Adrift On A River of Razors: The Acquittal Of Trump … Again

The outcome was not a surprise. It was an absolute, vile, foregone conclusion.

The rancid bag of orange bile who incited an insurrection, who cheered the terrorists on, who refused to call off his dogs, who masturbated while watching the destruction from the safety of the White House, has been acquitted by the Senate. In a vote requiring 2/3s to convict, 43 GQP Senators — yes, GQP, as they have formed an unholy alliance with the Qanon qrazies — voted not guilty, leaving 57 patriotism minded Senators to fall short of the necessary 67.

And we are all sickened. Knowing it was coming does not make it hurt less. Emotionally, it feels like we are adrift on a river of razors, suffering as cut after cut draws blood, as bacteria mingles around and in to further rot us away from the inside out. Watching Trump again skate by with no consequences is galling, it is painful, it is enraging.

And it must stop. At some point, this sociopath must face accountability for something in his abomination of a life. He must be put out of our misery.

The House Managers presented a tight, comprehensive, irrefutable case for conviction. They connected the dots, drew the lines, showed the videos, presented the tweets. We all know the piece of shit is guilty. ALL of us, yes, even the 43 who voted that cop killing was cool. They, too, know he was responsible, reckless, cavalier, and murderous in the way Charles Manson was murderous. But absolute power corrupts absolutely, and absolute fealty de-spines absolutely.

Trump’s ambulance chasing, Better Call Saul, personal injury attorneys did nothing but engage in whataboutism, rambling screeds more suitable for FOX and OANN than the Senate chamber, and flat out lies.

But it did not matter that his lawyers were more likely to be found advertising on bus benches and urinal cakes than in the Yellow pages or on prime placed billboards. It simply did not matter. Trump could have sent in a rabid ferret being chased around a cage by a more rabid coyote — their screechings would have been just as cogent, just as impactful, mattered just as little as the ones put forth by the men in ill fitting suits and stained ties.

The fix was in, as they say.

Yesterday, it was nauseating to watch as Officer Eugene Goodman was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his heroic acts that bought precious time for the Senators and Congresspeople to be evacuated on January 6th. I was not sickened by him receiving the award (but let’s be fair here, there are hundreds of officers who are equally injured, scarred, and deserving from that day), but by the hypocritical applause of the GQP. They stood clapping for a man who risked his life to save theirs knowing full well that today they would cast a vote that said in actuality they do not give a single wet shit about Goodman or his fellow officers or any of the hundreds of workers in that building who had to fend for themselves — running, hiding in closets, under desks, fearing for their lives.

Nauseating in the extreme.

Seriously, imagine yourself as one of the hundreds of young aides to these 43; or as one of the janitors who keep that historical building spotless; or as part of the culinary staff that fix and serve meals; or as one of the police officers who were woefully unequipped, ill prepared, and literally left to die that day. 43 United States Senators voted that what you endured, the trauma that has now resulted in two suicides, the sleepless nights and PTSD with which you now exist, the fact that your life was literally endangered by the former president — it simply does not matter to them. They are alive and that is all that matters. You are just chaff, not wheat. Your death would have meant absolutely nothing to them because your life means absolutely nothing to them. You are nameless, faceless, hourly wage workers not worthy of a second glance.

The mind boggles at the complete, total, unshakable loyalty these cretins show to this melanoma on the ass of America. And make no mistake he is a cancer. And today they voted to continue to allow him to metastasize throughout the body politic because it is politically expedient for them. Because they chose currying favor with his rabid horde of domestic terrorists over defending our democracy. It is why it is not odd to ponder what he has over them. What blackmail hangs over the likes of political pilot fish like Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley, and Ron Johnson?

I sit here like you — gobsmacked, outraged, enraged, open mouthed at what we witnessed. We all watched the attack on January 6th. It was no different than the way we all watched the planes hit the towers on 9/11. But this time the images were even more unfathomable because the attack was coming from within not without. As is the case in so many horror movies, the call was coming from inside the house. And the phone was being held by a flaming narcissist, a sack of shit and Big Mac wrappers, and chicken fat, a complete affront to humanity.

It hurts. And it should. If you are one of the decent people in this country, or outside this country but emotionally invested in the fate of this once great nation, what you witnessed today translates as an emotional gut punch. We watched in real time as 43 Senators, people who have been elevated to such high office that there are only 100 of them, shit on facts, reality, dead people, and everything we hold dear.

And that must be their legacy. When they run again, if they run again, they must be voted out. If they retire, they must not be afforded rehabilitation tours for their crimes. When they die, the newspaper headlines must lead the way they did as Nixon’s co-conspirators expired. Mitch McConnell, former US Senator who supported a violent insurrection and the killing of police officers, died today…

That is how they must be remembered. They are not decent people who had a slip. No, they are sycophants, toadies, self centered opportunists who chose themselves over love of country, oath to office, the Constitution, basic human decency. They chose fealty to an out of office, twice impeached, misogynistic, racist, bigoted, fence post stupid, moral and financial bankrupt.

Our pain today is real. Being cast upon a river of razors will do that. But just three months ago we showed the world what we can do. We can save ourselves, save this nation. It won’t be easy, it won’t be pretty, but we can do it. We must. The alternative is unthinkable, because the alternative is to die by a thousand cuts and drown with this country we love so very much.

So faces forward, everyone. Remember what it felt like to hear we won this election. We know exactly who and what we are up against in the next round. Time to swim to the shore, patch ourselves up, and get going.