The subject of impeachment has always been accompanied by solemn pronouncements. We must invoke it sparingly and not for narrow partisan or political purposes. The use of impeachment is to be for extreme cases; to preserve the Constitution and the rule of law.
We should use it is only against a president for a clear violation of the oath of office. Is that what we are doing today?
Is there a case to be made?
Serious minds like Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz note the framers of the Constitution warned against a partisan impeachment process. Impeachment is an extraordinary tool to be used only when the constitutional criteria are met. These criteria are limited and include only ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
The recent switch from “quid pro quo” to “bribery” is the Democrats attempting to make their insufficient evidence fit the words of the Constitution. This should greatly concern every American. This process is a blatantly partisan attempt to remove a president that the Democrats intensely dislike. The issue is impeachment was never intended to remove a president for irritability.
The Democrats are attempting to remove a president they dislike. The most troubling part of this is: what they are doing is similar to a vote of no confidence in a parliamentary system. The Framers particularly rejected a parliamentary system.
We don’t have a Parliament
America does not have a parliament where the seat of sovereignty rests. We adopted a different system of government. The framers did not want the president to be subservient to Congress. Our Constitution is all about power checking power. The Democrats have forgotten that; if they ever understood it.
In addition to violating the intent and purpose of impeachment what is going on will adversely impact governance in America. The highly partisan congressional conflicts, the uncivil attacks have hurt or destroyed many important governing norms and purposes. Brilliant minds like AOC and the crew do not care. They want the outcome to be the destruction of the nation. It is their goal. They want a different system of government and if specious attacks advance their goal, so much the better.
Think about what we are allowing to happen. Let’s start with the future appointments to federal courts. It now appears that a president will never again be able to appoint a justice to SCOTUS or judges to the federal courts unless their party has and uses a partisan majority in the Senate. That is a new development. We used to select judges based on judicial qualification, not political partisanship. Are we witnessing the destruction of our constitution and the death of the nation?
Results of boundless partisanship
The Democrats since Robert Bork have gone to bringing no-holds-barred smear campaigns. That is what they have done against Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and many nominees for judgeships on lower federal courts. This is corrosive of the American system of governance. Gone are the times when Scalia and Ginsberg, who have highly different interpretations of the Constitution, were selected by nearly unanimous votes.
Soon to come is difficulty in confirming cabinet members. It now appears likely a president cannot even confirm a cabinet without a partisan majority in the Senate. Democrats established this precedent. They voted in unison against President Trump’s cabinet nominees. There was one exception, Secretary of Defense Mattis, who won a near-unanimous vote.
Democrats in the Senate voted almost unanimously against Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, Mike Pompeo for Director of Central Intelligence, Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, Betsy DeVos for Education, Steven Mnuchin for Treasury, Mike Mulvaney for Office of Management and Budget, and Scott Pruitt for Environmental Protection Agency. The facts are what the facts are. Are we witnessing the destruction of our constitution and the death of the nation?
Destroying the structure of government is destroying its function
Recently, Attorney General Barr in a speech to the Federalist Society states that President Trump’s appointments to other important federal posts have been harmfully delayed. As of September of this year, the Senate has been forced to invoke cloture on 236 Trump nominees. Each of those represents its own massive consumption of legislative time. This is a Congress doing nothing for the nation; everything for the partisan political aims of the party.
That is meant only to delay an inevitable confirmation. How many times was cloture invoked on nominees during President Obama’s first term? 17 times. The Second President Bush’s first term? Four times. It is reasonable to wonder whether a future President will actually be able to form a functioning administration if his or her party does not hold the Senate. This is a parliamentary system run amuck. The framers did not give us a parliament for good reason.
Excessive federal spending and debt will continue because of the destructive congressional fight to the death of political hostilities. Everyone should know deficits and debt are rising dangerously. It also appears that there is no way to curb government spending without risking a government shutdown. Neither party wishes to face that prospect. But the Republicans, who have been routinely blamed for shutdowns by not only the opposition political party but their teammates in the media. Are we witnessing the destruction of our constitution and the death of the nation?
Possible and probable
Maybe it’s possible to constrain federal spending with a unified government, maybe. That would require sixty votes in the Senate. Neither party seems likely to win that anytime soon. As a consequence of party warfare, spending like drunken sailors will continue. America’s debt and deficits will accumulate until there is a crisis of some kind. Perhaps it will involve inflation, interest rates, the depreciation of the dollar, or much more likely an end to the dollar as the dominant world reserve currency.
If there were grounds for impeachment it would be against Congress. Congress, the legislative branch, for having abdicated their constitutional and legal duties to pass budgets… for 23 years. They have abdicated and refuse to recognize or utilize “the power of the purse.”
The American future is looking very difficult. We have a unique Republic. The U.S. political system is heading at breakneck speed toward some kind of crisis. Partisan warfare threatens to overwhelm the capacity of the president and Congress to address national problems.
Conclusion
We used to have a President direct the day to day operations of the government; to handle foreign relations and respond in emergent situations. That is how our constitution requires the branch to act. The branches of government used to attempt to comply with the dictates of the U.S. Constitution. But maybe that was in an era of greater national consensus.
These are very dangerous times for our Constitution, freedom, life, property rights and safety. It is time to call off this impeachment sham. Time for Congress to pass budgets and reduce the federal debt. It is time to reduce the power of the federal government and to restore local communities and the American family. Are we witnessing the destruction of our constitution and the death of the nation? Which side are you on?