EXTRA! EXTRA!
NEW SUPERHERO EMERGES FROM THE DARK!
People at the Highest Levels Being Held Responsible the World Over!
Who is this Masked Crusader?
MEET CAPTAIN ACCOUNTABILITY!
If. Only.
The abysmally low rate of accountability has been a bone of contention for me for some time now. It’s been sitting on the backburner of my mind ever since (and possibly before) the financial crisis of 2008.
[Quick aside: I’m sure a lack of accountability has been an issue since what, the dawn of humankind? However, up until the mid-2000s, I wasn’t terribly interested in history or current events. At some point, I decided a concerned and informed citizen makes a better citizen. Though I still believe that to be true, a large part of me wishes I could return to the blissful ignorance I once enjoyed.]
In some ways, we came through the “Great Recession” of the late aughts relatively unscathed. Of course, those who’d been victims of predatory lending and other risky financial practices might beg to differ, yet after a massive government bailout and a few short years, the world came out the other side and seemed to forget all about the activities of those who were responsible. While it “should be noted that the investments in the banks were fully recouped by the government, with interest”,1 very few individuals faced any kind of reckoning for their reckless behavior - except in Iceland, of all places2 - and some were, in fact, rewarded.3 I recall it was this last bit of information that especially irked me. How did so few of those responsible face repercussions?
Let’s move forward in time to 2021. I doubt it will surprise anyone that my current preoccupation with accountability is partially tied to the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. As of mid-morning on February 13th I believed the trial would last another week or so, allowing me the opportunity to post this before the Senate voted. Unfortunately, while I was writing, the Senate voted to acquit the former President, by a vote of 57-43.4 Yes, I am disappointed, very much so, and yet this very situation proves my point directly. (Before I move on, I want you to know, the impeachment will only constitute one part of my argument. It is not the sole example I will use.)
Let’s review: on January 6, 2021, hundreds of people, possibly more than one thousand,5 stormed the United States Capitol building in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 Presidential election. Moments before their march on the Capitol, this crowd gathered with others to listen as Donald Trump continued to make the false claim6 that the election had been stolen from him,7 the same claim he’d been making for months before the election. To say his words didn’t exacerbate the anger coursing through the audience is naive. Of course they did. I may be no fan of Donald Trump but he knows how to excite his supporters, to rile them, to make them foam. Even if he didn’t give a direct order for people to attack the Capitol, to claim he bears no blame for the ensuing chaos, is either short-sighted or blatant denial.
What I find most interesting (especially since we now know President Trump has been acquitted) is that hundreds8 have been arrested or charged with a crime for their actions on January 6th (which are completely deserved), and yet, those with positions of authority, whose words and deeds provoked these citizens, will face little to no repercussions. Donald Trump has once again walked away from an impeachment trial with nary a scratch. Those senators, representatives, and media outlets - a veritable cornucopia of people - who disseminated misinformation about election fraud are rarely even mentioned. Yet, here we are, with hundreds of their followers, who, I reiterate, are not without culpability, reaping 100% of the consequences of the unrest sowed by those above.
This trend is the most frustrating for me. Lack of accountability, especially at the highest levels, is astounding. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like everywhere I look, some CEO, celebrity, government official, person of authority, etc is getting off easy for perpetrating an act that is either criminal, ethically questionable, or morally reprehensible.
Right here in New York state, the Attorney General found Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration underreported the number of Covid-19 related deaths in nursing homes. Not only that, it was found that nearly 9,000 patients recovering from the coronavirus were sent to nursing homes to recover, possibly fueling the spread of the disease through that community.9 It may be too early to know for sure whom will be held responsible, if anyone, for this egregious misrepresentation of numbers, but I have a sneaking suspicion I will be left feeling wholly unsatisfied when all is said and done.
Recently, the notion of ‘cancel culture’ - “the remov[al] of support for public figures in response to their objectionable behavior or opinions”10 - has become a term used by people to express their indignation that someone is being ‘canceled’ simply for holding an unpopular opinion. This frustrates me to no end because, apparently, calling someone out on social media is unacceptable but letting those in positions of power get off easy for brazenly flouting the law is quite all right. I admit cancel culture is fraught with its own problems but let us not use the guise of cancel culture to forgo accountability.
Look, I know I’m not the only one outraged by this lack of accountability - the MeToo and BLM movements are clear in their objectives to combat this exact topic, as well as a host of others - yet is any progress being made? For every Harvey Weinstein and Bernie Madoff, there are dozens, if not more, being let off the hook for a motley of despicable acts. We cannot persist as a nation, or frankly, as a human race, if we do not find it within ourselves to not only call out criminal, ethically questionable, and morally reprehensible behavior when it occurs, but also provide consequences for those responsible. We must do it as individuals, as colleagues, as consumers, and as an electoral body. We must stop being fearful of those with power and authority. When they commit brash acts of wrongdoing, something more serious than a slap on the wrist must follow. If we continue to turn a blind eye or ‘just move on’ from these things, like many wanted to do concerning the latest impeachment trial, it will not only be our democracy we need to worry about, it will be our humanity as well.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good [people] do nothing.11
- (often attributed to Edmund Burke)
1 https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/financial-crisis-review.asp
2 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-03-31/welcome-to-iceland-where-bad-bankers-go-to-prison
3 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8214818&page=1
4 https://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-trial-live-updates/2021/02/13/967701180/after-vote-mcconnell-torched-trump-as-practically-and-morally-responsible-for-ri
5 https://theconversation.com/it-is-difficult-if-not-impossible-to-estimate-the-size-of-the-crowd-that-stormed-capitol-hill-152889
6 https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/nov/20/fact-checking-false-claims-about-2020-election/
7 https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966396848/read-trumps-jan-6-speech-a-key-part-of-impeachment-trial
8 https://www.npr.org/2021/02/09/965472049/the-capitol-siege-the-arrested-and-their-stories
9 https://apnews.com/article/new-york-andrew-cuomo-us-news-coronavirus-pandemic-nursing-homes-512cae0abb55a55f375b3192f2cdd6b5
10 https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/cancel-culture-words-were-watching
11 https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/12/04/good-men-do/
Yes, I hear you, Tom.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of thoughts on both of these subjects, but maybe I will give it a little more thought and post later.
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't they impeach him before he left office when it would have been legal? Someone or several didn't really want to do this. Also, I truly believe that there were others behind what happened on 01/06. When those people marched back to the Capitol, others were already there waiting to excite these people and get them going along with the process of breaking in. Where were all the police, that some thought should have been brought in days before this happened? President Trump did lose the election and if it was legal or not remains to be seen, but my opinion is that our election system had better be changed and no one, and I mean, no one should be allowed to vote without a photo ID and a registration card. This country was in a much better place than it had been for years, before the China virus hit (and we may never know who brought that to our country). People had jobs, we imported less from China and our gas prices were down (They are now 50 cents higher than they were January 1st, 2021). Our economy was in much better shape and I believe that we owe that to President Trump. He was a hard man, but he wanted to make America Great Again. Now on to the Gov. of NY. He had two hospitals, which he didn't use, instead he send these sick people to nursing homes. If this had been one of my relatives, I would be up in arms and fighting to send him to court. God help us and God Bless America and lets help to make it strong.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, there are multiple reasons President Trump was not impeached before he left office, but mostly because Mitch McConnell let everyone know he would not convene the Senate for a trial before inauguration. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/534053-mcconnell-wont-agree-to-reconvene-senate-early-for-impeachment-trial At that point the House saw no point in rushing the articles of impeachment. Also, there is no evidence that the impeachment trial was illegal or unconstitutional. Though it does not specifically say in the Constitution that you can impeach a president after leaving office, it also does not say you cannot. https://apnews.com/article/can-trump-impeached-after-leaving-office-ae386f5cb003ea323319f60347586dec And in fact, there is precedence that one can be impeached afterwards. Though it has never happened to a president, multiple others have been impeached after the fact. This makes sense if you put it in context. Anybody who committed an act of wrongdoing at their job would still be able to be tried even if they no longer worked there. Let's be honest, it would be silly to say they shouldn't be.
DeleteAs for your argument about gas prices, that has very little to do with who the President of the United States is (and we already on their way up in December before Biden took office.) https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/gas-prices.asp Concerning your comment about the election - more than 50 court cases were brought to challenge the election results and all were dismissed, several by Trump appointed judges. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/gas-prices.asp It's honestly that simple. I have one last point to make and I will rightly admit this is my opinion only, unlike the topics above, so I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one: Donald Trump couldn't care less about making America Great Again unless it benefits him. Donald Trump's only concern has always been and always will be, himself.
You are now aware of the "elitist enforcement" of the law. Why has Maxine Waters not been held accountable for her incitful words in June 2018 calling to harass Trumps cabinet members if they were out to dinner or sleeping in their homes. (Ironically he was enforcing Obama's border policies which she had supported). The mob went out and followed her orders. How about comedian(?) Kathy Griffin's picture of a bloody decapitated head of Trump in 2017? Another inciteful silent image? How about the " Summer of Love" in 2020 when we watched Portland and national cities burn and historical statues be toppled and government leaders stood there acting helpless and stupid. They were permissive of the destruction and chaos. American citizens watched, whispered and wondered when someone would show leadership to make it stop. Let's look at how Hillary Clinton has not faced criminal punishment for her illegal personal server in her home, leaking highly classified information to foreign adversaries. If my husband, who works with classified information had done this, he would have been prosecuted to the full extent of the law. He and his fellow co-workers are cynical at the lack of equality of applying the law. Have you heard about Hunter Biden's laptop? The computer shop owner had to close his business for fear of his life. Meanwhile the FBI had the computer in their possession for a year without bringing charges to the "Big Guys" son for illegal videos stored on the computer. See the hypocracy of the enforcement of the law? There are those who are well connected and they evade the gallows of the sentences. January 6th was the boiling point of citizens not trusting their government institutions because of the corruption and lies over the years. Voting laws were changed in several states shortly before the election, thus encouraging the doubt of fairness and legality of the outcome of the election. It's horrible seeing our country so electrically wired that a spark shows how divided we truly are, but I'm not surprised. The American citizens who have been watching the overly powerful are angry. We need vetting of the government officials, the press.. including the social media so the American citizens are equally informed without bias in the delivery of the facts. Yes, FAIRNESS is what we're yearning for in America again.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, you took my nonpartisan topic and completely made it about evil liberals. I mentioned three separate topics: one economic, two political. Of the two political topics, one was about a Republicans not being held accountable and one was about Democrats not being held accountable. I'm sure this is my fault though. I probably should have done a better job of writing a less biased piece so you would understand I was MAKING THE POINT that it is people in positions of great power who are not being held responsible, regardless of whatever category you want to label them with. So it is with great shame (and a heavy dose of sarcasm) that I must apologize for having failed you.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete