PeaceVoice
Impeaching
Trump: A citizens’ guide
Wim Laven
(10/1) The most recent installment
of "Apprentice: The Whitehouse" features a new drama
involving Donald Trump and his (ab)use of Presidential
power. Trump has openly admitted to asking the Ukraine for
help, and we have the transcript to prove the abuse took
place; he wanted Ukraine to prosecute Joe Biden--his
leading opponent, who is vying for the Democratic
nomination in the 2020 election--and his son Hunter.
In the transcript of the call that
precipitated a whistleblower to file a legal complaint, we
learn that Trump dwells on all the things he says the US
does for Ukraine (including military aid as Ukraine
defends against an aggressive Russia that already tore the
Crimea chunk out of the country in 2014, precipitating the
rightful Obama administration sanctions that Putin seeks
to end). At the end of Trump’s windup to the Ukrainian
president, he makes his demand, garbled and confused, but
very firm in the end:
I would like you to do us a favor
though because our country has been through a lot and
Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out
what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they
say Crowdstrike... I guess you have one of your wealthy
people... The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a
lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think
you're surrounding yourself with some of the same people.
I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your
people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As
you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very
poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an
incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started
with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it's very important
that you do it if that's possible.
Creepily, after the whistleblower
complaint was finally made public, Trump and Volodymyr
Zelensky hold a press conference at the UN and the Ukraine
president, visibly squirming in the rotten position Trump
has put him in, tries to extricate himself. Meanwhile,
Trump is sitting next to him, and "interprets" for him to
the assembled media, "In other words, no pressure." Trump
then goes on to make claims of corruption about the Bidens,
though investigative journalists have found no evidence of
these assertions to date.
The catch, according to team Trump
defenders, "there was no quid pro quo." They latch onto
Trump’s role in withholding or delaying $250 million in
Congressionally approved military funding… no extortion,
no quid pro quo, just a favor… they say.
I agree with Adam Schiff’s
assessment that it reads like instructions in a Godfather
movie. A tension-filled scene with a favor being asked but
wrapped in frankly implausible deniability. It dawns on me
that with the chaos and confusion that Trump is using as a
defense and smokescreen for his corruption it is necessary
for citizens to have a guide for what is to come.
Guides are the smart persons’
tools for reaching their final destinations and achieving
desirable outcomes. Robert Mueller, for example, used the
Watergate investigation, which lead to Richard Nixon’s
resignation, as the template for looking into evidence of
Russian interference in the U.S. Presidential election.
On September 24th, 2019 Speaker of
the House, Nancy Pelosi, announced that formal impeachment
proceedings would begin. "The President must be held
accountable. No one is above the law," Pelosi said.
"Actions taken to date by the President have seriously
violated the Constitution." By the end of September 25th,
the magic number—218—the number of votes required to
impeach Trump—has been reached. So, now that the day it
seemed may never come has arrived, what do we—as
citizens—do?
First, we must take steps to
moderate our sense of urgency. It is scary to have a
corrupt head of state, who appears cornered, in a position
of so much power—even nuclear weapons—with a complete
willingness to do whatever it takes to promote his own
self interest. We have been gaslighted by the rhythm of
scandals and rampant dishonesty, you may have even lost
track of how many thousands of lies he has now told (The
Washington Post had him over 12,000 a month ago). But we
have not been Chicken Little or the Boy Who Cried Wolf,
this was abnormal corruption the whole time, but, sadly,
the fix will not be as fast as we’d like, nor is this
likely to be the last scandal.
Second, we must take steps to
avoid hating the other. I turned on Facebook yesterday to
see the misspelled messages encouraging people call Nancy
Pelosi and have her end this "which hunt." Calling out the
other side as "stupid" or "ignorant" is easy, but it
doesn’t change hearts and minds. Compassion and empathy
are at a high premium. Understanding that Trump is a
corrupt conman is one part, the other is that many people
have been deceived and hurt. Farmers going bankrupt
because of his failed strategy with China are not
experiencing karma because they voted for him, they’ve
been duped, and being lied to is not made easier with "I
told you so..." Show sympathy to those who’ve been
deceived, betrayal is painful. Avoiding social media
altogether might be necessary, divisive rhetoric has
already been escalating, and it is ugly. Hate groups
emboldened by Trump have been trying to start the "race
wars" his whole term, but that does not mean everyone who
voted for Trump agrees that white supremacists are "fine
people."
Third, be strategic. Be purposeful
in who you addres, how you address them, and what you ask
for. I am of the opinion that pressure needs to placed on
all of Trump’s gargoyles. His defenders who hold elected
office, like Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, need to
be reminded that they have sworn oaths to defend the
Constitution which supercede whatever loyalty pledges they
have made to Trump. The united message reminding them that
protecting our democracy should be a non-partisan issue is
a great step for addressing the problems and healing
divisions. But, it may be more effective to reach out to
those on the fence. Remember, it was almost exactly a year
ago when survivors of sexual assualt confronted Senator
Jeff Flake to pressure him on his commitment to approve
Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Their
passionate plea may not have changed the final outcome,
but they changed Flake’s mind enough to improve the
process.
Fourth, mobilize or prepare to
mobilize to demand that Trump be removed from office. In a
democracy the power is in the hands of the people. The
Founders put a system of checks and balances in place,
they even included a process for removing corrupt leaders
like Trump, but they did not imagine a partisan political
situation like we have today. Those who put party and
loyalty to Trump above the Constitution and the country it
represents may effectively chose to keep a criminal in
charge; it would be a mistake to assume any of them would
do the right—moral and proper—thing in this time of need.
The people need to be prepared to fill the streets and
shout "Trump, you’re fired!" with or without the Senate
doing their job. Citizens also should not let these
morally bankrupt representatives off the hook, it is not
just a matter of them being condemned for their failings
in history books—failure to do their jobs should also
guarantee their unemployment.
Fifth, practice self-care. We are
in a tale of two Americas; … "the best of times, it was
the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the
age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the
epoch of incredulity" … as A Tale of Two Cities ends with
the feeling of crushing defeat, there is also the
imagination of a peaceful future, one where those who’ve
sacrificed laid the groundwork for those who were
prosperous and happy. Please remember the people and
principles close to your heart, they will always provide
you with purpose and motivation, but please do not forget
yourself. The stress, depression, and worse that are
metastasized by the unrelenting selfish corruption,
unashamed cruelty, intentional malfeasance, and bigoted
xenophobia have degraded our communities, institutions,
and daily lives—please take care of yourself. You are
needed, we are all needed, in reclaiming an America to be
proud of—together, finally, let’s make America great.
Wim Laven teaches political science and conflict resolution at Kennesaw State University, and is on the Governing Council of the
International Peace Research Association.