Opinion: If Trump is acquitted, then we may as well strike impeachment from the Constitution

In today’s partisan political world, we often hear folks on both sides of the aisle say, “Elections have consequences,” to explain policy shifts they support. Coming from Alabama, where we all too often have witnessed political figures using “dog whistle” style rhetoric to inflame passions and in many cases incite violence, I also remind people that words have consequences as well. And when those consequences include a violent insurrection in our nation’s Capitol like the one on January 6, accountability is an absolute necessity, in order to protect our democracy.