Do You Hear What I Hear?

In the Middle of All the Political News This week, I hear a Christmas Carol in My Head

The last few days have been dizzying in the speed and complexity of revelations about the Trump administration. To say anything less would be the Mother of All Understatements. It is coming fast and furious now, from all directions. More – much more – to follow, and at an increasing pace, I would wager.

I was trying to sort through the latest batch of all this a couple of days ago. Suddenly, in the back of my head (kind of an echo chamber effect – apparently, I have a lot of room to spare in there), I heard something odd. I heard a refrain from the Christmas song Little Drummer Boy: “Do you hear what I hear?” How odd, I thought. Where did that come from. And why?

Then the next line popped up, and I knew why: “Do you hear what I hear? In your palace warm, mighty king?” I confess that I never cared much for this song. It’s a bit sappy, the text is not much, and the musical qualities seem a bit flat. But I always liked that one line. It spoke to me in saying “You who are powerful have abused that power. Now justice is about to come down on you like a ton of bricks.” Nice thought, that one. You can see why that is now buzzing around in my head. Hello, King Donald.

It is too early to know how all this will go. But I am reminded that at one point during Watergate I sensed a shift in the political/social cosmos. Suddenly history and momentum were reaching a point of no return. What seemed like a fool’s errand became one of our finest moments of national history. Just enough people had just enough conscience and perspective to do the right thing. In so doing, they tipped the balance.

The Trump administration is not having much luck building that wall on our Southern border; they have, however, built quiet a wall of obstruction in matters of impeachment and investigation. But that wall increasingly looks like a leaky dam. The cracks are showing up here and there. That, too, will spread and accelerate in the coming days and weeks (not months). Looking back someday, we are likely to say the testimony by our former Ambassador to Ukraine was the tipping point. We should be thinking about a statue of her somewhere. Same for that first whistle blower.

We are seeing a familiar story, although on a scale we have rarely, if ever, seen. Cracks are picking up everywhere. Investigations are coming to roost. Documents are produced or leaked. People decide to testify. Rats begin turning on each other.

The corruption and lawlessness of this administration is now getting drug into the daylight. An ever broader and deeper swath of America is saying they have had enough. It is, in many ways, worse than we thought. To top it off, how much of this is simple financial greed is rather amazing. I guess these people never think they have enough.

The Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan types in Congress are hopeless and will never see the light, but others will. Even if it’s only the light of self-preservation. I am now betting that at some point the writing will be on the wall and history will make a course correction. I hope I am right. Every day this administration continues is a curse in so many areas.

Pay close attention now, daily. Things will move quickly and on several fronts. History is about to come calling. Let’s hope we get it right. If we do, you will be witness to something extraordinary. Don’t let it slip by you unnoticed.

What happens the next six months will likely shape this country for the rest of most our lives.

       Bill Clontz

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