To impeach, or not to impeach that is the question:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The rantings and ravings of an accidental president,
Or to take up an inquiry against a sea of scandals,
And by impeaching end them? To inquire to learn;
Much more; and by an inquiry to say we end
The rude behavior and the thousand unnatural shocks
That mind is beset by, ‘tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To inquire, to learn;
To learn: Perchance to uncover secrets; ay, there’s the opportunity;
For in that opportunity what results may come
When we have sifted through all the facts,
Must give us heart: there’s the respect
That makes satisfaction of so long perseverance;
For who would bear the lies and tweets,
The never-ending insults, the contumely,
The pangs of narcissism, the flaunting of the law,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his resolution make
With a bold action? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under outrageous behavior,
But that bold action in the here-and-now,
The discover’d country from whose bourn
A traveler may return, strengthens the will
And makes us rather defeat those ills we have
Than invite those that we know not of?
Thus boldness does make patriots of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is partnered with the bright cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents swiftly flow,
And gain the name of triumph.
Do I equivocate, dear reader?
Thank you to the Bard, William Shakespeare, for the backdrop of the famous soliloquy in the play, Hamlet.
The current mantra at the U.S. Department of Justice is that a sitting president cannot be indicted for any high crimes and misdemeanors he may commit during his tenure. It may or may not be true; it has never been tested. But, the president can be indicted once he is out of office; no one disputes that (cf. Article I, Section 3, paragraph7, of the Constitution).
What high crimes and misdemeanors is Donald J. Trump liable for?
He has foresworn the oath he took at his inauguration (Article II, Section 1, paragraph 7) by not faithfully executing the office of the president. Rather, he has sought to rule by fiat, i.e. executive orders.
He has forsworn his oath of office by not to the best of his ability preserving, protecting, and defending the U.S. Constitution. Rather, he has endeavored to use his office for personal gain in the form of rents of his properties from foreign dignitaries (Article I, Section 9, paragraph 8).
He has conducted military adventures without the express authorization of the Congress (Article I, Section 8, paragraph 11).
He has usurped the power of the Congress to lay levies and duties in the form of tariffs (Article I, Section 8, paragraph 1).
He has usurped the power of the Congress to control the Nation’s purse by transferring money from one agency to another in order to build The Wall (Article I, Section 8, paragraph 18).
He has endangered the health and safety of the American people by rolling back regulations necessary to the same.
He has gathered about him advisors whose only expertise is that they have sworn personal fealty to him. And he has fired those who have not been sufficiently loyal to him.
He has used his office as a bully pulpit to do just that – to bully and insult members of Congress, government officials, the press, and anyone else he considers an enemy of the people, i.e. himself.
He has proven himself to be a pathological liar, uttering one falsehood after another to friend and foe alike in order to be more than what he is – a narcissist, a bigot, a misogynist, and a paranoiac with delusions of grandeur.
Had the Democratic Party not shot itself in the foot in 2016, Donald J. Trump never would have been elected president. But, it is still not too late to correct that error.
Just a thought.