Needed: Lady Justice's blindfold

       Lady Justice is blindfolded so that she is completely unbiased.  She must select the weightier scale with total disregard for the contents on each side.  Boy oh boy oh boy could our political system use a blindfold like hers during these tumultuous times.

      When the Mueller Report on Russian interference in the election came out in March of this year, America saw raw partisanship in action.  Republicans said the report exonerated Trump, while Democrats said it clearly showed he was guilty.  See my article.  Were they even reading the same report?  Not exactly blindfolded justice, wouldn't you say?

     And now here comes impeachment procedures against Trump, based on a phone call asking Ukraine to find dirt on a political rival.  And then trying to suppress the evidence.  Once again, you have Democrats lining up solidly to say this in an impeachable offense, while Republicans line up to say no, it's not.  Good grief.  The hyper-partisanship here is appalling and sickening.  Lady Justice is ready to use that sword of hers on BOTH sides.

     Well, in lieu of Lady Justice's impartial judgement, you have me, your faithful blogger.  I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat, and so I can observe this issue from a purely neutral prospective.

     So is "Ukraine-gate" an impeachable offense?  I am not a Constitutional scholar, and the phrase "high crimes and misdemeanors" is kinda ambiguous.  One would have to say that the affair is more of a "low crime".  But, a crime it is:  using the office of the Presidency for political gain, and our nation should not tolerate this kind of behavior.  Republicans don't seem to realize that, one day, a future Democratic President might try the same stunt.  What do you do then?

      Hyper-partisanship is nothing new, of course.  Recall that Obamacare was passed without a single Republican voting for it.  But there is a huge difference between an act of legislation such as Obamacare, versus impeachment.  In the former, you naturally expect some philosophical disagreement (although it still stands that NO major act of legislation should ever go forward with such lopsided support).  But impeachment is not about government's purpose and one's opinion thereof; rather, it is about whether he did or did not abuse his office.  And in the Ukraine affair, the facts of the case are not in dispute.

      One of the things that makes it a tough call is that the Constitution's impeachment clause was meant to apply to just one single action.  There is no procedure to take a collection of minor indiscretions and combine them together into one big strong case.  If we could, then impeaching Trump would be a slam-dunk!  His actions from Day #1 show a consistent pattern of someone totally unfit and undeserving of occupying the most prestigious office in the land.

ROFLMAO

      So the most likely outcome will be that the House of Representatives does indeed impeach him, and the Senate acquits him.  And then we will have an impeached President running for re-election.   (For additional comedy: if the Democrats nominate Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, then Trump will probably win.)  The rest of the world will be rolling on the floor, howling with laughter.  Proud to be an American, yessiree.

      There is one other possible outcome:  the Republicans could come to their senses, realize that they've tied themselves to a sinking ship, and remove him from office.  Unlikely, but possible.  Yes, Trump can STILL run again, and still beat Warren or Sanders.  But there's another sidebar here:  how will Trump react if he is removed from office?  Does anybody believe, for one moment, that he will graciously pack up and depart the White House?  This could get very interesting.  It's not at all far-fetched to think that he would barricade himself inside and refuse to leave.  He'll send out a tweet, like, every five minutes, claiming in ALL CAPS that the voters put him here, and Congress has no authority to disregard voter intent in the middle of a campaign.  And lots of exclamation points!!!!  Remember: you read it here first.

      In the meantime, here's wishing that our duly elected leaders would weigh all facts and arguments impartially and objectively, without regard for the political party of the person who said it.  Yeah, that blindfold would surely come in handy about now.