Removing the President from office before the 2020 election not only isn’t very likely with a Republican controlled Senate, it shouldn’t even be the goal of impeachment by the Democrats.
By David Todd McCarty | Wednesday, October 9, 2019
The President needs to be impeached, that much is clear to anyone who isn’t completely blinded by partisan rhetoric. He’s been unfit for office since the day he took the oath, and he’s continually done damage to America’s reputation, her institutions, and democratic norms, not to mention the irreparable harm he’s done to his own political party.
Throughout the chaos of a Trump Presidency, Republicans have either looked the other way, or simply gone all in, because he was able to get them what they were unable to get themselves, massive tax cuts and the dismantling of decades of government oversight on corporations and the environment. Those who weren’t comfortable with his methods, were at least perfectly fine with the results, and in the end, they had Trump to blame for any backlash, while they and their donors, reaped the benefits.
With only the evidence we have right now, President Donald Trump should be impeached for abuse of power, obstruction of justice, self dealing and criminal misconduct, but removal from office should come at the hands of the electorate in the 2020 election, not a congressional hearing.
If removal was an option, I’d say remove him, but in today’s political climate, the Republicans seem have followed the President’s lead that if you have no shame, you can’t lose. There is no longer any dignity to the office or ideology to the party. There is no traditional Republican Party. There is only the Trump Party where the only maxim is to hold onto power, no matter the cost. We have left the realm of decency and entered an era of immoral greed and egocentricism.
What we have left therefore is psychological warfare. Unfortunately, the Democrats have never been very good at this, because in order to really succeed in the way that the Republicans have, you have to be willing to leave your morals at the door. But fight we must.
Republicans have done such a good job of brainwashing the electorate that the rule of law is no longer seen as holding any value in American society. You can’t trust the FBI or the CIA. You can’t trust the media. You can’t trust government. So, why follow the rule of law?
With a single flawed Presidency, a social media platform and a 24-hour news channel, the Republicans have done what countless other foreign governments have been unable to do in history, which is to dismantle democracy in America.
A quote often mistakenly attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but true nonetheless states, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we lose our freedoms it will be because we have destroyed ourselves from within.” That has probably been true of the demise of any great world power in history. They are never overrun, but collapse from within due to a mix of hubris, greed, apathy and incompetence.
Impeachment therefore must be a constant battle to illustrate in gory detail just how willing the Republicans are to debase themselves in defense of Trump, and abandon any ideology they might have once proclaimed to be important, if not critical to the health of this great nation. Democrats must make the case that Republicans no longer believe in American democracy, but rather have sold their souls to the donor class and become sycophants at the alter of the Trump cult.
Everything that is important to Americans: the economy, healthcare, infrastructure, the environment, foreign policy and national security, has been compromised in order to feed the inexhaustible hunger of corporate America, and the limitless ego of a petulant tyrant.
Americans are not better off and it’s going to worse. Unimaginably worse. More severe weather such as hurricanes, wildfires, floods and droughts. The further demise of the middle class due to globalization, automation and union busting. A poisoned environment that leads to a massive health crisis. Unchecked aggression by foreign powers as America relinquishes its position as a world leader. War. Famine. Economic collapse. It’s all right there.
Democrats need to be practical in their plea to the American people. This isn’t some theoretical argument based on a utopian fantasy. It’s time to get real with people. They are going to suffer because the Republican Party no longer cares about the American people. They care only about enriching themselves and they will use fear and hate in order to manipulate the masses into caring more about the unknown than they do about the reality. They are yelling, “look over there“ while they pick our pockets.
Impeachment needs to be public and it needs to be entertaining. It needs to be a spectacle because the more attention Democrats can bring to the issue, the more people are paying attention, the more likely they are to begin to understand the absurdity of the Republican’s position. It’s political judo, and the Democrats must use the rhetoric of the Republicans against themselves.
It’s a war for America’s soul we’re fighting for, and there will be no winners if we lose.
