Following are the highlights of the last twelve days of The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America followed by my thoughts on the path forward:

Day 12: Trump refuses to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden/Kamala Harris

Day 11: Trump says he regrets making Peaceful transfer of power video

Day 10: Under pressure from Democrats and Republicans, Trump finally lowers White House flag to half-staff for the death of those killed, including a Capitol police officer, in the January 6, 2021 insurrection

Day 9: House Democrats introduce Article of Impeachment; Republicans Object

Day 8: Vice President Mike Pence refused to invoke the 25^th Amendment to remove The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America from office

Day 7: DONALD J. TRUMP IS IMPEACHED…FOR THE SECOND TIME: TEN (10) REPUBLICANS VOTED FOR IMPEACHMENT

Day 6: Without Twitter, Trump goes silent

Day 5: Trump meets with the My Pillow guy, Mike Lindell to discuss…who knows what

Day 4: Democrats in congress grow more afraid that their Republican colleagues in congress will kill them

Day 3: Angry and isolated, Trump remains silent as aides that remain try to control him

Day 2: The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and First Lady Melania Trump snub the President-Elect and soon-to-be First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, as they prepare to leave the White House

Day 1: Trump issues 143 pardons or commutations

Day ½: THE RECKONING: After refusing to participate in the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris inauguration, Trump flees Washington DC aboard Air force One before the swearing in ceremony.  And at high noon, he is no longer the Donald J. Trump of the United States of America: He slithers back into infamous anonymity in the opaque world of Donald J. Trump the con man while vowing to remain a powerful political force and kingmaker.  Only time will reveal if this is true or not but either way, the high noon of his term in office will likely be a record in history which states that he incited an insurrection, was impeached for a second time…and, possibly, convicted for a first time

Now that Mr. Trump is no longer the occupier of the Oval Office but a private citizen and Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is now the President of the United States of America, Republicans are already singing the same old tune that they always sing when they are not the majority party… “let’s lower the temperature and seek unity.  Unity seems to be every other word that Republicans utter now.  Unity (unity) is (unity) the (unity) thing (unity) that (unity) we (unity) need (unity) now (unity).  Let’s (unity) lower (unity) the (unity) temperature (unity) and (unity) unify (unity) our (unity) country (unity)!  Unity (unity) is (unity) what (unity) the (unity) American (unity) people (unity) want (unity)!

And yes, our new president is also calling for unity…and that is okay.  But why is it that, in the infinite wisdom of these Washington congressional Republicans, that it is only after Republicans have defied even any notion for unity while they are in power, broken all of the rules and did all of the dirt that they could possibly do each time while they are in power, that the American people want to lower the temperature and have unity only after they are voted out of power?!  Republicans are in full control when they are the majority party.  But when they are in the minority party, Republicans are in full control (smile, smile, wink, wink – aren’t they Mitch?)…if Democrats allow them to be.

Republicans have always looked upon Democrats as being weak and so have taken full advantage of this (perceived?) weakness.  President Biden is right to call for unity and to reach across the aisle to Republicans.  But he must not be naive when it comes to his ole friend, Mitch.  Anyone who has watched Senator McConnell operate knows that he is a stone cold predator where politics is concerned and that, as such, he will devour anyone in his path when it comes to his agenda.  In this respect, Senator McConnell is no different from Donald J. Trump, the recent The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.  If he is not held to account and kept in check he has proven that – just like the recent The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America, he will be emboldened.

He has not yet paid a price for what he did to President Barack Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, and for gleefully dubbing himself “The Grim Reaper” and leaving more than 400 bills sent over from the House, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to die without ever making it to the senate floor for a vote.  Just one day after the inauguration, Senator McConnell is already busy stirring the pot by fighting with Senator Chuck Schumer and threatening to gum up the works in the senate – you know, kind of like he did with President Obama – if Senator Schumer does not agree to share power exactly the way that he wants him to share it.  So please give this some serious thought President Biden and please, please make the right decision.  Let what The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America ultimately morphed into before the American people elected you to replace him, possibly saving our democracy, serve as your guide.  Do not under any circumstances, even naively, become an enabler that will allow Senator McConnell the slightest possibility to become what Mr. Trump was while he was in office.

There is no doubt that the majority of the American people are completely exhausted as a result of all of Mr. Trump’s antics while he was in office and now that he is gone, want to forget about him and move forward.  But despite our exhaustion and the pain that we are certain to experience by continuing to reflect on him and talk about him, we also want to extinguish the buckets of flame and thoroughly clean up this mess that Mr. Trump left on America’s doorstep when he exited the White House.  In order to do this, I am confident that the American people are willing to endure this pain for a little while longer.

Among those things that need to be cleaned up (and cleaned out) are the Trump loyalists that Mr. Trump has openly attempted to burrow deep into the Biden administration and other key areas of personnel who have long been the backbone of helping to run the government and attend to its affairs.  According to credible reports, it already appears that one of these Trump loyalists placed into a high level of the government’s intelligence community was placed there with nefarious intentions in mind.  This makes the insurrection that took place at the United States Capitol allegedly at Mr. Trump’s behest an even more significant event.  Follow-up must be done on these things and all evidence collected must be thoroughly scrutinized.

Finally, no matter how long that we must view our government from a bifurcated vision perspective – enthusiastically looking toward a promising future while assuring that we are not waylaid by non-closure of nefarious past events, I proffer that it is extremely important that all of us as American patriots do this.  We must do it if we are to retain our republic and continue to work to establish a more perfect union.

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

 

The dregs of 45’s term in office, so far, have been topped by a breach of the United States Capitol by a gang of Trump-supporting thugs.  And as icing on the cake for his loyal followers, The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America instigated it and told this seditious bunch that he would be there with them.  These domestic terrorists forced their way past the Capitol police and vandalized parts of the building including Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.  At least one person shot on Capitol grounds died and at least four more were injured.

As the demand rises in Mr. Trump’s last thirteen (13) days in office for him to resign – and if he refuses to – for Vice President Pence to invoke the 25^th Amendment, Speaker Pelosi has publicly stated that if neither one of these things occurs then the House may impeach The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America…again.  As I watched the Capitol breached by these Trump loyalists at his behest, I could not help but to reflect on the comment that Senator Susan Collins made when she voted not to convict Mr. Trump on the January 2020 impeachment charges.  “I think that he has learned his lesson,” she said.  Well, Senator Collins, what do you think now?  Do you still think that he learned his lesson?  Or, perhaps he has learned it this time, after the breach…or maybe, if he doesn’t resign, Vice President Pence declines to invoke the 25^th Amendment or he is not impeached…again, maybe the third time will be the charm: only God knows what act he might commit that time!

I should not take my frustration out on Senator Collins though, after all, she is not the only Trump enabler.  Besides, the fact that she said that she did not vote to convict him on the January 2020 impeachment charges because she thought that he had learned his lesson is likely not true anyway.  The real reason was probably due to her political ambitions.  She’s a smart lady and since any reasonable person, knowing Mr. Trump’s history, could easily determine that the odds that he had learned his lesson were slim-to-none…well, you do the math.

As the American people trudge through these last thirteen days of Mr. Trump’s term, I hope that the number “13” is not really as unlucky as all of those superstitious people say that it is.  I’m not sure that it’s the case in every building with more than twelve (12) floors but a lot of buildings that do have more don’t even have a thirteenth floor listed in the elevator…I think.  But I’m not a superstitious person so I’m not real sure that that is the case.  Whether it is or not, I just hope and pray that Mr. Trump’s last thirteen days in office – if he is there that long, will be uneventful.  However, if they are not, our elected officials and other leaders in Washington had sure better be a lot better prepared than they were for the Capitol breach if America is to avoid a potentially catastrophic situation.

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