Resolutions, Revelations, and Rebukes – Oh My!

Dear Editor,

A fellow Republican inquired of whether I thought as “good” the ‘Resolution of Disappointment and Rebuke,’ drafted against Senator Ben Sasse, and passed on a majority vote by the Nebraska Republican Party State Central Committee (SCC) Saturday, 27 February 2021. I replied that my thoughts remain conflicted.

Notwithstanding that 251 individuals from SCC District (315), inclusive of nine counties, signed their names to a petition demanding Senator Sasse be censored – the least of their desired penalties, which ranged from “recall” (unconstitutional), to “resignation” (a snowball’s chance), to “expulsion” from the Republican Party (unenforceable), to “Senator Sasse, one short rope, one tall tree, and some assembly required.” …

I admit a qualified approval with the “rebuke” amendment (having no alternative), as the word holds a similar, if not formal, equivalence to “censure.” However, I am “deeply disappointed and saddened” in knowing the resolution fails to address that Senator Ben Sasse did more than “support” the Democrats’ second illegitimate impeachment of President Donald J. Trump... Sasse betrayed both the Constitution and the spirit of the Law.

Firstly, our junior senator voted to convict a former president; and did so by way of a false premise: Criminal Incitement of Insurrection against the Government of the United States.  Secondly, President Trump did not resign from office to avoid impeachment; rather he served his full term. In that light, there is no legitimate comparison to the 1876 impeachment of William Belknap (Secretary of War, under Grant’s Administration), who resigned to avoid impeachment, and upon which Senator Sasse partially based his flawed justification.

I state “partially” because Ben Sasse’s claim of fidelity to the Constitution is a sick joke – his true motivations are an irrational hatred of Donald Trump, a twisted envy of Trump’s accomplishments in comparison to his own paltry record of legislative sloth, and Senator Sasse’s shameless political opportunism. But then what should Nebraskans expect from an arrogant, self-serving political neophyte, whose education exceeds his intelligence?

Third, contrary to Senator Mitch McConnell & Co.’s despicable alignment with the Democrat media narrative, President Trump did not commit any objectively criminal act; nor was he responsible for those who did so.  The seven Republican senators who colluded in this debacle did however do just that – violating the Supreme Law of the Land: The Constitution of the United States. And, being one of the seven mental dwarfs, our “Dopey” wasted no time marching behind the Democrats’ pied piper, Pelosi, merrily singing “Hi-ho!” all the way down the path to political oblivion. Perhaps our junior senator believed he would find his pot-o-gold in Democrat Disneyland because the plain meaning of the U.S. Constitution held no glory for him. If we wish really hard, we might discover the hidden meaning Senator Sasse divined from the Constitution’s text:

“Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall extend no further than removal from office…” (Art. 1, Sec. 3, Cl. 7); “The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (Art. 2, Sec. 4); “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.” (Art. 1, Sec. 9, Cl. 1); When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside…” (Art. 1, Sec. 3, Cl. 6).  What’s the point? The Senate possesses no jurisdiction to try a private citizen.  The framers made their intentions clear on the matter in Federalist 39 (Madison) and Federalist 69 (Hamilton).  In Federalist 42, James Madison specifically speaks to a prohibition on the admittance of British Common Law practice into the U.S. Constitution; and he likewise excludes admission of the unequal felony practices of the several States.

Senator Sasse also ignored the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brandenburg v. Ohio 395 U.S. 444 (1969), which is stare decisis in testing First Amendment cases.  Brandenburg established three elements necessary for speech to constitute criminal incitement. President Trump’s 6 January 2021 speech met not even one of those three.

Whether I think the resolution “good” is moot – it passed. However, and more pointedly, Senator Sasse could not care less: In his latest public response to the SCC resolution against his failures and actions, Senator Sasse again told the Nebraska GOP’s “weird worshipers of one dude” to essentially go pound sand.

Governor Ricketts is thus living in an alternate universe, if he believes Nebraska Republicans will “unify,” in any meaningful way, while a member of our congressional delegation remains a tone-deaf, non-repentant non-reticent Judas.  The governor is losing 3rd District support for asserting that Senator Sasse’s betrayal should be forgotten, forgiven, or otherwise ignored – that is a political pipe dream. In the eyes of most Congressional District-3 Republicans, Senator Ben Sasse is “persona non grata,” and all the cheering for Republican unity will not change that ground-based reality.

Bottom line: where I am not obliged to violate the U.S. Constitution or the moral principles of my Catholic conscience, I will support the Republican Party and conservative ideals. I will do so in spite of the occasional betrayals committed by privileged pretenders, elitist jackasses and imbecilic intellectuals – such as those who confuse loyalty to the U.S. Constitution with “the weird worship of one dude.”

Bruce C. Desautels

Chairman, Hitchcock County Republican Party

Committeeman, District 315, Nebraska Republican SCC