Impeachment
Jan. 13th, 2021 12:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ndrosenI hope to see Dishonest Donald impeached again, and I hope, although with less optimism, to see him removed from office.
My hopes are not universally shared; Hugh Hewitt, a moderate Republican who is not a hardcore Trumpist, but who diagnoses “Trump Derangement Syndrome” in those who fail to acknowledge that Trump has done good things as well as bad, had a column the other day, opposing hasty impeachment as revenge rather than justice. To this I reply that lynching DJT without trial would be revenge; prosecuting, convicting, and punishing him in the criminal justice system would be something approaching justice; and removing him from public office in disgrace would be an act of civic hygiene. There are reasons why justice should not only be done, but be seen to be done, and I would like to see a coalition of Democrats and of sane Republicans remove the grifter who incited mayhem from the White House, send a clear message to him and to his followers about why he is being removed, and also send a message to future presidents.
Some behavior, whether or not it violates the letter of the law, sends a clear signal of contempt for the Constitution, for the other branches of government, and for general standards of decency and civility. If Congress, preferably with the assistance of some of its Republican members, does not proclaim that enough is enough, we may expect future instances of Trumpian conduct by presidents who may be less stupid and undisciplined than our current grifter in chief.
My hopes are not universally shared; Hugh Hewitt, a moderate Republican who is not a hardcore Trumpist, but who diagnoses “Trump Derangement Syndrome” in those who fail to acknowledge that Trump has done good things as well as bad, had a column the other day, opposing hasty impeachment as revenge rather than justice. To this I reply that lynching DJT without trial would be revenge; prosecuting, convicting, and punishing him in the criminal justice system would be something approaching justice; and removing him from public office in disgrace would be an act of civic hygiene. There are reasons why justice should not only be done, but be seen to be done, and I would like to see a coalition of Democrats and of sane Republicans remove the grifter who incited mayhem from the White House, send a clear message to him and to his followers about why he is being removed, and also send a message to future presidents.
Some behavior, whether or not it violates the letter of the law, sends a clear signal of contempt for the Constitution, for the other branches of government, and for general standards of decency and civility. If Congress, preferably with the assistance of some of its Republican members, does not proclaim that enough is enough, we may expect future instances of Trumpian conduct by presidents who may be less stupid and undisciplined than our current grifter in chief.
