Dear Editor:

As a citizen who participates in our Democracy, I watched the State of the Union Address by the President on the fourth of February. I was angered by my party not requiring that all members attend and infuriated the Speaker’s actions. When she tore up the President’s speech on national television she surpassed even his base and low behavior. Her actions were undignified and inappropriate for her high position. She has not only deepened the divide among our citizens but she has also provided ammunition to an already extreme right voter base to further entrench themselves in the war of partisan politics.

This country should be ashamed of every single politician in Washington. The Congress as a whole and the office of the President have been irreparably damaged by this entire sham of a proceeding. This was not a trial. The House did not go to the lengths required to enforce their subpoenas, they brought an incomplete case before the Senate and they expected to be accommodated by the opposition. The Senate denied themselves the shining moment which, once and for all, could have truly consolidated the power of Congress to check the Executive branch. They dishonored themselves by voting along party lines, though publicly admitting that he had dishonored our country with his actions, out of fear for their own positions and used the aforementioned flaws of the House’s case as cover.

The entire Congress is to blame. The people are to blame. And the President and the world are laughing at all of us. He continues to use his office for personal gain. He continues to investigate that which brought him to Impeachment in the first place. Meanwhile, the people continue to bicker over party politics and we grow more hateful of one another with each day.

 

Tom Noeren

Farmville