Trump is guilty; the acquittal is a sham

• We know what Trump did. The Republicans in the Senate are protecting Trump from being held accountable for it.
• Trump was impeached, on the basis of the tip of an iceberg of corruption, self-dealing, malfeasance, malice, recklessness, and lawlessness.
• Congressional Republicans have made themselves complicit. In the House and the Senate, Republicans chose their president over their country, overlooking Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors for no other reason than he’s their guy.
  • Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican from Tennessee, came right out and said it: He said in a press release that the charges “[have] already been proven,” and in his view, “[do] not meet the United States Constitution’s high bar for an impeachable offense.” The Republicans have simply decided that these actions are OK.
• The Senate Republicans have abrogated their oath to do “fair and impartial justice.” From McConnell’s “total coordination with the White House Counsel’s office” (his own words), to Graham pledging on TV not to “pretend to be a fair juror,” to the whole Senate Republican caucus helping the defendant withhold evidence--what they have done in this sham trial was anything but impartial.
• The House brought more than enough evidence to convict. That which they didn’t bring, Trump withheld by instructing executive-branch employees not to testify. The Senate Republicans have decided not only that this is OK, but that this exonerates Trump.

Anger and action are necessary

• We must be angry. Republicans are working to dismantle democracy and turn our country into a de facto one-party authoritarian state, in which Democratic victories are automatically illegitimate and Republican executives have absolute power. By acquitting Trump, the Republicans in Congress will have told us that:
  • The president can solicit foreign interference into an election and not be held accountable, as long as the president is a Republican.
  • The president can withhold Congressionally-appropriated aid, both to foreign countries and to our own territories such as Puerto Rico, and not be held accountable, as long as the president is a Republican.
  • The president can tell his subordinates not to talk to Congress, and neither he nor his subordinates be held accountable, as long as the president is a Republican.
• We must channel that anger into action. Anger without action is demoralizing, but anger channeled into action is empowering. Read on for some actions you can take.

Moving Forward

The way forward is obvious:

1. Elect a Democratic Senate majority (and keep the House), and force them to hold all officials accountable from their first day in office, in perpetuity.
2. Elect and re-elect as many Democratic state governments as possible, to hold back Republican gerrymandering and disenfranchisement efforts and be able to achieve progressive policy wins.
3. Fight for the ideal that America is a democracy based on truth, with government that works for the people.

We can do these things. We must do them. And here’s how you can help:

• Vote. California’s primary runs from this week (when mail-in ballots go out) to March 3rd. We have much more information—including a guide to ballot propositions—on our website. Don’t forget to check your voter registration!
• Get out the vote. From our own Pints & Postcards to IndivisiTexting (see below) to efforts by other orgs like Swing Left, GOTV efforts are in full swing and you can help. We need to make sure that people are registering to vote around the country.
  • Donate to our Pints & Postcards Fundraiser. We’re raising money to pay for stamps, envelopes, printer supplies, and more! Donate on Action Network.
  • Sign up as a Facilitator to help our stalwart team leaders hold more Pints & Postcards events. Facilitators download and print batches of letters, check in with the staff of the venue on the day of the event, and coordinate with other electoral groups for maximum effectiveness.
  • Come to our next Pints & Postcards event at Standard Deviant on Sunday, February 9th! RSVP here. We send postcards, letters and voter registration forms to states like Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana and more.
  • Text-bank with Indivisible’s IndivisiTexting team, headed up by one of Indivisible SF’s own dedicated members! We text into red states, not only about impeachment, but for GOTV as well! Sign up here (the link is for Sen. McSally-related texts, but they’ll set you to texting for the most needed causes!) And, sign up for the training.
  • Go canvassing with Swing Left SF to Modesto (CA-10) in late February. We want Representative Josh Harder, whom we fought so hard for in 2018, to come in strong in the primary. Make a plan to come to Modesto to knock on doors and get folks to the polls. Details and RSVP here.
  • Be part of elections. Be a poll worker, or a poll monitor (check your state laws). After the election, monitor the count (check your local laws).
• Indivisible National has started the Payback Project to hold vulnerable Republican Senators accountable for their complicity and flip their seats this year. Join this initiative to take back the Senate!

And there’s plenty you can do besides election work:
 

• Hit the streets. As part of the Reject the Coverup coalition, ISF is joining other dedicated activists in the area to protest against the coverup in the Senate. We will not stand for the erosion of democracy. Details on Action Network.
• Turn off your television. Instead of a daily drip-feed of outrage, subscribe to non-profit news outlets like the SF Public Press, Mission Local, and ProPublica that give context, substance, and analysis. Pick a political issue and research the hell out of it. Find something you care about, and turn that passion into expertise.
• Get your friends and family in other states to write to their Secretary of State, and to their state legislators, and convey the urgency of universal vote-by-mail. Hand-marked paper ballots are the only secure voting system—every other voting system has been shown to be untrustworthy. And vote-by-mail, in addition to its other franchise-expanding benefits, implies hand-marked paper ballots.
• Demand that your Members of Congress pay no further respect to an impeached president acquitted in a sham trial. No more meetings, no more deal-making. And #ExpandTheArticles: keep on impeaching him on more and more of his crimes—both because the American people need to be reminded of just how much damage Trump has done, and to waste the Senate’s time until they either have a real trial or get voted out.
• Organize. Get other people to call or write to their elected officials (including state and local). Talk politics at work, and with family and friends. Start unionizing your workplace if it isn’t already. Get involved with your local Indivisible chapter, or another political organization. Help to flip the Senate, or to keep the House, or to make change locally—every victory is a part of the larger movement to turn our country back toward progress.

 

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