And that’s a wrap (for now)
FINALLY, it’s over. Well, sort of. We’re referring to the impeachment phase of a political feud that has been raging since the 2018 elections. There were enough twists and turns to keep the tedious drama going, but as in most things in life, arithmetic had the final say. The governor was impeached because 15 of the 20 House members belonged to other political camps and wanted him ousted. He was acquitted because six of the nine senators belonged to his political camp and did not want him ousted.
It’s all political, says one camp. You’re political, says the other camp which insists that it’s not political and it’s truly about “justice,” “accountability,” “the law,” “the constitution,” “the people,” “the children,” etc.
To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, when you hear somebody say, “This is not about politics,” it’s about politics. To be exact, this is about political differences.
Let’s be honest. If the governor and the lt. governor were still together as a political team seeking re-election in November, would there had been enough votes to impeach the governor in the House?
We are making a political point, of course, and any argument about it can go on and on, and on — which is why democratic societies have a rule in resolving, tentatively, these disputes: put them to a vote. The House voted to impeach the governor; the Senate voted to acquit him. In November, it’s the voters turn to be “heard.”
House leaders said they “now look to the courts with optimism for justice.” The mayor who was indicted by the feds two months before the 2018 general elections and won a second term and was found “not guilty” by a federal jury would probably agree.
About that silver lining
SOME of us may still remember that over 23 years ago, the Republican-led U.S. Senate failed to convict Democratic President Bill Clinton who was impeached by the Republican-led House on charges of lying under oath and obstruction of justice. The Republicans had the required number of votes in the House to impeach the president (a simple majority), but not enough in the Senate to convict him (2/3 of the “members present” or 67 — all 100 senators were present on the day of the vote; the Senate composition at the time was 55 Republicans and 45 Democrats).
According to a Republican House member, the Democrats in the Senate “didn’t want to listen to the evidence. They didn’t care about the evidence. They just wanted to vote ‘No,’ and that’s what happened.” And yet, he added, “This trial showed America at its best. I received a letter… from a man in Russia, and he said that, ‘Only in the greatest democracy in the world is the chief of state put on public trial for violating the law. That would never happen in my country.’ ”
Now what?
THERE are less than six months left before the general election. Now that the impeachment show is over, would lawmakers finally talk about the islands’ gloomy economic prospects, and the CNMI government’s ability to meet its financial obligations amid a rapidly shrinking revenue pool?
Those are politically flammable issues, especially in an election year.
What if they just conduct more investigations, issue more subpoenas, and maybe impeach the governor again?
Do we have — to paraphrase Gerard Baker — elected officials “so entrenched in their ideological priors that they seem incapable of, even uninterested in, addressing the actual challenges faced by hard-pressed” members of the public?
We’ll soon find out.
