Is Impeaching the President an Act of Bravery?
by Ernie McCray
Bravery,
like beauty,
seems to be
in the eyes of the beholder,
bearing in mind that
those republicans
choosing impeachment
for the president
regarding his role
when tyrants
struck at our democracy’s
very soul
weren’t being “brave,”
as some people say,
as much as they
were merely being
human beings
having had
the so-called living daylights
scared out of them.
Getting at the culprit
in something like that
is a natural reaction.
And it just so happens
that what happened,
suddenly,
gave them
something in common
with other folks
who’ve lived in fear
of Donald J’s actions
like the Puerto Ricans
pleading
with the man for help
when their island
was devastated
by a Category 5 hurricane
only to have him
throw paper towels
at them
like he was playing a carnival game,
making them fear that
their well being
was in the hands
of the wrong man,
one who had no shame
or who was incurably insane;
like the Brown skinned
mamas and papas
at our southern border
whose children
were torn from their arms,
crying and screaming,
and then put in cages,
leaving everyone concerned
living lives
of horrific uncertainty,
lacking any idea
of what might come to be their destiny;
like Muslims everywhere
who’ve felt the brunt
of a menace to society
beating
the steady rhythms
of xenophobia
Islamophobia
and racism
in his never ending
ranting and raving
like a mad percussionist;
like people of color
seeing him
fan fires
of White supremacy
that had been relatively dormant
after all the terrorizing
of Black communities
for centuries,
going back to slavery,
making its proponents
feel footloose
and fancy free
to fully unleash
their pent-up rage
and proclivity
for fragrantly
disturbing the peace
of loving people…
And their hate
descended thunderously on
Senators
and Congressmen
and women,
rendering them victims
of a madman
like others
who have gotten in the way
of this socio-psychopath’s
sordid evil-minded footpath
of unadulterated wrath,
placing them in a situation
that could have been an
unprecedented bloodbath
and, in their fright,
they acted out of the
human instinct to fight,
to get at whoever
had them huddled
with their colleagues
in their place of work,
listening to the maddening roar
outside their chamber
and their office doors,
portals that were
no match for the
menacing hordes
rampaging through the halls,
grunting and pushing
and shoving and tugging
and beating and chanting
“USA! USA! USA!”
making some of them
text or phone their loved ones
with their fears
that this might be their last day,
that their words
might be the last they read
or ever hear them say.
So, I’d say
rather than being brave
they emerged from that hell
feeling their own rage,
more than ready to
take on the perpetrator
of the sins against them
in any way within their reach
and that was the power to impeach,
just a matter of “Yea”
or “Nay”
and the yeas
won the day.
Simply humans being humans
and, if they keep operating that way,
who knows,
maybe we can make
America truly great
someday.
It’s worth a try
I’d say.
And, as a P.S.,
maybe
their colleagues
who chickened out
that day
will find human decency
in themselves someday.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
INDEED!
We shall see how many shrink away from doing duty to humanity and country. Who amongst them will stand up for conviction and allow we the people to witness the relief of a second vote…he who will not be named sent to the trash heap of history NEVER to hold public office in our land of the longing to be truly FREE for all peoples.