It's Not Complicated

There’s considerable debate about whether the President has broken the law in connection with the apparent attempt to condition weapons support for  Ukraine on that country’s digging up negative information on Democratic political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. It would seem to take Constitutional scholars to sort it out, but in the end, it’s solely up to the Congress, where the open-hearing part of the impeachment inquiry has begun. 

The Democrats, as I have said before, are dead wrong if they put all their impeachment eggs into the Ukraine basket. Sad to say, perhaps, but many Americans probably don’t care that much about Ukraine. Even those willing to concede that the President’s actions were questionable may feel they were not impeachable. Maybe the open hearings will change such minds, maybe not. But if the Democrats think that’s going to happen quickly, like before Thanksgiving or Christmas, I have my doubts. That change will be necessary, though, to sway the voters, and by extension, Republican legislators who want to keep their jobs.

I don’t think coming up with articles of impeachment is brain surgery. Sure, there is the Ukraine thing, at the top of the list. But what about obstruction of justice, for which all the evidence seems in plain sight, or the violation of the emoluments clause in the Constitution? If it’s all about Ukraine, removal of this President, if that’s what the objective is, won’t happen. The other articles are necessary. You only need enough yes votes in the Senate on one of the articles to get there, but there has to be more than one choice.

The Constitution is, in simple terms, this country’s operating manual. Just as with one of those new tech devices, most of us don’t consult the manual unless we can’t get the device to work. If there’s a problem, we want the Quick Start Guide or the list of FAQs to help us solve it. If that doesn’t work, we contact Tech Support. There’s no high drama, the tools are there, and it’s just what we do so that we can put the manual away and get on with our lives. 

Anyone  trying to get something important into operating condition, especially after a breakdown learns that being in a hurry only adds to frustration. If this impeachment inquiry drags on into the election year, so what? As I have said before, the Democrats have only one shot at getting this process right.

I do want to say before closing that we can be proud of the patriotic career public servants who have been testifying at these hearings. If they represent the “deep state,” it’s that very depth that is helping to keep us secure and engaged in the world.