In case there is any confusion, I’m not David Brooks. I’m not connected with whatever relative or friend of a friend got him that cushy job at the NY Times where one can sit in solemn judgement and tell everyone else how they don’t understand things that one (the wisest of all wise white men) understands because of his life experiences and his…understandingness.
I’m just a guy who happens to be a scientist and engineer with an Ivy League doctorate who helped found a grassroots Indivisible chapter and has had a couple letters to the editor in the LA Times to my name. Despite (or is it because of?) that, I’m going to inflict my version of Brook’s column on anyone here, because I know you simply cannot help yourselves.
Yes, Trump is Guilty and Impeachment Is Hard, but It’s Our Republic (If We Can Keep It)
Donald Trump committed an impeachable offense on that call with the Ukrainian President. It wasn’t his first, and if he isn’t stopped soon, it is far from his last. And that is just one of the many reasons Democrats are right in starting a formal process of impeachment.
Remember, impeachment is a political process, not a legal one. It is there because the Founders recognized the inherent danger of the unitary executive as manifested by Trump. Congress is provided impeachment as a tool to balance the potential power of President, especially one who refuses to recognize limits to his authority. Given where we find ourselves right now, an impeachment process will be very good for America:
It is the right thing to do. While this is traditionally a slippery slope for politicians, in this case there is a clear and straightforward case to made for impeachment. Reaching the point where a Senate vote is required is critical. Senators will have to declare themselves - and answer for their votes to their constituents. As the Nixon experience shows, public opinion is susceptible to facts. As the ugly facts of this President (and his cronies) are exposed in hearings, support for his removal will grow.
Politicians are reluctant to take risks. When someone as pragmatic and restrained as Nancy Pelosi takes an action, she has generally left less to chance than one might think. The results of impeachment and removal may be ugly - but they are far more desirable than what will follow if the bully in the White House believes the Democrats will shrink from opposing him.
This is the job of Congress. Yes, we are in the middle of another election campaign (which never really ended, since Trump has been holding campaign rallies continuously since 2015). It is inconvenient to have to deal with the esoterics of impeachment when there are so many other problems that we are doing nothing about (like declining health of Americans, declining rates of insurance, climate change, mass shootings, and a President blaming the homeless for pollution) that men like David Brooks are sure could be fixed if everyone would just listen to him.
We must remember that our Founders gave Congress the vital responsibility to oversee the Executive Branch and to act as a check and a balance. Also, that the American people gave the Democratic Party a majority in the House in 2018, in no small part because the GOP had declined to exercise that function. Americans like it when their elected representatives do the jobs they were elected to do. There is nothing like a Congress that rolls up its sleeves and does its damn job to defuse charges of elitism.
The time is right. Pelosi has refused time and gain to proceed with impeachment, which has led to reactions ranging from annoyance to outrage by pro-democracy Americans. Her decision to move forward has been due to the rapid unfolding of public reaction to this story. And even though it’s only two weeks old, polls are already showing increased support for impeachment across all Americans. Support is higher right now than it was at the beginning of the Watergate hearings.
Of course, voters quizzing the candidates are asking about jobs and health care and climate change. They are interviewing candidates for their suitability, based on the quintessentially American optimism that the President will work to make these issues better. But there is another conversation that goes on as well, one about the danger posed to our system of government by a corrupt Administration. Without democracy, they know, we may be unable to address these issues at all.
In my personal and social media conversations, I have had contact with hundreds of people from across the country. Most of them have liked/shared/retweeted my messages expressing concern about the state of our republic and express (both with and without profanity) a wish to see the current occupant of the White House removed as expeditiously as possible.
Trump is ill-prepared for this fight. Trump has inflicted this scandal on himself. He seems incapable of learning from past mistakes, and treats rules and norms as impediments to be flowed over, under, or around as long as no serious obstacle (or consequences) appear. The Democrats in Congress have spent the last three years watching and learning. Trump thinks the game is about “owning the libs” and appealing to his base. Pelosi, Schiff, and other key Dems know they have a simple, clear, devastating story about a President who violates his oath of office, betrays his country, and puts our foreign policy at risk by threatening a small, vulnerable, eastern European democracy just on the off chance they can dig up some dirt on a Democratic rival. This is the kind of fight they can win.
Removal of Trump will restore the faith of pro-democracy Americans in our government. These impeachment hearings would never have begun without the stalwart and persistent efforts of grassroots progressive and pro-democracy organizations, many of which were formed in the wake of the 2016 election and which represent the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of new activists. This broad set of groups, representing multiple demographic groups and political viewpoints that range from democratic socialist to Never Trump Republicans will become cynical if such obvious betrayals as the Ukrainian incident are not confronted - regardless of the outcome. Conversely, Pelosi’s recent announcement is hitting them like a double latte with extra coastal froth (or several cups of Sanka, depending where you’re from).
This will energize the Democratic primary process. There is nothing like standing up for democracy against an enemy to get Americans to engage. Yes, the impeachment hearings will take some national media attention away from the latest failure of a candidate to give proper homage to an Iowa corn dog or the local variant of barbecue. But voters will still find time to make up their minds about who to vote for in national, state, and local elections. Of course, the Republicans will be bellicose, and will rise up in vitriolic attacks against anyone who might be a Dem frontrunner. But they will also be distracted by having to attack Nancy Pelosi or Adam Schiff or Elijah Cummings or whoever Trump and the Mercers tell them is their next target.
Moreover, we have seen a clear pattern in Trump’s depredations against our norms and laws. With each passing week the corrosion has grown more severe, more far-reaching, and Trump himself less restrained. It is not unrealistic to consider the possibility that he will use the Presidency to either directly influence the vote itself, to enable proxies to do so at his behest, or will refuse to recognize a legitimate election that ousts him. He has test-driven each of these strategies in his public statements. His supporters in the GOP are desperate to remain in power and there is no reason to expect much restraint.
Americans loyal to our democracy and not to the nativism of the GOP, must resist any such efforts. They must stand up for our republic. Nothing will inspire them more than their newly-elected Democratic House modeling exactly that kind of deep patriotism. We do need an election (or several) to save our country. Impeaching the President is the first step to ensure that election and our America.
