I
am watching the Trump Impeachment hearings with interest. I watched the events
unveil on January 6, and concluded that day, because I had been
paying attention for the last four years, that President Trump was obviously responsible
for inciting the insurrection. He has spent his entire personal life courting conflict, and
devoted his one-year campaign and four-year presidency to provoking, condoning
and relishing in violence. Trump is not a difficult man to understand.
At
the same time, the big question surrounding his impeachment seems to revolve
around what Republicans will do. Actually, this isn’t the big question. The big
question is why won’t Republicans do the right thing—and again, the answer
appears obvious.
No
attempt has been made to hide this fact that Republicans are expected to vote
for acquittal because they fear political retaliation from Trump supporters, should
they do the right thing and stand up to Trump by condemning the January 6
insurrection. This apparently outweighs the fear the rest of us have of the
damage their dereliction to duty will do to our democracy should they give
Trump a pass.
I
think House managers are doing an excellent job—an effort, we are told, which is
being missed by many Republican senators who are behaving childishly, as Trump has
often been accused himself, by refusing to pay attention.
Overall,
I think most senators are paying attention. As with Trump’s election in 2016,
setting a low bar is oftentimes what we do best in this country.
One
thing does bother me about the hearings, and I don’t know if changes will be made
down the road. I hope so, but fearful they won’t.
Despite
the fact that most Republicans appear to have made up their minds to acquit,
House managers are proceeding as if they are dealing with impartial jurors, who
will ultimately do the right thing.
The
nation can count on fifty Democratic senators voting to convict, not because
they are biased, un-American traitors as the ex-president suggests, but because
they were at the Capitol on January 6, witnessed the violence, and don’t need
to be told what an insurrection looks like, or who provoked it.
This
impeachment is all about convincing 50 Republicans that what they saw really
happened, and that they must do the right thing so that it never happens again.
Republicans would have us believe that now is the time to come together and
respect President Biden’s call for unity, and question whether Congress can
work as a unified branch if Democrats insist on going forward with, not one,
but now the second impeachment of Donald Trump.
Democrats,
despite their desire to work with Republicans, know they are taking this
unprecedented action because Donald Trump has not once, but twice, committed
impeachable offences. Democrats are not the villains. Donald Trump is the
villain.
Neither
are Democrats the jurors everyone is questioning whether they will do their
duty.
House
managers should stop addressing the Senate as a whole and start aiming their
case directly at the Republicans. This cannot be another, “there were good
people on both sides,” or “no harm, no foul.” When the argument is between
right and wrong, justice can only be on one side.
There
was real harm done on January 6, physical harm and psychological harm, and our
democracy was threatened, and continues to be threatened.
Whether
this crime is punished rests not with the Senate, but with Republican senators,
and House managers need to stop ignoring the elephant—pun intended— in the room,
and forcefully and unequivocally address their case to the only people in the
room that matter.
It
is not a question of, can we allow
the president’s actions to go unpunished, but can you, Republican senators, allow the president’s actions to go
unpunished.
It
is not a question of, can we honor
the oath we took and stand up for democracy, but rather, can you, Republican senators, stand up and
protect democracy.
It
is not a question of, can we muster the
courage to stand up to Donald Trump and say no, no more, enough, but rather can
you, Republican senators, stand up,
finally, and say no, no more, enough.
No
effort has been spared to point out that impeachment is not a trial. That is
not to say a trial isn’t taking place. Make no mistake; the Republican Party is
being put on trial—the trial of public opinion, which I would remind them is
where election are won and lost.
There
can be no doubt how history will look upon this impeachment effort, and at the
behavior of Senate Republicans. History is full of accounts of heroic
individuals standing up for what they believed to be right, as well as cowards
who for political expediency did what they knew to be wrong.
The
senators should be aware of this, but for those that aren’t, House managers
should make the case, so that there can be no doubt, that this impeachment will
not be decided by the Senate. The decision to convict will be determined by
Republican senators, and history will hold them accountable, and the
accountability in question might very well be, who was responsible for the fall
of democracy in America.
