The impeachment of Donald Trump
Given the number of criminal investigations swirling around Donald Trump, talk of impeachment is inevitable. The committees charged with investigating these crimes aren’t saying that — the media is. As the committees continue to sift through an incredible amount of evidence, freshman Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has become weary of the process according to NBC News, and wants to introduce a resolution this month calling for Trump’s impeachment. I believe this move is a bit premature. Hear me out: I would love to see Trump removed from office sooner rather than later. However, we must all take a deep breath and look at the bigger picture. We must first, allow the process to work, and second, ensure that we get a Democratic president in 2020.
As Mitch McConnell reminds us, impeachment of President Bill Clinton backfired on them. “We impeached President Clinton and his numbers went up, ours went down and we underperformed in the national election,” he shared with The Washington Post late last year. As much as it pains me, I agree with him. Even though President Clinton’s impeachment was based on a moral issue rather than actual crimes (and he never left office), impeachment can still sour the public on a party. We need the Democrats in power.
The best way for Democrats to move forward to a majority is to spend at least some of their time focusing on legislation. We have been hammered by anti-middle class legislation from Trump – tax cuts for the wealthy, ill-advised trade tariffs, and corporate welfare – and we need a break. Republicans are apparently okay with the middle class paying the lion’s share so that the rich can get richer and corporations that make millions in profit don’t have to pay taxes. I for one am sick of it.
Impeachment would be great, but it’s going to be an uphill climb. First, the committees need to prove Trump’s crimes. Michael Cohen has helped, but they are going to need more, if for no other reason than to convince the American public that impeachment is the best route for the wellbeing of the country. Second, they’re going to need a minimum of 20 Republican senators to join them, which is its own uphill battle. Republicans have been reluctant to go against Trump, with one — Mike Rounds of South Dakota — proclaiming on CNN that he “sees nothing wrong” with Trump paying out hush money because it shows “he loves his family” (what a crock). This is the type of nonsense Democrats must quash to realize success. Besides, Trump is crazily tweeting that the Democrats are harassing him, and the biggest part of that tweet is “They won’t get ANYTHING done for our Country!” Prove him wrong.
My advice to Congresswoman Tlaib is: patience. Learn from your more experienced colleagues, who have been fighting this battle for more than two years. As the cliché goes, anything worth having is worth waiting for. Impeachment will be a final battle for everything we stand for, for our very lives as we know them. That alone is worth the wait.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years