Steve Chapman is a member of the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune. He wrote here what I was thinking. Trump did profound damage to our democracy, and a majority of Republicans endorsed his vicious attack on our Capitol and on democracy itself. He spent months complaining that the Presidential election was “rigged,” unless he won, in which case it would be valid. When he lost the election decisively, he refused to concede and launched a barrage of lawsuits, all claiming “voter fraud.” His lawyers never produced any proof of fraud, his obeisance Attorney General told him there was not enough fraud to change the outcome of the election, his director of election cyber security told him the election was fair (and was fired for it). YetTrump and his lackeys continued to rage about fraud, even though all his lawsuits were thrown out. He couldn’t even get a win from judges he appointed, which baffled him. Unwilling to admit defeat, he summoned his MAGA followers to DC on January 6, promising them a “wild” day.
Wild, it was, beginning with an incendiary 70-minute speech by Trump, urging the mob to March on the Capitol and “fight like hell” or lose their country. They did as he instructed. They broke through police lines. They were enraged and violent, beating the po’ice who tried to keep them out of the Capitol, which had not been invaded since the war of 1812. They sacked and ransacked the Capitol, while members of Congress, assembled to certify Joe Biden’s election, were hurriedly evacuated. There were only minutes between the physical evacuation of the legislators and the rush of the mob into their chambers. We can only speculate what would have happened if they had seized Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, and other members of Congress. It might have been a bloody massacre. Trump watched the horror on television and did nothing to call off his followers. How close we came to a violent coup!
The whole world was watching as our democracy hung in the balance.
Was Donald Trump responsible? Of course he was. Mitch McConnell admitted as much after he voted to acquit him because he was a “private citizen.” This is the same McConnell who refused to start the trial while Trump was still in office.
The seven Republicans who voted to defend our democracy instead of licking Trump’s soiled boots deserve our thanks: Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Some of them, like Liz Cheney of Wyoming, were condemned by the leaders of their state Republican Party, for daring to defend the Constitution and their oath of office.
This is what Steve Chapman wrote (in part):
One of the most familiar lessons of the Donald Trump era is that no matter how bad today is, tomorrow can always be worse. We learned over and over that there is no bottom to his capacity for outrageous conduct, and there is no limit to his party’s tolerance for it.
Jan. 6 was one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of the American republic. An incumbent president who had decisively lost his reelection roused his deranged disciples to launch a massive attack on the U.S. Capitol in an effort to keep him in office. It was an attempted coup, nothing less. Lives were lost, members of Congress and their aides were traumatized, and the president who instigated the attack took pleasure in it.
But Saturday’s Senate vote to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial was worse. Forty-three duly elected representatives of the people of their states chose to ignore or rationalize his shocking blitzkrieg. They repudiated their sworn duty to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
No American president has been so openly contemptuous of the constraints of the Constitution as Trump. He decided long ago to treat any defeat at the polls as the result of fraud, regardless of the reality. If the democratic processes of our system did not give him what he wanted, he would wage war on them. And he did — starting months before Americans went to the polls and continuing for months afterward.
Any elected government can be hijacked by a skilled and ruthless demagogue. But in the design of our system, Congress is supposed to serve as a counterweight to the president, jealous of its prerogatives and independent of the executive branch. The impeachment power is the ultimate check, allowing legislators to remove any president who abuses his office.
But the impeachment power now has about as much importance as the Third Amendment — which forbids quartering of soldiers in private homes during peacetime. Trump’s second acquittal leaves no doubt that for most Republican members of Congress, party comes before country, now and forever...
Congressional Republicans, with a handful of noble exceptions, are more than willing to excuse the inexcusable if it comes from a president who shares their partisan affiliation. Maybe they are afraid of the political consequences they would face for breaking with Trump. Maybe they think what he did to advance the GOP agenda — tax cuts, deregulation, conservative judges — is bigger than what he did to sabotage constitutional government.
Maybe some even relish the idea of right-wing extremists terrorizing elected officials to advance Republican policies. Whatever the motive, the damage is deep and possibly irreparable.
The danger produced by this dismal outcome is not so much that Trump will run again in 2024. Chances are good that by then, he will be indicted and convicted for at least one felony, whether for tax evasion, campaign finance violations, solicitation of election fraud or other crimes. He would have trouble running for president from a correctional institution. Likewise if he decides to flee to a country that has no extradition treaty with the U.S.
The real significance of the Senate’s refusal to convict Trump is that it normalizes behavior that once would have been anathema to either political party. It assures his followers that he did nothing wrong. It eats away at the foundation of our form of government. It invites a future Republican president — shrewder and more disciplined than Trump — to install himself permanently in the White House.
It may sound impossible in a republic as long-lasting and resilient as ours. But since Jan. 6, a lot of things that seemed impossible have come to pass. And they have inflicted a wound on our democracy that may never heal.
Donald Trump should face the full force of the law for his multiple crimes. He may be convicted for interfering with the election in Georgia, for tax evasion in New York, or for many other crimes. But he escaped punishment for violating his oath of office and unleashing a blood-thirsty mob on his Vice-President and the members of Congress, a crime that sits at the feet of the 43 senators too spineless to hold him accountable.
On February 13, 2021 forty-three Republican Senators forever tied their names to a man who led a murderous mob against the Government of the United States. The few Republicans who voted to bring the man to justice need to leave the party while they still have a chance. Abandon all hope for the ones who remain.
From someone who lives in “Trump country”, it was much, much bigger than Donald Trump. It was Republican county chairs, Republican boards of election members, local elected leaders. They all either promoted this lie or refused to contradict the lie.
Part of the reason so many Trump supporters believed the lie was because LOCAL leaders told them it was true- people they know personally and trust.
It’s a much bigger problem than Donald Trump.
That’s why I don’t think “civics education” will fix it. One would need specific instruction in voting process and procedure and even then they’re never going to believe it if all the people they elect and put in leadership positions locally spread the lie.
It’s bad for the country but it’s also a real violation of trust between Republican elected and appointed officials and their voters. They lied to their (local) voters. Over and over and over. Trump didn’t create that. The potential must have been there prior to his election because they all so easily adopted his tactics.
Concentration of wealth guarantees the future election of charlatans like Trump.
Are ed reformers ever planning on addressing the fact that they are pushing really radical school privatization laws all over the country?
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2021/02/12/school-choice-concerns-iowa-mostly-myths-education-freedom/6723425002/
I just love how they’re all pretending this isn’t happening. “The ed reform movement” is now 100% privatization lobbying- they completely misled the public about their work and goals.
They’re pushing laws to replace public education with low value vouchers where each family chooses educational services from a list of unregulated contractors. This is just a fact.
Democrats are supporting this? Just a complete and utter betrayal and a lie they told their own voters.
Ed reform should tell the public the truth. They’re “reinventing education” by cutting funding by half and privatizing it. They’ll replace public schools with cheap commercial junk that won’t come NEAR to offering the services existing public schools now offer.
Shouldn’t Arne Duncan and DFER and the other thousands of full time employees of ed reform have to explain this to the public? How did they go from “improving public schools” to replacing public schools with a 7k voucher and a list of junk contractors?
Bait and SWITCH. They misled the public about their intent.
Donald Trump isn’t the only pol who lies to his voters. Democratic ed reformers consistently mislead voters and have for years.
This was NEVER about “improving” public education. It is now and always was about privatizing education, as evidenced by the HUNDREDS of school privatization bills ed reform elites are all pushing.
When public education is gone will any of these people be held to account for misleading voters and the public? They couldn’t sell privatization honestly so they just figured they’d jam it thru and hope we didn’t notice?
Ed reform harms students in existing public schools because ed reform opposes the EXISTENCE of public schools. They need to be straight with voters about that.
“Neal McCluskey is the director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute. Corey DeAngelis is the director of school choice at Reason Foundation. They are co-editors of the new Cato Institute book “School Choice Myths: Setting the Record Straight on Education Freedom.”
I mean, seriously. Why do they call themselves Democrats when they all lockstep endorse this stuff?
Just be Right wingers. I would have more respect for them if they just admitted there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between a “Democratic ed reformer” and Betsy DeVos.
At least voters know what they’re getting when they hire here. We’re lied to and told these folks “support public education”. It’s simply not true. They return NO value to students in public schools and never have and we pay thousands of them in government.
Is there ANY debate permitted in ed reform on these voucher laws they’re funding all over the country or is it lockstep adherence to the dogma in the echo chamber?
It’s just amusing to me that public education advocates were lectured for YEARS by elite ed reformers that they were NOT pushing privatization and here we are- hundreds of privatization bills all over the country all enthusiastically and lock step endorsed by the ed reform echo chamber. No debate at all. No analysis. Just jam thru voucher bills and hope it works out okay.
Every single word we said has been proved true. They don’t support public schools or public school students and they are frantically working to privatize the whole K-12 system.
They simply lied to voters.
The task at hand is to rebuild a commitment to democracy. That will happen when people of good will organize and fight for a better life for all and elect people who stand up for an enact legislation to make it happen. That is why in the short run, passing the $1.9 Trillion pandemic relief bill without any compromise is so important. And then, continue with other things to help everyone, universal health care, etc. Republicans don’t mind throwing a few crumbs to the poor. They know that stirs resentment, when others don’t get help. Resentment is their trump card to retaining power.
Putin is happy.
The party of limited government (insurrection), lower taxes (for the rich), personal responsibility (meaning no social programs), deregulation (pollute at will) and a Trumpian alternate reality (unreality based on a tsunami of lies). The GOP has been a far right death cult for a long time but it went into high gear with Trump, his hired guns and all the obsequious yes men. So what is Pence thinking these days; Trump threw him under the steam roller and encouraged his lynching by the mobs. Essentially, people like McConnell, Graham and Ron Johnson, etc., ad nauseam, are slime.
Trump supporter, Charlie Kirk, of Turning Point USA, wrote in Newsweek (May 2020) about the “Christian values of personal accountability, freedom and God’s truth over that of the state’s”. He wrote, “secular culture and higher taxes are both rooted in collectivism”. The statements were from his opinion piece, “I’m an evangelical fighting for the Catholic school system”.
I don’t care if you identify as liberal or conservative. What I care about is your moral code. There is right and there is wrong. Yeah, we can differ on how to guarantee that our values rule our actions, but I find it really hard to believe that most people don’t understand the difference between right and wrong. I sound really naive, don’t I?
The son of L. Brent Bozell, a prominent religion writer who founded major conservative organizations, Media Research Council and Parents Television Council, is the most recent person charged in the Capitol riots.
Trump activist, Charlie Kirk, a self described evangelical, believes “collectivism” is wrong. He believes in the “Christian values of personal accountability, freedom and God’s truth over that of the state’s”. btw- he’s married to a Falkirk Fellow, Erika Frantzve.
Charles Koch appears to be quite cozy with one religion’s organizations and leaders.
Commenters at this blog prefer to omit the political role that conservative religious play while lamenting how unfathomable
a morality conflict is, hmmmm.
I lament the conservative religious in every religion.
I applaud the second Catholic president in our history, Joe Biden, and the stalwart Nancy Pelosi, also a Catholic.
I applaud AOC and Bernie Sanders who are not conservative religious.
I fear the lack of countering, religious political networks to rival alliances of conservative religious organizations in the 50 states.
Given a nation that has conservative religion voters at 40%, I fear the lack of liberal, influential and well-funded faith-driven people to thwart people like Charlie Kirk, Leonard Leo, Robert P. George, and Paul Weyrich who orchestrated religious wins for the right wing (and, concentrated wealth wins for the GOP and for DINO’s).
Biden’s choice of Neera Tanden and other neoliberals, his decision not to forgive college debt, his opposition to nationalized health care, etc. doesn’t bode well for a nation that wants to avoid fascism.
Linda, Bill Maher makes the point that QAnon overlaps with evangelicals. Are there many ardent Trump supporters who aren’t evangelical? If not, religion may be the root of the disease afflicting our democracy. It conditions people to adore a great dictator in the sky and yearn for His analog here on earth. They have no use for democracy.
Morality has nothing to do with your religious persuasion. About the same can be said for narrow mindedness.
Ponderosa-
Conservative religion in the U.S. is the underreported origin of the attacks against democracy. Leonard Leo, Paul Weyrich and William Barr provided proof.
Tribalists in the faiths make the job of journalists very difficult. One of the two major religions in particular is adept at thwarting media coverage of their political machinations and successes.
The Republican Party has dissolved into the cult of Trump. Democrats need to continue to convict Trump for some of his business or tax misdeeds. The best thing that could happen for this nation is for the Republican Party to split. It would make it easier for Democrats to restore democracy and move this country forward
You will get your wish. It appears the split is beginning to take place. The swarm of locusts stirred up by Trump is pushing the sane Republicans away, unknowingly devouring the political landscape it stands on.
.
” It invites a future Republican president — shrewder and more disciplined than Trump — to install himself permanently in the White House.”
Yes and that is a worry because the list of shrewd and disciplined want-to-be-Trumpsters is long and among them are many senators who offered nothing but double-speak to market why they voted against impeachment. The big lie is out there and it will be refined, sold, and propagated by social media well beyond Twitter and Facebook.
I think the leaders of the Democratic Party knew they wouldn’t get enough votes in the Senate to convict Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial. The reason that did not stop them from impeaching Trump in the House is because of what I read this morning.
It’s all about tactics and the best defense is an offense.
Let the lawsuits begin!
Will the civil lawsuit filed today in federal court by the Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and backed by the NAACP be the first legal shot against Trump heard around the world that will repeat thousands of times in other courts?
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/16/politics/dem-lawsuit-against-trump-naacp/index.html
The Democrats had to impeach Trump for inciting insurrection against the government. It was an attempted coup. As Cong. Raskin said, if this was not grounds for impeachment, what is?
They did it for the historical record. The House impeachment managers laid out a compelling case.
A new poll this morning showed that most Republicans want Trump for President in 2024. But his ratings overall have dropped into the 30s.
Also, 30% of Republicans blame Jan 6 on Trump’s opponents. Maybe they didn’t see it.
As an Education Blog can we admit that this is not about Trump It is about Brown and always has been from Goldwater on. It was about Obama who could only win in 08 because of the Financial Crisis. By 2010 right wing America woke to its worst nightmare. A Black man had been elected President .
Obama allowed himself to think that the Republican Party could be worked with . That if he just sucked up to enough of their Right Wing pro Corporate Neo liberal Ideas. From School Reform , privatization birthed in segregation. To budget constraints that were birthed in White grievance about Welfare Queens and the war on poverty. To an energy policy that expanded drilling in the Gulf weeks before the BP disaster. To a trade policy he could only pass with a Republican majority. . Obama thought he might secure a legacy of bi partisan “Hope and Change” . But that Republican party, a coalition of racists and right wing economic billionaire donors, had other plans from the very start . Because it was always about race. The Tea Party was only about the budget deficits when it came to Social programs going to an undeserving other . They never cared about Government waste or deficits, as 4 years of Trump proved.
Sure Obama defeated Romney in 2012 . But Romney in 2012 was out of step with his Party and could not bring them out. By 2016 McCain and the Bushes were easily dismissed. Trump did not lead this party to where it is . He was adopted by the vast majority of those 73 million voters as a breath of fresh air. Adopted as a racist not afraid to call himself a racist . A Christian right that could forgive any of his transgressions right up to Child rape. Could forgive his illegal immigrant wife for saying who gives an F— about Christmas, because their beliefs were never about Christian values nor any concern about “life ” a concern that ended on the day of birth . It was always about race.
Joel, you are right.
Yup. The Republican Party is the party of racism. No question about that. I think of Ronald Reagan going to the Neshoba County State Fair in Mississippi to announce his candidacy for president in a speech calling for “states’ rights.” Neshoba County was the site of the 1964 murders of civil rights activists James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, and “states’ rights” was the rallying cry of segregationists like Senator Strom Thurman and Governors George Wallace and Orval Faubus throught the Civil Rights Era. Reagan’s choice of venues was a dog-whistle to the racists, and Republican politics since then has been just more of the same.
Joel, you are right.
Civil rights have been and will increasingly be threatened as long as the conservative religious provide a stamp of approval on the Fox talking points, major media selectively report about them and, Democrats fail to rebuke them.
Worth a read, Newsweek, May 2020, an opinion piece by Charlie Kirk, “I’m an evangelical fighting for the Catholic school system.” Kirk frames his argument’s foundation in terms of Christian values. The libertarian link is made evident.
“the impeachment power now has about as much importance as the Third Amendment — which forbids quartering of soldiers in private homes”
Maybe what we need is a “Drawing and quartering amendment” which mandates drawing and quartering of Presidents who incite insurrection.
At least they wouldn’t be able to run in the future.
Not as a single candidate at least.
None of the Red states would approve any punishment that might apply to their demagogue: Trump.
I was joking.
I doubt even the blue states would approve drawing and quartering”
Although, after his latest nursing home scandal, Andrew Cuomo would be a good candidate as well.
This just came from a news letter from Senator Todd Young [R-IN] who voted to clear Trump of any impeachment trial charges.
…………………………………………
My Statement on the Impeachment Trial
I remain troubled and saddened by the events leading up to and on the day of the Capitol riots. However, it is improper under the present circumstances for the former president of the United States to be subject to an impeachment trial.
Simply put, the U.S. House of Representatives conducted a rushed and incomplete process for this snap impeachment. In its haste to impeach the former president, the House declined to engage in any fact-finding, investigation, hearing, or testimony before adopting the article of impeachment. Therefore, the former president and his counsel were denied the opportunity to review and test the integrity of the evidence offered against him.
As I warned after the last impeachment, the House majority’s rigged process is creating a dangerous new precedent to weaponize impeachment, a precedent that is increasingly likely to lead to serial impeachments in a polarized America.
Our nation is facing a crisis. It’s time to put this improper impeachment trial behind us and focus on the issues that matter most to the country — bipartisan efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and restore the health of our economy.
Blessed with a made-for-broadcasting voice, Rush Limbaugh delivered his opinions with such certainty that his followers, or “Ditto-heads,” as he dubbed them, took his words as sacred truth.
Rush L has finally bit the dust. He made fun of his listeners and they never noticed or cared.
The Boston Globe headline referred to Rush L. as “vicious.” Given his contempt for anyone he did not like (uppity women, for example, whom he called Feminazis), that seems about right.
Others just called him “conservative” or “controversial.” Safe.
This is totally off topic, but something I enjoyed. Hope this comes through.
This comes from Malaysia. Movement Control Order are rules governing movement to help stop the spread of COVID. We call it a lockdown.
Watch Mark O’Dea & Friends Perform A Musical Parody To Lift Our Spirits During MCO 2.0 [Movement Control Order (MCO)]