a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
b_b  ·  2310 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The case for normalizing impeachment

Indeed, it shouldn't be easy to impeach anyone. We already have a de facto impeachment four years into a president's presidency, and by that standard, many have been removed from office by the people. I suppose the downside is that elections have turned into a pick 'em with regard to who wins; there's basically even odds at this point that the winner of the popular vote and the winner of the electoral college are coincident. The main lever of justice that we have is clearly broken, but I don't think that we should elevate impeachment as a remedy.

All that said, I think there is a hell of a good case for the impeachment of Trump, while applying the same standard that we've applied to every past president. It doesn't need to be easier to hold him to account; it only requires the will to do so.

2018 may bring some interesting developments, because it seems that Democrats have a fair chance at taking both houses given the current trajectory. This tax debacle and Roy Moore and the pending Mueller indictments and Trump's continued decay into lunacy are making that more likely every day. If they succeed, what do they do? Impeach, because they think it's the right thing to do? Or sit on it for two more years, because it will increase their chances of winning the presidency in 2020? My opinion is that if you think he's too dangerous to be president, then he's too dangerous to be president. Any political calculation that makes you wait makes you complicit if shit hits the fan (i.e. nuclear war).

The new book Collusion seems pretty damning (I haven't read it, but heard the long interview the author did on Fresh Air). You can bet that Mueller knows everything in that book (including which parts are true) backward and forward. If there's a kernel of truth to the most outrageous claims, then the Democrats should be campaigning on a platform of impeachment. It doesn't need to be any easier.