IMPEACH HIM
Congress putting Trump on trial is the only way to end these dark days for American democracy and to stop dangerous Donald running again
OVER the past eight years reporting events in the US, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve tasted tear gas, dodged rubber bullets or been in the way of bricks and bottles being thrown.
At one point I even had the red laser dot of a police marksmen’s gun centred on my chest.
Throughout all of America’s civil unrest, I’ve been on the frontline on both sides of the divide, whether behind police lines, or with the warring protestors.
Last week, I stood among a crowd at the Capitol building that dwarfed the previous protests I’ve seen and which was allowed to run amok with impunity.
Trump’s MAGA mob took it upon themselves to launch what became a deadly riot, leaving five people dead, including one police officer.
Their marauding into the Capitol building, in an attempt to overturn the will of their fellow countrymen who voted Joe Biden into the White House, was criminal in its intent.
But it was no coincidence that the rabid mob decided to storm democracy, just moments after they had been fuelled by their cult-like leader who had told them they must “fight”.
I looked on as a dethroned and deranged Donald Trump stood before me displaying more madness than King George himself.
As his loyal, maskless subjects cheered on his every word, America’s pitiful President gave his swan song – raising his final glass in the last chance saloon.
“I won, I won,” he cried, while repeating his baseless and false claims that November’s election had been “stolen” from him.
“We will never give up. We will never concede,” Trump told his supporters. He then vowed to take on Republicans he views treasonous after they rejected his effort to stay in office more than two months after losing the presidential election.
His calls were so great they led to chants of “Hang Mike Pence,” Trump’s loyal vice president who he now blames for being unable to stop Biden’s election win being certified.
After the President spoke, a few hundred yards away, Congress’s joint session was just beginning to come under siege. The police’s response was pathetic. At one point officers appeared to open the gates to allow the mob in.
What followed will shame America forevermore.
The sight of elected politicians cowering under tables, law enforcement having to draw their guns and America’s leaders scurrying for shelter was shameful.
Warranted or not, the world looks to the States to take the lead in many areas, but Trump’s actions have made us all view America in a different light.
Like any democracy, whichever way we all vote, what is essential is that elections remain free and fair and that the rule of law is upheld.
Trump has shown complete disregard for all of these precepts.
When will he finally be held accountable for what is nothing less than an attempted coup?
Last week’s certification of Biden’s win should have been the turning point in Trump’s election lies.
Instead, he incited an insurrection, leaving Biden’s inauguration next Wednesday as the date America should definitively move on. But don’t count on it. Now, it seems possible that a Senate impeachment trial could be beginning then, keeping Trump’s dangerous presence centre stage even as the President-elect becomes the new US leader. This would be bad for Biden, bad for America and bad for the rest of the world. What could be even worse is Trump running for the White House in four years’ time. Congress should impeach him. Above all else, they should do so to ensure he never darkens the White House’s doors again and stop him from running in 2024. What dark days for America. What dark days for democracy.