Not even Thomas Paine, without whose writing there may never have been an American Revolution or a Republic to begin with could have given such a rousing closing argument today.
Excerpted below:
History will not be kind to Donald Trump. I think we all know that. Not because it will be written by "never trumpers," but because whenever we have departed from the values of our nation, we have come to regret it.
And that regret is written all over the pages of our history. If you find that the House has proved its case, and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel... and for ALL of history.
But if you find the courage to stand up to him, to speak the awful truth to his rank falsehood, your place will be among the Davids who took on Goliath... if only you will say ENOUGH.
We revere the wisdom of our Founders and the insights they had into self-governance. We scour their words for hidden meaning and try to place ourselves in their shoes. But we have one advantage that the Founders did not. For all their genius, they could not see but opaquely into the future.
We, on the other hand, have the advantage of time. Of seeing how their great experiment in self-governance has progressed. When we look at the sweep of history, there are times when our nation and the rest of the world have moved with a seemingly irresistible force in the direction of greater freedom. More freedom to speak and to assemble; to practice our faith, and tolerate the faith of others.
To love whom we would, and choose love over hate. More free societies, more walls tumbling down and nations reborn.
But then, like a pendulum approaching the end of its arc, the outward movement begins to arrest. The golden globe of freedom reaches its zenith and starts to retreat. The pendulum swings back past the center and recedes into a dark unknown.
How much farther will it travel in its illiberal direction? How many more freedoms will be extinguished before it turns back, we cannot say.
But what we do here, in this moment, will affect its course and its correction.
Every single vote, even a single vote, by a single member, can change the course of history.
It is said that a single man or woman of courage makes a majority. Is there one among you who will say, ENOUGH?
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