There can be no way around it. The only way forward and the only chance we have of reclaiming democracy in the land of the free is the impeachment of the president. The election of Donald J. Trump is a symptom of systemic failure and one of such catastrophic dimensions that it must be corrected before anything of substance can be accomplished.
If we allow this president to continue without confronting the restraint and distraction that impeachment proceedings provide we will invite disaster on multiple fronts. We have already glimpsed a sampling of what an unrestrained Trump administration intends: Closing the border to all asylum seekers in violation of international law, punitive measures like family separation and child abuse, evisceration of civil rights and voting rights, systemic disenfranchisement of minority voters, alienation and extortion of democratic allies, annihilation of labor rights, elevation of dictatorships, nuclear proliferation, normalization of racism and prejudice, reversal of policies protecting the air and water, a rollback in health and medical services, corruption on a scale unrivaled since the Teapot Dome scandal and elimination of assistance to the poor.
We have witnessed all this from a restrained Trump administration. He has until now operated under a pervasive cloud of investigation for high crimes and misdemeanors. The president hopes and perhaps believes that the cloud lifted in the wake of the gutless and ineffectual Mueller Report. Because the special prosecutor was less than animated and compelling in his testimony before congress and the American people, we are expected drop all doubt and suspicions regarding his relentless coordination with the Russian propaganda apparatus in defrauding an American presidential election. We are expected to ignore his repeated and often successful attempts to cover up his actions and those of his family and staff in conspiring with the Russians. We are expected to turn away from compelling evidence that our president and his family aint nothing more than money launderers for corrupt foreign governments.
If we fail to hold this president accountable we are not only legitimizing and sanctioning the most corrupt and illegitimate president in history, we are also opening the door to a second term. If we allow that to happen we will be compelled to bear witness to the high crimes and misdemeanors an unrestrained President Trump will commit. If we allow this incompetent crook another term he will undoubtedly appoint at least one more Supreme Court justice and the impact of his presidency will outlive us all.
If we fail to impeach the president before the coming election he may well be tempted to start a war in Venezuela or Iran in a desperate attempt to win reelection. Frankly, he may be tempted to do so anyway. But if we know anything about this president it is that he is obsessed with the news of the day. Among the advantages of a constant barrage of impeachment hearings highlighting new information regarding Trump Tower Moscow, 666 Fifth Avenue, Deutsche Bank and money laundering operations connecting the oligarchs of Putin's Russia, the ruthless despots of Saudi Arabia and Trump real estate operations is that they will serve as a distraction and Trump will be unable to wrap his mind around anything else.
If Trump does move us to war you can be sure it will not go against the interests of the Saudis or the Russians. If he does give the order for political reasons there is a very real possibility that his commanders will refuse to comply. That is how low this presidency has sunk. The generals that Trump once held in such high esteem have seen behind the curtain. They have seen him kowtow to the Russian dictator. They have witnessed his cowardice when confronted with the violent crimes of a Saudi prince. They know who he is.
If we do not impeach the president we have taken his criminal conduct off the table. We have removed his corruption and character from the topics of debate. We have given him the kind of aid and comfort only the gutless Democrats can provide. We will have matched the Republican Party in complicity.
We must impeach the president. Without regard for the trial in the hallowed chambers of the United States Senate, we must impeach the president. We must impeach the president because he is guilty beyond all doubt and by any honest reckoning. We must impeach the president to restore the fundamental value of American democracy.
We must impeach the president to assert now and forever that no one is above the law and no one is beyond the reach of justice.
The idea that some internal Justice Department memo can overrule the basic tenet of judicial decree is ludicrous and offensive. All presidents should be held to account for criminal conduct without delay and without exception. This president has scorned justice and turned the office of the Attorney General into a sycophant for the chief executive. It must not stand.
The president of the United States is guilty of high crimes and conduct not only worthy of but demanding impeachment.
1. The president through his agents conspired with agents of the Russian government to defraud the 2016 presidential election.
The Mueller Report chronicles over one hundred interactions between the Trump campaign and Russian agents. The Trump campaign provided polling data to target key voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin the very states that turned the election. The Russian propaganda machine in turn provided fake news to targeted voters through fake social media accounts. Before the eyes of the American public, candidate Trump incorporated the daily WikiLeaks reports into his campaign. Russia provided the attack data, WikiLeaks laundered it and Trump employed it on the campaign trail. This is what collusion, coordination and conspiracy look like.
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