Max Stearns
I'm not good at protests or rallies. I feel out of place. I dislike simplistic chants, the equivalent to shouted bumper stickers. I disfavor radically oversimplifying the complex. Part of the annoyance, or charm, depending on your view, of academics is their tendency to see nuance everywhere when others wish primarily for clarity.
But history doesn't take place in a classroom or on a blog. Those venues can aid history, not create them. There are times when it's important to feel connected with, and thus part of, history even when, or if, doing so puts you outside your personal comfort zone. I've been committed to opposing this administration from the start. Ironically, Trump supporters, to the extent any care about my views, might regard that as vindication. After all, they will say, it implies that I, and those who are like-minded, have all along favored impeachment, spending all this time in search of a suitable offense. This is entirely mistaken.
One FB friend claimed the present case for impeachment would be stronger if Democrats had not, all along, sought to do so for nothing in particular. With as much respect as I can muster for such views, nothing is further from the truth. There is a world of difference between seeking to impeach Trump for radically overdetermined reasons and hoping to do so for a dearth of reasons. The bases for impeaching Trump are now, and have been all along, radically overdetermined. As for me, I have no qualms about pursuing impeachment now based on activities that, among the record of overdetermined justifications, appear most compelling in this critical historical moment.
The Baltimore rally that I attended last night was perhaps not the most impressive. The speaker quality was mixed, and the signage was only occasionally notable. But there was genuine spirit there, that of decent Americans, young and old, of varying races, religions, and backgrounds, coming together to say enough is enough.
I welcome your comments.