It’s all over, but the shouting in the impeachment, and that is taking place and will continue to take place. The shouting will be from our accidental president, Donald Trump’s proclaiming, “I’ve been completely exonerated! Not guilty! I did nothing wrong!” These will be his opening remarks at all of the rallies he will attend. His loyal followers will swoon, cheer him loudly, and experience a collective orgasm.
Although the Democratic Party’s case was demonstrably weak, the GOP defense made a few wild claims which don’t hold water. To wit:
They alleged that the president was concerned with corruption in Ukraine and withheld military aid until it could be investigated. There’s corruption in every country in the world, including our own, but that hasn’t stopped our government from freely handing out taxpayer dollars to anyone who kisses our backside. What was different here? Joe Biden. To get at a political opponent, Trump committed extortion (a “high crime”).
They alleged that the president legitimately may have a personal, as well as a public motive, increasing his chances of re-election and furthering U.S. interests abroad, respectively, for taking actions. True enough, except when he targets specific individuals/organizations baselessly. That’s called political assassination.
They alleged that the impeachment attacked the president’s rights given him by the U.S. constitution. In the first place, the U.S. Constitution does not give any government official any rights – Read The Script! – only responsibilities. We the People have all the rights. In the second place, nowhere does the U.S. Constitution say anything about “executive privilege.” That concept was dreamed up by a previous administration and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court; it can be, and has been, abused by presidents who did not want We the People to learn about the misdeeds they perpetrated in our name.
They alleged that the impeachment was an attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their president. The American people do not choose their president, freely or otherwise. The Electoral College does, based upon who wins the popular vote in their respective states. If this were not so, then Hillary Clinton, who won the national popular vote, would be in the White House today, and Donald J. Trump would be tweeting fast and furiously about how the election was stolen from him.
They alleged that the impeachment was an attempt to overturn the election of 2016. No, it wasn’t. The impeachment clause in the U.S. Constitution was the Founding Fathers’ recourse to a bad actor in the Executive Branch; they had gotten rid of one king, and they didn’t want another one, excepting George Washington, who declined the honor.
They alleged that Ukraine attempted to interfere with the election of 2016, not Russia, whose president is a dear and trusted friend of our president. This baseless conspiracy theory has been refuted by everyone in America’s intelligence community, but Trump still clings to the allegation.
They alleged that the impeachment will interfere with the election of 2020 by the removal of Trump’s name from the ballot. No, it won’t. Names have been removed from ballots in times past for a variety of reasons, and the Republic is still standing. Besides, the GOP leadership secretly has preferred Mike Pence, vice president, to Trump.
They alleged that testimony and documents the Democrats wanted to be included in the trial would damage our national security. Just like executive privilege, the concept of national security can be, and has been, abused by administrations which did not want We the People to learn about the misdeeds they perpetrated in our name.
Lastly, they alleged that the president committed no “high crimes and misdemeanors” but was merely performing his presidential duties as he saw fit. Added to the bill of indictment that I had listed in a previous essay is the statement issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that Trump violated the Impoundment Control Act, which governs how an administration disburses money approved by Congress. And, by ignoring this law, our accidental president has violated his oath of office to take care that “the laws be faithfully executed” (Article II, Section 3, paragraph 1 of the Constitution).
Sic semper tyrannis!
Just a thought.