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The frieze of Harvard Law School's library is inscribed, "Non sub Homine sed sub Deo et Lege" - Not under Man, but under God and Law. Ours is a nation of laws. If we have no use for the law against an armed insurrection, we have no nation. 1/
Every person who has ever worked on the Hill, every person who has ever gotten a ticket and sat in the gallery of the House or Senate chamber, every American who values democracy knows that is hallowed ground. 2/
It is absolutely sickening to have seen domestic terrorists, armed, do violence against our elected officials, under the dome of our Capitol, on the floor of our national legislature. It is a defilement of our most core value. It stings. 3/
That this was an open, obvious threat stoked by hatred and activated directly by POTUS is self-evident. He called, they came. He ordered, they followed. He pointed at Congress, they broke out the windows. He said he loved them. 4/
Ours is a government with separate branches; Congress has a role to play if POTUS violates his (or her) Oath of Office. Trump has, undeniably. People who support him offer an affirmative defense of his actions. But he is guilty 5/
of the most fundamental failure of any human being, the lack of capacity for empathy. He cannot put anyone's interests above his own, much less the American people's. That was always the case. Add hubris, add power, and he is a true monster. 6/
Nothing left to do but clean house. The White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The entire Capitol is a national security risk. The WH itself is a national security risk. This is a true crisis situation. 7/
As the events of yesterday unfolded, I expected a death toll in the dozens, perhaps more, as the insurrectionists were stopped by Capitol police. That isn't what happened. I expected hundreds to be rounded up and arrested. That isn't what happened. 8/
I expected an immediate consensus that DJT needed to be impeached to be the first order of business after the EV tally. That isn't what happened. It has taken a day to get leadership to acknowledge that it is necessary. 9/
Ours is a nation of core principles. And so I ask: if not now, when? If not these, whom? If not in response to armed attack, why not? If not the Capitol itself, which? If not these laws, what laws? 10/
To me, the only path forward is built on a foundation of rock, not sand. That bedrock is the Constitution and the law. Not politics as such. We have to have the resolve to do true justice to those who would strike at the heart of democracy. That can be hard. 11/
But its degree of difficulty is minuscule compared to the insurmountable consequences of letting some of it - any of it - go unpunished. This wasn't cosplay. It was a real coup attempt. It was stopped, not ended. The full weight of truth, justice, and our resolve must be 12/
brought to bear on these forces who would destroy our government. The Trumpists, led by DJT himself, cannot bring themselves to admit a simple electoral defeat. It has cost them everything. But in particular, those seditionists 13/
who dared advocate against the peaceful transfer of power on the Senate floor need to be expelled. They have violated their oath. They have put their own politics and power above the law and the Constitution. That cannot stand. 14/
Under no circumstances can a Senator or Representative serve in the Congress having removed themselves from acknowledging the supremacy of the rule of law. If they cannot agree on that, there is no room for them. They must be removed. 15/
I have spent my life, since the Bicentennial, advocating for civic education, pluralism, and love of our government. I have worshipped the false God of originalism, which I deeply regret. I have stated often I was willing to die for the Constitution. I meant it. 16/
The Constitution and our first principles mean forming a More Perfect Union. That means the people decide elections. That means there are winners and losers. That means we all agree to the same rules. That means we believe in the same form of government. 17/
If you still don't see the difference between yesterday and this summer, you have marginalized yourself. If you see guys with weapons taking over statehouses and Congress and think, "right on!", you are way outside the lines. 18/
I want to see the full might and muscle of the US government used to bring all of these pseudo-Patriots to justice, from the bottom to the top. All the way to the top. We must. We must do the hard thing. Because there is no other thing left but losing our democracy. fin/
