Most of us are not Constitutional scholars, and many shy away from taking the time to read The United States Constitution and listen to the impeachment arguments because of that.
Yet, we are all American citizens with the right and responsibility to weigh in on the matters at hand, and we can listen carefully, read with care, and share our points of view.
I have followed Trump's presidency with sincere interest and worry for four years. As I have often said, I studied the candidates when Trump ran for President and I believed Hillary Clinton had the better experience and ideas so I voted for her. When she lost, I was ready to give Trump a chance. Yet, right from the start when he began to lie a lot and perseverate on his own needs and desires rather than take an interest in the country, I began to worry, and similar to the lawmakers that Trump's lawyers featured at the trial, early on in the Trump presidency, I felt he should be impeached because like those lawmakers, I watched Trump abuse his power with self-serving, dangerous decisions and lots and lots of lies. He was not working for the American people, but instead working for his own fame and game time and again.
Also, throughout the Trump presidency, his mantra was, "It's not fair." He often played the victim as he demonized almost everyone and everything around him, and lied about his actions time and again. So yesterday, when his lawyers played the victim card during the start of the impeachment trial, I wasn't surprised. While Trump's first lawyer to speak, Castor, seemed generally lost in the process, his second lawyer sounded a lot more like Trump as he used words from both Trump and QAnon propaganda multiple times throughout his argument as he pointed a finger at process and used Trump's "victim" strategy. In fact, Trump's second lawyer to speak sounded so much like the Capitol insurrectionists that I wondered if he were, in fact, at that event on January 6th.
The Impeachment Managers led by Raskin truly made a good case that this trial is constitutional. As they clearly showed, no elected official gets to do whatever they want in their final days in office--no elected official has the right to act lawlessly and abuse their power for their self interest. Elected officials are required to stay faithful to their oath of office from the first day until the last day of their term.
Donald Trump clearly abused his power, and clearly worked against his oath of office to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Trump did not provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty, ensure domestic tranquility, or work to form a more perfect union.
As the impeachment managers clearly said, there is no unity without accountability, and it is right and good to hold Donald Trump accountable for his high crimes and misdemeanors on January 6th, 2021 when he staged and incited a deadly, volent insurrection that cost the United States dearly.
Why is Donald Trump guilty? As President of the United States, Trump jeopardized the general welfare, tranquility, and liberty of the American people, and he did not provide for the common defense as he swore he would do.
Rather than support a peaceful transfer of power, Trump worked tirelessly to obstruct justice by staging and inciting a deadly insurrection at the Capitol. How did Trump do that?
- For weeks, Trump spread lies, propaganda, and misinformation about the election results. His false narrative riled up his loyal supporters as he continuously told them that he was the victim of a fraudulant election even though 86 different legal challenges proved the election was free and fair.
- Trump branded his efforts as "Stop-the-Steal" to falsely infer that the election was stolen. That provided an errant cause for his loyal followers to rally around.
- Trump utilized his campaign funds, marketing skill, and powerful cronies and family members, some of whom are also elected officials, to spread the Stop-the-Steal narrative via social media channels and in real time.
- Trump planned a Stop-the-Steal rally for the date and time of the electoral college vote confirmation in Congress. Trump and his cronies invited his angry followers to attend the event. They advertised the event far and wide.
- Trump illegally tried to alter the vote in Georgia by threatening election officials.
- On the day of the event, Trump and his family members and cronies pregamed the event in White House tents. A video shows them dancing and celebrating the Stop-the-Steal gathering success--they watched the angry mob gather with their racist attire and weaponry with delight.
- Rather than assess the situation as dangerous, and provide for needed security and common defense, Trump arrived on the carefully, crafted Stop-the-Steal stage and riled the angry crowd more with his propaganda that included praising the mob, praising himself, spreading more misinformation about the election, demonizing opponents, and telling the angry mob repeatedly to fight.
- Trump told them to go to the Capitol at the very time that the confirmation vote was to be confirmed. Also, acting like their loyal leader, he told the mob that he would go with them to the Capitol.
- Trump deceived the crowd, and went to the security of the White House to watch what happened instead. The loyal crowd did what Trump commanded--they went to the Capitol, and they fought.
- Trump watched them and did nothing to provide for their common defense, but instead passively watched them and even riled them up more via tweets that continued to spread lies and incite anger and fighting.
- Trump's loyal followers continued to fight. As they fought they referred to Trump's command. They injured, terrorized, and killed innocent people. They caused costly vandalism, And, they obstructed justice by obstructing the electoral college vote confirmation.
Unlike what Trump's lawyers suggest, no one takes joy in impeaching a President--it's time consuming, costly, and unpleasant. No one hoped for this, but people are supporting the impeachment because it is the right thing to do--no elected official should abuse their power and put the people they serve in harm's way--that is behavior unfaithful to their oath of office, that is abuse of power, and that is a danger to all of us.
And, I do agree with Trump's lawyers, that the impeachment process alone is not enough. After lawmakers do their job to hold Trump accountable, there should be a complete criminal investigation of this event, and all who played a role in staging, inciting, and/or carrying out the carnage, should be criminally prosecuted. That's the next step, but for now the right thing to do is to convict trump--no lawmaker will ever regret that vote because that is a vote that protects, preserves, and defends our United States Constitution going forward--that is the obligation of our Senators. Please contact your senators and tell them to do the right thing.
This video put together by the impeachment managers tells the sad story of January 6th--a day when the President of the United States at the time, Donald Trump, worked to stage and incite a deadly assault on the American people, our nation's Capitol, and our country's government. This is the most dangerous act any President in United States history has done. We must hold Trump accountable for his deadly and dangerous actions.