High Ideals...

Yes. Truth be told. I was disappointed that the Senate failed to convict Trump for his American Atrocity yesterday. It did send me into a bit of a funk, even though I had expected the result. It was pretty much an open and shut case. The Toxic Gaseous Little Baby Man Dirigible gathered a mob, incited a mob, and celebrated in the violence and death that the mob wreaked upon the Capitol. Truth, common sense, Justice would require conviction. But, of course, so predictably, most of the Senate GOP refused to face the truth.

Some of them, of course, were actual accomplices to the crime. They too perpetuated the Big Lie that the election was stolen. Another group of GOP Senators took the weasel way out, letting Trump off on a technicality. It was a terrible charade. Definitely a "Stain on the Nation." Their votes to acquit are the "mark of Cain." Something they must live with for the rest of their lives. A true abdication of their duty to the Constitution and to all that's Right and Good. A true crime against Democracy, the Rule of Law, Truth, Justice, the American Way.

The Democratic Impeachment Managers did a great job. They laid out the case in detail. They told the story well. The case they made, the words they conjured, will resound for years. This was a significant moment in the history of our country.

Turns out 7 Republican Senators voted to convict. I do think they should be commended for the doing the right thing: Richard Burr, Pat Toomey, Ben Sasse, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy.  They voted their conscience. They voted against their party, and they voted for their country and for Justice. Nicely done. 

So yes, 57 votes to convict. They needed 67 votes. Falls short. But still, it was a noble effort. 

Of course, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (the greatest hypocrite in the land), voted to acquit and then gave a speech where he admitted Trump was guilty. Amazing hypocrisy.

But finally McConnell uttered the truth: "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."

Truth, Justice, Love, Compassion, Empathy... 

These are high ideals. Why are they "high?" You know, they are up there with the Angels. We are down here,  on the ground, rolling in the mud, flawed human beings, trying to do the best we can. We aspire towards those ideals, but we often fall short. That's the human thing. Every day. Try to do our best. We must carry on. Our Democracy is beaten and bloodied, but still alive. A new President, a new day. Yes, let's keep striving for the best. It's the only way forward.