Yes, today is the day that Donald J. Trump will be impeached by the US House of Representatives of the United States for abusing his power as president and for obstruction of Congress.  The charge of abuse of power has been proved conclusively despite Trump’s attempts to obstruct the House’s investigation which in itself is prima facia evidence of the second charge.

I originally sided with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not proceed with an impeachment inquiry following the revelation of the Mueller report because it would have put the 31 moderate Democratic representatives who won their house seats in Trump districts in very difficult positions in their 2020 elections. They ran on issues such as healthcare, guaranteeing a living wage, etc., not to impeach the President of the United States.

You can accuse me of having political instead of idealistic motives, but I am a practical person.  I have ideals, but I am not delusional.  We have known all along that there have never been enough Republicans in the Senate willing to convict Trump.  Therefore I saw no reason to unnecessarily put those moderate representatives who provided us with a majority in the House in jeopardy to condemn complicated and difficult to understand  presidential behavior.  It does us  no good to be “right” if we don’t control Congress after the 2020 elections and are thus unable to enact legislation which will benefit the majority of people in this country.

However, when the whistleblower report became public, that changed everything for me.  Trump had committed an offense against the people of the United States sufficiently grievous to demand immediate impeachment.  His actions provided a perfect illustration as to why he continues to be a clear and present danger to our very democracy as well as to our country’s security and welfare. His new offenses could not be ignored.  In addition they provided the added benefit that the situation was not complicated or difficult to understand.  It was comprised of a simple set of facts which everyone could understand if they paid any attention with an open mind.

Listening to the speeches of the House Republicans today, the one defense that I have heard time and time again is, “The Democrats don’t like the Trump and they have been looking for a reason to impeach him since the beginning of his term.  So this is purely partisan.”

Now think about that for a moment.  If you knew that powerful people were continually watching you closely, looking to do you in, wouldn’t do everything you could to not give them a reason to impeach you?  Yet, if the Republicans are right, Trump viewed his powers as those of a monarch rather than those limited by our constitution and proceeded to time and again to abuse those powers.  This trait alone makes him too dangerous to remain in the White House.  Is it any wonder that when he finally took a step too shocking to be ignored that the Democrats began procedures to remove him from office?

Now it appears that the vast majority of the vulnerable House Democrats will vote for impeachment.  Will their votes put them in greater jeopardy  in their districts?  Yes, of course it will; they never wanted to be in this position,  However, they feel that they have no choice but to hold Trump accountable for his crimes against the nation and the Constitution.  Hopefully their voters will understand and continue to support them.  At the same time I think that those House Democrats  who do not have the courage to do the right thing will face a Democratic backlash in their next elections.  I don’t  like their chances because they will be held accountable.

Right now we have no clarity as to how today’s vote will affect the 2020 presidential and congressional elections.  The many recent polls are a mixed bag on that question.  However, one thing is clear – Donald Trump’s legacy will forever be stamped with the red letters, “IMPEACHED”.

Cajun       12/18/2019