“Trump in Triumph.”
New Romes rise. I’ve written for several weeks of the Senate’s so-called trial of president Trump. I’ve predicted the downside of an impeachment proceeding that doesn’t end in removal, for such a proceeding only serves to strengthen him, not to weaken him.
We’re just hours away from just such a moment. It looms before us. As a student of history, I recall the acts of the Roman Senate as they lauded one of their honorable generalists and honored him with a title “imperator,” which means “emperor.” The Senate, in a moment of passion and weakness, had created the very office before which they were to soon be forced to bow.
Rome, by this excess, caused and created the end of a republic, which instead became an empire. It lasted for centuries until it fell like a dead tree in a dry forest. Soon, in just a few hours. The American Senate, drunk with fear, will award Trump an acquittal, and more imperial power will fall into his hands. They will bow, and Trump will rise.
From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.