Trump is being impeached. He has made history, American history. No sitting president has ever been impeached twice. This is archived history.
And this time, there is more consensus between the two parties than before (that is, as compared to the 1st impeachment in Jan 2019 over a Ukrainian phone call).
The bipartisan vote count was 232-197, which saw 10 Republicans vote with the Democrats to charge Trump with “inciting an insurrection”. The insurrection was led by pro-Trump mob at the Capitol, with 5 dead.
The Democrats needs 17 Republican senators to vote against Trump, and Mitch McConnell seems to be on the knife edge here.
At the last impeachment, it was a firm NO for him. This time, he said: “While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote, and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate.”
McConnell’s decision may be the swinging-vote signalling for other Republiciam leaders to follow suit. I guess the incident leading to the second impeachment waa too close to home for McConnell not take a considered stand. We’ll see then.
As it stands, five Republican congressmen have publicly declared that they will vote against Trump. Liz Cheney, the most senior of them, the Wyoming lawmaker, reserved the harshest rebuke: -
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
Well, Trump has always wanted to enter and exit with a bang, a grandstanding show of just one star fronting the stage, and ironically, he will have it just before he leaves next week.
And the trial will be him “arraigned” as the former President under the leadership of US’s 46th President, Joe Biden.
Lesson? One.
We have come to an end of a chapter. Trump the man has come and will be going. That’s already sealed by his second-in-command, Mike Pence, on 6 Jan, the day that will go down in infamy.
Whatever Trump has done, he has done in his signature, unchanging style. The people had voted for him and it was a political outcome Hilary accepted gracefully, making her exit 4 years ago out of respect for the voters, democracy and the US Constitution.
This was not so for Trump. He did not and could not accept defeat. He fought on to the highest Court (twice), engaged in private mafia-like talks with governors to pressure them to add more votes in his favour, and when all else failed, he kickstarted a violent charge up the Capitol, threatening even the lives of his own party men, and ignoring their calls for him to dissuade the MAGA mob.
Trust me, he was the last voice they heard when they chanted, “Stop the Steal! F*#k Antifa! Save America!”
If this is a case where the end justifies the means (or the man as he is), then we ought to (by now) know (with some bankable certainty) what kind of person Trump is. Personally, I can safety say that he came with the same traits he is going to leave the White House with, rather sadly intact.
What Trump treasures above all else is his own survival, his own prosperity, his own skin.
Every thing, event and person (no matter how close or faithful to him) are but a means to that end. Yet, what draws them to him nevertheless, and to stick like glue to him - similar to Stockholm syndrome - is the swirling mirage that a man like him, with power, wealth and status, exudes, in particular, that he would really make America (and the religion of Christianity) Great again.
Many forget that to Trump, he is basically a brand, a commercial brand; one that operates and transacts only in money, fame and real estate. Wishing naively to possess the Midas’ touch, he always hopes that whatever he touches turns to gold, that is, bankable, earthly gold to over-compensate for his need to boast about his smarts, popularity and net worth to all and sundry.
Throughout his term, over the podium, he never misses a chance to let the world know that his knowledge surpasses all, even experts (“alas, the empty boast of a bully at the playground”).
So, I say, let history take its course then. But ending here, I end with a note for the believers, especially the Christian believers. I think you have been taken for a ride by this so-called Messiah for the last four years. The Monday morning hangover will take a long time to get over.
Trump is not God’s anointed (by specific design), and if anything, in my view, he is a glitch in the history of democracy. His birth and his presidency came at the most opportune time (go figure) - that is, born into wealth, and elected at a time when trust is at its lowest, disillusionment the highest, and hope most foregone (but, mind you, what fortune creates, misfortune reaps - food for thought?)
We have indeed put our hopes on the wind, and it thus blows wherever it desires, mostly recklessly, in hurricanes and storms.
So for believers, let me leave you with Proverbs 14:12-15: -
“There is a way that appears to be right,
but in the end it leads to death.
Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and rejoicing may end in grief.
The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways,
and the good rewarded for theirs.
The simple believe anything,
but the prudent give thought to their steps.”

Let’s start the year by giving more thought to our steps.
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