Before the Impeachment claims were presented to the Senate I sent the following note to the two senators from Missouri, Senator Roy Blunt, and Senator Josh Hawley:
Dear Senator ….,
The way you vote on President Trump’s impeachment may be the only act the world will remember about you. You will have to tell your grandchildren why you voted one way or another. We all surmise that, despite your public pretenses, you know an indecent scoundrel when you see one. You are not a fool. Wouldn’t it be good to vote what you really believe, not what the Party tells you to do? History will convict you along with him when they assess your behavior and the behavior of your party.
Can you blame me? I have lost all respect for a party that — having declared in the primary that Trump is unworthy of the Presidency – now defends virtually every lie he utters.
Is there a chance you could rise above him and the Party? This is the real test of who you are. How do you want history to remember you?
Robert L. Canfield Retired from teaching at Washington University
I received no significant reply from Senator Blunt but I did get the following from Senator Hawley.
February 6, 2020
Dear Robert,
Thank you for contacting me regarding the impeachment of President Trump. I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts on this important subject.
The actions taken by Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have made an outrageous mockery of our Constitution. With their push to advance bogus articles of impeachment, which do not even allege a crime, House Democrats are insulting the Constitution. With their attempt to overturn an election, they are betraying the American people.
President Trump has fought hard for working Americans and secured big wins for Missouri. Democrats in Congress just can’t accept that they lost the last election and they’ve been trying to reverse it ever since. It’s clear that this sham impeachment is politically motivated and groundless. It needs to end now.
We should be spending our time in Congress working on the issues that matter to you and your family. Americans deserve a government that focuses on the people’s priorities, not disgusting political games.
As always, I truly appreciate hearing your concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future on other issues important to you and your community. It is a privilege to be your voice in Congress. If you would like to get regular updates on my work in the Senate, please visit my website at www.hawley.senate.gov or follow me on social media at @SenHawleyPress.
Sincerely,
This seems to be the boilerplate reply the Republicans have prepared, or at least one of them. Here the good Senator impugns the extended testimonies of noted government officials who at risk of their career were telling the American people what they had seen and heard. It took courage to place their testimonies against that of their President and those around him – who at it happens never were required to tell the truth under oath to the public.
What Senator Hawley’s reply reveals is that, unlike those officials, he was unwilling to expose what he really believed lest he be impugned by a vengeful President. The American people can easily forget what most of the Republicans said about President Trump during the Republican primaries. For instance, Linsey Graham [yes, Senator from South Carolina!]: Trump is a “jackass”. Also: “He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot … He doesn’t represent my [Republican] party … I don’t think he has a clue about anything … He is empowering radical Islam … You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” [Wikipedia]
So why or how could the Republican Party be so willing to deploy every possible narrative to protect, justify, the behavior of this president? They are terrified of his strength in the polls.
The risks involved in challenging Trump are manifest in the way Senator Romney has been treated by the President and the Party after his voting “yes” on one of the articles of impeachment. Trump has already announced that there would be payback on everyone involved in the impeachment “hoax”. Clearly that includes Nancy Palosi, but also Mitt Romney. How far will it go? To the government officials to testified to what they saw and heard? Already there has been a concerted attempt to expose the whistle blower.
So here we are: The pathological liar calls everyone who testified against him liars. The businessman who bought and threatened his way out of every problem now calls his enemies corrupt. And a whole political party will do – say – whatever possible to protect themselves from suffering the wrath of this politician.
Yes, as the Bible says, we all reap what we sow. Over and over again it says the truth will someday be proclaimed from the housetops. This country will reap what it has sown. Yes, there has been a mockery of the Constitution, but not by the courageous officials who placed their careers at risk in the Impeachment hearings, but by our “courageous” Senators who dared not face the wrath of a vengeful President. This is not a time to celebrate, but a time to mourn the loss of the fundamental commitments to the social order that made it possible to have a functioning democracy.