Now that the Trump Impeachment is over, it’s time to talk
about what happened and what it means for the American political system. This was
only the third impeachment in American history, not including the Nixon case. Nixon
resigned before he could be impeached.
During the current proceedings, the Republicans pushed a
narrative that transcended the politics of this single event; that no
impeachment should be driven by one party alone, no impeachment should be
pursued on weak evidence, and no impeachment should be pursued without due
process being granted to the president. While these points served as the basis
for the Republican’s defense, they should also be recognized as the best rules
of engagement for the impeachment process, regardless of party.
By coming together and resisting, the Republicans saved the
Democrats from themselves, and preserved the balance of power in our
government. The danger of success by the Democrats, in this case, would have
set a precedent that would have become common practice in the future. Armed with this
approach, a future Congress could remove a president from office because they
didn’t like his/her behavior.
The Democrats pushed forward on weak evidence, which should
have been a brake on their enthusiasm. Strong evidence of misbehavior would
remove partisanship, compelling the minority party to accept the credibility of
the accusations. Weak evidence only makes the partisanship more blatant. The framers
purposely defined impeachable offenses as high crimes and misdemeanors so only
egregious crimes would result in the removal of a president. To remove a
president from office based on minor offences would nullify elections and take
away the power of the American people to select their leader.
The third error the Democrats made was to deny the president
due process, during the House impeachment process. They argued during the trial
phase that the Republicans were violating the norms of the American trial
system by blocking witnesses when they themselves had blocked the president’s
participation in the gathering of evidence. This unfairness made the public
suspect the motives of the accusers.
Fortunately, the Republicans controlled the Senate, so they were
able to block this dangerous adventure. If the Senate had been controlled by
the Democrats, Donald Trump would have been removed from office, and the die
would have been cast for all time.
One wonders why the Democrats pursued a path that resulted
in failure. They must have understood that success in the Senate was only a
remote possibility. Was it pressure from the base or pure hated of Trump? As
the Democratic Party moved left in the time since 2016, there has been increasing pressure on the moderates to move with them. The Democrats have now moved so
far left, they make Bill Clinton look like a Republican. It’s
likely that pressure from the Left helped to push the impeachment narrative
forward. The far Left has a greater disagreement with Trump then the moderates
so they are more enthusiastic about removing him.
How much of the Democrat’s impeachment effort was driven by
Trump Derangement Syndrome? Can dislike of the president produce such irrational
behavior among seasoned politicians, they feel compelled to pursue the impossible?
Perhaps the Democrats thought they could convince some Republicans to join
them, although it would have been fanciful to imagine 20 Republicans jumping
ship to favor the president’s removal. A goal to, at minimum, damage the
president’s reputation, may have backfired because the partisanship was too
obvious.
