Our
founding fathers, the framers of our Constitution, conceived of Impeachment for
far smaller violations than Donald J. Trumps has committed. Impeachment and removal of the president for “high
crimes and misdemeanors” was conceived as a preemptive safeguard against a
President who, by words and by deeds, has demonstrated an intent to ignore,
even trample all over the Constitution in violation of the presidential oath of
office.
Trump has boasted, “Then I have Article II,
where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” Trump’s erroneous
proclamation about Article II was not unlike President Richard Nixon’s own
counter-constitutional declaration following his resignation: “When the
president does it,that means it is not illegal.”
The truth is that we
fought the Revolutionary War to overthrow the idea that the king can do no
wrong. The
framers of our Constitution feared presidential disloyalty to its separation of
powers and checks and balances. Accordingly, they prescribed the exact wording
of the presidential oath in Article II, section 1, clause 6: “I do solemnly
swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the president of
the United States, and will to be best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and
defend the Constitution of the United States.”
I am quoting Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein from their
article, “Donald Trump’s Big Abuses of Power Demand a Big Impeachment” which
appeared in the December 12th, 2019 issue of The Nation:
“The
urgency of preemptive impeachments of a president showing contempt for
constitutional norms is far greater today than in 1789 when George Washington
was inaugurated. Since then, the powers of the executive branch have grown greatly,
and the potential damage caused by executive misconduct has spiked as well.
Among other things, the president can now launch nuclear weapons vastly more
powerful than the nuclear bombs that incinerated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Entrenched dictatorships can shred health and safety protections, dispatch
political opponents to dungeons—or worse.
When Washington was president, his cabinet and federal workforce were
tiny. There was no standing army, in contrast to President Trump’s global
multitrillion-dollar military-industrial-counterterrorism complex. Washington’s
federal budget was minuscule, not the staggering $4.7 trillion projected for
2019. And in 1789, there was no ubiquitous administrative state, begotten by
irresponsible delegations of legislative power and oversight which the
president wields to benefit political friends and punish political adversaries.
There was also no national security agency to conduct dragnet surveillance
against the entire population.
If you’re skeptical of the prospect of preemptively impeaching Trump for
claiming limitless presidential power, think of this analogy. Suppose a
neighbor enters your living room. He proclaims he can pillage your house and
murder its occupants with impunity, but that he will desist provisionally to
see what happens. You would evict the neighbor immediately. By the same logic,
it would be folly to risk calamity from a megalomaniac president who has made
his grisly intentions known.”
Yet Trump has not only claimed limitless power he
has acted on his erroneous claims:
He
has expanded unconstitutional presidential wars inherited from his predecessors.
He
has played the roles of prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner by sending US
forces and drones to kill any person on the planet deemed a national security
threat based on secret and unsubstantiated information.
He
has spent money to build a wall along the border of Mexico with funds not
appropriated for that purpose in violation of the Antideficiency Act.
He
has stonewalled congressional oversight and defied congressional subpoenas.
He
has appointed cabinet officials and revoked treaties without the consent of the
Senate.
He
has exploited the office of the presidency to enrich himself and his family.
He
has deliberately failed to execute consumer, environmental, immigration, and
other laws.
In conclusion, no President has ever taken such a destructive
bulldozer to the very foundation of our Constitution and to our Democratic form
of government. With that being said, I would hope that the members of the
Senate will put the good of the country above their partisan politics and hold
a fair Senate trial with witnesses to hold this tyrant accountable for his many
abuses, crimes, and his obstruction of justice – to preserve our constitution,
to protect our democracy and to save the soul of our nation.
