This morning Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gave her blessing for the House Judiciary Committee to proceed with articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. NBC reports:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Thursday that she was asking the House Judiciary Committee and chairmen of other committees to proceed with drafting articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, saying “the president leaves us no choice but to act.”
“Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and our heart full of love for America, today, I am asking our chairmen to proceed with articles of impeachment,” Pelosi said in a brief televised statement from the Capitol, speaking directly to the American people.
The facts of Trump’s alleged wrongdoing involving Ukraine, she said, “are uncontested.”
“The president abused his power for his own personal, political benefit at the expense of our national security by withholding military aid and crucial Oval Office meeting in exchange for an announcement of an investigation into his political rival,” Pelosi said, adding that his actions “seriously violated the Constitution.”
“Our democracy is what’s at stake,” Pelosi continued. “The president leaves us no choice but to act because he is trying to corrupt, once again, the election for his own benefit.”
Pelosi began her statement citing deliberations by the Founding Fathers with regard to impeachment, saying in particular that “they feared the prospect of a king-president corrupted by foreign influence.”
To protect the nation from that possibility, Pelosi said that the founders “created a Constitutional remedy to protect against the dangerous or corrupt leader — impeachment.”
No one should be surprised by Pelosi’s announcement. Trump being impeached was a foregone conclusion. It was a foregone conclusion the moment the Democrats took over control of the House of Representatives. Does anyone believe that Tom Steyer and his fellow donors poured millions into the coffers of the Democrat Party and not insist that they deliver impeachment? It would be like the GOP millionaire donors pouring money into electing Republicans and then not expect tax cuts. That’s the reality of American politics. Donors rule. Their wishes are commands. “We the people” are only window dressing to give the impression that we live in a democracy (or constitutional republic for the pedantic readers).
I am quite certain that initially the Democrats had planned to use the findings of the Mueller investigation to impeach Trump. However, they had to shelve their plan after Robert Mueller’s disastrous performance before the House Judiciary Committee. Still, it would be a matter of time before they would be able to fabricate another scenario to allow impeachment to proceed. They did not have to wait long. Trump lack of discipline and the fact that he has filled his administration with political enemies would eventually yield new grounds to remove him i.e. Ukrainegate. (I do expect the Democrats to refer to the Mueller investigation in their articles of impeachment as a way to thank Mr. Mueller for keeping Trump pinned down until they could win the House).
As I look back at the last three years, a few things stand out to me. First, I find it amazing that there was no one around Trump who did not realize that it was absolutely critical that the GOP keep control of both chambers in Congress. The GOP establishment despises the president and wants to remove him from office as much as the Democrats. However, it would have been politically impossible for them to pursue impeachment. Second, it is remarkable how many individuals who regularly follow politics don’t seem to understand that impeachment is a political process.
Whenever I stated that impeachment was very likely, invariably a Trump supporter would reply, “For what crime?” as if it were a criminal proceeding. Again, I repeat myself, impeachment is not a criminal or civil proceeding. If votes are present in Congress to impeach and convict, the president will be removed. Third, impeachment will not be a disaster for the Democrats unless it drags out for months. If the entire process is settled before the primaries begin, the vast majority of voters will have forgotten about it by the time November rolls around. Final point, the impeachment hearings are all a show designed to keep voters distracted and, worse, trapped in the two party system. Whether or not Trump will be removed will depend on whether the GOP can muster the political cover to have twenty of its members in the Senate to vote to convict as I explained in a previous article. As I said, donors to both parties rule our country and long ago they decided that Trump was unacceptable.
