A President that incited a violent insurrection is a couple days away from facing no consequence, whatsoever. A future demagogue will soon be studying Trump's playbook as to how to overturn the will of the people. Our Republic--and democracy, itself--will now forever be in jeopardy, even more fragile than such free governments have historically always been.
And the Senate GOP has willfully chosen to let it happen. Instead of regarding a meticulously presented blueprint of conviction for our inciter-in-chief, they have pretended not to notice.
Indeed, many of the GOP Senate "jurors" (quotation marks used for obvious reasons of their proven partiality) have ignored the evidence. Just as they have ignored Trump's corruption and self-serving evilness over the last four years.
Instead, they cling to a Constitutional question about the trial that the Senate has already ruled is moot--such a dispute--according to the rules of the legislative body to which they've sworn an oath--no longer exists. Their majority vote says such an issue is not an issue at all.
But they don't care. They don't want to inflame the rabid and psychotic base of Donald J. Trump or the sociopathic Trump himself, the only President to face the disgrace of being impeached two times. I'm not sure if they fear being primaried in their normal GOP strongholds by Trump's people who surely will get out and vote, or if they fear a hemorrhaging of their own support. Or maybe they fear unending and baseless disparagement from Trump's speeches and media platforms. Or maybe, in the face of violent insurrections whipped up by their party's leader, just maybe, they fear for their lives or those of their loved ones at the hands of those that chanted death wishes to the GOP Vice-President of the United States for doing his Constitutionally-mandated duty.
Some say Trump's learned his lesson (such as he did from his first impeachment?). Some say we don't want to divide the country (further than has been done by a President inciting an insurrection to overthrow democracy?). Some say Trump's star power has been so damaged that his political career is finished (are these the same "jurors" that evidently continue to worship at the altar of Trump?).
Shame on them. Shame on every one of these cowards that don't have the guts or the integrity to stand against a despotic President, or to stand with the Republic and its people.
The GOP could change that. But they have chosen a different and infinitely darker path.
On the plus side, there will be people of integrity who will now be motivated to enter public service to uphold the Republic. There will hopefully be a greater number of principled people who will run as a response to the current GOP cowardice and complicity in abetting an evil President.
But there will also be those with no principles who study how Trump inflamed his supporters, got them to believe baseless and incredible lies about rigged elections, and then was within a stone's throw--or a fire extinguisher's throw--of overturning a free and fair election. And someone smarter than Trump will use that blueprint as their own plan for tyranny.
Based on these two likely possibilities, let's hope that, next time, the good guys win.
