Words Have Consequences

    Senate Chaplain Barry Black spoke a wisdom when he said "...words have consequences..."

     In more than symbolic terms it was the missing piece of the puzzle, like the piece above. It was found on a parking lot. Imagine the reality that imposes on the person trying to work the rest of that puzzle some place.

     What Chaplain Black said is akin to the nose on each face in the US. It is there in front of us.
     The Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer observed that as Adam Schiff was wrapping up a day of making the case for removal, Republican Senators sat in rapt attention, listening to his every word. 
      Schumer said then and many nonpartisans have noted since, it was perhaps the first time these Republican Senators had heard details, the truth, the story and thus the case to remove. Words. They were powerful words. They revealed pieces in an impeachment and political puzzle.

     We live at a time when a particular ilk have weaponized words; in politics, media, social networks and amongst one time friends, now divided by words, often ignored or spoken with malicious intent.

 

    These are challenging times in the US, and the path forward is strewn, our footing is not always certain. Words are the engine and the means of both our divide, and perhaps rapprochement.
     A lasting impression of our travel in Ireland is the inherent value of language and the power of words and all that is constructed on that foundation. Words, and how they are used, and what they say, matter. 

   Wall poster at Dublin Airport

   Donald Trump is not revered, nor is he respected. There are no warm memories of him adorning public spaces in that distant land, home to so many ancestors.

    Something so easy to love in Ireland is the love of words and writers.

   Oscar Wilde 

    Where else might you find such as this, a statue memorial to a writer? 

   Historic St. Patrick's Cathedral has a fascinating literary side story. 

    Jonathan Swift is recognized for his work Gulliver's Travels and to a lesser extent his essay A Modest Proposal.
    Not so well known, perhaps, he was also the Dean of St. Patrick's, a position he was not entirely happy about. 

    He had a long tenure at St. Patrick's though he probably desired a posting to London. 
    He was a cleric who also wrote satire, essays, poetry, political pamphlets.
    He intended to provoke and used satire, sarcasm and wit to prompt the establishment into action. He was especially mocking in pointing out the indifference to the poor and the problems of starvation and poverty.
     His masterful use of words, angered those in power and so he was posted to St. Patrick's in his birthplace of Dublin.
     Earlier he spent years in Trim, in County Meath, observed and noted in previous posts in this series. Swift wrote prolifically in Trim. 
      While he championed the vulnerable, he angered the Queen and people in power. His life story is fascinating and it was marshaled always by words. 
       He wrote his own epitaph, in Latin.

     Jonathan Swift is buried in St. Patrick's.  The glare on the image above makes it a challenge to read. Here is what he wrote:
     Here is the laid the Body
     of Jonathan Swift, Doctor of Sacred Theology
     Dean of this Cathedral Church,
     where fierce indignation
     can no longer
     injure the Heart.
     Go forth, Voyager,
     and copy, if you can
     this vigorous (to the best of his ability)
     Champion of Liberty.
     
      Swift left most of his estate to a hospital for the mentally ill. Once known as St. Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles, it remains open and the name has changed. Words have consequences. 

   Another Irish master of the word is Seamus Heany, who's words I have used in this series. 

  Through out the nation there is a celebration of words and those who have left them.

     There is a spirit in the use of words, and there is an intentionality. Irish newspapers still purvey significance.

   There is much to learn in a land that tells and hears stories, that takes the time to engage, to dig into meaning and purpose and remember and even celebrate the wordsmith.

    A unique pub is on our horizon.

    In the meantime our word of the day is Removal!

    See you down the trail.

The Clash

     At the most riven time in US history, the President held valiantly to our motto "e Plurbus Unum," out of many, one.
     There are many from several disciplines and views who think we are a nation as divided as anytime since the War of the Rebellion.
     In your own way, reflect on the nature and character of the President then and the president now.
     The public hearings of the House Intelligence Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, hearing from Robert Mueller, puts before our eyes the true state of our union. It is a vivid examination of not merely leadership, but of followers. I think it exposes some not so obvious fractures in the federation of cultures that compose our modern state. 

a time of separation

      --There is an America disturbed by the Russia invasion of our electoral process, and there is an America uncaring and perhaps even unaware.

       --There is a clash of public function. There is the old guard, "play it by the book," even taciturn discipline of process and function, best represented by Robert Mueller and those who respect a Constitutional diligence. And there are those besotted of modern hysterics of media, performance and political posturing.

      Members of the House and media practitioners were distributed on both sides of that divide. Some were wed to the solemnity of the ordeal while some were looking more for performance and "passion" or looking to score political gains, no matter how silly the behavior.

      --There was a clear difference in tone, depth and outcome of the Judiciary Committee hearing and the Intelligence Committee hearing.

       Some of that can be attributed to the thorny matter of the Department of Justice restrictions on indicting a sitting President and the resulting challenge of making a case of obstruction. The matter of the Russian participation in the electoral process operated in different legal lanes. The former more hamstrung and controversial, the later a breach to our national security. 

       This writer thought the House Intelligence Committee was superbly organized, cogent, concise and that Chairman Schiff was brilliant in his opening and closing case statements.

the important standard

         --The hearings were successful in exposing the importance of ethics and morality. It was clear in his response to questions Mueller articulated what Americans think, or should think, about the need for a candidate, especially for President, to behave ethically as well as legally. The standard is higher than the mere technicality of the law. He made that point well and with enough power it even shut up the bizarre Devin Nunes. 

        The nation watched a Bronze Star and Purple Heart Marine combat veteran, former prosecutor, FBI director and Special Counsel expose and discuss the behavior of men who actively engaged in sleazy and unpatriotic behavior. The contrast between the reticent Mueller and the narcissistic lies of the president screams of our own sad condition.

a government of the people

      So now the legislative end of Washington seeks what to do about an administration that was favored by the Russian meddlers, who sought to make money from Russian real estate deals, who participated with the Russians, who sought to give Russia a break on sanctions, and who lied to the public repeatedly about all of that.

     Most of the key players in the inner circle have pled guilty and been sentenced to prison. Had he not been the president that man too would have been charged. He still faces that peril after he departs office. In the meantime they engage in a cover up and refuse to cooperate with congressional investigations. They breach the historic balance of power and equal branches of government. And it seems their primary motive is greed. 

     The president was a known commodity, known for tax cheating, dishonesty, cheating partners and contractors, so none of this is a surprise, but it is an offense to our nation.

so which way from here?

        It is important to ask in this our own riven time. Cultural, political, ethical, governmental fractures and clashes abound.  

        Our divides are deep and serious, but not so much as those Lincoln faced. Unlike now, the President was a man of depth, and conviction. His concerns were not about how to line his own pocket, or to be the center of attention, seeing life simplistically as though it were a television program. He wanted the Union to hold. One cannot be blamed for wondering if the current President has a real knowledge of that history. 

       Our clashes are rooted in a sense of values and decency. Do we respect the history and purpose of our constitutionally ordained governmental process? Do we want foreign interference in our elections? Do we want leaders who try to make foreign real estate deals and then lie about it? Do we want presidents who lie, habitually? Do we want presidents who try to obstruct justice? Do we want presidents who try to cover up and obfuscate? Do we want a president who childishly thinks Article 2 makes him a monarch or dictator? Do we want a once value based and respectable Republican party to continue to act like accomplices in a slow moving coup? Do we still believe in the idea of e Plurbis Unum? Is America better than Donald Trump? Is he who we are?

      The hearings may not have been the "report turned into a movie"-a silly and demeaning idea anyway-but they gave citizens a chance to plumb the depth of the corrupt, venal  and rogue president. It also provided those who will not take the time to read deeply, to learn just how serious the Russians are about manipulating us. Are we serious enough to give a damn and to change things?

       

      See you down the trail.