sonora2sonoma

I never thought I’d live long enough to witness the spectacle currently underway in the nation’s capital, where, before the whole world, grown men—congressional representatives at that—are demonstrating their willingness to willfully disregard the Constitution of the United States in order to defend the most lawless and despicable person ever to occupy the White House. By so doing, they are also exhibiting equal disregard for the consequences of their actions, with ominous implications for the future of our democracy and, for that matter, the entire world, especially when considering the harm being done as a result of the administration’s ongoing denial of climate change.

It is difficult to discern whether these defenders of the president are acting out of genuine ignorance of the Constitution or because of some self-serving intention to purposely distort and misrepresent the truth, or both; either way, however, they are by their actions demonstrating their complicity with him in the deconstruction of those governmental protections upon which our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have depended since the birth of the republic.
Moreover, by refusing to engage in an actual debate and instead throwing up alternative narratives that have nothing to do with the charges against the president, these Republicans are resorting to the childish equivalent of lying to escape punishment after being caught red-handed while trying to steal from the cookie jar. Only, in this case, the lying is much more egregious.

It’s impossible to predict at this point whether the Republicans’ scheme to employ their political/particle accelerator in their attempt to shatter the particles of impeachment will succeed. Ultimately, their success or failure depends on us, because it is the collective tenor of our moods, notions and beliefs that determines which way the wind blows, politically-speaking. Despite of the fantastic amounts of money that will be spent to persuade us, underneath all that, it’s in the study of what makes people vulnerable to messaging where persuasion occurs. That’s too complicated a subject to delve into here, save to say that discernment can be refined by the practice of mindful awareness or, more plainly, paying attention. Conversely, lax attention is a playground where televangelists, used car salesmen and politicians thrive.

Tim Konrad
2019.12.17