What Did Impeachment Really Accomplish?

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

With yesterday's impeachment vote, Donald J. Trump became the third President of the United States to be impeached. With his impeachment secured, the proceedings are now supposed to move to the Senate for a trial and a vote on conviction or acquittal. News from the Capitol this morning is saying the trial may be delayed as the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, does not want the trial to begin unless the Democrats and the Republicans can come together and hammer out an agreement for a fair trial.

After the vote, Democrats seemed to be in a celebratory mood, claiming a hard fought victory. After months and months of investigations, hearings, speeches, and votes, the president was finally impeached. 

But the question begs to be asked — What did impeaching the president actually accomplish?

Conviction in the Senate seems highly unlikely, as the vote would most certainly be along party lines. There are currently 53 Republican Senators, 45 Democratic Senators, and two Independents. Even with the two Independents voting with the Democrats, the vote to convict would not pass. This means the president would not be removed from office.

Political pundits and Democrats are hailing this as a huge victory. I fail to see how this can be seen as a victory. Many people argue this is a victory because the history books will always show President Trump as one of only three U.S. Presidents to be impeached. They argue this is a stain that will mark Trump's presidency. I would say his entire presidency has been a dark stain on the country — adding another black mark to a huge black mark isn't going to make a bit of difference.

The president has proven time and time again he couldn't care less what people who dislike him think about him. Yes, he is an egotistical, narcissistic, demagogue who craves attention, demands blind loyalty, and seeks the approval of people, but he already gets those things from millions and millions of supporters. He surrounds himself with plenty of people to stroke his ego and tell him how awesome he is. Yes, the negative press bothers him, but all it does is cause him to lash out at his detractors on Twitter which, in turn, causes his supporters to solidify their support of the president even more. 

Trump is akin to one of those blob-like horror movie monsters. When the blob is attacked by the heroes, the blob isn't defeated — it just grows bigger and stronger. Trump feeds off the negativity and the hatred directed at him. He uses it as fuel to prove to his supporters how he is the best president in the history of the United States, and his rabid supporters love him all the more for it.

Democrats fail to see how impeachment is actually going to work for the president instead of against him. He will use it in his campaign speeches. I can almost hear the words resonating from the speakers at all those upcoming Trump rallies. "The Democrats tried to orchestrate a coup. They tried to remove me from office, and I'm still here. You see? I did nothing wrong. I am totally exonerated." Then the people will cheer him and his supporters will reelect him, and he will probably win in a landslide.

He has made deception and misdirection a true art form. It boggles my mind how so many people still blindly support him despite his policies hurting the very people who voted him into office. His tax breaks did not help those who voted for him, the trade war is hurting US businesses and industries, and his racist, homophobic, xenophobic, nationalist rhetoric is causing the country to fracture and break apart, but the people still love him. He is a member of the aristocracy, the "one percent," the elite, yet people still categorize him as a plain-spoken, common man. I am baffled that people would think these things.

Perhaps the legacy of the Trump presidency will be the lasting damage and the exposure of the failure of the Separation of Powers doctrine. Ever since I can remember, we were taught the United States government is made up of three separate, but equal, branches of government. Furthermore, we were always told the legislative branch was more powerful than the executive branch. The Trump presidency has proven this to be a complete falsehood. 

The Trump presidency has completely ignored Congress whenever they make a request the president does not want to comply with. Congress makes a formal official request for the president to hand over his tax records? No. Congress wants the president to provide documentation and evidence pertinent to their investigations? No. Congress wants members of the president's staff and key members of the executive branch to testify in front of Congress. No. The president seems to think Executive Privilege extends to whoever he wants it to cover. Executive Privilege isn't a magic wand that can be waved over someone.

The Trump presidency has rendered the legislative branch impotent. Whatever perceived power the legislative branch supposedly wields has been neutralized. I understand Obstruction of Congress is one of the articles of impeachment, but the executive branch has not paid any attention to the legislative branch at all. Any request made to the executive branch is ignored and dismissed.

It turns out the Congressional bark is a lot worse than its bite. It turns out Congress doesn't even have any teeth. I wonder if government books will be amended to show just how powerless the legislative branch really is.

In this blogger's humble opinion, when the dust finally settles from the impeachment circus, it will have accomplished nothing. If anything, all impeachment has done is driven Trump supporters further into the arms of the demagogue-in-chief.

With no serious Democratic candidates out there to mount a serious challenge to the Trump Show, I fear the country is in for another Trump term.

I wouldn't be surprised if the president will eventually try to repeal the 22nd Amendment so he can continue running for president after his second term.

I wonder what name he'll take as the first King of the United States.

King Donald the First lacks a certain panache. Then again, he probably doesn't know what that word means, anyway.

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