15 February 2021
Dear Republican Senators:
I don’t think I could be prouder than I am of those of you who refused to convict ex-President Trump of causing the violent and destructive storming of our Nation’s Capitol on 6 January 2021. I know it left a lot of Americans confused and angry – especially after the Senate minority leader expressed his dismay and disgust for the ex-president, his actions, and for the outcome of the trial. But, as Senator McConnell said, what could he do? The Constitution didn’t allow him to vote to uphold the House impeachment of the ex-president, no matter how rotten, traitorous, and immoral were his actions. We elected you Senators to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and most of you did. Yes, I realize that almost two-thirds of your colleagues either did not see the constitutional problem, or they were so angry that they felt they could “bend the rules” a little bit. However, those of you who voted against the impeachment felt that we – the American Public - would want you to hold the line, no matter how horrible the outcome. That’s the American Way, just as our forefathers planned.
I know you don’t like to talk about your personal faith, but many people may not understand your complete motivation for not finding Trump guilty. Everyone should know that, even as strong as was your need to uphold the Constitution, you anti-conviction senators had a higher demand made on your decision. The stage was set at the opening of the impeachment trial when a christian clergyman asked God to help the Senate make the right decision. As the majority of you senators voting against conviction came from the South and Midwest – where God’s call is heard especially loudly – you listened carefully to the apparently overwhelming facts presented, but in the end opted for that “still, small voice” that was the Lord giving you the right answer.[1]
Looking back, I think it’s important to remember that the minister who prayed at this impeachment trial was the same one who appeared at the first Trump impeachment, opening every session imploring God to help you senators decide Trump’s guilt or innocence. As you know, Trump was acquitted. At the time, I had made a tasteless and blasphemous joke that possibly it was not God’s will, but “that God was as disappointed, depressed, and downright disgusted as I was, and took a Caribbean vacation until it was all over.” This second decision supporting the first leaves no question that Trump – and you senators – are truly God’s People. I apologize for my early angry slur.
Now that this unsavory business is out of the way, I know you’d all like to get on with the business of Making America Great Again. Still, I wonder if you don’t need to do one more thing to make sure the Public knows why you voted the way you did. I suggest you put out a statement, signed by all of you patriots, that echoes the words of your Senate minority leader on February 14, at the close of the trial. You could use some of his exact words, maybe something like this:
To the American Public:
We know that the decision to exonerate ex-President Trump of the House of Representative impeachment charges surprised some of you not fully familiar with our task as Senators. We were not saying that he was not behind the terrible assault on our Nation’s Capitol and the people within it. Senate Minority Leader McConnell made that very clear in his speech following the trial, and we want to express our full concurrence and approval of what he said. In his own words:
“January 6th was a disgrace. American citizens attacked their own government. They used terrorism to try to stop a specific piece of democratic business they did not like. Fellow Americans beat and bloodied our own police. They stormed the Senate floor. They tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House. They built a gallows and chanted about murdering the vice president. They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth – because he was angry he'd lost an election. Former President Trump's actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
Quoting further: “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. And their having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth… The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things.” Despite all that – and here we quote Senator McConnell, again: “our system of government gave the Senate a specific task. The Constitution gives us a particular role. This body is not invited to act as the nation's overarching moral tribunal, (and) former President Trump is constitutionally not eligible for conviction. We have no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizen.”
And, as he finished his speech: “We put our constitutional duty first.”
Even though we knew our Constitutional duty, our horror and revulsion toward the ex-President almost caused us to follow other Senate members in upholding his guilt. We might have, but then we heard in our minds the voice of God reminding us that ex-President Trump is a good man whom circumstances had pushed to extremes. It could have happened to any of us. We could not picture him ever serving public office again, but we could – and do – forgive him for human frailty.
* * *
Update 26 February 2021:
I hope you didn’t send that letter because, today, your leader Senator McConnell, gave a somewhat different response. When directly asked by Fox News if he would support Trump again were he to win the 2024 Republican nomination for President, McConnell responded: “The nominee of the party? Absolutely.”
Maybe your best strategy is to not mention the impeachment again, lie low, and hope that the American Public has the shortest attention span and shortest memory in history.
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