This is why, when I talk politics, I ultimately have no friends. Well, OK. It’s probably not the only reason, but it’s a good one: I will state up front that I think Donald Trump is one of the better Presidents the United States has had. I would put him, at least, in the top ten. That’s not bad. Approximately the top quartile. There’s plenty with which I would disagree, but overall I think he’s done a pretty good job.
Now I made the right happy and the left mad.
But, I also believe Trump should be impeached. Now I’ve mad the left happy and the right mad.
I do believe both very strongly, and I am afraid I might be in very small company when I combine these ideas.
On 1 October, I wrote that I believed the President should be impeached. So what has changed since I wrote that article?
For one, impeachment inquiries have already begun, spearheaded by the Democrats in Congress. Also, the question of whether there was a quid pro quo has become a primary question for those who believe impeachment should not be pursued. The Ukraine did not pursue an investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden, and the sale of weaponry from the US to the Ukraine proceeded anyway. Opponents of impeachment believe the impeachment to be unnecessary, a waste of time, and a waste of taxpayer money.
I have been involved in operating businesses before, and in cases where I caught an employee in the process of stealing something, it was always cause for immediate termination of their employment. My thinking on this matter was that the act itself was cause for termination, even if the employee did not get away with it. I simply did not want to employ a person who I knew was willing to steal. It didn’t matter that the theft did not actually take place. It didn’t take place because the employee was caught. I wouldn’t want to risk the employee simply using a smarter way to get the task done next time.
In the case of Trump’s quid pro quo, it did not actually take place. However, did it not take place because both parties decided to ignore the prior requested exchange of weapons for the investigation, or did it not take place because Trump was caught making a request that obviously gave rise to possible impeachment? We really don’t know that for certain, but we can’t find out unless a process takes place. The question is not whether a quid pro quo happened, but rather whether it would have taken place if the incident had not come to light.
Like the incident of theft, if the quid pro quo would have taken place without Trump getting caught, then there have to be consequences. The President of the United States cannot use the power of his office and the full power of the US government to defeat a political enemy. That is the sort of thing that banana republic dictators do.
There have been many incidents of presidents abusing their power and using the office for personal gain throughout American history, but that is no reason to avoid holding Trump to account this time. We want to stop this sort of abuse, not encourage it.
If the famed transcript of his conversation with the Ukrainian President is accurate, Trump has done something quite egregious. Not only did he use the office and his power over the US arsenal to bribe a foreign power into investigating a political opponent, but he did so flagrantly. He was so bold as to release the damning evidence himself, and never has he backed away from the transcript’s authenticity. Not once has Trump said the transcript was inaccurate or that it contained information that was really taken out of context. If he believed it was taken out of context, he would have provided further transcripts that would show that. He is so emboldened in his act that he simply doesn’t care. He believes he is beyond accountability. That is, if the transcript is accurate, and we have no reason to believe it is not since the person who ordered its release has never said otherwise.
It’s important to note that I never said he should be removed from office. I reserve judgment on that. I merely believe that this is something important enough to warrant an impeachment trial before the Senate. The actions of the President need to be aired to determine if they warrant removal.
I am concerned about abuse of the impeachment process. In fact, I believe the Democrats don’t particularly care about whether Trump’s actions in this particular case are wrong. I doubt it’s anything less than offenses committed by Barack Obama or Joe Biden himself. In fact, there’s plenty of evidence that Biden should be put away if the evidence is proven accurate. The Democrats are merely using this as an excuse to remove someone they hatefully want removed for political reasons, and they are no better than the man they want to remove.
However, there is a long history of abuse of the office of President of the United States, and we have to stop it. We have to draw a line in the sand and say we are no longer going to accept these abuses. I am certain we failed to do so with Obama and other president before him.
The fact that the quid pro quo did not take place is no reason to stop with the impeachment. Just because someone gets caught does not negate the act of trying. Just because the actions are politically motivated on the part of the Democrats does not negate the evidence against Trump, at least in so far as it needs to come to trial in the Senate. Maybe we don’t know for certain at this point that abuses and offenses have taken place, but we do know there is strong evidence to suggest that it has. The matter needs to be fully aired in trial. We have to reign in the presidency to its proper role and annihilate any future potential for such corruption.
Danny Chabino
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