Saturday, January 25, 2020

Moral Courage And Its Opposite


On Friday, January 24th we watched House Impeachment Manager Representative Adam Schiff summarize the articles of impeachment against Trump. He spoke meticulously, factually, and eloquently, outlining Trump's abuse of power and obstruction of congress. 

He also reminded the Senate that history will record this sham impeachment trial of no witnesses and no documents allowed by the Party of the accused. He predicted posterity will not reward the defenders of the most corrupt and criminal administration our republic has had the misfortune to endure.

Representative Schiff noted this is the time for moral courage in the Senate, and quoted the relevant words of Robert F. Kennedy:

“Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”

Indeed. Moral courage is measured by the willingness to act on one's conscience and to stand for what is right, despite retaliation from those lacking this quality of character. The threat of “heads on a pike” for any Republican daring to express moral courage comes to mind.


Had it not been for the whistle blower's act of moral courage the Deplorable Despot would not have been impeached. One man of conscience made a difference.

Apart from former Republican Justin Amash, we have witnessed neither courage nor morals from elected Republicans. They have been obedient authoritarian followers to the point of serving and abetting the lies, corruption and crimes of the president. They have chosen loyalty to Trump over their oaths to defend the Constitution. 

Maybe a few will surprise us and vote guilty, but we know authoritarian personalities are unlikely to do so. Self interest, lockstep conformity, and power are their only values.

Like their leader, they will parrot Putin before they embrace truth and justice.

In addition to his honest and heartfelt summary, Mr. Schiff gave us a preview of, and rebuttal to, the White House defense team’s arguments. He outlined and refuted their complaints about an “unfair process” and “nasty” Democrats. He refuted their deflections about Ukrainians saying, "No quid pro quo” and their regurgitation of Putin's propaganda that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.

Sure enough, right out of the gate, White House counsel Pat Cipollone said, “If you were really confident in your position on the facts, why would you lock everybody out of it from the President's side? Why would you do that?”

Repeating Schiff’s points, CNN's Kevin Liptak correctly noted, “House Democrats made a formal offer to the White House to have a lawyer present during their proceedings, but the offer was rejected in a politically-tinged letter from Cipollone himself. And Republicans were permitted to participate in closed-door deposition of witnesses during the investigation phase. A total of 48 Republican members of the three committees holding the closed-door hearings — Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight — were allowed into the SCIF, and they were given equal time to question witnesses.” 


Schiff tweeted this later in the afternoon: "After listening to the President’s lawyers opening arguments, I have three observations: They don’t contest the facts of Trump’s scheme. They’re trying to deflect, distract from, and distort the truth. And they are continuing to cover it up by blocking documents and witnesses."

I see no need to list any more of these instances. Schiff was spot on, and the pattern will hold for the duration of their defense of the indefensible.

This is their indefensible leader, projecting like a spoiled sociopathic adolescent who just got caught red-handed while committing a crime.

“Our case against lyin’, cheatin’, liddle’ Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, Nervous Nancy Pelosi, their leader, dumb as a rock AOC, &; the entire Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrat Party, starts today at 10:00 A.M. on @FoxNews, @OANN, or Fake News, @CNN, or Fake News MSDNC!” ~ Donald J. Trump

We know the “case”. Mr. Schiff has already exposed their lies, and deflections.

The Washington Post editorial board wrote, “Mr. Schiff pointed out that, whether or not GOP senators demand relevant testimony and documents during the trial, more facts will eventually come out...Those who choose now to disregard the evidence against Mr. Trump and abet his obstruction will be reduced to watching in the months and years to come as the case against him — and against their abdication of constitutional duty — grows steadily stronger.”

Yes, history will remember their immoral cowardice, their treachery, and their betrayal of our Constitution and of our people. The corrupt and criminal Republican Party has sunk to its lowest point ever, and it will either suffer consequences, or our Constitutional republic will certainly degrade and expire.

The enemies of democracy and the Constitution are traitors, and the Party of Trump and Putin will stand before another jury in November. They will face the American voters. The immoral cowards can run, but they can't hide.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would moral courage include having the whistle blower testify?

Dave Dubya said...

"Would moral courage include having the whistle blower testify?"

No. The whistle blower's complaint has been confirmed to be accurate by the sworn testimony of numerous witnesses. The whistle blower demonstrated moral courage. The immoral cowards want to expose the person's identity and endanger his life.

Moral courage would be shown by those calling for Bolton's relevant testimony. This terrifies Trump and his cult.

Rick Thomas said...

I thought nobody knew who the whistle blower is

Dave Dubya said...

Rick,
It doesn't matter who he is. His complaint has been validated.

His identity is protected by law, but the criminal Republicans want him exposed to violent retribution.

Martin said...

WOW, is this racism or hate speech.

Satisfaction with race relations in the United States has jumped under President Trump, the latest indication that the Republican is making significant inroads with blacks and other minorities in advance of the 2020 presidential election.

New details from a Gallup survey on satisfaction said race relations and the “position” of minorities under Trump are far higher than they were under President Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president.

Race relations scored the highest satisfaction advance, 14 points, from 22% at the end of the Obama administration to 36% this month, said Gallup.

And, “The position of blacks and other racial minorities in the nation” jumped 9 points, from 37% in January 2017 to 46% now.

Dave Dubya said...

Martin,

Great news! Trump cures racism!! Yee Hawww! Thanks. That’s mighty white of you.

Or in reality, great opinion! This is an opinion poll of a around a thousand mostly white people, after all. You do know slave owners were quite satisfied with the “position of Blacks” in society.

There must be some reason a lot of white people think race relations are better under a white president than a black president.

Could this be a reason more white people are more satisfied with race relations? The ”position” of at least one minority member has been rectified, amirite?

And we all know white people are the real experts on race relations, correct?

Nobody denies racism like racists. As Birther Trump says, he’s the “least racist person ever”. Oddly, only fellow white racists seem to believe that whopper.

The rise of white nationalism would explain this. Denial of racism has been their MO all along. “What, ME racist?”

A poll of Black Americans tells us something different.

More than 8 in 10 black Americans say they believe Trump is a racist and that he has made racism a bigger problem in the country. Nine in 10 disapprove of his job performance overall.

Your “not racist” poll reminds me of how Trump takes credit for low unemployment for Blacks. He did it all by himself, amirite?

As of Aug. 2011 the Bush Recession produced a black unemployment rate 16.7%
January 2017, the black unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent.
Under Obama the black unemployment rate dropped of 8.9%
Trump crows about a 3.3% drop.

The Black guy did all the heavy lifting and got no credit from the racist Birther.

This is how you like it, right, Martin?

This is the last off-topic spam we will see from you.

Anonymous said...

Now this is moral courage..stating the truth..

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned Democrat voters on Saturday that if they support the far-left wing of the party in the primaries, they are setting themselves up to lose to President Donald Trump in the general election.

“I just say to all of our friends, you know, you want to go to the left? You want to win the election? Let’s make a decision to win the election. And when you make a decision to win the election, you have to make every decision in favor of winning,” Pelosi told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We all understand what is at stake.”

Pelosi called government-run health care “lovely in concept,” but “not a winning message,” and said “this is not going to happen.”

Dave Dubya said...

White Settlement Tim,

I'm glad you agree public health care is "lovely in concept".

Nancy has a corporate-friendly bias to want to dismiss healthcare as a human right. She has her health care covered for life. Moral courage is what it takes to promote healthcare as a right, against the will of the established oligarchic power structure. And it is certainly not moral courage. It is an election strategy.

Pelosi's opinion might be true some day, but it is not truth at this point. Her non-leftist friend Wall Street Hillary lost, so the evidence of reality is against her.

Jefferson's Guardian said...

"Nobody denies racism like racists. As Birther Trump says, he’s the 'least racist person ever'. Oddly, only fellow white racists seem to believe that whopper." ~~ Dave Dubya

Don't forget, Trump's a very stable genius. He said so himself.

Dave Dubya said...

JG,
"Stable genius" is just the tip of the iceberg. His cult believes he is the "chosen one" sent by Jesus to save America from people of color and decency.

Dave Dubya said...

JG,
We know the "One Rule" is IOKIYAR.

Kind of like in 1930's Germany, IOKIYAN.

The RepublicaNazi Party isn't that different from Hitler's. Only our Constitution impedes them, and that has been gutted by the RepublicaNazis.

Dave Dubya said...

Oops. I deleted Tim from White Settlement's off-topic comment bragging about job growth under Trump.

Let's see what the big deal is.

CNN:"We're producing jobs like you have never seen before in this country," he said during a recent speech in Michigan.

But you don't have to go back far to find three years of better job growth. Just to back to the previous three years under Barack Obama.

During Trump's first 35 months in office, the US economy has gained 6.69 million jobs. But during a comparable 35-month period at the end of Obama's tenure, employers added 7.96 million jobs, or 19%, more than what has been added since Trump took office.