When I read an op-ed of medium length recently in the WSJ, I objected to the title that was a suggestion for Republicans to ’Save Your Party by Impeaching the President.’ First, I scanned the article and then read it word for word. It stood out that the author, Tom Steyer, was referring to our current President, Donald J. Trump. How odd was it that Democrat Liberal Progressive billionaire Steyer would have the abject gall to lecture Republican Party members what to do to save ‘their’ party. Then, I realized that both parties often speak or write about what the other party should do to achieve certain goals such as getting re-elected.
Thinking about the strategy of helping the opposing party, it arose in my mind that if an antagonists were to suggest a course of doing something different, common sense might suggest that you do the exact opposite. Maybe that’s what Steyer has in mind! Born in NYC 61 years ago, he now resides in San Francisco where he is a hedge-fund manager and is reported to be worth about $1.6 billion. (I think that’s more than some of us make in a whole year.) He is a philanthropist, fund raiser for liberal and progressive causes and founder of organizations called ‘Need to Impeach’ and ‘NextGen America.’
On August 13th, Mr. Steyer was in Lansing, MI where he announced the kick-off of a $10 million campaign for ‘Need to Impeach’ that included 30 town hall meetings nationwide. The impeachment theme was repeated in a Detroit town hall. The logic behind this monumental effort includes a survey of a panel of constitutional lawyers in December 2017 who agreed that there is ample evidence to start impeachment proceedings and implored Congress to begin that effort. A February meeting of health professionals this year left them perplexed at the present political situation as they wondered, ‘Where do we go from here?’
In a Florida interview recently, it was revealed that Mr. Steyer may spend as much as $120 million on candidates who express support for progressive causes. Steyer’s sympathy toward liberal causes runs deep considering that he provided more than $87 million to liberal causes in the 2016 presidential campaign. All this spending is quite legal and well within the bounds of supporting candidates regardless of their political loyalties.
However, one important fact stands out about the election process in our great constitutional government experiment called the U.S.A. That fact is that those who can spend millions for candidates of their choosing can influence more votes than the factory worker, miner or small business owner can by mustering a $25 contribution. The reality may also be that millions of voters (yes, millions) of voters have no knowledge of the issues, the truths, half-truths and fictional statements of their local, regional, state or national candidates who sally forth with soft assurances of their own promises while condemning the promises of their adversaries.
Here are some questions that might be asked of those who create oratory and written theses of self praise and rebuke of opponents: When an effort to impeach former President Clinton failed, was a two-tier form of justice established for an elite official? When more than 30,000 E-Mails and multiple electronic devices were obliterated from one of the 2016-2017 presidential campaigns, were the rules of evidence gathering compromised?
In the current ‘Russian collusion’ investigation there is a powerful effort to have the current President of the US testify before a ‘Special Investigator’ under oath. It is notable that the losing candidate in the 2017 election was never questioned under oath and was vindicated from any improprieties or violations of law.
There is a toxic veil of hatred descending over our nation of laws, liberty, security and freedom of expression that is so fetid that the achievements of adversaries are covered over with a blanket of threats, false promises, fake news and lies thicker than blasting mats.
Our Constitutional Republic can be obliterated by the misplaced votes of those who don’t study and understand election issues. Our ‘Land of Liberty’ can be brought down by those who extol their personal leadership virtues that may end in flooded ‘Debacle Valley’ rather than at the peak of ‘Mount Triumph.’ VOTE.
Dick Baynton