Impeachment
Well, it’s begun. The third impeachment trial of a US president.
I don’t have much to say at this point. I have my fears that this will be nothing more than a show trial with everything being preordained along party lines. But I might be surprised.
In away, this situation is actually a good thing. Removing a president should not be simple matter. Something you do just because the opposite party controls Congress. Not with our system. If we had a true parliamentary system, removing the PM as a matter of course is built into the design.
Having the Senate have a Republican majority establishes that if Trump is removed, its a bipartisan issue. If the Senate and House were vast majority Democrats then it would always be viewed as just a partisan fight. Now at least if there’s a conviction we’ll be able to move on.
Alternatively, if a strong showing of Democrats vote to against removal then I think we can also move on. But the likely outcome is a strict party line vote. Republicans have done everything they can to paint this as a partisan hit job by Democrats. But that’s a double edged sword. The residual optic will be that the president can get away with whatever he wants as long as his party controls the Senate. Whether or not that’s true won’t matter.
Impeachment will lose it’s importance and become just another show tool for political parties. That’s the threat here. By letting Trump get away this along strict party lines sets up something even worse in the future. The next president with a majority in the Senate will abuse even more power. Until we genuinely have a dictatorship. That could happen immediately with Trump or twenty years down the road.
If the evidence truly supports removal, I hope Republicans can see past their partisan leanings and vote him out. If the evidence truly does not then I hope Democrats can see past their partisan leanings and vote against.
Personally, I think he should be removed from office. From what I have seen it looks warranted. But I haven’t seen everything. And I don’t have the weight of responsibility as a Senator to consider. That’s just a personal opinion.
