Where to begin this column after this week is not an easy task. So many instances and individuals to point one's anger, frustration, outrage and sadness toward all it can render is shock.
It comes down to a simple equation: Donald Trump is un-American. He is a citizen of the United States and its president, but he's not American. He doesn't understand the idea of what it is to be American.
In its totality, there is no other way to think of it. What Mr. Trump sought to do was to overturn a free and fair election under the pretenses of a lie by inciting a crowd to storm the Capitol. Sedition leading to attempted insurrection? It's insane to even be writing these words but as with all things Donald Trump, here is where we find ourselves.
The one point that this column knew it had to comment on came from Senator Toomey (R-PA) to his credit said that Mr. Trump should resign immediately also said that no one could see what happened on Wednesday coming. However, former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson set that record straight as law enforcement should have seen this coming.
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) outlined three paths from where we can go now, but none seem promising. The first is Mr. Trump resigning from office, and though the calls are turned up to eleven it's definitely not going to happen. Impeachment would be a futile exercise in the end because the Senate won't take up the matter until January 19th, Senator Toomey stated. And then there is the cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment, also unlikely. One could argue that Vice President Pence has justification for this since Mr. Trump told rioters to go to the Capitol and when they arrived, they wanted VP Pence. Damn, that's as ugly as it gets, like cosmic ugly. The vice president wouldn't violate his oath of office and instead would uphold the law so the president told a mob of rioters to go get him. [This would all be bad movie shit if it weren't for the fact that it was horrifying reality TV produced by Donald Trump.]
All jest aside, Donald Trump statements and intentions on January 6th set one is a state of beyond understanding for the American mind. For all the service men and women for over two centuries that bled and died or came home changed forever physically and emotionally to defend this country and the Constitution and the peaceful transfer of power, Mr. Trump sought to negate all of that history and to fundamentally change the United States on that day. Secretary Johnson said seeing the Confederate flag in the halls of the Capitol was horrifying and showed a photo of an ancestor's grave, one who fled slavery. Lincoln insisted that the Capitol Building continue to be built during the Civil War. Mr. Trump called the man who brought that flag into those hallowed halls 'special.'
If you're a reader of this column you know that we're apt to present a more pragmatic [read: realistic] outcome that could come about, which would be to censure Mr. Trump to the extent that effectively leaves decisions to the vice president for the remaining days. Whether that could or would come about seems unlikely since there is never any mention of it and the main reason is that it would be insufficient to hold this president accountable. Sedition deserves much more.
According to Kasie Hunt's reporting, most Republican senators have a different sort of deep anger about this final act by Mr. Trump and from public statements we know they're open to some kind of extraordinary step. This, of course, is with the exception of senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) who if we're completely without shame would resign. If it weren't for the Democratic majority in the House, we wouldn't be living in a democracy anymore because a majority of Republican House members supported overturning the vote, lead by the minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and minority whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), both of whom should also resign (not likely) but nothing short of being taken out of leadership roles.
The depth of disgrace that the Republican party is mired in because of its continued support of a man who Senator Toomey said had 'spiraled into madness since the election' is bringing us all down.
Speaking of which, there are already reports of protests scheduled for January 17th and Inauguration Day, the 20th so we see what's coming down that road. In terms of political action against this president in the near term, it's a wait and see.
We'll leave it there this week because this 'nightmare of a week' to quote Chuck Todd has left us Americans so disoriented that we don't know if we even made any sense this week. Did we?
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Secretary of Homeland Security
One more thing...
Fmr. White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney tried to get on the right side of history in saying that Wednesday, being something different, was his breaking point and he had to resign. He explained that this isn't the same Donald Trump that he worked for 8 months ago. Where has he been? Oh right, after falling out of favor with the president he was exiled to be the envoy for Northern Ireland, apparently without a solid internet connection.
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