By Glynn Wilson –
In a drama fit for a country that seems stuck in a bad reality television show, reality TV star President Donald J. Trump became the third United States president to be impeached on Wednesday when a clear majority in the House formally charged him with abuse of power by a vote of 230 to 197 and obstruction of Congress 229 to 198.
The mainly party-line vote sets the stage for a trial next year in the Senate on whether to convict Trump and remove him from the White House, where the show will continue with Republicans in charge holding a slight majority in the upper chamber.
While it has been pointed out ad nauseum that no president in the 243-year history of the country has been removed from office by impeachment, which would require a two-thirds majority in the 100-member Senate, or 67 votes, and most pundits say it won’t happen, it may still be possible for 20 Republicans to find the courage and the conscience to join Democrats in voting against Trump once they hear all the evidence and are faced with a chance to rid their party and the country of this most divisive president ever.
While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said over and over again that Trump won’t be convicted on his watch, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will hold out to name the House prosecutors until she sees fair procedures for the Senate trial.
“So far, we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us,” Pelosi told reporters after the vote.
Trump, at 73 who is seeking another four-year term in the November 2020 presidential election, stands accused of abusing his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and holding back $391 million in security aid to combat Russia along with a White House meeting for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The second article of impeachment charged Trump with obstruction of justice and Congress by directing administration officials and agencies not to comply with lawful subpoenas for testimony and documents.
Trump failed to even mount a defense in the House, simply claiming on TV and Twitter that the entire process was another “witch hunt” and bad for the country.
During a daylong debate before the vote, in which one Republican after another rose to defend Trump’s behavior by putting forward one lie after another, lies which something close to half the country appear willing to go along with like they are supporting a losing football team, Speaker Pelosi read the Pledge of Allegiance and said: “We are here to defend democracy for the people.”
“If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty,” Pelosi said. “It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary.”
Every Republican in the House voted against the charges, and they were joined by two Democrats, Collin Peterson of Minnisota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. Another Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, voted against the obstruction charge but for abuse of power.
Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic presidential candidate in the House, voted present on both articles, saying in a statement: “I could not in good conscience vote either yes or no.”
Trump’s presidency has polarized the country like nothing since perhaps the Civil War, dividing families and making it nearly impossible for politicians in Washington to find comming ground to confront pressing challenges like trade with other countries and the worst affects of climate change, which the Republicans continue to ignore.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted before the vote showed that most Democrats favored Trump’s impeachment, while most Republicans did not.
“Televised hearings last month that were meant to build public support for impeachment appear to have pushed the two sides even further apart,” according to Reuters.
It is not clear yet how impeachment will impact next year’s presidential election, although if he is acquitted in the Senate, Trump will no doubt declare victory and go on the attack again like he did in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
No matter who emerges as the Democratic Party’s nominee, they could use the charges against Trump in the campaign even if he is not removed from power.
Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to be outspoken against Trump, and made comments on Twitter and TV after the House vote.
“President Trump abused his power, violated his oath of office, and betrayed our nation,” Biden said. “In the United States of America, no one is above the law — not even the president.”
But unless a few Republican Senators find the courage and the conscience to vote against Trump and remove him from office, Trump will in fact be the first American president to be above the law.
If he is reelected in 2020 by a minority electorate willing to grant him the power of a dictator-king, the face of American democracy will be changed forever at the very least, and could be destroyed forever.
The last laugh will go to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. One day we may find out the truth about Trump’s true relationship with Russia.
