Profiles in Cowardice

Theme Song from High Noon 

I do not know what fate awaits me      

I only know I must be brave    

And I must face a man who hates me 

Or lie a coward, a craven coward        

Or lie a coward in my grave.

The Senate Impeachment trial not only showed us Profiles in Courage.  It also showed us Profiles in Cowardice. 

Much has been, and will be, written about the Profiles in Courage shown by Senators during the second Trump Impeachment Trial.  Senator Burr voted to convict despite voting previously that the trial was unconstitutional.  Yes, he previously announced his retirement, but Gary Cooper, the hero in High Noon, showed a sheriff displaying his courage on his retirement day.  The definition of an honest man is NOT one who stays bought.  Sen. Cassidy, as an impartial juror, voted not only to convict but also unexpectedly to find the trial constitutional, not because he would be rewarded for that vote, but because he was persuaded by the evidence. 

The remaining Senators who voted their conscience, not their party:  Sen. Romney, Sen. Collins, Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Sasse, Sen. Toomey, have and should be thanked for acting not in their own best interest but in the people’s best interest.

All Senators swore an oath to do impartial justice before the impeachment trial.  Those Senators who voted to object to the certification votes on January  6^th and who gave aid and comfort to the enemies of the people of the United States are cowards for falsely swearing that they could be impartial. 

Those senators who did not listen to the arguments at the trial, like Sen. Paul who famously doodled or Sen. Braun who read a newspaper, showed that they cowardly had no intention being impartial.

Those like Sen. Cruz who openly consorted with the President’s lawyers were hardly being impartial. If this had been a criminal trial this behavior would have been considered not just cowardly but as  jury tampering. 

Sen.  Graham went from saying “Count me out, enough is enough” on the floor of the Senate on January 6th, to cowardly voting to acquit on Feb 13,  to threatening Vice President  Harris with impeachment on national TV on February 14, which is a cowardly way to celebrate Black History month.

 
Sen. Lee cowardly interrupted the trial to say that he had been misquoted when a House impeachment manager said that he had been reported to have overheard Sen. Tuberville telling the President that the Vice President was being evacuated.  That cowardly act was undermined when Sen Tuberville admitted that is precisely what he told the president. 

But the crowning act of cowardice was that of Sen. McConnell, who ignored the vote of the Senate on February 9^th that the impeachment of a former official was constitutional, by saying that Donald Trump was guilty, but his vote to acquit was on the constitutional grounds that Donald Trump was no longer the President. Not only did Sen. McConnell ignore the vote on February 9^th, he clearly hoped that no one would remember that the Article of Impeachment was voted while Donald Trump was President, for acts he committed while President, and that the only reason  Donald Trump  was being tried while a private citizen is that Sen McConnell did not allow the Senate trial to begin while Donald Trump was the President.  Sen. McConnell is like the proverbial boy who kills his parents and then asks for sympathy because he is an orphan.  A coward and a hypocrite. 

Let us hope that these Profiles in Cowardice will be long remembered.  The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.