Putting on the squeeze

The President of the United States has been governing the nation as if it is his property, not his responsibility. Its laws, its values, its traditions and values mean nothing to him. In his mind, by winning an election, he acquired something and all that matters to him now is maintaining control of that acquisition. This is what the Congress finds intolerable and this is why the impeachment process has begun.

But where is it supposed to lead?

The members of the House are aware there is little prospect of achieving conviction in the Senate and removal from office. The president’s support is too strong for anyone to expect it to be whittled away in time to get 20 Republican Senators to vote to convict. Surely this is possible, but no one can be sure of it. No one can even say it is anything but wildly unlikely.

What is likely is a trial in the Senate will not result in removal from office.

So why is it happening at all? What is the point?

The purpose of this impeachment initiative is not to remove the president, but to restrain him. The House wants to make it impossible for him to exercise ownership of the United States (to use the presidency to make money). They want to restrict his freedom of action. If they establish that if, in following his directives, anyone who crosses certain lines will be subpoenaed and in need of expensive legal assistance, the entire Executive Branch will be inhibited. He will find his orders being questioned, delayed, and ignored. He’ll get overt resistance and he’ll either learn to respect the parameters of his office, or he’ll grow increasingly frustrated and angry. For the Congress, impeachment is not intended to remove him by legal means, but to constrain and correct his behavior and increase his stress and anxiety to the point he either resigns or suffers a breakdown.

They are squeezing him. While impeachment is on, the Congress has the president’s head in a vice. He remains in office, able to wave his arms and kick his legs, but he can’t maneuver, can’t fight back, and the pressure on his brain means he can’t think of anything but the impeachment and can’t think clearly.

Through impeachment, they have co-opted him to the greatest extent they can. His ability to deal with foreign governments is compromised, it being common knowledge now that the president does not negotiate in good faith, cannot honor an agreement, and may be ousted in the near future.

His authority over Federal agencies is undercut by the threat of the subpoena. Federal workers, rather than doing as instructed, must now ask themselves if the routine performance of their job is going to land them in hot water: “Will I need a lawyer after doing what the boss says, or is it better to make up some reason that I can’t?”

That’s what this is about. Impeachment has its prime target, the president —it is intended to put him into Washington’s best approximation of Hell. But it also is aimed at anyone in a position to follow his orders or comply with his requests, whether on the government payroll or not. Anyone dealing with him directly will need to consult an attorney before and after any interaction and must be circumspect in everything they do while impeachment is ongoing.

Anyone who gets a job by presidential appointment from this point on is tainted. They will always be the appointee of a damaged, perhaps invalid president. So why say yes if he offers you a job?

A guy like him, accustomed to privilege, luxury, opulence, and impunity—used to giving orders and being obeyed—should not be able to cope with a sudden power outage like this. The Congress expects to see a physical effect of his frustration and rage.

As things are, there may be no safe method for removing him in the unlikely event of conviction in the Senate. When would it take effect? Can the vice-president be sworn in on the spot, or would there be a short period of uncertainty as we wait for the president to go. Would the armed forces answer to a commander-in-chief who has been removed while waiting for his successor to be sworn in?

If they are smart, there should be no trial. Let the hearings drag on and keep the threat of subpoena dangling over everyone’s head indefinitely. But then, maybe our lawmakers aren’t really that smart. Maybe they do think there’s a way to convict in the Senate and oust the executive. If so, then they’ve only blundered into the perfect way to co-opt a renegade ruler and might blow the opportunity before they realize they’ve got him where they want him.

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