sedition (noun) - conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch. (Oxford Langauges dictionary)
Sedition is a serious felony punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison and it refers to the act of inciting revolt or violence against a lawful authority with the goal of destroying or overthrowing it. - criminal.findlaw.com
When this blog came to be back on January 8, 2010, the intent was that it would be something to fill up my time retirement, would be light hearted and fun, and, above all, would avoid political topics, because, like I said, it's supposed to be lighthearted and fun. With the approaching end of the Administration of the 45th President, I had been contemplating writing some of my thoughts about, not so much his policies and accomplishments, or lack of same, but more upon the utter bankruptcy of him as a human being. "Silence is assent", or so the saying goes, and I didn't want to be silent about what we have witnessed these past four years. Still, I wasn't totally sure about doing it, and then I, along with a shocked nation and world, saw he events that took place at the United States Capitol yesterday, January 6, 2021. Events that were fomented and encouraged by the President of the United States himself.
Back in August, 2016, I watched the candidate make his acceptance speech before the Republican National Convention. When the speech ended, I said to Marilyn "That speech was about nothing but anger and hatred." That is how he conducted his campaign in 2016 (and in 2020), and that is how he has conducted his administration. He used anger and hate to split the country, fire up his base constituency, and never, not once, sought to lead by unifying the country. It began with his "good people on both sides" reference to neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, VA in 2017, and it has gone on from there. One horrifying statement and position after another. The list became so long that our minds got numb to them. It got to the point that you forgot the awful thing that he said on a Monday, because he did or said something worse on the following Wednesday.
Perhaps the worst thing that he did was his questioning of a legal and valid electoral outcome. The 45th President sought to disenfranchise American citizens, and cynically use the Courts, with "his" judges, to overturn an election. His refusal to accept a defeat at the polls and his fight to overturn the election struck at the very heart of American democracy. His incitement of his "Proud Boy" and white nationalist base culminated in what we saw yesterday. A charge to his thugs to march upon the Capitol and take back "your government." You all saw what ensued: an invasion the United States Capitol Building and an attempt to take it over. It was an assault on our institutions, our elected Senators and Representatives, and an assault on our Constitution and the very heart of our democracy, and the flames for it were lit and fanned by the President of the United States. "We love you. You're very special" were the words he used in his attempt to quell (wink, wink) the rioters. (See definitions in red at the top of this post.)
The President of the United States takes an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Yesterday, the 45th President made a mockery of that oath. There are reports that discussions took place yesterday within the Administration of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove an obviously unhinged President from his office for the remaining thirteen days of his term. I am certainly in no position to opine on that, but I will say that Noon, January 20 cannot get here soon enough.
If you know me well enough, you know how I lean politically, and there will be some out there who will dismiss this as just the ramblings of a sore loser Democratic lefty snowflake. Let me say this: policies of politicians and governments come and go. They charge every four or eight years. But who are the people implementing them? No, I never voted for Ronald Reagan or either George Bush, but I never doubted for a moment that each one of them wasn't a good and decent person who was trying his very best to lead a unified nation. I also have no idea what kind of President Joe Biden will prove to be, but I know that he, too, is a decent man, and by his words since the election, I know that he, too, seeks to unify and lead this country. The same cannot be said for the current President. He is, simply put, a bad guy, a bad human being. But don't just take my word for it, look up what Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican Presidential nominee, has had to say in recent days on this topic, including his remarks last night on the Senate floor.
History will be the 45th President's ultimate judge.
Hopefully history won't be his only judge. Prison for a start. Hell - if there is one- for the end.
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