ON TRUMP
GOP SENATE IMPEACHEMENT
When a great crime is committed, society can only move on when those responsible have been held accountable. This is a basic tenet not only of criminal law, but of truth and reconciliation commissions and other projects aimed at national healing. What exactly constitutes accountability and responsibility are, of course, dependent on the nature of the crime and the roles different figures played in its execution. But the principle is based on the idea that to be forgiven, one must first acknowledge responsibility and, in many cases, endure punishment. Without accountability, social wounds will not heal, but fester.
Quote taken from: “There Is No Unity Without Accountability”, Zachary D. Carter, Huffington Post (1/12/2021).
I quoted Mr. Carter’s words because I know his thoughts make sense on Trump impeachment. The GOP is wrong by insisting that the only feasible way for “unity” among lawmakers is basically to let go of Trump without punishment.
Remember, and I’m calling all members of the Legislative Body of our government, right now: “You make the law. You ought to know the law more than we are; that Donald J. Trump committed a crime. I need to specifically reiterate here: Donald Trump committed a crime by “inciting insurrection”; I repeat, inciting insurrection (punishable by law) his diehard fans to storm the Capitol while you, our lawmakers, were inside performing your duties to certify the winner of the 2020 Presidential election — President-Elect Joe Biden.
Trump consistently lied to his followers even before the election by claiming that the ‘election is rigged’, and because of that, we knew and realized then, that he was not going to accept the results of the election even if it was a fair one. He continuously poisoned the minds of his followers through his lies. You only need to check Trump’s tweets (on Twitter) from 2016 to Jan 5th, of 2021 — how he kept repeating that the election was “rigged”, and that he would not accept it if he lost the election.
In fact, Twitter finally suspended Trump’s tweets because it became clear that he was now fomenting to his followers seditious actions and aggressively threatening those who would not follow his orders. Therefore, the intent of Donald Trump was not only to punish those who would not go along with him, but to destroy ultimately, the democratic system of the United States of America so he can rule for another 4 years, maybe even “forever”, as what he once mentioned in his previous campaigns. It was a sign that he wanted to be an ‘authoritarian ruler’ emulating his friend, Vladimir Putin.
Let me put it this way: If one or some members of your family burn your parent’s house that had been accosted you and your siblings, for a reason that they want the house for themselves, or burned it because you won’t allow them to take it, would you just let them get away with it? Won’t you make them accountable for such egregious actions? Once the house is burnt, it’s burnt. The perpetrators must be punished for what they have done. They must be held accountable for their actions. That’s the only way you can reconcile each other and unify your family to rebuild your parent’s house.
Americans with good conscience want you, our lawmakers, to clean up the House. And the only way you can clean up the House is by impeaching Trump so that no one or, any future holder of the Office of the Presidency would not attempt to ever again, play the game of authoritarianism in the United States of America.
Author: Lilia Harrison, Political Researcher
