Hold on … impeachment is just the beginning

Written by SusanR

While I cheered Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that the US House of Representatives was finally going to begin an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, I worry that it comes much, much too late.

I thought the man was unfit for office even before he was elected, but as his transgressions continued to pile up, Pelosi staunchly refused to act. Now, although the Ukraine incident seems very clear, I fear we are perilously close to the 2020 election. This “attack” on Trump is bound to arouse and unify his supporters, who might otherwise have remained relatively complacent going into the election.

I’m also very concerned that most of what I see in the media mentions impeachment as though it is the end of the process and will remove Trump from office. That’s not the case, but I’m afraid many people don’t understand the process.

Impeachment, if the House votes for it (a simple majority of those present and voting), is only the equivalent of an indictment, a bringing of charges against Trump. The matter then goes to the Senate for, essentially, the trial. Only if two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict would Trump then be removed from office. And Senate Republicans are vowing to quash any impeachment effort.

Even if Trump were removed from office, Pence would immediately take his place. And wouldn’t he be more difficult to defeat in the election? Or would he even run? And if not Pence, who?

On the other hand, the thought of Trump remaining in office and going on to win a second term is the stuff of nightmares. And I want nothing more than the end of the Trump nightmare.

 

 

7 thoughts on “Hold on … impeachment is just the beginning”

  1. I agreed with Pelosi holding off on impeachment until now. There just wasn’t enough there for any Republicans in the senate to vote for impeachment. Now, though, with the Ukraine incident – and the fact that the whistle-blower is, most likely, a republican, there just may be a slight possibility of making it through the senate. Even though only a handful, at most, of Republicans have spoken out against trump, I am quite confident that there are plenty of GOP who would love to see him out of office. They’ll remain quiet for now but hopefully they will unite and vote to have him impeached. What he did with the President of Ukraine is a very serious matter and I am so hoping that they will do what’s right for the country, as opposed to being loyal to the trump party, and get his arse out of there. I know it’s a lot of hoping, and it is a very long shot, but at least there is now a chance thanks to the whistle-blower.

    (I hope this made sense — I pulled an all-nighter working on a website so I’m not functioning with a full deck at the moment.)

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    1. Now that you mention it, I’m also concerned that Pelosi is proceeding without knowing who the whistleblower is or having incontrovertible proof of what was said in the conversation with the Ukrainian leader. Or maybe she knows and just hasn’t said. I’m worried that it will be a long, complicated process that will run too close to the election. If it can be done quickly, that’s different.

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  2. I’d love to be wrong, but I fear the Democrats have committed to shoot themselves in their collective feet.  Surely they should realize they are giving their opponents a golden opportunity to expose credible allegations against Biden and his son.
    e.g. from an admittedly bias, but credible, source:
    https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/peter-schweizer-trump-is-right-to-call-for-probe-of-biden-dealings-with-ukraine

    The idiots might as well re-run Hillary.

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    1. Nah, I won’t edit it (although I may not watch it, either). I very rarely allot any of my time to Fox News, preferring more mainstream, centrist news sources. If others want to watch it, fine.

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    2. Oh, you mean edit the link you posted? Admittedly the first part of it doesn’t work. The next part is the front page of FoxNews.com. If you’ll post the name of the particular story, I’ll add the link.

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... and that's my two cents