At last, Trump has been impeached?

E. Ablorh-Odjidja
December 21, 2019

The impeachment was said to have been completed on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. Long in coming, but nevertheless ugly in its historical aspects.

The attempt to remove Trump from office began January 2017, round about the day of his inauguration.

The effort has gone through all forms of disguises.

Adults in the media knew the trend, but most welcomed it, especially those at CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NY Times, Washington Post and others. They were focused on driving Trump out office, regardless of the evidence.

It is typical for an opposition party to go recklessly after an opponent, but is it right for the media, the traffic cops, to join the mission?

The pretense of playing fair, sticking to the ideals of good journalism, while actually leaning to one side of the story only became obvious for many - as the ugliest, most heinous part played by the media on this side of the impeachment story.

The intent came early when major media went after Trump’s tweets. They wanted to silence him, to leave him unprotected so as to cause him the most damage.

“Trump impeached,” blared the media headlines minutes after the partisan vote in the House of Congress; without waiting for filings at the Senate.

These words, according to Professor Noah Feldman, a legal expert who had testified for the Democrat dominated House at the investigation stage, were “media shorthand, not a technically correct legal statement.”

The House, he said, “has voted to impeach (future tense) Trump. He isn’t impeached (PAST TENSE) UNTIL THE ARTICLES GO TO THE SENATE.”

Would the media accept Feldman’s statement as heroic, as they did his testimony against Trump at the inquiry stage barely a month ago?

Therein lies a paucity on true journalism.

Today’s highly paid journalists have become activists, who are utterly impervious to the professional demands of true journalism; the ideals forgotten, the Journalist Creed jettisoned and angles to view, comment and investigate unfolding news have fused into one-sided view.

The double-sided exercise of skepticism, irony, curiosity to spot contradictions no longer matters as tool, provided it went against Trump. Now bias has become the dominant worldview of the press.

As farcical as the “Russia Collusion” assertion was, most in the media believed it, even after it had been debunked by the Mueller inquiry. No apologies heard or written to date. So, the actual origin of the “Russia Collusion” hoax still remains a mystery.

However, the same convoluted Russia story has successfully morphed into a “Ukrainian Quid Pro Quo” one; the basis for impeachment and the possible trial of Trump at the Senate; with the media wittingly in step with the Democrats’ plan to oust him.

The loud silence on the other side, that the process was unfair, a valid threat to the US Constitution and that the result could damage future presidents, has so far gone unheard.

Awhile back, a good friend had opined that all these strenuous efforts to oust Trump might sound credible if only the opposition could wait till 2020.

Sadly, most in the media have yet to make similar observation; maybe for lack of self-awareness. But as we wait, there must be serious concerns for answers.

That, high crimes of “treason, bribery” have been committed.

That the decision to impeach was fair, not rushed and partisan. In this case, it was done without a formal vote, but solely on the command of a partisan House leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

That the identity of the “whistleblower,” who had no firsthand knowledge or experience of his own complaint, is revealed.

That the “Ukrainian Whistleblower” complaint is fully investigated to include VP Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s affair with Burisma Holdings in Ukraine.

That Congressman Adam Schiff’s (Democrat, investigator and the sole judge of the inquiry) testifies under oath about possible dealings with the “whistleblower” before the latter filed his complaint.

That Mueller’s investigations in the Russia interference in the 2016 election concentrated solely on the Trump campaign and no scrutiny for the Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

That the FBI, under the Obama’s administration, deceived the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court to obtain warrants to spy on Trump (an opposition candidate in 2016) on the bogus claim of “Russia Collusion”, as IG Horowitz reported.

That the Horowitz report found a minimum of 17 egregious faults by the FBI that led to the wiretapping of the Trump campaign.

That these abuses prompted Attorney General Barr to declare that this was the first time "counter-intelligence techniques" were used against a presidential campaign and consequently to launch criminal investigations on causes and people involved.

Any of the above issues could have raised concerns. The bizarre part was none raised the investigative concerns of reporters in the major media.

Irony, hypocrisy and projections by liars like Congressman Adam Schiff, Democrat (who said he had evidences of Russia Collusion in 2016, but didn’t) were allowed to go unchecked by the press.

By December 18, 2019, however, the Democrat dominated House was ready with two flimsy and contradictory impeachment charges for trial; “Obstruction of Congress” and the “Abuse of Power.” And finally the irony in the charges reared its head.

“Obstruction of Congress” is about “Separation of Power” granted by the Constitution. A contest between Congress and a sitting president on this issue has to be resolved by the Supreme Court. In this instance, the "Obstruction of Congress" charge never got to court to warrant a decision because the House did not bring it up.

Clearly, the House has abused its power with the charge, not Trump! The spurious assertion ought to be challenged in the press. But the press kept quiet.

As Professor Turley, a Democrat and a Constitutional Law expert and a witness said during the investigation, “… the current legal case for impeachment is not just woefully inadequate, but in some respects, dangerous, as the basis for the impeachment of an American president.”

The impeachment investigation was rushed on the basis of emergency. To date, Speaker Pelosi has yet to file papers for trial at the Senate, where Republicans hold the majority. Thus, her hesitance has made her insistence for emergency hollow.

In all the unorthodox moves by the Democrat dominated House against Trump, the media remained unmoved, unoffended and uncritical of the process every step of the way.

Such practice is not journalism.


E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com , Washington, DC, December 22, 2019

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