Fred Hartman | Opinion | fbherald.com – Fort Bend Herald

Even though President Donald Trump won Texas by a 5.5% margin, my guess is most of us are tired of politics and have accepted that Joe Biden will be moving into the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

But however disruptive and terrible the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol were, the Democratic Houses vote to impeach Trump a second time was pointless.

It makes no sense to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate to try Trump when he will no longer be in office. It can only divide the country further when a new president should be trying to bring us together.

Many legal scholars have said its unconstitutional to remove an ex-president from office, and that it would be virtually impossible to convict Trump criminally for inciting a riot.

Impeachment, though, is strictly a political process thats supposed to be related to high crimes and misdemeanors.

Biden couldve taken a step toward unity by calling on the House not to impeach Trump, but he decided to leave the process to the legislative branch. Thats his prerogative, but it seemed like extending the olive branch wouldve given him the upper hand.

Should the Senate pursue impeachment when Democrats get control next week, it will thwart Bidens agenda and continue to polarize the country when his cabinet secretaries and other appointees must face confirmation.

If the equally cockamamie idea floated to take up a Senate impeachment trial in 100 days happens, youd think the effort would lose momentum.

BASIS TO IMPEACH?: At his rally before the Capitol riot, Trump told supporters to fight like hell and show strength because of what he thinks was election fraud. He didnt call for violence, but his remarks were construed as incitement by Democrats and some Republicans as the basis for impeachment.

But those people didnt want to highlight that Trump also said: I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voice heard.

CENSORING: Free speech was also under assault this week as social media companies Facebook and Twitter banned Trump from their platforms, and Apple, Google and Amazon removed social media competitor Parler from their app stores and platforms.

Parler was alleged to have been a place where some rioters communicated through direct messaging, but then the Washington Post reported they also communicated through Facebook and Twitter.

Of course, there was no banning of Facebook and Twitter. Facebook also banned conservatives such as former presidential candidate Ron Paul from accessing his account.

Further, Twitter banned Trump, but has allowed Irans Ayatollah Khamenei to use his Twitter to call for Israels destruction an amazing double standard.

Giving a handful of big tech companies the monopolistic ability to censor is scary when theyre shielded from being sued and claim theyre not publishers. That law must be changed.

REIN IN SPEECH?: Whats even worse is socialist-liberal icon Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs suggestion that the government should establish a commission to help rein in misinformation after last weeks Capitol riot. Who in the government would make those decisions?

This is an affront to the First Amendment and free speech, and worthy of tremendous pushback.

People can say what they want in America, and there are and should be consequences if you advocate violence and/or defame another person.

But even if we disagree, political and offensive speech is protected. The answer to that isnt limiting speech, silencing others and giving the government more control.

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Fred Hartman | Opinion | fbherald.com - Fort Bend Herald