Mark Kingwell writes in The Globe And Mail that now is the time to impeach Donald Trump:
Historian Simon Schama, articulating the thoughts of many, called it “Trump’s Neville Chamberlain moment,” referring to the hapless British prime minister who claimed “peace in our time” by appeasing Adolf Hitler. Mr. Schama went on: “America sold out by its President. A violation of his oath of office. If this isn’t impeachable what is?”
The answer, writes Kingwell is obvious. And the way is clear:
Grounds for impeachment, as set out in the U.S. Constitution, include “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanours,” as Mr. Brennan indicated. More specifically, Article 3, Section 3, Clause 1 says that treason “shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.”
Adhering to or giving aid and comfort to an enemy – check. More than two witnesses – check, by a very large factor.
Immediate responses to calls for a Trump impeachment are usually twofold: 1) There is no way Congress will even consider impeachment proceedings against a reckless leader who has nevertheless benefited them materially; 2) Impeachment of Mr. Trump will prove so divisive that it is impractical, especially given the spin the President and his supporters would likely adopt, namely that it is a take-out orchestrated by elite interests.
But those objections no longer carry any weight. The issue is whether the Congress has the constitutional fortitude to to the job.
If indeed Congress lacks the moral fortitude to pursue impeachment, they deserve to be judged as harshly as he. And if the country as a whole cannot weather the fallout from some disgruntled Trump hardliners, it scarcely merits status as a liberal democracy. Robust nations are not held hostage by their own extremists.
What's at stake is American democracy.
Image: Wikipedia
8 comments:
They won't impeach him, and impeachment may not be the smartest political move for those opposing the Trump doctrines.
Trump empowers too many neo-liberals and neo-libertarians. He is the logical outcome of the Goldwater doctrine. Those opposing him would do best to focus on re-gaining power and to do that they need to make sure that everyone who is capable of sequential thought understands and publicizes the GOP ownership of Trump.
The so-called left-wing media has to stop quoting Trump in headlines, and stop leading pieces with explanations of what he said or did - that approach just boosts the echo chamber. Make every piece lead off with the negative outcome, then explain why that outcome will be a result of a GOP doctrine, and only then mention that the source is another Trump inanity.
A lot of brains are nearing implosion with the stresses of absurd levels of cognitive dissonance - constantly reminding the operators of those brains that they own and are Trump, and they own the results of Trumping will be be messy but far more efficient and effective than the inevitable failure of any effort to impeach.
kip
I'm not at all sure there are enough votes to impeach Trump, Kip -- at least until the November elections. What happens after that depends on the result. One thing should be clear: The longer Trump stays, the more lasting damage he'll do. If he's around for two more years, the damage will be catastrophic. If he manages to stay in office for eight years, the damage will be terminal.
If nothing else, Trump has laid the foundation for a possible impeachment effort later this year. He has created a segment of the US population that sees him as treasonous. Few, save for his cringeworthy base, consider that he has observed his oath of office.
It could be Mueller who puts the match to Trump's fumes. The special prosecutor's investigations will bring a harsh light on Trump's and his aides' interwoven links with Russia, Putin and the several oligarchs. I don't think Mueller is trolling with baited hooks. I think he's using a trawl net. My guess is he'll begin with the Bank of Cyprus, head to DeutscheBank and then on to New York.
Once it becomes clear how deep Russian claws are into Trump & Co., the significance of the Helsinki summit fiasco will become much starker.
I suspect that Mueller knows just how deep and entangled Trump is with the Russian oligarchy, Mound. As time goes on, Americans will be dumbfounded when they discover just how thoroughly the Russians have penetrated their country.
The possibility that Trump has betrayed the US to Russia will not faze his support at all - already signs are showing that this is the case. In a few locales his approval ratings may actually rise as a result. It's critically important to remember that even his supporters who are losing their jobs and livelihoods as a result of his tariff war *don't blame him*. These are people whose capacity for lunch is hindered by their shortage of sandwiches and there are millions upon millions of them. Not only in the US but here in Canada, in the UK, in France, in Italy...human civilization is well on it's way into another dark age just in time for the Four Horsemen to put in what will almost certainly be their final appearance.
Try to find some solace, gather your loved ones near and do the best you can. The die is cast.
I increasingly fear that you're right, Deacon. As I have written on more than one occasion lately, we seem intent on doing ourselves in.
As Deacon says above, Owen, there appears little prospect for a turnaround. By letting the tail wag the dog, Americans have surrendered their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And here in Ontario we have not done much better; the disgrace of electing Doug Ford's Regressive Conservative party to a majority government is something that we will have a hard time recovering from. I feel deeply ashamed of and disgusted with my fellow Ontarians.
Like you, Lorne, I am deeply ashamed of Ontarians. We should have known better. But, apparently, we can no longer think critically and our decisions are not to be trusted.
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