The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States of America.
So there it is. Despite what Donald Trump might believe deep down--the President can do whatever he, or she wants--there are limits to the power of the office.
His people have known it from the beginning. In fact they were so aware of this impediment to corruption and autocracy in the moments immediately after the July phone call to Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky there was a mad scramble to hide the records of it from everyone. Indeed, it would seem the only person in the entire Trump administration who didn't understand how God awful the ramifications of the call would be was, Donald Trump himself.
That's what happens when you have a chief executive who takes an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution, but never takes the time to actually read the damn thing. Not that it probably matters. Playing fast and loose with all manner of laws and regulations has been a way of life for The Big Orange Guy since his high school days. We're talking nearly seven decades of knowing if caught, he could first run to dear old Dad, then later to an army of attorneys who would fix the trouble.
That's right baby. All those laws, they're for the little people, so fuck 'em. He learned that from the late Roy Cohn. What he learned from Joseph Goebbels was, first, no lie is too big, or preposterous, second, always accuse your accusers of the crimes you are committing. As for the conspiracy shit, that probably came from Alex Jones.
Listen, no source is too great, or small for our man Don.
Now he is up against it. Within days he will become only the third President of the history of the republic to be impeached by the House of Representatives. The first was Andrew Johnson, the second, Bill Clinton. Nixon, knowing his goose was cooked, quit before there was an actual vote.
The first article accuses El Don of abuse of power. It is a direct result of that phone call to Zelensky. During it he, "asked," Ukraine do him a solid by launching an investigation into former VP, Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. In return the U.S. would release $391 million in military aid, which had already been approved by Congress. At the time, the elder Biden looked to be Trump's likely opponent in next year's presidential election. In addition, Trump wanted Ukraine to track down those missing computer servers which he and his fellow conspiracy enthusiasts claim contain evidence of Hillary Clinton's collusion with the country to rig the 2016 election.
You read that correctly. Trump's assertion is, in 2016 the Russians didn't interfere with the election process in order to help him, but rather it was the Ukrainians who meddled to assist Clinton. This despite every U.S. intel source saying the opposite.
The second article charges the President of obstruction of Congress. In other words by instructing scads of his people to ignore subpoenas and refusing to release boat loads of documents he attempted to thwart the entire constitutional process of impeachment.
At this point it is hard to argue with either article, although the White House and its allies are working as hard as lab rats on meth to do so. Their alibis for the President when it comes to the phone call and the excuses they offer for the obstruction charge run from the weird to the absurd.
Taking a clue from their client the defense has stooped to out right lies, half truths, and conspiracy nonsense to make a case for him. It is the greatest display of gas lighting ever seen on the planet.
And the problem is, in the end, it will work. Oh, DJT is going to be impeached, but it will be along strict party lines. Once the proceedings move to the republican controlled Senate there is no way two thirds of them, no matter what the evidence, will vote to convict.
Ladies and gentlemen the United States is edging dangerously close to the types of government we now see in Russia and China. It isn't by accident either. It is because they are what Donald John Trump and his rabid followers want us to be.
12-10-19
When Donald began his presidential campaign, I thought he and it were a joke. Now, he and his presidency frightens me. More important, what have we become as a nation, when a man like him can inspire such solid support from so many who should know better? God save us.
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