OPINION:
A funny thing happened on the way to the impeachment forum in the U.S. Senate this week.
In their effort to put former President Donald Trump on trial for “inciting insurrection,” Washington Democrats found their own fannies sizzling in the fire.
House impeachment managers began their prosecution of the departed president with a reel of impeachment porn, showing all the worst, most despicable footage of the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol — as if the invasion is somehow being contested by anyone. As if anyone anywhere is sticking up for the goons who broke into the Capitol.
Democrats also introduced doctored footage of Mr. Trump’s speech that day in which the president urged followers to “peacefully” protest the cooked election results. House prosecutors selectively edited out any mention of “peaceful” — as in “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Of course they did. The First Amendment is for suckers. And racists and “domestic terrorists.”
Delightfully, this video gambit by Democrats opened the door for Mr. Trump’s lawyers to screen their own compilation of impeachment porn.
“Fight!”
“The fight of our lives!
“Fight.”
“Stay in the fight!”
“Fight!”
“I am not afraid of a fight!”
“Fight in the streets!”
“I am willing to fight anyone.”
“Bare-knuckled fight.”
“Fight like hell!”
“We like a good fight.”
It went on for a very, very long time.
Every single exhortation to violence in the video was spoken by a Democrat in Washington. And just about every single one of them voted to impeach Mr. Trump or was sitting on the jury in the Senate watching the video as a “juror,” waiting to convict Mr. Trump.
Even Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, the “judge” presiding over the whole clown show, was caught on tape inciting violence.
Sen. Jon Tester, Montana Democrat, will most assuredly vote to convict Mr. Trump of inciting an insurrection even though he was caught on tape admitting that he himself is hardwired for violence.
“I’m wired to fight anyone,” he declared in a video clip, which was actually taken from a campaign commercial that he paid to have run on television.
“And you’re damned right I approved this message,” Mr. Tester added as the camera pans to pick up a shotgun hanging behind him.
Yikes.
Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, called on followers to actually “fight in the streets.”
Interesting incitement language, considering all that the country went through last summer. Sadly, articles of impeachment have not been drawn up for Mr. Kaine or Mr. Tester.
Not that Democrats entirely ignored the murder and looting and mayhem and torching that their supporters carried out all summer long in cities across America against regular citizens.
Another clip showed Vice President Kamala Harris — amid the burning riots — declare boastfully, “This is a movement.” Famously, the California Democrat, you will recall, also raised bail money during those same riots to get looters out of prison in time for the next round of mayhem.
Here’s a deal I would like to make in a serious stride for actual “unity” in America today.
I would support impeaching Mr. Trump and barring him from holding any future office. In exchange, all I want is that every single Democrat in that violence-incitement montage be impeached, dumped out of Congress and barred from ever holding another public office for the rest of their lives.
I would take that deal in a heartbeat. And so would 74 million other Americans.
After all, the whole reason we voted for Mr. Trump in the first place was to clean up the whole rotten sewer now standing in judgment in the U.S. Senate.
• Charles Hurt is opinion editor of The Washington Times.
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