Romney’s vote was a genuine act of bravery. It was also the bare minimum for any senator with a shred of principle. This doesn’t erase the courage it took; the nature of moral life is that we are often asked to do things that are beyond us.
Going forward, this work of measuring up to the world looks like the House continuing to investigate Trump along every axis of his misconduct. It looks like subpoenaing John Bolton and taking every measure to force him to testify before the House about what he saw the president do to pressure Ukraine. It looks like refusing to accept efforts by the president’s allies to investigate Hunter Biden, and like thwarting the president’s continued work to distort the fairness of the 2020 election.
It also looks like understanding that the locus of politics lies not only in Congress and the presidency but also outside it. This will mean thinking seriously about how to rebuild after Trump leaves office, and how to create a political life that exists outside him and is not dependent on him as its source of terrible gravity.
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