From Houston TX , 13th January 2021
Watching full length, the abc's live telecast of the Congressional Debate on the Motion for Impeachment of president Donald J Trump today, I could sense the dimensions of public anger and the determination and decisiveness of a Legislature to save the essence and honour of the Nation's Democracy. The opening speech of the speaker Nancy Pelosi and the closing speech of Congressman Steny Hoyer presented the gravity of the constitutional crime the president had committed. It was notable that none of the speakers from the Republican side disputed the gravity of the charge. They questioned the lawfulness of a summary sentencing through a snap impeachment, it's urgency when the president is exiting in a week and it's necessity when he has assured a smooth seamless transfer of office. Many of the ultra brief speeches were precise,hard.hitting and bullet.like. None of them overstepped the time slot or pleaded for more time, as seen routinely in Legislatures in India. The standing homage paid to the Capitol police officer, who lost his life on duty, while containing the violence unleashed on 6th of January was touching.
As the Impeachment Motion trailed through the electronic voting, before getting passed with a 35 votes margin, my mind retraced the course of American politics I could witness on real time and virtual space during the last few months. My onward journey in August 2020 was an urgent adventurous mission to reach US to take care of our infant granddaughter and relieve the distress and agony of my son and daughter ( in law ), both of whom are physicians struggling with tight and trying work schedules in their hospitals. I was aware of the forthcoming US election and bit thrilled about getting a chance to witness it from within the country. Being absolutely confined to indoors, I could watch it only on the TV. I was able to palpate the socio.political divide deepening in the American Society and it's sinister consequences to the life of the people of the blessed country. With no personal stakes or mandate, I nurtured an expectation that the election in November 2020 would enable that people to rectify the deviance in polity.
We chose to watch the telecast of the election results in a home stay in the Galviston Bay, where the history throbs with memory of the final phase of Emancipation from Slavery. As the results trickled out and gathered momentum, the choice of our location to receive such an electoral verdict delighted me. The sight of our little granddaughter Lumi, putting forth her first steps on the carpet, as the telecast of the expected election results progressed, added to the delight of the occasion.
Subsequent weeks clouded my joy. But I hoped like many millions that orchestrated controversies would settle and people's verdict will certainly prevail.
What we witnessed on 6th of January in Capitol hill was shocking to even a person like me who is familiar with street violence and muscle.run politics of our country. It was saddening for me who could never master the skill to ignore Politics, even when I realise it hardly influences my material life directly. Probably, a mindset I imbibed during the formative second and third decades of my life, growing in the humanistic socio.political mileu of Kerala, the southern most State of India, explains that inability.
That exactly one week after that , the Representatives of People made a legislative response, to uphold the dignity and integrity of Democracy is reassuring.The legal standing of the decision or its consequences is beyond me and the scope of this write up. The promptness and decisiveness of the response is heartening to one who feels, seeks and finds a gentle flow of cool air as he breaths.
Incidentally, this was my longest stay in US. Almost totally confined indoors, and all communication limited through phone or internet, it deprived me leisurely car rides -as during stays in the past, through the beautiful landscapes of the Country that I adore.
In contrast, and to compensate, this winter 2020/2021 especially the November and the first two weeks of the January presented to me, closer views of the socio.political landscapes of the Country.
Let Obituaries and Postscripts on Democracy WAIT
Dr. K. A.Kumar
Trivandrum.695004
drkakumar@gmail.com
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