Not a Time to Celebrate

It has finally happened. The House of Representatives voted to impeach the president of the United States for obstruction of Congress and for abuse of power.

Although I believe this action is warranted, this is not a time for celebration. Indeed, it is a sad day for our country that the president has so trampled on the Constitution that the House felt compelled to impeach him. The framers of our constitution deliberately set up three branches of government -- executive, judicial and legislative -- to prevent any one branch from seizing control of the government. The current president has repeatedly tried to do just that -- seize increasing amounts of power for himself. His continuing attacks on judges who rule against him, and on members of Congress whose words and/or actions displease him, leave no doubt that he would be a dictator if actions are not taken to stop him. He has even publicly questioned whether peaceful protests should be allowed, something the Constitution explicitly allows. But Trump doesn't understand, nor does he care about, the Constitution.

The vote on the first charge -- abuse of power -- was 230 to 197. On the second charge -- obstruction of Congress -- the vote was 229 to 198. Due to some vacant seats, the totals do not add up to the expected 435.

I really like this tweet by conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin: “The gap in character and intellect between the two parties is stunning.” That gap has been on full display during the entire impeachment process. And how dare a Republican member of Congress compare the cheating, lying, bullying Trump to Jesus facing crucifixion! If this isn't a cult, I don't know what is!

While members of the Republican party have steadfastly tried to defend his actions, none of them has been able to factually refute what he has done. Instead, they attack the process of impeachment even though the process is the same one the Republicans used to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998. And let's look at the crimes for which Clinton and Trump were impeached. Clinton was impeached for lying to Congress about his sexual affair with an intern. Trump was impeached for trying to pressure a foreign government (Ukraine) to dig up dirt on one of his political opponents (Joe Biden). He also publicly called for Russia and China to interfere in our elections. One offense is a bit more serious than the other, but the Republicans don't think so.

So while I am glad that the president has finally been held accountable for his actions (something that rarely, if ever, happens), I cannot celebrate. As long as he remains in office, he will continue his tweetstorms, his insults, his lies and his deflections. His handler, Vladimir Putin of Russia, will continue to benefit from Trump's ineptness and his beneficence. And America's democracy will continue to be at risk.