It is almost impossible to escape the crazy ongoing political news everyday. Unquestionably, we are all tired of hearing about the continuous turmoil brought on because of the election of Trump in 2016. Trump’s perfidy has seemingly managed to affect just about everything and threatens to corrupt the very foundations of our democracy.
This week we are inundated with news of the self-destruction of the Republican party and the upcoming first ever impeachment of a former president. This unraveling of order and common sense is worthy of a script written by the late gonzo journalist, Hunter Thompson, who, by all accounts, could write some weird stuff. “Fear and loathing” has come to Washington.
The twin challenges for Congress this very day is what to do about Liz Cheney and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Cheney, conference chair for congressional Republicans, apparently committed heresy by following her conscience when she voted to impeach Trump, and for this she has been condemned by her Republican colleagues. Greene, a Qanon supporter who has charged Democratic Party elites of engaging in a satanic child sex traffic ring, is being investigated to determine her suitability to sit on the House education committee. Even The Wall Street Journal this morning called out this absurdity, writing, “If bowing before all things Trump is the litmus test for being a loyal Republican, the party should get used to continued losses… .”
And if such shameful actions were not enough, they are being played out against the backdrop of debate over the upcoming impeachment trial scheduled for February 8th. The Democrats have a strong case for conviction based on actual video and audio evidence, both before and during the assault on the Capitol. Furthermore, the jurors, members of the Senate, actually experienced the events of January 6th firsthand. At this point, the Trump defense plans to challenge the constitutionality of impeaching a former president and to defend the president’s actions and speech as protected by his first amendment freedoms. The latter defense could most likely be proven wrong by a first-year law student or even a freshman political science major.