Blog#57-1/19/21
TO PRESERVE WHAT’S LEFT OF THE REPUBLIC
By
Richard Davis
If the U.S. Senate does not convict Trump in his second impeachment trial this country will no longer deserve respect from world leaders and countries that have a record of respecting the rule of law. That is no small thing. The alliances that this country needs to maintain in the worlds of commerce, banking, diplomacy and other critical areas will be weakened and possibly dissolved.
Politicians hold up the constitution as the guidebook for how this country should conduct itself. But if they do not make a criminal president accountable for his illegal acts while in office then the constitution will no longer dictate the standards for government.
Joe Biden wants to be the president for all the people but he is fooling himself if he thinks he will ever convince Trump and his followers to become passengers on his ship of state. He needs to be more realistic but that does not mean that he still can’t try to heal the wounds of a traumatized country.
Despite the fact that there are so many crises that the Biden administration will have to deal with they first have to re-establish a standard for the rule of law in this country. That is one of the lessons they should have learned in the aftermath of the January 6 assault on the Capitol. Without the rule of law nothing else matters.
This country needs to send a signal to Trump and his army of seditious insurrectionists that they cannot run roughshod over the rest of us without being held accountable for their behavior. Five people died on January 6. They died as a result of the inciting rhetoric of the President of the United States.
If I had been drawing up the articles of impeachment I would have included a charge of manslaughter. People died because of what Trump said at the January 6 rally and that kind of speech is not protected by the constitution. If Trump is not convicted this country will set a precedent for a new kind of protected speech and that is the equivalent of burning the constitution.
A conviction in the Senate impeachment trial would also make it easier for Trump to be barred from ever holding office again and he would lose all of the benefits accorded a former president. He does not deserve any respect from our country and he certainly does not deserve a pension and a security detail that we all will have to pay for for the rest of his life.
A Senate guilty verdict would also help to set the stage for further criminal prosecution of Trump and his allies. As bad as his actions were on January 6 there is also a long list of probable criminal activity that he, his family and his political allies have engaged in during the past four years. They all need to be held accountable.
Obstruction of justice, aiding a foreign country while personally gaining wealth as a result, using government for personal gain and income tax evasion are just a few of the crimes committed by the Trump cabal.
This country can get on with critical business while it also holds Trump accountable. If we do not prosecute Trump a case could be made that the foundation of our republic is crumbling.
