Black Lives
Darnelle Williams
President Donald Trump has greatly diminished the office of the presidency. During his tenure, he has done some things that have begun to right some of the nation’s wrongs, such as prison reform and releasing incarcerated individuals that have been given unjust sentences. However, he has done far more harm and has created an environment for those who employ hatred and contempt toward minorities and the LGBTQ community. He has essentially waged war against transgender men and women who serve this nation, and he is actively trying to erase the nation’s progress as it relates to LGBTQ rights. He has alienated our nation’s allies and has openly expressed praise onto dictators and sworn enemies of the United States. And many of us have become anesthetized to his tweets and attacks launched against private citizens, veterans, minorities and women. So much that his statements rarely make headlines anymore. He is literally the world’s greatest internet bully.
The way he refers to people color and nations of color is disrespectful and distasteful. He is narcissistic and harbors thoughts of delusion, persecution, unwarranted jealousy, exaggerated self-importance, and on most occasions, lacks truth or facts in his statements. For me, regardless of the stock market, unemployment rate or quarterly growth, none of it is worth “dancing with the devil” and for that reason, he will never earn my vote. With that being said, I haven’t seen the smoking gun. In contrast to the impeachment against [former President] Bill Clinton in the ’90s, most people can’t even articulate the precise and explicit actions that Trump participated in. Trump lacks the intelligence to consciously participate in a quid pro quo and based on what I’ve seen to date, I do not believe that his actions rise to the level of impeachment.
Question:
The Democrats have recently launched a public impeachment hearing against President Donald Trump. Based on your knowledge, what are your personal feelings surrounding the accusations and validity of the charges?
“From the beginning, it has been clear that the Democrats would do anything to impeach this president. I do not believe that the impeachment process was to be used because you do not like the results of a presidential election. The behaviors of these politicians have truly been so distasteful and makes it extremely hard to watch or to give validity to the process. You can certainly dislike a person or dislike their politics, however when you intentionally embellish, lie and intentionally spin stories, I would not support you whether I liked the person or not. My mother always said, ‘Two wrongs don’t make it right.’” – Carmen P.
“I feel that this country has been misled. I feel the accusations are valid based on what I have seen and heard from the Democratic party.” – Mark K.
“In my opinion, the impeachment that’s going on with the president of the United States [is that] he is a liar, manipulator and he constantly lies about what he has done and tries to throw his cabinet members to lie for him and threatens to fire them. When you become president, you make an oath to protect your country and with him having great ties with Ukraine, that’s a bad conflict of interest. The impeachment is the right thing to do. If he does not get out of office, this country will be in great danger!” – Randolph W.
“I believe that the president knew exactly what he was doing on the phone call with the Ukrainian president. At the time of the call, he knew that Joe Biden was a presidential candidate and likely contender. He specifically mentioned Joe Biden and his son and asked for a favor in investigating them. Money that was allocated from Congress was withheld from the Ukraine and only released after the whistleblower’s complaint was filed and made known to the White House. Had there not been a whistleblower complaint, there would most likely be an open investigation against the Bidens led by the Ukraine. No one is above the law and the president should not be given a pass. There is a clear violation of the law and all the facts need to be presented. I believe that there is a clear case for impeachment.” – Stacy J.
“My personal opinion is that any and every elected official should undergo extensive judicial and political testing to confirm their overall understanding of the position and the duties that they are undertaking to make sure that they are qualified. I would expect that any person who is responsible for running the entire United States would have had some prior governmental experience and extensive education on business and politics with the ability to take a test about all the duties that they need to perform and have knowledge of prior to starting the job and if they cannot pass the test, then it does not matter how many votes they get — they cannot lead the country because they are simply not qualified to do so. It has nothing to do with how much we like or do not like their character. It’s just like a lawyer who has to take the bar exam and a doctor has to go through years of medical school and even children who have to take an SAT before going into college. The overall scores that they get usually determine where they are accepted. The greater the knowledge, the greater the strength to succeed!” – Joanne M.
