Back in June, City Councilors Jim Cote, Lenny Gentile, Al Ciccone Jr. and Rick Lipof exercised a parliamentary procedure called a “charter privilege” to postpone a vote on a citizens’ petition advising Congress to impeach Donald Trump.
The council vote will now take place this Monday, 7:45 p.m. at City Hall.
Should they vote in support, against or abstain?
Forget impeachment for now. The Country’s not ready for it and there are just too many deplorable, but not impeachable foibles that this Administration and Congress have enacted or are attempting to enact related to the environment, labor and worker rights, education, health care, food safety, consumer protection. That’s where the focus should be.
I can’t believe that the Republicans in Congress and the White House have made so many callous, mean and frankly stupid policy decisions that reward those at the top of the economic pyramid and that are potentially so detrimental to middle class, working class, the sick and the poor. There’s something radically wrong with the Democrats if they can’t make hay out of all this. Premature calls for impeachment only blur the needed messages of outrage and revulsion as the midterms come closer. And highlighting Trump’s tweets, the way we do, only blurs things further. Focus on the issues and the gross and cruel inequities that have descended on America from those in power.
I’m a member of the EPA Alumni Association in Washington and we’ve been getting heartrending bi-weekly updates on what is clearly an attempt by the Trump Administrator to destroy or neutralize the Agency’s most important National, regional and even global initiatives, many of which took decades to fully develop. The health and welfare of all Americans, but particularly the most vulnerable , is clearly at risk.
Then, I have a close friend who worked for the US Park Service and he’s privy to the impact of proposed cutbacks and privatization schemes on more than a century and a half of pioneering leadership within the Service to establish, preserve and enhance our National Parks.
When I worked in Washington, our EPA and the Park Service were international icons that almost every country in the World looked to for guidance on how to protect the environment and natural resources. That’s somewhat diminished these days, but the legacy of accomplishments are still there. Do you enjoy sailing on Boston Harbor as I do, or do you like to visit the Cape Cod National Seashore, or just breathe reasonably clean air when you jog or bike?? That’s only possible because there was an aroused citizenry and committed civil servants led brilliantly and decisively by both Republican and Democratic Chiefs over the years.
Then I have another friend who is still hanging on at the Labor Department down in Washington and she’s appalled by the developing roll back in workplace safety rules, the right of workers to form labor unions.
This is a systematic effort to dismantle and neutralize the best and most humane domestic accomplishments by the Federal Government and it’s happening much faster than I or most people thought it possibly could. Many folks just don’t recognize how precarious domestic developments have become in DC. And getting Trump out of there probably won’t do much to derail these efforts if the machinery of reaction is still in tact. And, for God’s sake, if you’re concerned about all this, get active politically for the long haul because just getting rid of Trump isn’t enough to turn the forces of reaction into retreat.
Vote yes.
It is a time to be bold, a time for every thinking person to stand up and say that our government isn’t for sale and that being the President doesn’t give you free license to blackmail and obstruct justice. This resolution only calls for an investigation into the potential crimes of this President, not impeachment. We have more than enough evidence to show that such an investigation is warranted from the President’s own public appearances and admissions alone.
@Bob Burke-
Here’s what Massachusetts Democrats, not Donald Trump have been responsible for in the eight months since he has been elected:
1)Our health care insurance, thanks to Obamacare, is now the second highest in
the country, but Ed Markey is out showboating about Putin and Russian
Collusion.
2)The interim babysitter for UMASS
Boston just closed a day care
center that services single parent students trying to get an education
while raising a family. The school has been loaded up with patronage hires
whose employ at the school will
fatten their pensions.
3)The state legislature voted itself
a 62 percent pay raise while cutting hundreds of dollars of millions of dollars in aid and vital services to at risk, and low income residents
4)Newton has continued to devolve into an exclusive, elite, wealthy, primarily white city that becomes ever more so each time a new historic district is created or affordable housing project is rejected,
but impeaching Donald Trump should be our primary focus yes?
As intolerable as Trump may be, I see this vote by our councilors as an inappropriate act of grandstanding.
As you may know, impeachment does not necessarily mean removal from office; it is only a formal statement of charges. Impeachment is a trial of sorts that begins typically in light of evidence established via a bipartisan investigation. A process that is currently underway.
A vote by Newton to impeach is a call to convict Trump in the absence of due process. The older I get, the more I’m amazed at how well our system actually does work. In this case, there was enough bipartisan suspicion around Trump to warrant a congressional investigation and a special prosecutor. Any hard evidence of wrongdoing will surface and if undeniable, Congress will initiate impeachment hearings.
This process that is currently in motion does not benefit from The City of Newton’s councilors demanding impeachment. I think that the resolution is self-serving, not smart … And it appears as such.
Impeachment of President Trump with removal from office will effectively make Mike Pense our President – And as a newly engaged gay citizen, I feel that Mike Pence as President, along with a with a conservative legislature at his disposal, is far more likely to impact my life negatively as than Mr. Trump.
Pence believes being gay is a choice, and said keeping gays from marrying was not discrimination, but an enforcement of “God’s idea.”
Counselors, Time is precious. Is your time and energy not better spent on making a difference here at home? I see this resolution as an indulgence, and honestly, when the news blows up about this vote, I’ll feel a little embarrassed that this is my home.
@Mike: I think there’s been some confusion about the actual resolution. It is a call to investigate potential crimes to see if there’s enough evidence to impeach. It is NOT a call for impeachment.
President Trump has been doing a great job..all the pertinent numbers are going in the right directions.. This spiteful proposal is nothing more than pretentiousness and liberal whining.. Maybe a vote should be taken to change Newton’s motto from “The Garden City” to ‘The Snowflake City” instead.
@Bryan – There is already a special counsel appointed to investigate potential interference by Russia in the past election, the scope of which includes potential obstruction of justice in Comey’s firing. Realistically if there were any impeachable crimes committed it’s going to come out of that investigation and specifically the Comey firing.
I understand why the city council has to hear the petition and give it consideration but this is clearly a case of no action needed. The city council should be focusing on matters that it has the authority to take action on, and there are plenty of issues within the city that need attention, just look at councilor Auchincloss’s post on the front page. Let special counsel Mueller and his team deal with whether President Trump committed an impeachable offense.
@Paul Green. I couldn’t agree more about the corrosive and demoralizing impact of patronage, favoritism and cronyism on the politics of this state and the huge hand that many Democratic officials have had in promoting this practice to serve friends or enhance their own position. It’s one reason independents or “non-enrolled” voters now outnumber Democrats in Massachusetts. and I have no more use for it than you do.
For personal reasons, I also concur with what you said about how this has impacted the current disslocations at UMASS Boston. I was in the Navy, but never learned to sail. Ten years ago on my 71st birthday, I started learning to sail with the Umass Boston sailing program on Dorchester Bay. I quickly learned a reputation for being the slowest, but most persistent student they had ever had to deal with, but IO quickly bonded with everyone there. The program was run by a great director named Jason LeBlanc and a spirited group of student sailors who were also members of the School’s fledgling competitive sailing team that amazed the sailing community by operating on a shoestring budget and winning some tough matches against well endowed teams from West Point, the Naval Academy Dartmouth and other schools I’m trying to remember. The young men and women let me crew during some of their practice sessions and I had the time of my life doing it. I still sail with some of these guys today.
Unfortunately and quite cruelly, a few influential and politically connected individuals within the School engineered Jason’s removal and the breakup of the sailing team. Jason had a history of speaking his mind about things that were blatantly wrong and they didn’t like it. To make a long story short, the opponents were successful despite the efforts of a lot of us to save the program. So, I’ve personally seen something involving political cronyism and it ain’t pretty.
Now, where I’m going to take you to task is your continual referral to historic districts as some effort to gentrify a neighborhood for the benefit of a wealthy elite group of homeowners. I’ve been one of the organizers for a proposed historic district in the Highlands and we’ve looked to Upper Falls as a model for what we think would best fit here. The Newton Upper Falls Historic District is still a collection of mainly small to medium sized homes that housed generations of mechanics, laborers, machinists and other working type folks who labored in the mills and small businesses that dotted the village. This is still one of the few places in Newton where a family without a great deal of wealth or high professional job can still buy a home. And there’s not one chance in 10 that most of these relatively modest homes would still be standing if the historic district hadn’t been created and this is quite apparent by the growing number of high priced McMansions that have sprung up in the Falls outside the historic district. I could make somewhat similar statements about the historic districts in Auburndale and Newtonville. You can oppose historic districts as a matter of principle; “a man’s home is his castle” and all of that, but it’s difficult to see how they contribute to a level of gentrification that wouldn’t already exist without the historical designation.
@brian Isn’t that putting the cart in front of the horse? If I were to investigate you, I’m likey to come up with enough to file a complaint. I hate Trump as much as the next guy, but this resolution smacks of poor sportsmanship and lacks integrity. We should let the justice department do it’s job
Putting aside whether this is appropriate for the City Council, I’m not sure impeachment would improve much in D.C. The advantage to Trump being so despicable is that he can’t get anything done. I’d rather see the Republican agenda stalled than moved forward under Mike Pence. The vice president might put some respectability back into the White House but I don’t want a hard right-wing ideologue running the country either.
@Gail: As Bob Burke notes, the Trump Administration is actually being quite effective in dismantling protections for our air, water and lands.
Trump and Pruitt are the biggest threat to the EPA in its 47 years of existence
@Emily, Of course. But I fear that Pence could do additional damage with the support of his party.