It is so easy to drop out in the current toxic political climate, mainly that in Washington.
The president acts like the leader of a mob – bullying, threatening, punishing, and badmouthing opponents and even those who work for him. The Mueller Report didn’t charge him with conspiracy with Russia, however.
The evidence was only circumstantial, but collusion was clearly evident. Defined by Webster as “acting in concert,” Trump encouraged, supported, and protected Russian intervention on his behalf in the 2016 election.
But collusion is not designated as a crime, conspiracy is, so that is what Mueller used and found lacking. Trump, of course, misspoke when he remarked that he was exonerated from collusion instead of conspiracy. So, what’s new!
Obstruction of justice? Wow! There is evidence galore from the firing of FBI Director James Comey to his illegal orders to fire Mueller, to telling staff to lie to the probe, to stonewalling in providing evidence to Congress and Mueller.
Obstruct, obstruct. Mueller, prevented from indicting a president, passed the buck to Congress to remedy this crime.
Then there are the foreign policy fiascoes, further putting off most Americans.
Gone are the Paris Climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the North American Free Trade agreement, and soon the Cold War-ending Intermediate Nuclear Force treaty with the Soviets/Russia.
According to Trump the money-draining UN and even NATO are close to useless. Virtually all major powers of whatever strip are under major economic sanctions.
With so little politics to celebrate, no wonder millions have turned away.
Oh, and all the while the Trump Organization gets richer. And the Democrats in Congress get confused, divided, and frustrated. Impeachment? Issues to promote? Strategy to win in 2020?
There are so many hats in the ring with only Joe Biden correctly targeting Trump, the issue.
What a mess!
What uncertainty!
What tawdriness!
I have found, as you undoubtedly have, that people of both political parties outside the Beltway really don’t talk about the mess other that repeating the standard, familiar clichés.
The Washington troubles may not be out of sight, but with few exceptions they are out or their efforts to fully analyze and devote time to remedy. They are throwing up their hands in dismissal.
Family, work, sports, travel, home, and church take up their time and attention. Individual political issues may still mobilize particular fragmented interests, such as gender, environment, race, crime, health care, or whatever. State, county, and local governments are there working, attentive, and prodding along.
So, national politics are divisive, ugly, and seemingly out of control, so why not drop out, stay uninvolved, not talk about too much, and keep it off the personal agenda?
Big mistake.
Historically, political change results from large, even massive, numbers of citizens getting involved, joining groups, and expressing themselves as we have seen recently in places such as Britain, Sudan, Congo, and Venezuela.
All the turning points in American history witnessed an outpouring of popular involvement, from the revolution, civil war, populist movement, new nationalism, depression, New Deal, world wars, Cold War, civil rights, gender, and environment.
Certainly democracy demands that citizens act, to go beyond the surface of issues of the day, and to realize that doing so makes a real difference in making life and country better. Yes, there is a cost, one that takes away from daily routine.
Citizenship, however, has requirements whose neglect allows those perpetrating the mess and corruption in Washington to continue their intramural betrayal all by themselves.
It may sound trite, too civics 101. Nevertheless, your country depends upon you.