Charlie Brown Finally Kicks the Football – Not!!
Glass Half Full
I am a “glass half full” kind of guy. I find that I carry what might be an unreasonable hope that “my fellow Americans” will act in a way that’s honorable and right for our nation, despite the pressure of politics. And I find myself thinking that way today, even if my more skeptical side cries out: “…she’s going to pull the ball again, and you’re going to kill yourself.”
My Secret List
Buried deep in my computer files is a “secret” list. Each United States Senator is rated on a ‘five to one’ scale. A ‘five’ will assuredly vote to impeach and remove the President, a ‘one’ is a true Trumper, dedicated to the proposition that no matter what President Trump does, it’s worth keeping him in office. I last looked at the list two months ago. Here was my optimistic view: forty-six fives and fours, definite votes for removal. A sign of the times, there were only three Senators that I would place “on the fence,” in the middle and unsure.
Two and a Half
Then there are the “two and a halfs.” Those are the Republican Senators who I think are disturbed by the actions of the President. They are faced with a tough challenge: if they vote their conscience, they risk their political careers. The problem is that no matter how they vote, the Democrats in their states may say “thanks,” but are still going to vote against them. And while independents and “reasonable” Republicans might praise them for taking a principled stand, the big chunk of Republicans are “Kool-Aid drinking” Trumpers. They will never forgive and never forget a vote to remove him from office.
So there are ten of those “two and a halfers.” Adding all of those, and there are fifty-nine votes for removal, eight short of the needed sixty-seven. Thirty-one Senators are “true Trumpers,” either true believers or politically sold out to the President. Among those are two that might reasonably have been on a different part of the list: Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and John Kennedy of Louisiana. At some point in the last couple years they seemed to have the possibility of independence, but that door slammed shut in the past couple months.
The “Twos”
That gets us to the “twos,” the “probably not’s”. Some, like Mike Lee of Utah, don’t face much of an electoral threat. Utah voters, even the Republicans, don’t like Trump. Lee could survive a vote to remove. And Lee prides himself as an “intellectual” Senator, one who supposedly operates from a deep understanding of American history and law. So you would hope the facts would change his mind. He’s given no sign of that transformation.
And some are leaving the Senate: Isakson of Georgia, Grassley of Iowa, and Roberts of Kansas. They, particularly Grassley and Roberts, are traditional Republicans, with nothing to lose if they vote their conscience rather than a loyalty to Trump. They are not running for office again, so they will need to make a choice. Will they be seen as “Profiles in Courage” or will they go quietly into political history?
Politicians
I started my working career not as a teacher, but as a politician. I worked my first campaigns when I was fourteen, by seventeen I was helping make decisions on campaign strategy. At twenty I was a Field Coordinator on the 1976 Carter Campaign, and then worked in Washington for a Congressman.
The people I worked with were working for more than just a paycheck, especially on the Carter Campaign, where the paychecks were incredibly small. They were working to literally “change the world”. So was I.
I finished my college education with a stint as a student teacher, and that set up a conflict in my life. I loved politics, and I loved teaching, and ultimately had to choose.
But I didn’t forget all of those folks I grew up with, working on campaigns and governing. They weren’t there to profit, to become “powerful.” They were trying to make things better for everyone, even the Republicans I fought with on the “trail”. So I don’t think that all of the Senators are simply “corrupt” or laser focused on a goal of winning the next election. They are aware of their role in history.
I hope that they find that the weight of history is more pressing than their electoral success. If not, Lucy will pull the football again, and we will land on our back.
The glass will still be half full. There’s always November.
