Last week, President Trump and his allies incited an insurrection against the United States of America in an attempt to undermine the peaceful transfer of power. Almost exactly 12 months after the Senate trial began in President Trump’s earlier impeachment, he is now the first president of the United States to be impeached for a second time. With the most bipartisan impeachment vote of a president in the history of the republic, Congress took an important stand in defense of our Constitution and our democracy.
On January 20th we will (officially) begin the journey to repair the damage done by an authoritarian president bent on tearing down the core institutions of our democracy and responsible for further unleashing the forces of white nationalism into our democratic society. As we take the steps necessary to heal our country, we must not simply turn the page, but rather ensure accountability for the damage done throughout these past four years.
Accountability — for the president and his allies — is an essential step but cannot stand alone. It must be coupled with a new era of reform that ensures our democracy is never again left so vulnerable, and that pursues a reimagined vision of an open and just democracy. We must use our collective experience to focus our attention on building a democracy worthy of the support and trust of every American.