Debbie Mucarsel-Powell points to foreign despots to warn of danger for America

murcarsel powell
Mucarsel Powell charges that children could grow up in a less democratic America.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell recalled the flights of herself and others in her South Florida district from lands of despots to envision what she sees is the threat to America if the House of Representatives fails to impeach President Donald Trump.

Mucarsel-Powell, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee that drafted the two articles of impeachment being debated Wednesday, recalled that her mother had brought her from Ecuador to look for freedom and opportunity while she debated, a story that is shared by many of her constituents in Florida’s 26th Congressional District.

“We’ve left and experienced corruption in our countries of birth where brutal dictatorships have choked their potential, to benefit those in power,” Mucarsel-Powell said.

“This President, who was elected by the American people, has violated his oath of office and violated the rule of law,” she said. “The evidence is overwhelming that he withheld military aid approved by Congress and leveraged a White House meeting to extract a political favor from a foreign government. The president actively sought foreign election interference to benefit himself.”

Mucarsel-Powell said Trump presents “a clear and present danger to our democracy.” She added that the genius of America lies in the Constitution and the rule of law. She said that she gets chills when she thinks about how fortunate she is to live in America.

“I want my children and all of our children to feel the same way when they grow up,” she said. “However, if we sit idly by as cracks begin to appear in our democratic institutions, our children will be in the same situation like so many of us experienced when we left countries whose leaders destroyed democracy.”

Defending the Constitution, she concluded, “is my duty as a member of this body. That is my duty as a mother.”

Scott Powers

Scott Powers is an Orlando-based political journalist with 30+ years’ experience, mostly at newspapers such as the Orlando Sentinel and the Columbus Dispatch. He covers local, state and federal politics and space news across much of Central Florida. His career earned numerous journalism awards for stories ranging from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster to presidential elections to misplaced nuclear waste. He and his wife Connie have three grown children. Besides them, he’s into mystery and suspense books and movies, rock, blues, basketball, baseball, writing unpublished novels, and being amused. Email him at [email protected].


3 comments

  • No More Republicans !

    December 18, 2019 at 3:19 pm

    Keep up the good work, Debbie! You’re a credit to Florida and our country! The “despots” here are the current crop of Republicans – and, at least temporarily, they’ve replaced dictatorial “brutality” with dictatorial stupidity. But, give them time! Trump, himself, is well down the road to being a tinhorn, South American dictator – and the rest are licking his boots – so … ?!?!?!

  • Janet

    December 19, 2019 at 11:06 am

    Debbie Mucarcel-Powell’s husband represented a Ukrainian despot making over$700,000 according to the Miami Herald. For her, it is all about the $$$ when it comes to integrity.
    At her first State of the Union Address, she disrespected the Holocaust Survivor and the WWII Veteran when she refused to stand in honor of these heroes. Only shows at Veterans events for the photo op.

  • Diane

    December 19, 2019 at 7:20 pm

    Some people may have treated Rep Mucarsel-Powell’s statement of “clear and present danger” as a scare tactic, unfounded hyperbole; that is before the impeachment hearings began. Since then we have watched and heard the down right scary antics of Republican House members who denied the evidence, supported Trump’s conduct, and tried to vilify the brave public servants who testified in support of claims of his clearly unconstitutional actions. We would all be just as dumb if we ignored or made light of the warnings of those who have actually experienced a country falling into the hands of a dictator.

    It is well documented that Trump has an affinity for despots and dictators, on whom he heaps praise, e.g., Putin, Duterto, Mohammed bin Salman, Erdogan, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, Andrzej Duda, el-Sissi, al-Assad, Viktor Orban, even some dead, e.g., both Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi.

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