Today’s Democrats and neverTrumpers must feel like the British did after defeating Napoleon Bonaparte after Waterloo. What do you do with him? To execute Napoleon would have turned him into a martyr and converted France into a full-guerilla resistance akin to Spain under Napoleon himself. (The British, who had assisted the Spaniards, knew how that played out). Jailing Napoleon in France would be foolish: he would be broken out as soon as British or allied garrisons were off-guard or depleted. Even taking Napoleon to England was problematic, as he was almost as popular there as a mythical figure as in France.
In the end, they exiled him to a remote island under 24-hour guard.
Shawn Thew—EPA/REX/Shutterstock
Fortunately, this is something today’s Democrats cannot pull off. Trump may be somewhat “exiled” in Florida—one of the few truly free states in America—but his access to media (despite bans, de-platforming, and restrictions) is powerful. The United States, for now, is still free enough one can travel from one state to another, although Joe Biden, the unelected president is working on ending that as well.
Contemplating a final solution for Trump, the Democrats were thrown off their game by
the Patriot Day (Jan. 6) reminder that the elites do not have the control over America that they think. As I’ve related in several columns, the events at the Capitol so traumatized and terrorized the elites of both parties that they had to lash out in retaliation. At the time, the only way they could do that was by impeaching President Trump. Again.
On Saturday, with seven Republicans voting to convict, the Democrats’ impeachment scam
became a crapper a second time. You would have thought they learned the first time with a superior (but equally weak) case. Instead, unable to do anything but flail blindly, Nancy Pelosi ramrodded through a second impeachment and a second time the Senate refused to convict on non-existent evidence.
Indeed, at first, it appeared Trump’s legal team was asleep, admitting that the House
managers’ direction had surprised them and caused them to ditch some of their defense. But on Friday the Trump defenders brought their Super Bowl game, devastating the Democrats’ claims that Trump incited violence by showing how on occasions too numerous to count it was the Democrats themselves who were in the forefront of spewing hate and threats.
Even with that, the predictable Senators Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski,
Ben Sasse were joined, by what might have been surprise votes to convict, Pat Toomey, Bill Cassidy, and Richard Burr. A little examination, though, shows why those senators, in particular, felt liberated enough to attack Trump.
Burr, considered to be a puppet of Big Pharma, was already on the outs with Trump for the President’s slashing of drug prices. It also doesn’t hurt that Burr (or, as I lovingly call him, “Burrito”) announced he would not be running again in 2022. Pat Toomey, another who announced he was not running again, has been at odds with Trump’s America First/China Last policies since the beginning. A complete tool of the Chamber of Commerce, Toomey had only a 1.5% margin of victory in 2016 and likely figured he would lose a primary anyway. The real stunner was Cassidy. Not up for reelection in 2022, the Louisiana senator just turned his seat into an open contest. Already the state GOP voted to censure him. Like Burr, Cassidy is strongly in the grip of the pharmaceutical industry.
As for the others, Mitt (“Minion”) Romney, Susan (“Tom”) Collins, Lisa (“MurCowSki”)
Murkowski and Ben (“Sasshole”) Sasse have all been Trump haters since his nomination.
Romney and Sasse, in particular, see themselves as the “pure” wing of the GOP, the untainted “principled” Republicans who play the Washington Generals to the Democrats’ Harlem Globetrotters and roll over . . . politely. Murkowski is up for reelection as is Toomey. Each is convinced they are invulnerable to primary challenges.
In other cases, the 2022 election may have played a role in their acquittal: Tim Scott,
Mike Lee, James Lankford, Roy Blount, Jerry Moran, John Boozman, and Todd Young. They
may well have felt constituents’ heat, although Lee, Moran, and Lankford all had large margins of victory last time around. Others, including Richard Shelby and Rob Portman, had already announced their retirements. That leaves a handful of pro-Trump senators who likely stood on actual principle, namely that Trump was not guilty of anything. These likely included Rand Paul, Mike Crapo, Chuck Grassley, John Hoeven, and Ron Johnson.
A last-minute bait-and-switch effort by the Democrats to call witnesses—having been
crushed on Friday—failed when several Republicans including the mercurial Lindsey
(“Grahamnesty”) Graham supported the move. That indicated that the Trump defense team had its own army of witnesses, which it was eager to unleash on the Democrats. Wisely, Charles (“SpewMore”) Schumer scotched the suggestion. It was the final humiliation, even
overshadowing the final Trump victory vote.
The upshot, as AP was forced to report, is that Trump “remains dominant in GOP”. There is no question that Trump, having now beaten the Democrats in the Super Bowl of politics twice, is stronger than ever.
But it is also clear that the deadwood in the Republican Party will not be washed away
with four Swamp retirements. Mitch (“Yertle) McConnell’s speech upon casting his acquittal vote made that clear.
So the question remains: just how scared are the Democrats about Patriot Day, and how
long will they go on in pure retaliation mode? If Nancy (“Botoxic”) Pelosi has anything to do
with it, the answer is “forever.” She wears the Patriot Day imprint like a giant P on her forehead. (No it doesn’t stand for something else). Joe Biden, the non-president, has announced that the troops would remain in D.C. throughout 2021. Yeah, Joe, that’s a sure sign that you were legitimately elected. Twice bitten, the Democrats in any way possible will stick their hand in the lion’s mouth yet again.
Only this time, several Republicans appear about to lose their limbs as well.
Larry Schweikart is the co-author with Michael Allen of the New York Times #1 bestseller, A
Patriot’s History of the United States, author of Reagan: The American President, and founder of the Wild World of History curriculum website with full U.S. and World History curriculum for grades 9-12 including teacher guides, student workbooks, tests, maps/graphs, and video lessons to accompany every unit (www.wildworldofhistory.com).
