Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

Our most fervent wish for the 2021 political debates is that the name “Trump” will no longer be dominant and that the violence and disorder this president’s chaotic recklessness has kindled will end.

But, better to be vigilant in case it doesn’t. After all, it happened here, in Santa Cruz County seven months before Jan. 6.

Unfortunately President Donald Trump is still in office until Wednesday. As we stated previously, for the good of the country he should have stepped down after his abhorrent attempts to overturn an election he lost helped lead to the events of last week.

But of course, he didn’t. So, while he sent out a message Wednesday urging his supporters to not engage in violence, he also has accepted no responsibility for what took place Jan. 6.

And we understand the reaction by many members of Congress, who more than a week ago, suffered through a riotous assault upon their citadel by a mob hellbent on seeing Trump’s dark designs actually carried out.

So, in the fury of the reaction to Jan. 6, Trump has become the first president ever to be impeached twice. The vote was 232 to 197, with all House Democrats voting for impeachment. They were joined by 10 Republicans, led by Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, in a chamber protected by National Guard troops who are stationed throughout the Capitol and its grounds.

So where do we go from here?

First, we look forward to the inauguration of Presidentelect Joe Biden on Wednesday and to the pledge by members of his administration to hit the ground running in the efforts to ramp up vaccine distribution and to start restoring the functions of a government that in many ways has come to a halt as the Trump administration has dissolved.

Second, impeachment: The Senate will be split 50-50 later this month, and a two-thirds majority would be needed to convict Trump, meaning that 17 Republican senators would have to join Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, soon to be Minority Leader, while reportedly telling numerous people that Trump did commit impeachable offenses, has said Trump will not be convicted by the Senate this week, or probably next week, or perhaps ever — especially as the anger over the events of last week recedes in the memories of Republican senators.

Biden has not taken a position on Trump’s impeachment, other than saying that all those responsible for the assault on the Capitol should be held accountable. Whether that means Trump and Republican senators such as Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, whose ambition will be their undoing, he hasn’t said. He’s also indicated he doesn’t want Congress to be solely focused on Trump or impeachment as his administration starts its perilous journey into dealing with the pandemic — and finding a way to heal the divisions in the country.

The third, and most pressing immediate concern, regards law enforcement, nervously poised for whatever might come next from the conspiracy-driven extremist right as inauguration day approaches.

The FBI has warned that armed protests are planned for every state capitol and at the U.S. Capitol starting Saturday through Wednesday. Santa Cruz County, where only a tiny minority of voters supported Trump last November, is not exempt.

We cannot forget that Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller was gunned down last June in Ben Lomond. A 32-year-old active duty Air Force sergeant, Steven Carrillo, was arrested for the murder; Carrillo is affiliated with the so-called “Boogaloo” movement — the very type of right-wing extremists who stormed the Capitol.

Santa Cruz Police Chief Andy Mills told the Sentinel this week he is taking intelligence reports about possible disruptions seriously. Mills said his department will protect people’s right to protest, but not violence.

The gross ineptitude of Capitol Police leadership last week was a terrible example of what can happen when threats from extremists are not taken with utmost seriousness. Even if continuing threats are just empty chatter, it’s vital to be prepared for more violence in coming days, rather than be shocked again.