Yesterday saw moves by the Democratic party to begin the impeachment of Donald Trump for his actions in encouraging and his lack of action in preventing the riots seen on Capitol Hill? This action was taken it would seem, (and I do not have proof) because the current Vice President of the United States of America does not wish to remove Donald Trump from office by means of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. This move is likely to strengthen the political divide between the Republicans and the Democrats, and therefore only worsen the political division and partisanship. But what other choice is there? The political system of the USA (and indeed many others) is such that the decision to remove a leader from office can only be a political one – there is no independent body that can react impartially to the actions of a leader – the President of the Unites States of America cannot be arrested, only impeached or be deemed unfit for office.
If there is anything that has become clear in recent years of modern politics, it is that those elected have only one principle; the craven pursuit of power. They will say or do anything required to stay at what they think is the top of their ladder.
If partisan division is to be removed at all, then it surely can only come from the creation of an independent and impartial body which is responsible for adjudicating on the actions of a leader. There needs to be created a body which can be trusted by all sides, by all people: a body which itself determines when it needs to intervene, and which sets the only valid interpretations of the laws. All sports have referees or judges, why the hell do we not have this for politics?
In the absence of this, all that is left is opinion; each side having their own opinion, and each side not listening to the other’s.
Yesterday also saw a move by social media platforms to at long last attempt to limit the exploitation of their systems by Donald Trump to foment discord & division. At the same time, the publisher for Senator Josh Hawley has pulled out of a book deal due to what we can only conclude as their reaction to his role in the ‘deadly insurrection’. Both Donald Trump’s supporters and Josh Hawley are claiming that these reactions represent a breach of the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution.
From what I can tell, neither is correct; the 1st Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Yet this is just my interpretation of the Constitution of the United States of America – and I am neither legally trained not an expert in the interpretation of constitutional texts. Senator Josh Hawley in contrast does have a law degree, but does this mean that this interpretation is correct? Not necessarily. However the Senator can broadcast his view across the globe willy-nilly, and there is no independent and trusted body to gainsay him. Thus opinion becomes fact for some and ridiculous lies for others; and thus the middle ground is forever lost.
The politicians themselves can see this situation… President Elect Joe Biden has stated only that impeachment is a responsibility of Congress – he is perhaps conscious of the impact on his future presidency if he calls loudly for the gallows!
Under conditions like this how can we expect politics to be honest? The political environment without independent arbitration is clearly poisonous. Politicians find themselves sacrificing their principles (if they ever had any) for the prize of remaining in power, and cannot even condemn their colleagues who are guilty of massive betrayals because they know that the same criticisms can and will be levelled at them. The result is an environment of lies and compromise, where politicians are afraid to act in the public good and who then find themselves de-facto supporting those who commit egregious abuses of power.
All those responsible for allowing Donald Trump to behave this way should be prosecuted. I would even say that all those politicians who have not publicly called for his removal from office are guilty of abetting this situation. If the cabinet will not use the 25th Amendment then they should all be sacked. Every Senator who publicly called the validity of the election into question should be sacked. Every news network who pushed the ‘stolen election’ agenda should be taken off the air. The action or inaction from these bodies have perpetuated the impression that the election was stolen, and they have therefore actively contributed to the recent violence.
Opinion is one thing, and it should by all means be allowed, but democracy cannot survive if it does not defend itself – and democracy doesn’t defend itself nearly enough. There must be consequences to these abuses of power and actions, and these consequences cannot be left up to the politicians to decide. The current systems of adjudication are dependent upon either the politicians themselves or a legal system which is itself either dependent upon politicians or access to financial support.
If we want to avoid division in society then yes we need to continue to allow opinions to be voiced, but we also need a mechanism by which those opinions can be countered in a non-partisan way. We cannot afford to allow all discussion to follow the route of faith or the simple question of to which tribe one belongs. Democracy must have an impartial body of defence, one that can act under its own auspices and which does not rely upon a drive for power and authority.
Politicians cannot or will not do it themselves, so it should be done for them.