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| ‘The World Is Watching’ | ‘The World Is Watching’ |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| After watching the first day of open hearings in the impeachment inquiry, readers took to the web to reflect on what they witnessed in Congress. | After watching the first day of open hearings in the impeachment inquiry, readers took to the web to reflect on what they witnessed in Congress. |
| Responding to the editorial “Republicans’ Best Defense Is a Bad Offense,” to Nicholas Kristof’s column “If Trump Were Anyone Else …” and to Noah Bookbinder’s Op-Ed “The Evidence of Wrongdoing by Trump Is Overwhelming,” some readers relished the opportunity to right what they considered an grievous imbalance of power while others sought reprieve from what seemed like an endless, or pointless, process. | |
| “I find myself losing interest in what is clearly a broken system,” wrote Missy from Texas. “Trump is up to no good, Congress is broken and I’m disenchanted with the system.” | “I find myself losing interest in what is clearly a broken system,” wrote Missy from Texas. “Trump is up to no good, Congress is broken and I’m disenchanted with the system.” |
| A selection of those comments are below. They have been edited for clarity and length. | A selection of those comments are below. They have been edited for clarity and length. |
| The world is watching the United States now. If party politics keeps the G.O.P. from fairly investigating and punishing corruption, America will never be able to ask another foreign country to investigate and punish its own corruption. If the very tenets of democracy fall at the hands of members of Congress who are more interested in preserving power than discovering the truth, America can never push its democratic ideals on other countries again. This test is about so much more than Trump and Ukraine. This test is about loyalty versus integrity and the credibility of the United States as a world power. — Jeff, Zhangjiagang, China | |
| First responders in times of crisis get a lot of praise from politicians for their qualities of character, and that is a very good thing. But government officials like Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and Ambassador William Taylor are not first responders; they are hard core and extremely capable diplomats on the very front of our nation’s representation in the world, our best defenders of democracy and our nation’s interests. These men, evidenced through their testimony today, should be acclaimed as heroes of our nation and its principles of democracy and law. — Pardon Me, Birmingham, Ala. | First responders in times of crisis get a lot of praise from politicians for their qualities of character, and that is a very good thing. But government officials like Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and Ambassador William Taylor are not first responders; they are hard core and extremely capable diplomats on the very front of our nation’s representation in the world, our best defenders of democracy and our nation’s interests. These men, evidenced through their testimony today, should be acclaimed as heroes of our nation and its principles of democracy and law. — Pardon Me, Birmingham, Ala. |
| My husband and I watched in the waiting room of a local hospital as this historical and solemn moment unfolded in real time. The room was full of people from all walks of life, some paying attention and some ignoring it. An older gentleman said to us, “They should all be impeached.” Two women sat purse-lipped and nodding whenever Jim Jordan (Republican of Ohio) and his gang spoke. — Darby Stevens, West Virginia | |
| The only wrongdoing I perceived was two self-serving career bureaucrats explaining a 75-year-old institutional paradigm of what should be U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia — not necessarily the policy of this president, who was duly elected. Is this supposed to be the impeachable high crime and/or misdemeanor? I’ve never heard more hearsay evidence presented. — Bill Weber, Basking Ridge, N.J. | The only wrongdoing I perceived was two self-serving career bureaucrats explaining a 75-year-old institutional paradigm of what should be U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia — not necessarily the policy of this president, who was duly elected. Is this supposed to be the impeachable high crime and/or misdemeanor? I’ve never heard more hearsay evidence presented. — Bill Weber, Basking Ridge, N.J. |
| As serious as this is, and as much as I have followed all the news and hoped the House Democrats would do the right thing — even if Republicans wouldn’t — I find myself losing interest in what is clearly a broken system. I had to turn the television down when Nunes spoke and I found myself thinking that while a very serious crime was being tried, the criminal being impeached was meeting with Erdogan, who is threatening to buy Russian missiles. I would have told Erdogan to go take a hike and then placed as many sanctions as I could on Russia. | As serious as this is, and as much as I have followed all the news and hoped the House Democrats would do the right thing — even if Republicans wouldn’t — I find myself losing interest in what is clearly a broken system. I had to turn the television down when Nunes spoke and I found myself thinking that while a very serious crime was being tried, the criminal being impeached was meeting with Erdogan, who is threatening to buy Russian missiles. I would have told Erdogan to go take a hike and then placed as many sanctions as I could on Russia. |
| Trump is up to no good, Congress is broken and I’m disenchanted with the system at the moment. — Missy, Texas | Trump is up to no good, Congress is broken and I’m disenchanted with the system at the moment. — Missy, Texas |
| The difference between Democrats and Republicans was nicely demonstrated in the difference between the opening statements of two California congressmen, Adam Schiff (Democrat) and Devin Nunes (Republican). One party believes in democracy. One party seems to have lost its way, if not its mind. It has definitely lost its ability to tell right from wrong, truth from fiction and American interests from Trump’s interests. — LT, Chicago | The difference between Democrats and Republicans was nicely demonstrated in the difference between the opening statements of two California congressmen, Adam Schiff (Democrat) and Devin Nunes (Republican). One party believes in democracy. One party seems to have lost its way, if not its mind. It has definitely lost its ability to tell right from wrong, truth from fiction and American interests from Trump’s interests. — LT, Chicago |
| What amazes me about yesterday’s testimony is not just the evidence of quid pro quo, but also the White House’s willingness to send shoot-from-the-hip cowboys like Rudy Giuliani to the front lines of ultrasensitive regions such as Ukraine, undercutting the best people the U.S. has to offer. — DJD, Germany | What amazes me about yesterday’s testimony is not just the evidence of quid pro quo, but also the White House’s willingness to send shoot-from-the-hip cowboys like Rudy Giuliani to the front lines of ultrasensitive regions such as Ukraine, undercutting the best people the U.S. has to offer. — DJD, Germany |
| Once again, the Democratic elites are tone-deaf. They have no idea how the hoi polloi think or feel. I watched a couple of hours of the hearings. My eyes crossed and my head spun. Who could keep track of all the names and places, events and times? The Democrats are very much mistaken if they think these hearings will increase support for impeachment. Most people will have the same reaction I did and tune out. To change minds, they’ll have to do more than expose the facts. They’ll have to educate voters as to why the facts matter. — Ron Cohen, Waltham, Mass. | Once again, the Democratic elites are tone-deaf. They have no idea how the hoi polloi think or feel. I watched a couple of hours of the hearings. My eyes crossed and my head spun. Who could keep track of all the names and places, events and times? The Democrats are very much mistaken if they think these hearings will increase support for impeachment. Most people will have the same reaction I did and tune out. To change minds, they’ll have to do more than expose the facts. They’ll have to educate voters as to why the facts matter. — Ron Cohen, Waltham, Mass. |
| Jim Jordan (“motormouth delivery”) kept claiming that aid to Ukraine was given by “this administration.” Actually, aid was given by Congress, which holds the purse strings. Trump, however, contrary to law, was holding up this congressionally authorized aid — dangling it — while pressuring the vulnerable new chief executive of a small, beleaguered country to do his bidding for his own personal reasons. This needs to be said again and again, and every ploy the Republican representatives throw out needs to be named and shamed. They did themselves no favor appearing so aggressive, aggrieved and irritatingly hostile. They are playing to an audience of one, and choosing tactics likely to displease other viewers, of which I was one. — TheraP, Midwest | Jim Jordan (“motormouth delivery”) kept claiming that aid to Ukraine was given by “this administration.” Actually, aid was given by Congress, which holds the purse strings. Trump, however, contrary to law, was holding up this congressionally authorized aid — dangling it — while pressuring the vulnerable new chief executive of a small, beleaguered country to do his bidding for his own personal reasons. This needs to be said again and again, and every ploy the Republican representatives throw out needs to be named and shamed. They did themselves no favor appearing so aggressive, aggrieved and irritatingly hostile. They are playing to an audience of one, and choosing tactics likely to displease other viewers, of which I was one. — TheraP, Midwest |
| It needs to be emphasized that Trump’s attempted blackmail had real-world consequences beyond politics: for Ukrainian soldiers, the security of Europe and U.S. security. Thank you to Ambassador Taylor, George Kent and the American officials there on the ground trying to do their part to help a free Ukraine stand up against the Russian threat — and thanks to all those who risked their careers to alert the public and Congress to the perversion of our foreign policy goals. — Kevin, Washington | It needs to be emphasized that Trump’s attempted blackmail had real-world consequences beyond politics: for Ukrainian soldiers, the security of Europe and U.S. security. Thank you to Ambassador Taylor, George Kent and the American officials there on the ground trying to do their part to help a free Ukraine stand up against the Russian threat — and thanks to all those who risked their careers to alert the public and Congress to the perversion of our foreign policy goals. — Kevin, Washington |
| Rep. Jim Jordan is absolutely shredding the Democrats’ arguments, to the point that they look silly. The notion that these proceedings will sway voters still holds, but not in the direction that Chairman Schiff and others in his party had hoped. Moderate Democrats in the House are now at risk. At what point will they say, “Enough?” — Mike, Mason-Dixon line | Rep. Jim Jordan is absolutely shredding the Democrats’ arguments, to the point that they look silly. The notion that these proceedings will sway voters still holds, but not in the direction that Chairman Schiff and others in his party had hoped. Moderate Democrats in the House are now at risk. At what point will they say, “Enough?” — Mike, Mason-Dixon line |
| I came of age, politically, watching the Watergate impeachment hearings. I was 14. Although teens of the era were taught to distrust older Americans, we’d watched in awe as Sam Ervin, John Sirica and Peter Rodino led the effort to defend the rule of law. And we were grateful to the three senior Republicans — Barry Goldwater, John Rhodes and Hugh Scott — for meeting with Nixon to advise him to resign, which he did the following day. But where are the Goldwaters and the Scotts now, the men who put their loyalty to the Constitution above their loyalty to party? — The History Prof, New York | I came of age, politically, watching the Watergate impeachment hearings. I was 14. Although teens of the era were taught to distrust older Americans, we’d watched in awe as Sam Ervin, John Sirica and Peter Rodino led the effort to defend the rule of law. And we were grateful to the three senior Republicans — Barry Goldwater, John Rhodes and Hugh Scott — for meeting with Nixon to advise him to resign, which he did the following day. But where are the Goldwaters and the Scotts now, the men who put their loyalty to the Constitution above their loyalty to party? — The History Prof, New York |
| While all the evidence thus far points to abuse of power by the president and overwhelming cause for impeachment, Representative Swalwell focused on a much more fundamental issue: Whether the president’s actions were simply wrong. Ambassador Taylor agreed. That was a powerful statement, one that every American needs to ponder. More to the point, every Republican who is defending Trump needs to ask themselves, “At the end of all this, am I proud to call Donald Trump president of the United States?” — Ockham9, Norman, Okla. | |
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