Ceremony, Ritual, and Democracy

I found myself captivated and moved by the pomp and circumstance regarding the movement of the Articles of Impeachment of Donald J. Trump from the House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate.   I am the former manager who gave my policy staff copies of the U.S. Constitution and rulers with the names of the presidents as gifts and welcoming.   I feel the somberness of this moment,  we don't want to have to be here, it is a necessary step to preserve our democracy but oh what a mess we are in today.  

I felt history (herstory) in the making - watching a black woman carry the signed articles followed by a group of women and men and not all them white was moving and a seed of hope.  

Who knows how this next step will proceed but for today there was the weight of history, the rituals of the past, and the reflection of who we are as a country as this group actually walked from one end of "congress" to the other.

I can't even move into what tomorrow might bring,  I do know that I am bracing for what this president might do - he is angry, he is unstable, he is sure he is absolutely the greatest thing the world has ever seen - and he is impeached.   More information comes forth almost daily showing that this guy is better suited to be the "don" of a mafia family than the president of the United States - well he actually thinks he is the don of his own mafia corporation - it is terrifying....

AND I feel glad to be moved by the steps that have been taken today.  I was a "community organizer" with a rural community action agency in the early 70's a part of LBJ's Great Society - I helped people to get on food stamp programs to enroll in job development programs, to get birth control.  As a young woman, I felt that I was a part of people being supported to have a better life, to be able to access better choices, and to try to get ahead.  

I feel that somehow we of our generation have fallen short in not holding up a discussion and dialogue about democracy.  That we as a nation feel better about trying to support some other country somewhere in supporting their democracy and we somehow forgot to make sure we kept talking about how fragile democracy actually is in our not so very old country.  

I watched every moment of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi signing the Articles of Impeachment.  I do not remember that the impeachment process affected me in this way,  he was impeached for reprehensible personal behavior:  The specific charges against Clinton were lying under oath and obstruction of justice. The charges stemmed from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Clinton by Paula Jones and from Clinton's testimony denying that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The catalyst for the president's impeachment was the Starr Report, a September 1998 report prepared by Independent Counsel Ken Starr for the House Judiciary Committee.



I remember the Clinton impeachment proceedings, he was a president i supported.  He lied,  he violated his oath,  he took advantage of a woman - probably not the first time.  He was a flawed flawed man on a personal level - and I remember during that time, what would happen if every man who had committed adultery, who had had sex with a subordinate, a student, an intern turned Bright Green for a day ---- wow....the world would have lit up!  Not right, all wrong, but oh so very true.  I am glad that the country got to understand that Bill Clinton absolutely lied when he said, "  i did not have sex with that woman"   --- but what we have today is not about all the sexual antics with Donald Trump who probably can be the "greatest" in compared do Bill Clinton.

Here we are today, actions to affect elections,  all levels of legal counsel and adminstration executives involvement in withholding congressional funds from a country, heavy handed everything,  threatening and so much more.

So I get to witness in some small way the impeachment of two presidents.  The weakness of men is something that keeps sifting through my thougnts.  The bravery of the women is the next thought.

And I am still moved by this distinguished black woman holding and walking and holding the weight of the articles of the impeachment of donald j trump in her hands.