Half of the Democrats in the House now favor an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s presidential malpractice. The Mitch McConnell led Republican Senate guarantees, however, that no conviction will ever occur even if a Bill of Impeachment were to reach the upper house. Unless.
Unless enough evidence were to persuade enough voters of enough of the president’s guilt to persuade enough senators to act. Which begs the question that will baffle historians of this period. What more would it take?
The Mueller report details multiple instances of obstruction of justice on the part of Trump in an attempt to make the story of Russia’s part in his election go away. If his eagerness to not just overlook, but to accept and encourage Russian cyberattacks isn’t impeachable, what would be?
The violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution is on daily display. The Trump organization’s employment and exploitation of illegal aliens is also well-documented. the Trump administration has made a habit of usurping legislative powers, especially as regards the misdirection of monies appropriated for one purpose to another more to the president’s liking, but not authorized by Congress.
This week, the Washington Post detailed the latest flurry of White House high crimes and misdemeanors. The president is plummeting in the polls, largely on the basis of an economy weakened by his trade wars and tariffs that punish American farmers, manufacturers and consumers instead of the intended targets – especially China.
Desperate to change the subject and to salvage a win from his cruel, unusual and failed immigration policies, Trump has demanded that his wall be completed in time for 2020 photo ops. He has also decreed that nothing can stand in the way, thereby furnishing lots more grist for the impeachment mill.
Trump has bypassed the usual safeguards on procurement by awarding contracts to friends and donors for their work on the wall. After Congress refused to appropriate $5 billion for a project many regard as more about vanity than security, Trump ordered the needed money to be scavenged from the Department of Defense and from FEMA, thus rendering our borders less safe each day the Coast Guard, for example, is underfunded, and putting American citizens in greater peril in the event of an emergency, like Hurricane Dorian bearing down on Mar-A-Lago or the Doral.
Trump has abused the government power of eminent domain by ordering land to be seized for his wall and has ordered that environmental laws be violated or ignored for the same reason. Best of all for fans of impeachment, he has ordered government employees to carry out all these crimes, and had assured them that they have nothing to fear from violating their oath and breaking the law because if they are caught he will ride to the rescue with a pardon.
At first these incriminating acts were denied and dismissed as the usual fake news, but when it became clear that there were witnesses unwilling to cover up the president’s criminal utterances the explanation shifted to another Trumpian golden oldie. He was only kidding. Can’t anyone take a joke?
That ultimately is the crucial question. When will enough citizens decide the joke has gone too far? When will enough victims of an economy undermined by mismanagement decide Trump’s no longer funny? When will their disgust persuade enough members of Congress to act to stop the lawlessness at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Failing action to rein in a rogue executive by the other two (supposedly) co-equal branches of government, we know when the 25O million eligible voters will get a chance to remove the comedian-in-chief from an office he has degraded – November 3, 2020.
Unless Trump’s friends and America’s enemies in Russia, aided and abetted by Moscow Mitch in the Senate, manage to steal a second presidential election in a row. Will that finally justify impeachment?