But what about the dead body?

What does it take for Congressional Republicans to grow some integrity, do the right thing, and place country over party? An insurrection orchestrated by a sitting President doesn’t meet the threshold? An angry mob destroying property and chanting death threats for members of Congress wasn’t enough? Lives lost in the wake didn’t trigger it? And now Republicans are asserting that an impeachment trial is unnecessary because it’s all “over and done with”? Following this logic, a murder trial is unnecessary because the victim is already dead.

People. We have a dead body here. It isn’t a “John Doe.” It’s our Constitution. It was assaulted by the President himself, who inflamed an angry, mindless mob to do his bidding, and then stood back and enjoyed the show.

Trump’s own inauguration speech four years ago was a dark, dystopian ulcer on the soul of this country, that grew as the weeks and months ground on. He referred to ending the American carnage in that speech and, ironically, created more carnage than any other president in history. And not merely in the figurative Constitutional sense on January 6, but in reality. More than 400,000 Americans — and the numbers climbing every day — are dead due to the Trump Administration’s feeble response to the COVID pandemic. Essentially the Trump Administration’s response was “pretend it’s not happening.”

Well, it’s happening. There are so many bodies stacking up, many cities are bringing in refrigeration trucks to store them all, and funeral homes are backed up for weeks. The culpability of the Trump administration in the lack of planning for this horrendous pandemic is now being disclosed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who revealed last week that he was unable to tell the entire scientific truth at press conferences, and Dr. Deborah Birx, who revealed on Face the Nation last night that charts about the pandemic didn’t reflect the facts and figures she presented, and were instead fabricated by someone else. She didn’t specify who that “someone else” was, but… follow the stink and you’ll find the rotting flesh.

Isn’t Trump’s failure to deal with COVID and his obfuscation of scientific truth, and a train of corpses ten miles long, enough for impeachment? Pile on top of that the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, with enraged, frothing domestic terrorists roaming the hallways and storming offices to find Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence so they could harm and possible murder them. If either of these two things combined, let alone both at once, aren’t grounds for impeaching a President enough, then the concept of “impeachment” is meaningless.

So, why impeach now? It’s not just to rub Trump’s orange nose in his own shit, it’s to ensure that he can’t hold public office ever again, even if he creates his own party. It’s to protect our country and our Constitution from ever being subjected to his incompetence and willful carnage again. The man is a criminal, and deserves to face justice, or the concept of “No one is above the law” is just a sad, tired little trope.

And yet, the Congressional Republicans are crowing, “No, no no! What we need now is unity!”

What utter horse shit.

To Republicans, “unity” means doing things the way they want. I’m sorry, but in my book, that type of unity is called “acquiescence.” There isn’t an ounce of integrity in a ton of Republicans. That said, Democrats historically do a lot of that sort of Republican “unity” in a naive belief that if they cooperate, so will Republicans. Learn from your mistakes, Democrats! Lucy is ALWAYS going to pull the football away, Charlie Brown! Aim your kick at her next time, not the ball! You must stop bringing poetry to a knife fight, and start toughening up or be plowed over by the Republican phalanx yet again.

Congressional Democrats, hear me. Please. If ever there was a time to grow some collective balls and do what must be done, this is it. You have the entire future of this country, its Constitution, and democracy itself at stake. Do not acquiesce. You hold justice in your hands, right here, right now, on February 9. Don’t let it slip through your fingers. You need to find 17 Republicans to stand with you, for the sake of our country. Maybe you can remind them how history — and voters — will judge them if they fail to perform their oaths of office to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Appeal to their self-serving natures and re-election prospects, which may be the only thing that resonates with them. Loyalty to the Constitution certainly doesn’t do it.

In the case of this non-existent pandemic response, it’s obvious who is responsible. In the case of the January 6 insurrection, you have Trump on tape giving the order to “charge.” And that’s exactly what his mob did. And no nonsense about, “Well, he didn’t personally charge into the Capitol with them.” More horse shit! Charles Manson died in prison for his responsibility for multiple murders, yet he was never even at the scene of the crimes. His lackeys did his work for him. And Manson? GUILTY. Even figurative blood on your hands is still blood in the eyes of the law. And Trump? His legacy is littered with corpses, both literal and figurative.

There’s a dead body lying there.

Someone is responsible.

Bring the killer to justice.

Klobuchar may be The One

Remember when Congress swung back to the Republicans during Barack Obama’s second term because the Democrats squandered their Congressional control by attempting to play nice with Republicans and got “shellacked,” as Obama himself described it? Even when given ALL the marbles, the Democrats still managed to fumble them all. The Dems don’t even bring a knife to a Republican gunfight. They show up with a poem. And then they get their butts handed to them every time. The proverbial herd of cats is entirely more organized.

Well, pass the Purina, because it’s time for the cat pack to get as mean and organized as a Spartan phalanx. That’s what it will take to remove the cancerous orange tumor in the White House. Sadly, the red warning lights of Democratic self-destruction are already flashing. If they don’t focus on the goal, the Dems will blow what should be a cake walk. Why? Because many of the candidates in the race so far are talking about what’s true and good and close to our Liberal bleeding hearts rather than the task at hand: Getting rid of Trump. Save the Liberal wish list for House and Senate candidates — that’s where all the hard work gets done anyway. When it comes to the 2020 Presidential election, the ONLY thing that matters is winning the game.

HARD STOP.

If you don’t win, you don’t get to play.

Just WIN, dammit!

Winning means defeating Trump. That’s the ONLY goal that matters. More than equal rights, more than the environment, more than equitable income distribution, more than illegal immigration, more than anything. Just get that tumor out of our collective body before it metastasizes.

To accomplish that, Democrats must stick as close to the political center as possible. This is not the time to wave our far-left Liberal flag, no matter how noble it may be. This is the time to peel off as many centrist, independent and disgruntled Republican voters as possible. Yes, Republican. They are key. Not all Republicans are Trumpsters, and they’d like a better option. But if Elizabeth Warren gets the nomination, those disgruntled Republicans are going to hold their nose and vote for Trump again, because in their minds, he stinks less than she does.

And let’s be clear: I ADORE Elizabeth Warren. She’s a warrior tigress, and under any other circumstances, I’d be standing in line for my Warren 2020 lawn signs. But these are unusual circumstances. The stakes are sky high. I want a sure thing. And it’s spelled B-I-D-E-N. That said, Warren would be a kickass running mate. The VP candidate plays the “attack dog” role in a campaign, and I can’t imagine a better attack dog than Warren.

As for Biden, be still my heart. I was a Biden fan when he was running against Barack Obama. Uncle Joe may seem like an old softie, but if you’ve ever seen him go after someone in a hearing, that big smile turns into sharp fangs, and oh, can he bite! Unfortunately, not everyone shares my adoration for Biden, and from my perspective, much of the criticism is simple ageism. But reconsider, my friends, because the best way to peel POC-fearin’ Republicans away from Trump is with another old white man.

I HATE that this is so. But it is. Biden is a safe bet, and paired with a female or POC running mate, once Uncle Joe has cleaned up this mess we’re in, the baton can be handed to a fresh, new generation. Besides, if Kamala Harris and Corey Booker seem awesome now, they’ll be that much more awesome with a vice presidential term on their resume. And let’s be clear one more time: I ADORE both Harris and Booker, but in 2020, we don’t have the luxury of taking chances. We need Uncle Joe for the win.

But wait, you say. Bernie Sanders is an old white man too!

Get out of here, Bernie. The first requirement to run as a Democrat is to BE a Democrat. And, like Warren, he’s too far left to peel away Republican voters. Too risky.

There are many others who’ve announced their candidacies so far (think Democratic clown car), but I don’t have the bandwidth to consider every one of them. I’m so Trump-fatigued, all I want is for the pain to stop. All aboard the the Biden bandwagon! That’s been my thinking up to this point.

And then… I caught the Feb. 11 Rachel Maddow Show. Rachel did a three-segment interview with Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. I was sorta kinda aware of Klobuchar, but not enough to form any meaningful opinion about her. Well, now I can! In short: Dang!

Watch the entire interview here (Rachel begins about one minute in). See if you have a “Dang!” moment too. Klobuchar is just so… normal and Midwestern-y. So calm and comfortable, intelligent and confidant. So soothing. So NOT Trump. She’s oxygen when most of us are suffocating. She also has an excellent track record for getting things done, and, get this: Many Senate Republicans have nothing but nice things to say about her. They’re actually able to work cooperatively! In these toxic, polarized political times, this is exactly what we need.

Her main criticism? Apparently she’s tough to work for. Meh. Were she was a man, that “criticism” wouldn’t even surface.

As I watched the interview, it slowly began forming in my mind: Wow… I could get behind her. Even my hardcore Bernie Bro husband commented, “I would vote for her.” I can’t even articulate how HUGE that is.

But here’s the thing: Biden hasn’t actually announced that he’ll run. What a relief to know that if he decides to bow out, there’s another option. What a huge relief. Because if Trump gets reelected, Dante will have to invent a few more levels of Hell. We’ve already bottomed out.

 

(Watch Klobuchar’s snowy February 10 announcement of her 2020 presidential candidacy here.)