- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
Editor's note: Frida Ghitis, ex-producer and correspondent for CNN, is a columnist on international issues. He collaborates frequently for the CNN opinion section, for The Washington Post and is a columnist for the World Politics Review. You can follow her on Twitter at @fridaghitis. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
(CNN) - Don't despair; Not everything is lost. Something encouraging happened as we prepared to see how the Senate closed its pantomime of the trial and acquitted President Donald Trump.
From the source of the Senate, two semblances of courage arose. Two senators - one Republican and the other Democrat - delved into their consciences and announced, possibly at a great personal cost, that they would endure the anger that could reach them and do what they knew in their hearts was the right thing: to vote to condemn the president.
Senators Mitt Romney, of Utah, Republican; and Doug Jones of Alabama, a Democrat, does not have enough power to change the preordained outcome of the vote. But his decision to pay the price for doing the right thing - the onslaught of the president and his party, the violent reaction of the voters, respectively - is a balm for a traumatized nation. This deeply divided country, where partisanship and self-interest seem to be devastating principles and patriotism, still houses at least two full men.
Romney's decision was a surprise, and it means that, for the first time in US history, senators from both parties voted to remove the president from office, although they could not persuade enough colleagues to achieve a result .
Romney has challenged a solidly aligned party behind a vindictive president. He recently revealed that he had talked with his family about this vote, because he knows that his wife, his children and even his grandchildren will feel the blow. Trump's son, Don Jr. requested his expulsion from the Republican party.
This makes Romney's decision much more commendable. When he spoke in the Senate, he explained his decision in moving moral, ethical and patriotic terms. He paused to regain his composure and said: "I believe that promising before God is enormously significant."
Judging the president, he said, was "the most difficult decision I had to face." But the judgment of history strongly influenced. He faced his responsibility with modesty and seriousness. "I will be just one name among many, neither more nor less, for future generations to look at the records of this trial." After examining those records, he found that "what the president did was wrong, deeply wrong."
Romney was relentless in his trial of a president who, "asked a foreign government to investigate a political rival," then "withheld funds for that government to pressure him to do so," and did so for personal political gain. He called it an "overwhelming abuse of public trust," and came to a devastating conclusion: "corrupting an election to remain in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of the oath to office you can imagine."
Trump is conservative, and Romney says he agrees with much of what Trump has done, "but my promise to God to apply impartial justice requires that I put aside my personal feelings and political biases."
It was both a condemnation of the president and a silent trial of his Republican colleagues, who excused, denied and minimized the president's behavior. Some, such as Senators Susan Collins, Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski, acknowledged that the president acted improperly, but refused to do anything about it. The majority did not even want to allow a real trial: they blocked witnesses and then hypocritically said that the testimonies were insufficient for a conviction.
The decision to condemn was no less heartbreaking for Senator Jones, who acknowledged having spent many sleepless nights before making the decision.
Jones may be a Democrat, but he comes from Alabama, where Trump approaches the demigod status and has the highest levels of state approval. Jones faces a tough re-election campaign this year. His decision practically puts a nail in his political coffin. In fact, a Political Action Committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell mockingly announced yesterday the "impending withdrawal of politics" from Jones.
But like Romney, Jones' conscience endured political convenience. In announcing his vote, he quoted Robert Kennedy: “Few colleagues are willing to face the disapproval of their peers, the censorship of their colleagues. … Moral courage is an increasingly scarce good for those who seek to change the world. ”
Standing in front of Congress where many Republicans allegedly claim to be "disgusted and exhausted" by Trump's behavior, Jones added: "the country before the party is a scarce commodity these days."
Jones found his courage in hearing the case against Trump, hearing the president's own words. What stood out most clearly for him, he said, was that the president said: "according to the Constitution, we have article 2 and I can do whatever I want." That, he said, explains the actions of the president regarding Ukraine and towards Congress. In a statement, Jones said he was "very troubled," but that Trump's lawyers were claiming "virtually unlimited presidential power."
In the end, he saw "an image of a president who put his personal interest above the interest of the nation, and in doing so threatened our national security ..."
Listening to the senator for Alabama, I commented on Twitter that his was an example of a semblance of courage. Then I heard it, almost as if answering, that some "will see what I am doing today and will say that it is a semblance of courage." He corrected me. "It is not. It is simply a matter of good and evil. And doing good is not an act of value. ”
I disagree. An ethical core and immovable integrity are the exponential impulse of courage.
Both Romney and Jones were modest in value, preparing for what will come. But it is not they but many of their colleagues who should look down. The courage of two members of Congress highlights the cowardice of so many others.
Philosophers have pointed out that our choices determine who we are. Our acts define us. With their integrity, Romney and Jones defined themselves to future generations. Americans can console themselves knowing that partisanship and political selfishness have not completely destroyed patriotism. Sadly, in the Senate today, politicians with principles remain a minority.
Translation of Mariana Campos
Mitt Romney
