Mere reflektions mirror reflexions more reflexes minor refractions.
I like the symmetry of an early 2020 impeachment, with a 1999 impeachment, and in particular I like to read all of the conservative legal luminaries from the Clinton-era on how perjury, bribery, and obstruction of justice are all impeachable offenses that attack the integrity of the political system itself and display contempt for the law, See, e.g. Charles J. Cooper, A Perjurer in the White House?: The Constitutional Case for Perjury and Obstruction of Justice as High Crimes and Misdemeanors, 22 HARV. J.L. & PuB. PoL'y 619, 620-21 (1999) ("[T]he crimes of perjury and obstruction of justice, like the crimes of treason and bribery, are quintessentially offenses against our system of government, visiting injury immediately on society itself, whether or not committed in connection with the exercise of official government powers.").
That these arguments apply with equal force to the present day goes to show that the force of an argument is not always as significant as the expedience with which it may be wielded.
In fairness (which at this point, what’s the point of fairness?), as a bipartisan tonic, read the histrionic responses from liberal law professors and lawmakers who seek to make impeachment something that is not just once in a blue moon, but reserved for the Nixonian abuses of power and misuse of the Office of the President.
Fearful symmetry, principled consistency, alienated majesty – if it’s all the same to you, let’s just call it good and agree never to mention this moment again.
(Assume for the sake of this lede that the next election cycle does not render the concept of the future obsolete). If future generations seek to understand the collective mindfuck in which early 21st century Americans wallowed in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001, they could start by reading “Get your war on” by David Rees. The comic relies exclusively on a rotating cast of clip-art characters in a non-descript office setting, often communicating with one another on the phone while seated at their desks, giving voice to their confusion at living in a frightened country that has been knocked off its axis and living in a time when it was not just impolite, but unpatriotic, to declare what a fucking stupid mess of everything we’d made for ourselves.
The voice of Rees’s strip was unabashed, cheeky, antinomian - the clip art characters give voice to the mix of anxiety and other-worldly madness that early Dubya leadership both responded to and helped precipitate. Dubya was a bumped Klonopin of becalmed serenity compared to the full-on DMZ-on-bath-salts psychosis of the Trump era, but Rees manages to cut through the double-speak of early War on Terrorism (the Forever War, first edition) with the right mix of acute sociological diagnoses and jaded (but not cynical) humanity.
On profanity: “I do use profanity among friends when I’m annoyed or frustrated about something. So, in a sense the strip talks in the way I talk, but when I do interviews and media stuff, I always try to remember to look decent with a collared shirt. Be polite, well-spoken and not use profanity. In a way the strip is like a diary and I try not to censor myself, but there is some artifice to it and it is scripted. You know it would be like meeting David Mamet and saying “Wow, he uses so much profanity in his plays, but it’s strange because he hasn’t called me a cocksucker at all during the entire interview.” http://genprogress.org/voices/2005/02/21/14248/get-your-war-on-an-interview-with-cartoonist-david-rees/