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Democracy’s Ugly Side

Posted on Wednesday, May 18, 2022
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by AMAC, Robert B. Charles
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41 Comments
star chamber

Yes, I know, the title would be more compelling as “Democracy’s lovely side” – because there’s tons of “ugly,” not much “lovely.” But some “ugly” is too ugly. Congress is eating its own – subpoenaing members for a show trial around events on January 6, 2021, threatening jail. This is beyond the pale.

Let’s be honest, if laws are twisted for political gain, that stinks. This is all political, not legal. Do a quick recap, and the progressive political ugliness just becomes obvious.

First, Speaker Pelosi denied requests by the minority leader to place specific Republicans on the “select committee” – even though all committee memberships are set by intra-party selection. Accordingly, the committee has no “ranking member” – which flies in the face of due process.

Second, half a dozen legal – not political – investigations have been conducted, along with various stages of legal proceedings against the spontaneous mob that stormed the Capitol. A high-profile, election-year, wire-brush of opposing members of Congress is just crass.

Third, as a former assistant Secretary of State whose job was to help stabilize unstable countries with law enforcement training – in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and other vacation spots – my definition of “insurrection” and the prevailing “political one” differ.

Objectively, most “insurrections” involve assailants with automatic weapons, extensive planning, many people dead, and governments gone. This was clearly a spun-up, criminal mob – whatever the genesis – but hardly likely to end the United States as we know it, not in buffalo horns.

Fourth, adding to the political stink of this – despite criminal violations rightly prosecuted, albeit with odd pretrial detentions – Congress is not generally authorized to subpoena other members for political excoriation, or even non-members, who can all quash frivolous subpoenas.

Without a bona fides legislative purpose or proven criminal act by a member being subpoenaed, the latter typically addressed by Justice, demanding members appear under penalty of contempt, prosecution, and jail – is over the top. This is what tin pot dictators do. 

All of this vectors to the core of “ugly.” When a one-sided, patently partisan committee – is this anything else? – sets out to score political points with tax dollars, they disserve the country. Whatever the politics, we should not want tax dollars blown on show trials and muckraking.

To be clear, oversight matters – and is historically directed to saving American tax dollars, preventing waste, fraud, and abuse within government. That is not what this is.

Theodore Roosevelt warned against this kind of cheap trick in 1906. “The men with the muck rakes are often indispensable…but only if they know when to stop raking the muck . . .” These days, creating muck to rake seems all the rage, a national pastime.

The real ugliness is what needs to stop. Members of Congress aiming to inflame passions by inflicting unprecedented subpoenas on each other leads nowhere good – and is likely to produce an equal and opposite reaction after November.

Doing this kind of thing, mudslinging because you can, wasting other people’s money, forcing members to go to court and quash frivolous, politically motivated subpoenas, amounts to adolescent, irresponsible, and ultimately undemocratic behavior.

The subpoena process – different in Congress and Courts – is used to elicit facts essential for trial, not known or otherwise provable, and requires a witness under oath.

To see how far removed from this trick –threatening contempt and jail against other members – is from typical practice, members do not and never have demanded each other take an oath when testifying on anything.

So, what is this? At a time when Democrats seem unmoved by 18 USC Section 1705 and State laws barring intimidation of Supreme Court justices, Congress is now notching things up.

Not only will they not stop intimidation, they participate in it. To be clear, this is what happens in places like Russia, China, Venezuela, and oppressive regimes. Legal processes is twisted to concentrate power, destroying public trust.

Congress has enough trust issues, having betrayed longstanding procedural norms, made snap impeachments, and jammed Americans with inflation through overspending. The last thing they need now is to start impaling each other with politically motivated subpoenas.

The bottom line: modern politics is ugly, often unfriendly, personal, ignoble, and filled with the sort of slime most Americans do not like. But until now, there has been a line that held – members did not threaten each other with subpoenas, contempt, prosecution, and jail. Apparently, that line is now breached. Democracy is messy, but norms matter, otherwise we lose it all. Threatening other members with politically motivated subpoenas, contempt, prosecution, and jail is too much.

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Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
1 year ago

Our Other Ugly Side:
Slavery
migrants as 2nd class citizens
Politics for Power
Voters divided
abuse Racisim
CRT

Garye
Garye
1 year ago

Great insight on a ruthless and of out of control marxist democrat party.
This is the farthest thing from leadership, and an embarrassing show of arrogance!
Time for them to go!

WILLIAM MCKENZIE
WILLIAM MCKENZIE
1 year ago

WE ARE NOT A DEMOCRACY. WE ARE A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC. DEMOCRACY IS THE VERY WORST FORM OF GOVERNMENT. IN DEMOCRACY, THE MAJORITY ENSLAVES THE MINORITY.

pete
pete
1 year ago

As an active member of the Texas Nationalist Movement, maybe this will help some of you see why many of us want to disassociate ourselves from the US. The govt, media, and much of the citizenry is absolutely pathetic, and there is a complete absence of unity or respect for traditional morals or philosophy.

Dave H
Dave H
1 year ago

The head of the F,B.I. has testified under oath before a congressional committee that the events of 6 Jan ’22 did NOT constitute an insurrection,

The framers of our Constitution went out of their way to ensure our government would not fall to the level of a democracy. They explicitly and implicitly ruled out any government which could deny basic rights to any citizen, especially one belonging to a political minority. The democrat party by encouraging big centralized government is endeavoring to return the U.S.A. to the status we fought so hard to escape from under British parliamentary and royal rule are in effect reactionaries, not progressives. Our Constitution which seems abhorrent to them is in the history of civilization a very progressive document! A document well worth protecting!

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
1 year ago

Laws too much , not uniform where needed, special interest fed

THX 1138
THX 1138
1 year ago

The Capitol Police invited the protesters in.

How is this fact considered a, “…spontaneous mob that stormed the Capitol…”, when they (the Feds), erected barricades and fencing?
Which would indicate that nothing was spontaneous since, well in advance, they knew what was coming.

This is the second article that I have found submitted by this Robert B. Charles person that, in fact, has been written to twist the facts.

What are you doing AMAC? Hiring writers from your competition or what?

Catherine Waring
Catherine Waring
1 year ago

I have been trying to vote her out sinces, she and Finstein were part up. I don’t live in her district. I live in southren California. Col Paul Cook was my congress person and now Obernath, who has replaced Col. Paul Cook.

Catherine Waring
Catherine Waring
1 year ago

With this Goverment, aposlutly nothing, sencie Nancy Pelosi has gotten her grubby little hands on that gavel susprises me any more, and along with her showboating, is never what it seems. Nancy has been minippolating Policy’s for 35 or 40 years along with lieing and all the while keeping a strat face. And when she gets cought it’s soooo.

Aloys Notzon
Aloys Notzon
1 year ago

I remember well my horror of learning about political prisoners in Cuba and thinking that this could never happen in America. Now to my horror, there are political prisoners in DC jails for over a year for “parading” and many other minor charges which are politically motivated when actual felons are being turned loose by progressive District Attorneys.

Tim Toroian
Tim Toroian
1 year ago

There’s another side?? What makes them evil to the United States and the constitutional form of government is that most of them are positivists. Check the definition of that word. It is a big deal. It’s part of the reason they promote abortion. And sexually modifiying children.

David
David
1 year ago

If the Republicans do take the House the first thing they need to do is impeach Pelosi for abuse of power, this fiasco and two unwarranted impeachments deserve not only impeachment but imprisonment too.

Robin Boyd
Robin Boyd
1 year ago

The amount of taxpayer money wasted is the most disgusting factor of politics. We are supposed to be electing representatives, not people who create costly issues because they can’t get along with one another in compromise. One nation!

Honey
Honey
1 year ago

The Dems have no good accomplishments so they must distract with lying procedures like this.
But we now know that most of the people who did go into the Capitol were urged on by outside agitators who are easy to see on videos but have never been arrested. I wonder why.

CoNMTX
CoNMTX
1 year ago

Demo/Marxists have many sides to suit any particular part of their agenda and they are all ugly. They are made up of Godless people with zero integrity, morals, honesty, character. They have zero human compassion or conscience since they are controlled by Satan. A sorrier excuse for human beings cannot be found.

TIKA
TIKA
1 year ago

Democracy’s Ugly Side is always portrayed as a mule; Democrats,hee-haw!

Willy
Willy
1 year ago

Political “beauty” is not rare and often waved frantically as a flag that some group has “done something” that they want pushed upon the people. This “beauty” is only skin deep. Political “ugliness” is usually hidden from the people in order to keep them politically ignorant of some underhanded action or cause, and is usually “money driven.” This “ugliness” GOES CLEAR TO THE BONE! Sooo… if you want to know what is going on, follow the money! Don’t depend upon the MSM to keep you informed, as they are a major part of our problems; go to those alternate newsworthy platforms that don’t censor political ideas and thought processes.

Levon
Levon
1 year ago

When BLM can murder, attack defensive people, burn and destroy peoples property and people can go to the supreme court justices to harass them, it is against federal law to do so,
democrat politicians uphold them and urge them on,with no repercussions shows what kind they and the Justice department we have in this country!

Polyjunkie
Polyjunkie
1 year ago

The Rules of War authorize combatants to respond in kind to provocations from the enemy. When the Nazis slaughtered US prisoners during the Battle of the Bulge, the US responded in kind for the next few weeks and no German prisoners were taken, and no war crimes were committed. Thereafter the Nazis did not kill US prisoners. Lesson learned. The term is “Retribution”. The sickening behavior of the lefties/Democrats will not stop until it is responded to in kind. There is no “turn the other cheek” to these monsters, only Retribution. When the Republicans take over Congress, they need to respond to each and every provocation from the leftists over the past several years with equally ugly and brutal measures. When the Democrats finally learn that breaking norms results in very painful and public humiliations, jail time, and censure from Congress, perhaps they will cease their actions. There is no “Bi-partisanship”, only payback, and they need to get payback good and hard. I will no longer vote for Republican squishes who “just want to get along”. There is no such thing left with Democrats and they need a full and complete dose of their own medicine, preferably delivered right up the nether regions.

Jerry
Jerry
1 year ago

I get tired of hearing people in Washington refer to ” our democracy “. Our founders gave us a constitutional republic that has some democratic features. The more we slide in the direction of democracy the weaker we become.

Cookiepress
Cookiepress
1 year ago

There is a whole lot more going on here than meets the eye. Just wish I could figure out exactly what it is.

Dave
Dave
1 year ago

Calling what happened on Jan 6th an “insurrection” is ludicrous. (Donald Trump should be highly insulted, because if he had organized an insurrection, it would have been far more effective. Although that is snarky, it does make the point.) Second, there was no “mob” that “stormed the capitol”. The vast majority of people there never entered the building or even tried to. Third, the vast majority of those that did, did so peacefully, and in fact were let in, one might even say invited in, by the capitol police. (Note that most of the prosecutions so far are for such heinous crimes as trespassing and parading.) On the three sides of the building where there are entrances, only one side had any violence; you know, the only area that the media show footage of. And there is evidence that suggests that some, most, or even all of that violence was provoked by the police and/or plants in the crowd who were there for that very purpose. Jan 6th was a national tragedy, but not for the reasons the government and the media would have you believe.

Lawrence Greenberg
Lawrence Greenberg
1 year ago

I will explain what is going on with the following unofficial “motto” of the Communist – er, I mean Democrat – Party: Power and control, at any price, at any cost. And there you have the explanation for everything they do.

Deb Rockwell
Deb Rockwell
1 year ago

Unprofessional, disgraceful, immature, absurd. But what do you expect with Pelosi in charge? Just look at the mess and chaos within her own district. This is what she wants for the entire country.

Philip Hammersley
Philip Hammersley
1 year ago

Phony J6 committee won’t submit evidence to DOJ. Why? Because there is ZERO evidence of an actual crime by DJT or his advisors. The whole charade is to harass Trump and to deflect attention from the disasters that Biden and Congress are producing every day!

elijah graham
elijah graham
1 year ago

I do agree to an extent. Politics is now messy and frankly quite unprofessional, which is funny because the basis of their occupation is to have the best communication services as well as being the most professional people in the country. We should expect nothing less, and for some of these politicians to be saying and acting on the basis of unprecedented opinion and religion. 

Max
Max
1 year ago

Like the Title. The majority of Congress is hosed in just wasting the taxpayer’s money on cases that have been determined but did not please the current majority in the Congress. Just more MISDIRECTION by the ruling class to keep the people OFF BALANCED.

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