America’s Uncivil War

by Vijaya Chandrasoma

Donald Trump was finally prised out of the White House on the morning of January 20, hours before the inauguration of President Joe Biden. He acted true to form and character by refusing to conform to a centuries-old tradition of the outgoing president welcoming the president-elect, both at the White House and at the Inauguration ceremony. Trump’s lack of grace was, however, a source of great relief for President Biden and everyone participating in the ceremony. There is little doubt that had he decided to attend, Trump would have transformed a historic occasion into a ridiculous spectacle all about himself.

Trump left the White House by helicopter to Andrews Air Base, where Air Force One awaited to take him to Florida. A small invited crowd of 200 people, supporters and curiosity seekers, with his tearful children and their families forming a row of mourners, were in attendance to bid him farewell.

Trump’s statement, thankfully short on time, predictably long on lies, was about his “achievements”. He predicted that the “great numbers” he had created during his presidency – numbers representing the worst economic and health crises faced by the US in living memory – will “skyrocket downwards” under the Biden administration. He thanked his family for the “remarkable” work they have done for the country. And he ended with an ominous statement: “So just a goodbye, we love you, we will be back in some form’’.

Trump may unknowingly be echoing sentiments of another Republican president, who concluded his farewell address, saying: “Once you begin a great movement, there’s no telling where it will end”. We know now where Reagan’s movement ended. In a society with a lopsided taxation system which dismantled a hitherto thriving middle class and created corporations and billionaires of vulgar wealth, resulting in the greatest income inequality the country has suffered since the Great Depression. We can also predict where Trump’s movement was heading before his defeat. Headlong towards the destruction of democracy, and the establishment of an authoritarian dynasty ruled by white supremacists.

The Department of Homeland Security recognized a heightened threat of violence by the issue on January 27, with an amazing grasp of the obvious, of a National Terrorism Advisory Bulletin. The DHS remains concerned that Homegrown Violent Extremists, emboldened by the breach of the Capitol on January 6, will continue to target officials and government facilities, and represent the greatest threat of domestic terrorism facing the nation today.

A man was arrested Thursday, with his car parked at a police intersection near the Capitol, in possession of a handgun with 20 rounds of ammunition, a list of members of Congress targeted for assassination, and “Stop the Steal” paperwork. Washington’s Acting Police Chief has requested that the barricades built after the recent insurrection be made permanent, transforming the beautiful capital city into a virtual fortress.

Speaker Pelosi stated that “The enemy is within the House of Representatives”, implying that members of Congress are complicit in the ongoing violence. A rebellion based entirely on Trump’s Big Lie, that the November election was stolen from him, in spite of the fact that 60 cases of election fraud had been dismissed by the Courts, including Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court, for lack of a shred of evidence.

The societal excretion of the plague of violent white supremacy in America depends entirely on the role today’s Republican Party will play, whether it will remain the Party of Trump or rediscover its roots as the Party of Lincoln.

As long as the leaders of the Republican Party keep embracing the vile specter of Trump, keep kissing the ring of the King, as House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy did in Florida last Thursday, the next eruption of a violent insurrection of white supremacists will always be round the corner.

The immediate problem for Trump will be his next permanent domicile. He is currently residing at Mar a Lago, in, Florida. According to a contract he signed with the Town of Palm Beach in 1993, converting, for tax purposes, his estate from a residence to a private club, he would be allowed to reside only a maximum of 21 days per year, seven consecutive days per visit. But Trump, being Trump, will continue breaking the terms of the contract, ad infinitum. His neighbors at the small town of Palm Beach have been protesting against his residence at Mar a Lago, to no avail. During Trump’s first weekend as a private citizen, sky banners flew near his residence, which read, “Trump Worst President Ever” and “Trump You Pathetic Loser Go Back to Moscow”. However, Trump remains unfazed. He knows no shame.

Actually, he does not have many choices. He has property in New York, but the attorneys general of Manhattan and the Southern District of New York are gleefully awaiting his return; they have multiple charges with which to greet him, sexual transgressions, money laundering, insurance and taxation fraud, etc. Besides, he is pretty universally hated by New Yorkers. Russia? Unlikely, he owes Putin too much money; and, as he is no longer of any use, Putin may even decide to Navalnyze him.

His one hope may be to seek asylum in Sri Lanka, or in one of the many Sri Lankan enclaves in the USA, where, strangely, he still has many swarthy fans. Maybe one of these wannabe white devotees can afford him refuge. A Win Win solution for a bunch of Losers.

Trump’s second impeachment trial continues to be the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. The Article of Impeachment – inciting an insurrection – was handed over to the Senate last Monday, by a procession of the nine Impeachment Managers from the House. A ceremonial procession through the hallowed halls of the Capitol, the very scene of the crime of insurrection and murder, in which both the prosecutors and the jury were both the victims and the witnesses. A solemn ceremony which has occurred only four times in the nation’s history, with Trump playing the “Leading Man” in two of them.

The Senate trial began Tuesday, with a 55 to 45 vote in favor of the constitutionality of the trial of a president after he has the left the office. It is interesting that 45 Republican Senators voted that the heinous crime of incitement to insurrection is not worthy of trial.

A bipartisan deal was struck to delay the start of impeachment proceedings until February 8.

The one defence available to Trump’s lawyers (when he finally succeeds in getting a team together; not an easy task, considering his legendary reputation for welshing on legal fees) would be to deny the legality of the trial. The Constitution does not specifically address the conviction of an ex-president. However, there are many precedents where senior civil officials have been impeached and convicted after they have vacated their posts. Trump will also benefit by the delay as the violence of January 6 recedes in the rear-view mirror, and the temperature lightens as time goes by.

The Prosecution will benefit by new evidence against Trump being revealed every day. The New York Times reported that Trump had planned to fire Acting Attorney General Rosen for refusing to sign a letter from the Department of Justice, drafted by Justice Department minor official and Trump lackey, Jeffrey Clark, instructing election authorities in Georgia to overturn the results of the state. Trump planned to replace Rosen with Clark, who had indicated his willingness to comply with Trump’s desperate act of corruption. Also, several of the 150 insurrectionists arrested after January 6 have confessed that they had been incited by Trump to lay siege on the Capitol and overturn the “stolen” election.

The importance of Trump’s conviction is that it will bar him from holding public office in the future. He has been talking about running for the presidency in 2024, perhaps under the banner of a new party of his creation.

President Biden has ambivalent thoughts about the timing of the Senate impeachment trial. He is as disgusted as are we all at Trump’s assembly and incitement of a mob of white supremacists to storm the Capitol, an insurrection that had been months in the planning. Trump supporters came within an inch of mass assassination of Senators and Representatives, including Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Pelosi.

The insurrection was grotesquely highlighted by the construction of a gallows, complete with noose, on the Capitol grounds, and the chants of “Hang Mike Pence”, “Where’s Nancy Pelosi”, “Fight Like Hell” and “Stop The Steal”. These slogans echoed the words Trump screamed, Hitler like, at a rally outside the White House, minutes before the mob stormed and broke in to the Capitol, vandalizing offices, defacing property and stealing documents. Five people were killed during the riot, including a Capitol policeman who was bludgeoned to death. Hundreds more suffered injuries. Two other Capitol policemen have taken their lives since the insurrection.

And the mob was an inch away from breaking into the area, with their stated motive of assassinating Vice President Pence and other lawmakers who were in session. The Capitol police managed to hurry the terrified Senators and Congressmen into safety in the nick of time.

While these acts of terrorism against the Capitol were unfolding, Trump made no effort to quell the violence, ignoring desperate calls for help from Senators and Congressmen and delaying the deployment of the National Guard. All the while watching, with his family and cronies, the riots on television, in enthusiastic support at the nearby White House. The National Guard was ultimately summoned, and the crowd dispersed, only after acts of great damage, vandalism and murder. Strangely, no arrest was made on the day, and the insurrectionists were allowed to go home, unharmed and unarrested, indicating the possibility of complicity of Law Enforcement in the insurrection. Equally strangely, no efforts were made to whisk President Trump away to safety from the scene of a violent insurrection in the environs of the White House, normal procedure when the president’s safety is even remotely at risk. Complicity at the highest levels?

While President Biden feels that the impeachment trial would be inevitable, he needs the Senate to confirm his cabinet appointments immediately, so that he could begin the arduous task of governing. He is anxious to address the quadruple crises left behind by the Trump administration – pandemic, economic, climate and immigration. He needs the full attention and action of both arms of Congress to pass the necessary legislation vital to combat these national crises. As a start, Biden has proposed a massive $1.9 trillion stimulus payment, which will provide relief to millions of Americans suffering, facing eviction and hunger, to thousands of small businesses forced into closure, and the necessary funding to the states to expedite the production and distribution of the vaccine.

The Senate impeachment trial is a political process, not a legal one. Trump will probably be acquitted by a jury of 100 Senators unable to reach the two-thirds majority needed for conviction, Republican Senators whose decisions will be guided not by their conscience but by political considerations and fear of Trump’s prevailing malevolent influence.

Whether Trump is convicted or acquitted by the Senate, the Department of Justice should take a long hard look at bringing criminal action against him. There is an abundance of evidence indicating that Donald Trump is guilty of planning and inciting an insurrection, of plotting the assassination of lawmakers, of attempting to destroy the democratic traditions of the nation. In short, guilty of sedition, even treason.