Having defrocked so many benign fables of youth–Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Parity in the NFL–one of the biggest has been saved for last: Checks and Balances
Given this self-absorbed blog and my ego-centric mania, one might think I’m referring to a lifelong penchant for writing rubbery overdrafts. That talent remains in full force and its truth far exceeds its legend.
I’m talking about this beauty of the Constitution bullshit. Three co-equal branches that don’t let the other two get out of line. A quaint 18th Century concept that has never quite panned out.
With one stroke of the pen the Executive strikes down the Legislative. With a flourish of their robe hems, the Judiciary stops the other two branches in their tracks.
But Congress is a eunuch. All they do is bluster. “Disregard our subpoenas? Well…well….well you just wait until you see what we’re going to do next!” It always ends up to be nothing.
Contrary to how it’s marketed, the equalizing powers of Impeachment do not provide a forum for discovering the truth or enforcing the law. They are merely an exercise in partisan politics. I think Speaker Pelosi realized this when she delayed the Agent Orange proceedings so long.
With the exception of Nixon where it almost worked, the impeachment process today is invoked only when it’s known it will fail. It makes for great news-ertainment. It accomplishes nothing.
What’s missing in our democracy is an aggressive press. We should be reading headlines like: “Death Toll Rises as Trump Continues to Ignore Science;” “Trump Tells Americans to Drop Dead, Defunds Testing;” or, “Secret Police Attack Unsuspecting Citizens.” But we never will.
The media is owned by the corporate titans who favor the party of wealth preservation. In the name of balanced presentation and respect for the office they soft-pedal the tyrannical actions of Agent Orange.
The Left is never shown the deference even right wing racism is given. It’s thrown a couple of bones like Rachel Maddow perpetually flogging her dead horse as she preaches to the converted. Or Anderson Cooper’s 360 whose circumnavigation begins and ends at his own ass.
Democrats have allowed liberal to become a dirty word. They’ve never fought back. When you think how a liberal would have galvanized every mechanism of the State to crush this pandemic, it’s disgusting how Democrats shun the label. To me the grossest expletives in the English language are “Reagan Republicans” practicing “laissez-faire economics.”
Even if Biden is elected and Trump voluntarily steps down (both are questionable), there’s no guarantee the scoundrels of the current Administration will be held accountable. As White Houses change parties they tend to invoke gentlemen’s agreements not to pursue prosecutions. They’ll say they don’t want to rehash the past. Or it’s time to move on.
After what we’ve been through, the American people deserve to see there are consequences for malfeasance. As well as disregard for the rule of law will not be tolerated.
Which brings us to another debunked fairy tale: justice for all. Since we’re talking about entitled white men, they will just spend their money on lawyering-up to buy their own kind of jurisprudence.
Speaker Pelosi has picked up the Trump Virus Standard. Join her!
And remember you read it here first.
Sincerely,
Tomacita Pain