Have you ever been subpoenaed?  It’s an intimidating document.  Having been presented with one on two different occasions to testify as a witness in prescription forgery trials, I can attest to a subpoena’s compelling intent.  As instructed by the demands of those legal directives I cleared my calendar and dutifully appeared in court.  It is the law.

But the law seeming does not apply to the President of the United States.  That’s what he would have us believe anyway. After all, that is exactly what he told every American, some gullible enough to believe him, when he publicly declared Article Two of the U.S. Constitution gives him the right to do anything he pleases.  Even a federal judge’s scathing ruling that totally rejected Trump’s absurd assertion of complete immunity for his advisors hasn’t altered his indifference to the law.  He has instructed the people around him to ignore subpoenas no matter what because it is his belief that the law is not important when applied to him personally.  What is important to Trump is only that which protects or promotes him.

Even though there will never be a senate conviction, there is still victory in his impeachment.  Trump’s historical presidential ranking will forever dwell with the lowly bottom-feeders. In an apparent attempt to address this conundrum is his dumbfounding six page letter he sent  to Nancy Pelosi on the eve of his impeachment.  But rather than defending his legacy, I can not imagine an ordinary citizen reading through those pages thirty years from now and not concluding what they see is the rantings of a pathetic man suffering from pathological narcissism. And those with introspective historical curiosity will have to wonder about the competency of any presidential advisor who would let such a letter become archived at such a critical time in Trumps presidency, or if he had any advisors at all.

So his misdeeds are more accurately recorded for posterity, it’s too bad the House Judiciary Commitee decided not to include the six other plausible articles of impeachment. Eight Applicable Articles of Impeachment  Understandably the committee was concerned about Trump inviting more foreign involvement in the 2020 election and must observe the time constraint.   However with no chance of conviction why not officially document  the obvious incidents of his egregious behavior.  There should be an historical record to refer to so future presidents clearly understand their limits of power and to give congress a road map to fix all the damage done by this man.

And it was particularly galling to hear various Republican committee members whine about unfair process when the president prevented the admission of dozens of pertinent documents and testimony by the very people who know the truth.  Over half the county believes Trump is guilty of an impeachable offense and two thirds want to hear from the material people Trump is refusing to let testify. Hearing from the major players involved in the Trump/Giuliani shake down scheme seems to be the only thing that might convince wavering Trump supporters to change their minds. But sadly Mitch McConnell is not about to let that happen.   Hopefully shortly after November of 2020 subpoena documents will regain their important power and the lawless autocratic conduct in the executive branch of government will mercifully end.

NOTE  Ours is “a government of laws, not of men” were words inserted in the Massachusetts Constitution by  second president John Adams.  Some might have noticed I’m a big fan.  Recommended reading about  both presidents Adams- “THE PROBLEM OF DEMOCRACY” by N. Isenberg and A. Burstein.  Much of the book’s content is pertinent to today.