The sophistry of the Republican party in acquitting Trump of impeachment marks the end of a pitiful era of American history. There is no one – including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – who does not think Trump engaged in criminal activity. The juncture does not however obliterate the underlying racism of the so-called “Make America Great Again” political army, a movement which goes back far beyond the turn of the twentieth century when Eastern European immigrants were condemned as itinerant pedlars for not “tilling the land” – that is, for being different (though I have no idea where the remote landowners were otherwise expected to get their dry goods). Americans have devoted centuries to name calling one another because they’re different; and, to this day they continue to do the same. It amazes me that we humans have yet to develop a new way to approach our fears, something Trump and his acolytes capitalized upon.
The Trump régime from 2016 – 2020 exposed the willingness of almost half the American population to favour the unwritten (though never misunderstood) superiority of the white race and to tolerate whatever phoniness and financial avenue it takes to preserve that identity even at the expense of the unemployed and uneducated “white trash” (or what I suspect Hilary Clinton meant by “the deplorables”). It speaks to the inordinate fear they harbour within their souls. Photos throughout Trump’s inopportune violation of democracy show whites carrying Confederate flags – a playground lapse into a shameful period of the “South” when lynchings were as common.
President Biden is a mature, thinking individual who has suffered his own losses and has as a result that hard-won inner strength that comes only from experience. He is sophisticated enough to rise above dissimilarity to adopt instead a willingness to help others help themselves and the collective of which they are part. Like climate change and fossil fuels, the issue of cooperation is no longer one of choice; rather it is an imperative. The demography of America is irrepressibly altered notwithstanding the racist ambitions of some Americans. The leader of the GOP and his obsequious opportunists like Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley face unprecedented confrontations with their erstwhile supporters. They may have to realign themselves en masse with a new political scheme while the GOP attempts to survive and resurface.
Winter storms coast to coast
by Rocci Fisch, American Political Commentator
They voted to acquit
And they didn’t convict
So the glove didn’t fit
And Trump ducked a hit
Off the hook
Is he a crook
“Practically, morally responsible”
Said Mitch McConnell, his chronicle
Provoked the event of the day
But to conviction he said, nay
“Pathetic” he voted that way
Charged Pelosi, after the fray
“Past will become our future,” Madeleine Dean
She said it, she meant it, venting her spleen
Defense attorney Veen: “The former president is private citizen Trump.”
Affirming his client is not a chump
Convicted in the court of public opinion, House Manager Raskin’s words
It all fell flat, was quite absurd
A complete charade from beginning to end
Van der Veen, he did defend
We’ve only just begun, the word from the one
An incredible journey, said Trump, far from done
MAGA will roll on
Got plenty of brawn
Other charges down the line?
We’ll see about that, a matter of time
A sad chapter in our history, democracy is fragile
Be ever vigilant, agile
Don’t let the violence widen
Said Biden
The country remains divided
Lopsided, misguided
Winter storms coast to coast
Meteorologists manning their posts
Snow, ice, sleet impacting
Half the population, reacting
Covid morphing, new strain from UK
Could become dominant, CDC does say
Herd immunity, that’s the goal
Seventy-five percent, then there’s control
Danny Ray, “cape man” for the
Godfather of Soul
Draped James Brown as he “Please, Please, Pleased” off the stage, losing control
A second wind he got and shrugged off that shawl
Electric the show, Danny had it all
RIP Danny, big part of the show
Eighty-five he was, his legend does glow
Valentine’s Day, show your affection
Make a connection
But don’t cause an insurrection