Today, a day that will live on in American history, the third removal trial of an American President begins. However you feel about Donald Trump, it is a momentous time.
Many will say this is “the tipping point” in the future of our nation. Will we either be a nation of narcissism or compassion, World responsibility or selfishness, on the arc for justice, or against the curve. It is time to decide.
The tipping point is not just today, or even what ever happens in this trial. The “point” is much wider, extending to November and America’s choice for our future.
But make no mistake about it: we are at that point in history. We, the People, have the opportunity and obligation to choose what that future will be. The trial in the Senate may not give us the answer to that choice, but 2020 will.
It is hard to imagine a more critical turning point. Perhaps the election of 1800, when the Federalists grudgingly left the government in the lawfully elected hands of their bitter ideological rivals, the Jeffersonians.
Trump, if he understood history, could draw a contrast with the election of 2016, demanding that the Democrats did not fulfill the Federalist precedent and allow him to govern. He’s not altogether wrong.
But their is a critical difference between the time when John and Abigail Adams got in the carriage and left Washington before Jefferson was sworn in, and when the Obamas gracefully lifted off the Capitol lawn in a helicopter, no longer Marine One. While Adam’s barely lost to Jefferson by seven votes in the Electoral College, Jefferson carried the national popular vote by over 60%. American government may have been narrowly divided, but the people were not.
In 2016 Trump won the electoral college by a narrow but comfortable margin. But the People’s vote went for his opponent. That does not mean his election was illegitimate – but it did demand some recognition of the majority’s thwarted will.
But from the Inauguration Day three years ago, Mr. Trump willfully delegitimatized his opposition. “It was the greatest election landslide in history,” “the largest inaugural crowd ever,” and the “votes against him the fraudulent and illegal,” were the opening gambits in his campaign of “America First”.
To Mr. Trump, the winner, no matter how narrow or conflicted, got the spoils. And so he began a campaign of altering America’s government and values. Now, three years in, we have a clear vision of what that campaign will yield.
What will Trump’s America look like in 2021? Make no mistake, if you are rich, you are likely to get richer. If you profit from polluting our air, water and land; your profits will expand. If you are a white man aggrieved at the loss of prior privilege, you may find your advantages reinstated.
And if you want your personal religious beliefs enforced as law in women’s health, education, and as American societal norms, than “four more years” is your goal.
All of that, no matter where you politically stand, might be the outcome of a fair election. The loser could get in their carriage or helicopter and fly away. But the Trial today isn’t about any of that.
Today’s trial is about the President and his henchmen trying to alter the very fabric of Constitutional government. George Washington was most aware of the powers he could not use, and the actions he should not take. As our first President, unanimously chosen by the People and the Electors, he could have done most anything. But he recognized that his most important role wasn’t just to lead, but to teach. It is little surprise that the words precedent and President are confused; Washington was most aware of presiding so as not to abuse his authority.
To quote the musical “Hamilton,” “History had its eyes on him.” And he governed with that in mind, even teaching us, “How to Say Goodbye.”
Now, 232 years later, we have a President who ignores Washington’s precedents and obligations for the sake of power and control. For that, not the results of 2016, he is being tried before the Senate today.
What we do here, and November, will unalterably change the world.
History has its eyes on us.
Hamilton really did encapsulate it all, non?
History has its eyes on you.
You don’t have the votes
world turned upside down (maybe?)
WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! (doubtful/ no chance)
most likely result. do all you can to air out the S**T. voters will decide in a few months. not optimistic. but I think chances electoral college throws him out are <40%. Chances Senate throws him out < 2%. eyes on the prize
While I am certainly not a Trump fan I fear this impeachment has become political and that is tragic. Over the past decade very little has been accomplished due to all voting along party lines. This must change we need to go back to Newt and Ronald and due what is best for the country not the party