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The next generation, educated, unchained, and ethical… Our hope… Part 6 of 6

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… if you prefer to read this series as one page, please go to https://mikevargamusings.com/institutions-re-examined/

In the November election, the young people I know were more involved, and more insistent that their voice be heard than I’ve seen since the 1970’s.  In the last several decades, as young people get to the point of career decisions, family decisions and the new stresses on finances, they would find little time for politics, little time for considering the impact institutions have on their lives.

However, I’ve noticed a new awakening.  Expanded understanding.  This next generation is much more highly educated thanks to an explosion in college education.  Partly due to student loans, and a more technically demanding society and job market.  But none-the-less the number of people with some college versus no-college has dramatically increased.  College is not just about education, but also diversity.  Exposure to more people and more ideas than prior generations.   In the past, people grew up and lived within a 20-mile radius of home. This was pretty much a norm, and except for either forced migrations or military service, most people had limited exposure to other social environments.  It is no longer.

If you want further anecdotal evidence, consider the emergence of new thinking and acceptance of alternative family structures.  Yes, the institution of the family.  Today on television shows, and on all sort of advertising, notice the variation in family structure.  Capitalism show’s us what people are interested in and what is acceptable, more so than any other indicator.  Interracial families, homosexuality, and diverse living arrangements are prevalent and becoming more prevalent.  This is not the Leave It to Beaver generation.

This generation is re-examining the core constructs of our institutions. It is challenging to many of us, to consider the way they have unchained their thinking.  They are resetting the norms.  The institution of church has not kept up with them, and yet they have great faith in each other, in humanity, and they are spiritual. They are ethical and they have reverence for the Earth and all people. They’ve chosen to turn upside down our traditional notions of how things are done.  They are more interested in ensuring each other’s space, and happiness, than restricting each other into norms of prior generations. They are breaking our social fabrics and repairing in ways that are far more colorful and textual.  This generation is not weighted by the institutions that dominated their parents and grandparents’ lives, and they are far less judgemental.

Prior generations were asked to ignore the decay and corruption for sake of the power of institutions.  I like this new generation, I like this generation’s learned skepticism and their way of gaining wisdom.  Our world is in good hands.  They will come back to religion, all people do, but in their own way, and they will make it better than what we’ve known.

Furthermore, I suspect this generation will insist that their government institutions, their healthcare, and their educational institutions will do the same.  It will take time, but it will happen.  They will remake these institutions just as they are remaking our social world.  As long as we give them space, by maintaining our justice system and our free press, they will find a way.  They will redefine our world to make it what they want to leave for the generations that follow.  The white supremacist movement, the authoritarian biases of extreme right-wing nationalists will fight this, and will do so on the basis of cultural and social issues. This makes them very dangerous.  For this reason, we must support our free press and rules of law.  We must give space for this next generation to survive the last gasps of intolerance and racism.

We must hold institutions accountable to their mission and purpose, and correct corruption where we find it.  This next generation will then have the space to make the world a better place.

I have great hope in the future.

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The Advantage of Rule of Law, Free Press… Part 5 of 6

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… if you prefer to read this series as one page, please go to https://mikevargamusings.com/institutions-re-examined/

I was thinking the other day that the difference we enjoy as a country, vis-à-vis so many failed states, is the rule of law which is largely uncorrupted, and a free press, which we hold in high enough regard, to not thwart its capability to hold institutions accountable.  Yes, news outlets have become increasing opinion dominant, and can be a part of the conspiratorial problems we see, but there are many outlets still providing news, and presenting alternative opinions.  We, as a people, have the opportunity to research and understand issues, and our institutions from many viewpoints.  As individuals we should be advocates for multiple outlets of information.  Encourage others to seek additional points of view, for then, maybe we can keep conspiracies in check, and have better insight to the functions of our institutions.

Our justice system works for us.  Certainly, there are biases built-in to the system, but fairness is checked through our free press.  These two institutions make us better than we could be otherwise.  For as we’ve established institutions can and will be corrupted.

The challenge of the 2020 election in court cases that presented no real evidence of fraud were repeatedly thrown out in every case, sometimes by judges that had been appointed by the Trump administration.  The justice system, when it came to upholding the rule of law, was a bedrock institution in our country.  This stability protects our rights.  Ensuring that laws that have been passed by our legally elected representatives are upheld, as well as, ensuring that our constitutional rights are respected.

A free press keeps us aware of excesses or failures of institutions; and the judicial system, holds the institutions and its leaders to account.  Clearly the judicial system, and the press are institutions, but they are institutions with sufficient fragmentation and diversity to keep from being corrupted from the top down for power, they operate on traditions that keep them from being overcome by bureaucracy. Although subject to the efficiency errors of labeling, they are sufficiently dedicated to their mission of justice, and informing (journalistic integrity) that they have survived intact despite attempts to corrupt them.

A new generation is emerging.  I see it everywhere, and I think it is amazing, and it gives me hope that we have protected our systems and institutions well enough that they may just be repaired and made better by this next generation.

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Conspiratorial Thinking and Elitism… Part 3 and 4 of 6

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… if you prefer to read this series as one page, please go to https://mikevargamusings.com/institutions-re-examined/

This was originally going to be two parts of the 6-part series, but I felt in necessary to combine the two thoughts in this writing.  The more I think of it, they have a lot to do with each other, each feeding the other, however this blog is longer than usual.

In the previous blog, I talked about how institutions fail, how threats may begat power and control issues, how bureaucracy can become bloated with the primary goal of protecting and continuing the institution, and how efficiency short cuts lead to labeling and the corruption of the mission of institutions.  Failures lead to distrust of institutions.  Government is the largest institution in our country, and distrust of government is at an all-time high.  As it has failed often in its mission (sometimes spectacularly), it retracts into a protectionist mentality, causing further failures. And so, distrust grows.  Furthermore, as the world gets more complicated, and sources of information become more abundant, we have become less adapt at understanding complexity and at reasoned thinking about the information available.  Also, why go to multiple sources if we can be spoon fed by one news outlet that keeps giving us what we crave… opinion reigning over facts and news.

Crack pots and Conspiracies have always been a part of our system since the beginning of our country. But now anyone with an idea can go viral with the thought if it is just wild enough.  P.T. Barnum was credited with the saying, “there’s a sucker born every minute” but that’s just a conspiracy theory… 😉

Once truth is marginalized, as it has over the last few decades to protect the institutions of a political party, of government, of a news outlet, or of educational, or religious institution, then it leaves the door open to expansive, and more wild conspiracies, as many seek an alternate explanation about why their institutions are failing them, or more probably why they are failing.  They then become part of the failure.  Change is a constant, but change can be confusing.  In our busy world, do we seek to resolve conflicting ideas, or is it easier to align ourselves with the easy path of agreeing to the crowd we are around?  Conspiracies feed on themselves and each other. Ignorance of facts, lack of reason, and a little bit of salacious appeal to our fears, and they can explode.  Consider the big lie, that Trump won the election and it was being stolen by Biden and the Democrats.  There are no supporting facts and all judicial cases of fraud, some 60 or more, have been dismissed, yet the appeal of the lie has found some 30 million people.  It rings true to them because they believe the Democrats are somehow capable of stealing an election across multiple states by getting tens of thousands of dead, or illegal voters, to vote.  Or change the votes in a system that is operating in traditionally Republican States.  The salacious part is that these, in the mind of the conspirators, are somehow brilliant operators, able to mislead thousands and to trick the Republican officials in several states.   So, they then must believe that their own party participants are incompetent and easily duped when it comes to the Presidential election, but are brilliant participants in wining at the local and congressional level… a level of reasoning that is not quite understood.

I’m not suggesting any kind of limit of intelligence on the part of 30 million people.  I’m suggesting that believing in “The Lie” is easier than accepting that the country is changing, that the demographics, the desire for equity of opportunity is more important than maintaining the image of a way of life were races didn’t mix, where one way of worshiping was prevalent, where the family was always mom and dad, not mom and mom, or dad and dad. And most importantly that the government was not to be trusted and we need our guns to defend against a government gone wrong.   Distrust of government as an institution, followed by distrust of “Liberal-Elitist” news organizations, and then the demographic changes (read immigration and birth rates) make this all possible.  They just needed a leader to help galvanize this thinking, and it came in the form of a con-man.  Seriously, there is a sucker born every minute.

Now that is not to say that the other side got it all right.  It is equally intellectually lazy and conspiratorial to dismiss 30 Million people, more over 70 Million voters as delusional.  This is where liberal elitism would call the delusion of millions as a “social psychosis”… (an excellent article in Psychology Today, by Douglas LaBier, A Growing “Social Psychosis” Clashes With Serving The Common Good : https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-new-resilience/201010/growing-social-psychosis-clashes-serving-the-common-good#:~:text=I%20use%20the%20term%20%22social,can%20be%20hard%20to%20recognize.)

A quote from the article:

“I use the term “social psychosis” because a psychosis is a mental state in which a person shows a diminished or loss of a sense of reality. It typically includes delusions and diminished capacity to function effectively in daily life. When delusions are shared on a mass scale, they can be hard to recognize. In fact, individuals who share the mass delusion may not be psychotic, themselves; what they embrace, is.”

However, elitism can be an enormous part of the problem.  Dismissing the conspiracies without understanding the underlying issues that lead to the distrust of institutions and even further, the distrust of science and data, will result in an exacerbation of the division.  A disconnect from reasoned thought and conversation on both sides through dismissive language (Labeling) is exactly what those that benefit from the con would continue to seek.  Consider those in power, who continued lie about the 2020 election and the 1/6 Insurrection, they do so because it is a source of power, and money.  Division ensures their own relevance.

Both sides of the divide, are living and operating on the basis of delusions on where this country is going as well as what is holding it back.

A source of the problem I believe is the distrust of Institutions on both sides, and a distrust of each other.  Recovery lies in the strength of our rule of law in this country, and our youth. The next generation who are willing to break down and change our institutions, and reconsider the biases that separate us from ourselves.

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Corruption of Our Institutions – part 2 of 6

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What corrupts our institutions over time, and what are the implications?

The source of our discontent is the corruption of purpose by our institutions.  By institution, I mean every organization that provides value to people.  This includes government, healthcare, education, religious institutions, and any business with more than a few employees.   Regardless of their intended purpose, they may become corrupted in this purpose, and by this, I mean they no longer successfully deliver the services we expect and/or are fair to their constituents, and employees.  In essence the bureaucracy is failing in its established purpose.

I believe there are three ways that organizations lose their way.  One, which is the most important to consider is the relentless need to be in, and stay in power; two, the constraint of rules that manage behavior but create a moribund bureaucracy in the name of controlling risk; and three, shortcuts to judgement in order to drive efficiency.

Power

At some point all institutions deal with threats from the inside, or from the outside.  Consider, democracy and capitalism; much has been written about the threats from other forms of government, fascism, and communism.  Our democracy was recently threatened during the 6 January insurrection, this was an autocratic existential threat to democracy.  One would think it vitally important to address, yet for the sake of retaining power one party is willing to ignore the threat and embrace a great lie.  This is a not so subtle example of power corrupting purpose.

In business there are many threats of new competition, or a new technology,  or new regulations (consider the threat of gun controls to the gun industry)… in medicine, new medical technology, or possibly illegal activity by members of the organization, as in the Catholic Church pedophile scandal.

Almost all institutions will seek to protect themselves from external threats.  More importantly every leader will be tempted to use all means at their disposal to retain power.  They justifying their hold on power for the good of the institutions.  The greater the threats, the greater the risk of an organization being driven by the personality of the leader.  She or he will find it necessary to protect their power.

Leaders will see threats to their power as something to put-down immediately.  Attacking the whistleblower, or the “perceived” enemy or competition.  It is a natural progression of highly driven and competitive individuals to demonize the threat and to rally the troops against the evilness of the threat.  In order to keep power and to control the organization, especially over those that may start questioning if the king is wearing clothes, the leader battles within and without the organization.  Eventually they see themselves as infallible.  They’ll fight to retain power, for the good of the institution, when it is really for their own benefit (power) that they come to this wretched state.  Good institutions root this out and force a change before it becomes a cancer that eats at the original purpose of the institution.   Core values can be recovered by those that remember the purpose, that believe in the purpose and are willing to fight the good fight.

Bureaucracy

Over time, many organizations deal with problems within the organization by creating more rules, more oversight, and as a result more bureaucracy.   Rather than deal with inadequate performance directly, they build more barriers to keep people aligned with the operation of the business.  Every time there is a failure another rule, or oversight or other constraint is added.  Over time this becomes all burdening.

One can see oversight as valuable in avoiding the corruption of purpose that can destroy an institution.  However, it would be better to educate, train, develop people and give them tools to be successful within the charter of the institution and its mission and minimize oversight and approvals.  Moribund bureaucracy is one that can no longer perform its mission, can no longer be true to its purpose, because it is too busy with infighting, too busy with checking each other, and slowing the process.  The US Senate and Congress at the time of this writing is more interested in checking the other party and the Executive branch than they are in serving the American people.   The filibuster had it purpose but is overused today to just say no.  Healthcare is more about avoiding liability and avoiding extensive payouts through checks and double checks than ensuring the health of patients… I know, I just went through the process of trying to buy insurance on the market. And I’ve seen this in business, when business cannot get out of its own way to serve customers.  They sometimes spend more energy serving their internal checks and balances than the customer, and then they are failing their shareholders and employees as well.

Labeling

This might seem like a strange one, but I’ve noticed that for the sake of efficiency, institutions have started using “labeling” as a shortcut.  Labeling can be something as simple as separating high risk and low risk patients, customers, suppliers, etc.  It can be labeling a patient with a diagnosis that cannot be undone.  If for example you get a diagnosis of cancer, and it turns out to be a less stage, or not cancer at all, insurance could be a problem in the future.  If your child is labeled as a slow learner,  what prospects do you have to change this and over what time and what is lost, if you later learn she or he has a hearing or vision deficit?

If you are labeled as a risk because of identity theft, you may not be able to get a loan through no fault of your own.  And in the worst case, if you are labeled as living in a high-risk zone (such as a minority community) you may find yourself paying more for a home loan or having your house appraised lower than is justified.  Labeling for the sake of efficiency is a way to undermine the purpose of an institution and can destroy value and destroy people.

Each of these means of corrupting the purpose of an institution, has the effect of damaging people’s faith in institutions. Furthermore these failures (especially leadership – personality cult) can result in institutions becoming a tool of destruction and damage if they are not checked.   Understanding what has happened to an institution whether it be Leadership failure, Bureaucracy, or Labeling, is necessary to understand our reaction to institutions and how to make them once again serve our purpose.  To be the tool they were intended to be.

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Revisiting Institutions Part 1 of 6

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Institutions Re-Examined… an Introduction
… if you prefer to read this series as one page, please go to https://mikevargamusings.com/institutions-re-examined/

Years ago I wrote about institutions https://mikevargamusings.com/2016/05/01/institutions/
In the context of finding value in these institutions, of seeing them as a tool by which we can do great good or terrible evil.   At the time I wrote that blog, I was urging that we have an obligation to look at institutions in the context of what they are accomplishing, their role in history, their purpose and use information available to us to have reasoned debate and to make the tools of institutions work for us.

As of late, I’ve been thinking about the distrust of institutions some of it valid some of it crazy, of the rise of alternative ways of thinking, and even a retrenching to the values we have and should hold dear.  Some might call the retrenching to values as conservatism.  Others would endorse a tear it down approach, in the name of Progressive Reform.  Both are fraught with problems as a generic approach.   I think there is something in between.   As I started to write about this, I realized this would be a multi-part series.  Over the next week or more, I will express my thoughts on the following:

  1. What corrupts our institutions over time, and what are the implications?
  2. The rise of “conspiratorial” thinking and how we should address this?
  3. The rise of “woke” thinking and “elitism” and how we should address this?
  4.  The advantage of rule of law and free press, and journalism.
  5. The next generation, educated, unchained, and ethical… Our hope!

Please stay tuned.

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January 6 Commission is a Requirement for Democracy to Survive

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We must have a commission on the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol.   The truth must come out and be displayed for our democracy to survive.

We had an assault on our government, with the expressed intent to stop our elected officials in the execution of their duty to certify a free and fair election.  The intent was to keep a man in power with truly autocratic tendencies.   His party, the party of Trump, with only Republican outward trappings, not surprisingly, does not want to get at the truth of how this happened.  They do not want their lies and potential criminality exposed.

We need two viable parties.  Our democracy depends on two or more competing platforms and multiple ideas.  The Republican Party cannot opt out of the process.  But if they continue to sell the lie that the election was stolen from Trump;  and if they continue to sell the lie that there was no threat to our democracy on January 6th, then they are disqualifying themselves from the democratic process.

I’ve heard many say, they all lie.  Nope. Not like this.  These lies are fundamentally un-American and un-democratic.  This is an attempt to acquire and maintain power, not on the strength of ideas and character, but on the strength and use of force, backed by lies, and by creating rules that make it difficult for those they do not care for to vote.

I’m still a Republican, but I’m embarrassed by what I continue to see happen to the party of Lincoln.

Power for the sake of power and wealth and no other purpose is not honorable, and not what we should expect of leaders.

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Time for a New Party

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There is no doubt now that Republican Party is lost.  It has become the Party of fealty to Donald Trump.  The test for participation in the party is support of the big lie, that the election was stolen from Donald Trump, and that the insurrection wasn’t a coup attempt, but was a protest to uphold the democratic rights of the people. Witness the ousting of Liz Cheney, and the booing of Mitt Romney.   Further Mitch McConnell has said that the party’s stated purpose is to resist all Democratic led legislation.  They will not negotiate.  The Republican party has no intent to participate in our American Government, no intent to operate in a legislative way addressing problems and seeking solutions.  The Republican Party is solely about returning to power in Congress, to do so they are perpetuating the lie that Biden stole the election.  They are about the cult of personality, and they will seek all allies they can find, even if it is white supremacists.  There appears to be no shame, no embarrassment that is too much.

The Democrats are being pulled further left, with the intent of redefining our capital system.  Instead of guaranteeing fairness in opportunity, guaranteeing equity in outcomes drives us to a culture of dependency underwritten by big government.   Spending is needed, but not at the proposed levels.  Not all problems are solved with tax and spend, and certainly new problems will be created.   I think we can all agree that we need investment in our future, but in a meaningful and productive way, not in giveaways to those that don’t need and, or don’t value that it is other’s money and hard work from who they are gaining benefits.

We need a third party, one that is interested in law and order, supportive of our democratic principles including voting rights and justice.  A party that believes in ensuring equal opportunities for all, a strong national defense, as well as leadership in the world, while getting out of people’s lives.   We need a fiscally conservative problem solving governing party, one that can moderate the extreme left policies and plans as well as the extreme right bias.  Problem solving, not name calling is what is needed.   A strong party in the middle will bring both Democrats and Republicans to a problem solving middle.  Coalitions may happen, but these can happen only through compromise.

Compromise is a good word.  Fighting and extreme positions at the exclusion of solving problems are a result of failures in understanding the purpose of government.

As the Republicans devolve into a party of grievances and power grabbing, we need an alternative to the Democratic Party that will actually participate in the legislative process.  This is good for democracy, and good for the American People.

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Support for COVID Recovery Bill

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This morning I was reading the Pew Research Surveys on support for the $1.9T COVID Aid Package Bill.    Pew reports that 70% of Americans support the bill.  This is a huge majority.  Even 41% of Republicans and Republican leaning Independents support the bill.  And yet 0% of Republican Representatives in Washington DC support the bill.  Republican governors and mayors support it, but despite this, the voices with the biggest megaphones are not able to move public opinion against it, and refuse to move in the direction of their constituents… amazingly I hear Republican Senators and Congressmen say … “sure if you are getting $1400 in the mail, you’d support the bill without understanding the costs” … how arrogant a statement!  Are they really saying that nearly 180M Americans and of that 30+M Republicans are too stupid to understand the positive and negative consequences?
I advocate for sensible and responsible investment in American people and our economy… and more importantly I advocate for sensible conversation and debate.   Washington Republicans are missing the boat on this.

 

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Evolving

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I wrote about de-evolution in a poem not long ago, as I was watching the seeming disintegration of norms.  The falling appart on the basis of ideas and words that in some cases had no basis in fact or science. https://mikevargamusings.com/2020/11/11/de-evolution/
In November, as the big lie was being told, I had concern for what it all meant for our institutions and way of life, I was  concerned for humanity.  I saw a form of disintegration happening.  I feared that vaccines would not arrive in time, that climate change would undo us, that an autocrat would never admit defeat, and the world would be worse for our children and grandchildren.

But I know Evolution is not a straight line up a mountain, and it is a rocky terrain, one in which you must sometimes descend in order to go further up.  In fact, we will only make leaps when there are threats.  Existential threats show us where our weaknesses are.  We are challenged to overcome such weaknesses.  It requires will as well as fortune.  For sometimes we do not have the right leaders, sometimes the planets will not align for our well being, and we’ll try different things and we learn.  A natural selection of sorts allows the fittest ideas, the fittest adaptations to win over the weakest ones in time.

The people chose order of our institutions and law over disorder and dismantling.  I doubt we’ll want to go back to such threats (most of us) and maybe we’ll strengthen our resolve to make democracy work? I think so.

We are social distancing (most), we are wearing masks (most) and we are vaccinating, leading toward a managed solution.   The result maybe fewer colds, flu’s and overall better health…. could this lower health care costs? Could our life expectancy rise again after we’ve beaten this pandemic?  I think so.

We are seeing the impact of climate change, it is no longer just an interesting thing for politicians to fight about.  We will have to adapt our infrastructure, we’ll have to consider our national security, and we’ll have to once again consider the global cooperation necessary to take care of the home we live on… Earth.   Will we get better at this and will this be good for all nations?  I think so.

The economic challenges of a K shaped recovery will create social unrest, social challenges.  I think we’ll understand that we cannot allow a drowning man to pull us down because he is struggling to survive.   Will we take care of each other, throwing out the life-saving ring?   Will we not all benefit from stimulus and investment in the well being of our economy?  I think so.

Forced into changing how we do business, as well as, how we educate.  I think we’ll find that some of the changes were good for business.  But more importantly, we will learn about the weaknesses in education, and we’ll find examples that work better than others, and we’ll adapt to those methods.  Will we evolve our communications and learning to an improved state after this set back?  I think so.

We will evolve.  We will see a revitalization of patriotism.  It will be aided by the return of sports, especially the Olympics this year.   Imagine the world coming together, and our country coming together after the challenges of 2020?  The sense of overcoming, the sense of survival will be strong, and the admiration of athletes that show us how they adapted to challenges as they demonstrate that the human spirit will prevail.  Will this change who we are and how we think, and maybe inspires us?  I think so.

There is no end… just evolution.

 

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The High Wire Act

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He amazes, he seems to defy gravity and good sense, he leaves us aghast and exhausted with his hypocrisy, but it is a glorious hypocrisy, one worth watching and learning from!

These are the thoughts that come to mind as I was watching Mitch McConnell’s (MM) speech just after he had voted to acquit Trump for incitement of an insurrection.   MM  is the politician’s politician, and as such is worth listening carefully to what he was saying.  Within the same day, within hours, he defends Trump by holding his Republican caucus together to acquit, then convicts him in words of being “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection, the damage, the deaths, and the attack on the constitutional duties of congress upholding our democracy.  He says Trump has not gotten away with it yet.   Suggesting that there is Department of Justice consequences for his actions.

MM acquittal decision was based on the admittedly questionable (by MM himself) constitutional argument that someone who no longer holds office cannot be impeached, because the penalty of removal from office is not possible.  And if it is impeachments purpose to prevent someone from holding future office, then he argues that impeachment could be applied to any non-office holding citizen.  The argument is specious and simultaneously an amazing high wire act.

What he is doing, is worth noting.  He is clearing his conscience by attacking Trump in his speech, but that is a minor point.  He is giving his party the narrowest, high wire argument to support their reasons for acquittal… while at the same time making it clear to donors, people that write big checks.. .that it is OK to come back to the Republican party.  They they will be cleaning this up and he, MM will be taking back the GOP from Trump.

Wow, what a high wire act… gives hope, gives danger, and entertains.   Frankly, I’m OK if there is no net if he falls.