How to Survive Impeachment

Here we are; now how do we survive this? By “we” I mean those of us on the receiving end of all the media attention this will, and probably should be, getting—or at least some of it.

At the same time, I think we will all agree the news  could come with less chaos and frequency. Our part in a democratic republic is to choose our representatives, and we will be weighing what our “leaders” do so that we know whom to support. That info we need.

If we hadn’t been doing this already, we wouldn’t be at the inquiry (impeachment) stage. It means Congress has the right to get the information necessary to find out if we go further. For some we’re already past that stage, but some want more details. We’re there.

However, do we need to hear it 24/7 when there isn’t really any thing new or even important? I don’t expect that part to change, but have been thinking about how do we, the people, get through this with some sense of well-being? How can we hold onto the idea that this could be good or what we need?

Not everyone in Congress will survive. Not everyone in the administration will either. The government, however, will survive. That’s probably the most important thing to remember. We made it through a Civil War and we’ll make it through this. If the past is any guide, we should be better for it.

The second thing to remember is that the major media companies are businesses that want us to listen to everything. But, believe it or not, I’ve missed a few days of news and caught up very quickly on what’s important. They just have to say it 24/7 whether it’s new news or not.  If something really dramatic happens we’ll hear about it—don’t worry.

How can we do this differently?

One thing I do is ignore articles that begin with “The Dems (or GOPs) should) . . ..” The media like to talk in terms of strategy the same as they like telling coaches how to win football games. Play strategy if you want, but it’s all hypothetical. Nobody really knows enough to play that game.

Also throw out articles that start with “The GOPs (or Dems) think . . .” There are no such animals as thinking Dems or thinking GOPs. When the media will not identify who GOP or Dem are, I ignore it. No“groking” allowed.

Same with IF or COULD headlines. Toss them and ignore the fears they want us to worry about.

Forget the stats too, especially when a partisan politician tells us or when anyone says that the percentage of the GOP that approve of the president is going up. If people are leaving the GOP—as the registration numbers say—the percentage that remains approve, so the percentage goes up, not the number of people. That people are leaving the party is the significant part, but compared to what do they do next, even that is meaningless.

It’s a game. A financial one. Make it sound like a real close battle and more of us pay attention.

The same with overly contentious articles. “Let’s you and him fight” gets more readers, but doesn’t it also make you wonder about the source—are they foreign robots meant to divide us?

Notice this instead—

Look for agreement. The stats to notice are the big trends: when 65–80% or more, agree on something. That’s us/US.

And the places we agree like that are big ones: a health care system that works; the rich paying their fair share (monster corporations too); keep your guns but give up your tanks and WMDs; a balanced immigration policy not totally open or closed; ending endless wars and profiteering; equal voting opportunities; and keeping the government’s focus on managing our common resources—not the common people. We agree on a lot and that’s very good to keep in mind.

Watching Congress to make sure the government is operating constitutionally is not a bad thing—unless they overdo the investigations. As long as we pay attention to the big picture and make sure they are as well—that’s what we want.

Ultimately if we can get to to knowing that it’s the voters in this country who are deciding who is elected to office-—without outsiders butting in—then it’s all worth it, isn’t it?