Article I, Section 5, of the United States Constitution provides that “Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.” Since 1789, the Senate has expelled only fifteen of its entire membership. https://www.senate.gov/reference/index_sub_items/Expulsion_vrd.htm
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Americans should not have to wait until Donald Trump supporters build an army and open warfare breaks out. The Senate must firmly and decisively act now to get rid of the bad apples.
From the above linked page of senate.gov:
When the Senate expelled William Blount in 1797 by a nearly unanimous vote, it had reason to believe he was involved in a conspiracy against the United States.
Sixty-four years later, at the start of the Civil War, senators again turned to this constitutional safeguard. Between December 1860 and June 1861, 11 of the nation’s 34 states had voted to withdraw from the Union. What was the status of their 22 senators at the beginning of the 37th Congress? Some were no longer senators because their terms had expired. Others sent a letter of resignation. Still others, believing their seats no longer existed, simply left without formal notice. Several remained, despite their states’ departure.
During a brief special session in March 1861, weeks before the start of hostilities, the Senate decided to consider these seats as vacant to avoid officially recognizing that it was possible for a state to leave the Union.
On the Fourth of July 1861, with open warfare in progress, President Abraham Lincoln convened Congress to deal with the emergency. With all hope of reconciliation gone, the Senate took up a resolution of expulsion against its 10 missing members.
When Mr. Trump yesterday misspoke hisstupidself: “Be careful what you wish for”, what he meant was much simpler and (typically) meaner: that there will be consequences for actions against him. That’s the way he has run his entire life, with threats substituting for talent.
Mr. Trump would not understand a metaphor if it bit him on the behind. “Be careful what you wish for”is about things like winning the lottery, which can bring avalanches of misfortune along with the mountains of cash.
There is no double edge benefit/risk to getting rid of Mr. Trump. He’s a bad apple spoiling everything he touches. And there is no consequence to getting rid of him. The problem is how far the infection has spread.
Congress and the Senate must be purged of insurrection-supporting, White-Supremist Republicans. Do not let them use their positions and offices, paid for by law-abiding tax payers, to dismantle the Constitution, the electoral process and democracy itself.
Postscript
According to Wikipedia, the phrase “bad apple” was popularized by sermons during the 19th century, claiming “As one bad apple spoils the others, so you must show no quarter to sin or sinners.” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_apples
