I like and read comic books. A series I did not start reading when it first came out was Howard Chaykin’s six-issue mini-series Divided States of Hysteria. Soon after the first issue was released, the series was being talked about in the comic book press and not very kindly. It was alleged to be homophobic, Islamophobic as well as promoting various kinds of violence, especially against those who are transgender.
There were write-in campaigns for the book not to be published and the issue that had already been released be withdrawn. Some people were encouraging others not to read the book. The tumult started all over again when an image of the cover to a future issue was released and people were offended by that too.
With that background, I bought the first two issues of the series and read them while trying to keep an open mind. I have known Howard Chaykin’s work for 40 years, from when he drew the comic book adaptation of Star Wars to other books where he worked as writer and artist. His work has certainly evolved over the years and he is quite the provocateur. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two issues of Divided States of Hysteria, so much so that I bought the next four issues of the series as and when they were released. There is no better compliment for a creator of comic books than buying his or her work.
In other words, for this one reader the wheels on the outrage bandwagon fell off.
A week or two ago I was in a London bookstore looking for something light to read. For £1, I picked up the Penguin Little Black Classics edition of The Constitution of the United States of America. It was of interest to me because, not being American, my main exposure to the Constitution was from a few songs in Schoolhouse Rock and, more recently, the Constitution is regularly invoked by those who insist that President Trump should be impeached. Now I had the opportunity to learn for myself if this was indeed the case rather than merely accepting the words of those with another agenda.
The Constitution is a remarkable document. The flowery language is reserved for the preamble but it is mostly a statement of structure and principles. As a national and notional rulebook, it is quite remarkable. There are election rules, divisions of power, etc.
But here’s the thing: nowhere is there a category of specific, impeachable offences. The two presidents (Nixon and Clinton) who had been under threat of impeachment proceedings in congress where found to have committed actual crimes that brought the office of the President into disrepute.
What that means, in my opinion, is that if President Trump says or tweets something offensive or stupid (and he has) these are not ground for impeachment. It just means that Trump is not someone I or many others would like to spend time with.
It goes farther. For example, it has been reported that a number of American generals have stated publicly that they will not follow President Trump’s orders regarding military action. Again, this is not grounds for impeachment as it is merely hypothetical. Such a command has not been given. But if the order is given, then should the generals disregard the orders of their commander-in-chief, that is then a case of insubordination against them, not him. Or, to put it another way, just another day at the Oval Office.
What this all comes down to is this: whether one is talking about the Divided States of Hysteria or the Hysterical States of America, there are issues on which one cannot simply accept what others are saying. The world would be a lot better place if we all read, learned, thought for ourselves and came up with our own conclusions. Then perhaps things may not seem so incendiary.
#fakenews