Be careful what you wish for
Progressive Americans may prefer to have a stumbling Trump than his successor
There is a growing movement in the United States to impeach the psychopath-in-chief, President Donald Trump. But they should be careful what they wish for. The alternative may be worse.
The website, action.needtoimpeach.com, is financed by billionaire Tom Steyer. In a compelling video he urges people to join the growing movement demanding Trump’s impeachment by signing Steyer’s petition. In just a few weeks it’s attracted more than a million names.
Another site, impeachdonaldnow.org, maintains since the time he assumed office Trump has been in violation of the constitution. “Join the campaign to impeach Donald Trump now,” it says.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation asks Americans to sign an open letter that argues Trump is a threat to world peace and should be impeached.
Impeaching a president is not easy. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton are the only two presidents who have been impeached by the House of Representatives. Both were later acquitted by the Senate. To date, no president has been removed from office by impeachment and conviction. Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached.
Currently, the House is dominated by Republicans, many of whom still support Trump despite his outlandish behaviour and 36 per cent approval rating. Also, there has to be formal charges of misconduct, such “treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanours,” for impeachment.
Those who don’t like Trump’s view on immigration, trade, Obamacare and tax reform should reconsider the impeachment option. Trump has been in office for less than a year and other than the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, he has yet to implement any of his signature promises.
And waiting in the wings is someone — Vice-President Mike Pence — who could deliver an even farther-right Republican agenda with relative ease.
Maybe the best solution is to leave Trump floundering through his term and hope the Democrats get their act together for 2020.
Here’s Trump’s record so far:
• Building a “wall” and cutting illegal immigration.: Trump has yet to obtain the funding from Congress to construct an “impassable physical barrier” along the border with Mexico. There’s already about 1,000 kilomtres of fencing along the border. It’s unlikely the cost will be recouped from Mexico. And Trump has yet to change US immigration laws despite repeated attempts.
• Jobs and the economy:
Trump promised to be “the greatest jobs president . . . ever”. The American economy has continued on the same upward trajectory it had under president Barack Obama. The stock market has hit record highs, but it has done that for 30 of the last
54 months. To be fair, his probusiness policies have helped to drive the U.S. unemployment rate down to the lowest level in 17 years. Sustainable? We’ll see.
• Health care: The centrepiece
of Trump’s campaign was the promise to “immediately repeal and replace” Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act. Despite years of Republican advocacy for this position, it turns out the party is divided on the issue. The president has failed to reconcile his party’s differences.
• Foreign affairs: North Korea
has been a ticking time bomb for years. Its strategy of developing atomic warheads and the ICBMs capable of delivering them to the U.S. mainland is accelerating in spite of ever-stiffer sanctions. Trump’s combative threats and taunts have helped to bring the world to the brink of nuclear war.
• Tax reform: Instead of increasing taxes on the rich and lowering them for the rest of Americans, Trump has chosen to favour the wealthy with a tax cut. His proposal will do little to reduce the serious
income and wealth disparity that plagues the U.S.
• Trade: It’s easy for Trump
to opt out of an emerging trade deal like the Trans Pacific Partnership. It’s much harder to modernize a trade agreement like NAFTA, particularity when the president feels he must always be seen as the winner.
If Trump were impeached, he’d be replaced by Pence. If you don’t like Trump’s agenda, you’ll hate Pence as president. He is a “full-spectrum conservative” — a religious right ideologue who’s anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-stem cell research, anti-comprehensive sex education and a climate change denier. He calls his omnipresent wife “mother” and won’t be left alone in a room with another woman. Temptation, get thee behind me.
But Pence has far more discipline and self-control than Trump. He’s an insider when it comes to the party’s fundraising machine. His political experience as a former governor and congressman would mean the early implementation of a deeply socially conservative agenda.
Clarity of communication and a pleasing public persona would help him navigate the transition of power. And unlike Trump, as the consummate conservative, Pence could count on solid support from the GOP members of Congress.
In other words, if you are a politically progressive American, you may be better off with a stumbling Trump than a Christian-first, government savvy, right-wing partisan.
What’s that you ask: “What about access to the nuclear codes?” So far, Trump’s bark has been worse than his bite on many issues.
Pence, on the other hand, has a track record of doing what he says he’ll do. Earlier this year, standing in the DMZ, he told North Korea, “The sword stands ready . . . the era of strategic patience is over.” I believe him.