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A Whiff of Impeachment
Monty Pelerin / Economic Noise
Do I think impeachment is in the air? Yes. Do I think it will happen? Probably not, but the odds are moving in the wrong direction for the Obama Administration. And recently this trend has accelerated to the point where a reasonably likely play out of events might make it unavoidable.
Why Impeachment Is So Difficult
Impeachment is defined in Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution:
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.
Treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors must be present.
- Bribery, other than what we call campaign contributions, is no longer an issue at the presidential level. Anyone who holds the office is literally able to define his own wealth via deals to be made after the term is up. Outrageous speaking fees provide much of the revenue and would be called bribery if accepted while in office. They become acceptable out of office. In reality, many of the speaking fees and other emoluments are little more than deferred payments for privileges formerly granted. They are the settlement of understood IOUs.
- Treason is a difficult charge to even understand these days. Ed Snowden qualifies according to some. Others think not. Without defined enemies (we fight nations and against many groups but not under any declaration of war) can you actually aid an abet an enemy. Treason is more broadly defined than that, although probably not for a president.
- High crimes and misdemeanors have never been formally defined. Like pornography, they are hard to define but supposedly easy to know when seen.
It is difficult to determine a condition for impeachment of any president. High crimes and misdemeanors seems to be the category to be used. Republicans likely see violations in this area and Democrats do not. Is lying to the American public in virtually every public appearance a high crime or misdemeanor? Bill Clinton lied under sworn testimony and skated. Why would lying not under oath, regardless of how frequently, qualify? Or, why would lying under oath not qualify?
Considerations like these show why it is so hard to bring impeachment proceedings against a sitting president. Legal proceedings usually turn on black letter law, but not impeachment.
The Rule of Men
The United States was founded on the principle of the rule of law as opposed to the rule of men. Arguably the impeachment clause in the Constitution was based more on the rule of men, possibly because of the difficulty in providing specifics regarding the conduct that might warrant impeachment. The Founders were pretty precise in most other areas. This room for interpretation was probably deliberate.
Impeachment is and always has been a political exercise. Politicians determine whether to begin an action and politicians ultimately rule on the case. Impeachment proceedings are not brought against a popular president, although the Republicans did not seem to understand this fact when they took on Bill Clinton. Andrew Johnson came within one vote of being removed from office while Richard Nixon was removed. Both were unpopular.
Impeaching Barack Obama, regardless of his actions or policies, was virtually unthinkable during his first term. When he entered office his approval ratings were so high that had he been caught on tape murdering some one it is doubtful Congress would have had the courage to begin an impeachment process. (Of course one might hope that he would have been prosecuted under criminal law, but even that might not have occurred.)
That popularity is no more.
read more at Economic Noise:
reason is very simple. aiding and or abetting the enemy is treason. There is more than one instance in our recent past. WHAT ARE THE SPINLESS WAITING FOR. if YOU DO THERE WILL PEOPLE IN THE STREET. if YOU DON’T THERE WILL BE PEOPLE IN THE STREET. GET iT?