“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.” Mahatma Gandhi.
I am text buddies with my husband’s sister and cousin. We text memes, comics, pictures of our pets – just about anything. We also text political stuff which sometimes can get very heated. We are all on the same page politically, so we aren’t arguing with each other. It’s more we are letting off steam in a safe place.
A text thread a few weeks back had to do with the proposed tariffs. A picture was included of a TV screen from an MSNBC news program with Mitch McConnell, US Senator from Kentucky and previous Senate Majority/Minority leader, lamenting that his constituents could not afford the tariffs. Here is the quote attributed to McConnell:
“Consider our state’s 75,000 family farms that sell their crops around the globe, or the hardworking Kentuckians who craft 95% of the world’s bourbon, or our auto industry that relies on global supply chains to support the livelihoods of thousands of workers in the commonwealth.”
I certainly have nothing against elected representatives looking out for their constituents. That is what we elected them to do, right? And, in fact, my grandmother was a Kentuckian. But, I take two issues with Mitch McConnell’s plea.
First, he had a huge hand in the rise of the President. I can’t even guess how many times McConnell capitulated to the President, including voting to acquit him in both of his impeachment trials. Here are a couple of snippets of what he said regarding is reasons for acquittal (https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/13/politics/mcconnell-remarks-trump-acquittal/index.html):
“The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their President.”
“The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things.”
“This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories, orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the voters’ decision or else torch our institutions on the way out. The unconscionable behavior did not end when the violence began.”
“A mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags, and screaming their loyalty to him. It was obvious that only President Trump could end this. Former aides publicly begged him to do so. Loyal allies frantically called the Administration. But the President did not act swiftly. He did not do his job. He didn’t take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed, and order restored.”
“And 74 million Americans did not engineer the campaign of disinformation and rage that provoked it. One person did. I have made my view of this episode very plain.”
After assailing the then ex-President’s behavior, he goes on to explain his rationale for acquitting him. Here are a few snippets of that:
“If President Trump were still in office, I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge. By the strict criminal standard, the President’s speech probably was not incitement. However, in the context of impeachment, the Senate might have decided this was acceptable shorthand for the reckless actions that preceded the riot. But in this case, that question is moot. Because former President Trump is constitutionally not eligible for conviction. There is no doubt this is a very close question. Donald Trump was the President when the House voted, though not when the House chose to deliver the papers.”
“But after intense reflection, I believe the best constitutional reading shows that Article II, Section 4 exhausts the set of persons who can legitimately be impeached, tried, or convicted. The President, Vice President, and civil officers. We have no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizen.”
“The entire process revolves around removal. If removal becomes impossible, conviction becomes insensible. In one light, it certainly does seem counterintuitive that an officeholder can elude Senate conviction by resignation or expiration of term. But this just underscores that impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice.”
“Impeachment, conviction, and removal are a specific intra-governmental safety valve. It is not the criminal justice system, where individual accountability is the paramount goal. Indeed, Justice Story specifically reminded that while former officials were not eligible for impeachment or conviction, they were “still liable to be tried and punished in the ordinary tribunals of justice.” We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former Presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one. I believe the Senate was right not to grab power the Constitution does not give us.”
As I said, these are only snippets of what McConnell said. While I tried to give a balanced idea of McConnell’s thoughts, snippets are just that, snippets. To truly understand something, snippets aren’t going to do it. I encourage you to read his entire statement if you want the clearest understanding of what he said. (see above link)
I am not a legal or constitutional expert by any stretch. So, I went to the USA.gov website to see if I could find out more information on impeachment (https://www.usa.gov/impeachment). I found the consequences of being found guilty is that the person is removed from office. In addition, it may be decided they can never hold office again.
McConnell said, “The entire process revolves around removal. If removal becomes impossible, conviction becomes insensible.”
Maybe the process revolves around removal. But his idea that “conviction becomes insensible” if removal is impossible is in itself insensible. Removal, while maybe the undisputed consequence, there is another consequence that he ignores: the person may be barred from holding office again.
His main argument is that Trump was no longer president when the impeachment trial came to a close, even though charges were brought during his presidency. Again, I am not a constitutional expert, but I am going to guess the constitution does specifically address the issue of what happens if articles of impeachment are brought when a person is in office but is out of office by the conclusion of the trial. If it did, there would have been no ambiguity.
So, I did a little more research. According to the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, we have a precedent for such a scenario with the impeachment of secretary of war, William W. Belknap who resigned to avoid impeachment (https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/impeachment/resignation-was-not-end). Much like the impeachment of Trump, Congress debated whether or not they had jurisdiction over a now private citizen.
At issue wasn’t removal from office but the disqualification from holding office again. In the end, the Senate voted to continue with the trial. Belknap was eventually acquitted.
McConnell made a choice at the time to acquit, plain and simple. Keep in mind he was Senate Majority Leader at the time with considerable sway over the other Republican senators. Yes, he gave his reasons. And maybe he felt very sincerely in them. But, clearly there were plenty of senators who saw things differently and voted to convict. And, simple research provided a precedent for the situation.
Now McConnell’s home state of Kentucky is hurting, and badly by McConnell’s own account. According to WLWT News, McConnell asserts that: “the trade war is expected to hurt Kentucky more than almost any other state in the country,” and “as a percentage of GDP, Kentucky is the No. 1 state most dependent on exports, and the third most dependent on imports.” (https://www.wlwt.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-kentucky-cvg-airport-tariffs-economy/64582317)
If McConnell has a problem with Trump’s current presidency, he can look in the mirror when he looks to cast blame as he had it in his power to make sure a second Trump presidency couldn’t happen.
The number of Republicans who seem to have sacrificed their principles (assuming they had any) in support of the President is astonishing. Two examples: now Secretary of State Marco Rubio (https://www.newsweek.com/marco-rubios-own-words-about-donald-trump-used-against-him-1882857), Vice President J.D. Vance (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-j-d-vances-past-statements-and-relationship-with-trump).
Maybe they abandoned their pride out of ambition (Rubio?, Vance?), maybe out of fear. Senator Lisa Murkowski recently stated “We are all afraid. It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/us/politics/lisa-murkowski-trump.html) While I sympathize, this is the job our Congressional representatives were elected to do – use their voice as they are our voice, the voice of the people. Do your job.
In any event, the reason, whether ambition or fear, doesn’t matter. The result is the same – we have a government out of control.
McConnell, and in turn his constituents, is experiencing some of the real consequences of his capitulations, of not doing what he could have (and probably should have) done when he had the chance.
None of us are perfect beings. We make mistakes, are prone to self-preservation. Still, we may face times in our lives where our choices really matter, when the consequence of our choice can or will have a serious negative impact on others. These are times when we define ourselves, when, using the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we reveal the content of our character.
Too many people today couldn’t care less (or worse are gleeful) about turning on our international allies, cutting aid that likely means the death of millions of people, about real people who are losing their jobs for no reason than other than trying to cut costs to pay for tax cuts for the rich, people losing their livelihoods due to tariffs. the illegal deportation of legal residents which now includes a US citizen, and so much more.
And, when one of these comes back to haunt us, like many Kentuckians, we need look no further than a mirror to see where we went wrong.