The View from Right Field

On Convicting Donald Trump

Even though I think the better constitutional argument is that it is constitutional to impeach and try former President Trump (he was, after all, impeached while he was still in office), I probably wouldn’t have impeached him (for the reasons stated here).  However, once he was impeached, given what he did, I couldn’t not convict him. 

As I said here, I don’t know if he “incited” an “insurrection” in the legal meaning of those words, but what he did was wrong.  A president doesn’t have to be guilty of a crime to be impeached and convicted (and a president doesn’t always get impeached and convicted just because he committed a crime – see, for example, Bill Clinton).  What former President Trump did was sufficiently wrong that, as I said above, I couldn’t not convict him.  Unfortunately, it appears that not enough Republicans agree with me.

Bringing Us Together: We Have to Do It Ourselves

In his Inaugural Address, Joe Biden talked about how he wanted to bring us together:

“My whole soul is in this.  Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause. …

And so today at this time in this place, let's start afresh, all of us.  Let's begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another.  Show respect to one another.”

I hope he can do it.  He seems like a nice guy (I talked about this before, so I won’t repeat myself).  What I would say, though, is while I hope President Biden can help to bring us together, it’s not something he can do himself.  It’s something we have to do ourselves.

Just Because I’m Glad Trump Is Leaving, Doesn’t Mean I Agree With Biden

A comment on the upcoming change in administrations that many in our polarized America may not appreciate: Just because someone is incredibly glad Donald Trump is leaving the White House, doesn’t mean they think Joe Biden will wind up being a good president or that the Democratic Party has the right policies for the United States.

President Trump has been a terrible president; possibly the worst in our history.¹  His administration did some good things (I’ve talked about them before), but the farther we got into his term and the more the decisions were made by him, rather than some of the people he appointed, the worse things got.²  While the last two months would not have happened if he had won re-election, a second Trump term could have been even scarier, perhaps especially in foreign policy and other areas where he could have acted on his own.

The Tolerance of “I Might Be Wrong”

A long time ago, I wrote a post entitled “Truth and the Right to be Wrong.”¹  I said in part:

“I believe that some things are right and that some things are wrong.  But my certainty does not make me think I have the right to force my beliefs on others … because I think we all have the right to be wrong. …

Some will object to my concept of ‘the right to be wrong’ on the ground that I am disrespecting them and their beliefs when I say they are wrong. That is not true.  In fact, I am giving them the ultimate respect: I am defending their right to believe what they do even though I know they are wrong. …

A Thought on Using the 25th Amendment to Get Rid of President Trump

If you use the 25th Amendment for a purpose for which it was not intended, even if it is a really good purpose, do not be surprised if you are not happy the next time the 25th Amendment is used for a purpose for which it was not intended.

Being a Republican in the Age of Trump

People ask me how I can be a Republican with Donald Trump as President – or at least they would ask me that if I wasn’t socially distancing from just about the entire world.  I understand the question.  And I would add people like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, more representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives than I care to mention, and others, too.

But then I read about Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Ryan Germany, his counsel.  Those guys are very impressive.  Plus there’s Senator Ben Sasse from Nebraska and Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – and more, even if, at times, it seems like not enough.

As Donald Trump’s World Continues to Turn – Around Him

I have no idea if Donald Trump really thinks he didn’t lose the presidential election.  But then I generally have no idea what President Trump is thinking about anything.  And he will be gone in seventeen days (even if he doesn’t think so), so I don’t have to worry about him too much longer (– I hope).  What is worse (at least for me) are the Republican politicians who are continuing to lend support to President Trump’s claims that he really won the election – even after the Electoral College met on December 14.  (I would have preferred if they had done it before December 14, but continuing to deny Joe Biden’s victory after that date is appalling.  I wrote here about what a better person did 60 years ago where there was real evidence of fraud.)

It now appears that Missouri Senator Josh Hawley will support claims by several House Republicans challenging one or more state’s electoral votes when the House and Senate meet for the counting of electoral votes on January 6.  Obviously, Democrats did this to President George W. Bush in January of 2005 with respect to Ohio’s electoral votes (even though President Bush won Ohio by over 100,000 votes).   Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California supported claims by Democrats in the House.  It wound up delaying the counting of the electoral votes by a couple of hours, but that was all – other than maybe setting a bit of a precedent for what supporters of President Trump are doing today.  (John Kerry did not support the effort to overturn or reject Ohio’s electoral votes.  He was a classier guy.)

Getting Ready for the Next Pandemic. Will We?

With vaccines on the way, it looks like we may be able to see the end of the pandemic.  It is still a ways off, but, unlike in April and May, we can see an end coming.  The question is, though: What about the next one?  Will we be prepared for it?  I talked about this in April.  I won’t repeat what I said there, other than to quote from my conclusion:

“Robustness.  Resiliency.  Nimbleness.  These are what we need if we are to be ready for the emergencies and disasters that will happen, though we don’t know which ones or when.” 

What Donald Trump Is Doing Doesn’t Have to Damage Our Democracy

Democrats and much of the mainstream media¹ are saying Donald Trump is damaging American democracy by his continuing refusal to accept defeat in the presidential election and to start the transition process for President-elect Biden.  I agree that what President Trump is doing is appalling and that it makes the United States look stupid around the world, but it’s not the first time President Trump has done that, and given that January 20 is still two months away, it may not be the last (unfortunately).  It is, after all, what President Trump does.  We all know that by now.  Why should we be surprised he continues to do it?

But, as for whether President Trump is causing lasting damage to American democracy, that’s up to us.  What he is doing doesn’t have to cause lasting damage to democracy – unless we let it.  We can agree that what President Trump is doing is wrong and that we will never do it ourselves.  We can make what President Trump is doing a one-time thing by agreeing that we will concede when our opponent gets more votes and that we won’t go around saying our opponent wasn’t really elected once the votes are counted. 

Covid-19 Leadership: Is Anybody Leading?

When it comes to Covid-19 leadership, Donald Trump has been a disaster.  Too often he said the virus wasn’t that bad.  Other times he suggested almost quack solutions.  And masks were seemingly verboten around the White House.¹  Clear, confident, national leadership could have made things less bad.  He didn’t provide it.

But too many of our governors and mayors haven’t been effective leaders, either.  I understand it is hard to lead when the national message isn’t clear.  But that doesn’t mean state and local leaders couldn’t have done a better job.