Jerry Coyne's website: Trump’s impeachment: give your take
Despite Rashida Tlaib’s incendiary words of two days ago, the fact remains that Donald Trump has shown himself the most incompetent American President of our time—or perhaps all time. He’s shut down the government over his wall, creating an impasse that seems unbreakable, embroiled us in a debilitating, no-win trade war with China, ended intervention in Syria against military advice, and either fired or forced out many of the more moderate and competent people in his administration. His attacks on his opponents and on the press are constant and unconscionable. And the Mueller investigation, I suspect, will show him as an accessory to at least one crime and probably more.
The government is being led by a petulant, tantrum-throwing child who shows no scintilla of adult maturity. What’s worse, his narcissism and mindlessness have the possibility of embroiling us in a war. I didn’t think that was possible, but as his Presidency proceeds, I find it less and less unthinkable. My disgust is turning to a palpable fear.
Today’s New York Times has a piece by op-ed writer David Leonhardt calling for Trump’s impeachment which he sees as more exigent than simply waiting until 2020 to try voting him out.
The Constitution specifies that impeachment is designed for Presidents (or others) who are guilty of “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors”. Gross incompetence or mental illness is not among these failings, though it should be. (I also believe that Trump is diagnosably mentally ill.)
Leonhardt sees these four Trumpian actions as falling under the Constitutional provision for impeachment. (You can read the op-ed for details.)
Using the Presidency for personal enrichment
Violating campaign finance law
Obstructing justice
Subverting democracy (this seems to me the weakest charge, including as it does the impugning of journalists as “enemies of the people”
Leonhardt is more optimistic than I.
It’s not only that Trump is unfit to be president and that Republicans know it. It also may be the case that they will soon have a political self-interest in abandoning him. If they did, the end could come swiftly. The House could then impeach Trump, knowing the Senate might act to convict. Or negotiations could begin over whether Trump deserves to trade resignation for some version of immunity.
Finally, there is the hope — naïve though it may seem — that some Republicans will choose to act on principle. There now exists a small club of former Trump administration officials who were widely respected before joining the administration and whom Trump has sullied, to greater or lesser degrees. It includes Rex Tillerson, Gary Cohn, H.R. McMaster and Jim Mattis. Imagine if one of them gave a television interview and told the truth about Trump. Doing so would be a service to their country at a time of national need. It would be an illustration of duty.
We took a vote in 2018 on whether Trump would be impeached, and whether he’d be found guilty. I won’t link to that here lest it influence your vote now, but this time I’m asking you to vote in three easy polls, one giving your opinion and two giving your prognostication. To wit: do you think Trump should be successfully impeached (found guilty; impeachment is simply a vote to have a Congressional trial); do you think he will be impeached (by the House); and, if so, do you think he will be convicted (in the Senate)?
Vote below; you can answer all three regardless of your votes on #1 and #2. My own votes are yes, yes, and no, respectively.
Despite Rashida Tlaib’s incendiary words of two days ago, the fact remains that Donald Trump has shown himself the most incompetent American President of our time—or perhaps all time. He’s shut down the government over his wall, creating an impasse that seems unbreakable, embroiled us in a debilitating, no-win trade war with China, ended intervention in Syria against military advice, and either fired or forced out many of the more moderate and competent people in his administration. His attacks on his opponents and on the press are constant and unconscionable. And the Mueller investigation, I suspect, will show him as an accessory to at least one crime and probably more.
The government is being led by a petulant, tantrum-throwing child who shows no scintilla of adult maturity. What’s worse, his narcissism and mindlessness have the possibility of embroiling us in a war. I didn’t think that was possible, but as his Presidency proceeds, I find it less and less unthinkable. My disgust is turning to a palpable fear.
Today’s New York Times has a piece by op-ed writer David Leonhardt calling for Trump’s impeachment which he sees as more exigent than simply waiting until 2020 to try voting him out.
The Constitution specifies that impeachment is designed for Presidents (or others) who are guilty of “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors”. Gross incompetence or mental illness is not among these failings, though it should be. (I also believe that Trump is diagnosably mentally ill.)
Leonhardt sees these four Trumpian actions as falling under the Constitutional provision for impeachment. (You can read the op-ed for details.)
Using the Presidency for personal enrichment
Violating campaign finance law
Obstructing justice
Subverting democracy (this seems to me the weakest charge, including as it does the impugning of journalists as “enemies of the people”
Leonhardt is more optimistic than I.
It’s not only that Trump is unfit to be president and that Republicans know it. It also may be the case that they will soon have a political self-interest in abandoning him. If they did, the end could come swiftly. The House could then impeach Trump, knowing the Senate might act to convict. Or negotiations could begin over whether Trump deserves to trade resignation for some version of immunity.
Finally, there is the hope — naïve though it may seem — that some Republicans will choose to act on principle. There now exists a small club of former Trump administration officials who were widely respected before joining the administration and whom Trump has sullied, to greater or lesser degrees. It includes Rex Tillerson, Gary Cohn, H.R. McMaster and Jim Mattis. Imagine if one of them gave a television interview and told the truth about Trump. Doing so would be a service to their country at a time of national need. It would be an illustration of duty.
We took a vote in 2018 on whether Trump would be impeached, and whether he’d be found guilty. I won’t link to that here lest it influence your vote now, but this time I’m asking you to vote in three easy polls, one giving your opinion and two giving your prognostication. To wit: do you think Trump should be successfully impeached (found guilty; impeachment is simply a vote to have a Congressional trial); do you think he will be impeached (by the House); and, if so, do you think he will be convicted (in the Senate)?
Vote below; you can answer all three regardless of your votes on #1 and #2. My own votes are yes, yes, and no, respectively.
Poll #1
Do you think Trump should be removed from office via the impeachment process?
Poll #2
Do you think Trump will be impeached by the House?
Poll #3
If Trump is impeached by the House, do you think he'll be convicted by the Senate?
And I welcome your comments below.
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