Daily Archives: 14 January 2021

Personal Responsibility and Incitement to Riot

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Andrew McCarthy had an op-ed in Saturday’s National Review in which he talked about the impeachment of Richard Nixon and the impending impeachment of President Donald Trump. In his discussion of Trump, McCarthy had this:

I do think the president has committed an impeachable offense, making a reckless speech that incited a throng on the mall….

He made that claim while offering no evidence. In particular, he chose not to quote Trump or to walk us through his logic in getting from what Trump said to that conclusion. He did offer this:

The president was utterly irresponsible in his demagoguery. He plainly intended for thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol to create political pressure on Vice President Pence and congressional Republicans—i.e., to induce them to take what would have been lawless procedural steps to invalidate electoral votes that states had cast for President-elect Biden.

Demagoguery: a carefully inflammatory—and wholly unsupported—characterization, the nature of which is quite unlike McCarthy’s normal bent.

But beyond that, Trump did, indeed, encourage his supporters to “create political pressure”—that’s what protests are intended to do; they’re not pleasant, sun-blessed strolls with parasols on ladies’ shoulders. As to the “lawless” procedural steps, there were plenty of Congressmen—lawmakers—in both Houses who disagree with the purported lawless nature of the steps being advocated. However zealously.

But there’s a far larger point here, and that’s personal agency, or it’s apparently assumed lack.

Conservatives emphasize the importance of individual—personal—responsibility. That would include the rioters being responsible for their own actions; no one else was then or is now. No one put guns to the rioters, or forced them in any other way, to invade the Capital Building. They did that from their own, deliberately chosen, decisions. Full stop.

What happened to McCarthy’s conservatism? Does he really believe adult human beings are not personally responsible, instead holding that their Betters control those lesser ones’ actions?

I expect that from Progressive-Democrats; that’s at the heart of their “incitement” impeachment claim. And the claim is as insulting to Americans with our individual responsibilities as it is purely political and an act of satisfying pent up grudges.

“We Cannot Erase the Last Four Years”

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That’s Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D, MD) lament as he closed the Progressive-Democrats’ case on the floor of the House during Wednesday’s impeachment “debate.”

We cannot erase the last four years.

Though the Progressive-Democrats tried every day of those four years. They and their Obama Executive Branch bureaucrats spied on the Trump campaign and trumped up charges against General Michael Flynn, false charges it took all this time to clear.

They and their Democratic National Committee commissioned a salacious and false dossier in an effort to besmirch a President and to serve as the foundation of an investigation that culminated in finding that President Donald Trump had done nothing wrong.

They and their FBI agent-assistants lied to courts in order to get subpoenas and warrants to “investigate” Trump’s team.

They ran a sham impeachment.

They obstructed financial aid to Americans fiscally harmed by government shutdowns ostensibly due to the Wuhan Virus situation—done as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) admitted after the election was done solely for the purpose of interfering with Trump’s reelection.

Here’s what Hoyer and his Progressive-Democrats want to erase.

A major tax rate reduction for American businesses and a major income tax rate reduction for Americans. This kept his campaign promise.

Unemployment endured by blacks, Hispanics, women reduced to historic lows. This kept his campaign promise.

Income inequality reduced to multi-decade lows—by previously unemployed minority citizens actually getting jobs while the rich got no better off. This kept his campaign promise.

Historic support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities by increasing Federal funding support for those schools and making that support multi-year. This kept his campaign promise.

An improved trade deal with Mexico and Canada to replace NAFTA. This kept his campaign promise.

Working toward improving and strengthening NATO by getting the European NATO nations to increase their financial and equipment commitments to NATO—commitments that those nations had voluntarily committed years ago but welched on subsequently. This kept his campaign promise.

Bringing American soldiers home from Iraq and Afghanistan—for good or ill, but this kept his campaign promise.

Overtly and concretely facing the People’s Republic of China over that nation’s trade, technology, intellectual property depredations. This kept his campaign promise.

Overtly and concretely facing the People’s Republic of China over that nation’s seizure of the South China Sea and the islands and resources therein, and its attempts to seize the East China Sea. This kept his campaign promise.

Strengthened our ties with the Republic of China. This kept his campaign promise.

Strengthened our ties with Japan. This kept his campaign promise.

Improved our defense arrangement with the Republic of Korea. This kept his campaign promise.

Attempted serious diplomacy with northern Korea vis-à-vis that nation’s nuclear weapons program. This kept his campaign promise.

Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, an accord that our compliance with would seriously damage our economy while strengthening, in relative terms, the PRC’s and so increasing its leverage over our Asian allies and over us. This kept his campaign promise.

Withdrawing from the JCPOA, which authorized Iran to freely develop nuclear weapons as soon as it expired. This kept his campaign promise.

Strengthening our physical border with Mexico, thereby strongly reducing illegal entry into our nation by illegal aliens. This kept his campaign promise.

Reducing Federal regulations that interfere with American business development and growth. This kept his campaign promise.

Reducing regulatory barriers to our hydrocarbon-based energy industry, thereby making us a net energy exporter and virtually eliminating our dependence on foreign energy. This kept his campaign promise.

I’m sure there are more; this short list is just the high points.

This is the economic, social, and political strengthening of the last four years that Hoyer and his Progressive-Democrats want so desperately to erase.