Impeachment an ugly charade | Letters
The impeachment charade continues, becoming more bizarre with each turn.
The impeachment of President Donald Trump, an existential threat to our democracy, a “clear and present danger,” a national security risk, demanding immediate removal, oops, is on hold.
The unseemly, histrionics of raging Democrats, equaling the similar display during the Brett Kavanaugh smear, and punctuated by a process resembling Stalin’s “show trials,” should have been embarrassing enough for the Resistance Party, but it digs ever deeper into incoherence.
Quid pro quo, bribery, extortion are gone; perhaps impeachment as well, or do the Democrats want a second chance? Or, if you count Robert Mueller, the FBI surveillance corruption, a fourth bite at the apple.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she only wants a “fair” Senate trial. Here’s some pointers she may embrace. Hold preliminary fact-finding in a locked basement room, limit the number of opposition witnesses and its right to cross examine, then call to the Senate floor only those witnesses produced by the Republican majority. Where did I get that idea?
No administration has been so ill-treated in our history. An ugliness, hypocrisy and display of partisan hatred is damaging to our democratic norms, all for the sake of political advantage.
And so, impeachment is on hold! Perhaps Pelosi has had enough embarrassment and is heeding the words of the disgraced James Comey. I paraphrase him. No reasonable prosecutor would bring this case forward.
Francis Dunne Sr.
Hilton Head Island
Is this still a democracy?
According to Wikipedia, the Republican Party’s 21st century brand of “conservatism” is a combination of both “economic policies and social values,” including, “lower taxes, free market capitalism, restrictions on immigration, increased military spending, gun rights, restrictions on abortion, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions.”
Missing from their current concerns is their belief in globalism (free trade), environmental protection, and a sense of integrity — which seems to have left the GOP with the passing of John McCain and George H.W. Bush.
What we see now is a party that supports President Donald Trump, a foul-mouthed blowhard who loves nationalist dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, China’s Xi Jinping, and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. I don’t know if Trump is a cause or a result of the growth of nationalism throughout the world, but he sure has done everything in his power to promote it.
I watched a lot of the impeachment hearings. What really got me angry was hearing may Republicans complaining that the Democrats were trying to nullify the votes of 63 million Americans who elected Trump president. We didn’t hear much about the almost 66 million Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton, or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stealing the Supreme Court, the Senate’s built-in Republican advantage, and Republican voter suppression. Somehow, it doesn’t seem to me to be the way a “democracy” is supposed to work.
Frank Flaumenhaft
Hilton Head Island
Enforce laws at handicapped-parking spaces
I have to agree with the recent letter to the editor concerning people parking in marked loading zones in the handicapped-parking spaces in parking lots.
I am a handicapped veteran and have encountered this in the past.
When approached concerning why they are parked there, the reply is, “I forgot my pass” or “I am waiting on someone.”
The same is true for people parked in fire lanes: “I am not parking, I am sitting/waiting on someone.”
Most of the replies are arrogant.
In my opinion, the law enforcement agencies in Beaufort County should put undercover patrols on foot and I am sure the tickets written would help support those agencies.
It would not take long for the abusers to get the word.
They should not be given a warning, as the signs are posted.
It could result in more money to get more law enforcement officers in the county.
Robert E. Williams
Beaufort
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This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 10:09 AM.