Trump's Impeachment is History

It was a busy week in American politics. The Democrats were embarrassed when the results of the Iowa caucus were overshadowed by administrative glitches. The State of the Union address was choreographed to promote the successes of the current administration. Mitt Romney is contemplating the fallout of being the only Republican to vote to remove the President from office. The impeachment ended without cheers from either side, but it is thankfully finished.

Now is the time to sit back and ask ourselves if our nation has benefited from the impeachment experience. Has it been an exercise in patriotism or an exercise in partisanship? The national news advertised the Trump impeachment as “historic’ and “only the third time in history...” It is, however, the second time in the last 21 years. President Clinton’s case was eerily similar to Trump’s. Both presidents were charged with obstruction. Both allegedly obstructed congressional investigations into abuse of power. Trump abused his office to solicit political favors, while Clinton abused the power of his office for sexual favors. In both cases the House of Representatives was controlled by the opposing political party. Both were accused by the House then acquitted in the Senate by solid party line votes. In neither case was there any realistic probability of actually removing the President from office.

The closing arguments in both trials were also remarkably similar. Both claimed that even if the charges were true, the offenses were insufficient for impeachment. Why did we go through this? The only logical answer is a hope for political gain. In 1998, Republicans hoped to embarrass President Clinton enough to sway the next election. It didn’t work. The Democrats hope to gain anti-Trump momentum for the upcoming election. That doesn’t seem to be working either. President Trump’s popularity rating actually went up during the proceedings. At any rate, the latest impeachment is history.

Or is it? After tying up our legislators for over a year now, some of our lawmakers are vowing to continue the fight. The House is gearing up to call witnesses as though the trial never happened. The conduct of the Speaker of the House following the State of the Union address was revealing. Speaker Pelosi ripped up the a copy of the President’s speech on national television. I understand she hates everything Trump. He is her political enemy and has a different vision for the country than she does. But her actions go deeper than that. She was disrespectful of the office of the President, and even worse, she showed contempt for the process. Our democratic government is built on the process outlined in our Constitution. Disrespect for the process is disrespect for the country.

The charges brought against President Clinton in 1998 were politically motivated. When he was acquitted, both sides licked their wounds and accepted the outcome. The impeachment of President Trump was also driven by partisan politics. The petulant antics of Speaker Pelosi, however, indicate she has given no thought to accepting the results. When interviewed the following day, she excused her actions by calling his speech a “pack of lies”. Every State of the Union address since George Washington was designed to reflect favorably on the President. It is, in fact, a political speech. That is why the networks televise a rebuttal. Speaker Pelosi may not like it, but it was not a pack of lies.

During opening arguments at the trial, the prosecution urged the Senate to remove President Trump from office because the question should not be left to the voters! I trust the voters, but I don’t trust either party to put the country first. We didn’t learn anything from the Clinton experience, and it doesn’t look like we will learn anything this time either. This whole mess has been an exercise in partisan politics. The next time we have a Republican House and a Democratic President, brace yourself to wade through another impeachment morass.

(Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and a long time resident of Eastern Washington. He has been a free lance columnist for over 18 years.)