Life of Wry

Day #3 of the impeachment trial. The good guys wrapped. They were impressive. Proud to be on this team and will never understand the other. I don’t mean I’ll never understand republicans… I will just never understand those kinds of republicans; whatever they are. Their political futures above all else. The people, the country, this experiment in democracy.. all losers.

So… like yesterday… just some thoughts, not so orderly.. some are notes I made while watching.. so it’s truly random down there.. whatever comes out.. and some reflections on the day’s proceedings:

• I think the world of Jamie Raskin. Glad to line up behind good people.

• Joaquin Castro’s testimony about how we are now mocked all over the world was chilling. Embarrassing to be an American. Horrifying, really.

• We define ourselves by how we respond to this. If we don’t respond with a conviction, the world is right and our enemies are right. The world totally knows we are sh*t under trump. We have no legs to stand on if we don’t send a strong message back to the world. We forfeit our credibility, the power of our message of democracy. We must show the world that Jan 6 was not the real America. But, in fact, I think it is. Under current leadership, we are a sham. And by leadership… I mean those who stand in the way of our doing the right thing. Senate republicans. This is on you.

• They were there because the president told them to be there. “We were just following orders.” “Your boss told us to be here.” “He said, ‘I need my digital soldiers to show up,’ and we did.”

• The insurrectionists (some) are being held accountable. Many have been arrested, will face convictions, may go to prison. So should trump. Won’t they feel betrayed if they are held to account and he gets off scot free?

• Managers made a great case that this was his essential M.O., his state of mind, not aberrant behavior. He’s been courting violence from the get go. Of course he’ll never condemned the attack, nor the attackers.. this time or any time. “You’re very special. We love you.” (Even if you damage property, scream obscenities as you seek to find and kill my Vice-President, hurt and even kill police officers. If you do it in my name, I love you.)

• DVEs: Domestic Violent Extremists. Get used to them.. they’ll be around a long time. Not only will be trump be emboldened by the acquittal that is sure to come, so will his DVEs. They have a shared false narrative of a stolen election. There is now no political solution to that will give them their election or re-seat their leader; violent action is necessary. They took the building before, they can take it again. What will stop them (besides a few of them getting caught?). Maybe more violence next time — guns, bombs. No little POS stun guns… the real deal from now on.

• “We await the president’s orders.” “We await instruction.” “We are here because he invited us.” (In case you thought maybe he didn’t incite them.)

• This dropped my jaw today: Manager DeGette, in her presentation, shared a past tweet from somebody-Griffin, the head of “Cowboys for trump.” Griffin’s tweet said, “The only good democrat is a dead democrat,” which trump had then retweeted. He thanked Griffin! Griffin said, “The president of the US has my back.” Little shocks me about trump. But that did.

• I thought DeGette’s testimony was devastating as she walked people through how dangerous these groups are and how they believed they were acting on behalf of trump, at his invitation.

• The money it costs to defend against these potential and future attacks is astounding and sickening. We’d better get used to it. It will become the cost of government. And it’s not just the cost to defend against DVEs…state and national Capitols have become fortresses. Accessibility to the public will surely be lost.

• It wasn’t just monster trump who did this… he was trump our Commander-in-Chief. He agitated, assembled and activated this mob. He made them believe the big lie and that our current President and his administration are illegitimate. That will not turn out well. This is what our supposed president did.

• They revel in the violence. The insurrection has been a boon for their recruitment efforts. Our country.

• I cried a few times today.. out of sadness, shock, fear, frustration. One story that really got me: the black officer who, when he’d finally gotten to safety, after hours trying to hold a line, he could finally cry. He’d been pummeled, screamed at, called n-. He hung in, did his job, but was deeply traumatized.

• This should have been the end of his platform, but instead, an acquittal will encourage him. His actions will not be condemned, there will be no accountability, we will not have reconciliation.

• A case can be easily made that we are worse off now. In 2017, Charlottesville was unfathomable. Today an insurrection is excused. Today, Charlottesville seems quaint. He told us who he was. Now he’s brought the entire republican party down to his level. This is our future.

• This latest tragedy? It’s all because trump could not accept defeat. He knew there was a chance he’d be a one-term pres. He couldn’t take that. Started last spring with his no-lose strategy. He’d either win outright or, if he “lost,” it’d be fraudulent. His true north star was never America First: it’s always been trump first, no matter the cost. This will be an acceptable way to respond to losing in the future. As Ted Lieu said, “I’m not afraid of trump running again; I’m afraid of him running and losing.”

• His incitement is not free speech. Violent insurrection is not a protected form of speech. His lawyers will make a brazen free speech argument, but it shouldn’t hold up. It wouldn’t in a real court. This can’t be a constitutionally protected way to respond to losing an election. In real life, NOBODY can incite a riot and get away with it under the free speech laws. A president esp can’t get away with it. They’ve got an added oath to uphold: to protect and defend the constitution. A regular joe can say vile, racist things and he will be protected under the first amendment. A president can’t because of his oath of office; that’d be impeachable. This president (ex) can do anything he wants. The republican Senate will protect him.

• Liz Cheney said trump’s inciting of an insurrection was the greatest betrayal of an oath to upholding the constitution in the history of our country. Yes.

• Scalia said: “You can’t ride with the cops and root for the robbers.”

• Voltaire said: “Anyone who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”

• I’ve never read, but should, Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Raskin said the Senators should be guided by some. They HAVE to vote on the facts and make a decision, and the decision is clear: common sense tells them so.

• There will be massive consequences for doing nothing.

• They subpoenaed trump. He didn’t come, of course. This is what he would have been asked: Why didn’t you tell then to stop? Why did you wait to send help? Why didn’t you condemn the violence?

• Bottom line: He said to come. They came. They said they were doing this for him. He didn’t stop them.

• You think his followers don’t follow his words? Of course they do. So do Senators! Look at them.. they cling to him for their very life.

• If the Senators don’t convict, democracy is damaged, and probably irreparably. They won’t though. They’ve sold democracy down the river, in favor of their own political futures. So this trial was really all about history, to seal trump’s legacy. But, damn, democracy will be sacrificed. The future of the US. This is an overwhelming case.. if defied.. we’re doomed. trump has not been chastened by anything. He is a monster.

• Do you know what his approval rating among repubs is? 80%. Astonishing. And 66% of reps still think Biden’s election was illegitimate. I mean, what do you do with that?

• At the conclusion of the Impeachment Managers’ presentation, our impartial republican jurors — Lindsey, Ted and Teapartier Mike Lee — slipped into a side-conference room to talk with trump’s attorneys about strategy. In case you thought they took oaths of impartiality.

• How can this many Senators go against facts, reason, the constitution, decency? It is s h o c k i n g. They owe people facts. They owe our country, the Capitol police, the world.. the decency of a conviction.

• When they acquit him, he’ll be totally unleashed. So, too, will his people. Without account, the bar is lowered further. Not just for a future president. Watch out.

• He’s running the republican party for the foreseeable future. From Mar-a-Lago. They could have squished him like a bug. Now he’s their cross to bear for the rest of their political careers, for an entire political generation.

• Do I care? Not really… not if it means they remain a divided party and therefore won’t get in the way of our agenda and progress on stuff I really care about. Except that he remains a political factor. He stays in the headlines. The pathetic trump party, fact-free and full of white supremacists is a real drag. Polarization remains.