Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

A photo of President Donald Trump holding up a newspaper headline that read, “TRUMP ACQUITTED”, will be in the historical achieves for time immemorial, ending one chapter in U.S. history and beginning another. Or will it be a continuation of the same chapter? One can legitimately ask that because many people are asking themselves when it all will end. Republicans in the U.S. Senate had an opportunity to restore a sense of normalcy to the office of the president by joining Utah’s senator Mitt Romney who voted to impeach the president on the “abuse of power” charge leveled by House Democrats. But instead, they lacked what many are calling the “political courage” to call witnesses who no doubt would have brought forth even more damaging revelations that would have sank the Trump presidency. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell knew this as well, as 51 other Republican senators, and certainly by President Trump himself. Though Democratic House impeachment managers repeatedly warned that left unchecked, President Trump would continue to act in a manner, without any restraints holding him back. Republicans had in effect “nullified the power and intent” of the Impeachment Clause in the Constitution when they denied any new witnesses, thereby setting up a dangerous precedent for the future. However, why should it matter to Republican senators like McConnell, Collins, Graham, Cruz and others? It won’t. Because by the time it happens when a Democrat president who could emulate the actions of Trump, (it could) the old guard will be gone. Younger senators like Florida’s Marco Rubio, S.C.’s Tim Scott and Arkansas’ Tom Cotton will only be talking to themselves, as their words will fall on deaf ears.

The president is wasting no time in “exacting his revenge” on his perceived enemies, whether they be Democrats or even people that works within his executive administration. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated veteran who was injured as a soldier and Ambassador Gordon Sondland who alone with others answered a legal subpoena and simply told the truth about the president holding up aid to Ukraine. Those two individuals have been fired. Many more are expected to share the same fate as their comrades. Republicans’ defense will be that those in the Executive Branch “serve at the pleasure” of the president. That phrase needs to be revisited. Yes, a president can fire anyone in his administration, but serving at his pleasure? A president is not a king. People do their job whether they like a president or not because it is their duty, not pleasure. Yes, they will say nice things once they leave. However, those who truly enjoyed working in a president’s administration will say that they worked for THE PEOPLE, upholding their oaths once they began their jobs. Their loyalty is to the Constitution, not the person. A king (Trump) demands loyalty to himself. Ever notice how little the president talks about putting the Constitution first, and not himself?

You have probably heard that some senators “tried” to stop the president from taking action so soon after the acquittal. Maine’s Susan Collins said that she “hoped the president had learn his lesson”, and will refrain from doing what he just did. Collins has not learned her lesson about the president. The president will campaign on his acquittal over a “hoax” impeachment, as he will energize his base to follow/believe whatever he does or says. The horses are out of the barn. The clock can’t be turned back. The president is like the train in the movie “Runaway”. Denzel was there to stop a catastrophe even after the train was gone. Republicans in the Senate not only saw a disaster in the making, but only stood waiting for the engineer (McConnell) to sound the alarm. Mitt Romney tried, but it was too little, too late. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.