impeachment

Trial Card – Day 820

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Resilience Card – The Ocean Oracle by Susan Marte

Trial Card

I haven’t chosen a card for us to contemplate in quite a while. Given that as a nation we’re once again on the verge of being subjected to the chaotic drama that accumulated over the past four years and erupted on January 6th, 2021, tonight felt like a good night to choose a trial card.

The man has already been impeached. Not once, but twice. Technically this is not an impeachment trial. Rather, it’s a trial before the Senate on whether he should be convicted of the conduct he was impeached over (in this case, incitement of an insurrection).

Personally, the respite from having DT’s presence – in all its forms – largely absent from our day-to-day lives for the past four weeks has been restorative. I’m only just now finding myself able to hear the words, “And the president said today…” without every muscle in my body tensing up, bracing for the worst.

Resilience

So the appearance of the Resilience card from The Ocean Oracle felt entirely appropriate. Heck, I had no need to read the ‘lwb’ (oracle parlance for ‘little white book’ – a reference to the explanatory guide that accompanies most oracles) to easily grasp the wisdom inherent in bringing resilience to the fore. Surely the suggestion that our nation needs to bring a certain attitude of fortitude to facing the truth of what took place leading up to and including 1/6 is completely sensible.

And given the penchant DT’s defenders and allies have shown over the years for relentlessly battering us with lies and admonitions not to believe what’s right before our eyes, it only makes sense that we’re going to have to bring emotional and intellectual resilience to the party.

We’re going to have to hang tough. Endure the insanity yet again. Stand fast for what is right and just.

Interesting Take

And then I read the aforementioned ‘lwb’ (written by the deck’s creator, Susan Marte), and I found the accompanying ‘story’ and ‘messages’ to be different than I expected, so I offer them here for your consideration:

42 – Sea Heather – RESILIENCE

The Story

Her childhood had been rocky. She felt alone for much of it, coming into her life through the kindness of strangers. Those strangers were now mostly friends. They were lifelines to her and came at the most unexpected moments, in the most unexpected guises. Her life now was steady and she was proud of where she was. There had been struggles and triumphs, sadness and joy, grief and celebration. But she had trust and faith in life and that force now shone through her. One of her annual rituals to honour her resilience came at the flowering time of the sea heather. Each summer she would harvest a bunch of sea heather and gift it to someone in her life who had been inspirational to her during the past year. She chose sea heather because of its own resilience – it grew in salty areas, undeterred by the saline conditions. It was hearty and unassuming in its gifts and its flowers were subtle yet stunning. And even after it was harvested and out of its growing conditions, it continued to hold forth its grace and beauty.

The Messages

Do you need to toughen up against your environment? Are you wanting to hide your gifts because you do not feel strong enough? Let your beauty and grace shine through in even the most extreme environments. Do not let your resilience be unbecoming. Use it as a beautiful strength to get you through dark times. Remember that tenderness, grace and beauty reside in all.

Take Away

My sense is that there will be efforts to paint the proceedings this week as some partisan ‘witch hunt,’ since that’s been the rallying cry for years and years now. We will need to be resilient as a nation and as individuals to demand accountability in the face of actions and rhetoric that have tested us and the foundations of our democratic republic for far too long.

And in the midst of keeping our heads held high and our integrity intact, we will be wise to find and exhibit beauty and grace where we can. The process we will undergo as a nation this week (and possibly beyond) can elicit from all of us a ‘beautiful strength’ that will get us through these dark times.

We can do this. Demanding and seeking accountability will serve us all. We must have trust and faith in our healing process.

(T-291)

Overload – Day 793

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Falcon (Kestrel) – Photo: L. Weikel

Overload

Honestly, I’m struggling to come up with something to write about that has nothing to do with either the votes I see taking place on the floor of the House of Representatives tonight, or the insurrection that took place just six short days ago. It’s hard; let me tell you. I’m on overload.

From the looks of things, it appears that the House is first voting to urge Vice President Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment in order to effectively remove DT from office. Pence has pre-emptively sent Congress a letter advising that he has no intentions of doing so. Thus it is expected that tomorrow the House will vote to impeach Donald Trump for his part in inciting the insurrection we witnessed take place last Wednesday, January 6, 2021.

Reasons

There are myriad reasons why Congress is moving forward with this action so quickly. Not least of these reasons is that we probably came within five minutes or so of the mob of thousands of Trump supporters not only storming the Capitol at the urging and instigation of Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and others, but also taking hostages and possibly killing those in the line of succession to Donald Trump.

We’ve seen videos, heard chants, and read posts that establish these intentions. And we’ve witnessed DT telling these people, “We love you.” The outrage is not in an expression of unconditional love (which would have had to be coupled with a swift and harsh rebuke to stop the violence) but rather from the tacit implication, “We love your behavior.”

The behavior of the mob was, in a word, deplorable. Not to mention illegal. And utterly immoral and diametrically opposed to the fundamentals of democracy.

As DT is wont to do, he deliberately says something that means one thing but in actuality intends the opposite. It’s a trick of rhetoric that he constantly employs yet is probably unconscious of and unaware that he does it. He talks out of both sides of his mouth.

A Different Messenger Today

Given the manner in which events are unfolding, including the credible reports of (admittedly incredible) additional attacks on both the inauguration ceremony and state capitols around the country over the coming days, our country is on high alert. We are being placed in the stance and mindset of imminent threat.

All of this reminds me of the quite unexpected visitor that swooped and looped over my back yard and above my head this afternoon: a gorgeous falcon. Specifically, I believe it was a kestrel; also known as a sparrow hawk.

While I might be inclined to try to apply the attributes of Falcon to myself or my life, I actually feel this might be more of a confirmation of the best manner in which to deal with DT’s actions.

For instance, Ted Andrews, in his book Animal Speak*, states:

“The kestrel will usually plunge down upon its prey from a perch, or hover above it about twenty feet up before the plunge. This is unique among birds of prey, but also among most birds. (…) For those with a kestrel as a totem, this is very significant. It allows the movement to be performed with great speed and precision. It gives the kestrel a gracefulness. It implies the ability to stop and use the flight to its fullest advantage.

The kestrel teaches control of speed and movement. It teaches patience. The kestrel is often a symbol for recognizing opportunities and acting upon them at only the correct moment. It teaches speed and accuracy of action. (…) The kestrel and any falcon can teach us to know when to act but to fully commit to our actions for the greatest success.”

Accountability

All of this reminds me once again of how essential it is that those who participated in the attempted coup on our government be held accountable – swiftly and without equivocation. It is a sad testament to our current predicament that because accountability has been delayed, denied, or deflected up to this point, the infractions against our country and our people have only become more egregious.

We need to act quickly; we need to act decisively; and we need to hold all those who would rip apart our democratic republic through treachery and violence accountable.

Falcon reminds us.

*affiliate link

(T-318)

Yikes Squared – Day 450

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Photo: www.brittanica.com

Yikes “Squared”

Fun Fact? Today was Donald Trump’s 1111thday in office.

My post yesterday featured a photo of daffodil greens poking their heads up out of the ground a good three inches or so. The fact that those flowers are being coaxed to emerge from their cozy winter beds when it is only early February was troubling to me. It’s not their time yet.

Of course, I ended up writing about the Iowa Caucus, which was also in the process of earning its own well-deserved “Yikes.” In fact, as of just past midnight tonight, well over 24 hours after the end of the Iowa Caucus, we’re still operating with only about 62% of the precincts reporting. None of the candidates can safely claim victory or pretty much make any announcements upon which they might want to capitalize.

How incredibly frustrating must that be for those candidates?! They’ve been spending millions of dollars, focusing intense attention to this state, and practically living there, in some cases, for nearly a year – only to have the results of the single most important night, the culmination of all that hard work directed at this first opportunity for the people to speak bungled?!

Good grief.

Even Worse

But I have to tell you: I took a walk late this afternoon and had to stop. I cocked my head to get a better sense of where the sound was coming from and what I was actually hearing.

A chill ran through me. Yes. Those voices. I recognized them. It was peepers. It’s February 4th, and I could hear peepers calling out and singing their springtime song as they emerged from the mud in the wooded wetlands near my home.

“But it’s February!” I yelled out loud. “Early February, at that!” Spartacus glanced back at me, startled by the sudden eruption of my voice and worried I’d caught him nibbling on something he shouldn’t.

Yikes squared

And then there was the SOTU, the President’s State of the Union address, to listen to this evening. Many entreated me not to listen. And I’ll admit, I was tempted to just let it go. I probably should have, in fact. But I didn’t.

I can tell you that I’m not happy I did it (other than feeling a smidgen of satisfaction in having shown some archaic sense of respect for the office). There were so many lies, so many distortions of truth, and so many blatant moments of pandering and use of rhetoric specifically geared toward manipulating emotion (over issues he’s actually taken stances diametrically in opposition to) that it made me feel lost and all alone.

Back to Premature Peepers

Nope; while I want to express my dismay over their very early emergence, they’re just not giving me enough of a distraction, in spite of my worry over their welfare.

Tomorrow is the actual vote on removing DT from office. From everything that’s gone before, including his behavior following his other two SOTU addresses, he’s going to start tweeting – and tweeting hard. As soon as the Republicans (who literally chanted “Four more years!” at the SOTU, as if they were at a campaign rally) vote to acquit instead of convict and remove him from office, he is going to be off to the races.

Just as Rep. Adam Schiff argued, his power is going to proceed unchecked. He will think and feel and know (based on the Republican Senators’ error and party fealty) he has the powers of a despot. And given his penchant for revenge? Well, we’re already hearing some reports of what he intends to do to his enemies. And we should all be afraid.

Including the peepers who are making their premature entrance into the world.

Photo: mortonarb.com

(T-661)

Backlash – Day 445

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: Wired.com

Backlash

Let’s hope there is one.

Let’s hope a vast majority of our fellow Americans look within, soon, and say, “Hey. This just isn’t right. The Senate is saying it’s ok for one branch of government to stonewall another. It’s ok for one branch of government do whatever it wants and thumb its nose at another branch of government that was given specific authority of oversight.”

I wanted to write about something other than the expected decision by Senate Republicans tomorrow to actually vote against allowing testimony and the production of documents in the impeachment trial of DT. But what is unfolding before our eyes is compelling. It is every bit as irresistible as passing a terrible car accident – but I guarantee more people will be hurt or killed as a result of this abdication of responsibility than by any car accident, no matter how huge a pileup.

If you do not see a problem with what is unfolding in Washington D.C. right now, I guarantee you are going to be shocked when you see the depths to which we’re going to be dragged, as a country, over the next several days, weeks, months, and I shudder to think how much further. And I do mean depths will be plumbed so fast and so blatantly our heads will spin.

Dark Days Ahead

I saw a clip of DT tonight performing at a rally in Iowa. It was chilling. He is visibly giddy with power. Drunk with the possibilities unfolding before him.

When everything starts to crumble – literally (because those tax breaks have to be paid for by somebody, and we just don’t have the money in our budget anymore to fix roads and bridges) and figuratively (power unchecked is going to get ugly unbelievably quickly and will inflict horrors on our communities, our neighbors, ourselves in ways I guarantee people have said “can never happen here”) – where are we going to turn?

To the courts? Sorry. They’ve been packed by McConnell with young, extremely conservative people who actually believe in an executive branch that holds unchecked power. They believe in the judiciary being less powerful than the executive branch! They are not going to save you, me, or themselves.

To our representatives? Sorry. You can kiss your deeply held belief in the power of your vote to elect people who will write laws that will correct this miscarriage of justice. Because those very representatives have (or will within the next day or so – you know, before the Super Bowl, because that’s the centerpiece around which our Senate now makes decisions that make or break our Constitution) voted to abdicate their own authority.

Genie’s Out

Sorry, within the next few days the genie will have effectively escaped its bottle and all the safeguards our founders put into place to keep it from escaping in the first place will be worthless. No one in the history of our country has experienced such an abdication of power by our legislative branch, and thus, because there is a lack of imagination and maturity in those whom we rely upon as our elected representatives, we are going to face consequences I guarantee we will hear people say, “But I never imagined it would get this bad so quickly.”

How many times do we have to hear and see and witness firsthand the propaganda and manipulation that’s bombarding us daily before we realize this shit is real?

Backlash

Yes, I hope there is a massive one. But sorry; the chances of our elections in November being anything even remotely fair and free are slim.

Why?

You know why. We were warned.

And we thought it could never happen here.

(T-666)

Heart Strike – Day 444

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: L. Weikel

Heart Strike

I was unable to watch any specifics of the impeachment trial today. But based upon my somewhat cursory catching up on what I missed, I’m finding myself approaching despair.

The argument currently being put forth by the president’s counsel essentially posits that the president can do anything – ANYTHING – that he believes is in the ‘national interest,’ including doing whatever he can to get himself elected (because, of course, what president would not think their re-election would be in the national interest?), and it’s ok. “If the president does it, it’s ok.”

We were stunned at the hubris (and obvious disregard for the existence of the other two equal branches of government and the concept of separation of powers) when Nixon said it some 46 years ago, and we should be even more troubled by that concept now.

This argument strikes at the heart of our country, at the heart of what has made us unique in the world – and a beacon of hope and moral authority in the world.

Snatching at Hope

At this point it seems all we can do is watch in horror.

So I’m going to post a photo of the setting new moon that I took a few days ago. It’s lovely. And new moons give me hope.

And quite frankly, I need to snatch at hope. I need to allow myself the luxury of going to sleep this evening hoping that enough Senators will put common sense and the future of our country over their political expediency.

If they don’t, we will be ceding our sovereignty to a bully. This bully, and any other bully who wants to use gobs of money to buy the presidency. Because with no check on their power once they’re in? Who knows what they’ll change to retain that power. Term limits? Scratch. Not if it’s in the national interest. Polling intimidation? Gotta get the job done ‘for the country.’

No.

I have to look at the new moon. And hope our Senators come to their senses before it’s too late.

(T-667)

A Day of Moment – Day 402

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: L. Weikel

A Day of Moment

If I didn’t write about what happened in the House of Representatives this evening, it would be obvious that I am tiptoeing around the elephant slumbering at my feet.

While I don’t think there’s anything I can say that can provide additional insight into the process we just witnessed, I do feel it is a day of moment that deserves acknowledgment.

Sitting here, I’ve just written and then deleted several variations on paragraphs decrying what I perceive as a perilous path our nation is treading on right now, which is the refusal to have an understanding of a shared reality.

How do you have a reasonable debate with anyone if you cannot agree on something as fundamental as what is fact?

It is seriously mind-bending, for instance, to watch and listen to Republican Congresspeople argue that the impeachment articles were based upon ‘hearsay’ evidence and rail upon the fact that ‘no first-hand evidence was produced’ when the second article of impeachment, Obstruction of Congress, is specifically based upon the President’s outright refusal to allow the White House to comply with the nine subpoenas that were issued demanding documentary evidence as well as compelling testimony from all the people who had direct evidence of the President’s conduct and intentions.

This is utterly insane. And it’s offensive, really, to any logical approach to living in a civilized society.

Can’t Have It Both Ways

To allow a person who is accused of a crime to (a) refuse to comply with a subpoena themselves; and (b) direct all the people who were directly involved (or potentially involved) and who worked directly for that person not to comply with subpoenas is bad enough. Right there, that simple act should speak for itself and give rise to the obvious inferences.

But then to have that person’s defenders use the lack of witnesses, which was the direct result of that refusal to provide witnesses, as evidence that no crime was committed is absolute lunacy. It’s insulting to the rule of law. It’s insulting to our intelligence. And it’s insulting to our ability to engage in actual discourse and debate.

And yet, an entire party in our government right now is making that argument with a straight face. And yelling in rage and faux outrage at anyone who will listen.

I ask you: where do we go from here? How do we create any hope of resolving issues together? Reaching compromises? How do we get to a middle ground if acceding even the existence of shared facts, of a shared reality, is perceived as yielding to the ‘enemy?’

No Shame

It’s also terribly disconcerting to me that it would appear that people don’t care how they appear anymore. I’m not talking about superficial looks or appearances. I mean people no longer seem to care if they are spouting allegations that are blatantly creating double standards.

There appears to be no shame in A accusing B of doing X, all the while A and A’s children, are doing X all the time, in many venues, and in plain sight and broad daylight. What are we teaching our kids about hypocrisy when this blatant example of it is taking place all the time – in our highest institutions?

Sense of Fairness and Justice

As an attorney, I have to admit I’ve always had an affection and respect for, and been a nerd about, our mode of government, our court system, and the sanctity of impartiality. Even when I was a lowly member of our township’s Zoning Hearing Board, I took my oath as a member of the board extremely seriously. I made a point of being impartial, of taking my responsibility to listen to all of the facts and examine all of the evidence from a completely neutral place.

Why? Because that’s the fundamental basis of our society. If we can’t believe in and rely upon the integrity of those we elect or who are appointed to serve us, then we have nothing. We invite anarchy. We end up hopelessly divided and suspicious and cynical.

Day of Moment

Today was a day of moment. Impeachment occurred, and the president was held accountable for abusing his power and obstructing Congress in its job of providing oversight of the executive branch. But this is no reason to celebrate. When not one single Republican put aside their abject refusal to see the hypocrisy of claiming a lack of evidence supporting the first article, and the obvious blocking of provision of that evidence (proof positive of the second article), we are faced with the fact that our country is in deep, deep trouble.

The insanity continues when McConnell states unequivocally that he will not be impartial in a Senate trial on the articles of impeachment – when the very oath he is required to take states: “I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of the (person being impeached) now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God.”

It should be noted that the oath quoted above is one that every Senator must take in order to participate in an impeachment trial. This oath is over and above – and different from – the oath they take as Senators.

Not a Day for Revelry

It’s because of this fundamental breakdown of our ability to agree on simple facts and adhere to logic and reason and a sense of fairness and truth that I find the state of our country terribly distressing – and depressing. If we can’t agree on what is up and what is down, if we can’t agree on what is truth and what is a lie, we cannot expect to have a functioning society, much less a government that is sustainable and respected.

This is a day – and an era – of moment.

(T-709)