The country will be far better off if we stop obsessing about Trump and try never to utter his name or devote any emotional or intellectual energy to ‘anything Trump.’ Trump thrives on any and all attention, whether positive or negative. If we stop paying attention to him, that will be like turning off his oxygen supply. That would be good for all of us. With any luck, Trump will just go away, as he once promised us the coronavirus would just disappear.
In the wake of the January 6 assault on our nation’s Capital many Republicans have begun calling for Democrats to start the healing process instead of proceeding with impeachment. Trump Republicans never want to hold Trump accountable for anything or be held accountable themselves. While accountability is important, so to is getting to work on the multitude of issues facing the incoming administration. Can we do both effectively?
An impeachment trial in the Senate need not be a long, drawn-out affair. Since Republicans promised not to convict Trump before hearing any evidence at his first impeachment trial, they should be able to commit to the outcome of this impeachment trial before it begins. Promising a conviction without hearing evidence at this trial will not be the charade Trump’s first impeachment trial was. After all, the Senate “jurors” know the evidence already. They were participants, victims and witnesses of the Trump instigated siege of the Capitol and invasion of the Senate Chamber and offices. There should be no need to rehash those events; just roll the audio and video-tape of Trump’s own words and conduct.
McConnell should know today whether or not he can deliver 17 or more Republicans to join Democrats in convicting Trump. If so, then an impeachment trial makes sense. You would think most Republicans would jump at the chance to show some backbone and hold Trump accountable and expel him from their Party. If McConnell has so lost control that Republicans cannot convict Trump and put their house in order, then they should be allowed to stew further in Trump’s effluent and continue their self-wrought disintegration. If McConnell can deliver Trump’s conviction, he should do so quickly so that we can all move on to the many critical tasks at hand.
Most important of all, with or without an impeachment trial, our nation would be wise to expunge Trump from our daily diet.
Can the nation actually begin healing in the immediate wake of Trump’s departure from the White House? Just imagine. Imagine if Biden and McConnell could get together and announce a concerted effort by Republicans working with Democrats on a fast-track schedule to confirm Biden’s cabinet appointments and to coordinate Biden’s plans for a national Covid-19 protocol and streamlined vaccine distribution. Imagine if the parties could promise to work together on another economic relief package for struggling Americans and small companies. And then imagine if Republicans and Democrats could actually start working on infrastructure and job creation, immigration reform, climate change, ending racial injustice and class warfare, rebuilding our international alliances and influence around the globe. These and many other issues that will only be resolved through compromise and commitment to putting our nation and its people ahead of lawmaker’s own career interests and egos.
Hasn’t the nation hit rock-bottom hard enough? What better time is there than now to change direction and start an upward trajectory that we sorely need.
There is plenty of work to be done to find common ground and compromises that bring our people together, repair our economy and the social fabric of our nation. The good news is that over the past four years of dysfunctional government, many people have been thinking, speaking and writing more insightfully about the many challenges facing our country and how we might go about reforming our government and society to achieve a more perfect union.
Biden is right. We Americans can accomplish anything we set our hearts and minds on achieving. If Nelson Mandela could unite South Africans after the scourge of apartheid, surely we can finish our Civil War which we thought had ended some 150 years ago.
We can do it if we just have the will to change the channel from “All Trump, all the time” to “Fixing the present, preparing for the future.”
Biden often says America has been successful, not by “the example of our power but by the power of our example.” Already Biden’s thoughtful, professional and experienced approach preparing to assume the responsibility of leading this nation as President has set a new example. Our President can and should always be a leader who exudes experience, judgment, wisdom and confidence in who we are as a nation, where we need to go and how to get there. Already Biden has had a calming influence on many, brought a sigh of relief to the nation and a sense of hope, of spring in the air.
No doubt it will be a tough job to persuade Trump supporters to join with their neighbors and perceived enemies to work together to heal and restore America. But we have to try. If they see Republican leaders working with Democrats and delivering results we all need, that should do more to convince them that they have a future in America than anything else.
With or without an impeachment trial, Trump is now a thing of the past. History will confirm what Trump’s Attorney General and dozens of courts and Trump appointed judges have already confirmed: that the 2020 election was not the result of significant voter fraud. Biden is and will be a legitimate President. It is time for the nation to turn its attention to facing down the real challenges before us: our internal divisions and our external threats. We will do neither if we persist in wallowing in Trump’s wake.