Impeached. And nobody deserves it more.

Whatever happens in the Senate--and I am not optimistic, given McConnell's cravenness--we have this moment.

I take some comfort, too, in the dignity of the House Democrats who led us to this point, in the face of the shrieking faux-hysterics of the Republican members and the unhinged blurts of the so-called president. I've read that women are particularly attuned to this tonal disconnect because we recognize that cruel, domineering, accusatory, insulting voice all too well. I also know that, as a new mother, I struggled to cope with my firstborn, who was a screaming, angry infant. The screaming was not my son's fault, but my body and brain could not separate his wailing from some deeper flight response to intense, invasive noise. At least some of us are hardwired to run. And so the deliberate use of such intimidation strategies makes me very angry, and also afraid.

Still, as a lifelong progressive--little sister of the 60s, lover of the Clash, despiser of McCarthyism, former Greenpeace canvasser--I am shocked to admit how much I appreciate the restrained, law-abiding, cool-headed approach to the impeachment process. On the other hand, once my screaming child learned to talk and became the charmer he remains, I, too, changed. I learned to be a loving, attentive guardian who doesn't take shit. You act like a jerk; you are removed from the room. So thank you, Nancy Pelosi, for showing the world that mother skills can be the most powerful ones in the house.