Donald Trump whines as his presidency burns

| 12:01 pm EST December 3, 2019
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The House impeachment inquiry into “President” Donald Trump has entered the second month, and the House Intelligence Committee has passed the baton to the House Judiciary Committee, which is the body that will actually write the Articles of Impeachment. Trying to be fair and give Trump every opportunity to be forthcoming, Chairman Jerry Nadler invited Trump and/or his attorneys to participate. As expected, they declined. Now, Trump is railing against the House for continuing impeachment proceedings during the NATO summit in London. That’s just the way these things work. I’m sure President Clinton was in the midst of important work when he was impeached for lying about sex with an intern. What Trump has done compromises our national security, a tad bit more important.

CNN reported on the feelings and beliefs of Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who has now been involved in three impeachment probes. Lofgren compared Donald Trump’s crimes to those of Richard Nixon. While Nixon’s crimes did involve attempts to interfere in elections, Lofgren notes that “at least it didn’t involve other nations.” Lofgren looks to the Constitution when making her analysis. She believes that one of the biggest concerns the founding fathers had was interference from foreign governments in our political system, so while Nixon was trying to interfere in an election, it didn’t involve recruiting foreign governments to help. “So in that way, this conduct is more serious.”

This process began with the whistleblower’s complaint, which exposed Donald Trump’s attempted bribing of Ukrainian President Zelensky to announce an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden. While Republicans whine that Trump ultimately released the military aid, The New York Times reported just last week that the funds were only released after the whistleblower’s complaint surfaced. Had the whistleblower decided to remain silent, Trump would have carried through with his bribery plot, and we would have been bombarded with false claims about Joe and/or Hunter Biden. This could have driven Joe Biden out of the race, which is exactly what Trump hoped to accomplish.

The claims of Republicans do not change the fact that Trump tried to bribe Ukraine. His bribery is clear: He had something they needed, and in order for them to get it, they had to go along with what he wanted. That is bribery or even extortion, both of which are criminal. Trump made it worse by involving a foreign government, a crime against our nation. Trump didn’t change his mind; he got caught. What he tried to do is what matters, and it is blatant disregard for our Constitution, our country, and our citizens. As usual, Trump shows what he’s all about: me, me, me.

It’s time for us to show what we’re about. We need to show Trump that we’re not going to be pushed around by anyone who wants to turn our country into a fascist state. If that’s what they want, they can all catch the first flight to Russia. Even though the Republicans will never convict Trump, Articles of Impeachment will send a strong message: We’re not going to sit idly by and allow Trump and the spineless Republicans to take away our freedoms.