We need to make up our collective minds about Trump impeachment

As much as I’d thoroughly enjoy the concept of Donald Trump going into the history books as the first president to actually be removed from office through the concept of impeachment, I’m realistic enough to know that thinking about it is really nothing more than a complete waste of time.

Not likely to get past coloring book stage

The release of a redacted version of the Mueller report about the Russian government interfering with the 2016 election process to benefit Trump may well have come up with nothing that would warrant a straightforward criminal charge against The Donald himself.

BUT IT REALLY is a complete lie to say that Trump was vindicated in any way by the report. There are enough details to make Trump look like a buffoon in ways that some members of Congress would like to use as justification to proceed with impeachment.

Which is a concept I don’t think much of because I think the ultimate failure would be twisted by Trump as further evidence that he was “vindicated” – which would be a total lie.

Yes, the Democratic majority that controls the House of Representatives does have enough people that they could go ahead and approve articles of impeachment. They could say they “impeached” Trump the same way that Republican ideologues always like to say they “impeached” former President Bill Clinton.

Tickets bearing admission to Johnson, Clinton … 

But to actually remove a sitting president requires a trial before the full Senate – with the Supreme Court chief justice presiding. It would require a supermajority of support to convict and remove him from office.

THERE’S NO WAY the current Republican-leaning Senate would even come close to doing any such thing.

Republican partisans wound up making fools of themselves back in 1998 when they persisted in trying to remove Clinton from office – unable to create a bipartisan movement that actually believed there were legitimate grounds the president needed to be ejected from office.

Do we really need to see the same happen, in reverse?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she’s not inclined to support actions toward impeachment because she agrees it would be a waste of time. Republican ideologues are determined to support Trump no matter how clueless and ignorant he gets.

… impeachment proceedings. Will Trump be next?

BUT THEN THERE is the view of House Intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who told the ABC “This Week” program, “Impeachment is likely to be unsuccessful. It may be that we undertake an impeachment nonetheless.”

So maybe it seems some people are determined to play out the same ignorance of some two decades ago – only to see the incumbent remain in office.

There is one point we ought to keep in mind in coming months as some people continue to tout the “I” word as the only fate that Trump ought to have to endure.

“Impeachment” is a political process – NOT a legal one. Which is very well why it may be possible that Trump didn’t do anything in conjunction with Russian government officials that would be worthy of criminal prosecution, but where his behavior would have crossed over so many ethical lines of appropriateness that officials could talk seriously about removing him from office.

NONETHELESS, I BELIEVE that people interested in removing Trump from the White House ought to focus their efforts and attention on the 2020 election cycle – come up with a candidate who can put together a credible vision for our society that would bring this Age of Trump to an end!

Not as 'final' an act as some might think

Something that, as of now, may not happen – as we seem to have so many politicos determined to think that anybody can beat up on Trump without having a proper vision for our society that they can offer. Which is a formula for failure.

As in we could well get the “four more years” that Republican ideologues will fantasize about and chant for often in coming months by people determined to vote for Trump solely because he offends the vast majority of us.

And all the talk about “impeachment” that some people seem determined to engage in now will turn out to be a complete waste of time!

  -30-

Will Foxx wind up paying politically for her attempt to do the “right” thing?

The Chicago Tribune gave us a disclosure this week with regards to the criminal charges eventually dismissed against actor Jussie Smollett – hinting that it was an act of legal overkill by officials to seek 16 criminal counts against him for his alleged “lies” to police about a racially-motivated attack against himself.

FOXX: Two-day gaffe becomes lifelong screwup

The newspaper managed to get ahold of text messages within the Cook County state’s attorney’s office – and found a message from State’s Attorney Kim Foxx herself.

ONE THAT SAID Foxx thought Smollett was just a “washed up celeb who lied to cops,” and that, “when people accuse us of overcharging cases, … 16 counts on a class 4 (felony, the least severe type) becomes exhibit A.”

Implying that Foxx, in her own mind, thinks she’s protecting the public from legal overkill – prosecutorial-types wanting to lock up everybody in sight they can get ahold of.

There’s just one problem with this line of logic – and it applies even if you fully buy into the notion that Smollett was being victimized by law enforcement-types in this whole matter; which ties back to a January incident where the actor filed a complaint with police saying he was the victim of an assault with racial overtones.

As though he, as both a black and gay man, was the one being persecuted – first by two bigoted thugs (who supposedly put a noose around his neck while telling him “This is MAGA Country”), then by cops and prosecutors who were eager to make him out to be the criminal.

IT WAS ONE of the first rules I had pumped into my head over and over back in the days when I was a cop-type reporter for the old City News Bureau. Police DON’T file criminal charges against people.

Prosecutors do!

Police make arrests, and their investigations provide the basis for the state’s attorney to file criminal charges against people. But there are cases when police arrest someone, and the resulting charges don’t match up with the severity that police think is warranted.

So if this really was a case where Smollett was grossly overcharged, it was Foxx’ own staff that did the overcharging.

THIS MAY BE the biggest reason why it is absurd that the criminal case against Smollett was closed and the records sealed. Because the lack of information creates so much uncertainty about what is really going on.

Personally, I have no problem in believing that the charges had to be dropped because of some legal error that would have made getting a criminal conviction that would stand up under legal appeals impossible to obtain.

But if what we’re learning from text messages is true, it was the state’s attorney’s office itself that seriously screwed up. Which makes all the secrecy nothing more than a matter of covering up the ineptitude of the state’s attorney’s office.

The problem, however, is that some people want to believe the criminal case – which to me always stunk!

YES, THE IDEA of a racial attack that included the rhetoric implying this Age of Trump was to blame was just TOO perfect to be believable. Truth usually isn’t that clean or perfectly set up. I can comprehend why police heard the story early on and thought it was worthy of closer inspection.

But this whole affair would have a better chance of dying down if prosecutors had admitted it was their own overkill. We’d have had a day or two of taking pot shots at Kim Foxx’ reputation, then we’d get bored and move on to the next so-called controversy.

Instead, this issue is going to linger and there will be people determined to use it against Foxx when she seeks re-election in 2020. It may well become the lede of her obituary when the day comes that her life’s legacy needs to be written. Foxx, who botched Smollett investigation, dies, it will read. Or something like that!

Of course, the real issue is that many people are offended that Smollett gets off without prosecution. As though real justice would have been served by allowing an overkill of legality to proceed. And Foxx, who may really believe she was trying to do the “right” thing, winds up getting taken down as a result.

  -30-