It is difficult to discern truth/reality when words are loosed from their meaning and thus serve to distort the situation itself. The impeachment vote is largely described, on Dec. 19, as being along “partisan lines.” This unfortunate description is not limited to impeachment but to most of the political activity in Washington today.

Partisanship, by definition, would suggest that both sides were acting out of “strong support for their party’s policies and are reluctant to compromise with their political opponents.”  This description gives honest people the impression that the opposing sides are pursing/defending a policy-based agenda. Many will dismiss the results of impeachment as merely a difference of policy direction- because of the “partisan” label.

From almost everything I have seen related to this impeachment process there has been little to no discussion of political policies or policy differences on either side. This impeachment is about behavior and has little to nothing to do with either party’s political policy or direction. The specific behavior cited in the indictment would earn any civil servant or military member a jail sentence- period. No well-run organization, public or private, would prosper with such leadership behavior and this has been proven over decades if not centuries. The behavior in question translated to our daily personal interactions would see us shunned by colleagues, friends or family members.

This is not “political partisanship,” this is about what values and standards of behavior we support for our nation and our children.

Jeffrey Gardner

Cumberland Foreside

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