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Thursday, May 9, 2024

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“It’s more than past time to bury the hatchet”

Mary Wakefield Buxton

Am I the only one in this country that is sick and tired of the use of district attorneys, special counsels, attorney generals, courts and Congressional committees to investigate and explore impeaching our presidents?

And now we even have the state supreme court of Colorado and the secretary of the state of Maine barring a presidential candidate from ballots? So now the precedent is set that “we, the people” no longer have full choice in elections?

And we think we are living in a democracy?

Please. Let the voters who alone have the right to decide for themselves who to nominate and elect and keep the hands of those in power off tampering with our ballots.

I know we have scoundrels in politics today, as in the past, which get elected to the highest offices in the land (and we are learning more and more about such leaders on every passing day,) but we, the people, have the right to decide who our leaders are and the power to change leaders in coming elections. And no one else.

America is not a totalitarian system where government controls all things and where political opponents can fall out of windows of high buildings, drink poison in their tea or be sent to places like Siberia.

Nor should we start the dangerous precedent of one political party sending presidents of opposing political parties to jail. Once that devious practice starts, there would be no end to it and our poor republic would finally collapse from the bitter division such action would cause.

The impeachment circus was started over the behavior of Bill Clinton and his racy relationship in the oval office with his intern, Monica Lewinsky. Outraged republicans “investigated” and he became the first president in more than a century to be impeached by the House of Representatives.

Too soon the democrats sought a special prosecutor to investigate Donald Trump, who became president in 2016, which led to not only one impeachment in the House, but two.

But that wasn’t the end of investigations against political opponents. After Trump was elected, a general counsel was appointed to investigate the highly contentious 2016 election and Mrs. Clinton’s fake Russian dossier. Special Counsel Durham discovered evidence that the CIA, Justice Department and FBI had been part of that deception.

All this back and forth investigation of political opponents cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Not to mention the constant stress of listening to daily regurgitations of murky details of behind the scenes behavior of both political parties.

Then on Jan. 6, after the last highly contentious election, angry protesters that believed the election had been stolen from Trump were arrested, one by one hunted down, found guilty, and sentenced to prison. All this done, Democrats tell us, not to destroy Biden’s political opponent, but to save the nation from insurrection and destruction of democracy.

First, no one approves of violence and destruction of property, but in a democracy the people have the right to peaceful protest. And insurrection? Have we forgotten what a real insurrection is?

Check out the Civil War when in 1861 when the Democrat “solid south” seceded from the nation and founded its own government. The result was more than four years of war, close to 800,000 casualties and polarization and bitterness within the union that lasted many decades. Hardly what happened on Jan. 6.

Speaking of the Civil War, we could use some of Abraham Lincoln’s noble magnanimity about now instead of the constant partisan hatred and fighting for power today that we, the people, are treated to on an almost daily basis. 

I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln’s words in his second inaugural address. “With malice toward none, with charity to all …” This nation desperately needs to return to such sentiment.

After his assassination, President Johnson and President Grant both dealt with the post war bitterness in the same spirit. President Johnson even wisely opted to “forgive” the Southern leaders of the Confederacy which helped the nation recover.

Let the partisans today return to this sentiment. No one is fooled. We all know there are some scallywags in politics in both parties. There always has been and there always will be. Let us, the people, deal with them as we might and hopefully send them packing.

Political parties are necessary. When politicians are working for the benefit of the people instead of themselves, they offer opposing ideas for society to consider. They should work together with respect and tolerance for each other. And quit the childish and expensive bickering which now even attempts to send each other’s leaders to jail.

This is America. It’s time to act accordingly.

© 2024

Mary Wakefield Buxton
Mary Wakefield Buxtonhttps://www.ssentinel.com/news/one-womans-opinion-mary-buxton/
Welcome to “One Woman’s Opinion,” a long-term feature of the Southside Sentinel, written by Urbanna resident Mary Wakefield Buxton. Traditionally a humorist, Mary has written a column on all subjects and sometimes in very serious vein. Along with writing a column for the Sentinel since 1984, she is also author of 15 books about life and love in Tidewater, Virginia.