The heartbeat: the temple of hypocrisy

On January 13, Donald Trump, for the second time, was impeached by the House of Representatives. Beyond his misguided speech at the Ellipse, the mob riots at the Capitol, the 2020 election and the mistakes made by Trump frittering away his legacy of impressive achievements, the proceedings were a terrifying precursor to what demagoguery may lay ahead. It was as good a display of hypocrisy and double standards as you will ever see.

Here is a sampler:

On the House floor, Jerrold Nadler, from New York’s District 10, led the Democratic Party’s “prosecution” of President Trump. Nadler opined that Trump, “remains a clear and present danger to the Constitution and our democracy.” Sitting behind Nadler on the benches was Eric Swalwell, and among those rising to speak were Maxine Waters and Adam Schiff.

Flashing back to 2001, it was the very same Nadler that successfully petitioned President Bill Clinton to pardon Susan Rosenberg who in 1985 was convicted of planting dynamite outside of the US Senate chambers. The FBI reported she “…openly advocated the overthrow of the U.S. Government through armed struggle and the use of violence.”

Eric Swalwell’s moralizing about Trump comes on the heels of being outed for sleeping with a known Chinese spy. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat and Speaker of the House has ensured he still sits on both the highly sensitive Intelligence Committee and Homeland Security Committee. Any reasonable person should question her reckless overlooking the dangers from the romantic Swalwell as a continuing national security risk.

Maxine Waters lectured the assembled about incitement of violence. She ought to know about provocative verbal outrage given her angry proclamation, “If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, at a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”

Adam Schiff once again found airtime. The Russian Hoax and Crossfire Hurricane conspiracy have been fully debunked clearly revealing the falsity of his endless, breathless charges about Trump. Yet, there he stood once again opining about right and wrong.

This supersonic rush to punish Trump sidestepped the Constitution’s revered due process and made a mockery of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s foot dragging. It’s now obvious that she held the pandemic-remediating economic relief package hostage in order to to damage the president and the Republican Party.

Joe Biden’s proclamation about high-minded aspiration to heal and reunite the country was ditched in order to drive a final nail in Trump’s political coffin. Abraham Lincoln’s restraint “…with malice toward none, with charity for all…” was ignored, as was Justice Robert Jackson’s counsel in the opening statement at the Nuremberg Trials “…to stay the hand of vengeance.”

When it comes to border walls and funding police, the terrorized Congresspeople may now show more sympathy. When they look back at the 2020 “summer of love” with burning buildings lighting the night skies of major cities, it might remind them of the chaos on Capitol Hill and maybe they will demand robust law enforcement. These displaced shop owners and local government workers also suffered.

Our United States Capitol is often referred to as the Temple of Democracy. Its iconic dome is the aspirational north star for enlightened governments. Yes, it was desecrated by the rioters, and we were all horrified by the broken glass and crowds running rampant though the hallowed halls. And yes, we also have to be sickened that despite all the high minded Congressional ceremonial rhetoric of “…my distinguished colleague from…” that we are assaulted with blatant disregard for the truth. We should be nauseated by the stink of hypocrisy that overwhelms the sting of the tear gas.