According to reports in the American press, several Representatives have written to President Elect Joe Biden to ask him to put pressure on Nancy Pelosi not to begin impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump for a second time.  Their request they say, should be considered in the ‘spirit of healing’ and that to proceed with a second impeachment would ‘undermine the priorities’ of President Elect Joe Biden to unify Americans.

This statement is quite unbelievable in its level of irony…  the Representatives who have actively presided over actions which were designed to deliberately seek to divide Americans, are now advising the incoming administration on how best to help unify…  The letter indicates the belief that an impeachment would only server to inflame Donald Trump’s supporters anew – an aspect which may well be true however one which these self-same representatives have had at least two years to consider before now! Does it not strike any  of these ‘politicians’ that in fact the best way to start to unify the country would be for all politicians of all flavours to stand up and present a unified front to the nation?  Have they not considered that their best approach is to publicly decry the actions of Donald Trump and for them to speak openly to their support bases about the reasons for seeking an impeachment?  Yet again we see politicians trying to play on both sides of the fence – in a stroke trying to be seen to be conciliatory, but only so long as it means that they do nothing that risks alienating their own support.  These ‘representatives’ still seek at all cost, to avoid having to admit the impacts of their actions and above all to eschew accepting any responsibility for the current situation.

Perhaps the worst sign of a complete and total lack of self-awareness however was that this request be considered in ‘fidelity to the constitution’ – a constitution which specifically allows for the impeachment of Presidents who are guilty of misconduct (high crimes and treason).  What clearer case of treason can there be other than trying to corrupt an election result?!!

This is one of the purest illustrations I have seen of all that is wrong with politics: elected officials seeking to obfuscate reality because even when they know what they are guilty of, they are still hell-bent on trying to maintain their grip on power.  How on earth can anyone hope that any sort of ‘healing’ process can begin for as long as no-one addresses the lies and manipulations that have acted as a crucible for these events?  How can any politician hope to redress the balance whilst they maintain a stubborn refusal to accept the nature of the false narrative that has been pushed for four years?  How can anyone hope to restore faith in an electoral system unless they admit that there is in fact nothing fucking wrong with it in the first place?

What do they think will happen at the next election?  Some of these representatives were even objecting to the very ballots that got them voted in!!

Unification can only occur when there is a common understanding of events.  All parties need to share a few basic premises for agreement to be met, and in the current environment, each side lives within its own echo chamber of facts.  It is for this reason then, that the only way that any semblance of unity can be achieved will be when both sides agree on a version of events – a foundation which requires that Republican representatives cease their blinkered barrage of falsehood and that they face up to their actions.  Republicans have to overwhelmingly and publicly state that Donald Trump sought to corrupt an election through the dissemination of rumour and lies.  Those that supported such lies have to openly admit this – even if their cowardice will only let them go so far as to say that they ‘believed in Trump’ rather than admit the fact that they knew all along what they were doing.

Perhaps after all it is a good thing that Joe Biden was chosen instead of a more progressive Democratic Candidate, perhaps his ‘vanilla’ approach will in fact, allow the Republicans and the Democrats to find some sort of middle ground that does not shock the Republicans too far out of their own little world.  In so doing however, the scope of change will be limited and hence insufficient…  the public need to have no doubt that their political system was broken in these last four years (if not before) and that wholesale change is required if any semblance of democracy is to remain.

Either way, the change has to start now, and it has to start with those who erred publicly admitting their errors.

I doubt that it will happen…