The fate of the Republican Party hangs in the balance pending the outcome of the second Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
If Republicans find no fault in Trump’s efforts to overthrow the 2020 election, then they will have thrown the door open to insurrectionists, anarchists and conspiracy theorists.
Groups are defined by their actions, and increasingly, the GOP is identifying itself with society’s fringe elements, particularly those in lockstep with Trump’s trope that the election was rigged. More than 50 lawsuits across half a dozen states have proved officials conducted the election without a shred of malfeasance. To say otherwise is to accuse thousands of poll workers and election officials of a crime.
If, on the other hand, enough Republicans side with Democrats to convict the former president, then Republicans would have a good chance for a much-needed makeover, taking it back to its roots as “the party of Lincoln,” and all that his noble name implies.
REPUBLICANS, of course, aren’t buying this.
To most, the trial is “political theater,” and a “sideshow.” If Democrats care about unity, they contend, the trial will only further divide us.
“It’s time to move on,” they say.
Which would be fine, except it leaves some important questions hanging about what a U.S. President’s oath of office really means. Here’s what we’d like to know:
1. At the Jan. 6 rally, Trump urged the crowd to march to the Capitol to stop Congress from counting the electoral college votes that would make Joe Biden president.
Is that not an effort to subvert democracy?
2. During the protest, Trump urged the crowd to “stop the steal,” and “fight like hell,” telling them he would join them on the steps of the Capitol. He didn’t. They did. And chaos ensued as they breached security measures, sending lawmakers into hiding. Five died from the riot and hundreds were injured.
Isn’t provoking an insurrectionary action against Congress also against the Constitution?
3. Ever since the Nov. 3 election, Trump has spent months falsely claiming it was stolen from him. It wasn’t. At the Jan. 6 protest he said, “We won this election, and we won it by a landslide.”
Isn’t seeking to convince others they were victims of a massive electoral conspiracy an assault on democracy?
4. On Jan. 2, Trump pressured Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat.
Isn’t it a federal crime to ask someone to commit election fraud?
SEPARATE from actions that violate the U.S. Constitution, Trump’s behavior during the storming of the U.S. Capitol draws even greater import. While members of Congress and their staff were in fear of their lives, the president did nothing to stop the violence.
Only hours in, did he tweet for the violence to end, telling the protesters he loved them.
WE, TOO, are all too ready to close this sordid chapter of history. But that’s not possible until we have clarity as to what we as Americans should be able to expect of our president.
— Susan Lynn
