Mr. Campion,
I think what you have done in this column the past year or so is a valuable public service and it really culminates with this one. (GAME SHOW HOST + PRESIDENCY = IMPEACHMENT – Issue: 10/2/19) This was inevitable, wasn’t it? If you think about it the entire Trump campaign into the presidency was a collision course with normal government structure. He was and always will be a wild card. It was one of the attractions to those who supported him. Yet, there was never going to be normalcy for even more traditionalists who believe the president is supposed to stand for all the people and not just his party or base. Many argued he would pivot to be more “presidential”, but that couldn’t happen with Donald Trump. Trump has always been about Trump. That’s it. For those who support him and everything about him they won’t ever waver from that and I don’t think they care. For those who can see through him, it can be infuriating. What you have done is get to the core of how this “beyond normal presidency” effects the span of our history as a nation. You stated the week after his victory in 2016 that you would not spend the four years complaining that “this is not how things are done” because you predicted (turns out right on the money) that almost nothing Trump would do will be considered normal. Mainly because he is not a politician and really had no real interest in actually being president, but he appealed to enough people, thanks to the electoral college, to be who he is and not a real “president” per se. It was, as I mentioned, the reason why people wanted him to be president in the first place, to kind of blow up the concept of America, because although people claim to love the country, they actually hate the way it is run and what it stands for, and many of its people – either because of race, gender, age, geographic origins, politics, or support for parts of America they find abhorrent. So if someone comes in to try and remold it, or in Trump’s case, bulldoze it, then they see it as a revolution, and revolutions come with casualties or even martyrs, and I think that is how Trump apologists will see impeachment.
Now, in the case of Trump’s path to eventual impeachment, as you state here, there was going to be a clash between “rule of law” and “parameters of the office” and whatever the heck Trump represents. No one seems to know for sure. When you debate Trump with his supporters, they change the arguments, so there really isn’t any reason – they hate Democrats, they hate the media, they are afraid of foreigners, they fear technological evolution killing jobs and they really fear science, and mostly they are afraid their worldview is dying, and they want it back and are not sure how to do that because it is impossible.
So, I guess what I am saying is you are right, this was inevitable, and it is true that because Trump doesn’t actually know what he is doing there was always a very good chance he was going to break the law, or in this case, many laws. Not sure how to parse that, but I know he should be marked as impeached in the pantheon of our history if for no other reason it cannot happen this way again, especially if we hope to keep our democracy strong.
And thank you for making me consider these thoughts and try and see the reasons and the ramifications of this very odd and even dangerous presidency and where it will go from here. It is comforting to have a voice like yours out there.
—Sandy L.
Trump is a horrible person and I think this colors the way most people see his work, for whatever it is worth. And I am not one of those victim-types, who claim he gets more shit than other presidents. He does not. He doesn’t like any criticism, boy, he doesn’t like it, but I think it is more his thin-skinned delusional personality than anything else. But I don’t think he is necessarily a horrible president either. Yet, I do think there was a very good chance he would most likely break the law, as he has a long history of it in real estate and as a public figure. I mean, he breaks the emoluments law every day as he has not divested himself of his businesses and trying to host the next G7 event at his golf resort is a pretty glaring example of this. He did use campaign funds to pay off a woman he was having an affair with, which landed his fixer lawyer in prison, and all the other things. Not sure all of this equals or does not equal high crimes and misdemeanors but it is something you could see coming simply because Trump is a horrible person.
—Michelle G.
This is going to be so much fun. Trump really does need to eat shit and be marred forever by impeachment and he shall be. This is why I voted Democrat in 2018. He needs to be stopped. Or at least officially admonished.
—TXC198884
I don’t think Trump gives a shit about anything, much less getting impeached. (DOES DONALD TRUMP WANT TO BE IMPEACHED? – Issue: 10/9/19) And he is not smart enough to be this conniving. If he were he wouldn’t have gotten caught and then handed his enemies all the evidence they needed to bury him. It is a fair question, because it may actually aid him politically, which is the end game of all the Ukrainian shit anyway. It may be the only thing that could get him re-elected. So…
—Steven R.
I don’t think Trump is soliciting impeachment. I just think Trump is an idiot. X gets the square. Nice job as usual.
—Vincent Czyz
