We’ve known this was going to happen for months, but today was the day. The Senate voted to acquit Trump rather than convict and remove him from office. The one surprise was that a single Republican, Mitt Romney, voted to convict. Despite Romney making the vote to convict in the Senate bipartisan for the first time ever, Trump has been let off the hook, which now truly frees him to do whatever he wants without the least fear that any person or entity will be able to rein him in or punish him. The brakes on the roller coaster are no longer functioning, and the tracks ahead are damaged.
Welcome to post-democracy America. We hope you enjoy your stay.
The Constitution was offered in completed form on September 17, 1787, the product of the Constitutional Convention presided over by George Washington. The Bill of Rights was accepted as the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution by December of 1791.
Since that time, elected office holders and their appointed officials swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution. Today, due to 52 Republican Senators who have broken that oath, the Constitution appears to be mortally wounded. There is a tyrant in the White House, and the only body designated to protect the nation from that tyrant has proven derelict in its duty. Yes, there is an election in November, but now, with Trump unfettered, quite literally anything could happen between now and then. It’s hard to imagine that Trump could prevent the election from happening—though I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he tried—but there’s a money-back guarantee that he’s going to cheat in every way he can. Already, twice, Republicans in Congress have let him off the hook for, enabling and encouraging foreign interference in a US election, once for Russia (the Mueller Report), and now for Ukraine. There’s no question but that he’ll do it again. And that’s not even to mention voter suppression tactics that Republicans around the country have enacted and are implementing as we speak.
That does not mean there is no hope. You can still win against a cheater if your response is overwhelming. What we need to do is get-out-the-vote with volume and enthusiasm that this nation has never seen before. Democrats can win the White House and the Senate and send Republicans back to their homes (or more likely some cushy lobbying firm on K Street). But when we win (I’m being optimistic here), will we be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again? Team Trump has wreaked havoc on the normal government operations, taking great glee in smashing decades-long traditions (particularly long-standing international agreements), with particular obsession applied to reversing any progress made by President Obama. This violence will take years to reverse, if it is reversible. Also, unlike the previous time the Democrats took over from the Republicans, we can’t afford to magnanimously refuse to prosecute the lawbreakers in the previous administration. Republicans must learn that there are consequences to the wholesale abandonment of rule of law. There are dozens of administration members who need to face charges for violating the Constitution in a variety of ways. Please, no more Mr. Nice Guys and Gals. Republicans have pushed this nation past the brink, and they must pay for it.
There are even more difficult objectives that truly need to happen, though the likelihood of their passage is negligible. These are tasks beyond any candidate’s legislative agenda, which, frankly, is hard enough. For example, some new constitutional amendments, one overturning Citizens United, another doing away with the Electoral College, just as examples, would make vast improvements on making our federal government more democratic. How do we remove the unqualified Federalist Society clones that Moscow Mitch’s Senate caucus has been stuffing the federal courts with? I fear we’re stuck with them for the next two generations.
Modern-day Republicans remind us that it doesn’t matter what the written law happens to say if those holding the levers of power find it convenient to ignore the law. The GOP has embraced a sociopathic tyrant. Someday, we will be rid of him, and the sooner the better. But that nation we used to think we were, that shining city on the hill (for all its faults)? That’s now gone, quite possibly forever.
Yeah, I’m a barrel of laughs tonight.
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Top Comments (February 5, 2020):
From your humble diarist:
This comment by TueBlueMajority on her interpretation of Romney’s emotions when he announced his vote to convict Trump for abuse f power. From Mystic54’s recommended post on why Romney’s decision to vote for conviction was important.
Top Mojo (February 4, 2020):
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Top Photos (February 4, 2020):
Thanks to jotter!