A Thouroughfare for Freedom

 i don't really want to write any more about donald trump.  i'm ready for our country and myself to be done with him, but the conclusion of his impeachment trial in the us senate has brought him to the forefront of my mind again.  though it turned out as i expected, it was disappointing that most of his party in the senate sided with him, providing him the needed votes to escape conviction.  despite the house managers' withering presentation of evidence that they so effectively put forth in his trial, all but seven senate republicans found him not guilty on the flimsy excuse that the trial was unconstitutional since he was no longer in office, even though the senate and the vast majority of constitutional scholars had found that trying him after he was no longer president was constitutional.

my wife and i watched much of the trial.  my wife was quite disturbed by much of what we saw and found herself becoming very angry with trump and those who enabled him during his last days in office.  i had already resigned myself to seeing many troubling images as the evidence was presented and was able to view what i saw more dispassionately.  we tried to watch the defense presentations but found them so rambling, so filled with lies, so rife with irrelevant appeals to criminal law that, after a few minutes of what his lawyers had to say each time they spoke, we had to turn off the television.  in contrast, the arguments of the house manager-prosecutors were so compelling that it is beyond belief that trump was not resoundingly convicted.  as his election was won without a majority of votes, so his acquittal was achieved in the same way.  he now claims vindication, even though a majority of the senate voted to convict him, escaping only because the vote did not achieve the 2/3 majority the constitution requires.  it is ironic that the same constitution he sought to tear to shreds when his mob invaded the capitol enabled him to make his shrill claims of victory.

as many commentators noted, he will be remembered as our worst president and as the only president who sought to remain in power by virtue of force rather than electoral victory, as well as the only president to be impeached twice.  it will take president biden many months to undo the harm trump has done to our country.  he has made a good start.  his ability to watch quietly as the trump's trial took place and to continue with his work of undoing trump's legacy of greed and indifference while at the same time pressing forward with actions to improve the lives of all americans was impressive.  though mr. biden was not my first choice as the democratic nominee, he has proved that he was the right choice for the party and for the country.  his steady hand is what we need after four years of government by whim propelled by avarice, anger, and narcissism.  

may we turn from our grievances against trump and take our example from president biden.  may we come together as one people united by our desire to care for one another.  may those who have plenty be generous in support of those who are in need.  may we demonstrate that we are not the people of the mob that sought to overturn a legitimate election but rather the people of "brotherhood from sea to shining sea."  shalom.