A second impeachment of 74-year-old President Donald Trump gains momentum in the House where 80-uear-old Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) thinks there must be consequences for the Jan. 6 melee at the Capitol, where Trump supporters pushed their way into the Capitol and defaced government property. Growing numbers of the House and Senate want to send a message to Trump or anyone else that thinks they can invade the Capitol without repercussions. Democrats and the press accuse Trump of inciting violence that erupted Jan. 6 after Trump told a large audience, perhaps as many a 1 million, that Democrats robbed him of the election. No court in the land agreed with Trump’s legal team arguing massive voter fraud denied him a second term. Pelosi calls the mob scene at the Capitol an “insurrection,” something difficult to prove given that most of intruders were not armed.
Pelosi wants Trump to pay a heavy price for the invasion on Capitol Hill, whether it was an “insurrection” or good old fashion riot. Pelosi knows that Trump did not ask his supporters to break into the Capitol or commit any crimes only march to the Capitol to voice their grievances. Democrats and the press accuse Trump of planning a coup d’etat, using white militias like Qanon or Proud Boys to overthrow the U.S. Government. While Capitol Hill police found pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails, most the protesters that attended Trump’s rally before a joint session of Congress tallied the Elector College vote had no weapons. To argue that Trump’s supporters were attempting an “insurrection” as Pelosi charges, they’d have to be armed, not simply an unruly mob. Pelosi plans to charge Trump in her impeachment filing with “inciting an insurrection.” If she wants it to stick, Pelosi needs to choose her words wisely.
Whatever happened on Jan. 6, there’s no question that some in the crowd thought they were there to take back their government from Democrats that had stolen the election from Trump. While some thought that, many others were swept up in the mob scene, unable to extricate themselves once the Capitol invasion started. Capitol Hill or D.C. police should have charged Trump with “inciting a riot,” a far more provable offense than “inciting an insurrection.” To prove insurrection, Pelosi has to show that the crowd that invaded the Capitol had the weapons needed to pull off a coup d’etat. Once thing’s for sure, there was no coup d’etat, no revolution and no real insurrection. What happened Jan. 6 was an unruly mob descended from Trump’s speech on the Capitol, trespassing, vandalizing, destroying government property but no coup d’etat, revolution or “insurgency.”
Getting the impeachment charges right in Congress is important to see whether the charges stick in the Senate. If Pelosi exaggerates the charges, calling it “incitement for insurrection, it’s going to be difficult to get conviction. Capitol and D.C. police should have filed charges against Trump Jan. 6 for “inciting a riot,” something more credible than “inciting an insurrection.” To prove insurrection, there most be proof of an armed insurgency like in Syria, where numerous anti-Syrian groups were armed to the teeth by Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Turkey, with the intent of toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Former President Barack Obama spent billions of taxpayer dollars funding the armed insurgency in Syria for eight years. Now that’s an inurgency. Not watching a bunch of crazed losers, like 33-year-old Jacob Anthony Chansley who wore a bearskin hat with horns into battle with his spear.
Democrats are driven to impeach Trump because they think it will prevent him from running for office again. But Trump’s 74-years-old and isn’t likely to see an encore performance in 2024. No one in Republican National Committee leadershkp would entertain another run by Trump. What looks like a loyal following today, will quickly disappear over time, especially after the inauguration. Trump’s president will look like a historical aberration, voting in a non-political celebrity to clean up the incompetence of past presidents. Next time around, Republicans and Democrats will look to a new generation of leadership, like most countries in Europe and Asia. Impeaching Trump 10 days before 78-year-old President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration would turn the public’s attention away from Biden and, once again, toward Trump, someone most Americans wish to forget.
Whatever ugly mess happened Jan. 6 was not an “insurrection”: It was an angry mob swept up in the insanity of group think, once the mob gets a mind of its own. Anti-Trump zealots in Congress can fashion articles of impeachment but if they’re not factual, the Senate won’t go along, no matter how much antipathy toward Trump. No one likes what happened Jan. 6, but Trump never told anyone in the crowd to invade the Capitol or commit crimes. Giving a speech complaining about the election, even making what the media thinks are false claims, isn’t “incitement to commit insurrection.” Whatever small fraction of the crowd were trouble-makers, it ruins it for everyone, as seen over the summer when peaceful protests were eclipsed by riots, looting, arson and anarchy. Democrats shouldn’t impeach Trump because they think it will keep him from running for future elective office.
