Last week the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass 2 articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The vote went mostly along party lines: 230-197 for the 1st article which was “abuse of power” and 229-198 for the 2nd article which was “obstruction of Congress”. This makes him the 3rd president in U.S. history to be impeached, after President Andrew Johnson in 1868 and President Bill Clinton in 1998.
The 1st article was for “abuse of power” and refers to the accusation that President Trump abused his power by requesting that Ukraine’s government investigate former Vice-President Joe Biden and potential Ukraine influence in the 2016 election allegedly in exchange for releasing $391 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine. This was based on a phone call between President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine, the transcript of which was released to the public. Evidence brought forward was based on hearsay and not at the level needed to prove an impeachable type of crime had been committed.
The 2nd article was for “obstruction of Congress” and refers to the accusation that President Trump refused to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry. Yes, he did not cooperate with the House, but that was because they ignored the due process rights an accused person normally has in a trial proceeding.
No matter what you think of President Trump, the vote to impeach him is truly a travesty of justice. No one is saying President Trump handled everything perfectly but he certainly has not committed anything worthy of impeachment. Nothing impeachable is there and they know it! They have abused the whole impeachment process and minimized its importance by using it for political policy differences, not the high crimes it was intended for by our Founding Fathers in our Constitution. At this low bar set for impeachment, a president can be impeached every month, and further, certainly with all the illegal and unconstitutional activity committed by our previous administration perhaps impeachment should have been used. This sets a terrible precedent that has the potential to ruin our government’s ability to function effectively in the future.
The hatred for President Trump demonstrated by the Left is beyond rational. It goes beyond policy disagreements. It reveals the intolerance and unwillingness to accept that others have a different vision for America than they do and that when a President is elected that champions our conservative vision that it’s time for them to accept that and work with it the best they can. This is what we conservatives had to do with the results of the 2008 and 2012 elections. This is what they should have done in 2016 and should be doing now. But they are not; their hatred is deep, all-consuming, and unrelenting. As President Trump says: It’s not just me they hate, it’s you – the American people who elected me. He is right and we should not let them destroy our country and its foundations. Too many sacrificed their lives to give us what we have in America and we cannot and must not let her go.
The Left is always complaining about President Trump’s character. No one believes President Trump has a perfect character but what we do appreciate is that he has championed conservative policies and that he has done what he said he was going to do (or working at it as best he can) when he campaigned: putting conservative judges on the bench, boosting the economy with tax cuts, regulation cuts, etc., strengthening the military, regaining respect in foreign policy, getting better trade deals, implementing pro-life policies, protecting religious freedom, and securing our border, etc. For that I am grateful and will continue to support him.
