The Trial That is Not a Trial, the Senate's Unending Shame & the Judgement of History
Nancy Pelosi nailed it yesterday when she said on CSPAN, “he will not be acquitted. You cannot be acquitted if you don’t have a trial. You don’t have a trial if you don’t have witnesses and documentation and all of that.”
Donald Trump will claim vindication, of course, but the nation, the world, will view the whole enterprise as a preposterous sham orchestrated by corrupt lapdogs. Our claim to "American exceptionalism" will be replaced with unending shame, Madison and Jefferson ousted by the likes of Alan Dershowitz, Mitch McConnell, and, God forbid, Devin Nunes.
Historians will refer to our era as the "dark days of the Trump Presidency." How do I know that? Pick up any biography of James Buchanan, Richard Nixon, or Andrew Johnson. Historians are never charitable to corrupt or morally bankrupt politicians. And that is also true for their enablers. Mitch McConnell will be remembered as an unscrupulous political hack, although, to be fair, an effective one. Alan Dershowitz's long, and often distinguished, legal career will be boiled down to his absurd and cringe-worthy argument concerning the breadth of Trump's executive powers.
Senate Republicans will fare even worse. Historians will marvel that a wholly incompetent nitwit with a Twitter account could cow the "greatest deliberative body in the world." Their curse will be that they will be remembered solely as cowardly, mediocre men and women, more concerned with short term political advantage than protecting the Constitution or the rule of law. They will be the mice in this chapter of American history, cowering in the Senate cloakroom, hoping that Trump or some hapless Fox News host won't single them out for abuse.
But, there will also be heroes in this chapter of our history. Once widely vilified, and almost replaced, Nancy Pelosi has cemented her status as a Congressional icon. She resisted impeachment until the President's actions threatened America's constitutional order and then led with strength and dignity. And the strait-laced former prosecutor, Adam Schiff, has distinguished himself as a level-headed, straight shooter who Republicans haven't been able to ruffle or undermine.
Finally, there are all those dedicated public servants who risked their careers and livelihoods to bring Trump's bribery scheme to light. They include the whistle-blower, Marie Yovanovitch, William Taylor, David Holmes, Fiona Hill, Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, and, of course, John Bolton, who we have not heard the end of yet...not even close. History will remember them as the true heroes of this story. They deserve our respect and the nation's gratitude.
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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