Notes On The Collapse

Impeachment Again: What You Need To Know

On Monday, the second Trump impeachment trial in the Senate is scheduled to begin.

(I know; just when you thought he was finally gone, right? Wrong. Trump is back in the headlines for another few weeks — and it’s a good thing for everyone. But more on that later. -Editor)

In order to prepare for the upcoming outcomes of these events, there are a few aspects of the proceedings that you should be aware of going into this so you can adjust your expectations. That way, there are few surprises and there will be little room for disinformation going forward. The proper correction for fake news is, after all, a strong infusion of the truth.

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Mitch and Chuck: Are They The Problem?

If you missed the headlines over the weekend… well, as usual, you didn’t miss much. To no-one’s real surprise, the threat of filibuster was only a threat, and Mitch and Chuck have arrived at a power-sharing agreement. Later today, the Senate will convene as a court rather than a deliberative body, and Senator Patrick Leahy — the President Pro Tem, by tradition the longest-serving member of the majority party in the Senate — is expected to preside over Donald Trump’s second impeachment.

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A Brief Guide To Political Systems

The volume of public ignorance on this topic is deafening. With no common definitions, we end up with continual verbal skirmishing over fine yet scarcely relevant details. This usually devolves into namecalling, which inevitably stifles meaningful discourse and ends productive conversation.

So here’s a quick guide to the types of political systems presently active in the world today. Doubtless there will be disagreement over the abstract terms; hopefully, this can be resolved without namecalling. (Probably not, because people are idiots — but what the hell. -Editor)

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It’s A Trap

Or, Why Nothing Will Happen On The 20th

Some people among us continue to insist that the election was stolen, that votes were manipulated and voices silenced — or invented, that tens of thousands of elderly folks in nursing homes (largely senile) had their ballots farmed at the behest of local organizers who wished to win more than they wanted to safeguard the election process.

Much of this is plausible. Certainly, the results of the election are not what they would have been had earlier laws remained in effect, and (in Pennsylvania’s case) had the governor strictly followed the legislature’s lead. Then too, given the truly vast number of election volunteers, surely some few must have violated the law here and there; in the present COVID age, identification validation went unverified in places it would not have. A neutral party could readily grant so much.

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The Irrelevant In The Room

One of the things that very much doesn’t matter, and I can’t stress this enough, is Donald Trump’s opinion on anything.

After five years of being a windbag who dominated the press, he has been silenced. His last messages were “Go down to Congress and tell them…” followed by “We love you; you’re special; go home.” He is now off Twitter, off Facebook, and if Parler were still functioning— but of course it’s not.

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Impeachment II: This Time It’s Personal

Well, all right; last time it was personal too — and political. It’s a pop culture reference, not an epitaph; it’s not graven in stone.

So — yes, Trump is getting impeached — again. And, even though the Senate won’t reconvene until the Inauguration is over, it’s actually meaningful. We all know that the first penalty that can be assessed is removal from office, but they could well pursue the second penalty, which would forbid him from ever again holding any office of trust. This process is thus unlikely to get dismissed as moot.

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Retribution Is Coming.

All Cops Are Bastards, until they’re beat up by a right-wing mob. When that happens, they’re heroic defenders of our proud democratic institutions, and the flag goes to half mast. They should be defunded — until you don’t have enough force to stop that angry mob. Which, by the way, was a tenth the size of any of the other angry mobs we’ve faced this year. We’re horrified to watch police violence on television, until the moment when the dumbass eating the nightstick is wearing the wrong color of hat — or the wrong color of skin, as some news outlets would leap in to mention, salivating over their ratings bump.

Oh, I get rooting for the home team. You’re a Democrat; you hate when Democrats get beat up. You’re a Republican; you’re embarrassed when Republicans riot and do dumb shit on a selfie cam. That’s perfectly normal. Last thing you want to do is identify with the loser, so naturally you justify the riot and blame someone else. All summer BLM has been blaming the right wing fringe for the fires and looting; now, Republicans are blaming antifa for busting down the doors. Yet it’s perfectly obvious to all and sundry that there’s plenty of room for copious and extravagant dumbassery on both sides of the political aisle.

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Happy New Year. Now What?

We’ve survived 2020.

Hooray for us. So now what? What’s the new normal going to be?

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Why We Do This

I was posed a question over Christmas. It was respectful and well-meaning, but the gist of it was, “Why do you bother to do this? You’re no expert, and sometimes you’re wrong.”

And that’s perfectly true: I have no degree in political science, nor even one in journalism. From time to time I’ll make a mistake — sometimes an egregious one. It’s even possible that the entire premise of an article might be completely off-base. These are all quite valid points, and it’s worth remembering them when you read: I might be wrong.

On the other hand, it’s occasionally possible everyone else is wrong.

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