This unlikely president continues to survive what no other politician could have. This doesn’t make him the “great man” he believes himself to be. Nor does this make him the “great politician” that his supporters see him as — at least not in the best sense of the word.
Politics is the art of the possible. A “good politician” works with others, including adversaries, to accomplish good things. A “great politician” works with others to accomplish what even “good politicians” cannot. For example, LBJ was a great politician who accomplished the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Medicare — history-making legislation that not even good politicians such as the Kennedys could have accomplished at that time.
In contrast, Trump is no politician. He is a demagogue who has mastered the dark art of divide and conquer. He has survived for two reasons: support of a minority who agrees with his policies and overlooks his transgressions, or believes them not to be transgressions; and through Republican officeholders who are scared stiff to hold him to reasonable presidential standards of conduct.
Trump’s long list of unpresidential acts and flouting of accepted political norms includes deporting DREAMers, caging children, kicking trans people out of the military, delegitimizing political opponents, and chipping away checks and balances that were designed to prevent an autocracy like that which prompted the American Revolution.
Trump and his Republicans complain that Democrats wanted to impeach him from day one. That is patently false. Speaker Pelosi and the majority of congressional Democrats, and the public, were initially opposed to impeachment for two reasons. First, no responsible politician wants to make impeachment a mechanism for resolving policy differences.
Second is the matter of pragmatic electoral politics. Given the initial lack of public support, impeachment posed a greater risk for Democrats than for Republicans — far safer for Democrats to wait until the election of 2020 to oust this demagogue — until now, that is.
Many, arguably most, Democrats and media pundits believed the Mueller Report would change things. Trump attempted to obstruct it, discredited it as an illegal “witch hunt,” and clearly feared its outcome.
The Mueller Report did affirm Russian interference in the 2016 election and cited numerous instances of Trump’s efforts to obstruct justice. However, it concluded that a sitting president could not be indicted, and, regardless of multiple indictments and convictions of Trump associates, Trump was not found to be personally involved. Trump’s opaque financial transactions and negotiations with Putin for a Moscow real estate deal while campaigning were ostensibly “outside the range” of Mueller’s authority to investigate.
Thanks to the report’s lack of clear recommendations, and Attorney General Barr’s preliminary characterization of the report as “nothing there,” it landed with a thud. There was sufficient content that congressional Democrats continued investigating. But they appeared muddled and confused, enabling the media and Trump’s Republicans to ridicule the Democrats as acting with their customary ineptness in these matters.
An astute politician would have breathed a sigh of relief, consolidated this win, and even worked with the opposition to accomplish something prior to a contentious election. But Trump is an egotist, not a politician. He got away with publicly asking for Russia’s help in “finding Hillary’s emails,” welcoming Russia’s help, and negotiating with Putin for a Moscow real estate deal while lying about it. Compared to that, making a deal with the Ukrainian president to smear a likely 2020 opponent ought to be a piece of cake, he thought.
Enter the whistleblower and the complaint substantiated by the Inspector General. Seeking foreign assistance in an American election is definitely unconstitutional, and impeachable. The quid quo pro — withholding congressionally appropriated funds intended to assist a nation in fighting Russian-backed insurgents, in return for smearing a political opponent — made the action more egregious. In contrast to the Mueller investigation, this was happening in real time.
This clearly impeachable offence was enough for some Republicans to cautiously react with furrowed brow. Some even struggled to defend the call as legitimate, attempting to portray the call as “investigating corruption.” The few Republicans raising any question whatsoever occupy safe seats, are retired, or are planning to.
More significantly, the Ukrainian call finally motivated Speaker Pelosi and congressional Democrats to get serious about bringing impeachment proceedings against Trump. The Ukrainian imbroglio thickens with Rudy Giuliani and associates, characterized as “Mutt and Jeff,” funneling foreign money to Republicans and a Trump super pac. Add to this their assistance in ousting the competent American Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Jovanovich, the involvement of Rick Perry, and the curious involvement of the American ambassador to the EU, and Trump is facing a problem. But it’s still not serious enough to keep Republicans from defending him.
Proving once again Trump’s political ineptness, he follows with a policy error that angers Republicans. With no consultation with the Pentagon or his National Security advisors, he relocates American troops, permitting the Turks to clear a portion of Syria of the Kurds — the allies that, with the support of American troops, have borne the brunt of eliminating the ISIS Caliphate. However ill-advised and damaging to American long-run credibility, this is a policy move, not an impeachable offense. Nevertheless, it actually caused some Republicans, including Mitch McConnell and chief enabler Lindsay Graham, to angrily speak out.
Impeachment proceedings will almost surely be brought against Trump. The obsequious Republican controlled Senate will surely acquit him.
Nevertheless, he will go down in history, remembered as being one of three presidents to bear the scar of impeachment.
— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Saturdays.
