The Republican Reckoning
Even if immediate impeachment will not result in immediate removal, we need to know who in the Republican Party supports principles and who supports Trump.
On January 6th, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, ransacking the building, shutting down legislative actions, and causing the death of six people. The tensions stirred by President Trump’s incessant attacks on the democratic process since he lost election two months prior had finally boiled over, to disastrous consequences.
Legislators, and the Vice President, were forced to cower in fear as an insurrection rapidly formed on their doorstep. The president, through all of this, sat silent in the White House, watching the proceedings unfold and refusing to lift a finger to stop it until after the damage was done.
Members of both parties were quick to condemn the assault, and many in both parties linked the president to the insurrection in their condemnations. Calls for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, or a second impeachment trial to be held., began immediately. I think it is fair to say that Trump’s actions are well-deserving of removal from office, so it would be an exercise in futility to explain that.
However, there are those on both sides of the aisle who believe that, for the sake of the nation, impeachment should be put aside and Trump should be left to quietly go into the night. The editor here at the Liberty Hawk, Justin Stapley, has articulated the case for putting impeachment aside as a simple question of partisanship: if it cannot be shown that Senate Republicans will support the proceedings, then dragging the country through a partisan trial will only do more harm to the nation. His logic is sound, his reasoning solid, and by every count I agree with his points.
But, the House should still vote to impeach and force the Senate to take up the trial.
The Republican establishment in Washington has failed in its duty to uphold the Constitution over the last four years. Republicans in Congress, by and large, have repeatedly ceded ground to Trump in the fight over the future of the party. They made a deal with the devil, traded conviction for fleeting power, and now must face the consequences.
Impeachment may be a hard vote, yes. It might very well end up being partisan. But the Trump insurrection cannot go unpunished. Trump’s hold on the party cannot be allowed to stand. I have vowed to reclaim my party from those who have corrupted it, and I will continue to fight to do so. That requires me to know who supports the party and its principles, and who supports Trump.
If anyone in the Senate (or in the House, for that matter) can look at what happened on January 6th and claim that Trump is not worthy of impeachment after that, then they are a disgrace to the party, and the country, and deserve to be tossed out of Congress.
The time for appeasement is over. Principled congressional Republicans must take a stand, or face the wrath of a conservative movement that has had enough. There can be no more compromises with the devil. Trump does not deserve to go off quietly into the night, and neither do those who have aided and abetted his assaults on American democracy.
The time has come for a reckoning within the Republican Party. The House must force the issue, for the sake of the party and the country. Impeachment must happen.
