I believe an excellent case can be made for impeaching President Donald Trump. So I understand why Democratic elected officials are actively and passionately calling for impeachment.
Please don’t do it. It’s a trap. Right now, Trump is sitting in the White House, fingers ready to tweet, praying that Democrats in the U.S. House make the fatal mistake of playing the impeachment card.
Here is how Trump would respond (or a reasonable facsimile):
“Even though I had a huge Electoral College victory, the Democrats, and especially those in Congress, have tried to remove me from office. First, there was the contrived Mueller investigation. You see where that went. I was fully exonerated. That made Democrats very unhappy. So now, instead of doing their jobs and helping Americans by, you know, actually passing bills to fix health care and our broken immigration system, they’re spending all their time investigating me.
“Democrats with their 21 presidential candidates — and counting — know none of them can beat me, because we’re enjoying the strongest economic growth in U.S. history. So they decided, ‘Let’s take this out of voters’ hands and impeach him.’ That’s right, a year before the election, and they’re trying to take away your voice and vote. But they’re not gonna get away with it!”
Are there compelling reasons for congressional investigations into all things Trump? Absolutely. But are America’s voters getting fatigued and frustrated — even Dems — by nonstop investigations? Afraid so.
It’s not like, if Congress dials it back, then Trump gets a pass. We know for certain that the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York is investigating Trump’s finances. We also know that redacted portions of the Mueller report point to other federal investigations still evolving. Let’s allow these investigations to proceed and determine outcomes.
Let’s find the strongest candidate who can unify our party and our nation. Let’s have strong but realistic proposals to address the serious priority issues facing our nation. And then let’s have a well-conceived and thought-out electoral strategy that’s inclusive and neither blows off nor writes off any constituency. I believe that’s what you’re supposed to do in a democracy.
— Rick Jasculca,
Chairman, Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications, Chicago
Ban physical punishment
As we struggle to deal with little AJ Freund’s death and now NFL player Tyreek Hill’s issues with his son, we might consider recent information on clinical and research perspectives related to physical punishment.
Current research no longer divides physical punishment from physical abuse. Why? Because studies demonstrate that physical abuse is nearly always associated with physical punishment, and the frustration, helplessness, and rage which can be related to efforts at behavioral discipline and socializing.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association recently urged using alternatives to physical punishment. While useful, they did not go far enough. One wishes they had called for prohibition of physical punishment.
In countries that have prohibited physical punishment, the consequences are not punitive but educative — i.e., help for parents and children with respect for infant, child and adolescent development.
In one long-term outcome study in a European country that had banned physical punishment in all settings several years ago, results demonstrated a decrease in child homicides.
Over 100 countries have prohibited physical punishment in schools. Over 50 countries have prohibited physical punishment in all settings. These prohibitions are consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989.
The United States? Our nation has not prohibited physical punishment in all settings, and 19 states still permit physical punishment in schools.
— Paul C. Holinger,
Professor of psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
Do more to protect kids
After reading the Tribune editorial re the latest Department of Children and Family Services scandal (“Gov. Pritzker, you can end the excuses at DCFS,” May 9), I am heartbroken — and angry — again.
This is a disgrace, not only because another child has died from abuse, after being beaten, but that this happens again … and again … and again in Illinois.
What do we get from the politicians and bureaucrats? Excuses.
The solutions are simple, albeit challenging: Allocate the state funds necessary to lower the caseloads of the disgracefully overburdened caseworkers; cut the DCFS administrative bureaucracy and union work rules; implement the recommendations of acknowledged child welfare experts, as identified in the Tribune editorial. Then hold the DCFS bureaucrats accountable.
Stop the excuses. Fix this disgrace — now. No excuses.
— Bob Eder, Chicago
