FLOTSAM & JETSAM: An alternative to the Ukraine investigation

Friday, November 22, 2019

An alternative to the Ukraine investigation

Sam Smith - I've increasingly felt that the Trump disaster is being pursued in a manner that pleases lawyers but is not good politics. Ask the average voter whether Trump's Ukrainian activities  are enough to remove him from office and you not only find less than a impeachment majority, but an increasing opposition. The most recent Emerson poll, for example, has impeachment support down from 48% to 43% since October with only 34% of independents backing it. Given the unlikelihood of a Republican Senate  expelling Trump, the difficult question is what to do in a time like this?

My hunch is that if the recent hearings had been aimed at coming up with a declaration of censure rather than impeachment, they would have proved more effective. In other words, rather being a legal game of chess about a specific incident, they would have been a broad educational inquiry into how many ways Trump has undermined the law, the Constitution and decency.

The purpose might have been to determine what new laws or constitutional amendments we need to deal with a  con man like Trump. For example, what penalty when the President holds up a legally approved expense for his own personal gain? This would involve not only Ukraine, but, as reported here recently, budgeted funds for EPA.

There is no easy solution but offering the public as list - rather than just one example - of the ways Trump has misbehaved would probably have proved more useful.  It is certainly worth a try.