Impeachment is fine, but once he's gone, let's just let him go.
After the events of the past week I felt I had to re-visit my most recent post and reexamine my own opinion: do I still think Trump should be pardoned for all crimes he may have committed while in office?
Before I give you my take on this, I'll point out that - as expected - almost none of my family, friends and colleagues who read the entry agreed with me. At best I was told I was naive, and at worst told I was an idiot to believe a pardon would help or heal anything. Until this week, though, I remained confident that a pardon was the best, first step to healing our country.
What changed this week? Two things:
- Trump's dangerous delusions finally bubbled over beyond the pale and resulted in a new level of consequence, that caused...
- ...all but the staunchest Trump supporters to recognize the real dangers to democracy of continuing to peddle fiction in the name of political expediency.
This impacts my opinion on a pardon for Trump because, in theory, a pardon may no longer be needed to bridge the gap with most Republicans anymore. If most Republicans have come to realize the dangers of drinking from the "Trump fountain", then it is possible that healing may be possible without the grand-gesture of a pardon; and that any prosecutions would not be the great divider (and distraction) I was imagining it to be back in November.
Back then I felt the cost of prosecuting Trump (deepening divisions and distractions) outweighed the benefits (a message to posterity that all people - even presidents - are subject to equal treatment under the law).
So it is time to re-weigh the two sides of the equation. Has Trump's weakened support from Republicans lowered the costs of divisions and distractions enough? Or can we now heal-as-a-country even with a backdrop of the inevitable prosecutorial circus around any Trump prosecution.
When I step out of the emotion of today and imagine a world three months from now, I see our country retreating to our separate corners again, and I'm convinced any Trump-trials will still heavily interfere with healing and compromise.
And perhaps I'm just exhausted: I would personally prefer to see Trump simply fade away than to continue to have a constant platform to engage and enrage his supporters.
On one thing I am decided: as I was with the first impeachment, I'm in favor of last-minute impeachment - even if it is doomed to fail. As with Ukrainian influence peddling last year, It is the responsibility of Congress to hold the president accountable for his - probably illegal - behavior. Each Congressperson should and must act to withhold their oath of office to protect the country and the Constitution, and that oath means acting on our core values. They should take a stand that is not politically motivated, but motivated by the core values of our country and humanity. So by all means, bring articles of impeachment to the floor.
And there is another advantage to impeachment - especially if there is a conviction: it will disqualify Trump from running for president again in 2024. A possible presidential run is a real justification that will keep Trump's voice loud within the Republican party, and in the news. With any chance to run for president gone, the only other reason to keep our eyes on Trump is to battle over his crimes in office. Let's not offer Donald that opportunity to maintain media relevance. Joe: please pardon him and increase our chances to heal as as a country.
