Mason, Madison, Kasparov: Impeachment, not an election, is the way to stop Trump
Garry Kasparov provides a helpful lesson on the U.S. Constitution:
Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63 (1 November 2019)
The GOP will switch from "he didn't do it" to "he did it, but it's not so bad." But it is. Trump committed all of the original sins envisioned by the Founders: abuse of power, self-dealing, foreign intervention. https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1190291217894006785
When Morris suggested at the Constitutional Convention that reelection would be "sufficient proof of innocence", Mason asked: "Shall any man be above justice? Shall that man be above it who can commit the most extensive injustice?"
George Mason: "Shall the man who has practiced corruption, and by that means procured his appointment in the first instance, be suffered to escape punishment by repeating his guilt?"—Philadelphia, July 20, 1787
Madison added, "[The president] might pervert his administration into a scheme of peculation or oppression. He might betray his trust to foreign powers." And so the phrase "high crimes and misdemeanors against the United States" was added to "bribery and treason".
Trump's impeachment is a stress test for American democracy and the Constitution as designed. Soliciting a foreign power for personal gain is exactly what the Founders feared.
By the way, Mason & Madison also warned that impeachment would be essential in case the president tried to pardon his way out of trouble, if he's "connected in any suspicious manner with any person and .. will shelter him". To keep in mind...
To people saying "but Trump didn't get away with it", that's idiotic. You cannot wait for someone to get away with a crime when its goal is to take power and cover it up. And robbing a bank is still illegal if the cashier doesn't give you the money!
Records of the Constitutional Convention include some other, very apropos arguments about impeachment. These are from Constitution.org:
Mr. PINKNEY & Mr. Govr. MORRIS moved to strike out this part of the Resolution. Mr. P. observd. he ought not to be impeachable whilst in office
Mr. DAVIE. If he be not impeachable whilst in office, he will spare no efforts or means whatever to get himself re-elected. He considered this as an essential security for the good behaviour of the Executive.
Mr. WILSON concurred in the necessity of making the Executive impeachable whilst in office.
