Dan Rather. (photo: Christopher Patey)
12 November 19
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do not know what this week will bring, but we do know it will be
unprecedented. To be sure the specter of Nixon and Clinton hang over an
impeachment process moving onto the public stage. This time, however,
feels far different. This president, in rhetoric and action, has raised
so many questions about his fitness for office, that the latest charge,
as serious as it is, stands as but one of many potentially impeachable
offenses. It is a fair assumption to conclude we do not know of many
others, those hidden behind secret conversations with Putin and
unreleased tax returns.
The brazenness of the President's extortion of a
foreign nation, in service to his own political needs and at the expense
of our national security, still strains even the extended range of what
we have come to believe is possible. What has transpired since these
actions were revealed, the attacks on women and men of sterling
character, the hurricane of lies, the spinelessness of Republican
politicians to choose country over party, suggests our dark days will
continue.
In previous impeachment processes, as acrimonious as
they may have been, I never had a belief that our political system was
as brittle as it is now. Those were crimes of power and ego. This one
puts our nation's standing and safety at risk. It involves not only the
Ukraine, but Russia, always Russia.
My mood is complicated. As a reporter, this a story
unlike any in our history. I hope to do it justice. As an American
citizen, however, I am struck by sadness, a deep, deep sadness, that we
have come to this point. In previous times, we weren't being as driven
apart by social media. What will that mean for these hearings? We didn't
have a political party with its own propaganda operation, like we do
with the President and Fox News. We didn't have such cravenness, such
widespread stink of corruption, so much patently undemocratic instincts
by those who have sworn an oath to the Constitution.
Yet despite all these obstructions to the process of
justice, we are where we are because brave, patriotic Americans stood up
and said what the President did was wrong. They will now say so in
front of cameras, and posterity. The Democrats in the House, in contrast
to the President's smokescreens, have largely comported themselves with
restraint and a clear sense of purpose. It will be up to them to pierce
the fog of deceit and paint a narrative that shapes public opinion.
In the end, I will not underestimate my fellow
Americans. My lifetime of experience has shown that ultimately the
causes of justice tend to win out, even if the journey is long and
circuitous. You will hear often that impeachment is a political process,
and so the ultimate verdict will be up to all of us, most likely,
considering the Republicans in the Senate, at the ballot box less than a
year from now.
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