Impeachable Political Dichotomy

When Trump was elected President, I read a great article where the author mused how an overwhelming pro-Democrat federal bureaucracy would work overtime to limit his powers during his time in office. As a libertarian, I was excited at the prospect of watching an imperial office being stripped of its clothes by the very people who lavished it to near divine reverence during the Obama years.

I don’t have an exhaustive list of references to that point, but I’ve read quite a few liberal articles during that time about how outdated the U.S. Constitution had become and how a more empowered presidency was needed.

Not so much these days with Trump in office.

Now don’t get me wrong, those articles had good points that I hope the country could come together one day to address via a constitutional convention. I like to tell people that there’s always nuggets of wisdom even from unsolicited criticism. But none of their arguments warranted a straight rewrite of the constitution, just to assist the former president achieve his (their) goals.

But it’s not only liberals who are doing back flips on positions they took when the other party held the presidency. It’s a bit amusing, if not sad, to watch Republicans twist themselves into knots explaining why obstruction during the Obama years was necessary and patriotic while obstruction against Trump is not.

If there’s anything impeachable in D.C. these days, it’s all of their flip-flopping, the hypocrisy and the lack of principle. For the rest of America, most of us like to think we can have a decent conversation with one another, debate things on their merits and admit when we’re wrong and move on.

It goes without saying that our country is really diverse. Taking all of the minority ethnicities the U.S. is blessed with out of the picture for a second, and the country is already Balkanized along cultural, religious, economic and regional lines… on paper.

I’d argue, along with many, many others, that a constitution with a light touch, with an emphasis on process rather than delivery and with reverence for the individual rather than government, is what continues to hold this country together.

And if you disagree with that notion, then let’s just agree to disagree.