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Local professors grapple with Trump impeachment, divided country

5 min read

Larry Stratton

Waynesburg University professor Larry Stratton expected to have a busy morning when he welcome students back for their first day in his American government and politics class Thursday.

As the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump for the second time in 13 months, Stratton was still trying to figure out how to encapsulate the dire situation the country faces politically and socially.

“I’m at a loss,” Stratton said while watching the debate Wednesday before the impeachment vote later in the day.

So, too, it seems is the rest of the country as the impeachment of Trump came exactly a week after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters attempting to halt President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory. Four people in the mob died in the attack, along with a Capitol police officer.

“I think that people feel that they have to express disgust with what has happened, pointing the finger at Trump, ‘You didn’t stop what was happening. You invited it.’ (Trump) wouldn’t even communicate with (Vice President Mike) Pence while he was in lockdown,” Stratton said of frantic calls from congressional leaders to dispatch the D.C. National Guard that went unanswered.

“The more we know and the more we see, the more grotesque it becomes,” Stratton added.

Trump is the first president in United States history to be impeached twice, and now owns half of the total number of presidential impeachments, with Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 as the only other two.

“In terms of a broader historical contrast, it is unprecedented,” Stratton said.

Congress voted 232-197, with all Democrats and 10 Republicans voting in favor of impeachment. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that he would not bring senators back to Washington, D.C., early to conduct a trial, so the task would fall to Democrats when they take control of the Senate after Biden is inaugurated.

Joe DiSarro

Joseph DiSarro, a professor who teaches political science at Washington & Jefferson College, was horrified by the events at the Capitol last week and saddened to see the divide in the country.

“What happened in Washington, D.C., I cannot believe. It’s unconscionable,” DiSarro said. “It’s a violation of our basic system of law. I firmly believe there has to be something wrong with (Trump). There is something wrong here.”

He said Trump has created a “constitutional crisis” by allegedly inciting the mob at his rally just before many of them stormed the Capitol, and called for him to resign as the only way to save what’s left of his legacy.

“The president can still save his honor by resigning. He still has a couple of days to save himself. Just stand up and say, ‘I’m going to stand down and hand it over to Vice President Pence.’ That’s it. He should. At some point, someone should step up to the plate and accept responsibility for these heinous acts,” DiSarro said.

“Never did I think this could happen in the United States of America,” he added.

DiSarro thinks it will be up to high-ranking Republican senators to meet directly with Trump to demand he resign. Otherwise, DiSarro is convinced Trump will eventually be convicted by the U.S. Senate, although that apparently wouldn’t happen until after he leaves office at noon Jan. 20.

“It has put the country in disarray,” DiSarro said. “I feel for President-elect Biden. He is going to have a lot of work to do to put this country back together. I never would’ve imagined this.”

Tensions have been rising over the past week as federal investigators have arrested hundreds in the mob and warned that more attacks could happen in the days leading up to the inauguration. National Guard units have been sent to protect the Capitol, including 1,000 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard dispatched by Gov. Tom Wolf to assist with security in the nation’s capital.

Both DiSarro and Stratton are concerned about the safety of the inauguration, and expect Biden will have to spend time focusing on healing the country, in addition to managing the coronavirus pandemic that has battered the economy.

“We’re really in a turbulent sea right now in America,” Stratton said. “There are so many unknown variables. I think it will be incumbent upon the new president – President-elect Biden – to set some new tone to bring Americans together. Could you imagine being his speechwriter right now?”

The unsettling events of the past week will undoubtedly be the centerpiece of Stratton’s curriculum as students at Waynesburg return this week. Stratton, who teaches constitutional law, said he expects both his students and the rest of the public to be engaged in the process, even if the situation would have been unfathomable just last week.

“We’ll be forced to draw the contours of all these issues. Rather than drawing conclusions, I’m trying to figure it out all myself,” Stratton said. “My hope is the students I teach will help teach the world straight. That’s why I do what I do.”

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