It is time to heal the wounds, not to deepen them

If Trump can be tried, convicted and removed before January 20, well and good. Short of that, it is time to move on.

That Donald Trump should be out of office is clear. That he should be out of office after he is already out of office is not so clear. What is the point of an impeachment-trial process after January 20, when he is no longer president?

Admittedly, there are good arguments to be made for a post-presidency impeachment-trial process. First, it sets a good precedent. Don’t try to undermine our basic democratic institutions. Don’t incite violence. Second, it offers the opportunity to ban Trump from ever again holding public office. Third, it offers an opportunity to examine the full extent of Trump’s involvement in the events of, and leading up to, January 6, 2021.

These are not small matters. On balance, however, the arguments against a post-presidency impeachment process outweigh the potential benefits.

First, although we are not sanguine about the country “coming together” after the end of the Trump presidency, the fact remains that the country needs to heal. True enough, the sharp differences on the political issues of the day remain; the solidification of echo chambers via social media remains; and the concomitant inability to tune into the perspectives of the other side is as jagged as ever. That said, to sustain a governmental focus on Trump will kill any honeymoon this new administration might otherwise be destined for.

Second, Trump will thrive on a new impeachment-trial process. He built his election to the presidency on the willingness of mainstream media to let him capture the news cycle. If the goal is to devise an atmosphere that is most conducive to Trump losing his visibility and influence, exactly the wrong method is a post-presidency spotlight shined on Trump. As they say, “I don’t care what you say about me, just so you spell my name right.” Trump does not care what is said about him, just so it is said to millions and millions of people.

Third, a trial of Donald Trump in the US Senate may not end in his conviction. He will mount a defense. He will summon arguments and witnesses. Should they fail to persuade, he may still exert enough political pull to persuade enough Republican senators to refrain from voting for a conviction. Remember, no US president who has been impeached has been convicted. What happens to all of the good arguments for a post-presidency impeachment-trial if Trump, in fact, is acquitted? Then what?

Here is what:

Trump will feel vindicated and more likely feel that he can mount a political comeback. He will feel more confident that when he touts his policies of the past four years, some of which were good in and out of the country, he will think his behavior on January 6 can be shaded away.

Some of Trump’s supporters, just like some of his opponents, will continue to be absorbed in blame games and mutual accusations of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

Fourth, although we know that with or without an impeachment-trial process Trump and his most loyal supporters will not let the inglorious end of his presidency go, it would be playing into their hands if incoming President Joe Biden needs to focus on anything other than the critical issues of the day. The Number 1 issue is the bumpy rollout of the COVID vaccine. Then there are Russia, the environment, China, race relations, immigration. Does anyone really think that all those, plus the unprecedented, critical national project — the COVID rollout — can succeed if the nation’s top leaders are engaged in a Trump impeachment-trial process?

Let us not forget. The country was so busy, so obsessed, during the impeachment hearings of January, 2020 that COVID went woefully under-reported and under-addressed. Equally, a post-presidency impeachment-trial cannot maximize the efficiency of a six-month COVID-vaccine rollout. What is the priority?

Congress and the president each set a tone. Just as there is a separation of powers, there is a separation of influences. It is going to take a superabundance of wisdom, good will and outreach to foster a modicum of national healing, especially after the frightening debacle of January 6 and of that which led up to it. We need a clear conciliatory voice from President Biden and from Congress. The Democrats control all branches of government. Primarily, they will set the tone. Primarily, it is up to them to set the right tone. The best way is by focusing on the crises that require immediate and intensive attention.

The specter of the president of the US preoccupied with a post-presidency impeachment-trial process — and if that happens, don’t kid yourself, Biden will be preoccupied with it — is just the kind of disturbing and distracting governance that Biden has criticized and vowed to change in tone and substance.

Fifth, the high-minded protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, it is only possible to view a post-presidency attempt to impeach and convict Donald Trump as driven in part not by legitimate political ends, but by revenge. All those never Trumpers who, by definition, never accepted the legitimacy of his election, or all those who were horrified by some of his policies and much of his speech, figuratively salivate over the prospect of getting even.

Remember the Jewish teachings on vengeance. They are not just, be nice, do the noble thing. They run far deeper. They demand a sharp, introspective accounting as to the impurities within the professed purity of one’s motives.

In our polarized age, the Democratic agenda will thrill its adherents more than usual and agonize its opponents more than usual. There is no need to add to this the divisiveness of a post-presidency impeachment-trial process.

All in all, if Trump is impeached, tried and convicted while in office — and thus removed from office, for however short a time — so much the better. Short of that scenario, leave it alone. Move on. Pick up the pieces. Embrace the future. As for learning from the past — from January 6 and that which caused it — if there is anything we can all agree on, it is that a greater percentage of Americans are united in their rejection of the tactics of January 6 than they agree on anything else that has transpired in Washington in the last two or three presidencies.

It is negative energy, yes. But it is also a uniting kind of energy. Let it stand alone in its shame. That will take us further toward national reconciliation than a new spotlight on Donald Trump. It’s just what he wants.

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