John Chuckman
COMMENT TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“U.S. House committee to start public impeachment hearings next week
“Republicans have so far shown little appetite for removing president”
I used to think they would not carry out the impeachment, but now I'm not so sure.
They have had some fairly powerful new testimony, especially concerning "Quid pro quo."
There also have been a few signals from Republican ranks. Old line Republicans never did like Trump, and some still don't. There are qualities about him that Old Money types undoubtedly view as vulgar and even squalid.
And the people Trump supported in recent state elections like Kentucky, Republican territory, just did badly, and after a big show by him seeking support.
In the United States, impeachment is always more of a political act than anything else. Presidents are never actually caught with their hands in the till taking wads of cash or having killed someone, although I have little doubt such acts have happened, the perpetrators just weren’t caught. Perhaps, even many would not want to catch them owing to its impact on national prestige.
Standards also have slipped badly in the close-to-totally corrupt atmosphere of imperial Washington with not a single President of the modern era leaving the White House without having become quite a wealthy person. The same goes for important Senators and other “public servants.”
But those impeached are caught in behaviors which, depending on your point of view, may be interpreted as overstepping Constitutional bounds. That plus the fact that every potential juror, members of the United States Senate, in the end answers only to his or her constituents, does make the process political in nature.
I do wish them good luck.
This man has proven himself a grotesque parody of a leader - a rude, ignorant, and frightening man, but you unfortunately can't put him on trial for any of that.
