The "PA GOP official" quoted above is Dave Bell, chair of the Washington County (Pennsylvania) Republican Party ... and the complete quote is even more damning: "We did not send him there to vote his conscience," Bell said. "We did not send him there to do the right thing ... or whatever he said he was doing. We sent him there to represent us." Representing, of course, was exactly what he was doing. Representing as he saw fit, as he understood what was right, based on the evidence presented at trial.
The vote, of course, was Saturday's U.S. Senate ballot on whether to convict Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection. Forty-three Republican senators voted not to convict despite the fact that less than six weeks earlier, millions of us had watched Trump do just that. In a typical lie-laced speech, he'd sent a crush of supporters to the Capitol, promising "I'll be there with you" before retreating to the White House to watch the televised chaos unfold.
For several hours, the mob he'd unleashed stormed the Capitol, smashed windows, crashed through doors, trashed legislative chambers, ransacked private offices, beat outnumbered officers, taunted and verbally threatened VP Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and made pigsties of the restrooms. Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer, was killed. Two others, reportedly traumatized by what they had endured, later committed suicide.
Another, Officer Eugene Goodman, Acting Deputy Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, became an instant hero as he baited the rioting white mob to follow him away from the entrance to the Senate chamber before it had been evacuated. Senators have voted to award him the Medal of Honor.
Nevertheless, on Saturday, by a vote of 57 (in favor of conviction) to 43 (opposed), the Senate acquitted Trump of the charge of inciting an insurrection. Foreign journalists reportedly were confused about how the majority lost, but the tyranny of the minority is grist for another mill.*
We now have one political party and one craven cult. What will become of the "Republicans"?
*In case you haven't been paying attention, the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority (i.e., 67 votes) to carry the day in impeachment cases.
The vote, of course, was Saturday's U.S. Senate ballot on whether to convict Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection. Forty-three Republican senators voted not to convict despite the fact that less than six weeks earlier, millions of us had watched Trump do just that. In a typical lie-laced speech, he'd sent a crush of supporters to the Capitol, promising "I'll be there with you" before retreating to the White House to watch the televised chaos unfold.
For several hours, the mob he'd unleashed stormed the Capitol, smashed windows, crashed through doors, trashed legislative chambers, ransacked private offices, beat outnumbered officers, taunted and verbally threatened VP Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and made pigsties of the restrooms. Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer, was killed. Two others, reportedly traumatized by what they had endured, later committed suicide.
Another, Officer Eugene Goodman, Acting Deputy Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, became an instant hero as he baited the rioting white mob to follow him away from the entrance to the Senate chamber before it had been evacuated. Senators have voted to award him the Medal of Honor.
Nevertheless, on Saturday, by a vote of 57 (in favor of conviction) to 43 (opposed), the Senate acquitted Trump of the charge of inciting an insurrection. Foreign journalists reportedly were confused about how the majority lost, but the tyranny of the minority is grist for another mill.*
We now have one political party and one craven cult. What will become of the "Republicans"?
*In case you haven't been paying attention, the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority (i.e., 67 votes) to carry the day in impeachment cases.
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