The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever.
The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and vote to convict, or let Trump get away with it. Because that's what not convicting him means: letting a President get away with attempting a coup against the constitution he was supposed to uphold. And doing that effectively means issuing a standing invitation to anyone else to try and do it in future. If the US constitution is to mean anything, if its vaunted "checks and balances" are to mean anything, if the US system of government is to survive, then Trump needs to be removed from office immediately, before he can do any more damage. After what he has done, he cannot be allowed to simply leave the White House peacefully at the end of his term; he must be thrown out, repudiated, as a warning to others.
They won't, of course. The Republicans control the Senate, and I expect nothing but cowardice and venality from them. The party which once stood up to Nixon is no longer interested in defending US democracy, especially from their own efforts to undermine it. The good news is that the House's motion may stop Trump from pardoning himself and anyone involved in his insurrection. So its done some good, at least.
