Street Smart

After the Mueller report was released, I wrote a column where I expressed the opinion that D.C. Democrats were going to squander an opportunity to move forward and work with President Trump. Unfortunately, I was right. They chose to continue their efforts to discredit President Trump and pushed forward two incredibly weak articles of impeachment. Last week, President Trump was acquitted of both those charges. Not surprisingly, those who support President Trump are delighted with the outcome, while those who oppose him are devastated. Interestingly, President Trump’s approval rating is at an all time high of 49% immediately after that impeachment effort! Think about those numbers. That single fact alone should be an eye opener for the Democrats.

Last week was horrible for the Democrats. The Iowa caucus was an absolute debacle (Sanders made a strong showing in Iowa and is really rocking the Democrats' apple cart!). Nancy Pelosi completely embarrassed the party when she so childishly tore up her copy of the President’s speech after the State of The Union Address. And finally, President Trump was acquitted of all charges and has an all time high approval rating. Read the tea leaves Democrats!

If I were a Democrat voter so strongly opposed to President Trump, I’d want my party leaders to handle this all differently by doing two things. First, I’d want them to move forward and learn to work with the President (like or dislike the guy, no one can deny he’s getting things done). Secondly; while doing that and passing legislation that will benefit the people, find a candidate who might actually have a chance of beating President Trump in an election. As I write this and think about it, aren’t the above two points the very definition of how the system should work!? I know that in my past, I’ve had to work with people I disliked or disagreed with. I learned that instead of trying to undermine such an individual, I had to ‘get over myself’ and do the best I could to accomplish my task. I focused on the mission rather than my personal bias. I also learned that some people who I disliked immensely, were still quite good at the job we had to do. Experience has taught me that putting the mission first is critical! I wish those governing the nation understood that.

Make no mistake, I support President Trump and I like the direction he is leading our country. I wrote the above only because I think that the Democrats learning to work with President Trump would be best for the country. They won’t do that though. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler have already made it quite clear that they’re not done going after President Trump. Their personal animus won’t allow it. They still want to get testimony from John Bolton and I wouldn’t be surprised to see another impeachment attempt of some sort. That seems so foolish to me considering the fact the election is just months away. It is very telling though. They can’t beat him with the candidates they have for 2020 and they know that. Therefore, they have to somehow discredit him.

Considering Bolton, I kind of wish they had allowed witnesses during the impeachment, although, I don’t believe it would have changed the outcome one bit. I don’t think John Bolton’s testimony would have hurt the President. Think about it. Without corroboration, Bolton’s testimony (if it conflicted with President Trump’s version) would have amounted to a ‘he said, he said’ scenario. It could then be argued that Bolton had cause to lie because he was mad about being removed from the administration. Conversely, the Democrats would argue that President Trump was lying to cover his actions. Tie goes to the runner right? In this case, the runner is President Trump. Score…game over! Also, I’m not convinced that a lifelong conservative like Bolton would have testified in a manner that would hurt the President. He may have even supported the President’s version of things. We’ll find out soon enough when his book is released. I was more interested in hearing about the Biden’s. I would still like to hear the former vice president explain why he felt compelled to insert himself into a Ukrainian prosecution and how strong arming the Ukrainians benefited the United States. I still maintain that if integrity was truly the issue driving the impeachment effort against President Trump, the Democrats would drop Biden in a heart beat. It’s not and they haven’t! Hunter Biden’s testimony doesn’t really interest me. I think he’s just a guy who made bad choices and is an embarrassment to his dad. He might have shed some light on his father’s motives though. The whistleblower might have been interesting to hear from but what would he/she actually offer to the case. Motive maybe? Food for thought but a moot point for now.

I read a poll last week that said a majority of Americans believe President Trump is the most polarizing president in United States history. That’s a pretty troubling conclusion when we consider it historically, because that dubious honor used to belong to President Abraham Lincoln. Our country is sadly divided now, but it was so fractured during Lincoln’s presidency that a Civil War was fought. Ironically, history now views Lincoln as one of the greatest presidents of all time. Something to think about with all that’s happening in our country today.

Blaine Blackstone is a retired Los Angeles Police Sergeant who enjoys the simpler life in Thompson Falls. He can be reached by email at [email protected].