Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
House Judiciary Committee Reveals Two Impeachment Articles
The House Judiciary Committee revealed two articles of impeachment against President Trump yesterday. This evening, the Committee will begin the mark up of the nine-page resolution containing the articles. A vote will follow tomorrow, and it is a foregone conclusion that it will be a party-line vote approving the resolution. Next week, the entire chamber will vote, again almost certainly on party lines, and the president will be impeached. A trial in the Senate will follow. The exercise will not remove the president, nor will it have much impact on the 2020 election. It is merely an objection to dreadful behavior.
The Washington Post editorial board summed up the nine-page resolution this morning. Mr. Trump "abused his office in an attempt to induce Ukraine's new president to launch politicized investigations that would benefit Mr. Trump's reelection campaign, and that he willfully obstructed the subsequent congressional investigation."
The Republican Party (a pro-Russian organization) has not contested the facts in its defense of the president. Instead, the party's elected officials have complained about process and "undoing the last election."
If the actions of the president were confined to the past, one could make a case that the charges don't merit impeachment with a general election just 11 months away. However, the 2020 election is in the balance as well. The first article of impeachment details the extortion of the Ukrainian government to announce an investigation into Joe Biden's son Hunter. The second articlde details his efforts to prevent any investigation whatsoever into his actions. At the end of both articles, the committee states that he "will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office . . . ."
The Founders believed that the removal of a president should be difficult, a genuine mistake. They took the view that the Congress would be jealous of its perogatives and powers under the Constitution thus preventing an authoritarian president from doing as he wishes. Instead, the Republican Party has been cowed by the president and his mob of followers. For two years, there was no oversight at all. For the last year, the Democrats have had the votes in the House to do the job the Republicans have feared doing. But they have been timid.
The Speaker has chosen a narrow pair of articles, against both of which the Republicans will vote. Her desire to get this over with quickly is silly. The administration should be investigated top to bottom over the last three years and failure to respond to subpoenas should be met with fines on the order of $10,000 a day. The process should take as long as it takes. It would be entirely appropriate for the House to vote on impeachment the very day Mr. Trump accepts the nomination for re-election, or just a few days before the election even.
The election is the only way to get rid of Mr. Trump so long as the GOP is his cult of personality. He isn't polling better than 45% and has not since he was sworn in. Turnout in November will be the main key to the election. Impeachment will drive both sides to vote. The issue is whether it will turn off the low-motivation voters who make up the few percentage points of persuadable citizens or whether it will tip them one way or another.
One is entitled to feel despair. The president is unfit and has acted counter to the interests of the Republic. His party is so concerned about keeping power that these facts don't matter. The opposition is unwilling to play for blood in return. Sic transit gloria Americae.
© Copyright 2019 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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