In the history of this republic, only two presidents have been impeached - Andrew Jackson (1868) and Bill Clinton (1998). Neither were found guilty by the Senate or removed from office. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before he could be impeached and likely removed from office to avoid the indignity and embarrassment of the process.
As a result, in the nearly 250 years of this republic, most Americans never lived through an impeachment. If we count Nixon's near-impeachment and Trump's likely impeachment, I'll have lived through three.
I was calling for impeachment of the current so-called "president" since the day he took office, based on violations of the emoluments clause. Congress failed to act even as one atrocity followed another, but now, in the third year of his so-called "presidency," I have mixed feelings.
Is it better at this late date for the Congress, the representatives of the People, to show their disapproval of the lawless and treacherous behavior of the "president" by impeachment, or should the American people directly speak at the ballot box in November of 2020?
Given that not moving on impeachment would signal that there were no checks or balances on his behavior and virtually give the "president" licence to do whatever he wants for as long as he wants, and given that some of the issues surrounding the latest scandal involve the fairness if not the viability of the upcoming election, the balance is ever-so-slightly in favor of immediate impeachment, in my opinion.
I'm still an undecided Democrat - I don't yet have a preferred candidate from the field of contenders, but feel that any of them would do a better job than the incumbent. Yes, even Marianne Williamson or Bill de Blasio (who technically is no longer even running). Right now, I'm leaning toward Elizabeth Warren, but earlier I had favored Kamala Harris and then Pete Buttigieg. My mind's still not made up.
My concern, though, is that this current scandal, involving the "president" withholding military aid to get the Ukraine to dig up dirt against potential opponent Joe Biden, is going to frame the political debate for the next several months, possibly even years, as Trump-vs-Biden, and in effect make Joe Biden the de facto Democratic candidate.
I like Joe Biden - how could you not? - but frankly not as the next American president. It's time for new blood and new ideas. To be honest, none of the front-runners on the Democratic ticket would ever be mistaken for "young," but Biden seems quite visibly older than any of them. He has a place in the future of American politics, elder statesman, possible Cabinet position, but not President, again, in my opinion (which may change again - it's already changed twice).
The American political system cannot continue to let the incumbent run amok and ever closer to an imperial monarchy. We are a nation of laws, and no one, not even the president, is above the law. The check has to be balanced, and Congress is right to start the impeachment process. They should have started a long time ago.
The collateral damage, in addition to all the boost for Joe Biden, will be instability in the stock market. The market doesn't like uncertainty, political or otherwise, and stocks will likely drop in value and at the very least not see much growth. This effects me directly, as my retirement funds are directly related to interest on my IRA, but in the long run (should I live so long) everything tends to even out in the end and I (we) will eventually get through it.
And if economic anxiety is the price I have to pay to get this man out of the White House, then where do I sign?
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