Country Over Party
Thus far, the debate regarding Trump’s impeachment has revealed the intense partisanship that the Trump campaign has incited. Liberals have become more left, and conservatives have become more right. Republicans have remained loyal to Trump out of partisanship rather than common sense, and Democrats have been behind the idea of impeachment since the beginning.
Both witnesses, George Kent, and Bill Taylor, have “laid out [a] case in exacting detail” that Trump did in fact communicate with Ukraine in order to “investigate Biden”. Republican Bill Taylor affirms in his opening statement, that “withholding security assistance in exchange for help with a domestic political campaign” is not something that he supported, and it is still something he refuses to overlook. Considering the intensity of partisanship surrounding the impeachment, it is very telling when a republican deviates from their party. The mere fact that Taylor is a republican possibly reveals that within republicans, loyalty to party is perhaps stronger than to the facts. It is also worth noting that, according to 538, eighty percent of Democrats want to impeach Trump.
Similarly, Nancy Pelosi plays an interesting role when looking at partisanship. Even when most Democrats agreed that Trump was chaotic and dangerous in the White House, Pelosi was firm in her opinion he shouldn't be impeached. Now, she recognizes that the next eleven months in the white house will be chaotic regardless of whether he is impeached or not. Amongst the chaos of partisanship, it is easy to be mislead.
The facts of the matter are as follows; Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine. But it has also been stated that Ukraine knew about the military freeze in July, a month before Trump's phone call. There is also very strong evidence to prove that Trump did in fact pressure Ukraine to pursue investigations of Biden. To President Zelenskyy, Trump says,
To which President Zelinskyy eventually agrees,
It is easy to get misinformed or wrapped up in the partisanship of Trump's impeachment. But, as a country, it is important to step back and take an objective, unbiased look at the facts of the matter. Trump's impeachment could potentially have a ‘huge’ impact on American History, and as citizens, it is important that we remain informed.
1. Are Trump's offenses impeachable, as the Democrats have been arguing?
How will possible impeachment affect the coming months before the 2020 election?
2. Have you found it difficult to stay properly informed during the impeachment
hearings? How can American citizens avoid being misinformed? Why is that important?
3. Throughout his term, Trump has lied and done some shady stuff. Has he
done anything else that could be considered Treason, Bribery, or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors? If you think not, justify your opinion.
1. Are Trump's offenses impeachable, as the Democrats have been arguing?
How will possible impeachment affect the coming months before the 2020 election?
2. Have you found it difficult to stay properly informed during the impeachment
hearings? How can American citizens avoid being misinformed? Why is that important?
3. Throughout his term, Trump has lied and done some shady stuff. Has he
done anything else that could be considered Treason, Bribery, or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors? If you think not, justify your opinion.
1. I don't think that Trump's offenses are impeachable, yet, I believe that there could be other documents or damning evidence that would make Trump's offenses impeachable but I believe at the moment, what Trump has done with Ukraine has been a bully and he has bullied them into doing what he wants. This investigation coming only months before an election, makes the whole inquiry look quite political, in my opinion. It appears as if the Democrats are indulging on this campaign to try and oust Trump from the white house.
ReplyDelete2. I haven't found it difficult to stay well informed throughout this process. I feel like I know when politicians or journalists are lying or showing bias, this goes for both sides of the political spectrump. However, I will say the misinformation from both sides of the political spectrum has certainly led to lots of Americans being misinformed. This can be very dangerous as a misinformed public can be catastrophic for the entity of democracy itself and leads to further distrust in the government on all sides.
3. At this point in the investigation, I would certainly agree that Trump has lied and certainly done some shady things but I do not believe they are fully out of presidential powers. I would certainly not go as far as to say what Trump has done is treasonous. I do not believe Trump has betrayed his country by what he has done. To me, it is ambigous as to if bribery actually happened. To me it does not seem as if Trump offered money to Zelensky to do an investigation on the Biden's. However, I do see that Zelensky was in no place to deny Trump such an investigation, because he really needed the military money. It would be much more damning if Trump had explicitly denied Zelensky aid or if Trump directly told Zelensky there would be money ONLY when an ivestigation was completed. Finally, I do believe that when the president breaks the rules he should be held accountbale but, I do not believe Trump has broken the rules in a way that is out of the norm or in a watergate-like fashion.
2. I have found that it has been somewhat difficult to stay up to date on the impeachment hearings. The problem hasn't been getting information, it is sorting through all the information I am given and forming my own opinion on what is happening. There are so many people involved, I don't know who said what or testified what. There is also a lot of misinformation put out that tries to sway Americans towards a certain side. It can be dangerous because a misinformed society can cripple the government and cause even more polarization.
ReplyDelete1. Trump's offenses are strictly speaking not impeachable because he only suggested Ukraine to investigate Biden and he did not put the US aid as a condition. The impeachment will divide the nation because everyone has an opinion regarding Trump either being guilty or not. This will affect their vote for their congressman.
ReplyDelete2. The hardest part I have found with staying up with the impeachment hearings is the creditability of the information. While it is videoed, many people form opinions and it leaks into what they are explaining about the hearings. I feel like I need a credible source for the background information on everything that has happened before forming my own opinion. I believe the one of the biggest problems we have is the population forming opinions too quickly before gaining all the information- Erik
ReplyDelete2. As there is a liberal bias in our media and it's hard to differentiate what news is reliable or not, it's actually been somewhat easy for me to keep up with Trump's actions as this presidential campaign process has continued. Because of this class, my family listening to NPR podcasts every morning, and watching Late Night TV Shows that cover politics, I have now more than ever been paying more attention to this election. As though it's tough to avoid that my news might be somewhat bias based on some of these reporter's political beliefs, it's the best that I can listen to based on what we learned in class.
ReplyDelete2. I have not found it too difficult to stay up to date with the impeachment process because it is is being covered by a wide range of media outlets. The primary way I learn about it is by listening to NPR, which I think does a good job at covering it in a unbiased manner. The hardest thing about keeping up with the news is judging the credibility of sources. To avoid being misinformed, Americans should try to avoid websites that have significant party bias and use multiple source to corroborate the information they receive. This is important because it helps prevent further party polarization in America.
ReplyDelete2. I have found it a little difficult to stay properly informed during the impeachment hearings because the media is bombarded with so many different issues and debates that it can be hard to find the accurate and important information. In addition, it is difficult to receive information without party bias as the main news networks either lean very right or left. This can affect how people interpret the new developments and present the facts. American citizens can avoid being misinformed by checking how credible the sources they look into are, and digest the information with consciousness about any potential bias. They can also refer to several different sources and fact check information before they spread it or form their own opinions about the issue. This is very important because citizens should be well-informed so that they can influence the government properly, and contribute to the political situation without spreading false information or heavily biased opinions. This then reflects in voting and adjusts the agenda accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI feel that it has been difficult to stay informed about the impeachment because there are so many different view points and different ways that the facts are portrayed that it is hard to come to a conclusion. I probably would have been more quickly to just believe whatever I read before this class, but now I try to be more careful what I am reading and keep that in mind when coming to my own conclusions. Americans listen to one news source, which can lead to information that is biased and one-sided. Narrowcasting has caused the problem that these news sources want money and viewers, so they find the most extreme facts and only use sound bites to lean heavily to extremely conservative viewers, or extremely liberal ones.
ReplyDelete2. I have found it somewhat difficult to stay properly informed on the impeachment hearings because there's so much information and the media can be very biased. I find it harder to find accurate information that is credible than sorting through party bias, which I find pretty clear. Americans can avoid being misinformed by checking the credibility of the source and looking at multiple sources that are not biased.
ReplyDeleteI have found it somewhat difficult to keep up with the impeachment process. The impeachment process is usually summarized by media through uses of soundbites or other short clips. There is also a great polarization when regarding the process therefore leading to inaccurate information. Americans can avoid being misinformed through following the impeachment process directly through media sources such as livestreams of hearings. This is important because a majority of Americans are unaware of the 4 major republican talking points that are mainly disregarded by the media and impeachment process are generally important since this is the first time for many young citizens in America.
ReplyDelete2. I have found it somewhat difficult to stay properly informed during the impeachment hearings. The problem has largely been there is almost too much information and analysis out there. The impeachment dominates most news stations, and it has been hard to sort through all of the information. One problem I have had is determining whether something is speculation for the future, or something that has happened already. With things happening so fast throughout the hearings, it has been hard to keep up at times.
ReplyDelete2. I think that it is somewhat difficult for most people to stay informed during the impeachment hearings. For people who haven't been following the impeachment since the beginning, it is very hard to understand the events and people have to read about it from the beginning. Unless people are really interested in what is happening, many might just give up and wait until the whole thing is over. For those who aren't very educated, the news is difficult to read and is often times biased. It is very difficult for news to not have a little bit of bias included, which could easily sway someone to a certain side or push them to a certain idea.
ReplyDelete#1 While there can still be some arguments made against whether or not Trump's interactions with Zelensky constituted charge of abuse of power, the charge of obstruction of Congress is in my opinion, completely valid and grounds for impeachment. The manner in which Trump directed his White House officials to defy Congressional subpoenas and to not testify before the Intelligence Committee demonstrated a blatant disregard for a coequal branch of government and the system of checks and balances which is vital for our democracy. As Hamilton wrote in Federalist 65, an impeachable offense doesn't need to be an actual prosecutable offense such as corruption, but could include any offense constituting "the abuse or violation of some public trust".
ReplyDelete1. Democrats and Republicans are never going to agree on the impeachability of Trump's actions. As we have seen the Democrats firmly believe their position with them already impeaching him the House as of yesterday. The issue is the Senate will never convict him, so it will be a stalemate in opinion. Personally I believe that the Ukraine scandal was the straw that broke the Camel's back in terms of all the scandals Trump seemed to be involved in. Unfortunately, I do not see this trial affecting the 2020 election because I have not seem much of a change in opinion from either side. Democrats believe his guilty and Republicans think he is innocent, so I do not see much of the vote changing in either favor.
ReplyDelete2. I feel that it is incredibly hard to stay informed during the impeachment hearings. One way that Americans can stay informed is by finding a news outlet that they feel is non-partisan and keeping up to date with that particular publication. Another strategy that Americans can employ is by taking news from a variety of publications so you can discern what is fact and opinion
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