The Tenacious Ten

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The big news from yesterday is that the United States House of Representatives voted to impeach Donald Trump for the second time during his four-year squat in the White House.  The even bigger news is that this time ten Republican members of Congress voted with the entire Democratic caucus  in favor of the Article of Impeachment, whereas in the impeachment hearings of 2019, none of the House Republicans had joined with the Democratic majority.    The final vote this time was 232 to 197, a bipartisan victory for law and order over anarchy.

Trump's overt action that brought about the current impeachment, inciting a mob to invade the US Capitol Building and threaten Congress, was so outrageous and dangerous - spawning five deaths including one direct homicide, numerous injuries, property damage, and the spread of disease - that even ten members of his own political party could not overlook it.

The ten Republicans who stood up for the Constitution and democracy in the face of certain political reprisals from Trump loyalists showed a level of courage seldom seen in modern American politics.  The tenacious ten representatives were:  Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Peter Meijer of Michigan, Dan Newhouse of Washington, Tom Rice of South Carolina, Fred Upton of Michigan, David Valadao of California, and the third most powerful Republican in the House, Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

After the vote Representative Cheney was immediately threatened with the loss of her leadership position by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a former assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.  Ms. Cheney, however, was not going to be bullied by a failed shower room attendant, and snapped back that she was not going anywhere.  (When those two hit the mat, the smart money is likely to be on Darth Vadar's daughter!)

Thank you to the ten brave Republican souls who had the political courage to put country over party politics and stand up for the rule of law and the democratic process.  You have illuminated yourselves as true profiles in courage!