New York Rep. Jerry Nadler uttered the word “dictator” at the Senate trial of President Donald Trump. AP PHOTO
Kobe Bryant’s death tells us we can’t predict what will happen in life. I’ll have something more to say about the Laker basketball great.
But when you see the news and see Bryant trump even Trump’s impeachment, it tells you something about what we haven’t begun to deal with in the political news.
We haven’t begun to deal with the emotion in of what impeachment means. But it came up in the Democrats closing last Friday.
New York Rep. Jerry Nadler mentioned the word “dictator.” That should strike fear in every American. And certainly to Filipinos.
Most American Filipinos in their 20s and 30s don’t even remember Ferdinand Marcos. But for many, it’s the reason they’re in America.
The lifting of immigration restraints on Filipinos after 1965 coincides with the exodus of Filipinos to the U.S. in the ‘70s because of Marcos’ iron-hand rule. But the dictator’s misdeeds are forgotten in death. He’s even been reburied as a hero.
Time to dust-off the memory of Marcos if you want to understand the meaning of the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump.
That was made clear when Rep. Nadler made his last presentation as one of the House Managers last Friday afternoon.
Nadler saved the best for last, as he spelled out exactly why Trump warrants removal by the Senate.
“President Trump is an outlier,” said Nadler. “He is the first and only president to declare himself unaccountable and to ignore subpoenas backed by the Constitution’s impeachment power.
“If he is not removed from office, if he is permitted to defy the Congress categorically, to say that subpoenas from Congress in the impeachment inquiry are nonsense, then we will have lost, the House, the Senate, all power to hold any president accountable.”
“This is a determination by President Trump that he wants to be all powerful, he does not have to respect the Congress, he does not have to respect the representatives of the people, only his will goes. He is a dictator. This must not stand.”
There were other moments in the four days of Democratic opening arguments. Rep. Adam Schiff, the vegan representing Los Angeles. had his moments of brilliance. Even Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who has seen every modern impeachment, had her moments. So did the other men and women of the People’s House.
But then Nadler used that “D” word. “D” for dictator.
That’s not what America is about. It struck me with blunt force.
American dictator
It may be what America is becoming, though. And without much of a fight.
Because the majority of the senators, despite being digitally handcuffed without devices and forced to listen to every word of the Democrats’ four days of presentation, have already made up their minds.
They went into the proceedings with eyes shut and ears closed because they’ve already pledged allegiance to the notorious T.I.P., “the impeached president,” with a vow to acquit him as soon as possible. Never mind the damning case that featured Trump’s advisers and even Trump’s own words to describe the president’s wrongdoing..
I saw the testimony the first time around in October and November. And the Senate trial was like watching the ESPN highlight reel of damning moments from Ambassadors Sondland and Taylor, Fiona Hill, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, et al.
It hurt the first time around. And now it was displayed on a platter. Catch it on C-SPAN if you didn’t see it live. You’ve got to see it.
Don’t be like the Republicans who simply ignore the facts and don’t bother to refute the chronology. They adopt the president’s line and insist that Trump’s call to Ukraine and all he did was perfect.
And that’s why moment’s like Nadler’s are more important than the retelling of the facts.
If the president’s actions are unrefuted and considered perfect by the Republicans, then Trump is simply the perfect dictator.
There it is again. That word. Dictator.
Schiff and the others liked to use the word “King” in the first few days of the Democrats’ arguments.
A man who puts himself above the law would be a King in the 18th century. And king was a scary term then.
But when Nadler said “Dictator,” my news detector went off. Twenty-four hours of testimony and that hit a nerve.
Republicans are all set to acquit an impeached president and make him de facto dictator? A strong word. And Nadler saved it for the end.
Schiff’s oratory was brilliant each day. The fear that the Constitution would be lost if it wasn’t defended; that the rule of law was at stake; that Trump will continue to do as he pleases with impunity; that the next person who was president, if he had an ounce of Trumpiness, would be even worse.
All of that showed how bad Trump is. But boil it all down to a single word, in the event of a Trump acquittal, and we are at “Dictator.”
An American dictatorship.
As Nadler said, that cannot stand. But it will if Republicans don’t exhibit a patriotic pride and put country over individual concerns.
Scared about Trump drumming them out of office?
In a vote to acquit, the Senate abdicates its role and allows Trump to act as he pleases. If he wants you out, he will get you out. No telling what he will do if he can get away with anything.
Voting to acquit means the Senate has given up its role to check and balance the presidency and hold Trump accountable for his actions. They will have essentially handed in their best weapons to fight off a Trump dictatorship.
The Senate needs 67 votes to convict, which isn’t going to happen.
The Democrats have 47 votes. Are 20 brave Republicans going to join them?
Not likely.
The best we can hope for is four Republicans crossing over to make a 51 vote majority with Democrats to ask for more witnesses and documents so that the American people can see the truly lawless ways of Donald Trump.
The break may come now that former Ambassador John Bolton’s pre-published book has surfaced revealing that Trump wanted the Ukrainian aid withheld until there was an investigation.
It’s a direct contradiction to the case Trump’s lawyers are presenting.
This could be smelling salts that bring GOP senators to their senses and makes them call Bolton and others to testify.
That may be the only way to prevent an American Dictatorship.
Kobe Bryant
Readers of this column know I cover sports from time to time. And I know how much Filipinos love basketball. The coincidence of the impeachment has dwarfed my interest in sports. What’s more important, after all?
But when a sports figure like Bryant dies, it makes you realize the outsized impact of a celebrity.
Music and sports stars are bigger than life. They touch us emotional through their prodigious talent, they win games and sing lyrics for us that go straight to the heart. They bring us together and unite us as a team when they’re alive.
And when they die tragically, they unite all of us, even those they’ve defeated. Because the games aren’t real and life is.
What we’re seeing is what happens when you are larger than life. And Kobe was that.
As the story bumps up with all the impeachment news, it’s clear, the emotion of the trial just hasn’t reached the point where we all care and think about it above and beyond the stuff of sports and entertainment.
And that’s where we need to go in order to feel the power of the impeachment trial.
Maybe it happened when Nadler made us aware of the stakes. A vote to acquit is a vote to put one man above the law. Do you really want an American Dictator?
In his closing remarks, House Manager Rep. Adam Schiff referred to countries that look to America for guidance and specifically mentioned the Philippines’ modern day woes, where an autocratic leader believes in fighting drug wars with extrajudicial murders.
For guidance, Schiff lamented, “they look to us.” Where will they look if the model democracy fails them?
The likely Trump acquittal will leave open up a gap for even greater nastiness at home and around the world.
You think it was bad with the travel ban, DACA deportations, family separations? Here come Social Security cuts, immigration restrictions, and who knows what next.
Checks and balances from Congress? Gone. The Supreme Court? The Trumpy math at SCOTUS is already set
Ukraine was the last hope. And if the president gets away with what he’s done there, he’ll be aiming even higher knowing nothing stands in his way.
That is unless the senators join fellow patriots to remove this president, or at the very least call in new witnesses like John Bolton to give us the truth.
If it doesn’t happen, the votes will all be on the record. And Nadler will be right.
We need to feel the emotion of what this impeachment means. Bryant’s death is a reminder of the unity we are capable of.
We should be right if the GOP kills our democracy and births the first American dictatorship.
Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator who writes a column for the Inquirer.net’s North American Bureau.
See his new one-man show, “Married to PETA and other Love Stories” in San Francisco, Feb. 1 and 6th.
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