Congressional Oath of Office:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God "
That oath, uttered by incoming members of Congress, is a very serious promise that they will, without question, follow the tenets of the Constitution in do ing what is right for their country. It specifically emphasizes the words I swear, I will defend, I will faithfully discharge, and So help me God.
That's the oath that these politicians initially take but, when they get all tangled up in the convoluted political process and associated battles, how long is it before they no longer keep those Constitutional principles foremost in their minds? Do these Democrats and Republicans who are engaged in this current conflict over impeachment ever think about, and act in accordance, with that solemn oath they took?
If they really did, would we now be watching and hearing Democrats having a difficult time trying to decide whether they should go forward with impeachment, even when the evidence to support doing that indicates that they should, that they must? And, would Republicans with that evidence of this president's quite apparent high crimes and misdemeanors before them, refuse to acknowledge them and vow that they will vote no on impeachment, no matter what?
Now, while this investigation is just idling in neutral, the one thing that Pelosi and the House committee chairmen should do is to just STOP constantly talking about impeachment, and indicating yes, no, or maybe it should be done. They only look weak and in decisive.
S ome Democrats are strongly pushing for impeachment, others say impeachment will be playing into the hands of Trump and Senate Republican s; while others say " let's just wait and see." Enough already!
My advice is Is for all of them to simply zip up their mouths and go about the difficult business of solidifying the evidence they have and gathering even more. Do these Democrats have a specific, coordinated plan or is every committee operating solely on its own? So, just in case Pelosi hasn't put together a fully coordinated plan, then here's one that she can use to get this process jump-started:
The Plan
Step 1: Continue to carry on various House investigations using the Mueller report and other sources to gather more evidence that will support impeachment. Make sure all of these committee are fully coordinated to concentrate on the same, specific, overall objectives. Time is of the essence but it must be an in-depth investigation.
Step 2: Continue to issue subpoenas as necessary and use the full power of the House to make a strong case when these cases end up in court. Take very aggressive stands. Go after every one of these reluctant witnesses tooth and nail and never let up on the pressure.
Step 3: Do everything possible to have Robert Mueller testify before appropriate committees and, if he insists that it must be done in private, then honor his wishes. Don McGahn must be be convinced, one way or another, to testify because it is his duty as a citizen of this country. His testimony will prove to be invaluable in the eventual removal of Trump.
Step 4: When enough concrete, irrefutable evidence has been gathered that clearly implicates this president in obstruction, then immediately initiate a full impeachment inquiry process.
Step 5: When significant progress has been made have the major committee heads get together and plan the formal impeachment process; then initiate it in the House, win the vote there, and send it to the Senate for hearings, debates, and resolution.
Now, there is one scenario that I don't hear anyone even talking about and it's one that could take this issue of impeachment into a completely different, unexpected direction. What if, in this inquiry process, Democrats suddenly, out of the blue, obtain new evidence that is so damning against Trump that it convinces him that he has no choice but to resign. That would be, unquestionably, the best possible result for America. Sure, that's a bit of wishful thinking but it did happen with Nixon.
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