It's one of those mass-shooting days in America--same sadness, different cause. The beginning of an impeachment inquiry into our President is like a funeral march, not a parade. It's hard to be an American and not feel the tragedy unfolding.
I know the readers of this blog are from across the world. This week alone audience stats show readers outside the US living in Australia, India, Malaysia, Portugal and Sweden. Last month's readers included people living in Ukraine, Canada, France, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. So understandably some readers may not care all that much that the United States House of Representatives has begun its impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. After all, you logged on perhaps for some respite from the world's problems, and your own. That's one reason I do. So . . . spoiler alert: like "Another Week of Shootings" Post 8/4/19, some things are too much to ignore.
I was alive when President Richard Nixon resigned before facing the House impeachment vote. He had betrayed the country by his coverup of the break-in into the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. Both Republicans and Democrats were prepared to impeach him. I was already a lawyer when President Bill Clinton faced impeachment for a lie under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. But yesterday when I read just the redacted transcript of the phone call between Trump and President of the Ukraine I actually cried. Maybe because I studied Constitutional Law I saw the treason so clearly and it made me sad.
Now I've read the whole intelligence officer whistle-blower complaint and listened to the live testimony of the Director of National Security. President Trump blocked delivery of aid to Ukraine. Then he phoned President Zelensky and asked him for "a favor": to investigate former Vice President Biden-- American citizen, member of the United States Senate and a rival presidential candidate. He asked Zelensky to work with Trump's personal attorney and with our country's Attorney General in the investigation. He is actively seeking foreign interference into the upcoming 2020 election. Then, when the phone call was over, recognizing its implications, his White House attempted to "lock down" all records of the call. These facts have been admitted and confirmed. Although the last few years have paved the way for this revelation, this reaches new levels. As a country we are in for it.
This is not a political blog. Politically I am an Independent. So was my mother, Nina Naomi--a US history teacher and an Independent voter. Living simply, loving nature, staying in the present, being mindful of each day, nesting, keeping healthy attitudes, taking the time to live well--that is what this blog commits to. But these few days are watersheds. There will be more. All of us will need to stand up and be counted.
As I wrote in the post about a recent week of mass shootings, when we need a break from news or worry, daily chores or work, or our own activism, then nature, mindfulness and other tools that restore us are still there. There's much work to be done. But for the next hour I'm going back to my own lovely scrapbooking and collage-making. It's filled with sayings and quotations that hopefully will give me some perspective. Here's one that helps when things are very very difficult:
The Best Thing to Hold Onto in Life is Each-other.
Nina Naomi
 |
| Illustration by Mia Charro |
No comments:
Post a Comment