The good Republican boys and girls in Congress are saying that maybe President Trump should be sent to his time-out room at Mar-A-Lago or maybe even be put on double-secret probation.
Whoop. Dee. Doo.
The mad president orchestrated – or, at the very least incited – a violent and fatal attack on the leadership of the United States government. That’s more than “dereliction of duty,” as one Republican senator described it to NPR this morning. That’s a federal crime.
This is not Richard Nixon covering up dirty tricks. This is not Ronald Reagan waging a secret war in Central America. This is a U.S. president fomenting a violent attack against the nation itself. This is only a shade different than what Osama bin Laden did on Sept. 11 and we assassinated him for it. Unlike bin Laden, Trump took a solemn oath to uphold the laws of the United States.
Then he broke some of the oldest and most important ones.
Inciting a mob to attempt a violent overthrow of the government has been a federal crime since 1789.
The current law, called the Alien Registration Act, says, “whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof” can go to jail for 10 years.
Another federal law authorizes up to 20 years in jail for anyone who “knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States . . . by force or violence.”
Also, the courts have ruled that First Amendment rights don’t protect you when you’re inciting imminent violence against the nation.
If laws still mean anything in this nation, if decency and justice still mean anything, if our Pledge of Allegiance still means anything (remember “justice for all”?), then Donald Trump needs to be impeached and prosecuted without delay.
The frat boy whose goons tried to overturn an election needs to learn for the first time in his life that crimes have consequences and that crooks go to jail. The rules that have never been applied to him because of family wealth and connections must come crashing down on him once and for all.
This must happen without consideration for “calm in this country” and “a peaceful transition for the incoming president.” This must happen in order for the U.S. government to prove to citizens that Congress is not a rich man’s club beyond the reach of the law. This must happen to prove that there are not two classes in this country — one to which laws apply and the other to which they don’t.
This must happen so schoolchildren understand the lessons they’re being taught in social studies class are not lies. This must happen to honor generations of U.S. soldiers who gave their lives defending American values.
If Trump’s attempted coup is allowed to stand, it’s a mockery of everything we tell ourselves and our children and the world about our nation. It says that our government has been sold off to the privileged class and that the rest of us are cowards who can’t or won’t do anything about it.
To make America great again, to prove to every citizen of this country that we are one nation “with liberty and justice for all” and that no person – not even the president – is above the law, Trump needs to be prosecuted with all haste.
Or else we make a laughingstock of everything we profess to be.