DemDaily: State of the DisUnion
February 5, 2020
This afternoon the US Senate acquitted Donald J. Trump on the Articles of Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress, as impeached by the US House of Representatives.
Both votes, primarily along party lines, were a foregone conclusion in the Republican-controlled Senate, a chamber once hailed as the conscience of Congress.
| "It is fortunate that there is a Senate fo the United States; a body not yet moved from its propriety, not lost to a just sense of it own dignity, and its own high responsibilities, and body to which the country looks with confidence, for wise, moderate, patriotic, and healing counsels. It is not be denied that we live in the midst of strong agitations and are surrounded by very considerable dangers to our institutions of government. The imprisoned winds are let loose... but I have a duty to perform, and i mean to perform it with fidelity -- not without a sense of surrounding danger, but not without hope." -- US Senator Daniel Webster, March 7, 1850 |
Those days are long gone, with both Houses having sunk into deeply partisan divides, promoted and fueled by the actions of a corrupt and narcissistic President who has unabashedly put his own self interests above those he was elected to represent.
(MSNBC/DemList)
To the American people President Trump has repeatedly lied, now in excess of 16,000 times as fact-checked by numerous non-partisan organizations, without regard for the consequences.
Indeed, in his third State of The Union (SOTU) address last night, he falsely exaggerated or outright falsified over thirty claims, from the economy, tax cuts, the unemployment rate and the workforce, to criminal justice reform, energy independence, manufacturing and healthcare reform.
There are some who criticize the House's months-long exercise of methodically and exhaustively laying out the charges and largely undisputed evidence of Trump's crimes, when they knew the GOP majority in the Senate would never convict Trump. Others say that the decision should be left to the voters themselves in November.
Senator Mitt Romney (UT), the lone Republican who voted to convict Donald Trump on the charge of Abuse of Power, phrased it best:
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"While that logic is appealing to our democratic instincts, it is inconsistent with the Constitution's requirement that the Senate, not the voters, try the President.
Hamilton explained that the Founders' decision to invest senators with this obligation rather than leave it to voters was intended to minimize -- to the extent possible -- the partisan sentiments of the public.
This verdict is ours to render. The people will judge us for how well and faithfully we fulfilled our duty."
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(MSNBC/DemList)
As the historian John Meacham said at the close of today's vote, "We the people are now the jury. As this drama unfolds through this election year, the American voters have the decision to make, is this who we want to be?...It is a pretty clear choice. It seems to me that the more engaged we can be, the more we will find an answer to that, that will be more in keeping with the best of who we've been, as opposed to the worst."
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