I watched Day 2 of the impeachment trial on and off yesterday. The case that the House impeachment managers laid out against Trump was pretty damning. When the defense gets a chance to make their argument, it will be interesting to see how they do it. They will have a difficult time explaining away the very graphic videos as the insurrection unfolded at the Capitol. However, I think they will have an even more difficult time explaining away Trump’s own words captured via the hundreds of Tweets he sent out before the election, during the election and after the election. Trump was setting the stage for ‘The Big Lie’ months before the election and the insurrection was just the culmination of all that preceded it.
One of the things that struck me the most during yesterday’s presentations was one of the things that Texas Democratic Representative, Joaquin Castro, put forward. He laid out a timeline of the attack on the Capitol and contrasted that with the timeline of actions Trump took during this time. Remember, at this time, Donald J Trump was the Commander in Chief of the United States. A rational person would assume that the Commander in Chief would do something to try to stop the violence or, at a minimum, deploy the National Guard as the nation’s capital was under attack. He did, after all, swear an oath to “protect, preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States.” And what did he do? He did nothing to try to stop the violence or to send help to the overwhelmed capital police force.
Think about that for a minute. The capital of the United States of America is under attack and the Commander in Chief does nothing to either stem the violence by telling his supporters that he condemns their actions and they need to disperse or by sending National Guard troops to assist. Isn’t that the job of the man who is sworn to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ the constitution? That is a clear dereliction of duty and a violation of his sworn oath. Even if you can convince yourself he did not incite the insurrection, once the violence on the capital started, he had an obligation to use the full power and authority of his office to stop it – and he failed to act. He failed to act to protect his own capital, the Congressmen and Congresswomen, their staffers and, in some cases, their families. If he’s not guilty of inciting the insurrection, he is certainly guilty of dereliction of duty and, as such, he should never be allowed to hold a Federal office again.
The Republican senators are really in a tough spot but they have an ‘out’ and I expect many of them will take it. Given the lackluster legal brain trust that makes up Trump’s defense team, I believe it is highly unlikely they will be able to mount a defense argument to dismiss the highly detailed presentation of the facts laid out by the House impeachment managers. So, if the facts are against you, what do you do? You argue the process and that will be the ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card that many Republicans use to wiggle out of having to vote to convict Trump. They will simply state that they don’t believe the trial is constitutional since Trump is out of office, so that is why they have to vote to acquit. I’d be willing to bet large sums of money that there will be many more Republicans who use that excuse as opposed to stating that the House impeachment managers didn’t prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Using the ‘the trial is unconstitutional’ excuse to vote against conviction will allow them to escape the wrath of Trump and escape the wrath of the Trump base. It’s a virtual win-win. The only losers will be American democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law. I guess that’s a price many of these Republicans, who also swore an oath to defend the Constitution, are willing to pay.
Frankly, I just don’t understand the political calculus at work for many Republicans right now. There are many Republicans who are not only afraid of Trump but are also tired of the never-ending chaos. Not to mention that under Trump’s leadership, the Republican Party has lost the House, the Senate and the White House. If they have an opportunity to sideline this man, why wouldn’t they take it?
There will no doubt be some short-term blow back from the Trump base but the next elections aren’t for two years and that’s a reasonable amount of time to try to placate all of those people and make the case for new leadership. If they acquit Trump, he will be around for a long time causing even more chaos and he’ll be hell bent on further tightening his grip on the Republican Party. His first act of business will be to exact revenge upon all of those who voted against him and that is likely to fracture the party even more than it already is. It sure seems to me that it’s a question of short-term pain versus long -term pain! I know which I would choose.
If Trump is acquitted, we can all assume that “FrankenTrump”, all pumped full of steroids, will be unleashed and will be feeling invincible. And the Republicans, who have been unable to muster the courage to hold this man accountable – again! – will only have themselves to blame for whatever happens as a result of his further actions, lies and efforts to subvert American democracy.
It looks like Trump will be acquitted by claiming it is unconstitutional. That verdict does not proclaim innocence but declares a technicality. He still can be prosecuted by federal judges like the rest of the insurrectionists.
I believe this trial is a referendum for secession in the South that has lasted over 150 years. White supremacy is the main purpose for the insurrection. The flags that were at the insurrection were secession flags. If there is another reason then I would like to know what it was.