THE TIPPING POINT

“The F.B.I. director is wrong.”

Donald Trump in his years as president has avoided interviews outside of the Fox News bubble, because anything other than fawning, adoring questions often make him angry or blurt out terrible things.  For example, shortly after winning the White House, he gave an interview with Lester Holt in which he freely admitted that he fired FBI head James Comey because of "this whole Russia thing", contradicting his own advisors that had given other reasons, and bringing on more scrutiny of his behavior regarding Russia aiding his campaign.
Now Trump has given another interview that's seen him put his foot in it again: last Wednesday, while talking with George Stephanopoulos on ABC, he cheerfully admitted that if a foreign country were to offer him information on a political rival, he would take it, and that he would tell the FBI only “if I thought there was something wrong.”  The American public has heard Trump say so many offensive, stupid, and dishonest things in the past few years (the sound from windmills causes cancer?),  that the full measure of what he just admitted to there may not sink in.  But it should.  There are laws in place that make it illegal for American candidates to accept foreign aid in a campaign.  Therefore, this is the President of the United States openly admitting that he would break those laws to gain an advantage in his reelection.  When Stephanopoulos pointed out that Trump's own FBI leader disagreed with him, he snapped back “The F.B.I. director is wrong.”  This gets even worse when one considers that the whole world is watching this interview, and foreign countries hoping to influence the election are seeing a president essentially asking them to help him with no consequence.  He's not just saying that he would take illegal information, he's encouraging it!
Of course, why should Trump care that he breaks the law, as long as he wins?  This is a man who has lived his whole life in a cushion of wealth and privilege that has prevented him from ever having to pay for any of his bad behavior.  He's grown from a spoiled brat six year old that once punched his music teacher because she didn't know enough about music, to a man who can shrug off multiple bankruptcies as good business and multiple sexaul assualt charges as lies.  After all, Russian hacking during the 2016 campaign, which he once openly asked for in a speech, may have helped push him over the victory line, and he has never had to pay for getting that help as president.  (The Mueller report said that he was aware of that Russian aid, but did not openly conspire with Russia).Why not ask for help in his reelection, since it worked last time.
Can't we, for once, hold this man in check?  Can't we just once say to him, after all the lies, boasts, bigoted and misogynistic statements, that he should be held responsible? I think, in light of this interview, it really is time for the House of Representatives to start impeachment proceedings.  This is about more than Trump, this is about congress saying that the office of the presidency is not above the law, and that we as a nation cannot and should not tolerate a president who blithely states that laws do not apply to him.  It doesn't matter that the Senate will not vote to remove him even if the House does vote to impeach, it is still imperative to the future of this country that congress at least register its disapproval.  If we can't hold the most powerful person in the country to any legal standard, then what is the point of having laws?   How can people tell their children to follow the rules and support a leader who sees himself as above any rules at all?   It's time to stand up to this man for once, or the damage he could do to this country is irreparable.