Dear John,

This has truly been a week of highs and lows for the American political system. Like much of the Ms. community, I’ve watched with great excitement these past few weeks as the Biden-Harris administration has done what we, the voters, asked of them: they’ve gone straight to work. 

President Biden announced this week that they’ve secured an additional 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, enough to vaccinate every adult in the U.S., and Dr. Fauci predicted that by April, vaccinations will be open to anyone who wants one. 

Also this month, the President unveiled a new executive order that will provide a blueprint for rebuilding the U.S Refugee Admissions Program, which was badly damaged under the Trump administration. Plus, an additional presidential memorandum promotes the rights of LGBTQ+ people around the world, and includes a pledge to ensure access to refugee protection for persons facing persecution based on sexual orientation or identity. Mary Giovagnoli writes more about these much-needed steps in the right direction on MsMagazine.com this week — you can read it here. 

The lows I mentioned? Well, if you’ve been glued to former President Trump’s impeachment trial like I have, you’re well aware of the cowardice being shown by so many Republicans right now, as well as the truly horrifying testimony that is making clear just how violent and targeted the violence at the Capitol truly was on January 6. Some are asking if it matters that Congress moves forward with the impeachment now that Trump is no longer in office. The answer is a resounding yes. 

As Constitutional law expert Stephen Rohde writes for Ms. this week, “Throughout the 2020 election campaign, culminating with the deadly assault on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump willfully violated his most fundamental constitutional obligations… Trump argues that he cannot be tried for impeachment because he is no longer president. But the letter, spirit and experience of the Constitution prove him wrong… no elected official gets a free pass to commit impeachable offenses and then resign or leave office and escape liability for his misdeeds.” Read more from Rohde here. 

I know that with a competent administration currently in the White House, it’s tempting to look away from the chaos of the last four years. To take a break. But we simply cannot. We must hold the Trump administration—and those who supported it—accountable for the harm they did to this country and to our Constitution. We cannot truly work toward creating a better, more equitable society for all if those who are actively working against justice are given a free pass. It’s on all of us not to look away. 

For equality,

Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor