The impeachment and impeachment trial of the Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America is over.  All of the Republicans in the House checked their so called honor at the door and not a single one of them voted to impeach Mr. Trump.  He was impeached, primarily, along party lines.  Over in the senate, all of the Republican senators, with the exception of one, also checked their so called honor at the door; all except two of them voted against allowing witnesses at the trial and all except one of them voted to acquit Mr. Trump of the charges leveled against him by the House in their Articles of Impeachment although the evidence against him was overwhelming.

The two Republican senators who voted to have witnesses at the trial were Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins.  Senator Susan Collins deserves no credit as it relates to honor for her vote to have witnesses because she likely voted to have witnesses only with the permission of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  And Senator McConnell likely gave her permission to do this in order to provide her with political cover and in an effort to help protect his position as Senate Majority Leader: There was never even the slightest risk of losing the vote to deny having witnesses at this trial.  The one senator who voted to convict Mr. Trump on one of the Articles of Impeachment was Senator Mitt Romney.  All of these Republicans in both the House and Senate, with the exception of one, chose preservation over principle.  They chose their jobs – power, influence and money – over country, the Constitution and the American people.

Senator Romney has already paid and will continue to pay a great price for defying Mr. Trump for as long as Mr. Trump is the Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.  Mr. Trump demonstrated that this would and will be the case when he berated Senator Romney shortly after he was acquitted by the senate.  He further signaled his intensions to denigrate and, if possible, destroy those whom he labeled as his enemies when – also shortly after his acquittal – he verbally attacked Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the prayer breakfast.

After the prayer breakfast, he gave a rambling one hour speech at the White House in which he praised all of those that he views as friends and continued to denigrate those whom he perceives to be his enemies.  As if that wasn’t already enough, he fired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Semyon Vindman, Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council and his twin brother Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Vindman and had them escorted off of the White House grounds.  Lieutenant Colonel Semyon Vindman was fired for testifying truthfully during impeachment proceedings about issues regarding Ukraine.  In the case of his twin brother, it appears that Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Vindman was fired for no other reason than he was Lieutenant Colonel Semyon Vindman’s brother.

Mr. Trump’s acquittal by the senate has put even further strain on the precarious tether that links him to the real world and as his enablers continue to cower in his long shadow the threat of him breaking free of all restraints and oversight loom menacingly large.  Out of their personal political ambition and lust for power these Republican senators who acquitted Mr. Trump, whether wittingly or unwittingly, have unleashed a powerful, frightening and unpredictable Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America upon America and the entire world.  They have become complicit with him in all of his actions and will throughout history forever be tied to him in whatever he decides to try to do, whether he succeeds or fails, to our fledgling democracy – this republic, if we can keep it.  What these Republicans seem to fail to realize – even with all of the obvious warning signs – is that if they fail to acquiesce to Mr. Trump’s will even one time, if they make even one slight misstep that in his eyes makes him look bad, they too will without fail become his enemy.

Because the senate for whatever reason decided to make excuses to avoid doing the job that they swore an oath to do we, the American people, must do it for them on Election Day this year.  In November it is imperative that we all overcome any obstacles placed in our way, get to the polls and vote Mr. Trump out of office.  And while we are at it, we should also vote all of those Representatives and Senators who failed to do their jobs out of office.

Mr. Trump has proven time-and-time again that he is extremely adept at manipulating his opponents into the long game and using the system and all other means available to him to wear them down.  There are polls which indicate that some of us have already begun to succumb to this favorite tactic of his.  Although this “long game” is exhausting, it is incumbent upon us as American citizens to do our part to preserve our democracy.  Tomas Payne said that those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.  Let’s do that!  And every time that you find yourself feeling discouraged and exhausted by Mr. Trump’s bullying, incessant lying and “long game” tactics, always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line