For nearly three years, this page has lit up with Trump talk. Given where we live, most of the columns and letters blast our president for a litany of bad deeds, for repeated racist remarks and for actions unbecoming — and perhaps illegal — of the leader of the free world.
Along the way, columnists and letter writers have repeatedly called on the House of Representatives to impeach this Twitter-talking president who since being elected has acted above the law. Impeachment calls also came from most of our representatives in the House and Senate, though Congressman Richard Neal was among the last wave of lawmakers to come out in support.
For months, impeachment remained a thorny issue for Democratic leaders in the House — until late last week, when revelations emerged that led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday to announce the start of impeachment proceedings.
An unidentified whistleblower filed an official complaint connected to a phone call Trump made to Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump repeatedly pressured the leader to look into the business dealings of Democratic political rival Joe Biden’s son in Ukraine. Prior to that conversation, Trump temporarily held $391 million in military aid to Ukraine, despite the package having significant backing from Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Trump’s shocking actions and subsequent efforts by White House staff to hide his conversation is an impeachable offense, and one that’s easy for the American public to understand.
For many, it was about time. Our outspoken representative, James McGovern, tweeted on Tuesday, “The president asked a foreign power to make up political dirt on a potential opponent. He abuses the power of his office, threatens our national security & undermines our constitution which he swore to uphold. As I have said before, he is unfit for office & should be impeached.”
Cue the celebrations among Democratic — and some Republican — circles. While we support impeachment of Trump and are glad proceedings are moving forward, this is not a time for celebration, any more than the last time a president was impeached.
Impeachment is a political process the framers of our Constitution created to spell out how to handle a chief executive who breaks the law. Congress decides, not the courts. So while it may feel good to turn the screws on Trump, it likely won’t work.
In the House, a majority of members — 221, according to The New York Times, which has surveyed every House member — have said they will vote to impeach the president. That would meet the threshold of a simple majority, or 218 votes.
The Senate is another matter. To remove Trump from office, two-thirds or more of the 100 senators would need to vote to convict. There are currently 53 Republicans, 47 Democrats and two Independents. While some members may feel compelled to break ranks and are whispering this week that Trump’s latest actions were the “tipping point,” we’re not holding our breath that close to 20 senators will vote to impeach.
That said, partisan Republicans who support Trump at all costs should look at the evidence as it comes out, read what has already been made public and judge for themselves what truly seems damning at this point.
Meanwhile, while impeachment proceedings play out, Trump and Congress will be distracted by proceedings that will most likely drag on into next year’s campaign for president, and little work will get done on important issues like health care, jobs, climate change and more.
Of course, Trump fired back on Thursday, comparing his accusers to “spies” and saying that “in the old days” spies were dealt with differently. He called the news media “crooked” for once again doing its job and referred to the impeachment proceedings as “another witch hunt,” a reference to the Mueller report’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Many know this president is not a good leader, let alone a good person. Let’s hope impeachment proceedings don’t end up backfiring on efforts to remove him from office the old-fashioned way — at the ballot box.