Thoughts about whether Trump being impeached would be a good thing or not. [View all]

[DanTex]

I still think it's extremely unlikely that the GOP (and it would have to be the GOP) will impeach him, and even more unlikely that the Senate would vote to convict. But still, it's being talked about, so one question is: do we want this to happen?


Pro-impeachment:
Trump is, obviously, crazy, and could start a major war.

Trump has, in fact, committed high crimes and misdemeanors, and so out of principle, he should be removed from the presidency.

Trump's unprecedented level of corruption and violation of norms of government threaten our democracy in a way that could have implications for the functioning of our government for many years in the future.

Trump is a racist and despicable human, and having him as president is not just depressing, but it emboldens white supremacists and hate crimes, gives a horrible example to children, and embarrasses Americans around the world.


Anti-impeachment:
Although Mike Pence is not crazy, his policy positions are every bit as horrible as Trump's.

Pence would likely be more effective in working with the GOP congress to pass things like tax cuts, deregulation, cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

Having Trump to run against, especially if he stays embroiled in scandals and his poll numbers stay low, will help Dems in 2018 and 2020 elections.


I can see both sides of the argument, but I'm leaning towards anti-impeachment. Why? Well, first, I don't think the risk of a nuclear war is really that big. I could be proven wrong on that, but I think that someone around Trump will stop him before he does something world-ending (hopefully...). And, besides a nuclear war, I think the most important thing is to stop the GOP from passing their legislative agenda. Trump's unpopularity and incompetence are helpful on that front. So, by my calculation, it's actually better to have a historically corrupt and mentally unstable president than it is to have Mike Pence.