Nothing Short of Accountability

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Washington, DC – “Time to heal” and “unity in the country” are some of the expressions finding prominence in the political jargon in post-January 6 USA, but there can not be a way forward towards those healing and unity unless those responsible for not only indulging in those anti-democratic acts, but also those who incited, face the music.

Accountability, the most powerful word that can heal and unite the nation, calls for a public reckoning for the 45th President of the US, Donald J Trump and his enablers during his tenure, especially the post-election rhetoric of lies and rallies.

Weeks after inciting a deadly insurrection and unparalleled siege on the US Capitol, the extent to which these alleged domestic terrorists planned the attack, and their desire to assassinate elected officials, is still being unearthed by the investigating authorities.

Strange but ironic that some of the sitting Republican members of Congress and the Senate are still harping on their utterances that it is time to move on because accountability will divide the country.

The US House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for a second time on January 13 and then delivered its articles of impeachment to the Senate on January 25. The Senate is set to begin an impeachment trial on February 9.

There are some sane voices among the Republican leadership, as Utah Senator Mitt Romney supports an impeachment trial to hold former President Trump accountable for his irresponsible conduct and inciting an insurrection.

Appearing on national media outlets on Sunday (January 24) TV shows, Senator Romney said Trump’s actions involving a call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and actions leading up to the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol “call for a trial.”

“This is obviously very serious — and an attack on the very foundation of our democracy and it is something that has to be considered and resolved.” In his own role, he said he was ready to hear the prosecution and defense of Trump and “do my best as a Senate juror to apply justice as well as I can understand it.”

In his inaugural address, President Joe Biden called on Americans to come together to confront the “rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism,” in order to “restore the soul and to secure the future of America.”

Biden added, “We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature. For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.”

But all said and done, most Americans are still in a shock at the deadly mayhem created at the US Capitol that was directly led and fed by President Trump’s words and his zealous cronies.

What happened in Washington on January 6th was more than meets the eyes and we must not rest. Accountability must be respected and justice delivered so that such a heinous attack on our democracy can never be even thought about by anyone in the future.

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