Impeachment!

I consider myself to be a reasonable, rational, and logical individual. I served 24 years in the Army and Army Reserve, and served on the Island of Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury, and as a Company Commander of a unit deployed to Operation Desert Storm. I’m a retired Veteran, and I’ve had a reasonably successful civilian career. I have watched this impeachment process with great interest. I followed the hearings, I double checked the facts for myself with multiple sources. I believe that those Americans who have been elected to serve in the US House of Representatives must be reasonably competent in order to be elected by their constituents. So while I make up my own mind, I respect that reasonable people may disagree.

I have to admit that I am confused. There have been two Presidents actually tried by impeachment, and another, President Nixon, only escaped an impeachment trial by resigning his position as President. President Trump is the third President to face an impeachment trial. Let’s all be honest with each other, impeachment is a partisan political process. Sure there are exceedingly important constitutional obligations of Impeachment, but the previous impeachment trials were both partisan and political. That disappoints me at a very basic level.

I want, and I even believe, that our government is honest, disciplined, and dedicated to service of this great nation. Yet I know through this process that wasn’t the case here. The Inspector General Report spells out how this whole trial was based upon falsehoods and contrived accusations that were demonstrably false. The FBI made SEVENTEEN “mistakes” in the original surveillance of the Trump campaign. Now as I said, I consider myself to be “reasonable and rational”, so I would expect that “mistakes” would be evenly distributed on both sides of the situation. Yet surprisingly, beyond any expectation of random chance, all SEVENTEEN “mistakes” went against President Trump and his campaign. That just doesn’t pass the common sense test. I’m sorry, something in those seventeen “mistakes” stinks in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable. I don’t believe in seventeen “mistakes”, I believe that someone tipped the scales of justice against President Trump. There is no other rational conclusion that can be reached.

As to the phone call with the President of Ukraine, reasonable people can disagree about what President Trump “meant” by his words, but I saw nothing wrong with what was discussed. A very good friend of mine (not a Vet) told me that President Trump asked a foreign leader to conduct an investigation into a political opponent, former Vice President Biden. I don’t see that. But to my friend Fred, I said this; 1) There is over 7 Billion Dollars of MISSING foreign aid. The United States DESERVE to know what happened to that money. 2) Then VP Biden admitted that he told the former President of Ukraine that they needed to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the missing US aid money. Furthermore (then) VP Biden bragged that he threatened that he would withhold a Billion Dollars of loan guarantees if the prosecutor wasn’t fired. Incredibly, the Prosecutor was actually fired. VP Biden BRAGGED about this, and I saw the video with my own eyes! What I said to my friend is this: If the political opponent doesn’t want to be investigated, then the political opponent shouldn’t do something that would bring about an investigation! VP Biden BRAGGED about his demand for an actual “QUID-PRO-QUO”! How can honest people not see that and recognize it, and furthermore realize the reasonableness of an investigation into that admitted to “quid pro quo”?

I watched the impeachment trial proceedings tonight on TV. I watched as people I consider to be intelligent and reasonable people disagree so decidedly and decisively. I watched as the Democrat party took a decidedly partisan position, as I watched the Republican party also took a similar partisan position. Yet I review the facts, and I cannot see the Democratic position. At ALL! Am I blind? Stupid? Am I partisan myself? How is it that I cannot see the Democratic position at ALL?

I have watched this whole thing play out in front of my eyes. I watched and listened to everything since the President was elected. I observed as multiple attempts were made to impeach this President. Fifty-Eight members of Congress voted to impeach President Trump because he had made some comments about NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem being played at NFL games … does ANYONE think that is a righteous use of Constitutional powers to impeach a President? I’m sorry, I am confused. I am confused, but more, I am sad. I am sad, and more than a little concerned.

Why sad and concerned? Because our nation is more divided along political lines than I can ever remember in my lifetime. It used to be that during elections, we were Democrats and Republicans, but after the election, all would come together as Americans. That simply is no longer true. I’m not placing blame on either party, rather both parties. I blame myself as much as I blame my democrat friends. We cannot “see” the same things. We cannot agree on the “facts”.

I often say that I LOVE the “TRUTH”. The TRUTH is always the TRUTH! We might wish it were different, we might want to ignore it, we may want to deny it, but it doesn’t matter – the TRUTH is ALWAYS the TRUTH! It is sure, constant, factual. That is a beautiful thing if we let it be beautiful, even if we don’t like it, isn’t it comforting to KNOW that it is the TRUTH? Unchanging. Solid. Dependable.

If this impeachment trial and process has taught me anything it is this. Due to our political partisan beliefs, we no longer agree or admit what is the TRUTH. I offer this opinion, without agreement as to what is the truth, as a society, we are doomed to fail. Reasonable people can disagree about opinions and attitudes, but can we disagree on “FACTS”? Facts are TRUTH! If we cannot agree as to what is the TRUTH, we will NEVER be able to coexist!

So what is the TRUTH on the issue of this impeachment? Democrats believe that President Trump is GUILTY! Republicans believe that the President did NOTHING WRONG. I must admit that I am in the latter camp. I DO NOT believe that  the President has done anything wrong. I do NOT believe that he should be impeached. I DO believe that whoever is responsible (individuals or groups) for the in excess of SEVEN BILLION dollars of missing US foreign aid should be identified and prosecuted! Isn’t that truly what President Trump asked for when he asked “I’d like you to do us a favor”? I want to understand. I want to see and honestly discuss what the Democrats see that I simply cannot see and understand.

So the President of the United States, President Donald Trump was impeached by the US House of Representatives by a House divided by partisan lines. This impeachment will not result in the removal of President Trump. We can be reasonably assured that the US Senate will vote along partisan lines to acquit President Trump. I honestly believe that President Trump should NEVER have been subjected to the original investigation, nor to any form of an impeachment trial! Yet just as fervently as I believe in his innocence, there are friends of mine who are just as firm in their belief that he is guilty. In my mind, the FACTS do not support impeachment. In my OPINION, the Democrats are absolutely wrong. I am firm in my logical evaluation of all the facts, rumors, innuendo, and even the “mistakes” that allowed this specious investigation to be conducted that this impeachment was conducted for partisan, political reasons, and had zero basis in TRUTH! Yet there are those people of reasonable intelligence that absolutely DISagree with me on this!

So where are we now? In my mind, we are standing at the precipice. We are at a critical point in the history of this great nation. If we are so divided by partisan political filtering of facts that we cannot agree on what is the TRUTH, is there any way forward that does NOT include some sort of division? If there is no recognition of facts and truth, where does a divided nation go? What direction forward? What is the pathway that we can travel together?

My Brothers and Sisters, perhaps the answer lies with us. In today’s America, Veterans are appreciated in a way that we were simply not always appreciated in the past. I wore the uniform in the 1970’s, and there was no one telling me “Thank You for your service” back then. But today it is different. I wonder, are Veterans as divided on the issue of impeachment as the Democrats and Republicans? Let me know what YOU think. I know Veterans for Trump will be against impeachment, but what about Veterans you know, are many of them supportive of impeachment? Let me know. If we as Veterans can agree, can we help sorve the divide of the general public – the Democrats and the Republicans?

If not US, then who? If not now, then when? If we cannot bring our nation together, If we cannot agree as to what is the TRUTH, I fear for our future.

Comment and follow us on X – Click Here