House Afire

Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial was a battle of meaning against nothing-means-anything-and-everything-is-the-same nihilism—and nihilism won, Masha Gessen writes in the New Yorker. I feel this deeply. The Senate failed to convict the ex-president of sedition and crimes against they themselves, and the circle if complete. The Senators themselves are morally bankrupt. They serve not the country or the people they were elected by, but only themselves. All in all I think it was the only win that could be expected, that the House Managers would lay their case out in such a way that no one would be left wondering what happened, only what they feel about it. Our history is part of world history, so it is not how we judge ourselves but how the world judges us, and we already have the verdict on that. If democracy survives, then there is no question how this will be judged. There has been no greater assault on a peaceful transition of power. There is no evidence of a steal, no revolt in states that were called for Biden. Even with the lack of fair play in our democracy, it was not close. The GOP is the party of bitter cheaters. Give them no quarter. Move forward.