Unity – a.k.a singing Kumbaya with the insane.

It seems that the airwaves are bursting with calls for unity after the horrific events of January 6th. This rhetoric is coming from both sides of the aisle; both Democrats and Republicans are pleading for unity, for a spirit of forgiving and healing to spread over our land, and a firm commitment to let bygones be bygones as we fasten our eyes on the future and move forward. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? It tugs at your heartstrings in much the same way as do high pressure sales pitches for timeshares, Multi-level Marketing ‘success plans’, and, of course, your good old fashioned Ponzi scheme with its can’t miss guarantee of making you a millionaire in a few weeks for a small upfront investment.

Here’s the thing. If someone is of the mind that “Jews will not replace them!” I have a hard time find any sort of common ground upon which unity might be built. I happen to think that if someone’s anti-Semitism is so consuming that it makes them get out and march and chant such nonsense, they are, in a very real way, insane. When someone claims to have gone to heaven and had a talk with Jesus about, as it happens, Donald Trump and Jesus opined that Donald Trump would be re-elected, my first reaction is to make sure my grandchildren stand behind me. This is nonsense, every bit of it, and of the sort of hallucinations that could very well get one committed. In fact, my personal thought is that someone who claims this is, in a very real way, insane. It is certainly not the sort of thinking that I would expect to hear from members of Congress and yet, if the news is to be believed, there we have it. If you want to know what God thinks, you’ll have to come to them and they’ll tell you, for a fee, of course. Sinister doesn’t begin to describe someone who claims to have this sort of knowledge. I see no common ground with someone who thinks like this and wants this narrative guiding the politics of the United States. I do not want them in the halls of power; they should be standing on a street corner handing out menus.

What I see are a group of theocrats and fascists who tried to take over the government of the United States but failed and now want everyone to simply move on.

No.

Today starts the Senate trial of Trump’s second impeachment. If unity is what is wanted, then nothing less that a guilty vote with a lifetime ban from holding political office is acceptable. This is firmly on the shoulders of the Republicans, many of whom spread Trump’s lie that the election was stolen. These Senators were complicit in the events of January 6th and now they have their moment on the stage of history to repudiate their actions. We shall see if their actions square up with their pleas for unity.

Elizabeth Warren’s moment in history

The Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump is still underway as I write this.  It seems that the trial will reach its conclusion in a few days with no witnesses being called or newly, available evidence being admitted.  Of the three impeachment proceedings (Johnson, Clinton, and Trump) only Trump’s impeachment will fail to call any witnesses or allow any new evidence to be introduced.  History will judge all the actors including Elizabeth Warren, who’s question to Chief Justice Roberts might be the moment that history remembers above all else.  She asked, “At a time when large majorities of Americans have lost faith in government, does the fact that the chief justice is presiding over an impeachment trial in which Republican senators have thus far refused to allow witnesses or evidence contribute to the loss of legitimacy of the chief justice, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution?” You can hear Chief Justice Roberts read the question out loud here. The chagrin on his face is quite noticeable.

There are moments when History beckons a person onto its stage and this was one of those moments. Senator Warren rose to the occasion and delivered a performance in the form of a simple question that will echo down the halls of history. She took a stand for the Constitution and the gravity of these events, the Senate trial of Donald J Trump. History will remember this trial and will remember Senator Warren as a Senator who stood up against the partisanship which disgraced these proceedings. This was her moment to be Presidential and she seized the moment.  I have a newly found respect for her.