From: David Swanson via WarIsACrime.org [mailto:david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 1:31 PM
To: miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Impeach Trump for Right Reasons
Impeach Trump for Right Reasons
By David Swanson
http://davidswanson.org/impeach-trump-for-right-reasons/
The Constitution suddenly seems to have bestirred itself and declared itself,
through its many Washington spokespeople, to be in crisis.
I’m sorry, interjects the world, but what the hell took you so long?
We laid out the clear Constitutional violations of Trump’s financial and
business interests on the day he became president (in the real sense, not the
media event months later when “He finally became president” by bombing enough
people) at ImpeachDonaldTrumpNow.org
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Since the later hours of Day 1 back in January through the present instant, the
clear and documented (when not openly bragged about) Constitutional offenses
have been piling up.
As of a 2015 disclosure to the Federal Elections Commission, Trump owns stock
in the maker of the missiles he sent into Syria, Raytheon, as well as numerous
other weapons makers, Canadian tar sands, etc. Trump has continued, escalated,
and threatened numerous illegal and immoral wars. That he may be personally
profiting from them just adds to the supreme international crime, which of
course already violates the U.N. Charter and the Kellogg-Briand Pact, supreme
laws of the U.S. under the Constitution.
Trump has unconstitutionally discriminated against refugees, been stopped by
the judiciary, and immediately done it again.
Trump has pushed policies that will aggravate climate change, a crime against
humanity that can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court even
against a non-member. On December 6, 2009, Trump signed a public letter to
President Barack Obama urging action to protect the earth from climate change.
“If we fail to act now,” the letter read, “it is scientifically irrefutable
that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and
our planet.” Trump is knowingly endangering all human (and many non-human)
residents of the United States, right along with the other 96% of humanity.
Trump openly sought to intimidate voters prior to his election, and fought the
counting of ballots where they existed, was elected with a minority of votes,
was elected with numerous votes uncounted and numerous voters blocked from
voting by the partisan stripping of the rolls and by ID laws, following a
nomination principally decided by dramatically biased media coverage. If none
of that put the Constitution into crisis, why keep the rotting document around
at all?
Pre-presidency but still available grounds for impeachment, Trump violated,
according to the list in Alan Lichtman’s book on Trump impeachment, the Fair
Housing Act, New York charity law, tax laws, the Cuban embargo, casino
regulations, the RICO statute, laws against employing undocumented immigrants,
and of course laws against sexual assault. You don’t have to have never been in
Congress to spot a pattern of criminality here.
Of course there is one charge against Trump that has not been proven, risks
confrontation with a nuclear armed government, and needlessly adds a xenophobic
excuse to the dozens of solid reasons that last year’s U.S. election was
illegitimate. So of course this is the one everybody wants to focus on: blaming
Russia for exposing the Democratic Party’s slanting of its own primary against
its strongest candidate. Let’s remember that the people who have most
vigorously pursued this approach are the same people who nominated possibly the
only candidate who could have lost to Donald Trump.
Now we come to a charge of possible, conceivable, or an appearance of possible
or conceivable obstruction of justice — and perhaps something or other at the
base of the story around which justice was being sought. If we can remove Trump
this way, by all means, proceed. And proceed with impeachment, not with a 2020
election campaign by some otherwise repulsive candidate who plans to win by
virtue of not being Trump and somehow surviving four years of Trumpism.
But here are my concerns:
The coverup is not worse than the crime. Serious crimes are available as
impeachment charges, and overlooking them effectively permits them going
forward, along with any other crimes, as long as there’s no coverup.
We have yet to see any actual evidence of any actual Russian influence on the
U.S. election. Toying with hostility toward a nuclear government is more
reckless than anything (else) Trump has done. Can you impeach and try Trump for
obstructing an investigation into what all the corporate media refer to as if
it were established fact, without actually focusing on whether there is any
evidence, and without demonizing Russia?
If some lesser crimes are proven that involve Russia in some way, can you try
them without advancing the notion that the fundamental crime is friendship with
Russians?
Can you keep in perspective the hypocrisy that all of this telegraphs to the
earth? Barack Obama recorded a campaign ad for a French candidate in last
week’s election, while Samantha Power was busy accusing Vladimir Putin of
trying to influence the French election. The U.S. has openly sought to
influence dozens of elections, including Yeltsin’s (the Trump of Russia?), not
to mention overthrowing dozens of governments — still being pursued in Syria.
How does this look? Wouldn’t it look better to at least add in a few articles
of impeachment for the highest of crimes even if Russia isn’t involved in them?
And, yes, I mean even crimes committed by Obama and Bush and others before
them. I’m not expecting consistency. While I supported impeachment for Bush and
Obama as well as Trump, one cannot expect all Democrats to have gone that far
in supporting the rule of law when Obama was drone master — although they may
now ask Republicans to reach that higher standard of integrity. I understand
that partisanship is strong poison. I just ask for at least the appearance of
seriousness — even if only because going into a trial in the U.S. Senate with
charges that are already proven makes a conviction far more likely.
The bigger concern, of tamping down the warmongering, of lowering the risk of
nuclear conflict should be made to appeal to as many as can hear it.
Impeachment certainly should be pursued, and certainly cannot wait. But it will
only establish the proper threat of impeachment for the next person to hold the
office if it is done for the right reasons in the right way. The right way
includes being led by the public. We, not Congress, must decide when there is a
crisis.
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