Emotions were raw during Wednesday’s House impeachment debate, but Republicans were in a conciliatory mood. That is, they were in the mood for Democrats to conciliate them, Donald Trump and his aggrieved followers.
A group of House Republicans signed a letter opposing impeachment “in the spirit of healing.” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) worried that it was “not healthy for the nation.” Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) warned that the effort to remove Trump could “further divide and inflame our nation.”
At least one GOP member quoted Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds…” The implication was that Lincoln would favor compromise with his adversaries in the interest of national unity. Continue reading.