"Hardcore right wing partisanship, under the national spotlight, will be challenged in the coming days, weeks and months like never before."
On the cusp of President Donald Trump's nationally televised impeachment inquiry hearings, are Americans ready for what's coming?
We are entering what will be remembered as a landmark period in American history, as the House scrutinizes the evidence for possible impeachment of the brazen President. And it's likely to get ugly.
As the facts of Trump's abuse of power are revealed through the course of witness testimony, starting this morning, it's a given that Republicans' mind-numbing slavish loyalty to the demagogic President these past few years will kick up a notch or two.
Reason and truth will collide head on with willful blindness for all the world to see. Trump abetters will attack, spin and outright lie.
But it has to be. If we are still America, committed to truth and justice, the truth must be heard, justice defended.
But, will the truth be heard?
Hardcore rightwing partisanship, under the national spotlight, will be challenged in the coming days, weeks and months like never before.
We've got a long way to go, but a relatively short time to get there to impeach the President before the 2020 presidential elections just a year from now.
In the end, will enough of the Trump-supporting citizenry eventually open their minds to the facts? Will they listen?
Whether America survives as a democratic Republic or not, will be determined by the people. Most Republicans in the House and the Senate, by enabling the criminality of Trump for so long, have made it clear they don't give a damn about things like truth and justice.
Clearly, Republicans are compromised in some way -- like Trump, by the Russians, Trump or each other. Bribery? Extortion? These are the central themes running through this presidency. And it seems to have encompassed in some way all the President's inside men.
There may never have been a more disingenuous bunch of crooks on Capitol Hill and in the White House.
So, "the people" -- who have more power than they think -- will be our best shot at ensuring that impeachment ends in justice.
House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff will no doubt keep the inquiry professional, orderly. The testimony will have to be compelling. The facts unassailable. The witnesses reliable, believable.
If impeachment does proceed, conservative citizens shouldn't let their opinions be shaped by their rogue congressional representatives or Trump propaganda outlets like Fox News.
The citizenry as a whole needs to put aside their partisanship, and do some soul serious searching. If enough Americans see the light, they can make enough noise so that their elected representatives in Congress, particularly the Senate (where the deciding votes will be cast) finally pay attention and follow their lead -- instead of the other way around.
Call it wishful thinking. But when it's all said and done, America's only genuine hope to save itself, with God's help, lies with the people.
