And Then

We were dissuaded from celebrating the impeachment of the "president." Any whoops or hollers from the floor of the House of Representatives was cut off abruptly by a glance that I wish I had in my arsenal as an elementary school teacher. Ms. Pelosi would have none of that. This is solemn business and should not be entered into lightly.
And yet, in my home, my wife and I could not help but feel some joy. Some relief. Vindication for all those years that we have spent wondering, sometimes aloud, if we might have it all wrong. As it stands currently, it seems as though half of the country believes one thing while the other believes something else. I spoke with a friend of ours that night and she suggested that it was the kind of evening when maybe I wished that I hadn't given up drinking. I laughed because I knew we were kidding, but added: "Tomorrow history will move on and I'll be hung over."
Which is kind of where we will be for a while. The Senate trial which has been promised to be an open and shut affair by the powers that be across the way. "I'm not an impartial juror," announced Majority Leader Mitch "Bubbles" McConnell.
And so it goes.
Any notion of bipartisan this or impartial that has gone with the wind. The uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinners we experienced a few weeks ago are most certainly going to be followed by equally tense gatherings around the holiday shrub. "Silent night" may be a reference to the living rooms in many estates as families and friends come together to not discuss politics.
This was not the case in our home on the night of the vote in the House of Representatives. It was more muted than our celebrations of Super Bowls or a Silver Anniversary, but we felt it. We shared it. And at the risk of upsetting Ms. Pelosi, we reveled in it. Months after this trained pulled out of its metaphorical station, it has finally arrived. The other side will complain that this is something that the Democrats have been trying to do since the "president" was elected. I find it difficult to argue that point, since I told my mother after the results were announced that I gave him nine months. There is no denying that the "president" appeals to a certain segment of the American people. A quick glance at the cable television lineup suggests that I do not see eye to eye with everyone else. This was the conversation that I had with my mother before my wife and I went to bed. I wanted to reach out to my mom because she had been with me through Watergate, and the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Hers is the perspective that I reach for at times like these.
She said, "Well have to wait and see."
Gotta love mom.