The Argument Against Impeachment

 

Impeach. This is a word which has been used and abused several times since the Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1789. So that we all understand its meaning, to impeach someone, from a dogcatcher to the President, does NOT mean to remove him or her from office. Instead, it means to blame, castigate, condemn, criticize, damn, denounce, indict, cite, prosecute, arraign, implicate, and reprove, among many other words. Then, a trial follows where evidence is introduced.

 According to our Constitution, the process of impeachment is two-fold. First, the House of Representatives hears arguments for and against, for example, the President, giving testimony where "Bribery, Treason, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors" is introduced. The House acts comparably to a Grand Jury in a criminal case. Then, as long as 50% plus one of the Members present vote to impeach, Articles of Impeachment are referred to the Senate for disposition and trial. Then, if the accused is found guilty, by a 2/3 (67 Senators) majority, he or she is immediately removed from office.

 In all cases thus far in American History, no President has been found guilty and removed, and only one resigned as he believed he would not survive a Senate trial.

 Also, history has revealed that in each case, Articles were drawn up by the opposing party in power, not the party of the sitting President. Ultimately, in each case, it was a political difference which caused the impeachment, not Bribery, Treason or the still undefined High Crimes and Misdemeanors. This makes impeachment a political remedy, not a criminal one.

 Johnson, Clinton, Trump (2X) and even Nixon did something that the opposition party did not like. As history has shown us, the accusers were all guilty of the same things in varying degrees but held the power to point a finger to the impeached person. And away from themselves.

Now, it appears that the Republicans are readying Articles of Impeachment against Biden. Why? Because the Democrats did it to Trump. A revenge play? Hypocrisy abounds in both parties. Virtually every Member of the Congress is guilty of being on the take, whether from corporations, foreign entities or other “political contributions”. While they may have been elected on a shoestring, each member is a millionaire within their first term.

 In reality, the process of impeachment takes away a basic fundamental right to Americans: The right to vote out those who act in a fashion unbecoming of the office. And the media is no better. It collectively chooses sides and presents the view it favors. Here is bulletin for everyone: There are no journalists anymore who claim that journalism is their profession. Instead, they are press agents for their current hero, spewing talking points to advance their side’s arguments.

 So to sum up, I abhor impeachment because it is nothing more than a political remedy to attempt to remove one’s opponent. And as for expunging impeachment records, if this House wishes to expunge Trump’s impeachment, then it must expunge Clinton’s and Johnson’s, too, for the same reason. And by the way, since expungement is not Constitutionally mentioned or defined, then Rep McCarthy, et.al., need to sit down and shut up on this issue.

 Finally, the Congress needs to better define the term “High Crimes and Misdemeanors”, or this political gamesmanship will continue with each change in the makeup of the Congress and successive Presidents.

 How much more harm can our politicians of all parties foist upon our country until we become no better than China, Russia, or any one of the many banana republics which exist in this world?

The Music and Lyrics Which Inspires Me

 

The beauty of music. It sings to me and inspires my creative juices in a way that brings out the feelings I have stored deep within my soul. The words just flow first like a small brook, becoming a stronger stream, until finally, cresting forth like a powerful river over its banks.

 I had realized this many years ago but decided to live my life in a different direction. Then, in my early sixties after I recovered from Stage 3 Colon Cancer, my younger brother Tim suggested that I restart that engine. So, I began my blogsite, which you are reading this on today. And this is the 660^th commentary on my blogsite. (I also started to build a playlist which I play as I write. Of course, that took time, too.) I didn’t think I would find a niche that would be of any long-term interest to a particular audience.

 And I was right. I went down a meandering path of thought: politics, sports, religion, whatever came to mind to me on a given day. And, finally, I came to the realization that I was the audience I was writing these commentaries to. The day’s commentary was of interest to ME, and that if someone else read them, I would be pleased because it seemed that at least someone else thought my comments and views were of at least a mild interest to them.

 Anyway, my brother and I started a social media consulting business in 2015 where he and another person would solicit our clients, my nephew Mike would develop the creative art, and I would finalize the copywrite to substantiate the client as a thought leader in his or her industry, and posted it across the client’s and our social media pages.

 And it was fun. A lot of fun. But then Tim wanted to retire. It was becoming burdensome for him to expend the energies needed to work at a high-paced, pressure-cooker level each day. So. he finally retired.

 I knew I was “over-qualified” (code words for ‘too old’), having heard those words after I closed my mortgage business when I was in my mid-fifties. So, I filled my days from 2018 to 2020 driving for LYFT. And I enjoyed it. After all, I was meeting people, something I was accustomed to, having been a banker, bartender, cabdriver and even a sometime musician in bands in the 60s, and later in the 70s with, you guessed it, my brother Tim.

 I had stopped driving due to the unknowns of Covid, especially for someone like me who fairly recently had Cancer.  Tim passed, right at the start of Covid and I had to find an outlet. So, I wrote several books, playing and adding to my playlist each day. The music helped me deal with the loss of my brother. And it inspired me to write.

 660 blogs, nine books, and a musical play later, I am still inspired to write. My characters sing words to songs to other characters across the pages of each book in my library. For me. You have witnessed this if you have read my books. And if you bought my books on Amazon, or read my commentaries, I thank you.

 I am in the middle of my latest book, which should be published by the Fall, called the Positivity of Cancer. It is a story where our five protagonists deal with their cancers, some more than once. And of course, the music I play while writing inspires the creative juices to tell their stories.

 Stay tuned.

God Bless America, Land That I Love!

 

So yesterday was Independence Day, 2023. What did you do to celebrate?

 I am visiting my son and daughter-in-law for the last couple of weeks in New York. So, first I watched my grandchildren ride their bicycles. Watched Joey Chestnut eat 62 hot dogs (BLEH). Then, I bought them Mr Softee root beer floats. It was on to watching the Mets game on SNY (They won).  Had a barbecue with chicken, steak, burgers and yes, the All-American meal, hot dogs.

Then as night approached, we went down to the beach to watch fireworks. It was actually spectacular watching the colors in the sky with no obstructions or intrusions. With people I did not know.

 And this is what this commentary is all about. Celebrating America’s 247^th year of Independence and freedom, with people of all races, colors and creeds without checking to see if they were like me. Because, no matter whether they are white, black, Hispanic or Asian, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Muslim, we were all Americans celebrating as Americans the glory of being American.

 That was the purpose 247 years ago: Not to be English living in North America. No, it was to be free of the British yoke around the necks of free men and women. Yes, we took a long time ourselves to realize what it means to be American. Heck, we even have a Civil War in our past which ultimately helped us realize this. And we still needed another one hundred or so years to make certain all of us benefited from the corrections made to the sins of our past.

 As I watched the starbursts and listened to noise created by the fireworks, I thought about what it was like to be an American in 1776. The living conditions were not nearly as luxurious as anything we have now. Soldiers were forced to wear clothes tattered by the weather for weeks on end. They fought with their valor and gumption, sometimes without ammunition. Or without eating for days on end. But they had faith they were fighting for a greater cause than themselves.

 And when it was over, their sacrifices were made all the more blessed because they had faith in their cause, which was righteous, and their faith in God, which was just.

 So that is how I spent Independence Day, cherishing the life I was blest to live in a country, with all of its problems, as a free man without the government telling me what I MUST do. Instead, if I choose not to follow what the government says is what is required of me, I remember that the government works for me and not that I do what the government says.

 In my view, the most important words of the Declaration of Independence are: But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

 And for this, I thank God I was born in this Country, with all of its sins and its problems, because I am free to say what I want without punishment or persecution.

God Bless America, Land That I Love! Happy Birthday Americans!

 

 

The Unforseen Effects of Covid

 

The latest victim of the post-Covid economy is Christmas Tree Shops (CTS) which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and failed to meet its payment obligations. Management had agreed to close ten stores under its original plan and now is required to close all seventy-two stores from Maine to Delaware.

 This was not the first time the fifty-three year old company was in this position. In 2003, Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) purchased the company for $200 million. Then, because BBBY was having its issues, Handhil Holdings LLC purchased CTS in 2020 for an undisclosed amount of money.

 Recently, BBBY was forced to close all its stores for essentially the same reason, the inability to meet its bankruptcy loan obligation. But unlike CTS, the bankruptcy court approved Overstock.com to buy the Bed Bath and Beyond name to use it in its brand name, online website business, customer database and loyalty program, but not its retail stock or brick and mortar locations.

In addition, Overstock will not be able to acquire Buy Buy Baby, the baby merchandise retailer that BBBY bought in 2007. However, within a few weeks, you will see the name changes in both Canada and the United States. And access to the wedding registry would continue.

 Buy Buy Baby will be subject to a separate auction Wednesday for its intellectual property and Thursday for its physical locations.

 The retail business has been in freefall for several years due to the successes of Amazon, Walmart, Target, Costco, Wayfair, and even Overstock.com, and other electronic/digital businesses since Y2K. Malls across America have begun closing, leaving huge wastelands in their wake. Landlords are struggling with what to do with properties which bring no recurring, anticipated rental income to pay taxes and maintenance for their mortgaged real estate.

 Soon enough, all this will be felt by all of us, in prices, availability and convenience. This phenomenon is not recent; it has been ongoing for many years. But the pandemic forced us to stay home to do our shopping and since then our shopping habits were easily altered.

 While CTS and BBBY are the latest retailers to fail, they certainly will not be the last. Similar to the retail banking industry, there will be companies which are too big to fail. Or at least that is the belief. But it will change on a dime if companies like Macy’s or Walmart meet the fate of Bed Bath and Beyond and Christmas Tree Shops.

 What then? There is no FDIC-type agency to bail out retail businesses like the FDIC managed to bail out banks. Will the people be able to combine resources to save Best Buy or Home Depot should these companies falter? Bain Capital tried to save Toys R Us and failed. But the lesson was then learned to let retailers claim bankruptcy should management become inept.

 Finally, will we be limited to shopping for items online, never to set foot in a big-box store again? Perhaps. The Star Trek twenty-third century is becoming more like a reality every day, with debit cards, laptops, tablets and cell phones, and all sorts of gadgets which did not exist in 1965. Certainly, online shopping was not even a consideration.

The Final Frontier may well be upon us. And it is two centuries earlier than anyone imagined.

 Thank you, Covid.