For those of us who cringe when the word Trump is uttered, we know that the impeachment trial next week will touch our deepest wells of angst, worry, oppression, and struggle. Those of us who felt pain day after day when Trump and his terrorist cronies turned a blind eye toward humanity, caused deadly and inhumane suffering, and spewed hate, lies, and contempt for so many good people, humane actions, and positive opportunities, will undoubtedly be emotional next week as we watch lawyers try to defend Trump's deadly assault on the American people and our government at The Capitol insurrection on January 6th, 2021.
How will we cope with these waves of emotion? How will we deal with the trauma we'll feel as Trump, a perpetrator of bigotry, hate, and murder, stands trial? What will we do?
I read the case against Trump, and found it to be well written and targeted on his grievous high crimes and misdemeanors. I felt it was a positive result of our hard working lawmakers and our hard earned tax dollars. I marveled at the way that the impeachment team researched, found, and wove together so much evidence to prove Trump's guilt. That gave me confidence in the prosecutors.
While anyone can make a typographical error, the fact that Trump's lawyers misspelled the United States in the headline of their case notes gave me hope that their lawyering will be similarly shoddy, incomplete, and merely a series of foolish Trump-like lies, propaganda, and misinformation.
Anyone who stands with Trump and his deadly massacre at The Capitol, clearly stands against the American people, our United States Constitution, our public spaces, and our government. For a sitting President to tell an angry crowd to fight, and then to sit back and watch them vandalize, loot, obstruct justice, injure, terrorize, and kill Americans without acting to stop it is clearly a high crime and misdemeanor. The President staged this event by spreading lies, propaganda, and misinformation for weeks, recruiting insurgents via online/realtime messaging/funding, working with his terrorist cronies to brand the event as "Stop the Steal" inferring that the election was corrupt, pre-gaming the event with his joyful, dancing family members and cronies in tents with many screens, inviting his like-minded terrorist cronies and family members to rile the crowd with directives to fight and combat, address the angry crowd himself with manipulative theater, a "patriotic" stage, heaps of praise, demonizing opponents, lots of lies, and the direction to go to the Capitol to fight, and then to sit back for hours to "delight" in the carnage all the while messaging cronies to continue the battle to favor him. This former President Trump is a guilty terrorist and traitor to the American people and should be convicted.
But what about his Republican cronies who continue to support and stand by his anti-American, White supremacist, murderous ways? What can we make of them? Why are they satisfied to support an American terrorist who not only staged and incited a deadly insurrection, but one who sat back and watched Americans lose their lives at The Capitol? Why would they support that deadly terror? What if their son or daughter was a Capitol staff member, aid, lawmaker, or police officer that day--would they feel the same way? How do they feel about all the families of Capitol staff who watched the terror on television and computer screens worrying about the fate of their family members? Why do they act like this? Are they afraid of Trump threats? Are they covering up for their own support of the insurrection? Are they thick headed and stupid? Are they protecting their White privilege? Why? To me, those who do not convict Trump are simply stating that they, like Trump, are traitors and terrorists too--people who would choose terror like Trump rather than legal, peaceful means to express their opnion, serve their consituents, and work for their values and ideals?
So what about those of us who will relive the terror next week during the trial--those of us for whom the trial will be a traumatic event? How will we deal with it?
First, we have to recognize that to impeach and convict Trump is the right thing to do? Had they dealt with Hitler early on, many awesome lives would have been saved--many families would not have been traumatized, and the world would be a better place. To convict Trump now before he and his cronies can do more harm is the right thing to do. It is always good to be on the side of what is right and good, the side of humanity, whether you win or not.
Next, we have to recognize that while Trump led the terror, carnage, hate, murder, and bigotry that day, he is not the only one who supports such inhumane acts. Simply by having the trial sends a message to the world that many Americans do not condone such inhumane, deadly, terrorist acts. Most Americans recognize that Trump is a terrorist who should be convicted, and that's one reason why Americans did not support a second term for Trump. More of us than not believe Trump is a danger to lives everywhere--we hate the vitriol he spews, the disrespect he shows, his inhumanity, and his self-serving greed and corruption. To be against Trump, is to be with many, many, many other Americans who want was is right and good for all, not just a few self-serving folk.
And, as we listen to the trial, we have to think of ways to continue to support fair elections that truly result in good leadership that serves all Americans--we have to support those great leaders amongst us like Stacie Abrams and so many others that work for the common good. Similarly we have to support peaceful, legal ways to better who we are as a country and people. We also have to work to stop the deadly spread of misinformation, lies, and propaganda that Trump used to advantage himself and disadvantage far too many of us day after day.
So remember, the trial is a good thing--it's good to tell the story of that hateful, terrorist insurrection at the Capitol, a deadly insurrection led by a sitting President of the United States--a coup, the same kind of coup the United States has spoken out and worked against in countries all over the world, and the same kind of terrorism that Trump blamed so many poor immigrants and refugees for. Yet during Trump's term, his words instigated, in part, three out of the four deadliest terror events in the United States, and his actions and words not only instigated the fourth most deadliest terror event, but he led that event. That's unimiaginable, but it happened, and he is to blame.
So we'll watch the trial. We'll be glad that Trump who is a terrorist will be tried, and we'll hope that he is convicted. We will be glad that all of the data collected will be in the history books from this day forward, and the world will see that the United States will not simply allow a deadly, terrorist public official to continue without recourse. We will listen to Trump's lawyers and cronies. We will wonder why they can support such inhumanity when we all know that as we move forward in time those who stand by humanity are the heroes while those that work against it are the villains. And, while we listen, we can think about our own lives and actions--what do we do that is complicit with inhumanity and what do we do in our lives that champions humanity? That's the question that I'll be thinking about the most as I watch the trial next week, a question that will make this a positive event no matter what the end result is.
Onward.