"Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment." -Michigan Rep. Justin Amash
Recently, Michigan Representative (and diehard libertarian gadfly) Justin Amash became the first Republican member of congress to express an opinion that has become increasingly popular on the left; that the obstruction of justice that President Trump committed, according to the Mueller report, rose to the level of an impeachable offense. Add to that the fact that around 800 former federal prosecutors recently signed a petition stating that Trump would have been prosecuted for obstruction if he were not president, and the drumbeat for some kind of impeachment proceedings is getting louder.
And it's not just his obvious obstruction of justice that could be impeachable, don't forget that the president may be in violation of the emoluments clause of the constitution, and appears to have made illegal payments to silence porn starlet Stormy Daniels and playboy centerfold Karen McDougal. Plus there's the numerous shady dealings and tax dodges that he and his family have made over the years before he tantrumed his way into the White House. And he's certainly not doing himself any favors by ignoring every subpoena from the House of Representatives, blocking every attempt to release his tax returns or business dealings, and persuading former and current members of his administration from testifying before congress, all of which certainly appears suspicious.
But are impeachment proceedings a good idea? Democrats are divided on the issue, understandably. On the one hand: for the president to be removed from office, two thirds of the Senate will have vote for it, now matter what the House does. And there's really no way that the spineless, excuse making Republicans in that body will ever turn on Trump no matter what he says or does. Even worse, after such a vote is defeated in the Senate, Trump will inevitably strut around braying to the press that he was vindicated. Plus polls show that most Americans don't support impeachment, and it could wind up helping him in his reelection bid in 2020. And his popularity within his own party is unshakeable; (as TV pundit Mark Shields so aptly put it, "There is no Republican party anymore, there's just the cult of Trump.") and an impeachment attempt by the House could just fire up his base even more. Those are all solid reasons.
On the other hand, just how much corruption should we allow the president to get away with without some kind of check being put on him? It's obvious that by claiming executive privilege and ignoring subpoenas, Trump is flat out saying that there are no limits on the president's powers, denying the checks and balances of different government branches that the constitution spells out. And impeachment investigations would give the House more power of investigation, which would make it harder for the president to hide all of the various corrupt things he has done before and after he became president. Impeachment hearings may reveal things so terrible in Trump's past that even Republicans won't be able to support him anymore (although, given how they still supported him after that Access Hollywood tape, I sure wouldn't count on that!).
So this is the impasse that American politics are now stuck in, with an obviously corrupt and unfit president remaining in power because of his ability to channel the frustrations of his constituency, with whom he remains popular. Personally, I lean towards the inclinations of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who isn't for impeachment but is heavily pushing for as many investigations into the president as possible. According to the New York Times, there are currently a whopping twenty nine of them on both the federal and state level, which means that there's an enormous amount of corrupt and or criminal behavior that may be revealed. Pelosi's position makes sense, in that the more investigations that are done, the madder and more childish the president gets. Hopefully, with each toy throwing tantrum and pouting tweet shown on the news, more and more undecided voters will wake up to the fact that our country is being run by a pathetic spoiled man child who, if he hadn't been lucky enough to be born into a family of enormous wealth and privilege, wouldn't be qualified to run an Arby's.
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