What Impeachment Needs to be About
I predict the presidential impeachment effort will fail because it is about the wrong things.
I think President Donald J. Trump (R-New York) has committed many acts worthy of impeachment. Strangely, House Democrats are ignoring those acts and focusing their investigation on Trump’s clumsy dealings with the Ukraine.
Moreover, I believe Democrats doom their impeachment case by basing it on secret testimony from shadowy figures in closed rooms. All the current impeachment effort does is help Republicans and Democrats get votes in the heartland.
Plus, Democrats appear to be protecting one of their own; former Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden (D-Delaware), with the investigation. In fact, Biden’s son Hunter Biden is a focus of the Ukraine scandal.
Trump allegedly pressured Ukraine’s government to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden. Hence, Democrats could sabotage themselves and help Trump by publicizing this nonsense.
Trump’s Real High Crimes and Misdemeanors
However, I could support impeachment if it focused on Trump’s real crimes and ignored the Ukraine nonsense.
In particular, I think there are two Trump policies that qualify as “high crimes and misdemeanors” as defined by Article Two; Section Four of the United States Constitution. Those policies are Climate Change denial and Trump’s use of American military forces to steal Syrian oil.
Unfortunately, Democrats are ignoring those blatant criminal behaviors to focus on a shadowy conspiracy that sounds like a plot for a bad spy thriller. My guess is that U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and company are more interested in justifying all the money and effort they wasted on the Russiagate fantasy than nailing Trump.
I suspect the Democrats think they can turn up some evidence linking Trump; or his cohort,s to Russian President Vladimir Putin by investigating Ukraine. Thus, the Democrats are still searching for the imaginary Russiagate smoking gun, when evidence of real crimes is piling up before their eyes.
If we are to tear our country apart with the unnecessary drama of impeachment let’s at least fight over real issues. There is public evidence of real wrongdoing by Trump we can easily access without secret hearings or shadowy informants.
Importantly, that other wrongdoing involves real issues of vital importance to America’s future. Those issues are Trump’s war on Climate Change and the President’s Syrian oil grab.
Why not focus on those on those real issues and forget the murky Ukraine conspiracy? If Americans must fight over impeachment, let us fight about real issues that impact our future.
Impeachment Needs to Be About Climate Change
Trump’s greatest crimes; in my opinion, are his denial of Climate Change and his administration’s efforts to suppress climate science and promote fossil fuels.
How Trump Betrays the American People on Climate Change
Trump publicly denies well-established science that shows burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gases that contribute to Global Warming and Climate Change.
The bulk of scientific evidence supports existence of Climate Change and Global Warming. Yet Trump is following policies that could create more greenhouse gases, even though he admitted he believes Climate Change is real on nationwide TV.
“I’m not denying climate change,” Trump said on the American program 60 Minutes in October 2018. The Associated Press reports Trump claims he thinks the Climate will change back but provided evidence to back his claims.
Hence, Trump is ignoring a real problem that is costing American lives. For instance, 86 people died in the Camp Fire in California in November 2018, The Los Angeles Times reports. Scientists widely blame destructive fires like the camp on droughts Climate Change causes.
Thus, Climate Change kills Americans and Trump does nothing. I think Trump’s Climate Change denial is the equivalent of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D-New York) saying “the Japanese are our friends and there was no Pearl Harbor attack” on 8 December 1941.
Both Trump and Congress Shirk their Duty
Thus the President is ignoring America’s greatest problem and Congress is doing nothing about it. That is a dereliction of duty by both Trump and Congress – in my mind an impeachment-worthy offense.
Interestingly, the Constitutional Law Center’s translation of Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution into modern English reads:
“The President, the Vice President, and other officers of the United States, can be kicked out of office (impeached) if they are found guilty of double-crossing (betraying) the country, offering people money or getting money to do something dishonest, or other really big crimes.”
In contrast, the original text reads:
“The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
Astoundingly, climate-change caused fires were burning in the heart of America’s second largest city; Los Angeles, during the House’s impeachment vote on Halloween 2019. Hence, Congress is neglecting its duty.
Trump’s Climate High Crimes and Misdemeanors
Trump’s climate high and crimes and misdemeanors are many but I those I list below are noteworthy.
First, Trump and officials in his administration are actively suppressing Climate Science and sabotaging efforts to stop Climate Change. For instance, The New York Times alleges: “the Trump Administration Hardens Its Attack on Climate Science.”
Second, the President strips official communiques of references to climate change, The New York Times alleges. That’s the equivalent of President Harry S. Truman (D-Missouri) stripping the word Communism from foreign policy communiques in 1948.
Third, The Washington Post alleges the White House blocked written testimony to Congress that described Climate Change as “possibly catastrophic.” To clarify, The Post claims officials tried to suppress a document from the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research because it referred to scientific findings on Climate Changes.
The Bureau based the findings on data federal scientists; financed with U.S. tax dollars, collected. Trump lies about Climate Change, wastes taxpayers’ money by promoting false science, tries to suppress science America needs, and Congress does nothing.
Fourth, the Trump administration is basing policies on false science and getting away with it. For instance, Big Oil companies think new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restrictions on methane emissions are too lenient, Time claims. Methane is a greenhouse gas, oil and gas wells and pipelines release.
Fifth, Trump is trying to hobble American science and technology and deprive America of new energy sources.
Notably, Trump tried to defund and eliminate the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (APRA-E), Green Tech Media Reports. APRA-E is a federal agency that tries to develop new energy sources to replace fossil fuels.
A policy that conservative Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) strongly supports. APRA-E is Alexander’s “New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy” and Trump wants to shut it down.
Meanwhile, the People’s Republic of China will spend the money, conduct the research, and profit from new energy technologies. I predict, Americans will end up paying the Chinese for those energy sources.
I suspect the real reason Trump wants to destroy APRA-E is to protect fossil-fuel producers’ future profits. For instance, hot fusion or better nuclear power could put the coal and natural gas industries out of business.
I think Trump’s Climate Policy is a “high crime and misdemeanor” against the American people and humanity. Congress needs to hold The Donald and his minions accountable for their Climate Policy.
Importantly, making impeachment about Climate Change will put the most important issue of our age at the center of national policy. Thus, the impeachment battle will be about a real issue.
Best of all, we could publicize Republicans’ Climate Crimes and hold them accountable for their malfeasance. In particular, Republicans will have to explain why they are suppressing science, wasting tax money on phony science, weakening American science and technology, denying facts, and putting oil and coal company profits ahead of America’s future.
Trump’s Syria Oil Plunder could be a War Crime
Disgustingly, Trump blackened the reputations of some of America’s most valiant soldiers by using one of their triumphs to publicize a crime.
To explain Trump is redeploying US forces to occupy Syrian oilfields and offering the oil to American companies CNBC reports. Incredibly, the president announced the policy during a TV address to announce the probable death of ISIS terrorist leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi on 27 October 2019.
“We’re keeping the oil — remember that,” Trump told police chiefs in Chicago on 28 October 2019. “We want to keep the oil. Forty-five million dollars a month? Keep the oil. We’ve secured the oil.”
Trump’s proposal could be construed as “pillage;” a war crime under international law, University of British Columbia law professor James Graham Stewart told National Public Radio (NPR). To explain, pillage is the theft of money and resources by military forces in wartime. Stewart notes the Allies convicted some Nazis of pillaging oil during World War II.
“One defendant at Nuremberg called Walther Funk; who was the chairperson of the Continental Oil Company, was convicted of pillaging oil from throughout occupied Europe,” Stewart told NPR. “Precisely because the German army expropriated it for the purposes of the Nazi apparatus.”
U. S. Presidents have committed crimes for oil before. For instance, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s (R-New York) authorized a 1953 CIA coup to stop Iran from nationalizing its oilfields. However, Ike did not brag about the coup on TV or deploy US troops to seize foreign oil.
Trump’s Syria oil grab is both criminal and crazy, so it is a high crime. Moreover, the President himself provides plenty of public evidence for his illegal and irrational plans.
YouTube can provide all the evidence the House needs to impeach Trump on the Syria oil grab. To elaborate, all the Democrats need to do is play video of Trump’s oil plunder proposals, and have a few law professors explain how the proposal is illegal.
Such hearings could take a few hours and be totally public and completely transparent. Then the House could vote to send the issue to Senate and get impeachment over fast.
Such a quick and dirty impeachment could work because it will catch Republicans off guard. Moreover, the GOP will have no defense against impeachment on oil pillage.
Additionally, by making impeachment about Syria we could get a national discussion about foreign and energy policy going. Plus, as with Climate Change, at least impeachment will be about something.
Is impeachment Rigged to Fail?
Finally, I have to wonder if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and her minions are rigging impeachment to fail.
To elaborate, the Constitution requires a supermajority of U.S. Senators (67 of 100) to vote to remove Trump. Hence, I calculate the impeachers will need to get almost all the Senate Democrats, at least 15 Senate Republicans, and both Senate “independents” to vote for impeachment.
Currently, the U.S. Senate contains 45 Democrats, 53 Republicans, and two “independents.” Moreover, many of those Senators face reelection in states where Trump is popular.
Therefore, the impeachers will need blatant evidence of Trump committing or planning crimes. We have such evidence in the Syrian oil grab; Trump’s public announcements on video, and before a gathering of police officials.
Moreover, many of those Republicans are conservative Christians. In his proposals for plundering Syrian oil the President is publicly planning to violate the Eighth and 10th Commandments.
The Eighth Commandment states “Thou Shall Not Steal.” Meanwhile, the 10th Commandment states: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Hence, I suspect more than a few religious conservatives will have no choice but to vote their faith. Some Republicans will surprise Democrats by voting to remove a president who sins. Notably, Trump just proved he is not a Christian and promotes Un-biblical policies.
Removing Trump on Climate Change charges will be harder because many Senators agree with his actions. However, impeaching Trump on Climate Change will put the Democrats on the right side of history and restore some of America’s credibility in the eyes of the world.
In addition, a Climate Change impeachment will expose the Republicans’ blatant wrong doing on that issue. Why not force Republicans to take responsibility for the corrupt fool they foisted on the American people?
How McConnell and Pelosi could Rig Impeachment to Fail
Unfortunately, Trump impeachment on either of those grounds could hurt Republicans. Therefore, I suspect Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) could have made a secret impeachment deal.
To clarify, Pelosi focuses impeachment on charges that will be easy for Republicans to dismiss and vote against. In exchange, McConnell lets impeachment go forward.
Thus, both Pelosi and McConnell look good to their voters. The Speaker gets to tell Democrats, “I tried to get rid of the evil Trump but those awful Republicans stopped me.”
Meanwhile, McConnell can tell Republicans, “see I successfully defended our wonderful president from the big bad Democrats.”
To clarify, Pelosi could give Republicans an easy out by making a questionable case based on secret testimony from shadowy figures. Hence, Republicans can justify keeping the crook in the White House.
In the final analysis, I think impeachment will fail because Democrats refuse to hold Trump accountable for his real crimes.