A Diverse America Votes to Uphold the Constitution; A Largely Male White America Votes to Abrogate It
The House Judiciary Committee just voted to send two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the full House.
The entire vote took just minutes. But it said so much about the state of America today.
It will forever be portrayed as a party line vote, with 23 Democrats in favor, and 17 Republicans against. But it was also a tribute to the degree to which polarization in America today pivots on issues of diversity.
The Democrats who voted in favor included 11 women, and 13 Latinx and people of color (Ted Lieu missed the vote recovering from a heart procedure). Three (plus Lieu) are immigrants. One is gay. These Democrats voted to uphold the Constitution a bunch of white men, several of them owners of African-American slaves, wrote hundreds of years ago.
The Republicans who voted against were all white. Just two were women. These Republicans voted to permit a racist white male President to cheat to get reelected in violation of the rule of law.
This is about a clash between the rising America and the past. And it’s unclear who will win this battle for America. But the stakes are clear.