Yes, I never thought Donald Trump should be President of the United States. No, I never supported his candidacy. Yes, I think he is unfit to be president. And, no, that thought is not new for me. I have said on numerous occasions that Donald Trump is a pathological narcissist. Who knows why? I’m not condemning him for deep-seated mental or emotional challenges he may have faced all of his life. But he is a pathological narcissist and unfit to be president. And, now, it is time to move to impeach him.
Trump’s most recent failures surrounding Russian influences, the firing of James Comey and, what looks like, obstruction of justice alone have not made Trump unfit in my eyes. He was unfit before this moment in time. But this moment in time provides the best backdrop against which to gain consensus around impeachment.
Now, his supporters might argue that the standard for impeachment – “high crimes and misdemeanors” – hardly has been met. That’s fine to argue. But that standard is vague, to say the least, and gives Congress a lot of latitude to impeach. If Bill Clinton can be impeached for lying about a sexual affair, certainly ineptitude breeding distrust from the American people, let alone obstruction of justice, if true, should trigger impeachment proceedings.
I agree with New York Times columnist Russ Douthat, the President of the United States “needs some basic attributes: a reasonable level of intellectual curiosity, a certain seriousness of purpose, a basic level of managerial competence, a decent attention span, a functional moral compass, a measure of restraint and self-control… Trump is seemingly deficient in them all.” And I agree with another Times writer, David Brooks, “There are three tasks that most mature adults have sort of figured out by the time they hit 25 [they have learned to sit still, they have achieved some accurate sense of themselves and they can perceive how others are thinking]. Trump has mastered none of them. Immaturity is becoming the dominant note of his presidency…” Douthat adds, “A child cannot be president. I love my children; they cannot have the nuclear codes.”
And this child comparison informs the impeachment process. How can you impeach a child? Douthat continues he doesn’t “believe that our president sufficiently understands the nature of the office that he holds, the nature of the legal constraints that are supposed to bind him, perhaps even the nature of normal human interactions, to be guilty of obstruction of justice in the Nixonian or even Clintonian sense of the phrase.” He does not “believe [Trump] is really capable of the behind-the-scenes conspiring that the darker Russia theories envision. And it is hard to betray an oath of office whose obligations you evince no sign of really understanding or respecting.”
Douthat’s solution is not impeachment, but invoking the 25th Amendment that allows the Vice-President and the president’s cabinet to determine his fitness. All the Vice-President and a majority of the cabinet have to do is determine whether or not Trump is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” But we all know that won’t happen which is why Congress needs to step in.
National Review writer David French is correct – there are no good outcomes for this nation given Trump’s inept behavior. If Trump has lied and he really did ask FBI Director Comey to back off of the Russia investigation, Americans will stop trusting the President. If the New York Times has made up the story, Americans will stop trusting journalism. The First Amendment would be rendered non-functional and then who will keep a check and balance on governmental power?
As Ben Shapiro observes, there is no clever or high-minded Trump strategy going on here. He is not playing “8-D underwater quantum chess.” Trump is functionally inept in the office of the President. Perhaps he doesn’t see it. But my guess is that he doesn’t care. The art of the deal does not require rules of engagement. You simply say what you think you need to say to make the deal, true or not. Trump’s narcissism adds layers of chaos to the art of the deal as he Tweets ridiculous stuff and claims to know and have invented all sorts of things. Trump is a nightmare and it only has been four months into his term.
What many of us thought all along is true: Trump is unfit to lead this nation and one Supreme Court justice does not justify turning a blind eye. There is no better time than now to move impeachment proceedings. Folks, for all of you who will defend this mess, please trust the process. Let it play out. There is no way in hell you would have let Hillary Clinton go this far under the same circumstances. No way. You wanted to lock her up during the campaign. Well, this is your moment of truth. I don’t doubt lying is happening all over the place but that is no excuse to sustain your guy in his lies and cover-ups. Impeach Trump now!
I’m Paul Mero. Thanks for listening.
