The world watched with dismay as a surreal scene at the U.S. Capitol, like little else seen in its history, unfolded on Wednesday. Protesters loyal to President Trump burst through police barricades and mobbed the building, disrupting at the 11th hour a vote to formalize Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. Shortly before the breach, Vice President Pence had announced he would not reject the election results, as Trump had urged.
Many foreign observers, already glued to news of the final chapters of the election saga, reacted with alarm and even grief, especially in allied countries that have looked to U.S. democracy for inspiration.
(The Washington Post, January 6, 2021)
No doubt you’re watching this all-too-foreseeable insurrection unfold as I am. Therefore, I see no point in elaborating. Instead, I shall suffice to share a little of what I texted a few friends the moment MAGA neo-confederates began storming the Capitol:
Those nincompoops are merely following Trump’s delusional marching orders. The next step will have him declare martial law, which he thinks will enable him to rule for life.
But, if Republicans have even an ounce of moral fiber left in their bodies, they would not only withdraw objections to Joe Biden’s certification as the duly elected president of the United States, but also prevail upon Democrats to commence immediate and expedited Impeachment of Donald J. Trump for treason.
But I’ve had a change of heart since then. Because here’s the best thing that can happen when they reconvene:
VP Pence should announce that he spent the past few hours at an undisclosed location discussing the merits of invoking the 25th Amendment (to remove an incapacitated president from office) with other members of the Cabinet; and that, based on clinical advice that precludes Trump raising cognizable objection, they voted unanimously to do.
Accordingly, VP Pence should announce that
- This Congress will proceed with Biden’s certification;
- Trump has been flown to Mar-a-Lago to await his legal fate, which (ironically) rests primarily with two Black women, namely the New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — both of whom seem bound to bring charges that lie beyond Trump’s presidential pardon powers; and
- He (Pence) will serve as president until Biden is sworn in on January 20.
Whatever happens, you can bet that, as he has done his whole life, Trump is banking on the consequences of holding him accountable for his reckless behavior proving so prohibitive for so many others that he gets a pass — once again. This alone is why it behooves Democratic politicians and prosecutors alike to see that he pays come what may.
But Trump thinking he could get away with inciting his followers to storm the Capitol is the inevitable result of craven, venal, and enabling Republicans allowing him to get away with so many other high crimes and misdemeanors throughout his presidency. It is also why Trumpism has always said more about Trump’s gullible supporters than the narcissistic, sadomasochistic, and psychopathic Trump himself.
That said, I’m on record saying after Trump was elected that he would turn America into a Banana Republic and an international laughingstock. By any objective criteria, he could’ve claimed mission accomplished long ago. But surely today’s insurrection left no doubt.
America has always been seen as a shining city upon a hill, offering a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. But Trump has spent the past four years breaking every light that made that city shine. No doubt, for him and his Proud Boys, it was lights out today.
I maintain, however, that President Biden will need only four months to effectively repair all that Trump has broken in this respect over the past four years.
Finally, I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating. It speaks volumes about how poorly Trump’s children were raised and how little genuine love they have for him that, instead of staging interventions to prevent his high crimes and misdemeanors, they enable them.
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* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Wednesday, at 6:19 p.m.