Like a lot of Americans, I am totally sick of Donald Trump dominating headlines. Whether it be the four years of polarizing actions or the election itself, the madness never seemed like it was going to end.
The election came and went and Joe Biden clearly won. Then the whole “election fraud” question began. Like I said before, if you want to contest the election, go right ahead. Trump did that and even after all of his legal means were exhausted, he continued to say that the election was stolen. As I wrote back in December, there was no way to prove the election fraud was enough to swing the election. So it was time for Republicans to cut their losses. Read all about that here: https://blindowlblogs.wixsite.com/blindowlblogs/post/cut-your-losses
That brings us to the riot in the Capitol building on January 6th. The violence there was disgusting and I have condemned it time after time. Those lunatics need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
After the dust settled and the election results were made official, the Democrats decided to impeach the departing President Trump for “inciting an insurrection.”
First things first, as terrible and despicable of an act the riots were, they were not a credible attempt to “overthrow” the government. It was an act of terrorism and violence towards the democratic process, but it wasn’t going to abolish the government of the United States. The Democrats calling it that was just exaggeration.
The attack was pre-planned, and was going to happen no matter what the President said. That being said, Trump’s speech that he gave and his posts on social media didn’t do anything to settle his rabid supporters down. Those psychos who were planning on invading the Capitol were just waiting for something, anything, to make what they were going to do justified in their mind.
The impeachment was made and then Trump left office peacefully and Joe Biden took over. Many Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell disavowed the riots and former President Trump. Many less knowledgeable citizens wondered why the Senate was going to continue with the impeachment proceedings. The reasoning was to make it so Trump could never run again.
Let’s pause here for a second.
If I were a Senator being asked to vote on this issue, I would have voted to convict President Trump. He could have easily done more to prevent the riots from getting to the point they did.
Having said that, the Senate really shouldn’t have pursued this. I say that for a number of reasons.
The first reason seems obvious to me but others seem not to understand. When you have something you don’t like, the harder you push against it, the more it will keep happening. It is a simple physics law that applies to human behavior. The riots at the Capitol are a great example of this. The anti-Trumpers pushed the Trumpkins so far that extremist loons decided they needed to go further. You see it time and time again, from both sides. This impeachment trial was only going to make the Trumpers angrier and make them want to vote for him again, because they feel like they’re being oppressed.
What is the second reason the Democrats shouldn’t have pursued this whole circus you may ask? Well, it’s easy. They weren’t going to win. Most people knew that the Republican senators weren’t going to break party lines. Which is a huge issue with the two party system we have. The Senate was divided right down the middle. To convict Trump, two thirds of the senate needed to vote for it. That simply just wasn’t going to happen. It’s an old adage in sports, you’ve got to know when you’ve lost, and when you’ve won. The Democrats had won the presidency and made gains in the Senate. Why go through with this trial, waste taxpayer money and their own time, just to lose and give Trump a small win? It just doesn’t make sense.
The final reason to not run this long, time consuming trial requires thinking in the mind of those staunch anti-Trumpers. Using their logic, even if Trump was convicted and legally couldn’t run again, does anyone think that would stop him and his supporters? If Trump is really that crazy and inspired an “insurrection” as he was leaving office, is some piece of paper going to stop him from doing it again? The answer my friends is a hard NO. He’s just that insane and trying to force him out of the election, would make him want to do it more.
This whole thing is just a political move. The left is trying to get the last bit of political capital from the anti-Trump movement. Trump had been quite the left-wing rallying point that it won them the election. Now that he is gone, they tried to squeeze every drop out of the situation.
As for the Republicans, there is no way they are going to nominate Trump again. He is way too divisive, even amongst right wingers. Moderates, like myself, are never going to vote for him, and the insanity he brings.
This all comes down to two very simple things. To the Republicans, I say, like I did in December, know how to lose. To the Democrats, you got your victory over the lunacy of Trump. Take your W to the bank. Just as you have to know how to lose, even more so, you have to know how to win.