In Anticipation of the Impeachment Trial…
1/25/21
Like many, I’m looking ahead to Trump’s second impeachment trial with a certain amount of dread. I feel no ambiguity about the appropriateness of proceeding. I’m just worried about the outcome and the aftermath.
To my eyes, ears, and mind, Trump’s transgressions are transparent. Beyond promoting the big lie of winning the election “by a landslide,” Trump is on record for actively sabotaging election results and aggressively working to disenfranchise millions of legitimately registered voters. On various occasions he leaned on governors, attorneys general, and election officials to override election results in multiple states. Further, he directly incited an assault on the Capitol — a violent assault that resulted in loss of life. Those who fail to acknowledge these facts reflect a willful disregard of reality. Furthermore, holding only those who physically violated the Capitol to account while giving a bye to those who encouraged those seditious actions is akin to punishing small-time drug dealers and lookouts while leaving the kingpins free to continue operations.
None of these antidemocratic actions can be credibly denied. The problem, however, is that we still have a huge number of compatriots who believe the lie that Trump won the election, making his actions, in their eyes, perfectly acceptable — patriotic, even. And as long as that lie continues to be embraced by so many people, calls for unity will prove hollow and fruitless. Critically, the power to change the calculus rests squarely on the Republican party and the right-wing media that have either perpetuated the lie or at least allowed it to metastasize with a wink and a nod. The notion that, somehow, we as a country can come together if only the Democrats look the other way is fanciful. We won’t have the remotest chance of unifying unless and until the legitimacy of the big lie is broadly repudiated by the Republican party and the right-wing media and the holdouts who continue to reject this reality are recognized as cousins of holocaust deniers.
One might ask, is there no legitimacy as to concerns about election integrity? Of course there is, but this seemingly reasonable consideration is a smokescreen. You’ll notice that none of those calling to examine election protocols to assure the integrity of our elections have anything to say condemning voter suppression or systematic disenfranchisement due to gerrymandering. Of course not. None of that is going on. Just massive fraud. The Ted Cruzes and Josh Hawleys of the world deserve censure for their craven efforts to stoke the passions of the deluded. I expect history to reward them with a similar pariah status as that earned by Joe McCarthy; but without a critical mass of Republican leadership showing a willingness to discredit Cruz and Hawley, that judgment may take some time to come.
It’s actually in the Republican party’s self-interest to step up and do the right thing right now. The consequences of not doing so are pretty obvious, starting with (a) the likely legislative reaction to throw out the filibuster rule, (b) extending statehood to Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, (c) revising the rules pertaining to the electoral college, and (d) expanding the number of seats on the US Supreme Court. To the extent that the status quo is sacrosanct to Republicans on any of these issues, they would be advised to consider their coming vote at the impeachment trial carefully. Failure to hold Trump accountable for his assault on our democratic traditions will be read as an action that perpetuates the political divide in our country, leaving the Democrats little choice but to do whatever they believe necessary to further their agenda independent from reliance on bipartisan participation, since that participation will be so clearly shown to be out of reach.
Inevitably, I expect the Republicans to rant and rave about the “radical” agenda that the Democrats will be putting forth, but Republicans have no standing to advance that adjective. Radicalism is embodied by the speech, thought, and deeds of Trump and his supporters who have trampled our democratic traditions. Only by holding perpetrators of sedition accountable will we hope to preclude similar actions from happening again. If there were ever a time for Republicans to play the long game, this is it.
