Morning Politocadoes!
The President was impeached for the second time in his first (and only) term. Trump often claimed that his administration would win so much that we would be tired from all of the winning. And well, he certainly is winning, lots of things! First President to be impeached twice, first President to lose the popular vote twice, and he’s the first President in 3 decades to not get a second term. Those are certainly records that will remain with the Republic so long as it stands.
Donald J. Trump:
The final Yeas were 232 to 197. 222 from the Democrats, 10 from Republicans who did the bare minimum in standing up to a would-be tyrant.
Now, it’s all well and good to bask in the loserliness of our deeply weird and criminal President, but I’d be remiss in failing to note how many GOP members stuck by him. But there are some legitimate reasons for this. More than a few have reported to the press that the White House had been threatening or cajoling them into siding with the President.
Nevertheless, it’s pretty galling in the face of an attack on the Capitol that Trump instigated that so many simply fell in line. Popular targets of conservatives like AOC or Ilhan Omar have been threatened every day, every moment of their time in office, and that hasn’t stopped them from doing what’s right. It’s a reminder that unless drastic steps are taken this will be coming back to haunt us. Sooner than we’d like to think.
People like Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert already represent a clear and present danger to the health of Congress. Taylor Green wearing a ‘Censored’ mask as a sitting member of Congress speaking on live TV, and Boebert demanding she keep her firearm on her at all times. Pelosi would do well to heed the calls to expel the more radical parts of the Republican caucus. The fact that Boebert was most likely telegraphing to her supporters Pelosi’s location during the riot means she doesn’t exactly have an interest in compromise.
What comes out of the investigations into the riots may well change the calculus on this but as of now they and their like-minded allies are a clear and present danger.
In any event, it’s looking like the Impeachment Trial in the Senate will not occur until after the Inauguration. Mitch McConnell is once again pulling off some fuckery. But it’s just as well. No one, not even Pence, wants to have a week and change President. It’d amount to a future trick question on a history exam, or a Trivial Pursuit card at this point. It’d be nice if Trump did get convicted though. Another record and with consequence. He may well be the first American President to be barred from holding future federal office.
And in that sense, he’d finally truly fulfill his destiny in being our very own Silvio Berlusconi.
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