Impeachment
The House of Representatives has finally reached the point where it seems necessary to consider impeachment of the President. As I write this, the Congressional committees still don't know what is in the "whistleblower memo," but that fact itself is evidence that the White House is trying to obstruct the inquiry -- the memo was written more than a month ago and is required by law to be given to Congress. It may describe more benign or worse behaviors than those that have been leaked to the press regarding the request to the Ukrainian president to influence our US election. But the memo is just the tip of the iceberg; the list of already-known impeachable offenses Trump has committed is long.
We elected a criminal in a fair or at least normal election. The President's behavior has been an embarrassment and many have thought the Democrats' response was overly timid. This period in our history has revealed some weaknesses in our system of checks and balances; I hope the next few years, at least after the next election, comprise a time of rebuilding, and that the Congress addresses some of the vulnerabilities that have been exposed.
It will take a long time to un-do the damage that has already been done.
As the walls close in on Trump we can expect to see him struggle. It could get wild. He's filled the executive branch with sycophants whose loyalty is to him personally and not the Constitution or the people. They are getting rich from their government positions and will try to keep the money flowing as long as they can. I doubt they will turn on him but they might abandon him when the flames begin licking at their own feet. Trump Republicans have filled the courts with sympathetic judges, and we can expect some ... inexplicable ... rulings to come out in the heat of this process.
Prosecutors have respected a questionable DOJ rule that says that Presidents can't be indicted while in office. This is a good motivation for him to try to stay in office as long as he can -- dying while President is probably the only thing that can keep him out of prison. So he is going to fight for re-election by hook or by crook, and he is going to fight impeachment as hard as he can. Hold on to your horses.
We elected a criminal in a fair or at least normal election. The President's behavior has been an embarrassment and many have thought the Democrats' response was overly timid. This period in our history has revealed some weaknesses in our system of checks and balances; I hope the next few years, at least after the next election, comprise a time of rebuilding, and that the Congress addresses some of the vulnerabilities that have been exposed.
It will take a long time to un-do the damage that has already been done.
As the walls close in on Trump we can expect to see him struggle. It could get wild. He's filled the executive branch with sycophants whose loyalty is to him personally and not the Constitution or the people. They are getting rich from their government positions and will try to keep the money flowing as long as they can. I doubt they will turn on him but they might abandon him when the flames begin licking at their own feet. Trump Republicans have filled the courts with sympathetic judges, and we can expect some ... inexplicable ... rulings to come out in the heat of this process.
Prosecutors have respected a questionable DOJ rule that says that Presidents can't be indicted while in office. This is a good motivation for him to try to stay in office as long as he can -- dying while President is probably the only thing that can keep him out of prison. So he is going to fight for re-election by hook or by crook, and he is going to fight impeachment as hard as he can. Hold on to your horses.