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| House mangers delivering the article of impeachment (Deadline) |
I am not here to judge Trump. Nor to assess his legacy in either positive or negative ways. I have my views which I have shared in the past and in any case - are irrelevant to the post.
The point here is to note how extreme hatred can make otherwise very bright people do very stupid things. For those who haven’t figured it out yet, I’m talking about the impeachment trial soon to take place on Capitol Hill.
Fueled by the rage I suppose Trump haters would agree that his impeachment trial the Senate should proceed He did after all incite an angry mob of supporters toward insurrection. Normally I might even agree with them. But the purpose of an impeachment trial is to remove a sitting President from office. As article one of the constitution says:
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office
Well, guess what? I don’t know if anyone heard about it yet, but Trump has already been removed from office by the people he served. He lost his reelection bid and has been replaced by a new President. Trump is now a private citizen.
And yet Democrats and a few Republicans think we should have that trial anyway. Pure hatred runs deep. And blinds even normally clear headed people.
Democrats justify this trial because a conviction would then enable them to bar Trump from ever holding public office again by a simple majority vote as per article one. But that is just as stupid.
There is no chance that he will be convicted. It is not clear that he would be convicted even if he were still in office. The mob that stormed the Capitol building that day had been planning to do that well before Trump’s inciting words that day. And it’s clear that Trump never intended them to do that despite his strongly worded defiant message to supporters that day.
In any case - a two-thirds majority of the senate must vote to convict. Not gonna happen. (Nor do they need an impeachment conviction to bar him from serving in public office again. If I understand correctly Trump can be barred from holding office anyway through legislative action.) So nothing will be gained except for maybe a personal feel-good moment for the haters who will yet again ‘stick it’ to him.
The complete and utter waste of time and taxpayer money doesn’t seem to bother Trump haters. They are practically giddy with joy over the prospect of adding to Trump’s infamy. All while proclaiming the high-minded purpose of making him accountable for his actions. But what good is accountability without any material consequences?
Ah, but there are consequences. Negative ones. First any chance of national unity (slight though it is) will disappear. Instead the divisiveness sowed by the former President will surely increase. The sense of outrage millions of Trump supporters have - falsely believing the election was stolen from them will surely make them angrier than ever.
And then there is this. In case no one has noticed, we are in the middle of a deadly pandemic that congress needs to focus upon. There are vaccine shortages and inefficient distribution of the doses that still exist.
Well intentioned rules designed to first vaccinate first line medical personnel; and nursing home residents and staff - has had the unintended consequence of slowing down mass vaccinations. In some cases vaccines are being horded for that reason. Elderly people desperately seeking to get vaccinated are being stifled. And then there are the people still afraid to get vaccinated altogether. Meanwhile daily COVID cases are increasing almost exponentially all over the world Which is being exacerbated by new more contagious strains of the virus.
So what is congress putting on the front burner? Trying an impeached President so they can remove him from an office he no longer occupies. If there anything stupider that that, I’d like to know what it is. And yet Democrats and some Republicans think it’s a good idea.
I think it is a horrible idea - and a costly waste of time. It would not surprise me in the least that the current President privately feels the same way. The fact that he has said practically nothing about the impending trial, and only when asked gave it tepid support - kind of shows that. It is hampering his job. The most important of which right now by his own word - is getting the country vaccinated as soon as possible.
In my view, John Q. Public should take note of what is most important to certain members of congress right now and at the very next opportunity, vote them all out of office! Now that is a removal from office that I would happily support.