Coup/Counter-Coup

The other tragic aspect of yesterday’s events, beyond the fact of them, is that everybody seems to think that they’re in the right. Those who’ve hated Trump all along are filled with “I told you so”s. Far from seeing what they’re doing as a coup attempt they see what they’re doing as a reaction to a coup attempt. There is no meeting of minds.

I’m seeing lots of calls for Trump’s impeachment and removal or his removal under the 25th Amendment:

Washington Post

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S refusal to accept his election defeat and his relentless incitement of his supporters led Wednesday to the unthinkable: an assault on the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob that overwhelmed police and drove Congress from its chambers as it was debating the counting of electoral votes. Responsibility for this act of sedition lies squarely with the president, who has shown that his continued tenure in office poses a grave threat to U.S. democracy. He should be removed.

David Landau and Rosalind Dixon, New York Times

The magnitude of the current crisis calls for both of these measures. The threat the president poses to our democracy is not short-lived and must be cut off urgently and decisively — before it leads to even greater degradation to American democratic processes and traditions. It will need to happen quickly, even with other demands pressing on our country’s leadership like certifying the election results, rolling out the coronavirus vaccine and calming a nation in crisis.

To do this, the cabinet and Congress must deploy the 25th Amendment and impeachment in sequence.

Bret Stephens, New York Times

It wasn’t hard to see, when it began, that it would end exactly the way it has. Donald Trump is America’s willful arsonist, the man who lit the match under the fabric of our constitutional republic.

The duty of the House of Representatives and the Senate, once they certify Joe Biden’s election, is to reconvene, Wednesday night if possible, to impeach the president and then remove him from office and bar him from ever holding office again.

New York Times

The president needs to be held accountable — through impeachment proceedings or criminal prosecution — and the same goes for his supporters who carried out the violence. In time, there should be an investigation of the failure of the Capitol Police to prepare for an attack that was announced and planned in public.

This is not just an attack on the results of the 2020 election. It is a precedent — a permission slip for similar opposition to the outcomes of future elections. It must be clearly rejected, and placed beyond the pale of permissible conduct.

The leaders of the Republican Party also bear a measure of responsibility for the attack on the Capitol.

Matthew Continetti, National Review

There will be time to sort through the wreckage of the conservative movement and the Republican Party. There is not as much time — a little less than 14 days — to constrain the president before he plunges the nation’s capital into havoc again. Incitement to trespass, harassment, and destruction cannot go unanswered. The Constitution offers remedies. Pursue them — for no other reason than to deter the president from escalation. There must be a cost for reckless endangerment of the United States government. Trump must pay.

David French, Time

The American system is under great strain – greater strain than I’ve ever seen in my entire adult life. But the system is strong. It contains the means of dealing with a deranged president. Even now, mere days before the still-certain inauguration of Joe Biden, the House can impeach Trump. The Senate can convict Trump. Together they can banish Trump from public office.

In addition, Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 of the Constitution grants each house of Congress the ability to expel a member on a 2/3 vote. The House and Senate should give those members who objected to the counting of the electoral votes – and who stoked the fear and paranoia of the mob – an opportunity to withdraw their baseless objections. If they refuse, they should be expelled.

The Dispatch

Maintaining the honor and integrity of the Party of Lincoln has fallen on too few hands these last four years. Sens. Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse. and Pat Toomey, Reps. Liz Cheney, Adam Kinziger, Mike Gallagher, and others haven’t always spoken out as much as some Trump critics would like, but they have spoken up when it has mattered most, specifically right now. Discarding this president and presidency at the finish line isn’t ideal, and many will say “too little, too late.” But given the stakes, we say, better late than never.

So, we call on the House to impeach President Trump. We call on the Senate to convict him and to disqualify him from holding “any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.”

We also recognize that the 25th Amendment permits the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to remove the president if they deem him “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” If those closest to the president in good faith find that he has become so unmoored from reality that he cannot discharge his duties, as all outward indications would suggest, then they have an obligation to act.

These measures are difficult. They require political courage. Because they require courage, they may be unlikely. But how much violence and chaos must our nation endure before we understand that cowardice has a cost? Trump has abused his office. He has violated the public trust. And now he has incited a violent attack on the Capitol and Congress. He must be removed.

If President Trump had a shred of decency or grace, he would resign and spare the country from the coming ordeal. He’s shown few signs of either of those during his term of office. Tom Paine put it best: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

What will happen following Trump’s resignation or removal is that Mike Pence will become president. We are in all likelihood in for a very chaotic few weeks and that is likely to be true whether he stays or leaves. If he stays, will he continue to rouse his supporters? All indications are he will and the disorder in the capitol will not only be repeated it may well spread.

The events also call the 2024 presidential election into question. Will Trump be eligible to run again? Will supporting his removal qualify or disqualify one from seeking the office?

Update

Wall Street Journal

Mr. Biden will become President at noon on Jan. 20, and until then the police need to restore order with as much force as necessary. Republicans especially need to speak against trespass and violence. As for Mr. Trump, to steal some famous words deployed in 1940 against Neville Chamberlain : “In the name of God, go.”