House impeachment managers rested their case against Donald Trump on Thursday, concluding that the deadly Capitol assault he stands accused of inciting was the culmination of a presidency plagued by dishonesty and violent rhetoric, and warning gravely that he would remain a threat to American democracy if not sentenced and banned from holding future office.
With an impassioned appeal to the senators, who were serving as both jurors and witnesses to the alleged high crime at the centre of Donald Trump’s second impeachment, the nine managers appointed to prosecute the House’s case declared Donald Trump overwhelmingly guilty of encouraging the 6 January riot.
Congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, asked the senators seated silently before him that if they thought this was not impeachable, then what is? What would be?
He maintained, that if they didn’t find it a high crime and misdemeanor, then they’ve set a new, terrible example for presidential misconduct in the United States of America.
Over two days, they gave a methodical description of Donald Trump’s month’s long crusade to persuade his followers the election had been stolen, and when all other endeavours to overturn his electoral defeat failed, Donald Trump summoned his faithful followers to Washington for a demonstration on 6 January, his last stand.
Hours before Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s success that day, Donald Trump urged the masses to fight like hell to stop the steal.
Congressman Joe Neguse, one of the managers said that when President Trump stood up at that podium on 6 January, he knew that many in the crowd were inflamed, were armed and were ready for violence. It was a dangerous situation and he knew it.
On their second full day of arguments, the prosecutors turned to the words of the rebels themselves as proof they were acting at Donald Trump’s direction and they played several new video clips and pointed to legal documents and media accounts in which the attackers said they were following Donald Trump’s wishes.
One rebel yells at a police officer that they were invited there and that he would be happy. Another said that they were fighting for Donald Trump.
Diana DeGette, a Democratic congresswoman from Colorado said that they didn’t shy from their crimes, because they believed they were following orders from the commander in chief, and that they came because he told them to.
One most likely consequence of this impeachment will be proof that a preponderance of the Grand Old Party Senators are self-serving subservient liars and fantasists, because Donald Trump’s guilt, as charged via his impeachment, is quite simply, even completely apparent beyond all reasonable doubt, so let’s see if those Senators prove us wrong.
And the crowds were following Donald Trump to the brink of a cliff, and when they got there, Donald Trump said jump.
There are two types of Trump followers. One will stay silent and the second will act like gremlins, but they both have one thing in common, to defeat the Republican Party.
They just want a Trumpian Grand Old Party, but perhaps their fantasies are deliberate and intentional lies, rather than true beliefs that would indicate genuine delusion, but of course, many of his disciples are genuinely delusional as well.
Four years of Donald Trump has shown the prevalence of some fairly horrifying far-right ideology in US society, and I’m not sure the Jack can be so easily put back in the Box, but I do hope that I’m wrong.
Unfortunately, I think a decision has already been made, and Donald Trump will be found innocent regardless of the evidence.
Donald Trump was right when he said he could shoot someone in broad daylight on a busy street and he still wouldn’t lose any votes and no one would do a thing.
