Leader Pelosi and likely Chairpersons of the major committees in the 116th Democratic controlled House of Representatives are saying there may be dozens of investigations initiated against President Trump after they convene in January 2019. So what? The so what is, if they proceed, it could have a devastating downside for our nation.
For a few days following the November elections there was some talk of cooperation among the Executive Branch, the House and the Senate. It was brief and, I believe, wishful thinking.
The round of investigations that are planned in the House have the real potential to deepen the divide in this country and transform the “ditch” dividing us now into something resembling the Grand Canyon.
Take off your rose-colored glasses America; the intent of the investigations is to eventually prompt a vote of impeachment in the House against President Trump; notwithstanding the likelihood that it would never be consummated with a conviction in the Senate.
The investigations have the potential to promote so much animosity between the House and Senate, that the Congress will be beyond dysfunctional, bordering on complete abrogation of their constitutional responsibilities. The investigations reportedly may include everything Donald Trump has done in his business career, everyone he has associated with prior to entering politics and all of his positive initiatives since becoming president.
A relevant question is, could the House Democrats doing the investigating withstand that same level of scrutiny of their lives and their conduct as politicians? Remember that sage old saying about throwing rocks while living in a glass house.
There will also be issues other than the investigations that will contribute to the widening of the divide. For example, Pelosi has vowed to roll back the tax breaks for tens of millions of families; the tax breaks that also were the catalyst for the resurgence of every aspect of our economy. Her actions threaten to halt economic growth.
While the “caravan” has now legitimized serious concerns over national security and citizen’s safety, Democrats called the caravan a sham dreamed up by the Republicans to win the mid-term elections. Obama called President Trumps actions at the border a “stunt”. Meanwhile, Democrats refuse to cooperate on desperately needed immigration reform.
Additionally, one of the great ironies in political history, rather than cooperate on health reform the liberals continue to blame Americans’ number one concern, health care, on President Trump for his inability to “fix” Obamacare. Obamacare has been a disaster from the day 100% of the Democrats voted for it and is the greatest single “tax” ever perpetrated on the middle class.
The list of critical issues facing our nation is long; but the Democratic party platform can only be summed up as, resist everything.
How bad can the nation-wide divide get? A reputable journalist, New York Times Pulitzer Award winning columnist Thomas Friedman, recently wrote, “A civil war in America may be coming if we cannot find a way out of the tribalistic political and cultural fracturing that threatens our future.”
Also, historian, author and strategic analyst Gregory Copley writes, “Yes, there is a civil war looming in the United States. It will appear as an evolving chaos.”
We are not talking about the 1860’s kind of civil war with hundreds of thousands of soldiers doing battle. It will principally be a war of words and actions that threaten the necessary interaction of the functions of our Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches as we know them today. However nonthreatening that may sound, it has the potential to do irreparable damage to the very foundation of our society.
If the past eighteen months is an indicator, the predominance of the national mass media will be generally supportive of the liberal-led investigations. Polls continue to affirm the findings of a Harvard study in May, 2017, that, in rounded numbers, about 90% of the daily reporting on the Trump administration has been negative by ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Those organizations reach the majority of Americans and shape their thinking.
A civil war needs fuel, and a series of divisive House investigations will be that daily fuel. So, what will Copley’s “evolving chaos” look like?
As I have written many times over the years, culture is a powerful and pervasive force and when it is negative one cannot move forward. Conversely, with a positive culture, you are on the track to greatness. It is possible that the current culture of blame and hate that has consumed our country will reach a tipping point and move us towards a civil war.
It could happen. It could happen during the upcoming 116th Congress.
Lieutenant General, US Army retired, Marvin L. Covault is the author of Vision to Execution, a book for leaders.