US politics seems like pseudo-reality TV show

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I have never carried a torch for former US President Donald Trump, nor any other politician or political party, but would like to put in my two-cent worth following the latest Congressional hearing covering the January 6, 2021 storming of The US Capitol.

I have read summaries of previous hearings on this matter, and seen highlights on news reports, but viewed the July 21st hearing in its entirety. Having watched many hearings from the US Senate and House Of Representatives both live and recorded over many years, this one served as great fodder for Democratic mouthpieces masquerading as late-night talk-show hosts. The hearing’s slick presentation gave the impression that it was a court drama providing evidence, and then to tell the viewer,“You Be The Judge”, except that only the prosecution’s side of the story was shown, with no defence rebuttal submitted.

From my perch on cloud nine, politics is but a necessary evil with participants as entertainers who are sometimes comedic, or dramatic, or sometimes tragic. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives recommended that President Bill Clinton be impeached in 1998 for lying about his dalliances with Monica Lewinsky and others, but loyal Democrats in the Senate voted for acquittal. Two decades later, with political tables turned, of the seven Democrats standing at the lectern advocating to impeach Donald Trump in 2019, six had voted against impeaching Bill Clinton back in 1998. There are many in both houses of the US Congress today who have old scores to settle going back decades. With the leading Republican at this current hearing being Liz Cheney, who can forget the Shakespearean quote: “The sins of the father are laid upon the children.”

She holds the Wyoming seat once occupied by her father, Dick Cheney, who went from Congressman to the White House in various capacities for presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush. Then in 2000 he was chosen to find a suitable running mate for George W. Bush; lo and behold, he chose himself, subsequently becoming vice president. Realising that George W. was not the brightest crayon in the box, Dick Cheney became the master-puppeteer behind the curtains of the White House stage, and the most powerful vice president in the United States’ history.

To cut a long story short, Dick Cheney and cohorts led a felonious attack on Iraq in 2003 under false pretences that weapons of mass destruction were aimed at America and its allies. Cheney and his White House cronies were charged and convicted in absentia as war criminals by an international tribunal in Malaysia in 2012. Dick Cheney reportedly was proud of his monikers of ‘Darth Vader. and ‘The Prince Of Darkness’, now his daughter, dressed in an elegant white suit, apparently waiting to sprout angel wings, sits in overly righteous judgement on what looks like a pseudo-reality television show.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada