitably, do their utmost to resist it. Generally, however, the two factions find they have enough in common they can accomplish the change easily. This is made possible by having mature, decent leaders who excel in bringing compromise where it would seem impossible. Our Nation, the United States of America, has been fortunate in it's short historical existence to have had numerous leaders possessing just that trait. We have had a founding document which was at the time and continues to be a shining example of what hope, intelligence, forethought, and courage can accomplish. It was meant to be a outline to provide a steady, solid, but amendable course for the Nation itself to follow and maintain the freedoms the creators of the document felt were sacred. It provided for the citizens to have a voice in who their leaders might be, and checks and balances within the system to prevent any one person or group of persons to obtain sole control of the Nation's resources, laws, and citizens.
Provisions which certain groups of people have been planning for decades to undermine, rewrite, and even destroy. They succeeded. Currently, there is determined effort to undermine our Nation's right to a free press. That, too, is succeeding. I have watched, I am watching, it happen. We have allowed ourselves to be controlled by media influence. We have men believing they are under attack from women, women believing they are under attack from men, entire groups of people fearing they are under attack for their skin color, religious preferences, sexual orientation, even fearing we are being invaded by, well, someone. Anyone. And we put people in positions of authority who will propagate those fears, so that we may feel justified in having those fears. Otherwise, we might actually begin to think, and realize we fear only shadows. And begin to question ourselves.
I hold Kentucky Fried Chicken partly to blame! Hear me out! They charge us extra if we want our fried chicken all white!! It's a conspiracy! We white folks are under attack for being white!
Ok, done channeling my inner Steve Bannon. I am wandering off my subject, again. In fact, a little help here : what WAS my subject? Oh, right! Disgust!
Disgust certainly isn't the worst reaction a human being can have, and the word itself has, like so many other words, suffered a lot of overuse. Especially in the last three years. Still, we have all been disgusted by something at some point in our lives. It is a descriptive term ( used either as a noun or a verb ) of a lesser degree of, but often causing, revulsion.
On February 5th, 2020 ( a Day Which Will Live In Infamy ), the U.S. Senate, one of the two houses which comprise the Congress of the United States, voted to acquit the current President of 2 Articles of Impeachment voted on earlier by the U.S. House of Representatives. This, in and of itself, should cause no feeling of disgust, or revulsion. Until you examine the circumstances which led up to this vote. To do that, we must understand the basics of the duties of the U.S. Congress and the 2 branches.
As part of our founding document's checks and balances system, it is possible for a sitting President to violate his/her oath of office by, in some fashion, abusing or misusing the powers vested in the Presidency. These are known as Impeachable Offenses. One of the duties of Congress is to evaluate the actions of the Executive branch and, if necessary, issue rebuke or even remove a sitting President for said violations. It is the responsibility of the House to determine if any action by the Executive Branch is a impeachable offense and vote to either impeach or exonerate. Their responsibility could be seen as equivalent to the duties of a District Attorney and local police investigators and a Grand Jury. They must gather statements, documents, and even live witness testimony to decide if a Executive Officer has in any way committed a offense that is impeachable. The Executive Office in question is required by the Constitution to cooperate fully in all requests or be held to account for Obstruction ( a Impeachable Offense ).
The current House did just that when allegations surfaced that the current President, in a personal phone call with the leader of a foreign nation, seemingly used the offer of a financial aid to that nation as a incentive for that nation to investigate the son of a current candidate of the opposition party for the nomination to campaign for President in the 2020 National Election. Subsequent documents and witness statements proved that this did indeed happen; further documentation and requests for witness statements were made, and denied by the Executive Office in question. Which of course is obstruction. Also, several witnesses who did testify before the House did so despite being ordered by the Executive not to do so. Also obstruction. In the end, the House voted affirmation that yes, indeed, the current President had committed impeachable offenses. Thus, said President is Impeached.
The next step, not a totally necessary one unless the House deems the issues resolved, is for the case to be presented to the Senate for possible trial. Knowing this, the Majority Leader in the Senate and several ranking members of the Senate had already stated they had no intention of dealing with this, and if and when the House did refer the case to them, they would spend little time in dismissing it. The House, taking them at their word, did not refer the case to them just yet. Especially since the President already impeached continued to perform and act in a manner that again violated his oath of office, and the tenets of impeachable offenses under the Constitution.
The Senate then chose to have the impeachment trial anyway. Yes, they can do that, but then they commit to having to do a bit more than pay lip service to it. So, they did. Despite the fact that everyone in the Nation and around the world knew what the outcome would be. It was. In fact, they voted to not have witnesses nor evidence presented, moving on directly to voting the outcome. Which, of course, was acquittal. No one was surprised. By instigating the trial themselves, they were forced to do the bare minimum required of a impeachment trial--and that is exactly what they did. The bare minimum.
In so doing, they violated their own oaths of office. And that brings me to the word disgust. I know, despite the fact I expected no different outcome, I feel disgusted at the majority of the members of the Senate. Not for the first time, I should add. 52 voted acquittal on one count, 53 on the other count. This in essence means that the majority party in the Senate openly refused to do their duty to the Nation. Something this Senate has been noted for since Mitch McConnell became the Majority Leader. There are 395 pieces of legislation sent on from the House that he has publicly stated will not pass, while not admitting that he will not even allow them to be discussed. Which, I am reminded, is his--and the Senate's--job. Fine, so you won't pass them. But you could have them discussed, debated, and voted on. See, that is your job. It is inherent in the oath you took.
So, really, disgust may be too mild a term to describe how I feel about our current Senate. Indeed, I have no confidence in them whatsoever to adhere to or protect the Constitution. But, is it a virtue to feel disgusted at such a thing? Why yes, yes it is. I see the United States as being destroyed from within, and that no one trustworthy is at the helm, guiding this Nation to the greatness it has dreamed of attaining. Night is falling, and I fear it may be a long and cold, dark one. Some Senators who voted for acquittal admitted privately--allegedly--that they feared voting any other way. One allegedly claimed they feared the eruption of violence if the vote went against the President. I find that somewhat weak, as arguments go, since the President himself has already alleged that was going to happen should he lose the next election. Which is a very real possibility, if one still has optimism in our voting rights.
However, one other possibility occurs to me, one which would possibly explain how the majority of Senators were convinced it was safe to vote for acquittal. That possibility is that they were convinced, somehow, that the 2020 National Election was, in effect, already decided. That possibility scares me more than a little, and I admit, it is only a personal theory, and I have no substantiation for it. But I know that among those who voted to deny evidence and witnesses and voted to acquit without examining anything, there are a few---perhaps a handful--who actually felt disgust at themselves for abandoning their own personal morals and ethics. I feel there must have been a reason, and my own pessimism here rears it's head.
I hope I am wrong. I fear I am not. And that, too, disgusts me.
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