Banter Bites

Over – But Not Done

Although 57 of 100 senators voted "guilty," many of the others took the position you can't try a president after he left office – so we'll never know how many believe he's actually guilty.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: As expected, Red and Black looked at the impeachment trial outcome very differently.

Black was fascinated by the legal maneuvering of the impeachment trial, and admits she's a frustrated attorney at heart. However, she realizes that her opinion of what happened and why is just that – an opinion. But the facts remain that Trump's the only president to be impeached twice, and this was the most bipartisan vote in any presidential impeachment trial (seven Republicans voted he was guilty). He's the only president to seriously threaten the peaceful transfer of power. And he's the first impeached president to have left office before being tried. And, there may be more firsts based on the looming amount of legal trouble on the horizon.

Red, on the other hand, doesn't care about all the firsts. Well, she does, but it's not first and foremost (pun intended) in her mind. But as someone who loves history, she can't help but wonder how this chapter in American history will be written. Will it be the trial where some senators, whose lives were at great risk when the Capitol was overrun by rioters, were able to "ignore" Trump's behavior because he was no longer president? Will it be the changes we saw in what people deemed "acceptable behavior" during the last four years? Will it be the power of social media to spread both information and misinformation? Will it be the physical and emotional attack on the Capitol and democracy? Will it be how it has caused a divide within the Republican Party? Or, all of the above?

But we both agree,

Only time will tell how Trump and his presidency will go down in history, and whether he'll actually face consequences of his actions. Meanwhile, we all have been affected by this – in many different ways. But, hopefully, we can now move on …

If you’re looking for a reason not to mow, there’s logic behind letting it grow …

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: As is often the case, Red hadn’t heard of the latest trend, “No Mow May,” which is all about lawn maintenance (or the lack of it) until Black started sending her articles about it.

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It’s hard to imagine one holiday celebrates … spring, women’s fertility, workers, and labor rights. But it shouldn’t surprise you that even though it dates back thousands of years, we each “dance around” different aspects of May Day.

If you’ve never thought about May Day, don’t worry, most of us haven’t.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red appreciates that some holidays have historical significance, some have ancient traditions, and some are opportunities for one of Black’s unexpected, but often amusing and clever, comments, but May Day checks all those boxes.

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Spring’s supposed to be full of optimism as it represents a new beginning, with longer days, the trees and flowers blooming, the birds chirping, and a general feeling of rejuvenation. So, whose idea was it to rudely interrupt it with Tax Day? And the fact it’s April 18 this year instead of April 15 (when we ran the article below in 2021, we got two extra days) hardly makes it any less, well, … taxing.

This quote is perfect, except that we don't know who said it, "People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women."

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: It's probably a safe bet (yes, the IRS even has specific rules on how to handle gambling income and losses) that no one looks forward to Tax Day, but it would be easy to make assumptions that how people approach this potentially stressful day would be impacted by how much, or how little, money they make …

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