Michelle Fischbach floats out impeachment

Michelle Fischbach (MPR image)

A comment I placed with a Yahoo News article on Thursday:

 

What is happening to our country? We have survived up until now. Everyone should see that the whole attempted-impeachment circus is a naked attempt to "get back" at Democrats and even our U.S. justice system for "going after" this man named Trump. Trump is a mortal person. If he has erred, let the chips fall where they may. But Republicans fall on their sword for him constantly. "Alice Through the Looking Glass." Actually worse than that.

 

"John" responded:

 

The Southern Democrats from the 1960s and before have taken over the GOP. That dysfunctional group has adopted Trump as their god.

We here in Western Minnesota are quite far north of the Mason-Dixon Line. I fail to see why so much of our sentiment should line up with the people of the "old South." 

The rift that survived the U.S. Civil War was addressed pretty well by the Voting Rights Act. But the Act was struck down. John Roberts felt it was not needed any more. So he was wrong. Supreme Court justices get to their rarefied air level because of their ability to show sound judgment. That is the theory. But look what has been happening with Clarence Thomas, the most egregious, and Samuel Alito. The Supreme Court gave us the Citizens United decision that allows for narrow interests to nullify the public good. 

You might say all of this is a mere backdrop to what is happening with Donald Trump. Daily there are headlines keeping him in front of us. Have we really chosen this path? We here in Western Minnesota chose as our congressperson Michelle Fischbach. Truly she has projected sympathy for the attempted insurrection of Jan. 6. She would not come out and agree with that statement. 

 

It's reflexive

When Trump people read a piece like this and sense that the writer is a Trump skeptic, the reflexive action is to try to s--t all over that person. I attempted to get a statement from Fischbach on whether she still stood by her statements of Jan. 6. I went through the legitimate channel on her website. No response. I mean, no specific response. The response I got was to be placed on her email communications list. 

So on September 15 I got an item from her. Concern about all the legal baggage that former president Trump is picking up? Concern about Trump getting to carry the torch for the GOP again? Some regrets about all the dirty laundry Trump has thrust on this country? Regret about the two impeachment fails? None of that. 

With Trump confronting us as this elephant in the room, with his baggage that is making him seem like a caricature, what does Fischbach choose to comment upon, to solicit support for? This isn't to say she won't get support, because we are blood red out here with political preferences. So, many of the people who surround me each day, like the guys at DeToy's Restaurant, will no doubt applaud that Fischbach is floating the Biden impeachment thing as really big. 

All I would like to tell her is to remember that we are quite far to the north of the Mason-Dixon Line. And to remember that most of the truly disruptive Republicans now are from south of that. And their behavior is largely to disrupt. 

They wouldn't mind upsetting the whole apple cart with the "government shutdown" because they'd still like to stick it to "the Union." To just let everything go to hell. 

To reverse the outcome of the Civil War? No, that is not in the cards. The Confederacy was really doomed from the start. Did that cause ever spell out the real geographic boundaries for their "new country?" Well no. The Mason-Dixon Line was put forward for convenience, sort of theoretical. What about the boundary to the west? 

So you see, it wasn't so much about establishing a new country as it was a vehicle for venting against the Union. Again, to simply disrupt. To dish out pain. The big Civil War battles in the East were partly an attempt to make the North war-weary, to want to sue for peace. 

Look at the "Tet Offensive" in Vietnam. The U.S. and allied interests actually won that confrontation. In this case, the offensive resulted in so much shock and anger for the U.S., it worked in its prime objective. The Battle Of Gettysburg did not accomplish that. 

People who crow about being "conservative" today need to think more about the regional aspects of what's going on. Pay heed to the guy who responded to my comment on Yahoo News. I have suspected this for some time. The Republicans of South Dakota ought to pay heed. 

John Harwood is one guy in the media who brings this up.

South Dakota is well to the north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Maybe we should wonder: Did you see the news item recently about the Denny's Restaurant in Sioux Falls that refused service to African-Americans? Refusing to serve "Negroes" in South Dakota? You mean it wasn't in Alabama or Mississippi? No, Sioux Falls. 

 

Whither progress?

The nation made such tremendous strides with civil rights in the mid-20th Century. It is shocking how much of that appears to be eroding now. And even more shocking how so many among us are mesmerized with Trump. How so many digest "conservative media" and learn to spout certain lines. "Impeach Biden." And now we have our own congressperson from Western Minnesota on the train for pushing impeachment as a priority consideration. To make it "top of mind." 

Of all the issues or problems that Congressperson Fischbach could have brought to our attention in mid-September, she writes about impeaching Biden. Inflation? Well she'd probably just blame Biden and the Democrats for that. But she wants us to think about impeaching Biden, this with the specter of horrible wrongdoing by Trump and his people staring at us right in the face. "See no evil" on the part of Fischbach. 

The Trump supporters would dismiss me and others like me out of hand. They would try to find ways to pounce on me immediately. They would try to get personal if that would help. Anything to prop up "their man," and it does not matter what our justice system is revealing about what he did. Or what Giuliani and others did. We're in a true "Alice Through the Looking glass" world now, never could have imagined it when I was young. 

Fischbach may be an otherwise very nice and rational person if she were to be guided away from her preoccupation with defending Trump. I'm sure she would be a pleasant person to sit down and have a cup of coffee with. Republicans can charm you even while pulling the rug out from under the "common people" with their policies. 

I absolutely take no pleasure in sharply criticizing anyone. But why can't Fischbach choose to focus attention on other issues? Nothing else concerns her much outside of the possibility of impeaching Joe Biden? That's it? So she wants to get in league with all the Deep South know-nothings, those of the thick southern accent? Are those really the stripes here? In Minnesota? Or in South Dakota where maybe Negroes shouldn't enter a public restaurant now? 

Is this what we have become? Is the disease spreading? What hath God wrought? 

A reminder that Congressperson Fiscchbach voted against certifying the 2020 election results. She was at Trump's beck and call. Even Tom Emmer was not like that.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com