Removing Trump
The new oval office?
We hear over and over again that, if the Democratic House impeaches Trump, he cannot be removed from office, because it would be impossible to get 20 Republican Senators to stop cowering in fear of the deranged base they spent decades creating, in order to provide the two thirds majority needed to ditch him.
This is almost certainly true, but all is not lost. As usual, this argument comes from people who talk about the Constitution without having really read it very thoroughly.
Here is what the Constitution actually says about the Senate trial that follows impeachment:
Article I, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7:
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present"
Note that the vote required is not two thirds of all senators, but two thirds of those who are present.
So here is my plan: Let the Senate, including all of the many Republicans that want nothing to do with this idiot, vote to finally honor Trump with a gigantic military parade, perhaps celebrating his glorious, total victory over the Kurds, who have always been our enemies.
Something like this would be appropriate, I think.
Make it clear that any Republican that does not come to the parade will be chewed alive by Trump's base. Then, in tacit agreement with Mitch McConnell, a Senate vote to convict will be held during the parade, allowing Trump to be kicked out of office by a unanimous vote of those Senators who are present, all of which will be Democrats; at which point, Trump could be frog marched off of the reviewing stand and thrown in the street, and all the troops in the parade can go home and enjoy the rest of the afternoon with their families.
Cue the deafening screeching and yelling by the Republicans, which may go on for years; but who gives a damn as long as Trump is gone?
Of course, nothing will stop Trump from declaring the next day that he is still running to be re-elected, like it or not. Some may be tempted to point out that the Constitution also says:
"Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor"
At this point it is necessary for me to digress and repeat a few lines from a scene in "My Little Chickadee" in which W. C. Fields tries to lure a rube into playing poker with him.
Rube: "Poker...but isn't that gambling?"
Fields: "Not the way I play it, no."
Trump's answer to the Constitution, and I must confess that he is likely on firm legal ground here, is that as long as he is in the White House, being President is not an "office of honor." Might work, who knows?
Comments
----------
Having him stroke out and die would be one of the worst possible things here. The anointed one will ascend to heaven, the GOP will be off the hook and won't have to deal with him, they will make him into martyr, which 'The Base' will suck up like bacon fat on a biscuit and they'll do pretty nicely in 2020.
Removing him also gives the GOP a pass; he gets to become a martyr and they go into the next election without having to deal with him.
Further, If Trump is removed, Democrats will lose energy and won't turn out as much, thinking that the problem is over. The 'The Base', however, will be stoked to the greatest rage by the mighty right-wing wurlitzer that the great leader was taken from them, and that revenge is their due, and they will vote like mad.
No, the best (political) outcome is to hammer him every day, and then let the GOP vote to keep him in, then they run the 2020 election with the Orange Clown at the top of the ticket. I know there's a chance he wins again, but if he's impeached and removed, there is a MUCH greater chance for the GOP to escape judgement for what they have done over the last 3 years and then proceed to do much better in the 2020 round than they otherwise would. (I suspect that this notion is why so many Democrats were reluctant to impeach prior to Ukraine)
I would support a "secret Ballot" of the senators. This has been presented as an alternative as well with some stating that the vote to impeach would gather upwards to 30 thuglican votes if they are allowed to point at others.
The thiglicans made tail gunner joe a martyr, they made tricky dick a martyr, they made addled ronnie raygun a martyr hell if they thought it would help them they would have made al capone and jeffrey dahmler martyrs since no crime or sin can be allowed to stand in the way of the thuglicans blind pursuit of power and profits.
So make them either stand with the Constition and Law or choose the scam artist and crime.
The only question is just how debased are the US voters are.