How about focus on the living breathing people, who are being killed in multiple wars, or the ones who can’t afford, housing, food, or healthcare, or the ones being rounded up by ICE? A show trial does nothing, except waste time that could be used to address issues where they could actually make a difference.
Congress can’t impose any punishment other than removal from office, and again, they don’t have the votes. And why would any of the senators break ranks? They wouldn’t be the ones facing any consequences, and Trump still has the power to pardon them if they were. It’d be much more in their interest to stay cozy with him.
It’s not playing nice - they literally can’t do anything. Impeachment is toothless. It just allows the senate to vote to remove, and they don’t have the votes. Congress can’t impose any other punishment. The justice department can, but only on citizen Trump. But if they can’t remove him from office, all they can do is wait.
No they didn’t. The full oath of office is this:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
You could make the claim the constitution compels them, but it doesn’t. It gives them the power, as a check on the executive branch, but no obligation. See https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Impeachment/.
And from that same page, note this:
Fines and potential jail time for crimes committed while in office are left to civil courts.
At the absolute best, all they could do is remove someone from office. But they can’t impose other penalties. And they can’t remove anyone from office, because they don’t have the votes. So, it would be an enormous waste of time and energy to impeach Trump. And for all the time they focus on that, we still have multiple wars, rising costs of groceries, housing, healthcare, education, etc, ICE running around like vigilantes, a prison system that’s basically slavery with extra steps, and so many other problems that can actually be addressed.
I recognize why it’s unpopular, and think his explanation is piss poor, but he’s not wrong to not prioritize impeachment. If the house impeaches Trump again, it will go to the senate, which requires a 67 vote super majority to remove. That won’t happen. They have a majority, but not a super majority. The impeachment would be a waste of time. A show trial, with no real consequences.
It would be far better to prioritize taking popular actions they can actually push forward, ensuring people vote to keep them in power in the next two elections + get a democrat president, and use the justice department to prosecute citizen Trump, et al. They can hold people accountable. But they don’t have the power to remove anyone right now.
So your argument for them to impeach is that by showing they’re willing to waste time, it shows they want to get stuff done? That by failing to do anything, it will prove how fit they are for office?
Hollow threats and empty gestures are why we’re in this mess in the first place. The democrats pretended they’d protect abortion access for years - they shouted about it every chance they got, but never codified it into law, even when they had the house, senate, and presidency. They do this all the time. We don’t need more puffery. We need to find people who can actually get work done, and weed out the ones who pretend.
Note that I haven’t once said “don’t hold people accountable.” All I’m saying is don’t waste time. They need to: Get work done. Get reelected. Charge people when they actually have the ability to convict and punish. They can be spiteful and petty, but it’s pointless it they’re not also smart. Otherwise, come next election cycle, people will just vote the republicans back in because the democrats “can’t ever get anything done.”
This is like Mamdani admitting he can’t arrest Netanyahu and instead focusing on what he can actually do in NYC. He looked into it, realized he didn’t have the ability, and turned his attention to housing, healthcare, etc. The difference is there’s no reason to waste time looking into it - we already know the house/senate can’t do anything.