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Today the House impeached President Trump. During the debate, the Republicans failed their oaths, as they tried to distract from the proceedings. They stomped their feet, and refused to acknowledge that Trump asked for a favor in return for Congressionally approved aid. They made him out to be a martyr, suggesting he has been treated worse that Jesus. For some reason, that won’t offend Christians.  They don’t seem to care that Trump attempted to use our tax dollars, so to leverage dirt on a political opponent, because he wanted to rig the election in his favor. That is not respecting the will of the people, or his duty as a public servant.

Republicans claimed that Democratic voters and Congressional reps have wanted Trump gone since the beginning of his administration. They aren’t wrong, but why does that matter? I have wanted him gone for his refusal to be transparent and accountable to the people. Where are his tax returns? The people have a right to know what the President is hiding in them. President Carter had to sell his peanut farm, but Trump, who was just recently reported to have 2 sets of books for just one of his properties, and no one in the GOP seems at all concerned about the need for him to be transparent to the people.

He tears babies from their parent’s arms and locks them in cages, to be neglected and guarded by armed white supremacists, who don’t even have to pass background checks. The kids’ records aren’t kept and kids are being sold to private adoption agencies, while the parents are coerced into signing deportation papers they can’t read.

He is repealing environmental regulations meant to protect our planet, our breathable air, and our drinkable water.

He manufactured a trade war with China, so that he could have a reason to trigger a farm bailout, which didn’t help small family farms at all. Instead it went to corporate farms who donate to his campaign and GOP campaigns. Meanwhile massive numbers of smaller farms are ending in bankruptcy.  Just one in a number of kleptocratic grifts Trump is openly commmitting from the White House.

He is working tirelessly, not for the people, but in an effort to dismantle our health care so that only the wealthy can afford to get any care. This is one the GOP isn’t just ignoring, but are 100% on board with. They don’t want the government to ensure health care for every citizen. They want it privatized, because that ensures their campaign coffers stay fat.

Despite all of this, none of it has anything to do with why Trump was impeached today. He abused the power entrusted to him, by the people. When he took the oath of office, there isn’t any part of me that believes he understood what the oath meant, or cared about its meaning.

The thing is, ignorance is not an excuse. Whether he knows or cares, he chose to take a job that comes with requirements. He is not a king. He works for the people, and he swore an oath to uphold the constitution. So did Republicans in Congress. Attempting to extort a foreign leader, in an effort to find dirt on a political opponent and swing an election in his favor, is a high crime. It has to be. There is no basis for debating the merit. The transcript clearly shows that he attempted to bribe a leader with our tax dollars, for his own self-interest, in an effort to subvert the will of the people.

Republicans complained that he isn’t being given any chance to defend himself. This is an abject lie. The White House has received multiple requests for documents and for witnesses to testify. Trump and the White House have refused this opportunity to participate in the process, which no other White House has ever done. This obstruction flies in the face of Congressional oversight, and the checks and balances of our government. It is also not what any innocent person would do. It is not what someone who respects our constitution and laws would do.

When this is all over we will see whether the GOP in the Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, will allow a fair trial or whether they too will obstruct justice in order to cover for Trump’s crimes. We the people must demand that our Senators call witnesses, including acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who said from the press briefing room that the President attempted a quid pro quo and that this happens all the time. He said we should get over it. I never will.

We must demand that the GOP not make a sham of this impeachment, simply because it hurts their political advantage. The constitution and our democracy demands they put the country ahead of their greed and desire for political power. We the people must also be ready to work in 2020. We have a big year ahead, and not just because of the Presidential election. If we do not unseat McConnell, he will keep stalling hundreds of House bills meant to help people, and he will just keep stacking the courts with wholly unqualified lifetime appointments. The GOP will keep trying to suppress voters and we must fight that with voter registrations and grassroots efforts to get out the vote. We must win in big margins, because we know Russia is hacking voting machines, and McConnell refuses to pass the election security bill on his desk. We need to be willing to vote, get friends to vote, and volunteer on campaigns to get the vote out in record high numbers.

Our democracy requires that we the people get more involved. A representative democracy only works if we speak up about how we want to be represented. We need to be diligent and stay informed. We need to vet information, before sharing it online. We need to be ready to vote in our party primaries, so that we voice our say in who the nominees should be, for all offices on the ballot. We have to get past purity tests and compare the candidates on the ballot to ensure we make our votes count.  We have to convince people on the fence what the math comes down to. Democrats are generally registered in higher numbers, but Republicans vote in higher numbers.  This creates a lot of razor thin majorities. We need to be willing to have those conversations with our 3rd party friends, about the statistical reality. Voting for a Republican will mean the Republican wins. Voting 3rd party, will ensure the Republican wins. Not voting, helps the Republican win.  The only way we ensure the Republicans don’t win, is if we vote Democrat in high enough numbers, that we sweep the math.

We also need to help people understand the reality of which way the wind is actually blowing in this country. That starts with making sure maps show the populations that vote, instead of the land, which doesn’t vote.

This is a good way to show the reality:
Land Doesn’t Vote, People Do: This Electoral Map Tells the Real Story

Wired also covered this well:
Is the US Leaning Red or Blue? It All Depends on Your Map

I’m a fan of pointilism maps.  I feel they really show the political reality of our people very well.

All in all, we need to be in this for the long haul. We need to get non-voters engaged and we need to get citizens to keep voting in all elections. We should have 90% + turnout in every election, and until we do, we shouldn’t be surprised at why things are so dysfunctional. We get what we put in to our democracy, and right now we are in the red. It’s time for a serious investment in the health of our democracy. And yes, yes, I know. It’s a republic. It’s honestly a democratic republic, and it only works if we the people are running it.

Today we impeached. Tomorrow we move forward with upholding the law, and demanding that our government be accountable and transparent to the people.

By the people and for the people.