If the president cheated to try to win the next election, impeachment and removal should be the remedy. How else will Trump be prevented from continued cheating? There may be several senators who were "in the loop" regarding the "drug deal". Perhaps Mitch McConnell is not be one of them but he will be guilty of a coverup if he does not conduct the trial properly. Fair is fair. If Clinton was a witness, why not Trump, Bolton or Pompeo?
17
Your words deserve widespread dissemination, Mr. Bouie, and I'd like to copy some of them in my comment:
"The Senate was a sticking point for the antifederalists. With its small membership and fixed terms, they thought it was too aristocratic; with its mix of legislative, executive and judicial powers, they thought it was too powerful. “Is a body so vested with means to soften and seduce — so armed with power to screen or to condemn — so fortified against suspicion and enquiry — so largely trusted with legislative powers — so independent of and removed from the people — so tempted to abuse and extend those powers — is this a body which freeman ought ever to create, or which freeman can ever endure?” the writer “Cincinnatus” asked..."
Thank you for an excellent essay, far above the mere op-ed standard. For me, it also is an inspiration to get back to reading US History and revisiting the Constitution. This should be read by every Congressperson.
9
It’s telling our forefathers were as prepared as they were for the arguments for creating our government. They were willing to look at the “Big Picture” - past the self dealing, and special interests. They had put in a lot of thought of the various ramifications of creating a Republic.
Today our leaders today are only able to be in lock-step with the President. The G.O.P. Senators have been reminded these last few days about the huge defeat their party suffered after Watergate. These news articles about the past are worthwhile for current Senators to consider. History does repeat itself.
8
If the lure of re-election is so powerful to senators that they abandon principles, honor and ethics, then I believe it is time to remove that lure by establishing term limits. Perhaps then, they could view such proceedings as these through an objective lens.
8
Why is it that Republican politicians, who have burned up so much oxygen over the years railing about big government, lust to be part of it so much they will sell their souls to remain when they could do the right thing? Why are Americans forced to endure a biblical blizzard of lies designed to keep this cheating cretin in power at all cost as if impeachment were sending a hero to the guillotine? If Trump were a basketball coach caught cheating he'd summarily be fired. Why is America forced to endlessly endure this creature who millions realized was a bad deal and voted against in the first place. What makes terminating The Donald so unimaginable? Divine Right of Kings?
21
What would they say about McConnell holding up federal judges to the point that Chief Justice Robert's implored that confirmations commence. of course the elephants in that room are named Garland and Gorsuch.
8
Proceedings would be past removal of Trump if the charge was treason and extortion. Facts supporting treason are staring the Senators in the face.
8
Makes me think we need a third political party.
4
The irony may really boil down to a corrupt president who was shaking down a foreign government, and then shaking down Senators to try to save himself.
It might work.
Unbelievable.
15
The shake down of Senators began in late 2017 as Senators looked to the 2018 election.
5
The root cause of our constitutional crisis is the American voter. In particular, it is the demographic that makes up most of Trump's base and some 35 percent of the electorate: white, rural, high school education or less, from the Rust Belt or the Bible Belt.
Such people have always been around, but never in such numbers. They have always been victimized by demagogues, but never has a demagogue risen so high, or found so many powerful collaborators.
This voter type is the result of a softening in the standards of the education system and a trend toward the notion that all opinions, regardless of origin, are equally valid.
Critical thinking, previously a prerequisite for any educated person, has become scorned as a controlling tool used by the liberal elites to discredit those who value emotion over reason in fashioning their judgments.
This population mostly thinks the sun revolves around the earth. It is a small additional step to get them to believe the earth is flat, or that Trump was put into office as part of God's plan to bring about the rapture.
Such ill-informed people elect legislators who repay their ignorance with treachery. If Trump gets re-elected, his mandate will be the dissolution of Medicare and Social Security. Perhaps then, old and impoverished, Trump's electorate will realize their folly. But by then the authoritarian state will be entrenched and it will be too late for all of us.
21
@John Mulvihill
Overall these represent my thoughts exactly. They'll never realize their folly though. And thinking that the sun revolves around the earth is literally that, proven in science polls.
4
The Senate has always been the most anti-democratic part of our government. 500,000 people (Wyoming) get as many Senators as 35 million (California).
15
Term limits.
6
Did "voters … get a fair, comprehensive hearing of the case against the president" in the House?
2
Thank you for this essay. I have no predictions or conclusions to share. But I will say that Mr. Trump's kidnapping and incarceration of more than 69,000 children is worthy of impeachment and imprisonment. The children are in for profit detention centers. That is a high crime.
23
It's true too that the senate disproportionately represents a minority of America due to our flawed election process. More democracy would help with the senate's problem with power and accountability.
7
If California (pop c 38,000,000) had Senate representation equal to that of Montana (pop c 900,000), how many Senators would Chuck Schumer have to corral to force a vote to include evidence and witnesses in an important trial? It would become the non-issue it really is... unless your goal is cheating America.
6
Mr. Bouie:
Thank you for putting the Federalists in proper historical context. Ranting conservatives are forever touting them. As I recall the so-called Federalist papers are not part of the Constitution. I'm not sure that very many Republican senators
know this today. Well done.
4
The Senate was intended to be the “cooling saucer” guarding the upper crust from the ignorant passions of the House, elected by the rabble, who they quite plainly did not trust with all their newfound freedoms. It was also at least partly designed to protect wealthy Southern planters from abolitionists and mercantilists, bestowing the most powerful representation by the acre and not by population and so guaranteeing agricultural hegemony.
It’s the same thing now, only moreso.
11
This isn't so much a comment as a kudo. Great article Mr Bouie! Fascinating analysis.
6
The founding fathers implored the citizens not to form a 2-party system. They knew this would happen. The majority party, even a "little bit" corrupt, corrupts the entire party and subsequently, corrupts the democratic system.
8
Joe Biden is as crooked as a stick. We have heard over and over again that Joe Biden did nothing wrong and that the allegation has been "debunked". This is a big lie that continuously gets repeated and echoed by the media and Democrats. Senate Democrats' complicity in this corruption also has deep roots.
When I ignore Washington, it makes my life a whole lot happier!
In many ways, Washington and its drama is irrelevant these days for most of America. I advocate for States' rights (and cities' rights) as our Federal government is off the rails and doing us more harm than good.
My advice is to live life as if Washington doesn't exist. See how free-ing that feels!
1
Especially around April 14.
And I’m much more afraid of state and local government than I am of the federal government
Judging others over whom we have no control is an exercise in futility, and often throwing in the towel. The need is to figure what forces are at work and to figure how MM is responding, we need empathy, and make room for the possibility of he emerging as the hero in a bipartisan mode. It calls for positive thinking.
The 'minimalist strategy', if his approach can be defined as one, would see matter progressing just in time, and only when absolutely necessary. This strategy, it really exists, is the only way progress can be made, since any leeway would certainly scuttle progress.
Senate has to think for the very long term, and the desired outcome has never happened before. The strategic risks to US in terms of geo-political order are not trivial to contend with.
Next, big money has considerable stake on incumbent's success. The editorial back of WSJ is evidence of the stakes for them. The conservative masses who see their rainbow aspirations for new religious order being realized has to be contended with. MM would become a villain for all these constituencies. The burden being put on one person to deliver on truth, justice and rule of law is very considerable.
If anything, the need of the hour is to work on those forces and ensure that their real, just needs are delivered.
@second Derivative
This strategy, IF it really exists, is the only way progress can be made, since any leeway would certainly scuttle progress.
Ultimately, it will be Republican Senators who are willing to ignore their oath of office as well as their recent sworn oath of impartiality to be be loyal to Trump over America.
How fitting that it will be corruption in our government that will save Donald Trump.
9
Yes Mr. Bouie, McConnel and his complicit Senators actions do have deep roots, grown in compromised and unsustainable soils. They have atrophied, and in their place are the shallow roots of opportunity and ease. These surface roots have been fed 40 years of consistent poor nourishment and restricted lifeblood by forces of menacing circumstance and self interests. The result is a specimen that somewhat resembles the object it ought to be, but in a pathetic and unserviceable, useless way. The poor nourishment and lifeblood are name brands that promise one thing and result in another. They are the Reagan Anti-government elixr, Contract with "America" concoction, The "Religious" Right syrup, Pity Party tea, Citizens United cordial, and many more mixtures that have as their goal a weakend and dependent Senate and Federal Government. The influence of these polluted waters have ruined political parties, especially the GOP, always the weaker and more selfish species. Living entities must have quality nutrients and fresh waters to grow and prosper as they evolve and progress their right destiny. That destiny benefits the majority and is a place of fear for the peddlers of doom and control.
6
“Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.” Voltaire
19
It is preposterous that Republican Senators can claim to be offended by comments by Nadler, Schiff, or virtually any other set of remarks from the mainstream left. They're just always looking for an escape from all things ethical. The rudeness, offensiveness, and ugliness of commentary coming from what is now the mainstream right is elephantine by comparison.
16
The Republican's outrage reminds me of Captain Renault in Casablanca: "I'm shocked, shocked ...." when what they are doing is pointed out to the world.
8
Unfortunately towards the end of his column, Mr. Bouie indulges in the kind of false equivalence that so permeates modern journalism in general and the New York Times in particular. Democrats like myself, and I believe Democratic lawmakers as well faced with a president as lawless as this one would indeed in my opinion, vote to convict a President of their own party, just as Republicans nearly did with Nixon. It is possible that in some future time, a Democratic Senate comfortable with their Democratic president might not (Mr. Bouie's warnings about structural problems with the Senate are well taken), but that would not be true with today's Democratic party. Heck, since the #metoo movement I'm not sure even with the more limited accusations Clinton had against him, he would get off!
7
The fault is ours. We didn't pay attention when a heavily funded and radicalized minority of racists, misogynists and anti-government fools were elected by the Tea Party. Now they sit in the Senate with fidget spinners, as dumb and sullen as their constituents. Impervious to norms of conduct or ethics, disdainful of reason, and ever ready to tear down the institutions they've taken oaths to uphold - based on some ridiculous conspiracy theory they themselves have created. We get what we deserve. If we want to change it, it's up to us.
20
I must admit to some misplaced amusement watching this whole melodrama. Having experienced the almost impeachment of Nixon and the impeachment of Clinton, I keep wondering where are we at in the inevitable look-back books?
Forests have been sacrificed to detail every player and every facet of the Nixon and Clinton impeachments. At which stage are we now, given the records left to us? Are we still early, following hushed whispers to “follow the money” or are we further along and already have the semen analysis?
I ask these questions for today I got an impression that Die Götterdämmerung has begun. Don’t be surprised if you see more Trump bunker behavior. Right now we don’t know what will happen next, but remembering the past episodes makes me think I will be saying, “of course Bolton was telling the truth.” Twenty years from now we’ll have blessing of hindsight. Today calls for foresight. The difference is courage. I have no illusion that Mitch McConnell will suddenly realize at the end of this movie, like Colonel Nicholson, “What have I done?”
5
We knew that MCConnell was a criminal when he violated the Constitution by refusing to hold a vote on Merrick Garland.
The history of the Republican party from Nixon through Reagan, Gingrich, Starr, Scalia, Sandra O'Connor, Bush, Cheney, and Trump is one of increasingly blatant disregard for democracy and increasingly ruthless pursuit of power at all costs.
14
The GOP is schizophrenic, fervently believing both in reducing government until it can be drowned in the bathtub... and also in a unitary presidency, which is some kind of twisted legalese for making the president a king. They sell this stuff on street corners.
7
The problem is with the Republican party coupled with the intentional ever-greater concentration of wealth. The Republican party has long been the party of Plutocrats, some might call billionaires. Trump is a plutocrat and a convenient puppet for the type of fake democratic kleptocracy the Republicans "aspire to."
Like the neoconservatives and I would say the more sophisticated among the neo-nazis, they adhere to dangerous myths of the novels of Ayn Rand, "The Fountain Head" and "Atlas Shrugged", both now required reading for aspiring "Republican" politicians. Since the Reagan era a plan to roll back the progress of suffrage, unions, voting rights for African Americans and to find a new way (debt) to enslave the working class, the Republicans have relentless used ancient means of mind control such as corrupting the clergy of major churches and it is unquestionable that the "leadership" of some major religious corporations would also like to see that progress rolled back and the church given more power.
The Republican leadership mastered using wedge issues such as abortion and infiltration of clergy and all sorts of Orwellian manipulations of language and other tactics like race whispering borrowed from the fascists.
Anyone who believes in the principles and aspirations of America and our Constitution what our best and brightest died defending in WW II, Korea, and Viet Nam need to know, these Republicans don't work for you.
They will sell their souls for a profit.
19
@Tom Paine
”They will sell their souls for a profit.” This should be past tense. Thanks! A vet and retired college professor.
4
Then they will sell nothing at all.
Mitch McConnell is the political Antichrist of our time. When will his reign of chaos end.
14
From now on, the Congress has to do everything possible to restore it's lost power.
Unfortunately, for several decades Congress receded their numerous powers gradually & without forward thinking, and now we can all see the dire consequences.
It's all amounts to farce we're witnessing, from whatever screens in front of our eyes.
The last thing they want to do is to call Biden to testify, so let's test them, Linsey Graham is the chairman of the senate Judiciary Committee he has the power to call Biden, why didn't he do it before, what prevented him? Instead he has the audacity to lie in front of the microphone to american people.
I wonder if McCain could see him now would he ever be his friend...Definitely not.
Let's just call it a bluff!
trump corrupts everything and everyone around him, there's a good book on this subject: Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever.https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Trump-Touches-Dies-Republican/dp/1982103140/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=Wilson%3A+trump+is+corrupting+everything+he+touches&qid=1580251132&sr=8-1-fkmr0
He needs to be remove from the office with no corners ASAP!
6
Nadler should be embarrassed by the tone and tenor of his demeaning and dishonest presentation.
1
The connection between foreign actors and the GOP can not be overemphasized.
"Senators have not conspired to make themselves a permanent aristocracy or make seditious treaties with foreign powers."
No? Look harder.
I have expanded on a comment I submitted earlier. More here:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/28/1914609/-About-That-Trial-Thing-in-the-Senate-Don-t-Forget-Russia
1
One of the more enlightening columns I've read lately. Every time I read about the "founders" debates, it makes me wonder how we ended up with so many stupid people in government now.
9
When McConnell dies and the Times writes his obituary, what will the headline read? Control, Merritt Garland, a joke of an impeachment process, money to himself and his cronies, letting Trump run over him. It's hard to know where the obit will start but it won't be a positive story. At his age, McConnell should be thinking of his legacy.
7
he cares not a whit about the Judgment of history and his legacy because he has no shame
9
@Pat Baker I enjoy how he was poor and yet now is one if not the wealthiest. How did that work honestly I think not. The Senate is the senior den of thieves. Jim Trautman
4
Republican Rectitude,
Now and then,
Can only fool
So many men.
And no women.
4
The senate is where white evangelicals and right wing white Roman Catholics get to bulky everyone.
It is the exact opposite of aristocracy.
"I smell a rat" Patrick Henry
1
The biggest mistake Kentucky you have ever done was send Mitch McConnell to the Senate. A Republican sitting on 270 bills without passing through the Senate a game changer,
I doubt if he ever read any of them you would say that he's bad for America the ideals that we stand for makes you believe that he doesn't stand for American values and American people. His corrosive behavior is dangerous I believe he should be in jail.
I had don't see a good leader any good point the bring out for Sen. Mitch McConnell the writings on the wall is time for the other senators to wake up to remove them from the Senate.
Many of the bills under his desk our entitlement programs that All-American people needs be a sign, instead of the grim reaper Sen. Mitch McConnell's goals by should be called the biggest idiot that Kentucky has been sent to the Congress. But knowing Kentuckians the voting back into office why I should ask every American.
I think All states should ratify term limits because the Senators will not enjoy their day in the sun can. I don't think the forefathers have thought this out term limits wherever that's bad for America institution so please Kentuckians vote 2020 Sen. Mitch McConnell out office Americans praying for you Kentucky.
3
This is funny!
The NY Times, famous for reliably carrying stories VERY easy on Democrats and always harsh on the President while ignoring the real facts that help their political opponents, decides that it hates the Senate because it isn't reliably progressive.
The Times' oldest enemies, the Founders, installed the Senate to be The Adults In The Room.
But progressive zealots hate adults anywhere when the young and stupid are SO wonderfully gullible and malleable.
2
@L osservatore: The Democrats in Congress are the adults in the room, who do not want to put up with a lying treasonous president who thinks he's King of America. The Republicans are the ones who play deaf, dumb and blind in the face of Trump's malfeasance.
6
McConnell is a traitor to his country.
10
Bouie, are you an expert on anything of what you speak? Or are you just a journalist who reads the Federalist Papers and thinks he's an expert? You're unconvincing.
2
@JP: And what, exactly, are you an expert in?
3
Mitch McConnell’s Complicity Has Deep Roots"……...
"Now fifty years later an ex- GOP Senator is having breakfast with his grandson……….
Grandson - “Grandpa what did you do during the Great Trump Impeachment hearings?"….
Ex-Senator Grandpa - “ I helped overthrow the nasty old United States Constitution"…..
"Those were great days in our revolution against democracy"……
"Now eat your borscht before it gets cold — you don’t want to be late for indoctrination"…………
5
James Madison, a Federalist and considered Father of the Constitution, was aware of the problems inherent in the Senate. He admitted that things could work only if "Statesmen" were elected who would be willing to put the country's interests ahead of their own thirst for power.
The fault really lies with the GOP senators and those citizens who continue to vote for them.
9
While the antifederalists may have had real concerns that are impacting our governing process today, it is likely due to a different reason than they imagined. Today we have 50 states, each fairly represented in the Senate with two senators, a means to ensure minority opinions have the right to be heard. What the antifederalists, or the founding fathers for that matter, couldn't imagine was that the minority population of the country would actually control the government. The expectations are that by 2040, two-thirds of Americans will be represented by just 30% of the Senate. But we don't have to wait until 2040 to see the impact of minority rules. Look back to 2000's presidential election, to 2016's presidential, or to the overall vote count for senators across the country. Today, in America, THE MINORITY RULES. And they know it and will do whatever they can to ensure it stays like that.....and why wouldn't they. We wouldn't be talking about antifederalists or impeachment witnesses if the Senate were controlled by the total number of people who actually voted. As our country continues to grow on the coasts and shrink in the interior you can expect much more of this to come. It is the natural outcome of the majority of people getting sidelined by the system.
3
It is more than outrageous that one person has this kind of authority. It goes against all reason and law. If Kentucky does not get rid of the worst Senator ever, we cannot expect true relief from authoritarianism even when the worst president is gone.
6
The problem is that POTUS Donald J. Trump is not the only corrupt figure in this situation. It appears there are several House and Senate members involved with the impeachment which have also engaged in questionable activities associated with Trump's corruption and obstruction of Congress. Rep. Nunes is a prime example.
4
The deep roots of Mitch McConnell can also be found in the stranglehold the anti-choice group has on the GOP. I think this point does not get enough mention. If the GOP votes against Trump in any way, they are voting against God to these people. I tried for a long time to look at them as fellow-Americans with the right to their opinion, but they are now more than that. They are a cult - a group of people with a closed-minded, automatic negative reaction to anything that opposes their ideology. The press has missed this story for years - especially since the Sara Palin days, and they're missing it again. These people need to be called out for the one-issue bullies that they are, and politicians, like McConnell, called out for submitting to them and taking their money.
6
What else are the Republican Senators willing to sell. Obviously, they have sold off the idea that the President, as with anyone else committing crimes, should be brought to a trial with witnesses and evidence. They have sullied the idea that justice is above the influences of power, money and connection; but, indeed, justice does rest in the hands of the powerful and most influential people. They have squandered the richness of the rhetoric that the government has a check and balance system, protecting the American people via each branch of government being able to circumvent the other. They have destroyed the idea that this is the "home of the brave" by banishing their cowardice and selfish entitlements in obsequious silence of obedience. And, at last, they have turned a blind eye to the clarity of decency. Even a child knows when the emperor has no clothes on; even a child knows the guilt of having been caught in the forbidden cookie jar. And even a child knows there is a price to pay for such a trespass.
3
Thanks for the history about the US Senate and the antifederalists. That was interesting. Mitch McConnell is horribly corrupt. But if Obama didn't abuse his presidency––and I'm talking about more than executive orders––McConnell wouldn't have this much power. Obama fell under the sway of some powerful groups when he became powerful, maybe before he became president. He was a Chicago Democrat after all and our city is notorious for corruption. The Chicago brand of corruption emboldened the Republican brand of corruption to oppose it. I liked Obama's policies. But there is a lot under the surface that Democratic apologists would rather not discuss.
@David: You are way too vague about Obama's alleged abuse of his presidency and his Chicago times to be credible. If you have any specifics and convincing evidence, pray tell us.
8
@David One or two examples please of Obama's corruption?
I despair. It will break my heart if the 2020 election turns out to be the funeral of our democracy.
3
" ... the White House team is doubling down on a defense that is directly contradicted by the account in Mr. Bolton’s book ... They say the investigations were requested out of a concern for corruption in Ukraine ... " (NYTimes, 28Jan2020) Don't confuse them with the facts. "That's our story and we're stickin' to it."
1
Almost no document, including a national constitution, can compensate for the vicissitudes of human nature. For most of our history we have depended on the concept of 'character' to buttress the function of our government. But what happens when we have a POTUS and majority leader of the Senate with no character, characters who are venal and power mad, liars and cheats, willing to recruit foreign thugs and coerce domestic players to support their hold on power and corrupt schemes? What you have then is closer to a criminal enterprise than a decent representative government of a free people.
5
The new normal coming our way looks very dark to me. In it, presidents are all-powerful, unless stupid enough conduct skulduggery out in the open.
They can put their sneaky business on top secret servers. They can go after whistle blowers as spies or traitors. They can spend public money and foreign assistance directly as a tool of their elections (as distinguished from policy results their voters find pleasing). The Senate will be their lapdog.
Is that going to be our new best qualification for the office of the president? They must be clever enough to cover their tracks in plausible deniability. And make that plausibility a very mild type; just saying it makes it so. That is a low bar indeed.
I don't see how this works out. Maybe some Trump supporters would like to weigh in. How does the post-Trump presidency work with no impeachment available for abuse of power? You're never going to see an actual High Crime or Misdemeanor again. They'll be undetectable.
3
Mitch McConnell is a PRIME example of why our government is in such sorry shape!
3
Is the Hope and Dream of America going to be drowned by the US Senate? As the worldwide community watches, Liberty herself, Freedom herself, Justice herself is being dumped into an ocean of lies, tribalism, loyalty to the values of Power over Fairness. Sad
4
Standing outside the National Archives 6 years ago, my wife and I observed Senator Orrin Hatch step out of his Cadillac Escalade in a suit that would turn Al Sharpton green with envy. His hair was perfect. The driver and security guards were handling him amongst the people like he was Robert Plant in the 70’s. Truly a rock star. A 42 year senator. Permanent aristocracy?
4
Nadler's statement may have been accurate, but strategically it was wrong. You don't tell a jury that it is being treacherous--you tell a jury that you expect it, like all good citizens, to consider the facts fairly and to come to the only possible conclusion. Then you tell them what that conclusion has to be.
Republicans feel compelled to support the president. Threats by the president and the RNC would never be tolerated against a real jury--but they have apparently occurred here. Nevertheless, the Senators know what the truth is and they know what their duty is. They will look for any excuse to avoid that duty. They will do whatever they can to point the finger elsewhere and to damage Democrats.
But at the end of the day, we have to hope that at least a few of them will stand up and do their duty.
On the other hand, if Trump is impeached, Pence will probably pardon him. If he's not and a Democrat is elected, a pardon becomes much less likely.
I say we get rid of the U.S. Senate and the Electoral College! Who's with me?!
2
"antifederalists . . . question the Senate's purpose". That's it! Democrats are finally coming out with it; they want a direct democracy, not a federal system of states. What would that do? It would concentrate almost all political power in the hands of maybe 15 or 20 big-city (Democratic) political bosses and eliminate almost all political power for about 80% of the rest of the country. Democrats don't want reform, they want revolution!
Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in prison because there were too many influential people afraid he would reveal their association with him. Why do you think the encounters always occurred at properties Epstein owned? Because he audio/video recorded everything. Including Donald Trump.
Trump is now likely in possession of the recordings that still exist. Including Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz. That's why Prince Andrew is now hiding from the public and Dershowitz was willing to ruin his reputation by working on the Trump defense team in the Senate trial.
The Republican swamp is trying to rule the world thru authoritarian government. So they can rob the world of it's wealth and use gangsters and the military to enforce their authority. Like Putin in Russia.
We know it's true because it's what we would do if we were them.
1
The judge in the trial, John Roberts, can call witnesses. Why doesn't he?
2
The true name for the American Senate: the House of Lords.
1
All the team is guilty the walls are caving in Trump is running his mouth for his life.
3
Even Republican voters who believe Trump did abuse the power of his office, and did obstruct Congress, still don't want Trump convicted and removed.
So, if the re-election strategy is to solidify the base, perhaps McConnell ought to allow all appropriate witnesses and evidence.
That way, Republican Senators and Trump supporters can maximize the satisfaction of flipping the bird to the "libruls," when the GOP Senators vote to acquit, and the Trump supporters vote to re-elect.
1
The flaws of the great experiment are becoming excellently clear. Impeachment has become a classroom for me these last weeks. This is among one of the most interesting lessons yet. Could be a great discussion in any of a myriad of courses (Philosophy of Law). Thank you for this informed op ed.
Is there no consequence for a senator who proclaims he will acquit Trump no matter what evidence is presented and then proceeds to take an oath to be impartial? That's what McConnell and Graham did. I'm sure CJ Roberts heard those remarks and observed their taking the oath. Is he powerless to do anything?
3
The Framers envisioned a Congress of men of ambition and principle, whose personal interests would not allow them to kowtow to an 'imperial' presidency.
We have instead evolved a Congress of 'safe districts', with members elected by parties catering to the narrow interests, with desires of their constituents secondary. When the party is led by a demagogue, or a self-centered, unprincipled person, Congress is all too eager to 'go along and get along' rather than stand up to a megalomaniac in the White House.
When presidents at least tried to create the appearance of governing 'for all the people', and pretended to be concerned more about the security of the nation than the security of their position, the system worked. As an increasingly powerful executive branch took advantage of Congress's desire to never take any action that might upset -anyone-, presidents grew more powerful.
For Congress it was far better to let the executive branch make all the tough decisions. Now Congress's abdication of their own interests is coming around to bite them... Trump willfully, blatantly, and openly abuses his office for his own personal gain and aggrandizement -- and his party in Congress is so scared and cowed that they fail miserably to be a check on Trump.
Standing up to Trump will require courage and convictions that members of Congress has been lacking for decades. I don't think any Republican Senators will 'find their mojo' now, after being weak vassals for years.
5
If this were a real trial presided over by a competent judge -a trial you might be involved in- so much would be different. The Court (here, Chief Justice Roberts) would be wise to chose the Federal Rules of Evidence, which many states have adopted in modified form. In such case, subpoenas would be enforced, absent a statutory and/or traditional immunity claim. I doubt our founding fathers intended to grant immunity to the President's team. Roberts would rule on the admission of evidence, and the F.R.E. are a wide net in this regard. Here, we have a trial with the Defendant, in striped pajamas, ruling on evidence and witnessed. It's beyond ridiculous and is sublimely absurd.
3
But the base eats it up like corn dogs down to the County Fair.
The Constitution was written as a careful rationalization of rich colonists' rape and murder of captive hostages in enslaved labor farms. Rape and murder had to made constitutional in order for these plantation owners slave traders to join into the war for independence and the new nation.
Today, there is a legal theory called Originalism that argues that the country was founded by people whose ideas are so good that we shouldn't deviate from what we imagine they thought at the time. Justice Scalia famously (and quite psychotically) thought he was the one who knew best what these rapists and their apologists really thought.
The eighteenth century Federalists wanted to protect the minority of the opulent from the tyranny (righteous payback?) of the majority by reducing democracy (the power of voters) and increasing constitutional protections for the wealthy (the power of property). In just forty years, the neo-Federalist originalists have erased two hundred years of scientific, social, and moral progress and moved the society back into the late eighteenth century. It's an impressive achievement.
The other option, opposed to reducing democracy, is to reduce inequality. This is the progressive politics best expressed in the current primaries by Sanders and Warren. I hope enough people realize just how far into weird fantasy and magical thinking our legal and political institutions have wandered, and that it helps them vote smarter this time.
5
As former Senator, Claire McCaskill, stated on MSNBC, The Republicans have 53 votes, if they want a certain witness, they can call any witness they want. So, what is McConnell worried about?
3
The radical nature of the "Resistance" -- in the name of pursuing their politics, even the institutions of government are now targets. First the Electoral College, now the Senate itself. The perfidious nature of using "American values" to undermine American institutions.
2
"Senators have not conspired to...make seditious treaties with foreign powers."
Mitch McConnell in effect did just that when he invited Netanyahu to address Congress without notifying Obama's White House, in violation of the law.
252
Get out and vote. 63 Million Trump voters just ain't enough, let's get 100 Million Anti-Trump voters.
13
I’ve said this all along: the impeachment of President Trump will backfire on the Democrats and could cause Trump to be re-elected. The problem is that what President Trump did on the phone call with the President of Ukraine is atrocious and in bad taste but is it a ‘high crime or misdemeanor’ worthy of impeachment? There is really no ‘smoking gun’ here. Sure, the conversation was obviously laced with all kinds of innuendos but no real substance. This process was doomed to failure from the start.
17
@Mike L Mike, soliciting a political favor of an ally would be worthy of impeachment even if it did not involve extortion and a quid pro quo; even if it did not constitute a bribe; even if it did not employ extra-legal means to avoid scrutiny within government,and even if it did not benefit a hostile power.
163
Astounding. So you're saying it's OK for a president to use the power of the office for personal gain? And if Congress wanted to investigate that behavior, it's also OK for the president to refuse to completely comply? If yes, this makes the president above the law! Still OK?
167
@Mike L The kind view of Trump’s communication style wrt to Pres Z is ‘Executive’. In high level (Fortune 500 and others), large group business meetings I’ve had the good fortune in which to participate, the big executive (CEO, Corp VP, etc.) only speaks in broad and general terms, reinforcing the detailed work of staff. Everyone knows what it all means based upon countless prior lower level meetings and discussions. The mountain of evidence presented in the impeachment trial shows us the real and specific message, delivered not by the big exec, but by those under him/her.
45
And they would be right to say "we told you so." Very interesting article. I confess I was not au courant with these criticisms of that body.
I also confess that I was greatly relieved we had the 2/3 rule during the time when the Republicans have ruled the House. What a nightmare.
3
To compare the Senate of 1974 to that of 2020 is not only to identify contemporary deficiencies in character.
It is to contemplate modern base-voter willed blindness. And a partisan, pro-defendant, and cynical news media and commentariat of which Nixon could only dream.
And presidential defense attorneys so steeped in their patron’s relentless venality that they have spent much of their time before the Senate telling the body and the nation lies.
It is to see senators sufficiently contemptuous of their Constitutional charge to seek the truth that they are doing what they can to hide, from a trial, relevant documentary and testamentary evidence.
And it is to witness the Chief Justice of the United States, nominally the trial’s presiding officer, conduct himself as a mannequin.
We learn again that when corruption meets cowardice, decency, integrity, and honor become optional.
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”
8
Thank you for the "deep dive" into the forming of the Constitution. I didn't know these concerns raised by-the anti-federalists, but they seem awfully prescient now.
One thing that should be highlighted is how things can turn. For instance, many liberals/progressives have sided with the idea of a strong federal government and judicial activism, seeing that influence come to bear on behalf of racial and gender bias and discrimination among other things. But the strong federal "gate" swings both ways, as we can see from rulings like Citizens United, and rolling back gains in the social and other areas that are dear to progressives by Congress under Republican control shows us.
Be careful what one wishes for.
2
It has been often observed that anyone in control of social power feels free to do as they might want with impunity, and that this is very hard to resist. McConnell and the Republican Party has shown with respect to Trump's many defiantly contrary behaviors that having a Republican as President who signs anything that they submit to him is more important than the laws which assure that government is limited according to consent of the governed. What they fail to grasp is that while this may empower their Party's control over government, it weakens the law's ability to preserve their individual liberties.
1
@Casual Observer - - - No political party anywhere among the Western democracies has been as consistently opposed to individual rights for the past fifty years as the Democratic Party in the U.S.
From free expression as championed by Citizens United to the individual right to have a firearm, the farther out a Dem is on the Left, the more opposed she or he is to human rights as opposed to the power and control the state demands to hold over the people.
Dems even oppose the right of wage-earners to control what happens to their own money.
Our public infrastructure is a mess because of the excessive tax cutting of the last forty years.
The conservatives message is mostly take what they cannot steal and pretend that they just want to be free.
1
Ridiculous. The Republican Party cares not one bit about liberty, it seeks license to behave contrary to the basic rights of others if those others cannot stop them. It seeks to enjoy a modern state while free riding on others.
Gun rights are an issue because we cannot remove guns from people who are clear and present dangers to others. The gun control extremists are frightened of dangerous people with guns and all that really needs to be clear to them is that all gun owners that they meet want reasonable controls to greatly reduce gun violence.
1
The founders never saw a state with 20 million people. For Ohio to have as many senators as California is fundamentally anti-democratic. Updating American democracy with some sensible redistribution of public input into democracy - say by giving states with larger populations one additional senator for every ten million or part thereof by which their population exceeds ten million - could restore some popular dynamism to a broke polity.
10
Thank you. Great column. Love the history lesson, references and arguments from the ages, makes for a rich and fascinating insight.
3
In this case, the senators may be dependent on the president's good graces for their immediate political futures, but that doesn't mean that the president's good graces, if he doesn't turn on them, are sufficient for them to remain in office.
1
"'This Senate being constituted a privy council to the President, it is probable many of its leading and influential members may have advised or concurred in the very measures for which he may be impeached,' Luther Martin, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, observed in his November 1787 address to the Maryland legislature."
Why, yes. Could be.
1
Thank you for this detailed analysis of how our government was not designed to be a democracy--or even a representative republic--but an oligarchy, putting some gloss on what has been a succession of implicit monarchs, and a hierarchy of power with the peoples' representatives at the bottom of the power pole.
George Washington was the exception to this, refusing to use his power as such, and warning successive generations.
It took the scare of F.D.R. to see that the people might succeed in finding their own "monarch," pushing forth a constitutional amendment to limit presidential terms.
The real issue is the passage of "simple majority" voting by the Senate for the Supreme Court. Real progress for all Americans only happens at the confluence of the Democratic and Republican parties with a 2/3 majority choosing the path forward. Simple majority votes only lead to ping ponging the majority back and forth between the two sides without any true compromise. America moves forward when the two parties work together and stagnates when either party rams through their agenda.
7
@Bill: This vetting is absolutely central to the equity of judgment in the courts. The system is illegitimate without equal input to the vetting process.
1
Impeachment is not seen in Europe because they have Prime Ministers who lead their parties. Some last a few months until they are impeached. Some last several years.
Our founders did it differently. They took much from the unwritten constitution of the Iroquois league–the only extant example of a group nations joining together for a common purpose. But they could not see the value of impeachment by the clan mothers. We can think of no other group that recognizes so reliably when Johnny is abusing his power. The League lasted from the 13th century and continues today reflecting the values of resilience and looking to the seventh generation that are personified in the women. In a culture of impeachment it is rarely used because every Johnny knows the rules.
6
This and a few other opinions have forced me (as a writer and amateur historian) to create a new category in my computer files under "magnificent." This deserves further study and use in light of our current political malady. Thank you.
3
I once remembered a comment by a Korean professor. He said that their Constitution was very much like ours because they modeled it on ours. He also say the big difference is that you follow yours. It would appear that we are following it less and less. Words are meaningless when people with power seek to subvert the rules.
It's time to re-think not just the Electoral College but the Senate itself. We've all seen what the future holds: It won't be long before 70 percent of the population is represented by only 30 percent of Senators. This is disenfranchisement on a massive scale.
Senators were originally elected by state legislatures and weren't directly elected by the public until after a Constitutional amendment was passed in 1913.
The makeup and population distribution of the country has changed significantly over the years and the Constitution has been revised and amended accordingly. The goal, "to form a more perfect union," has never changed.
5
Pragmatism rules. Power the only goal; Trump an abstraction. A means to an end. McConnell and Graham understand no to let go in the effort to get a better grip; or risk losing power.
1
The fact that few if any senators have the courage to stand up to McConnell for a fair trial, one with real witnesses and less hyperbole, bodes ill for our country.
6
There was a fantasy in early America about an educated agrarian class, personified by the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Believing men like themselves would populate and lead in rural America, they sought to give them a leg up by creating a Senate unaffected by the census.
They would have most likely rethought this if only they could have time-traveled to the rally in New Jersey tonight.
6
Note to Senators Johnson and Murkowski: As Harry Truman once said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."
6
Only decade on decade of voting Democratic can save us now. Must wipe the Republican stain off the Constitution and at some point sunset the Electoral College. Changing how SCOTUS justices are appointed should include additional safeguards, perhaps a voter referendum that could kick in if XX% disprove of the nominee.
We've got to take back the power of government into our own hands.
5
At this point, one must challenge the founder's belief that their system is better than the by-then established vote of no confidence of the parliamentary system that leads to prompt elections to dislodge deadlocks.
4
This excellent column is a real eye opener. Perhaps, after calling the Senate "the world's greatest deliberative body", Justice Roberts should read it?
9
Well, a corrupt Senate majority couldn't find a better leader than Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky.
An extreme form of partisanship known as feuding is a long established tradition in the Appalachian hills of KY. Famously the Hatfields and the McCoys would shoot each other on sight, for no other reason than a last name. Honor is defined by family relationship rather than by any larger community.
So its only a stone's throw from there to the extreme "no rules" partisanship of the Majority Leader, who happily shoots down any proposals from the other party just because of their name, including a Supreme Court nominee. Complete absence of larger principles leads the Marority Leader to promise to rapidly confirm Trump's nominee no matter how close to the 2020 election, with a wicked grin.
6
@Look Ahead: LBJ pioneered trickle-down political funding. Today, McConnell controls the trickle-down to the whole Republican Senate delegation.
1
Thank you-again Mr. Bouie for another great piece.
Without leading the reader down a long, dry laborious history lesson- you provide succinct historical perspective on the WHY of Mitch McConnell...and the horrific results. I look forward to your weekly perspective: The NYT Reader's gain.
5
Senate Republicans are breaking the oath they swore. When they swore it, most of them had no intention of keeping it. This is immoral; if it is also not illegal, the oath, the impeachment, and the Constitution that specifies the oath all become a sick joke, an empty shell where honor should be.
To continue in the same body where oathtaking has been trashed will be difficult for Democrats. The most obvious and traditional way for them to handle this is to pretend it did not happen, so that our government's moral authority becomes one of the Emperor's outfits, much praised but actually nonexistent. An alternate is for Senators to bring canes to the chamber and have at it. Another alternative is needed, but Democrats will have to invent it.
1
In breaking their oaths, they are breaking the third commandment. Even ther pious posturing as Christians is false.
A Republican uses "offended" as if an offense has been committed against him/her/them when in truth the meaning in context is more akin to being offended by the truth.
5
Well argued and delivered, Mr Bouie! The Republicans ought to be ashamed of themselves and their president, but, I fear, shame is no longer in their souls. I wish it was surprising to know that our elected representatives have sold their fealty to Donald John Trump instead of where it rightly belongs in the Constitution of the United States and the People of this once admired nation. We are becoming pariahs in the world because our government is no longer trustworthy. The word of the USA means nothing! And the oaths that these Senators took is hollow. Were I Mr Zelensky, I would be happy that I never received the White House audience for which my country was being extorted to receive. I’ve never been a fan of Mr Bolton, but I do respect him and believe that his Loyalty belongs to Country, not Party. The man who would be king does not deserve the wall of protection afforded him by his fellow Republicans. Vote, Vote, Vote! Your state’s representatives are directly elected. No electoral college protects them from you!
1
This is one of THE most specious arguments I have ever read. If the author has any constitutional history he knows such concerns were then unfounded BECAUSE Senators did not owe their seats to people, but rather state legislatures.
The Republic took an enormous hit because of the Seventeenth Amendment. I so wonder what would be happening now if these RINOs were not accountable to the rabble in red or blue states - EXACTLY as the Framers intended? Trump would be gone, and more fool anyone for thinking otherwise.
1
The comment does have some validity. William S. White in CITADEL notes that the Senate is mis-named. The body is - of course - called the Senate of the United States; but (as White points out) in reality the body is The Senate of the States.
And White points out that no president, no lobby, no force of public opinion can force the Senate to act in against its will, if the Senate is acting on a matter that is within its exclusive purview.
And the trial of a president is the within the exclusive power of the Senate.
If ne doubts this, I suggest one review the facts surrounding the confirmation of Bret Kavanaugh.
4
Nadler is correct, the Senate is also on trial and the America people are watching.
8
Vile misuse of the Senate was seen in McConnell's denying President Obama his Constitutional right to appoint his choice to a Supreme Court opening.
Now McConnell (and the Model T like line up of Trump's Republican toadies) threaten to do even worse in pulling out all the stops to make their "court" a home for kangaroos fleeing Australia's wild fires.
Who would have thought John Bolton would ever (EVER!) be the person we turn to for saving American democracy and our key political institutions and traditions.
Fact? Fiction? Impossible to tell the difference these days. And each is stranger than the other.
7
The cold war phase of the American Civil War continues. 1861 - ?
I don't blame mentally impaired people like Trump.
I don't completely blame low empathy opportunists like McConnell.
I blame the majority of voters in those states that do not take these corrupt actions seriously. I blame those voters that still consider themselves Southerners first, not Americans first unless your definition of America only includes the kind of people they want.
3
Given the level of surveillance on EVERYONE in this country one has to wonder what dirt Trump has on all these Senators.
Let's be blunt. The Republican Party was NOT happy with Trump grabbing the nomination. He has not been easy to control - he's the definition of a loose cannon. You think they'd be looking for any opportunity to dump him. Instead they follow him in lockstep. This makes no sense unless Trump is using all the dirt that the NSA et al collects. We saw it with the Patriot Act - all the REPUBLICANS that screamed against it somehow ended up voting FOR it.
3
Nadler is right to be worried about the brazen cover-up being enacted by the Republican Senate and Mr. Trump's unctuous play-acting lawyers. Their rhetoric beggars belief. It is unsound. It is not fact-based. It ignores evidence and it attempts to sway by distortion, cheap theatrics, and repetition of baloney-based "theories." Will the Republican senators actually back this huckster, Mr. Trump, and everything he represents? We have fallen very very low indeed.
4
The French are currently on their Fifth Republic. Nothing stops the American people from moving on to their Second.
It’s true that a certain amount of collapse might be required, but we seem to be getting that anyway.
3
President Trump made a big mistake.. delay the aid to Ukraine while asking for an inspection on the Biden's role in that country. We are living "post-modern" politics, in a Post Modern World. where to destroy the reputation of an opponent is always valid. If Trump wanted to know the role of Hunter Biden in Burisma he could have done it through the State Attorney. But Mr. Trump wanted a big super show with the hope that it will help him to be reelected on Nov 2020. We are living sad times as Rep Adam Schiff expressed. We need other kind of President able to be a good friend to Western Europe
1
Rakove, among others made clear that the anti-Federalists were not unified in their opposition Also at the time of the Constitution's creation there were no political parties. It is the Republican Party that is driving the Senate's treasonous behavior. Finally, the anti-Federalists pushed for what became the 2nd Amendment. They wanted state militias armed with guns to oppose the second coming of George III.
1
Relax, friends. This will all be forgotten by Memorial Day. Political theater is rarely very memorable.
@Timothy: I think Justice Alito was counting on this when Citizens United was handed down ten years ago. No, we haven't forgotten.
2
@ChicagoWill
How can we forget Citizen's United? It is the constant poison that sickens the nation day after day. It is even allowing billionaires to buy the election by running for president from the comfort of their living rooms.
Capt. Marko Ramius:
A little revolution now and then is a healthy thing, don't you think?
My guess is the movie that spawned this quote has been repeated enough times that it jogs the memory of even those in our younger generation (a generation I left behind many years ago). I can almost hear Putin whispering to Trump in an empty room- one of those meetings we know nothing about- these same words. If he had how do you think Trump would have responded? My point here is that if by chance Putin said something like this, very few of us have the confidence to believe that Trump put Putin in his place.
Yet, though I don't believe revolution is a good thing- much as I believe divorce is never a good thing- sometimes it is necessary. The 'trick' is to know if the marriage can be saved or must become something unrecognizable to survive.
I'm not prepared to live in an unrecognizable country. Therefore I'm glad the impeachment trial is taking place even if it strengthens a corrupt party that without a passion for democracy and what's right, acquits a president who may have already sold our country down the river. I am not an advocate of violence even though I've been told (accurately) that I have a bad temper. Our country may indeed be headed for a revolution of civil disobedience. I can't picture exactly what that would look like. John Lewis from my home state of Georgia probably has some insight. He will probably pass on before seeing true equality. He is free nevertheless.
3
President Trump’s approval rating is over 45 percent which is higher than his inauguration numbers. This proves this impeachment trial is not making too much of a difference. Few minds will be changed with this testimony and he is very unlikely to be removed with or without witnesses.
1
@KMW
I can't imagine what clips Fox News plays to keep the masses in line with their agenda. I suspect the claim that Democrats are "trying to tear up ballots" features front and center.
1
The GOA says Trump broke the law by withholding aid. Why isn't that mentioned more often?
7
To be fair, the major difference that comes to mind between then and now is the fact that in today's Republic the Senate is actually elected as opposed to being appointed by the state legislatures. Still, this doesn't diminish the point of the article, primarily because it had little effect on the Senate's independence from the Executive branch. "We told you so" still holds. What a timely history lesson.
3
The composition of this Republican controlled Senate willfully cedes the title of "world's greatest deliberative body" in service to the most corrupt President in American history.
By not only hiding truth, but denying objective facts it as well, they have become complicit in the rapid devolution of the honest governance we all ought desire. That within the Republican ranks we accept the most vapid pronouncements concerning Impeachment witnesses of Romney, Murkowski, and Collins as earth shaking, testifies to our low expectations that our elected representatives actually want to know the facts in this Impeachment trial.
They all surely know that given the history, deportment, and character of Donald J.Trump, he is likely guilty of, not only the charges enumerated, but a vast array of corruptions yet to be unearthed... and they will all be unearthed.
In spite of that they choose servile obedience to retain their positions. In doing so they bring shame upon themselves and subject the "world's greatest deliberative body" to disrepute.
The corrosive nature of this President's effect on American democracy was unprecedented. We must now reckon on how rapid the descent has been, and how our elected officials were complicit in permitting it to continue for their own purposes.
7
The most astonishing thing about the behavior of Senate Republicans is that even those not standing for reelection this fall remain mute on the issue of issuing subpoenas for documents and witnesses.
A trial without the presentation of evidence? A school child would laugh.
7
@S.R. Simon; These folks challenge the faith of the founders that secure sinecures attract and affirm the objective.
Just make Washington DC obsolete by leaving it to deal with the responsibilities the Constitution obliges. Or, move it to a new capital in the epicenter of the US population (like Brasilia). Let the states take care of the rest, local instead of federal taxation, that can be used locally for the good of the people. States Controlling the strings of the purse would relegate the undemocratic senate to deal with foreign policy, defense, and interstate commerce. It would remove the power of senators from historical mini states from interfering with other states like California, the 5th largest economy in the world. The populous states could survive as independent states, while the mini states, whose senators wield an outsized power over the large states, are totally dependent on the taxes paid by the populous ones. The republicans are supposed to love states rights, small government, and low federal taxes. Drain the Swamp!
1
@The Scandinavian: Localized school tax bases stratify the US economically.
6
An excellent and informative piece based on a careful reading of US founding history. Thank you!
9
The problem before the Republicans is that they are voting for 'more Trump' without consideration of what 'more Trump' means.
Given Mr. Trump's proclamations about never leaving the 'White House', they may be de facto creating a Trump led conversion of our government from a democracy into a dictatorship.
In addition to seeking a second term, Trump wants to broaden the Presidency from an elected office to a dictatorship for life. He has often brandished this desire, and in the way he treats both adversaries and allies as enemies whom he can control through sanctions and tariffs to bend all to his demands.
His idea that the world will be coerced to peacefully line up like his domestic sycophants is about as unrealistic for the US as Hitlers megalomaniacal attempt to rule the World. Especially when we have been unable to effectively rule the countries we have fought and won but never been able to turn them into manageable US fiefdoms.
The unintended consequences of empowering Trump to take over the rule of the United States will end much as Hitler's attempt to expand that rule as the Nazis did. Never underestimate the ambitions of Donald Trump!!!
Voters beware!!!!
9
The Senate is effectively an American House of Lords where the half million people in Wyoming have as many Senators as 39.5 million Californians are fiercely determined to conservatively preserve the status quo ante.
A legislative body full of the socioeconomic separate and superior American elite.
A legislative body that deliberately avoids debating, declaring and paying for war and peace along with evading making any meaningful socioeconomic choices about deficits and debt.
A legislative body that would shock and awe the Founding Fathers with it's women, it's black Africans, it's brown Indigenous Hispanic Latinos, it's Asians, it's Catholics, it's Italians, it's Irish, it's Polish, it's Jews and it's Mormons.
7
@Blackmamba Yes, it's crazy, but remember that very progressive Vermont, a tiny state, has as many senators as the huge state of Texas, which votes red. Politically, that apportioning cuts both ways.
2
@Blackmamba...
Mitch McConnell is simply a 21st Century Strom Thurmond.
1
The Walter Cronkite Republican observes the Republican Party does appear to have descended into "gangsta" politics.
7
Every senator who has conspired to cover up and complicit is a criminal.
Each of these criminals should be on trial.
Remove them all from office.
It’s coming...many republican votes are fleeing the party because they realized these senators are criminals.
It is like an organized crime, mafia...what about a RICO act against a few?
8
@Let’s Speak Up
When this nightmare ends, and eventually it will, a new administration will have to pick up all the pieces of this republic and somehow begin a process to engineer it's re-assembly. Parallel to that, a crack team of the best prosecutors and investigators will have to use the RICO statutes to understand the depth of corruption that has been perpetrated by the Trump administration and his cronies. Size, scope and duration? Imagine Ken Starr's report on Clinton x10.
1
I am sure that a majority of NYT readers have heard of Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, The Rights of Man and the oft quoted, “These are the times that trump men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot, will in in this crises, shrink from the service of their country, but he that stands by it now, deserves the thanks of man and woman.” The Republicans are summer soldiers and sunshine patriots, cowards.
What amazes me, Thomas Paine’s pamphlets, first published in 1776, at this time of crises and at a time when so many people were illiterate, sold over 100,000 copies.
Americans, unlike now, were hungry for the truth.
12
@DavidJ: "These are the times that *try* men's souls." They try my soul, for sure, but they don't trump it. I hope not yours, either.
1
The battle between Trump supporters and his opponents has sucked the air out of our nation. Congress is locked into a stalemate between the House and Senate. The nation is paralyzed by tweets, and news about the narcissist in the White House.
Most of us don't have the time for these distractions. We are too busy with everyday issues like our jobs, our health and the well-being of our families..
The current political "crisis" is nothing new. Our nation has faced corrupt politicians, political discord, and even a civil war. The United States has survived because Americans repeatedly came to the rescue by exercising their power at the ballot box. The current impeachment process is a warm-up for November, when voters make their choices in the 2020 election.
Like it or not, that system has worked well for centuries and will again, provided we protect the right to vote and the security of the process. These threats to our democracy already happened in the 2016 election . The right to vote is the most sacred of our values and was the founding principle of the American Revolution. No one, friend or foe, should ever be allowed to tamper with our election process. .
We should keep that in mind when voting for a Presidential candidate in November.
5
@MAK Being too busy with our jobs, our health and our families is exactly what the ruling class wants.
2
Thank you. Interesting read.
I think we are focusing too much on Trump and not enough on McConnell. It's the combination of those two that is doing the damage.
McConnell just makes up rules and interpretations, finds a few useful idiot constitutional scholars to back him, and turns it into the new normal. He's extremely dangerous to our democracy and needs to go. Even as minority leader, he will find ways to sabotage Democrats.
8
If Senator Murkowski feels offended by Nadler's honesty, she ought to pause and think of the vast majority of Americans who are watching her complicity in the annihilation of democracy, integrity, rule of law, and justice for American citizens. Americans are watching a fascist takeover of their government, largely assisted by some of the most despotic regimes in the world, and Murkowski feels "offended" by Nadler's remarks? Cry me a river, Ms. Murkowski. You are becoming just another traitorous, obedient pawn of despots, with no right to represent any democratic people of any nation, anywhere. I thought you had more integrity than to play your reality tv bit part on behalf of trump and putin, but I see I was wrong.
17
@Mua
Well stated! The GOP seems to want to turn the USA into a Russian style autocracy/oligarchy! Come November, let's get their stinking feet off our necks!
2
Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump are similar politicians; they are America’s top goons whose one and only calling is to self. But, they are not identical twins. Trump is the most narcissistic person, and McConnell the biggest hypocrite, to ever hold public office. One might be able to forgive the narcissist—because he may not fully comprehend his affliction. But, the hypocrite can never be forgiven—because he knows exactly how duplicitous he is.
6
““The president is on trial in the Senate, but the Senate is on trial in the eyes of the American people. Will you vote to allow all the relevant evidence to be presented here? Or will you betray your pledge to be an impartial juror?” Nadler said. “So far, I’m sad to say, I see a lot of senators voting for a cover-up, voting to deny witnesses, an absolutely indefensible vote, obviously a treacherous vote.””
Mr. Nadler is absolutely right.
Meanwhile....
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she was “offended,” while Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin called the House Judiciary chairman “out of line.”
Methinks Senators Murkowski and Johnson, dost protest too much. Offended! Upset! Outraged!
Fine. Do something about it. Call witnesses. Do _anything_ to bring the light of day, the light of transparency, to illuminate these proceedings. Get as much information as you can.
No?
Your protests are strangely weak. Republican Senators, all of you, are on trial.
Democrats, you are not on trial. You have done your duty...splendidly I might add.
12
Very good from NYT Opinion. This very nicely sums it up
"The trial against our corrupt chief executive is clearly slanted in his favor. If the antifederalist opponents of the Constitution could see us struggling now, they might just say, “We told you so.”'
4
Let's run the trial and trust out institutions.
If Trump is found innocent & 100% exonerated, it's on to 2020.
If our institution find him guilty and kick him out, I'll accept it.
@Tim
no. Trump is guilty of the charges and much more.
Your comment runs counter to the exact point of the column without making any supporting arguments. Senate Republicans are corrupt and there is no excuse for that. As for 2020, shove that argument. Trump lost in 2016. Republican Representatives and Senators get far fewer votes and represent FAR less of the population than Democrats do. We live in a corrupt Republic under the tyranny of the minority with an idiot wannabe king in the White House. It is unacceptable.
1
Best entertainment show during the impeachment: Morning Joe playing Judy Collins song 'Send in the clowns" while discussing Trump's attorneys. Total farce.
3
I despair that there seems to be absolutely no way to remove or even temper the horrible abuses of power by this madman. Those without a medical background may see a “strong”, “get-it-done” type of leader, but all I see is an aging narcissist who bears all the signs of the onset of senile dementia — complete with confusion, memory lapses, collapsing and co-mingling of dates and events (many of them historic: I mean, we need to protect Thomas Edison??!!, as well as whoever invented the wheel!!??), but perhaps most frightening of all, is the severe suspicion and paranoia and the belief that everyone is out to get him.
All of this spells real trouble.
11
Johnson and Murkowski pure unadulterated SNOW FLAKES
8
Yawl gotta stop calling America exceptional. It is exceptional in how racist it is, but not in any other way. Riches are not exceptional, I could argue riches make a man weak.
6
There is no system, however well designed, that can protect us against the deep personal insecurities that lead the current elected members of the GOP to seek money and power at any cost. McConnell and his followers are cowards and frauds. Deep down they know what they are, which makes them all the more desperate.
9
The whole world is laughing at your country. Not much of a democracy.
8
@Peter...
And they will never forget... for the next time an American politician mentions the phrase American exceptionalism... they are all going to burst out laughing.
2
When McConnell proclaims himself to be the “grim reaper”he’s proclaiming himself to be proudly corrupt.
3
Stack courts with conservative justices, after yesterday's social order. Legitimacy of the rules is in how the general public responds. Rule all a court wants for originalism and non living constitution end up like Lebanonise civil war "Christian majority got president office, Muslim became majority wanted president office, court read constitution as dead document said Christian is president."
“Senators have not conspired to make themselves a permanent aristocracy or make seditious treaties with foreign powers.” But they have cut sweetheart deals with Russian oligarchs to build aluminum mills in Kentucky.
8
And had the antifederalists prevailed . . . .
Those pesky southern states' righters would have applauded and Lincoln's 1850s prediction that slavery would take roughly until the 1950s to peter out might well have come true.
1
The GOP dreams of a day that they can maintain sustained Kleptocracy and Authoritarianism. They don’t care if their pathway is through an ignorant unwell guy. They have their eyes on the prize. SCOTUS is fulfilling their desire.
Trump is far and away the worst American who has ever lived. But second place is a tossup between Mitch McConnell and Rupert Murdoch.
The notion of our national leaders being even remotely decent people, let alone the best and brightest, is laughable.
3
So Murkoski has shown her duplicitous hand. Along with Maine's treacherous Collins, they will cry crocodile tears as they march with the rest of the GOP to the McConnell/Trump tune.
5
If I were a Federalist writer in the age of the Constitutional debate, I would merely conclude: Our Democratic Republic is simply meant to be the least bloody way to decide who gets what. In the current era I would add that every now and then you just need to tolerate a dangerous fool like Trump, in order to see just how flawed any system would be.
The deep roots are in the financial records of the RNC. Laundered Russian money in so many campaigns is the swamp McConnell stands in.
1
I am offended by these Republican senators...
3
Nicely crafted. An education
4
The Senator from Alaska was offended. What a load, as if Murkowski and everyone didn't know the whole process has been rigged before it even started by McConnell and the rest of the GOP. She and and Susan Collins are as complicit as all the other Republican outlaws in shielding Trump from the consequences of his own indefensible actions.
4
Marvelous historical account. It's one more sign that the founders of this nation were prescient.
However, there's a dismaying development the horizon. There just may be enough Republicans to call for witnesses, which will include the spectacle of the Bidens being subpoenaed. However, that's not the dismaying thing.
Calling any witnesses -- including Bolton -- and, then, voting to acquit Trump is almost inevitable. That will result in Trump and the Republicans claiming (lying) that they heard witnesses, that there wasn't anything new, and that Trump didn't do anything wrong. They will try to gaslight the country -- and Trump will run on having been acquitted. "NO CONSPIRACY! NO CONSPIRACY!" "NOT A PUPPET! NOT A PUPPET! YOU'RE THE PUPPET!"
Far better if the Republicans continue in their cult-like, zombie state, decline to call witnesses, and then VOTE TO acquit Trump. That will be proof positive that the entire Senate process was a sham, a cover-up, and a travesty perpetrated against the U.S. Constitution and our people.
It will be one more damning indictment of Mitch McConnell who, more than any elected legislator in Washington, has systematically undermined our democracy.
3
These guys are all guilty of extortion but we lost whatever justice system we had decades ago. We see over and over that the rich and guilty get treated with great respect while the poor and innocent get imprisoned. All of our politicians are garbage plain and simple.
Here is an apt quote from an actual Roman,"Nay, the senate's dignity has been prostituted to a ruthless enemy, your sovereignty has been betrayed, your country has been offered for sale at home and abroad. Unless cognizance is taken of these outrages, unless the guilty are punished, what will remain except to pass our lives in submission to those who are guilty of these acts? For to do with impunity whatever one fancies is to be a king." Gaius Memmius, quoted in Sallust, The War with Jugurtha.
299
@Rainsboro Man
Good pull. Parts of Sallust’s Jugurthine Wars could have been taken word for word from an Occupy Wall Street conclave.
In The Civil Wars, Appian traces the same road we’ve come down: destructive of the external threat (Carthage) allows the elites to start preying on their former allies in the (small landholders ) middle class, systematically impoverishing and disempowering them, then comes concentration of wealth, stubborn attachment to privilege, increasing instability and then revolution, purges and more revolution. Finally, the dictatorship. Hope we can break this cycle.
Not a surprise that a leading Right Wing propaganda tank is the Cato Institute.
16
@Rainsboro Man :
For 40% of Americans, those are features, not bugs.
7
@Rainsboro Man very very very apropos.
6
A simple reading of the Constitution should remind anyone that the Senate is all about stability and the long-term interests of the Republic. The Republic, at the time of our founders, was all about keeping the united states together, so bargains were made. The Senate is constructed to afford states and senators for whom slavery was essential for business the same "rights" as those other states.
But, as long been the way in a capitalist system, the owners work hard to keep more capital, keep labor costs down, because they believe in their kind of stability, ensured by senators.
While we may have become the "United States" because of the Civil War, the owners never really gave up on depending upon cheap labor. Slavery gets replaced by despicable "freedom of contract" arrangements. Unions try to elevate the well-being of workers, but the owners' push-back charges them with being "socialists" or "communists" wishing to steal from the owners.
In all of our struggles toward a more perfect union, the Senate, by design acts as a governor that slows down progress toward social justice. But, once in a while, the Senate, albeit often begrudgingly, lurches forward, with steps like Social Security, Medicaid/Medicare, Civil Rights Acts, Air and Clean Water Acts.
The owners, however, never have, and never will make those steps easy. And the owners have never given up trying to take back what they think they lost from the New Deal through the Great Society.
1
On another note what does it tell us about our most venerated, highfalutin institutions, a.k.a Harvard, West Point, Yale and the rest...
Most of the senators on both sides graduated these revered educational establishments, as well as trump's slavish entourage, including Pompeo, Dershowitz, Barr etc...
John Bolton graduated Yale Law School.
Makes me deeply sad for all obvious reason.
This is the real crisis of higher education.
Not only young people now are overburdened with high debt, but also they don't learn anything that resembles integrity and decency, that any parent would expect from these institutions.
4
So the arguments of the Founders about impeachment showed fear that dishonorable senators would conspire with the president to refute the will of the people. I guess they were right to worry.
In a long winded way, Mr. Bouie describes McConnell as our country's greatest threat.
2
The 1st Estate & the 2nd Estate versus the 3rd Estate. This is ye olden tale indeed.
OK. Seriously. Can anyone tell me what McConnell or Graham are interested in - outside of politics?
Back at the end of the Eisenhower years and the Kennedy years, I was in college and grad school, quite interested in the various writers who wrote regarding the rise and decline or the rise and fall of civilizations. The country was riding high--Europe and Japan we just beginning to see the fruits of their post WWII recovery. At the time I thought to myself, "I suppose, if all other civilizations have declined or fallen, perhaps a couple centuries down the road, though it's hard to imagine, this will be the fate of the US too, long after I'm gone!" Little did I know, little did I know! As a trained social scientists, I suppose cynically I could say, "Gee, what a bonus--how many really get to witness such a phenomenon, but really, it is so sad, especially since we could have been a good society.
3
Mitch McConnell….cringeworthy best describes this politician…….
3
It's really hard for me to believe that in a trial that will likely determine the future of our country, Republicans are arguing against having witnesses and documentation, and that Democrats are literally begging for scraps and having just one single witness testify. We are on a fast track toward having a system of government where Republican presidents are above the law and totally unaccountable to Congress or the public, and I am afraid they will have it so.
4
When you don't have direct Democracy like you do in Switzerland, then you really won't have good government, no matter which side of the aisle is in power. All Congress does, is borrow more, and more money for the legislation it passes that needs funding without taxing for all of it, and you will have both dangerous foreign policy, and poor domestic policy as well. If the taxpayer had been taxed for all the legislation that Congress had passed over the last 60 years, you wouldn't of had the build up of the cold war, the Vietnam War, the new entitlements that were never fully funded, the 20 year war in the middle east that is still going on, and the over 70,000 pages of the IRS Tax Code, that gives so many deductions, and credits that few are paying any federal taxes in this day and age, including the rich, and the poor, mostly the middle class. Good government comes about because of reality, understanding there is a finite financial picture, and the needs of all 330 million people that live in this country, whether or not 30 million of them are undocumented or not, must be provided for. The infrastructure to keep the wheels of the economy going, commodities and food transported, housing, healthcare, public K-12 that must be provided for with English as a second language, the courts, and social service system must have many language interpreters. Ballots must be provided for up to 300 languages in this country. When you have more people taking than giving, it is over.
2
As another commenter has written here 2 weeks ago —
“McConnell loves Trump because Trump creates chaos. And when there is chaos, it is easy to steal.”
The September 17, 2019 issue of RollingStone magazine reports that McConnell is the poorest in the Senate when he entered Washington but is now the richest of them all.
Contrast that with Kentucky which is at #47 in poverty.
McConnell is in politics just like his wife, to enrich himself.
The constitution, patriotism, and democracy are mere inconvenient concepts.
As he has written in his memoir:
“The three most important words in politics are: CASH ON HAND.”
8
@Opinioned! And most of their money like Boris Johnson and the group that pushed for leaving the EU is parked off shore and not touchable. Hey why should they have to pay taxes that is for the rubes. Jim Trautman
If the Nixon tapes were discovered today, these Republicans would try and prevent them from being introduced. This is not about right and wrong. This is about power, plain and simple. For if this were medicine and a growth was discovered on your body and the body belonged to Trump, it would be a mole or a cyst or some other benign growth. Same finding on a Democrat would be a death sentence. And these Republicans aren't even willing to get a biopsy.
308
@Walking Man Gee,what is funny is that when you take American history in schools one is taught how wonderful the Founders were. Sorry they were in it for their own wealth not unlike Trump and as the NYDN front page today Mitch in the body of a chicken. Yes, they would not allow the tapes to come in and what is different is that in that period and I lived through it the Supreme Court would have allowed it. Today with Roberts and the others does anyone believe they would have allowed things like the Pentagon Papers. The five conservatives are hand and hand with the Executive branch and Mitch who parks his millions off shore. It will be interesting to see how they won't allow Bolton. Hey, Pravda I mean FOX is attacking Bolton as dishonest, disloyal and not knowing and being a liar. The US is a true oligarchy now so lets stop once and for all for pretending. Trump would have been fine, saying he wanted an investigation into corrupt practices, but when he threw out the Bidens he knew what he was after. As for one of his supporters who argued that Mueller cleared him I told him go listen to when they asked Mueller if he cleared the President simple reply NO! He said it was up to the Congress to determine what should be done. Jim Trautman
10
@Walking Man Giraldo Rivera literally said on Fox News (I will cite the Daily podcast here) that if Nixon just had someone who "stood up for him like Republicans are" he would never have had to resign.
They said the quiet part out loud.
14
@Ben Gee is Riveria still searching for Capone's money. He fits in well with the other liars at FOX. Can remember when he told tall tales of his war experiences and it turned out they all happened in a bar at the bottom of a bottle. At one time he was a good investigative journalist, but then found more money could be made at FOX by being a liar and shill. I guess with so many ex wives and kids has to find the money somewhere. Jim Trautman
9
Those self righteous Senators who are offended by Senators Nadler or Schiff's comments regarding the impeachment need to realize the verbal abuse Trump has directed towards his opponents and through negative tweets towards the American people on a daily basis have mentally harmed thousands to the point of psychiatric treatment for depression. The increase in mass shootings is no surprise when outrage, accusations, lies, whining and constant rants on victimization spiels forth daily from the Oval office. Their outrage is misdirected, they wouldn't be sequestered in Chambers had they selected a sane, experienced, intelligent and wise candidate to hold the esteemed office. They all need some backbones, admit they made a mistake, remove him from office before he begins another war on a whim or suggestion by someone on the golf course, his hotels or fundraiser.
3
But, Senate, we can see you. We will remember what your do because we are watching you and our anger and frustration are building and may eventually bring about change. It is devastating to see the mental contortions involved in this cover up.
8
I believe the Republican silence and accommodation stems from Trump's ability to bring in foreign money secretly.
Look what Lev Parnas brought with him: $325,000 for a Trump PAC and another $1 million from Firtash.
Remember the huge sums collected for the inauguration activities that disappeared?
Could be that Trump is laundering foreign money into strategic campaign coffers. Who is willing to follow the law and turn off this spigot?
8
This piece simply reinforces my opinion that this "trial" is a sham. It's all about Senate Republicans covering their political posteriors, and has hardly anything to do with holding the President accountable for his well demonstrated impeachable (and convict-able) offenses.
You think this is about ideology.
I think this is about money.
It’s about foreign money flowing through 501c4s to GOP candidates up and down the ballot. Russian money, flowing through the Russian Central bank via political operatives who met spies like Maria Butina who infiltrated the NRA network.
Mitch isn’t defending Trump or a specific ideal. Hes merely preventing the American public from discovering that GOP campaigns — up and down the ballot — were running on Russian money in 2016 and 2018.
Why do you think he stalled measures to investigate election interference? Why do you think he wants to shut down the Trump impeachment quickly? It’s not simply political. He fears that an extended trial with witnesses will open up questions about entanglements with the grand old party. He’s worried Trump, I’d put on the spot, will spill the beans to save himself.
“Everyone was doing it.”
4
No government design or document can be better than the men who hold the positions of power under it. This is a character crisis as much, if not more than, a constitutional crisis. Do our senators know right from wrong? If they do, do they have the courage of conviction to stand for right, openly, on the record, and the willingness to sacrifice personally to see it done? Do they keep their oaths to our country, hand on the Bible whose God they say they believe in?
This shouldn't be hard for some of the same Republican senators who voted to convict Bill Clinton for lying under oath and attempting to cover up a tawdry sexual affair that had no impact whatsoever on the security of our nation or our allies', put no one's lives at risk, involved no foreign government, and did nothing to his political advantage in an election,
Yet, on the two articles against Clinton, 45 and 50 Republican senators had no trouble voting to convict for private presidential behavior that should never have come to an impeachment vote in the House, much less a trial. It was a tabloid sex scandal!
5
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.”
Alan Dershowitz is shining a light on the dark corners of Washington.
Bolton is trying to sell books and build up his much-needed retirement account.
Mitt Romney thinks he can still be President.
This impeachment process is ruining Biden's chances of winning the Presidency.
Thanks to Adam Schiff and his band of brothers Biden might not even get the nomination.
Pelosi warned all these fools but they didn't want to listen.
2
@P&L Dershowitz, really? His argument against Trump's impeachment is that the President is above accountability. His argument FOR the Clinton impeachment was that a President is not above accountability. Dershowitz is a hack.
1
As well intended as the Constitution may have been when it was given to the country by Jesus and the founders, it must now be removed from the best sellers list. Any plan that provides minority rule and allows one individual to stop governing dead in it’s tracks must be reconsidered...
The only purpose the Senate ever had was to ensure that the institution of slavery was protected. Almost all of the founding Fathers were slave holders.
3
It has been evident for years now that the Republican party sticks together regardless of any wrongs committed by the President . Marching in lockstep and sanctioning the abuse of power , the lies , they turn a blind eye and see only one goal , to retain power . The President's defenders muddy the waters by accusing others of ridiculous and libelous acts and untruths . When any politician sanctions these acts , it is an abuse of their power . Those that could not , have either retired , left , or are leaving . To those staying ; where is the line drawn ; has right from wrong been erased ? To win at all costs is not to win at all as history will have something to say about their legacy of sanctioning a corrupt administration . They were elected to serve and protect the rights of their country ; not to stir partisanship , bias , or personal vendettas and to vote to right the wrongs committed by the head of this nation .
1
Not only is impeachment dependent on "normative" forces such as the good character of Senators, it is also a very slow process. Donnie Boy makes it clear that once a tyrant is in power, he can do great damage. When we get around to upgrading out leaky Constitution, I vote to replace normative with rules based tools and make them enforceable automatically and immediately. For example, if a Potus declares he has the power to do whatever he wants, he immediately loses the power to declassify documents for 6 months. If a Potus blocks any testimony in an impeachment proceeding (either house or senate), he immediately loses the right to appoint Supreme Court Justices for 1 year
4
The Senate is an aristocratic, oligarchic, body, both in attitude, demeanor, policy and numbers. The Republicans, in the majority, represent 44% of the country's population, even though the Democrats won the popular vote by 8% in 2018. The majority of the U.S. population is represented by 18 Senators. Is it democratic for North Dakota and California to have the same number of Senators? (and why are there two Dakotas?) It's time that serious thought be given to reverting to a unicameral legislature (the only state to have one house is Nebraska.) These discrepancies are especially glaring when we have power hungry, anti-democratic, monied interests running the show- namely, McConnell and his minions. The Republicans have been exposed as Constitutional frauds, deficit frauds, small government frauds and foreign policy, free trade frauds. Power is the be all and end all. Their constituents, for a variety of reasons, blindly follow their duplicitous rants. For them, being able to own a gun or having control over a woman's body is more important than health insurance. That may sound harsh, but electoral results bear it out. Will there be witnesses, I doubt it. Will there be fair election in November, I doubt it. Will we move much closer to Fascism than we already are, no doubt.
6
I'm all for opinion columnists but havent we had enough opinions. Less opinions and more investigations. There are so many unanswered questions about Trumps ties with Russia,Saudi Arabia, oil barons (Koch), oligarchs and mobsters. Where is Woodward and Bernstein when we need them. No one is doing the hard work and we are left to hope someone leaks something before they have entirely corrupted our Democratic Government and destroyed the rule of law.
4
@cg Agree! However, the international money connections are the hardest and most dangerous for journalists to uncover and money motivates most corruption of our governments. We need our own peaceful and electoral version of the Ukrainian "Revolution of Dignity." Anti-corruption should be the driving force behind our 2020 presidential and congressional elections. Unless we clean up our own government, the will of the people will never be done on the major issues that matter to ordinary Americans -- healthcare, climate change, gun violence, wage stagnation, affordable housing and more.
2
McConnell is proof that one man, elected by a single state, has far too much power over the entire nation. And when that man is partisan above all and whose moral compass knows no true north, the worst fears of the Anti-Federalists are affirmed. And 315 million Americans in 2020 suffer from his disdain for truth and nation.
12
All the senators need to do is take this trial as seriously as they would when involved with a small claims court case. Review all the evidence prior to passing judgement. If they can't do that they should recuse themselves.
4
I often think that any constitution and laws are only as good as people making and enforcing it.
I'm more convinced after reading a Quora post, "How much does a constitution matter, if at all, to make a country prosper and well governed?"
2
What the Trump years show he will win a second term prediction at least six or seven million less votes, but thanks to the other sop the Electoral College will win. I remember the election of 1968 with Wallace running came down to the state of Illinois which was in doubt for days. Nixon won also won by killing the secret plan Johnson has put forward to end the War in Vietnam. He used the back door connections like Reagan did in 1980. Watch the old Huntley Brinkley news casts of the day or others and the talk was that would be the last election with the Electoral College. Gee, what happened in 2000 Al Gore more votes and loses, 2016 Trump three million less and becomes the President. And in 2020 again. The country is broken and the South won the Civil War in reality. My point forgotten about the wonderful founders they were rich, white men, who only wanted to get rid of a German King. Only landowners could vote, they believed in slavery and created the 2/3 compromise. They killed the native population. The goal was never to set up a wonderful land of equals and anyone that believes that does not know American history or how the country was founded. The first try the Articles of Confederation failed. The one good thing about Alexander Hamilton was he was shot by Aaron Burr. People go see a Broadway play and think this is real history. My goodness the forefathers owned slaves lots of them. Not nice guys the country was set up for the elite. Nothing has changed. Jim Trautman
4
Add to this, by 2040 30% of the US citizens will have 70% of the votes in the Senate. Something is SERIOUSLY wrong.
6
Thank you for this look at the anti-federalist argument. An important point you failed to mention is that in the Constitution the senators were appointed by state legislators, not by popular vote, as is the case now. I believe the assumption was that state legislators would choose only virtuous men, those who would place the good of the state above their own interests. Initially senators were men of independent wealth and therefore less likely to be corrupted, so the belief went.
The founders' naive belief in the virtue of senators has been proven over and over again to be unreliable. Power corrupts; it is the one truth we can count on. That is why the process of impeachment is so important.
7
"the Senate “loomed as a conspiratorial den” that could collude with the executive against the rest of the government. It could use its legislative powers to strike down House legislation and its executive powers — treaty-making and confirmation of presidential nominations — to govern without the direct consent of the people."
This is exactly what's happening now.
5
A seldom told snippet of history unearthed.
However, characterizing the Clinton impeachment as simple partisanship is unwarranted. The House impeachment was certainly partisan. The Senate acquittal, however, was a judgment that lying about sex does not constitute the kind of high crime for which impeachment was created.
6
Those early Constitution commentators weighing in on the possibility that the Senate would serve as an elitist legislative body had valid concerns. As America’s Founding Fathers themselves were the country’s largest landowners and therefore its wealthiest individuals. Men who concurred with a vision of America as offered up by John Jay, America’s first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who wrote: “Those that own the country should run it.” Today in the 21st century, the Republican Party one of but two political parties in this country subscribe to this same creed. The Republicans having become subsumed into the right wing extremist world view and all the retrograde elements that signifies. A cabal cemented to a totalitarian Trump Presidency with a concrete allegiance earning them the material for constructing their own tombstone as a political party.
1
Mitch should be the next indited. He had his wife, a Chinese national half his age, made the head of of the Department of Transportation. Using that position, she is enriching her families roads and highway business! What are the bets that Mitch is pulling in more the 50k a month on those deals?
8
Thanks for the history lesson.
The public have lives to live, so we just hope that elected officials will look out for the public interest, so we can get on with our lives. Sometimes though, we have individuals in very high positions of power whose only desire is to serve their interests - not the public's. This is one of those times.
All we can say is, McConnell will go down as one of the more odious figures ever to serve as Majority Leader.
4
Trump's popularity is due to Fox News, voter suppression, gerrymandering and Citizens United. There is little chance of Fox News going away, however after the next election, if we can maintain the House, get hold of the Senate and elect a Democratic President, a lot can be done to make elections more fair. At one time any broadcaster on federal airwaves had to present both sides of an argument - the fairness doctrine - which was cancelled by the Reagan administration - has done a lot to spread lies and divisiveness.
I don't know if we can legislate intelligence into the political spectrum, or education, but making it easier for voters to hear both sides of an argument would help a great deal. Television broadcast shows for both political parties present only a sliver of news with many hours devoted to speculation that has no factual basis.
Can the Senate be eliminated? Not sure if that is really what is wanted. What is needed is a uniform method for voters to hear both sides of an argument - for all political races. That was part of the reason for local public television, but CABLE networks do not support it. Since they can lobby successfully politicians elected through ignorance, there isn't much chance of it happening.
3
Without a difficult process of impeachment, presumably a Republican House would have booted Clinton and Obama out in short order. But maybe that would have been OK in the long run. I'm tempted to think that the design of the government isn't all that important, that power balances in Washington reflect the real power balances in the whole country. There are real divisions among the general population, and now we know that there is a great susceptibility to crude demagoguery. So we have a hard row to hoe, however the government is structured.
Interesting but just look at the British unicameral system and Brexit. Not having a Senate did nothing to stop them from following the wishes of the elite who wanted Brexit at all cost. As a concession to the small states the Senate was never supposed to be the more Democratic body. The problem is not the existence of the Senate but the wholesale sellout of the Republican Party to the far right Trump radicals.
1
I wonder what the conduct of the Senate would be if this was Trump's second term and also an odd year when senators were not facing re-election. Throw him to the wolves and move on with President Pence or "Stand By Your Man."
"Republicans were outraged. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she was 'offended,' while Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin called the House Judiciary chairman 'out of line.' But Nadler wasn’t wrong."
The only thing outrageous here is that they were offended and outraged by being expected to support a fair trial.
5
Another person who warned us about the problems inherent in political parties was George Washington.
Washington felt strongly that the President needs to remain above the fray and concerned with all the citizens. He warned the country about the risks and dangers of divisive political parties and their quest for power in his Farewell Address in 1796:
"the spirit of the party serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection."
Reading Bouie's excellent column reminded me of an experience I had as a college freshman. In 1960, we had a discussion in my Pol. Sci 101 class about Washington's Farewell address, how difficult it is to get much done in government, and problems of corruption, fraud, and waste in government.
The professor then had us debate the idea whether we should do away with divisive political parties and move to a government run by professionals, rather than leaving government administration to inexperienced party hacks and big party donors.
This memory was rekindled when I heard the professional diplomats testify in the House impeachment hearings.
The contrast between these experienced, knowledgeable, rational, caring diplomats and Mr. Trump and his political GOP hacks is a clear case for the need for professionalism at top levels of our government.
1
We do not need, nor should we want, a Senate.
Ensconced for six years via one perhaps slim victory gives them too much insulation from the people's will. And for California and Wyoming to have the same number of senators is absurd.
In fact, in our computer world, we the people should be able to vote on many legislative issues. Admittedly, we can't be informed on hundred or thousands of bills that are proffered, but the major ones like war, taxes, gun control, and abortion should be open to our approval.
We need more democracy, not less -- if we want a more involved, informed, and patriotic citizenry. Please, legislators, give us back some of the power we lent you. And, Mitch, turn out the lights when you leave.
3
So the GOP will leave us with this situation: If a President's party has a majority in the Senate, then he/she can get away with essentially any misconduct -- especially misconduct that doesn't break criminal laws.
The only way I see to avoid that corrupt future is to weaken party power by funding elections by an independent federal commission.
You stopped a little short of saying it, so I will: something needs to be done about the Senate. At the very least, the powers of such an unrepresentative body must be narrowed--and not only with regard to impeachment, which of course ccmes up only rarely. (The antifederalists were right in thinking that it's practically impossible to get a two-thirds majority to remove an impeached president from office.}
Beyond that, we ought to rethink electing senators on a state-by-state basis. Better proportional representation nationwide, or some other means to make it more fair and representative.
It's beyond the scope of your column, but have you ever thought about why state legislatures, except Nebraska, are bicameral? It makes no sense. Congress was set up as a bicameral body as a compromise between states' powers and popular representation in the house. There is no analog in the states, but evidently, slavishly, they mimicked the federal arrangement for no particular reason. the nef etfect, of course, is to make it much more difficult for legislation to pass.
In 2014, McConnell was elected by 806,787 people out of an electorate of eligible voters of approx. 235 million. And he appears to have absolute control over what happens there. So much for the will of the people.
3
We vote. (Or, we don't.) 2016's election had the lowest turnout in 20 years - about 55% of eligible voters. Philosophical arguments about what was meant by the founding fathers is very educational. But, in the end, if you do not exercise your constitutional right to choose who governs, who is responsible?
1
Not to be frivolous - but perhaps it's time for a constitutional amendment. In it we can abolish the outmoded winner take all electoral college (which got us Trump in the first place) and revert the Senate back to as it was originally envisioned - by which senators are selected by elections in state legislatures and not by popular vote. Let the states' interests be represented by Senators, who are beholden to their States that voted them in and less so to the President. In short, let the people elect directly the President and the House. But allow the Senate, 'the body of deliberate thought' as the Founders originally intended, to be one step removed from the 'rabble' of partisan politics and the pressures therein. Sometimes old ideas are good ones.
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Remember how we changed the word "literally" to mean... whatever it means now? Same with "unimpeachable." That used to mean pristine, of unquestionable virtue.
Now it's a figurative shorthand for the ultimate triumph of corruption.
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@Albert Ross
Itt's the same kind of language game that allows an olive oil company to proclaim its product is "extra virgin"--an impossibility.
So how can we create the reality needed: convince McConnell and his cohort that stonewalling a real trial in fact "hurts the Republican majority"?
Suggestions:
Start a popular media campaign happening, fast, loud and broadly involved. Make the messages good and simple: We need a fair government. We want a fair government. Honesty is important. It is the right thing to do. and get a hashtag effort underway.
Suggestions: #FairGoodGovernment #TruthMatters ##WeWantWitnesses
This is not rocket science, why isn't happening already? That really doesn't matter so let's just make it happen. #MMMakeItFair #MitchBeFair
At the local levels have information and education around this process and the need for a fair trial for the legitimacy of the government and good of the country--in schools, book groups and all religious and spiritual centers and organizations
Generate letter writing and calling and email campaigns to legislators AND local media, including AM Republican centered stations demanding fairness and witnesses
Full national media press on fairness and truth "if the President is innocent he should want everything to be presented so when/if he is cleared he can state it was a fair trial."
Everyone should want this so take this message to everyone and anyone you know and let's make it happen. Now.
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Where is our Martin Niemöller in the Senate?
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@Kenneth Miles Why would you expect to find a Martin Niemoller in the Senate? How often have we had such a person in the Congress throughout the history of our country?
I think that Robert Drinan, among others, filled that role in the past. But the Catholic Church decreed 40 years ago that priests could not hold elective office. And a large chunk of the evangelical clergy sold their souls to Trump years ago. So I don't see where a future Niemoller would come from.
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@Kenneth Miles
please explain.
1
@Kenneth Miles
So true!
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"Hyperpolarization" is the fetid core of our political dysfunction. And like the Tango, it takes two to "hyperpolarize".
@g It is a lie that we are hyper polarized. The starting point would be to honestly express the reality that there is a criminal death cult engaged in their own existential struggle to destroy life on planet earth as it is known to protect their power and privilege today. The vast majority of Americans and humanity would like to just get through the day without guarding against some cruel, corrupt, criminal, perhaps life threatening actions they need to protect against from the cult of domestic terrorists.
"To the antifederalists.... the Senate “loomed as a conspiratorial den” that could collude with the executive against the rest of the government. "
Absolutely fascinating. Leave it to Trump to have his confidents help him figure out how to exploit all these traps within the constitution. I've long said that the deck is stacked becaue Trump stacked it: judiciary (new judges), Barr; Senate; Executive.
Nobody lelt to combat his malfeasance, and the other one half of Congress, the House, has far less powerthan the Senate.
It's not looking food for democracy long term. Aside from Nixon who adhered to the rule of law, most presidents have possessed at least a modicum of respect the spirit of the Constitution.
Trump has upended that, paving the way for future autocrats long after he's gone, unless the younger generation rises up to plug those holes in the Constitution.
5
In publishing this article Mr Bouie actually makes a strong point on why the Dems really screwed up here. Impeachment is a very serious step to take in our Democracy. That's why the bar is so high in the Senate for removal. The 2/3 requirement is beyond a landslide in today's world and not realistic here.
Impeachment is so serious that the framers were fearful it would be abused by partisanship. Up until now that was not the case. However this time, this was purely on partisan lines. Instead of worry about commemorative pens, Nancy Pelosi should have opted for censure which would have accomplished more in the long run , and would have likely had bi-partisan support and have done more to keep Trump in check.
Instead she pushed for this Impeachment without any Republican support drawing battle lines in the Senate which are easily predictable.
Now we are at greater risk from Trump after he is acquitted here (does anyone think this won't happen) and future Democratic Presidents will be impeached routinely when the Republicans have the majority in the house.
This was a bad political act of Desperation by the Dems. They want to roll all the things up that they don't like about Trump but instead went with Two Articles that are vague and subjective. Their prospects for the next election are dire at best. Dark days for the Dems indeed
1
@Norville T. Johnstone Republicans clearly abused impeachment powers for purely partisan purposes. The entirety of the remainder of your comment and points is clearly as spurious and without merit.
1
Yes, the antifederalists were right about the Senate, and they were right about the monarchist tendencies Hamilton endowed the Presidency with. (Why Hamilton is so lionized today is beyond me.) So here we are with a tyrannical king, beyond the reach of a democratic public, served by his privy council of Senators who are little more than hired hands of a ruling class of financiers.
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@stuart
Easy--Hamilton lionized because he was on Broadway--entertainment showing patriotism-tinged struggle with uplifting feel-good results AND a money-maker! What's not to like?
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@stuart
The problem with the Senate is that an increasingly small minority of Americans get to decide which party controls the Senate when it has enormous powers to shape our country. The fact that McConnell has the power and control he has, when he was elected to that position by 806,787 votes out of an electorate of approx. 235 million is clear evidence of what the anti-federalists were afraid of.
The House also sometimes behaves as if they are nothing more than hired hands of a ruling class of financiers but because there are many more Representatives and they turn over more often, they have to be (seen to be at least) more in line with what their constituents want. Of course outlawing gerrymandering would be a significant boost to "government for the people......" by the House of Representatives.
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@stuart completely agree that Hamilton should NOT be thought of so highly.
15
Even if the Democrats find the bodies (which they have) and Trump's DNA on the bullets, cadavers, and multiple witnesses wanting to testify that Trump masterminded (though a bit of a reach to call Trump a "master") the murders and imploring they be admitted as evidence, GOP will have none of it. Justice Roberts' brain must be disintegrating at what Mitch and the boys are doing. The end. As The USA Turns.
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Trump would have been stopped long ago had Republican Senators upheld their Constitutional duty to serve as a check upon the Executive. Instead they have enabled Trump at every turn to flout the rule of law. Why? Because they know they cannot win fair elections. They need to help Trump cheat.
American voters are going to have to win an unfair election to remove enough of these Republican Senators and Trump to reclaim our democracy.
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@B Pretty much sums it up. Good job.
Although the Senate as a whole has not conspired to make themselves a permanent aristocracy. It certainly looks like the republican branch is conspired has conspired to do exactly that.
1
Isn’t there a difference between holding taxpayer’s aid from reaching Ukraine than bluffing someone that you might withhold aid if they didn’t fire a correct lawyer.
1
All the GOP senators will do what McConnell tells them to do. He is but one cog in the machine and will get his instructions from the cabal that really controls this country.
There is more chance of Donald Trump becoming a member of Mensa than the senate voting >66 to impeach.
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I dislike Mr. Pompeo's politics, and I doubt that his motives here are entirely honourable, but I do think he is patriot enough to throw a monkey wrench into the GOP machinery driving this charade of a Senate trial. His timing is perfection. Just as Trump's defense makes the case that there is no first hand evidence, the first hand evidence is shown. Brilliant.
@LauraF
Of course, I mean Bolton, not Pompeo. Pompeo has no patriotism in his Evangelical heart.
I really wish there was a five-minute Edit function on this board.
@LauraF Sort of ignores the first hand evidence of the admission of guilt through release of the transcript, then publicly confirming the admission by the POTUS!
One small suggested change: Until now.. . "The Senate has not been a cabal in most of the ways antifederalists feared." Now, facilitated by McConnell, it can't be characterized as anything other than a cabal.
The Senate is on trial. The POTUS is on trial. Too, the SCOTUS is on trial.
Trump has dismantled the very construction of our Republic, and is doing it with the direct assistance of Russia and the GOP.
I hope we can save our “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” before it perishes from the earth.
Vote. Every Republican. Out.
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The very idea that the jury foreman would discuss the case with the defendant, and then manipulate the rules of the court to appease same defendant is abhorrent to anyone in a democracy.
sure that's the way boyfriends Kim and Putin do it but surely the US is above this kind of corrupted trial..... perhaps not with Mitch driving the bus.
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Instead of hinting that we need to rewrite the Constitution, you should blurt it right out. Then we can get on with the real issue, the authoritarianism of liberals, rather than one more piece of supercilious petulance.
Without discussion or even perhaps awareness of what they were doing, the Democrats have passed from being the party of true liberalism to the reincarnation of Joe McCarthy's extreme Republican right.
They were the party of civil liberties, détente, and caution toward our secret agencies.
They now denounce dissenters from the party line, bait Russia incessantly and are racist toward us Russians of both the homeland and diaspora, and fawn over the CIA and FBI, the sole source of the claim of Russian intervention, one backed up by assertion and racism, not evidence.
The subtext of your article, that the Constitution needs to be changed is terrifying. Imperfect that it may be, it is the only protection against a government of Big Nanny that the now-rabid liberals are pursuing.
Last time around, my slogan was "He's nuts and She's evil". I voted for my dog Nelly.
This time around, I haven't changed my opinion on 2016.
For 2020, I think that Trump in his mental instability is a danger to normal functioning of the society.
But, the Democrats are much worse. They are embarked on a course that is a lethal threat to our democracy, rights, and freedom. They have a nerve tossing around the word "traitor".
I'll probably vote for Trump.
Thanks, liberals.
Regardless of what the Founding Fathers wrote in Federalist 65 page five paragraph two second sentence, what is going on is a coup in progress by the Republican Party against the American People. The Senate “majority” of five (5 sic!) people representing a minuscule fraction of We the People are going to decide the fate of America. The “tax reform” has plunged the government coffers deep into the red, to be recovered by future taxpayers, the climate change and pollution enabled by this administration has caused permanent harm to America and the world for generations to come.
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And don’t forget: California, 2 senators. Wyoming, 2 senators. And on and on. Minority rule. I can’t believe the founders even imagined the country as it is today.
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@Andy B: For the unaware, California has a population close to 40 million, while Wyoming has a population less than 600,000, and both have 2 Senators each!
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@Andy B Let's all move to Ohio or Wisconsin so we'll have some say in how this country is run!
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@Andy B This EXACTLY the country the Founders envisioned. The Senate loosely descends from the Counsel/Upper House body of the Virginia General Assembly. From Wikipedia: "The members of the Council were almost all wealthy and both socially and politically prominent. Independent wealth was required both for the social standing necessary for membership and also to permit the members to be absent from their families and plantations for long periods of time," according to the Encyclopedia Virginia.
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We should eliminate the senate and expand the house seats so that each seat in the house supports the same number of constituents. That would bring the house up to 750 seats. NY and Florida would have 50 representatives each, Texas 70 and California 95.
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Yes column is a very important history lesson. Thank you, Mr. Bouie.
When the history of the Trump Administration is written, future scholars and journalists will ask how Congress could have so thoroughly failed its constitutional duty.
It is telling that with all the evidence against the president, the best we can hope for is that four people in Congress will risk the president's judgment.
This decision belongs to Congress, not the president. If senators don't want the job, they should resign.
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The House failed here, not the Senate. The Senate in this unique situation is a court. The House has served as the equivalent of the investigators and the prosecution. In no court in our land would House's approach be allowed to stand. Imagine a prosecutor coming into court and telling the judge, "I have a watertight case, but I still need to go on a fishing expedition to see if there is anything more out there" (because I know the jury--Senators and the American people--are not persuaded). The judge would ask, What is your foundation for admission of this new evidence? "Well, it's been reported in the media that this evidence might be relevant." Why didn't you pursue subpoenas of the witnesses and the documents? "We didn't have time to work the courts (and besides its beneath the dignity of our office, but not yours)." The judge generously says, We'll see. Then out of nowhere a media outlet sympathetic to the prosecution--editorializing almost daily on behalf of the prosecution--publishes "a bombshell" indicating that a witness that the prosecution wanted to testify has (unvetted, unreviewed) writings relevant to the proceedings. The judge would be furious. Add to all this a lead prosecutor who has pursued the defendant like Captain Ahab after Moby Dick, a prosecutor who has publicly lied about the defendant repeatedly, including entire tapestries of lies about conspiracy with Russians. The case should dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct.
The best defense against wrongdoing and the preservation of the rule of law and the Constitution lies with the voters.
It is a government of we the people.
Just, just perhaps the people of Kentucky will punish McConnell for his many misdeeds by voting him out of office. For in a democracy the people get the government they deserve.
Daily I recall David Frum's prescient observation regarding republican's willingness to abandon democracy in furtherance of conservatism.
For decades, conservatives have been trying to undo the New Deal. They've made every calculated move toward that goal and cementing a permanent one party rule, playing the long game. They're almost over the goal line.
True, McConnell and trump have come together from very different and unlikely places on the political landscape.
But McConnell gets what he wants (judges, tax cuts, deregulation, roll back of safety nets, etc.) and trump gets what he wants (protection, increased wealth and free reign to dismantle democracy).
You might say each gets "this for that", or call it by its Latin term: quid pro quo.
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The Economist pokes fun at the inane defense presented by Dershowitz and Trump's other lawyers. It mocks "the circular argument that there is no need for the White House to release any evidence because the president has done nothing wrong, and that the absence of that same evidence means the case against Mr. Trump is non-existent. Another is that the president cannot be impeached because he has not broken a federal law." The magazine warns "this expansive view of executive power would permit an awful lot of injury to the republic," perhaps convincing a future Democratic president that "anything goes."
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Jamelle, it was such a pleasure to read your essay after spending time on twitter reading things that are not like your essay. Thanks for writing it.
I'm not sure that I agree with the thesis of this article. Certainly the Senate has numerous flaws, many attributable to the fact that people from less-populated states are absurdly over-represented
-- a problem that is vastly greater now than during the Federalist period.
But, as others have pointed out, the Senate's total abdication of its constitutional responsibilities is quite a new phenomenon; so it is hard to see how it can be primarily the result of an original design flaw. And it must be borne in mind that, when anti-
federalists complained how independent of the people the proposed Senate was, they were speaking at a time when Senators were elected by state legislatures. For more than a hundred years now, Senators have been elected by the people of their state.
Nor does Mr. Bouie's thesis explain the similar level of cravenness in the House. Not a single House Republican voted for impeachment. I think that proves that the rot stems primarily from the GOP, not the structure of the Senate. Yes, McConnell is a true villain who has systematically chipped away at the foundations of our constitutional republic. But the party picks its own leaders. I have never heard a single Republican call for a change of leadership since Darth McConnell took over.
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Excellent article! These were brilliant people on both sides of the argument. It's hard to imagine given how small the country was then, how small the population, how little education people had. Insignificant as a world power. The antifederalists were indeed prescient.
I was intrigued by these writers' names, Cincinnatus and Federal Farmer. They would not be out of place today as online names, for instance in a comments sections. Interesting to contemplate their reasons for doing so compared to today.
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About time to have finally heard of something other than the infinite wisdom of our "founding fathers, but on their behalf I do admit it's hard to predict the future.
3
The antifederalists were right to fear a small aristocratic cabal loyal to the President. That's more or less what we have. Mitch McConnell's net worth is over $10 million. Enough said.
The real problem is apportionment though. Two many senators in some places. Too few in others. The Constitution is a vague and ambiguous thing. The document doesn't actually say each state must have two federal senators. In general terms, the Senate only exists to ensure minority representation. That representation doesn't necessarily mean equal representation.
You don't even need an Amendment. Constitutional law has already provided state consent to change federal representation. Wyoming isn't actually legally entitled to two senators. However, yes. You'll find it hard to elect less than one.
Point being: The Senate isn't this rigidly immobile thing as minority interests would have you believe. We can change it and we should. The reciprocity between an unlawful president and a corrupt Senate leader make this point abundantly clear.
Is that really true?Can the two senators per state rule be changed without a Constitutional amendment?
A Senate, nor a House of Representatives, is required when we have a president who fantasizes himself as a benevolent despot.
Of course, of course, the perfect form of government....benevolent despotism. Until the natural occurs.....corruption resulting from absolute power.
And so, we find ourselves with a corrupt democratic government. It seems that every form of government, no matter how perfectly constructed, eventually becomes corrupt. The experiment in democracy that is the United States of America has had a fairly long run, especially considering that it nearly fell apart only seventy years after its founding. Like other previously successful civilizations before our own, we may have become too wealthy and full of ourselves. Over the years, immigration has kept the USA grounded in its basic values. If the influx is turned off, rest assured that we will quickly become an ancient Rome or Greece.
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Donald Trump is not the problem. The problem is one party dedicated to the Americans with the most money.
Under capitalism, where money makes more money and the more you have the more you get, such a party, the Republican Party, can only lead to the total destruction of the Constitution and the end of the "American Dream."
I proofed the GOP for forty years. They ALWAYS fight for the wealthy. Period - as priority number one. Their philosophy, that government is bad and the wealthy are our benefactors, helps promote their bread being buttered, to the detriment of the 99%.
1
It's important to remember that the direct election of Senators did not become law until the early 20th century, so when the antifederalists were writing, these Senators had not been elected by you and me but by state legislatures, showing an even greater chance of privilege and aristocracy than today. Then again, the direct election of the Senate hasn't seemed to undermine much of this attitude and power that Progressives had hoped for when they passed the 16th Amendment in 1912.
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@M. - 'my Congress-critter is great, it's all the others that are corrupt!'
The consequences of relying upon personal advantages or partisan advantages rather than laws which are enacted by majority decision and applied equally to and for all is that lacking those advantages one loses one’s liberties under the laws. That’s what has kept the worst fears of the anti-federalists from bing actualized.
1
After all, "we the people" are the ultimate arbitrators in matters of government. Will we fulfill our constitutional responsibilities in November? That remains to be seen. If the past is any guide and we once again have mediocre voter turnout then the question will have been answered.
Really? I think that the principle of individual rights and liberty which are not the gift of popular approval contradicts your assertion. There are somethings over which the community has no right to claim authority. When a President defies the oath of office by using the office for personal advantage, the laws over government are the only way to constrain such behavior effectively.
@Casual Observer Individual rights and liberty can only flourish if we have a government that fulfills its obligation to protect them. We the people, are the bedrock of that government. If we do not meet our civic responsibilities, that government will perish along with our cherished rights.
@John Warnock
True but that means following the laws even when the people would wish to nullify them.
I guess this makes me an antifederalist. Abolish the Senate!
The Senate has long since outlived its usefulness, like an old European monarchy. Even when the Senate is properly doing its job (I am old enough to recall a few instances), it does so with the good of the republic and its citizens as minor considerations. Most of the actions of the Senate can be shown to be anti-republic and anti-citizen.
Top considerations seem to be career, party and corporate campaign contributors. While this hasn't changed since I have been paying attention (1970 to the present), what has changed is that senators no longer bother to cover their tracks or explain their actions when confronted with their own malfeasance. Instead they attack the other party and assail the media, who are the usual confronters.
Throw the bums out before they do irreparable harm to our brief, fragile experiment. Or, if you prefer, throw the bums out because it is the moral choice. Or because it is rational. Or perhaps to further your own favorite positive change, 'cause it ain't happening with the Senate in place.
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Mr Bouie you have hit the nail upon the head!! I was not aware of the concerns of the National Federalists against impeachment back in the day, so thank you for the history lesson.
It is ironic because just yesterday I told my wife that after this impeachment will no longer be considered a viable constitutional tool to hold a President accountable. It is a poorly conceived process and too ill defined to be practicable.
The playbook is simple: give congress nothing and delay in the courts for possibly years until the next election. I think every future President will simply carry out this strategy if they commit serious abuses.
Unless the President and both houses of congress are of the opposite party, holding the President accountable is now officially a shame. Accountability just does not exist and so the branches of government are not in fact co equal.
I think it also time to stop viewing the founders as gods and the constitution as if it was akin to the 10 commandments handed down directly from God to Moses.
Provisions like the electoral college are antiquated and also ill conceived and need to be changed and it is time for us to start thinking about these issues seriously.
4
With the Electoral College and the Senate, it is ridiculous that Americans believe that they live in a democracy. They never have and they still don't. We face the same structural crisis many other societies have faced at various times: challenges (now: climate emergency, soaring inequality, rankling injustice, political corruption) continue to build--but the political institutions (for us, derived from a late-18th Century document) are increasingly incapable of coping with these challenges. Pressure builds, and eventually, something gives. Those societies that cannot adapt their institutions descend into crisis and mayhem. That's where we are headed, so far...
3
Great column, but I don't agree that the Democrats simply rallied around Clinton because he was of their party. They were highly critical of his behavior and some voted against him. In the end, the majority of Democrats decided that Clinton's bad behavior of was limited relevance to his role as president.
And I am sure you would agree that there is no comparison between lying about a private matter of sexual conduct and extorting political favors from a foreign government.
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The Senators under McConnell’s leadership are indicating that they will shield the President from confronting the full set of facts supporting the articles of impeachment. They are weighing in in support of the President’s managers’ accusing Democratic House members of making up a bogus case for partisan motives. They are allowing this because addressing the case honestly means considering the facts which show that Trump conducts himself without any respect for laws nor other people, and will do whatever he may with impunity.
Trump’s managers are offering sophistry by legal experts, tangential issues about whether the Senate must limit decisions according to the certainty of legal truths (relying upon established law under circumstances where the law is not certain and not established ) and thinly asserting motives which may be plausible but are inconsistent with facts presented so far. The principles of the law as they apply to impeachment must fit the facts to achieve a just legal result. To do that one must know the facts and start there. The President’s defense essentially asserts that the Congress has no standing to bring their case nor to judge it. McConnell and the Republicans are faced with a Republican President demanding that they abandon their authority over impeachment out of loyalty to him.
THANKS for these insights. Founding Father risked blood, life and treasure to get free from Britain. King George had death warrants for many of them. So these guys put themselves on line. They had a real stake in what would happen to the country.
A lot of these guys in Washington today, never had to go through that and are more worried about their jobs than the country.
Fear and muzzling come often in the political arena.
As you will recall, pre-civil war the senate also put a muzzle on any discussion of emancipation. Of course Congressman, the previous President of the US, John Quincy Adams, who had so much guts, always defied that, but many in congress did not, showing their whimphood to placate the south who perpetually threatened to leave the union.
These political threats, like trumpets unseating members who defy the trumpet in chief, are using similar fear tactics which, sadly, few have the gumption to defy.
There will be no Profiles in Courage awards given out here!
5
The Constitution has had some huge holes in it from the start. But it was only recently that unprincipled people (Trump, McConnell, Barr, Graham (et. al.), began driving trucks through the gaps. What we find is that the institutions are a lot more fragile than we thought. America's founders wanted future generations to perfect the government, not just sit on the Constitution as written (or with painfully few amendments). Time for a series of new ones.
For example, Amendment 28 could require that a prospective Supreme Court justice who is duly nominated by the president must get a vote up or down in the Senate within 90 days, and if no vote happens, the nominee is deemed appointed. This would seal one hole and stop the mischief of future McConnells on appointments.
With that in mind, let you imagination run wild. The electoral college is out of date because of modern communication; the budget must be balanced (and if there's an emergency, get a three-fourths override in Congress); constitutional amendments should have an expiration date; the powers of the president, including executive privilege, should be defined more carefully based on what we know now; the Supreme Court should have original jurisdiction on emoluments clause disputes.
Many potential amendments would make the country run better.
4
Let the voters decide. There is an upcoming election in 2020 and they will determine the fate of the senators.
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@KMW
It is hard to make an informed decision on an issue as important as a Presidential and Congressional elections without all the facts. Let the facts be presented for all to see. Enablers of illegal activities can then be voted out of office.
3
@KMW -"Let the voters decide."
It's all rigged remember? Donald J Trump said it, Mitch McConnell is proving it.
While the coronavirus threatens Asia, the McConnellvirus threatens democracy. Pompeo danced NPR from his trip to the Ukraine yesterday and if Trump fails to win re-election, raise your hand if you believe he will allow for the peaceful transfer of power.
2
About 2/3rds of my high school junior year social studies course was devoted to completely reading and discussing the U.S. Constitution, an exercise I enjoyed then and still cherish. Very few students then or now get such an inestimably valuable learning experience. In fact, few get any civics education at all, a fact rightly pointed out by Chief Justice Roberts' in his 2019 year-end annual report on the SCOTUS . The lack of civics education was made worse by the 2002 No-Child-Left-Behind education mandates that sidelined, already threadbare, history and civics instruction. Consequently, very few of our citizens can understand what is going on now with impeachment or other legal matters. And they are readily victimized by the false and idiotic arguments of arch conservatives, FOX misinformation, and our ignorant, malignantly narcissistic president. Will our democracy survive such cluelessness? PRAY, folks, PRAY!!!!!!
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@MGerard Don't forget that Roberts, with his descent into fascism with the Citizens United ruling, helped powerful, extremist lobbyists direct the Dept. of Education to subvert curricula covering logic, civics, science, the humanities and critical analysis, and substitute it with their own expensive corporate textbooks and corporate testing services, providing an ever more narrow indoctrination in superficial, garbage curricula, including "faith-based" religious training. If you don't think that is happening, just have a quick study of Betsy DeVos's rise to power, as well as her murder-anyone-for-money warlord brother Erik Prince. Hopeless, poorly-educated kids make good recruits for mercenaries, and make great republican dupes to send to the next corporate bloodbath for oil, uranium, or simply to become the next prophet of bombs, drones and laundry contracts. Ka Ching! for investors in stupidity and war, thanks to Roberts and his ilk.
Does the problem lie with the structure of the Senate or with the Senators themselves? When Nixon was impeached, the Republicans upheld their constitutional duty and turned on Nixon. That isn't happening today. Same rules, same Constitution, different Senators.
Obviously, the framers anticipated a certain level of character and decency would be employed by the Senators. That is not the case now. When we have people like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz who gleefully debase themselves in demonstrating their fealty to Trump to the point of abandoning all connections with the truth and reasoned thought, the Senate ceases to function as intended.
When we have people like Jeff Flake who talks a good talk, then votes with the pack anyway, the Senate cannot function. When we have people who won't stand and fight because they fear not getting reelected, as if that were a death sentence, the Senate ceases to function. Any of them could get jobs in the private sector that pays extremely well.
When we have a demagog in the White House who bullies and intimidates Senators, the Senate cannot function. When we have a majority leader who has the power of the executive and abuses that power at every turn such as with Merrick Garland, the Senate cannot function.
We can't legislate away failings of character. We need to elect Senators who possess character and integrity. Obviously, that we have not done.
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@Bruce Rozenblit
"When Nixon was impeached, the Republicans upheld their constitutional duty and turned on Nixon."
Nixon never had a Senate trial.
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@Joel
Yes, but the Nixon supporters did not have the votes, plus Nixon could be shamed; Trump has no shame and neither does McConnell.
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@Joel
And Nixon was smart enough to realize he’d be convicted and removed, hence resigning beforehand.
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Another excellent column by Jamelle!
The United States of America is a failed state whose government has been captured by the wealthy oligarchs. The Constitution is in crisis and is not functioning as a guiding document. Those with deceit and avarice in their hearts are thwarting and manipulating its guiding principles.
The sooner We The People come to terms with the fact that we are a failed state, we can join together to install elected representatives that will strengthen, and when necessary reconstruct, a new modern guiding document that serves the best interests of all the people.
This is not going to happen when one political party is willing to exploit every loophole to serve their agenda, and who actively seek to drive a wedge between people over race, religion and guns.
If there is not a major course correction, starting with removing Trump and all those who have actively conspired to undermine the integrity of our elections, then this will not end well. If the majority are prevented from electing people who will represent their interests, then we will be facing anarchy. People will have lost faith in our elections and they will decry allegiance to a corrupt government. The oppression by the minority cannot continue any longer!
12
Democrats started undermining and attempting to remove the President soon after recovering from their shocking election loss. Almost 3 years of intense searching for a impeachable offence..collusion, sexual escapades in Moscow hotel, obstruction etc. Then,in July Ukraine fell on their lap and suddenly that replaces 2 1/2 years of Mueller.
Hyper political partisanship is what the Founders feared.
Now democrats advocate overturning the very mechanism the Founders implemented to make removing a elected President extremely difficult? Such desperate tactics to gain power usually didnt end well in countries where it's been tried.
@Lane. The people of this country did not elect him. He lost the popular vote by 3 million voters, but won (along with a couple of GOP presidents in modern times) because of an outdated EC system and Russian interference. That being said, his conduct during the past 3 years has severely eroded the office. The 25th amendment should have been invoked early on.
5
@ponchgal The electoral college is how we elect Presidents, for good reasons. Russian interference changed votes? Days before the election Obama emphatically stated that was impossible,what changed?
Reminds me of Little League parents demanding do overs after their kid's team suffered a painful loss.
@Lane - Hunter Biden's board seat was so corrupting that Donald J Trump gave his only three children from his first wive of wives, and their spouses and weekend playmates jobs so as to shield them from such 'worldly temptations,' and some well needed re-education courtesy of his former foundation where they somehow missed a board meeting or two....
Sober assessment of the inequities of this republic, where partisan tribalism will succeed in immunizing a corrupt president from justice...if he belongs to the same party. Shameful and irresponsible, but not out of proportion of human frailty and an instinct for survival. Too bad that the House of Representatives, the closest body to the people that elected their representatives, has to yield to an 'aristocratic body', the Senate, that, more often than not, does not represent people's interests in a fair manner. Case in point now, when the republican Senators have sold themselves to a shrewd demagogue, and charlatan, who clearly is abusing his office for his narrow, and petty, interests, including a ladder to ease his re-assault of the presidency. Too bad we have to witness a sham trial by Trump's accomplices, all to safeguard their miserable seats in government (which they claim to despise). Who would have thought that one of their own (Bolton), fired recently, may yet impart some justice and remove this mafia abusing governmental power with impunity...thus far. I guess that 'hope springs eternal'.
1
The oligarchy has taken off the gloves. It is OVER for this country...game...set and match. Don't like what's happening? Simple, become rich and the pain is eased.
If we’re losing, let’s change the rules!
Mitch McConnell is our de facto president and he will hold on to his power by any means possible. The election of Trump was the fulfillment of McConnell's dreams - any of the other Republican candidates might have actually tried to govern. But Trump, with his maniacal tweeting is a complete distraction from McConnell's hard work tearing apart our country. Perfect for Mitch, disaster for the rest of us.
8
I must say, I am learning a lot about the Constitution and our founding fathers. There is also the added bonus of insight into general legal terminology, legal tactics, what a SCIF is, how to flawlessly spell sycophant, and being introduced to a new word, gaslighting. I am able to listen to Trump's lawyers arguments and shred them apart, surprising myself as I argue the case in my kitchen. Trump is corrupt. As all his bad deeds get exposed and the charges mount, I guess I should thank him for enlightening me. Not really.
6
Let's not forget Mitch is the man who kept a properly appointed Justice to the Supreme court from even be heard, vetted and voted. So he has been conspiring for a long time. What strikes me as dumb is that a whole party can be so iron gripped, if Trump is removed, they'd still have a Republican president (Pence); one who is less mercurial and more controllable by the 'party'. And one with maybe good chances of re-election; being a social extremist and the desire for 'revanche' by the republican base.
3
Yes the hope now (in KY) is that Trump will not be reelected and that will follow and flow over to finally pitching Mitch into a ditch and he will lose as well!
1
Today's GOP would love to turn back voting rights to Madison's day.
Only white men who owned property were eligible to vote.
The Federalist government did not give the vote to every white male, the states did.
4
The "So what" attitude of the republicans will be the precedent & future for all presidents, including Democrat (or Independent) presidents. Future presidents will be able to do as they please because Article 2 has been essentially rewritten by trump. If the republicans try to rein in future presidents quoting all these republicans & made for TV lawyers of trump's will be the reasoning for saying nope what you said then applies now. Nothing the president does is impeachable. Ignoring truth & facts & evidence & trump's own admissions is the beginning of a dictatorship that the country will have to fight against as other dictator run countries. Sad that we are dropping from the top of the world to a third world country. Thank You republicans.
4
For all of the thought and effort that went into every word put forth by the framers of the constitution, for all the effort to foresee every possible form of corruption, and address them through checks and balances, there was always going to be one major X factor - people.
Our democracy is based on the ability of our duly elected officials to have work in the best interests of the people with integrity and virtue. When our leaders (in all 3 branches) and a very large portion of our citizens lack these qualities, and are willing to overlook and accept corruption in order to be on the "winning" team, I'm not sure there's anything the framers could have come up with to counter that.
3
A group think! Like lemmings over the cliff! It appears gop senators can’t think for themselves. I hope their constituents vote them out when they are up for re-election.
1
Corrupt Mitch McConnell is exhibit one for institutionalizing term limits. No other majority leader has done more damage to the republic - all for power and money
1
I'm so old fashion. I was raised to believe that legal/illegal and right/wrong trumped partisan gain. Republicans are acting like the gambling addict who can't push himself away from the table. The pot they're losing to the house is our combined past and future. The Republican Party is dead to me.
5
Wasn't Alexander Hamilton writing as Cincinnatus?
Cincinnatus knew a thing or two about Government operated then and now.
1
I always find Jamelle Bouie's writing illuminating. He brings a historical depth that is necessary to understand what is happening today.
4
There has been one major change since the Federalists and anti-Federalists were debating over the Constitution and the Senate: The 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913, moved the appointment of Senators from the states' legislatures to popular elections, somewhat inoculated against gerrymandering. Not too long ago, right-wing Conservatives, thinking they could ENSURE having 67 Senators, looked to repeal the 17th because they controlled enough states to hit that 67 level.
However, much of the problem remains: in 2018, with only 1/3 of the Senators up, still 13 million more voted for Dems than for Republicans, yet the GOP picked up 2 seats. 26 states, controlling an absolute majority of Senate seats, represent less than 18% of the people, while the 10 largest states, with 58% of the people, only have 1/5th of the seats.
But, Bolton's Bombshell has a 2-pronged fork. The first is obvious--Bolton TOTALLY makes a lie of EVERY defense of Trump--the whole Ukraine thing is and was ALWAYS to hurt Joe Biden, for Trump's personal benefit. This is really bad for Trump.
But even worse is that the White House had an advance copy of Bolton's book for several weeks, before the trial began, knew the bombshells he was dropping...AND DID NOT TELL MITCH MCCONNELL! With the WH's usual short-sightedness, they threw their absolutely most critical ally under the bus! MM is left with his you-know-what hanging out, played for a fool by Trump (something CERTAIN to get under Mitch's skin!)
3
Mr. Bouie, You hit the nail on the head. Thanks for your history lesson as well.
May I recap your findings ? We have the crime boss (Trump) and then we have his henchmen and henchwomen (the Republican Senators).
1
It doesn't take a presidential historian or an expert on Antebellum American history to realize Mitch McConnell is no Henry Clay. As a matter of fact, McConnell is a mere shadow of the Great Compromiser from Kentucky.
McConnell has demonstrated for all to see that the Senate is a fatally flawed institution subject to becoming a destructive force in the hands of a corrupt leader. It’s structure is inherently undemocratic and remarkably unrepresentative. Combining those features with its power over the composition of the judicial branch is a recipe for disaster.
4
Bolton's not a slouch...not by a longshot.
Bolton attended Yale University, earning a B.A. and graduating summa cum laude in 1970, then attended Yale Law School, earning a J.D. in 1974. He served Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and G.W. Bush in several high level positions for years, before joining Trump's administration as National Security Advisor.
Whether it is before the Senate, or directly to the American public in interviews, public forums, or in other direct statements, Bolton Will Testify.
And, testimony from Pompeo, Mulvaney, Duffey from OMB, and McCusker from DOD would fill out the picture as well, with questioning from both republicans and democrats illuminating and informative.
Get it done, McConnell.
1
The Senate would be bad enough if it reflected the demographics of the country but in its current gerrymandered form where the Dakotas send four senators for California’s two it is an abomination.
5
Mitch McConnell must be one of the most corrupt politician this country has ever seen. The Republican congress is a close second. All this happens in bright daylight and it appears that they are getting away with it.
It is now up to the American people to call out this monumental cover-up.
5
Trump and McConnell are more products of the times than leaders of any sort. There are plenty of racist doofuses in politics--just look at Europe--though Trump takes it to a new level. And there are many politicians who care more about themselves than the country, though McConnell takes hypocrisy to a new level. What is amazing about these times is that 43% of Americans supports corruption, racism, hate and a clear cover-up (not to mention childish name-calling). If that number were 23%, then we wouldn't be facing degradation of our institutions.
4
Republicans synonym is misinformation. Instead of confronting the issue of credibility they repeatedly create a false illusion(s) that has/have no merit. Bolton for forty years was a right wing Republican fully supported by the majority of Republicans. Now they are turning on him for he is simply stating what he observed for he took detailed notes. He used to be an idol of many of the Republicans. Now the White House want to portray him as a liar. Better for Trump to come up with a new reality then to shift to misinterpretation and misinformation.
4
Don't forget the Senate Majority Leader's spouse being a cabinet member serving totally at the pleasure of the President.
Separation of powers, Where Art Thou?
1
Mitch McConnell is one of the most unpopular Senators out of the 100.
Just like Trump he makes up rules as he goes along. Garland is one glowing example. McConnell's decision to postpone hearings came out of nowhere and has no precedent. Yet it can influence the direction of the courts for many decades. His state produces one of the most unsafe and dirty fuels on the planet. The working conditions for its miners are dangerous and hazardous to their health. Yet Trump does the industry all kinds of regulatory favors. McConnell's wife is involved in many shady and sweetheart deals which has benefited the couple financially.
He's not just complicit, he is totally corrupt. He and Trump make a fine pair.
7
Fascinating, Mr.Bouie. Could we please line up all the GOP Senators who loudly screeched, in 2015, that Mr. Trump was unfit for office? Beginning with the whole-cloth hypocrite Lindsey Graham? How dare Senator Murkowski berate Gerald Nadler for telling the truth, obvious as it is for all to see? Is her skin so thin for the very reason that she knows he’s right? We, the majority of the People, are revolted by the sham that is this group of toadying and sanctimonious GOP “lawmakers.” Full stop.
5
The Trumpsters need to stop the shell game. Every credible bit of evidence plainly shows that the President wanted Ukrainian aid conditioned on the announcement of an investigation into the Bidens. Com'on. We all know that he did it. The President all but confessed to it (read also the record of the call, "I need a favor, though"), Mulvaney confessed to it, all the President's diplomatic and national security folks in and about Ukraine testified to the truth of it, and now at long last the National Security Advisor at the time has confirmed it. So please, Trumpsters, enough! Stop the lying. Tell the truth; he did it. Just argue the only debatable point -- whether the deed is impeachable. This would begin to establish some modicum of their credibility.
4
Republicans were outraged.
So what. After what's gone on in plain sight during the last three years, they have no reason to now feign "outrage" when someone calls them out. And call them out they should. Every last one of them, at every opportunity. Enrage them. Then perhaps Republicans will snap out of this pathological political catharsis that has thoroughly consumed them.
1
The author conveniently omits the fact that the anti-federalist criticism of the senate was penned prior to the direct election of senators.
Thank you for doing some research and offering some pertinent Historical perspective, instead of simply repeating headlines and regurgitating old news like too many “journalists” often do.
My only objection with your piece is when you compare Clinton’s impeachment to Trumps. I’m not a defender of Clinton but how can lying to congress about having an affair constitute an impeachable offense, when Republican senators look the other way when “their”president dismantles and destroys our government ?
3
Fascinating piece. The prescience of the Federalists is amazing.
Checks and balances only works when all branches perform their duties. When one branch colludes with another, ignoring testimony, our Democracy begins to crumble. Senators, ask your constituents whether this president should be replaced. It's inconceivable that he has the power to frighten you into submission. He's the president, not God.
318
@Daphne Yes.
The mantra here should be-- the president defied the will of, we, the Senate , who repeatedly voted to give aid to the Ukraine. That was a continual direct and disregard of the Congress. But, obviously they lost their self respect awhile ago in their corrupt bargain with trump. so what is another one? I wonder if these senators think about that?
21
@Daphne
For the GOP Senators, their constituents will say
"no".
These Senators come mostly from states where Repubs dominate. They are afraid of their voters, who are in thrall to Trump's cult of personality. They do not want to be primaried.
And, most of them have no courage to do what's right
in the face of voters who would allow Trump to do just about anything.
10
@Daphne
God is not what he used to be, either.
8
If Mitch "Hand in Glove with the White House" McConnell is so smart, how is it that he was blindsided by Bolton's revelations? Mitch is the frog and Trump is the scorpion. Trump will always live on a one-way street. I appreciate the history lesson in this column but I really think this whole mess is quite a bit simpler. Anybody who grew up in NYC during Trump's move from Queens to Manhattan can recognize the scorpion. Maybe being from Kentucky is a liability in this situation. The rest of us have to make sure that we do not collectively become the frog.
5
@Frank I bet Mitch knew all about it. You see, he doesn't care, because he has a bigger agenda to get his programs--and trump signs off on those.
I like the perspective of this article. It shows our founding fathers gave careful consideration to the issues at hand as opposed to the hypocrisy that's rife in our current situation.
3
Just as love of money - and not money itself - is the root of all evil, so too is love of power. Great leaders use their power to enrich the well-being of all, particularly those in higher need. The Constitutional Convention participants ultimately made the faithful leap that elected officials simply could not be this blatantly self-serving and this comfortable in violating their oaths.
Sadly, optimists have become the fools. Let's hope it's a relatively brief moment in the history of our country. This extreme misuse of GOP power leaves us with a clear blueprint showing glitches - previously dormant - that can break the republic's machine entirely if left unrepaired.
1
This has been fascinating to follow the historical origins of the constitution. Dershowitz in his presentation last night, responded to Bouie’s column of yesterday— if only to refute it, but I was like, hey I read that column! Here’s the thing (from a complete lay person here, not lawyer, not constitutional scholar,) Dershowitz seemed to narrow down— almost put out of existence the elements of what could be defined as an impeachable offense— Made the line so fine making it so easy for a president to wriggle out on purely technical terms. A couple of things: I don’t think senators are asked to check their common sense at the door and not take into account the essential corruption of Trump and his enablers and are asked to ignore the corruption of the election processes— the very core of the problem. (Founders feared the rabble that could easily be swayed.) Either that or Dershowitz was pretty much exhorting the house managers to go back and use the word “bribery” in their impeachment articles, instead of the more broad “abuse of power,” and then we’d be all set.
3
If, as Mr. Bouie claims in his conclusion, the antifederalist opponents "might just say, 'We told you so'," so too can the several million more voters who chose Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in the last election.
Might Kentuckians, who could well vote to end McConnell's lengthy and controversial tenure in the Senate, send a message, too?
1
Wow. Never heard these arguments. They're uncannily prescient to our present situation. I truly believe we no longer live in a democracy. We're ruled by a rump or radical rural Republicans who are wrecking the Republic. Meanwhile the will of the majority is trounced on and the minority 'fixes' everything from judges to voting rules to maintain its hold on power. For Republicans, power is all. They have No other values: And the Impeachment 'trial' is making that perfectly clear.
5
Insofar as the founders were all learned men who had most likely engaged in considerable study of ancient Rome, I think it's quite probable that the federalists knew exactly what they were doing when the put a Senate into our government structure. I think it was their deliberate intent to create the same sort of oligarchy that in fact governed Rome.
Rome's "republic" was never a republic in the true sense, as it was rigged from the start to favor the patricians, a small, moneyed, landed social class of about three hundred families. Our own founders clearly never intended the riff-raff that made up the majority of the colonists to have equal representation.
The irony here is that our oligarchy now devotes its energies to protecting an incompetent tyrant.
230
@Vesuviano
Over the years that colonial and immigrant riff-raff has produced many a great citizen and inspite of a dearth of equality. The Roman's might have lasted longer as a republic if as circumstances changed for them they had subjected their system to regular, profound review and ammendment, and so might our government benefit from such examination.
11
@Davy
I completely agree, and think that Constitutional conventions should be mandatory at regular intervals, perhaps every twenty-five years. Cheers.
9
@Vesuviano Hit the nail on the head. Just wait and see how ruthless Trump will be in the next four years. There will be no stopping him and his settling of accounts like a real gang boss. Even when he gets less votes again it will be the will of the people. One of his followers had enough nerve to say to me that oh, he lost big in California and other Blue states why should they have the right to pick. Funny I always thought where you lived did not matter one person one vote, but with the Electoral College it is weighed to the states of the Old Confederacy and rigged. Civil war on the horizon. Face facts the US was never set up to be a true democracy. It was set up to be ruled by the rich and connected. There was a revolution because they did not like being ruled by a German king and to they wanted the power and money for themselves. Jim Trautman
8
"pro forma trial" aka "Kangaroo Court." Republicans CAN'T let John Bolton testify because the only rebuttal to his sworn testimony would have to come from Donald Trump under oath. If Trump's lawyers wouldn't let him talk to Mueller in private they sure won't let him speak in a public trial.
4
Mr. Bouie, thank you for sharing a very important piece of American history which is never taught in our schools. The framers of the Constitution were wise, but not infallible; to the case in point, the antifederalists explain why McConnell and Republican partisanship trumps truth and patriotism.
If there is a point to impeaching and trying Trump, it is to educate the public of his unfitness for office and to shame Republicans for defending him.
Even though Republicans as a whole and their radical MAGAt faction will not, can not be persuaded to seek justice over corruption, the greater American public has learned the truth, seeks justice and shames Republicans. That is a punishment even more severe than the removal of Trump from office because while Trump will be voted out in November, the Republican Party will not be trusted by the American people for decades to come.
6
This well stated article clarified for me the reservations of the early founders to the structure of the Senate. It was and is hoped that through age comes wisdom. Requiring Senators to be 30 years of age was hoped to buffer in the whole body extremism and finally amending the constitution to allow direct election rather than through State legislatures would be enough to make Senators impartial. I don't know what is a better system though. At the end, it is up to the people.
1
Could it be that a successful Republican shutdown of documents and witnesses would benefit the Democrats?
The impeachment trial of Hunter Biden would end.
The only thing all can agree on is that more and more evidence of misdeeds against Trump will be released.
It was the slow steady drip that eroded support for Clinton and gave us Trump. Those that strayed from Trump orthodoxy would be primaried by more extreme candidates, who would have a tougher time in the general election. And those that didn't stray from Trump would be viewed as co-conspirators.
A cabal of multimillionaires have conspired to make themselves a semi permanent ruling class. Quite successfully. As the anti federalists feared.
2
My thanks to Mr. Bouie for bringing back to life the 18th century’s anti-federalist voices at this increasingly undemocratic time in our history where a diminishing percentage of our population is being represented by a majority of the Senate. This representational imbalance was recently covered in the Washington Post. It is amazing to read the prescient words of anti-federalists like Cinncinatus and Federal Farmer. They warned us how undemocratic our Senate would behave, and we have reaped the whirlwind the Senate has unleashed on us all.
7
I have not heard anyone make the point that Trump obviously never cared about whether or not the Ukraine ever conducted an actual investigation of the Bidens. Trump knew all along that all he needed was the announcement of an investigation by the Ukraine in order to damage Joe Biden's candidacy.
Another point that I haven't heard anyone make is that in every trial in every court every defendant will always claim to be not guilty. So, if Republicans block witnesses from testifying against Trump because Trump claims he is not guilty, will this establish a legal precedent in which defendants in criminal trials can argue that witnesses should be blocked from testifying against them?
And how can Republicans still be arguing over what the word misdemeanor meant when the Constitution was written? In the original edition of Webster's dictionary from 1828, the definition of misdemeanor includes "evil conduct" and "mismanagement."
9
The tale of the tape says it all:
Mitch McConnell has done nothing for Kentucky while he enriches himself.
He entered Washington as the poorest Senator on record but is now the richest, says RollingStone magazine.
Meanwhile: Kentucky is 47th in poverty, 44th in unemployment, 43rd in education. But 5th in diabetes, 5th in teen pregnancy, and 1st in pollution.
As McConnell himself said in his memoir:
“As I always say, the three most important words in politics are: CASH ON HAND.”
15
Correct me if I am wrong, but everyone around the President AND the President himself has said that the aid was held up in lieu of investigating the opponent of the President, but NOT ONE republican wants to hear from any of them. Correct?
There are only (3) way to remove a President and that is the 25th Amendment, Impeachment or by you - the electorate.
DO your job.
12
In a real trial, McConnell would have to recuse himself because his wife works for Trump and he gets a financial benefit from that.
11
This is true and it would be even worse if the Seventeenth Amendment had not passed. As it stands, election to the Senate is still corrupt given voter suppression.
5
I read a disturbing article (Nation magazine Feb. 3, 2020 "Where Power Lies" by Eric Alterman) that says: "Too few outlets have pointed out that, in preparation for his Senate trial, Trump has showered cash contributions on the same Republican senators who will be on his jury." The paragraph goes on to quote Richard Painter who was the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush. I beg to see any info pertaining to these allegations as this is the first I've heard of it.
10
"The Senate has not been a cabal in most of the ways antifederalists feared. Senators have not conspired to make themselves a permanent aristocracy or make seditious treaties with foreign powers."
Until now. McConnell has herded the Senate into compliance with his agenda, and even controls Trump to a large degree. He has almost single handedly tilted the courts to do his bidding as well. It is literally ridiculous that the majority of voters are no longer represented in this country. With the House representing the majority and the Senate representing the minority, our government seems to be grinding to a halt, except Trump and McConnell are destroying most of it. It is difficult to see how the red states can be made to understand just how bad it is, but that seems to be the task at hand.
7
This is probably the best commentary on the issue I have read in the NY Times. I happen to be one of the few people I know who is not a historian that have read all of the Federalist Papers as well as much of the commentary from the time on the proposed Constitution.
Pity, too many of my fellow citizens have not read or understood that process.
Of course those Anti-Federalists were correct in this instance. This then begs the question as to what is the check on that unbridled power?
I would argue that it should be the vote. But, since too many people are too easily swayed by anti-science, anti-fact, and anti-logic...it becomes apparent that it may take another revolution to set things right.
What a horrible corner we have allowed ourselves to be boxed into.
17
Sorry Jamelle, but your comments continue in the pattern of well written articles by liberals who use convoluted arguments to question the legitimacy of the 2016 elections and smear those who support the President's policies and actions. It is ironic that progressives, who have long desired a modern interpretation of the Constitution, are now quoting the original authors of that document to support their position. With all due respect, as I believe both sides are entitled to their opinions, it is this hypocrisy demonstrated by Democratic leaders that has caused voters to turn away from them.
2
Sorry, Dr B,
Ahem. The legitimacy of the 2016 election is clearly questionable, deserves questioning, and is being questioned, as it should be.
Those who support the presidents more immoral and anti-American policies should certainly be called out (smeared, as you put it), especially when that support is bought and paid for, or coerced.
Quoting the founders is ironic when the other team does it, but not when your team does it? Surely you jest.
Additionally, voters do not seem to be "turning away from" the Democratic leaders--they seem to be turning from the Republican leaders.
You certainly do not speak as if you believe that both sides are entitled to their opinion.
1
@Dr B With all due respect, there is nothing hypocritical with referring to the original documents and their commentary and also believing in a living Constitution. Understanding the concerns of the Founders helps us all better grasp the events of the present.
Very few Americans have read The Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist letters. What a great foundation for understanding our government and how it works... or fails to!
@Dr B Put impeachment aside for the moment; are you really in favor of a party, the GOP, that is removing the safeguards that make our water drinkable, our air breathable, our workers safe, our savings secure, our food supply safe, our public schools thrive - in other words a party that is sacrificing our future? I often wonder, because they/you supporters also have children and grandchildren. Perhaps you think you are immune from the consequences of terrible policies. This is a wake- up call: you’re not.
1
Wow, Bouie is shocked...shocked that the Republicans won't throw Trump under the bus. I'm sure he was equally astonished in 1999 when all 45 Democrats voted to acquit President Clinton. It's all hands on deck. The GOP is playing the long game. Trump will be gone soon. They'll still be here. The GOP will wait him out & achieve their objectives. Their goal is to nominate 3-4 very conservative Supreme Court justices. Controlling SCOTUS is the grand slam that ends the ball game. Control SCOTUS & you win the Cultural wars. Control SCOTUS & you destroy the liberal agenda once & for all. If the GOP can pull this off they control the political agenda for another generation whether they win elections or not. Trump has gotten two SCOTUS appointments, he may get more. He’s moved much faster on lower-court appointments than Obama did. Republicans have confirmed over 90 Trump-nominated judges. This means Trump’s conservative imprint on the federal judiciary through sheer longevity will endure through cases involving state gun regulations, the environment, immigration, & abortion. The legal arm of the conservative movement is the best organized & most far-seeing sector of the Right. They truly are in it — and have been in it — for the long term goals. Control the Supreme Court, stack the judiciary to the sky, obstruct when necessary & you destroy the progressive movement, no matter how popular it is, no matter how much legislative power it has. Nothing will get in the way of that goal.
277
@Bill Brown You fail to coonsider that by the time the nextr Trump administrtioon that you hypothesize is coming to close, the USA will be breaking apart into @4 separate sovereign nations (1-West Coast plus, 2-New England and Central East coast States, 3-Great Lakes States, and 4- the Great Middle --cf. google "Hillary Archipelago" map from 2016). As a 245-yr old "empire-like" Nation the USA will have reached the average duration of Empires and empire-like nations (the Ottoman Empire being the principal exception). We just have the misfortune of having to witness the end of the "empire"aspect.
14
@ Bill Brown I don’t think Jamal is expressing shock at all. Nor is he expressing shock when Clinton was impeached. He is revealing a bit of history, some history of conversations that predicted this dilemma.
39
@Bill Brown
Obama's nominations were held up by McConnell and the Republicans before Harry Reid took the bait and changed the Senate rules to allow simple majorities, which is how McConnell has been able to steamroll Trump's -- or to be more accurate, the Federalist Society's -- judicial appointments through the process. McConnell is patient enough to play the long game, crafty enough to exploit the system's weaknesses, and unencumbered by any semblance of morals or ethics. Pretty hard to beat.
117
There's a swathe of fascinating history here which I think few of us will have known.
Bring back the anti-federalist party!
5
You left out the check that the House was given to, balance; the power of the purse. Did the House refuse to pass a budget bill a few months ago? No. Did the House stand firm on limiting the president’s power to redirect funds in that last budget bill? No.
Have they...defunded the executive branch, the funding for Air Force One, the executive travel budget.....and on and on. And yes, when the Senate balks, what happens? The House, caves. Goodness, we can’t withstand the tweets, the Republican finger-pointing, the blame game.
This president isn’t just exerting power over the feckless Republicans, he’s doing it to the House Democrats, too. Either this president is a threat to our democracy, the rule of law, or he isn’t- either use that power of that purse, or put it in the tip jar- a reward for his win. Again.
4
The Trump "It's all a hoax" defense has been abandoned.
The American people know that the GOP defense of Donald J.Trump is now officially: "So what."
So What if the evidence presented demands witnesses, investigation and records.
So what if Trump asked foreign nations to interfere in American elections;
So what if he did not faithfully execute the law passed by congress to supply Ukraine with military aid and so diminished America's security;
So what if he lied and abused his power by obstructing the evidence of his plot and actions to subvert the next election.
His Republican defenders now claim that the nation's Founders would not have judged these acts to be impeachable. They are wrong.
The Framers expressly prohibited receipt of aid from foreigners in elections, and especially so in the case of the president. They knew the danger that a president might become a dictator with the corrupting support of foreign dictators and kings. They may not have foreseen the complicity of the current GOP Senate majority, nor the rise of powerful propaganda media in service to one man, but their intent was plainly that Americans elect their government without foreign meddling.
Trump was recorded ordering the "take out" of Ambassador Yovanovitch after receiving advice from Lev Parnas, associate of the indicted Russian Dimitro Firtash.
If the GOP Senators do not investigate this, and believe more evidence will not surface, they are both incompetent and traitorous.
8
Thank you for this interesting information. It is so refreshing to see how much deliberation and analysis was given by our fore-bearers. I wonder where our current-day thinkers are? Do they even exist, and if so, how in the world could they make a contribution to make our country overcome its flaws? These times are so frustrating.
10
“…it is probable many of its leading and influential members may have advised or concurred in the very measures for which he may be impeached” A 233 year old prediction come true.
My 12 year old son the math wiz did a spreadsheet calculating electoral votes per population. The Electoral college gives the votes of citizens of some states 3x the weight of citizens of some other states. Half the states have the weight of more than one vote, half less.
The senate confers the same advantage, I’ll have him do the math on this one…
America, we have a very old problem. Mmaybe it’s time to fix it.
11
The Constitution is not foolproof, or rather corruption-proof. It does assume a certain amount of integrity among Senators in particular. This assumption seemed to be vindicated in the case of Nixon, who resigned when he saw that he was likely to be impeached and convicted. Perhaps he also was public-spirited enough himself not to try to take the matter to an ultimate partisan level. The choice of Senators is ultimately up to the people, and the partisanship of voters favoring Republicans has been deliberately increased by the cynical decision of Republican leaders to exploit racism and xenophobia.
But the more serious problem, which may be more easily remedied, is the role of the electoral college in the choice of the President. Clearly if the President himself had been chosen by the will of the majority several problems since 2000 would have been avoided. The best way to change this may be through activity in the states via the National Popular Vote movement. A shift of population to the more populous states could assist this movement.
5
@skeptonomist . . .Ranked choice voting would also be a possible solution as it tends to move people away from tribalism and party loyalty. If you don't get your first choice, you have still voted that a second choice would be acceptable. Ranked last would be the last person on earth you would want to win. It also instils the idea that each individual vote matters.
5
Impeachment Article II states that the Chief Executive Obstructed Congress by not producing evidence subpoenaed and blocking 9 Executive Branch employees from testifying.
Will the Senate now likewise now Obstruct Congress by failing to require this same evidence as part of its process? Can future presidents suppress any Executive Branch conduct including unclassified documents to hide whatever they wish, so long as that president is popular?
11
@SpeakinForMyself This whole interpretation of Article 2 is based on what the republicans want. It is like when they won both houses they read The Constitution & left out the parts they didn't like. It is like when evangelical preachers interpret the Holy Bible to what they want to believe & use to control people. And even they don't interpret the same way. That is why there are so many churches in this country claiming to be the churches of the New Testament. The Holy Bible itself says that "the Christians should not divide from the church Christ established into churches of different beliefs." There is only one faith of Christ according to the book the evangelicals preach from. There is only one Constitution & truly only one interpretation. That is the one this country was founded on.
"Republicans were outraged." ?! It must have hurt to hear spoken what you know to be true, that you are not judging this case impartially.
Entrenched power (what McConnell is cultivating) has an inevitable problem. It eventually looses, and when it does it looses big. "Gains" made are reversed and scores are settled.
It would be better for the GOP to reverse its grip on gerrymandered state legislatures, relax its demand for purity in the Senate and House, and become flexible and more moderate. McConnell is overseeing a Pyrrhic majority.
Moderating that cruel majority is the biggest threat to the DEMs eventual, inevitable return to power. And, as a lucky byproduct, it would make for a much more healthy democracy.
7
@JFR The republicans are only outraged because the truth keeps coming out about their god-king. What makes trump so worthy of worship by grown men & women? How dare someone speak the truth against him.
@JFR I do wish the Republicans would get over themselves. They are a profile in the pathetic.
All this outrage, and yet they could not be bothered to raise even a whisper when Trump attacked and insulted their own party members!, American citizens, gold star parents, non-whites, women, non-Christians, foreign allies ... and tacitly supported white nationalists and encouraged violence against the press...
And that's barely a start.
The framers of the Constitution undoubtedly viewed impeachment as a second line of defense against a demagogic president who would disgrace his high office. They relied primarily on the electoral college, which they hoped would ensure that a responsible political elite would choose the president.
Madison and his colleagues, despite their embrace of popular sovereignty, did not completely trust the average voter. They had witnessed efforts by popularly-elected state legislatures in the wake of the Revolution to help debtors against creditors through the issuance of inflationary paper money, and they had feared that the "people" would always face a temptation to support politicians who offered simple solutions to complex problems.
Even though the electoral college system never worked the way they intended, after the presidency of Washington, the advantage it inadvertently gave to political parties, as mobilizers of mass political support, may have helped to prevent the election of a demagogue such as Trump for more than two centuries. Committed simply to winning elections, party leaders sought the candidate with the broadest political appeal, which generally ruled out someone with Trump's abrasive personality and lack of scruples.
Trump's victory signaled the decay of the GOP, as evidenced by the fact that he defeated the party's nominal leaders, who immediately transformed themselves from critics into sycophants. Under these conditions, impeachment never had a chance.
8
An excellent and pertinent column.
But, a comment ...
"Senators have not conspired to make themselves a permanent aristocracy or make seditious treaties with foreign powers. "
The Senate does, in fact, make "seditious treaties". Not through an overt act of actually voting on such a treaty, but through their willingness to submit to the President with no commitment to the national interest.
Look to today's news about how John Bolton and other senior administrative officials were concerned with Trump's penchant for "doing favors" for autocratic leaders. Bolton surmises that he did this for his own personal financial benefit, especially in Turkey. But what has the Senate done to call this out and control it? Nothing. It is this submission to the President and abdication of their oversight responsibilities which shows how the Senate enters into "seditious treaties" we now see with China and Turkey.
But, while Trump's willingness to favor these autocratic regimes is worthy of impeachment in its own right, what about Russia? If financial gain is what is really driving Trump, then that screams for scrutiny about the way Putin launders mob and oligarch money through Deutsche Bank directly to Trump. All the talk about extorting Ukraine is trivial compared to that.
It's hard to comprehend that an American President would sell the country out for a few dollars like this. But, there it is. Trump is the actual Manchurian Candidate. Or, better... the Muscovite one.
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@Max Dither
It is even more alarming that the Senators are themselves are directly the pocket of foreign interests.
How about the Canadian steel magnate who gave $1000000 to America First PAC, or the Saudis to the RNC, and Russians who laundered millions in campaign contributions through the NRA?
« Seditious treaties », indeed.
1
Thanks for this interesting discussion of the founders' thinking on impeachment. I wonder if those august gentlemen ever imagined that people would see truth as "offensive" or "out of line." And yet, here we are.
13
the piece is overdone in that the concerns of the antifederalists seem largely outdated. however the education is welcome, and Monroe proves to be prophetic.
3
It's so interesting to learn more about our American Revolutionary heritage; having it discussed widely is a benefit of the Trump impeachment. Re Trump: without the Republican Senate, Trump would be a blip -- perhaps even an entertaining blip -- on the screen of history. His rolling stone of ongoing corruption would have gathered very little moss and gotten nowhere. Complicity of the Senate, yes indeed.
13
@Nancylee Friedlander
A blip? Unlikely. Even in an overwhelmingly Democratic Senate, such as President Obama had just after his first election, 67 conviction votes would be hard to come by. Remember, not a single senator from the president's own party has EVER voted to convict him an impeachment trial. A president would have to be thoroughly despised within his own party in order to be removed from office.
Interesting exposure of a historical undercurrent that’s widely ignored. Who cares what the anti-Federalists said? They lost.
And indeed, as you say, their reasons for fear were lessened by the installation of parties as the indispensable vehicles of political ambition. Obviously, a Senate would always stand by its co-party president.
Except when Senate Republicans abandoned Richard Nixon in 1974. One forgets that, in effect, Nixon was a case of a president removed by impeachment—he just managed to say “I quit” before the Senate could tell him, “You’re fired.
14
The power of one branch of government to remove the elected head of a co-equal branch must be exercised with extreme caution. That’s why it takes a two-thirds vote.
What qualifies? Perhaps if the president indeed shot someone on Fifth Avenue - that should qualify.
Does the president’s holding up aid to a foreign country until it agrees to investigate a political rival qualify?
No it doesn’t.
Suppose the Senate were in fact now two—thirds Democrat. Would they vote unanimously to remove president Trump without any republican votes? Would they do it knowing what a dangerous precedent that would set?
I would expect they wouldn’t.
The power to remove a president means nothing until you have it.
@Steven Roth
Oh, yes it does. Getting this kind of aid from a foreign country is exactly what the Founders were afraid of.
25
@Steven Roth You're kidding right. If the senate was 2/3 democratic trump would be behind bars by now.
1
@Steven Roth the constitution was nurtured by it's most determined advocate James Madison, the father of the entire process. Madison struggled endlessly with the wishes of thirteen sovereign states that were anything but sure they wanted a strong federalist central government. Hence what was eventually drafted and approved by the convention was a document of compromise that satisfied no one completely. He very nearly escaped complete collapse more then once. So slaves became 4/5 of a man for the pupose of Representatives and the Senate was created with equal representation. Democracy? I think not.
The inherently undemocratic nature of the Senate helps make the U.S. increasingly ungovernable. It allows a small minority of Americans to control our country and to thwart the will of the people. When combined with the inherently undemocratic electoral college, gerrymandering, and increasing use of voter restrictions our country is no longer even a plausible avatar of democracy.
Keep this in mind: California and Montana each have 2 senators; a president can, and recently has, been rejected by a margin of millions of voters and “wins”, and states “elect” representatives in a disproportionate way unreflective of the will of the people. This isn’t democracy; it’s a thinly disguised oligarchy.
This undemocratic system prevents any true reforms to open up our system, and harms the ability of Americans to have any confidence in our government. When that is combined with the ugly dominance of big money, our country faces an uncertain future.
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Time to reflect on the Constitution.
A minority is running the country.
Trump lost the popular vote.
The Senate majority represents 15 million less people than the "minority" Democrats in the Senate
The Supreme Court 5-4 conservative majority represents many positions unpopular with a substantial minority of the country.
All these political leaders aggressively pursue their mandates as if they have a mandate. Cut throat politics in a divided nation.
Roger Ailes' footprints are all over the messaging that manipulates the minds of low information voters.
I don't think our founders anticipated such hyper partisanship. Nor did they anticipate the 1st amendment protecting speech rights of large corporations. The study of geopolitics is basically a study of oil and gas, the Right a witting tool for the last hurrah of fossil fuel hegemony.
It's time for popular vote to determine the presidency.
It's time to reverse Citizens United.
It's time to put more money into civics education
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@Al Singer Edit: ....the 5-4 majority represents view that are unpopular with a substantial majority of the nation.
1
@Al Singer is absolutely on point. Well said sir.
2
The Senate has been to reduced to a patently corrupt national gerrymander by today's tyranny-of-the-minority Republican Party and its corrupt leader Mitch McConnell.
Imagine for a minute that we had something resembling a functioning representative government where Senators responded to the common good and the best interests of the American people.
In such an imaginary 'normal' America, the "For The People Act of 2019" (H.R. 1, 2019) bill passed by the House on March 8, 2019 to expand voting rights, limit partisan gerrymandering, strengthen ethics rules, and limit the influence of private donor money in politics, would have been introduced, publicly debated, perhaps amended, and PASSED by the United States Senate and sent to the President for signature approval.
Mitch McConnell took that House bill and immediately drowned it in the GOP Senate bathtub.
Mitch McConnell said that the bill was "not going to go anywhere in the Senate" and said he would not put the bill to a vote on the Senate floor
McConnell also said one of the bill's provisions that would make it easier for Americans to vote by making Election Day a federal holiday was "a power grab".
So let's be clear what Republican Senate and GOP leadership are in 2020: an organized criminal political syndicate fundamentally opposed to democracy and addicted to Grand Old Power at all costs, including the shredding of the United States Constitution.
We must impeach Trump, McConnell and the GOP on November 3 2020.
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@Socrates
Yes, how dare the citizens attempt a "power grab"! Mitch isn't about to let mere citizens have any real say in how this country is run. Looks to me, if Mitch won't let us decide our own fate at the ballot box, we have little choice but to resort to the desperate means to which oppressed people have always resorted at last. When the citizens have him surrounded, he'll see the light. It will be our torches.
11
@Socrates Thank you for your insightful analysis. Ever hopeful, I am wishing for a miracle that the citizens of Kentucky somehow become enlightened and do not award McConnel another term.
7
@Socrates
Yes, the term "organized crime" is discriminatory, excluding many of our senators who may be eligible. They should have an equal right to be classified as such.
7
Great reporting! Another real problem with the Senate, as well as with the Electoral College just to name two) is the undemocratic aspect of both.
15
Mr. Bouie makes a good and rarely considered point, but just as the House could be a boiling pot, the Framers also knew and said that like a boiling hot cup, the Senate saucer was needed for cooling. That was long before the direct election of Senators, when they would be selected rather than elected, kind of a more familiar House of Lords.
Today the same worries about an intemperate House could be made of a too-cool Senate when dark money and sophisticated analytics drive almost every move of the Senators who would rather be in a toga party than on this jury.
The Democrats on the outside of this need to also cool their revelry at what is happening and replace it with a reverie of what makes the country tick. Just as one would not put their hand in a pot of boiling water, when time to cool would serve a healthy purpose, Democrats need to be awake to the need to let the country cool a bit from the Trump cauldron of lies and horrible policies, and have a candidate who will not see a balance in the scale by having just enough popularity and electoral votes to be vengeful rather than resourceful in antidotes to this mess and tempest. Let the teapot cool a bit after election. Extremism is not a virtue in politics, but careful and deliberate and acceptable policies in the right direction are.
10
@Ed Marth
Exactly. I'd like to see a Klobuchar/Buttigieg ticket. If they were smart they'd join forces now to beat out the too hot (and too old) candidates.
Not since the events leading up to the Civil war has our country been so divided. On both sides there is only "right" and "wrong".
And not since then have the choices seemed so clear - for preserving the rule of law, which is a requirement of a functioning democracy, or essentially autocratic rule.
15
When Senator Murkowski expressed her 'outrage ' at Mr. Naidler's comments she was using those comments as a way to weasel out of voting against her party and for witnesses. It is one more expression of the fear of going against ones party and doing the right thing, revealing the truth. Trump has made the big lie an art form and his GOP enablers including those who pretend to seek for the truth, but do otherwise just another expression of Trump's big lie and how it has worked itself into almost every aspect of our government. And this goes also for the Supreme Court represented by its chief Justice Roberts who does nothing as our democracy burns.
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@just Robert
Give Justice Roberts a chance -- he may yet show he is a mensch.
1
It sort of worked after a fashion until the Supreme Court decided to cook the books with Bush v. Gore and Citizens United. That was when we reached the absolute limits of 18th century government.
187
We need a new Constitution but I doubt that those likely to be sent as delegates would do a good job.
9
@Brackish Waters, MD
Bloomberg has promised to spend "whatever it takes" to defeat Trump. Defeating McConnell would be an equally effective focus of Bloomberg's intent.
3
@David Gregory The so-called "patriots" of America (most citizens over 250 years) have failed to rise to the call of the founders to perfect the Constitution. Somehow, the document became sacred. And then, ironically, those
who most fervently proclaim their patriotism (the far right) are most loath to be contemporary founders. They don't want to change a thing.
The Original founders didn't see it that way. What they created in 1787 was a bare-bones outline, created in a few weeks' time, and they left it to future generations to perfect it.
The solution is to start chipping away with good amendments on a regular basis. For example, Amendment 28 could require that a nominee for the Supreme Court who is duly nominated by the president must get a vote up or down in the Senate within 90 days, and if no vote happens, the nominee is deemed appointed. This would prevent destruction of the Constitution's spirit by future McConnells.
With that in mind, let you imagination run wild. The electoral college is out of date because of modern communication; the budget must be balanced (and if there's an emergency, get a three-fourths override in Congress); constitutional amendments should have expiration dates; the powers of the president, including executive privilege, should be defined more carefully based on what we know now; the Supreme Court should have original jurisdiction on emoluments clause disputes.
Many potential amendments would make the country run better.
@virginia
I would trust Mr. Bloomberg to decide which battles are winnable, and where efforts would be futile.
In spite of all explanations, I see one basic issue. People in high positions with no ethical compasses.Self before requirements of office. Power before truth. Oath of office trashed.
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@ S. Mitchell
You are correct that very bad people in very high places have put us in this situation. However, there are structural issues that have helped those bad people get where they are and allowed them to do the damage they’ve done.
19
@S. Mitchell - has this nothing to do with the ethics and morality we have ceded to the movement called "capitalism"?
5
@Robert O. There should be term limits on the Senate, the House of Representatives, & the Supreme Court. Then the balance of power could possibly be achieved instead of one party ruling for years.
4
There is much food for thought here in understanding the fears of some of the founders in the power of the senate as written in the constitution. Remarkably, until very recently these worries proved unfounded. The Senate today is nothing more than the people who were voted into their positions by the public. When ideology advancing agendas at any cost, and keeping power are held in higher regard than integrity, civility and national unity, we see 50 senators supporting a man who openly lies, disparages men and women of honor because they disagree with him and chooses self interest over National security. The solution will be to work hard in every state to elect candidates with character and integrity whether liberal or conservative. It can happen!
30
@JRS
True, but I don't think we can say that they are only voted into their positions by the public. The Kochs and their like (perhaps even Russians) secretly fund super PACs with big money to skew elections. ALEC writes up legislation, lobbyists without many limits push bills into laws. There are a lot of forces that need to be reigned in order for elected Reps to have a chance at retaining their integrity.
15
@Barbara
I couldn’t agree more. Citizens United opened the door for unlimited ideology-based soft money that in a short time (along with gerrymandering) has promoted the election of extremists. I also would not ignore the role of internet and cable based “news” which also provides an echo chamber for extremism. But, for now we still get to vote, and mobilizing voters is the best tool we have.
1
Thank you for the historical background. And can we also consider the absurdity that the Dakotas have twice the senators as California? At this point rather than preserving representation for states we get a grossly disproportionate distortion of their power, kinda like putting Malta on the UN Security Council.
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@Zé Povinho
What's even more absurd is that citizens of Washington DC have no representation at all. Our population is larger than many states with two Senators and a Rep.
I think N & S Dakota should be made into one state.
Wyoming, Idaho & Montana = one state.
Vermont & NH
Or reduce the number of Senators for low population states.
We're no longer living in the circumstances of the 1700s and our system isn't working pretending we are.
21
@Barbara Washington D.C. is not a state is why there is no electoral college representative. Just like Puerto Rico has none. I think it would be better if every state had the same number of electors. There should be no skewing of the vote.
First we were treated to Nancy Pelosi holding up the impeachment process. Now we are treated to Mitch McConnell holding up a fair trial process. Neither "Speaker" position is included in the Constitution. Perhaps it's time to eliminate these congressional dictatorships and get back to real governance by ALL elected officials, unimpeded by the whims and political ambitions of a single House Representative or Senator.
5
@ME Kent
Article I Section 2: "The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."
Amendment XXV refers to the "President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives".
But, yes, I agree it that party leadership positions should be removed from government.
However you are right about the Senate Majority leader and the House Majority leader (if that is what you meant by "Speaker") .
Pelosi has a Constitutional position, McConnell does not.
6
@ME Kent: Both houses should have presidents elected by their at-large majorities. The scheme of the founders to suppress partisanship made it a cancer.
The GOP Senate was disposed to acquit Trump long before the trial began. In Obama' second term when Mitch McConnell blocked even a vote on Obama's Supreme Court nominee they revealed that power and power alone was their agenda.
The constitution said they "shall offer their "advice and consent." They could have held their hearing and voted against Obama's pick. But they instead decided to use the occasion as a pre-election gauntlet.
They defied their constitutional obligation then and they are perfectly willing to do so now, making this "trial" all for show.
Regardless of any new witnesses, if Trump really wanted to clean up corruption, why not include the Justice Department? Why not consult the IRS? Why not engage the State Department in a serious way, not by firing the ambassador?
And why limit your inquiry to a single company and a single individual? Corruption in Ukraine is widespread. That's why it's so difficult to root out.
The GOP Senators know that Trump used his office to go after a political foe. And they know he tried to cover it up. But they will not convict him because he is doing their bidding.
They support every regressive measure Trump has come up with, including his blatant racism. But Trump's theatrics take the attention away from them.
He's a useful tool and as long as he stays so they will keep him around no matter what he does.
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@Drspock
McConnell IS the de facto president.
He has shown that he has more power than anyone else in the country.
4
@Drspock CORRUPTION HERE, ANYONE?
I find it difficult to reconcile Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republican's behavior as being part and parcel of some "antifederalist" scheme, because it's far too personal for that.
Instead they are using their positions and resolve to uphold a corrupt president to the detriment of the American people, the truth and the U.S. Constitution -- just like they used their power to block and object to just about every piece of legislation handed down by the previous administration, including Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court bench.
In this respect, the Senate is not a group equal to the task of holding thee executive branch in check like it was imagined to be by the Founding Fathers, but a "privy council" of dedicated obstructionists unable to do more than curry favor with a president who's clearly in it for himself.
And if anything, their willingness to acquit him without seeing legal documents and witnesses is proof of that.
44
@N. Smith
As recent polls shoe, the GOP no longer represents even the people who inexplicably continue to vote for them. They exist for one reason, to do the bidding of a handful of oligarchs who fund their campaigns and who dole out the cushy post-congressional sinecures. What have they accomplished in the three years of Trump's tenure? A massive tax cut aimed at the .1% and a raft of hack judges, who are subservient to the same group. They are basically lobbyists and legislators crammed into the same bespoke suit.
3
We need structural reform. The fact that the Senate is ruled by the GOP who represent a minority of voters, not the majority, is the big problem.
As long as each state gets 2 Senators regardless of population, it means that the voices from states like Wyoming carry the same weight as those of California and the Senate is going to be blocked from carrying out legislation and reform that a majority of voters want, (sensible gun control, witness in the Impeachment trial etc).
60
@dc
It also means the 700,000 citizens of Washington DC have no representation at all.
2
It seems clear to me that at this point in time, we have a President who is above the law. Mr. McConnell for all intents and purposes does not represent the voters of Kentucky in any way, shape or form. It appears now and I am absolutely sure, that he feels his only purpose in Washington is to ensure that the current President and his supporters are not held accountable for anything. He and President Trump will really run roughshod over the Nation in Trumps second term which I believe is a 99 percent surety after reading and hearing all of the doubts and indecisiveness and let us wait and see answers from middle of the road voters.
18
The senate is not the problem. The lack of democracy is. When we have a system of elections in which minorities can vote in presidents, a system of gerrymandering in which minorities can control states, and an electorate that receives little or no training in how to be citizens of a democracy, which is the most complicated and learning-involved form of government imaginable, we get senates and presidents that collude to maintain their power.
50
@Judith MacLaury
The best democracy our corpocracy can buy. Feature, not bug. That means the rich in power love how America is, only the poor and those of us that pay attention know America is as democratic as all other banana republics - that is, it is NOT a Democracy.
1
Any system of government, no matter how well designed, will fail if the people administering it are lacking an ethical structure.
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@Richard Fried
But there is a big difference in degree, across different governments. The founders tried to form a government that would still be just and promote general welfare despite the folly and selfishness of its members, by pitting their interests against each other in a system of checks and balances. That is why our welfare depends less on our representatives being good people than the welfare of absolute monarchy depends on the goodness of its monarch.
1
During this impeachment process, I have been thrilling to the words of the founders. From Zoe Lofgrehn’s speech recounting the Founders’ words at the hearings, to Jamelle Bouie’s unearthing of the words of the anti-federalists, I have gained a much deeper understanding of the true nature of democracy.
I have come to understand why so many have died for ‘one person, one vote.’ I understand now why today I meet so many fellow volunteers out helping to register voters and campaign for honest politicians.
Democracy seems to be a fundamental longing of human nature, much more powerful and enduring than a momentary flash of fear aroused by a meme. Seeing this, I am not afraid of these Trumpists, they have been defeated before in history, and will be defeated again this time.
50
@Terro O’Brien I wish I had your faith.
2
RE: "after Senate Republicans voted unanimously to approve their leader Mitch McConnell’s rules"
The elephant in the room is Mitch McConnell. A man in a position that is not defined in the Constitution, unlike the President or the Speaker, and as a result does not have any checks and balances. Nothing prevents one man rule, his rule. You speak of the Constitution of Federalists and ant-Federalists but none of them anticipated McConnell who has demonstrated that from time-to-time he is the most powerful figure in Government defying both the President and the House.
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@Marie
Agreed, McConnell is too powerful and that combined with his mean spirited nature makes one party (the minority, at that) rule in this country an increasingly dangerous problem.
Attention should be focused on Kentucky to give his challenger all the help she needs to win the votes to unseat him.
7
"Nothing prevents one man rule, his rule."
*If* a Republican senator had integrity, that *would* prevent one-man rule. But is seems that almost every one of them considers blind obeisance far more important than being loyal to their oath of office or to their oath of impartial justice in this impeachment trial.
5
Mr. Bouie, Mitch McConnell isn't going to have his complicity in Trump's Senate Impeachment trial swept under the frayed G.O.P. rug. He can and will be removed and replaced in his office in our coming November presidential election. A Democratic candidate for his office, former Marine combat jet pilot, Amy McGrath, is making hay in Kentucky while the impeachment sun shines. If McConnell's G.O.P. Senate doesn't acquit Donald Trump, his seat may well be taken by a young woman who surely deserves that seat more than a trumpian-complicit Republican Senator does.
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@Nan Socolow
McConnell is the most unpopular Senator in the country. Yet he wins handily in KY, in part because he brings home the bacon, and in part because it's, well, KY. Of course, I hope I'm absolutely wrong, but I think it''s a fantasy to believe that he'll lose in November.
15
@Howard Kessler Mitch routinely wins here because:
1. Most eligible voters in Kentucky, the majority of which are Democrats
2. Kentucky Democrats routinely nominate weak candidates. I'm afraid McGrath is no exception, though I'd be happy to be proven wrong!
1
@Nan Socolow BZ! Adding Amy to the ranks in Congress joining Mikie Sherrill and Elaine Luria will do much to help us restore honor to the Congress.
6
That equilateral triangle I remember in my junior high school textbooks illustrating our system of checks and balances sure has changed; It’s currently an extremely steep-sided triangle with you-know-who at the the pinnacle being kept from toppling off by McConnell, the GOP, increasingly the Supreme Court and the donor class. This is not normal by any stretch of the imagination.
24
But how does your observation help America today. "I told you so's" are rarely, if ever, productive. I doubt any Republican Senators read your column, and if they did it would not alter their upcoming vote. Te process is deeply flawed, as is the Electoral College election of the President, the primary structure leading to nominations, unlimited political contributions and lifetime tenure for members of the Supreme Court. But as with all aspects of democracy, flaws in the process can be corrected by leaders who possess integrity and are not motivated solely by greed and a desire to be re-elected. Unfortunately, we live in a time where few such leaders exist.
17
Equal representation in the Senate was supposed to prevent majority tyranny against the minority. Instead the exact opposite has occurred. The 53 GOP senators represent 12 million less people than the 45 Dems + 2 Indies. The seventeen least populated states represent less than 10% of the US population, but have 34 Senators. By 2040, it is predicted that 70% of Americans will live in just 15 states, representing only 30 senators.
"By reference to the one person one vote standard, the Senate is the most malapportioned legislature in the world." (Lijphart 1984, 174) from Sizing Up the Senate, Lee and Oppenheimer.
It is unsustainable in its current form.
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@prrh
I'd add that the 438 Representative limit (including the three from DC) in the House is also contributing to the problem of insufficient representation.
The 438 limit is not anywhere in the Constitution; it was set by statute, and could be changed by statute. I'm fairly certain that the Founders would have thought that having each Representative constituency average over three quarters of a million citizens was absurd (the Constitution only indicates a 30,000 minimum for a representative, and while no one could foresee a nation of 330 million, I don't think anyone foresaw an artificially truncated number of legislators, either).
15
@prrh Er, um...if 70% of Americans get only 30 senators, while 30% get 70 senators, that is exactly how the Senate prevents a tyranny of the majority against the minority.
@Dr B
The tyranny is a legislative body so skewed to the minority that it loses its credibility with the American public. The Supreme Court with its stolen seat risks the same.
2
Thank you Mr. Bouie for the clear explanation of the dangers of the Senate's power in the Constitution. It is apparent that the Founders were setting up their own version of the House Of Lords and we have not seen fit to revisit the "Constitutional Congress" to repair their undemocratic vision. The Electoral College provides a similar example of a system set up to help ensure the powerful (and by that I mean old white men) stay in power. As someone who grew up under a Parliamentary system of government I have always wondered why the Electoral College was not abolished with slavery as I assumed it was devised as a means to keep the Southern states happy. Without the Electoral College trump would not be president and we would not be in the appalling situation we are in today. We have a criminal for a President and a Senate conducting a Kangaroo Court - how long can this so called democracy survive?
25
The founding fathers were elitists and didn't trust the people to manage their own government. They installed the electoral college so that the people's vote for presidential candidates was not direct and in control of the party, just in case we chose wrongly. Senators were initially appointed by state legislatures, providing them distance from the electorate until the 17th amendment that called for direct elections and hopefully more accountability to the people they are supposed to represent.
The way our system has evolved produced two parties that are like different houses of aristocracy, They operate no differently than the House of Tudor vs the House of Lancaster. Fealty is to their respective houses and not to the country. They seek only to maintain their positions of power and influence so as to increase their own security and riches.
Given the age of information and the inability to hide what is going on as well as they used to, we are confronted with the horrors of how things happen. We all know what is going on, but the system is effectively controlled to keep us from having nothing more than choices of the lesser of two evils.
A solution to this problem of having greater accountability is, perhaps, not a new constitution but an amendment which would keep the House as the source of articles of impeachment, but to shift the trial and hearing from the Senate to a panel of federal judges. Perhaps two from each Federal District Court.
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It is a bit confusing: the Federalists favored a strong Executive, and the anti-Federalists opposed an 'elitist' Senate that might conspire with the strong Executive; but today's anti-Federalists (the Trump Party) love their strong Executive ... to the degree where they'd gladly make him King (it might well happen ... although for propriety sake they won't actually call him 'King').
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@Grant - "but today's anti-Federalists (the Trump Party) love their strong Executive"
That is simply because today's Republicans usually call themselves the opposite of what they are. There really is no anti-Federalist or "orginalist" or anything. All there is is expediency in the quest for wealth and power. They will call themselves whatever works to their ends.
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One flaw of the Constitution is that a simple majority of each house writes all the rules of its proceedings, which unfortunately is used solely for obstruction purposes.
We see that a simple majority in the Senate can exploit its power of procedure to keep witnesses out of the impeachment trial. And a simple majority prevented the Senate from even being able to hold nomination hearings for a Supreme Court judge nominated by Obama.
I’m not aware that the founders foresaw the ability to use administrative rules in such a tyrannical and malicious way.
They also did not envision minority party obstruction, such as the filibuster.
We need a remedy, an amendment, perhaps, saying that Congress and the Senate must hold full, fair, and expeditious proceedings on all matters lawfully brought before the legislative bodies. That’s vague, but it would at least allow minority House and Senate members to appeal to the Supreme Court when legislative obstruction occurs.
In honor of our obstructor in chief, we can it the Mitch McConnell amendment.
22
Mr. Bouie traces the genesis of impeachment through the collection of articles known as the Federalist Papers. These writings were subject to considerable debate. Compromise over the grounds for impeachment by resulted in muddled language. A less well known debate occurred over the imposition of term limits for members of congress. The failure to limit tenure in office meant that professional politicians would serve as Senate jurors during an impeachment trial. In an ideal world, senators rise above partisan biases to serve the national interest. Our world is not ideal. Hence, no president has ever been removed from office by the senate.
Who were the anti-federalists? Their ranks included Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They were anglophobes who worried about possible emergence of a domestic monarchy in the U.S.. So they argued for a process to intended to defend our nation from those disposed to undermine our constitutional form of government. In their wisdom, did Jefferson and Madison anticipate the arrival of an aspirational King Donald? Perhaps.
14
Mr. Bouie, thank you for researching the arguments exposing one of the flaws of the Constitution — the US Senate. After exploring the work of Sanford Levinson, and others, your opinion adds to my angst about the undemocratic nature of our Constitution.
It does not take much effort to trace today's shameless exploitation of the weaknesses in the Constitution back to 1981 — the beginning of the Reagan revolution and the end of post WWII Keynesianism. After 1981 the laws and regulations that protected the American people and our democracy from corporate greed and the wealthy have been relentlessly attacked by Republicans and the conservative/libertarian lawyers of Federalist Society.
That said, I am hopeful that Americans will step-up and protect our existing Constitution from AG Barr, the Republican Senate, and a partisan Supreme Court. Then, when the current threat to our democracy is quelled, steps are taken to organize a Constitutional Convention with the intent to prepare our democracy to meet the challenges of the next 200 years.
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Near as I can tell the functioning of the government to do the will of all the people depends on a honest, moral and fair majority leader in the Senate along with Senators' who are willing to put America before party. This is because of the power the Senate has and the rules it runs by. I am very sad to report that at present we have neither, the place is run for the sole purpose of giving and keeping power in the hands of the GOP with disregard of the will of the people or the good of the people. Our one chance to change this will come in November, this year.
27
Superior article, providing insight into our history unknown to most of us. In the aftermath of the Trump disaster, hopefully our nation will eventually take steps to restore a functioning democracy, which will need to include elimination of the Electoral College, term limits (at least in the Senate), and perhaps expansion of the Supreme Court.
Watching democracies across our planet, it appears that the US model may not be the best method of achieving democracy. The parliamentary system may offer greater flexibility to respond to complex times, and oust corrupt leaders.
In the end, will the US system allow for self-correction, or will we just separate into two countries - this time without war and to the relief of virtually everyone?
31
Come back in a hundred years, or a thousand, and one will have to confront the basic problems of human greed and the desire for a few to dominate over the many.
We either train our children to think for themselves, to be able and willing to serve the common good, and to understand that great wealth is a sign of ignorance, not brilliance, or we fall as a culture.
The last is what poisons democracies.
Sure, we could bring back the draft, and national peacetime service, and we could tax at the rates we used after WWII to pay off our national debt, but we won't, for "we" don't exist anymore, the only "we" that matters is the net of global corporate boardrooms and their 1% investors.
That is the real "sky net", that is what is in charge. No single human is in charge, nor are we as a people. The Constitution is blind to corporations, it has no impeachment process for a Gates or a Zuckerberg.
Hugh
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Unfortunately the Senate as the founders arranged it does not exist. The Founders mandated that Senators be appointed by each state's legislators, not put in to their positions via a public vote. Comparing the Senate of today vs the Founder's fears is incoherence by definition. Yes, because Senators are elected by the people, they represent their states less and less each generation. They have become the arrogant, exclusive aristocrats the Founders feared. All because of the direct public vote.
If Senators were elected by their state legislatures, as originally directed in the Constitution, they would be more in touch with the needs of their states, since they would be held to thoswe who were elected to govern the states they hail from. They would face competition to retain their positions, every election. The direct vote is why Senators are more coronated than elected; the parties they belong to maintain a system bereft of competition for their incumbents, giving themselves entitlements such as Chairman of this Committee, Ranking member of that Committee. The public does not follow what these things mean. They don't monitor how many Senators actually participate in these Committees; but state legislators might, since each might be seeking such an appointed position in the future. Term limits are not a necessary consideration when competition and accountability are part of a process; clearly the Senate has neither.
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@MikeTracy Mr Tracy are you actually suggesting that the Senate should be elected by a new form of the Electoral College? That has worked so well for us!
2
Great article, thank you. A necessary perspective unfortunately not taken by other media outlets. Two things that could help course correct: term limits and breaking up the two party political system.
28
I agree, though it would be more appropriate to call the two party system what it is: a duopoly on the business of politics. The partisanship we see today is a foreseeable result and we the consumers (ie voters) are the ones harmed by it.
12
Great article. Checks and balances is a slogan and not much else. Good idea, too bad it didn't work. Unless our elected officials are truly devoted to public service faithfully fulfilling their roles in government rather than succumbing to the usual seduction of power, money and celebrity, checks and balances will never be much more than a slogan.
More than anything, what this article illustrates is that America has a long way to go to fulfilling its promise of democracy and we are so often moving in the opposite direction is amazing we haven't yet collapsed in tyranny. Not to worry, Trump and the Reprobate Party are doing everything they can to get us to abject tyranny as soon as possible.
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@JW
The good news is that with them ignoring & Climate Change, they won’t even rule for more than a couple generations. They’ll be wiped out much like the dinosaurs about the time of that asteroid.
Problem is, they take us all down with them.
1
@JW Funny how money greases the skids in any and all governments no matter what “style” we choose. The amount of money getting paid to officials is what determines how much they can ignore true governance.
Isn't another Constitutional Convention in order?
The constitution has been weaponized against the people and the government it was written to protect.
It's been twisted so far out of shape that the founders would not recognize,much less approve of it's current application.
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@interested party
Be careful what you wish for; I suspect what would come out of a new Constitutional Convention, with all of the right wing vehemence, might be even worse than what came out of the old one.
As the old saying goes, no one's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
11
@Glenn Ribotsky
You are quite correct. It is a longtime goal of republicans to hold a new constitutional convention. They are just few states short of having the necessary majority. If that happens, goodbye USA as we know it. Every regressive change you can think of is likely to be enacted.
3
@interested party That is something the radical Right has wanted for a long time - the outcome would not be good.
1
You named the weakness of the checks and balances of the constitution exactly: "Republican lawmakers have an interest in the political survival of the Republican president, just as Democratic lawmakers have an equivalent interest in the survival of a Democratic president." As a consequence of this situation a fair impeachment is impossible. And there is no possibility to control the executive power gone rouge - like in the case of the current government regrettably shows. There should be another loophole somewhere in the law to stop an autocratic president. Law experts - please go find it!
20
Great essay. Another point is that the Senate's reason for existence in the first place, that the U.S.A. is a confederation of "sovereign states" (like the countries that are part of the European Union) that should therefore get equal representation in the Senate regardless of population, is absurd. The current Senator from Utah, Mitt Romney, used to be Governor of Massachusetts. Hillary Clinton used to be Arkansas's First Lady, then she became a Senator from New York. You don't see a politician from Denmark later running for office in Italy, because the countries that make up the E.U. are separate, sovereign countries, unlike our 50 states. The current impeachment trial shows one unfortunate result of the Senate's giving each state in this country the same number of Senators, and the electoral college giving massively more weight to the smaller states. We now have an impeachment trial of a President who lost the popular vote, presided over by a Chief Justice appointed by another President who lost the popular vote, run by the Majority Leader in or Senate, whose party controls the Senate despite a majority of Americans voting for Democratic Senators.
454
@Bret. Great points. And socialism is problematic? America was great while it lasted
50
@Bret spot on. @NYT should make its headline "We now have an impeachment trial of a President who lost the popular vote, presided over by a Chief Justice appointed by another President who lost the popular vote, run by the Majority Leader" (of the) "Senate, whose party controls the Senate despite a majority of Americans voting for Democratic Senators." Sums up our mess perfectly.
29
@Patrick.@
This is sheer nonsense.
The US Senate is simply the representation of the federated states of the the Union as one federal state. The Union isn´t just a federation of states like EU is.
A legislative body that represents the federated states of a federal state is absolutely normal for such federal states worldwide. Austria ("Bundesrat"), Australia, Belgium, Germany (also "Bundesrat"), India, Russia, Switzerland ("Ständerat"), South Africa and even United Arab Emirates have equivalents of US Senate.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertretung_der_Gliedstaaten
(I really would prefer to give an English link here but there is none so I have to offer a link to the article about German "Bundesrat" for indirect explaination of the fundamental functioning :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesrat_of_Germany)
The well-known problem with US Senate is not the institution but the grotesquely distorted non-proportional way of representation of US population in Senate.
The impeachment rules are almost copied by
Art 61 Basic law just because the US rules made it almost impossible to create a dangerous power vacuum by bringing down the heads of the state due to countless non-confidence (impeachment) votes as it had been in Weimar era.
BTW: Chancellors Kiesinger, Brandt, Schmidt Kohl and Schröder had been MP of "their" federated states before they became Bundeskanzler. Federal states are seen as perfect training grounds for future leaders of the federation -like in US.
2
One solution would be states have to send one democrat and one republican to the Senate. The elections would select the one democrat and the one republican with the highest votes. With equal party membership they either have to learn to work together or fight for all of their six years in office.
28
I think one of the difficulties with this and similar columns is the reliance of trying to reach back to the framers of the Constitution. It is not necessary in this instance.
The plain language of the Constitution is all that is required to guide us. If a trial is required, we have to make it a fair and honest one to the best that we can. Clearly, most of the current bunch of Republicans (perhaps Mr. Romney excepted) have no interest in this and view acquittal as little more than a procedural vote.
However, the public does have an interest.
39
Approaching their tasks with fairness and honesty presumes they have character and integrity. One of my senators mistook the event for a third grade party by handing out Made in China fidget spinners. Can't you just see Jefferson treating his cohorts to buttons on strings?
1
In the end, the constitution will not be amended to eliminate the Senate or the Electoral college. So Democrats have to ask the key question is why Republican voters continue to support their party? What specifically is driving voters in the poorest counties to vote overwhelmingly Republican? Is it religion and guns? Is it racism/tribalism? Is it hope that Republicans will improve their income? Is it military support? The answer will be a mosaic depending on the district and state. Democrats then need to be able to encompass locally tailored candidates who align with key core values. 2018 was great in this regard. 2020 hopefully will be even better. The perfect is the enemy of good.
66
“@Daniel. The answer is quite simple as I see it. Neo liberal Dems talk a great game about helping the working class and then ignore them. Think Hillary and her deplorables or Barack and his cling to guns and religion and that equals Trump. He is a symptom not a cause Dems have not supported unions at all. In fact when the protesters were out in force in Wisconsin Obama bypassed the state. He promised card check never happened. So yes at the end of the day they will vote for a pro gun Trump because they other side has abandoned them. In the end result no one is meeting their needs.
9
@Daniel
'Republicans' are not monolithic, so there are competing and even self contradictory motives for voting Republican.
But to generalize, the basis of democracy is education. Common sense is not enough. Faith is not enough. The Founders knew this and were leery of universal suffrage. Mostly we have chosen to bet on a better educated public. And mostly it worked. Until relatively recently.
After desegregation of public education, America saw the rise of our own madrassas - racist populist religious academies.
Then as Gov. Reagan's example of underfunding of public education in California spread across the nation, public education was undermined.
Remember Trump bellowing how he 'loves the uneducated'? And then boasting of his academic credentials?
The GOP is conning the credulous in service of the corrupt. Knowledge is power. The Republican party is betting on voters not knowing that. Or caring.
5
@Daniel, Florida. The repub voters continue to support the actions of their party with the help of Fox media, the propaganda arm of the White House. These are professional performers who know how to reach their audience.
5
The author concludes by suggesting we define the term "the interests of their constituents" as partisan interests.
The Framers had something more compelling in mind than winning or losing - the ability of their constitution to protect and perpetuate their republic.
They had freed themselves from the 'divine right of kings' and had to put something lasting in its place.
The Framers did not consider their constitution handed from on high and engraved in stone. As reasoning men, as men of the Enlightenment, the knew they were not omniscient and could not entirely envision future demands on their law, so they left 'breathing room' in the constitution to allow it to retain its identity and be sufficient to changing times.
In service of a living constitution, the Framers allowed for change - amendments, repeal of laws, and overturning of precedent. Even for these well informed and far seeing men, the future was hazy so they left some phrases vaguely worded and open to future interpretations.
This is why Dershowitz's 'originalist' reading of 'high crimes' in context of bribery and treason is wrong. The House Managers are right, 'high crimes' refer to crimes against the state. And to the Framers the highest crime against the republic and most antithetical to the the interests of its citizens was a return to tyranny.
The Framers may not have foreseen Trump's specific abuses, but they his type down to a 'T'. And wanted none of it.
194
@pi A beautiful elucidation. Thank you.
5
@DeirdreG
Thank you New York City and New York State public education. K- BA. 1950s- 70.
It was possible. It still could be.
7
The Senate is problematic in every way, with its grossly disproportional representation. Post Citizens United, it’s the most corruptible portion of the federal government. Add this to the constitutional weakness in impeachment proceedings. Well, add this to everything Congress does now.
266
@Portia
And thank the Roberts Court for delivering, though its decisions, the most corrupt government in our history.
9
@Portia Yes, North Dakota, and Wyoming both get two Senators each and California just gets two. This, is why Trump isn’t on a permanent golf vacation. The Congress is far more representive of the country than the Senate. Trump, the Republican, is far closer to the Jefferson Davis Presidency than Lincoln. He has gained power by dividing the country.
5
The republican majority senate is complicit in this corrupt presidency. They don’t support their constituents, they support their donors. Their only goal is to remake the judiciary and lower taxes for the wealthy. McConnell’s has blocked more than 300 pieces of legislation passed by the house with the help of republican senators as none will ask for a vote- not one of them.
There will be no healthcare, infrastructure, reasonable gun control, living wages, or college debt reform with republicans. They don’t care about the future of our country unless it enables them to maintain power and support their donors.
799
@Deirdre
I would love to see more media coverage of all the bills sitting on McConnell's desk.
It's another reason the Senate is dysfunctional---McConnell won't let it get stuff done.
161
@SLB
"It's another reason the Senate is dysfunctional---McConnell won't let it get stuff done."
... and then Trump labels/blame the "do-nothing Democrats." It's just stunning.
168
@Deirdre
Spot on! Let me just point out that cutting taxes on the wealthy and their companies is a form of quid pro quo. i.e. we'll lower your taxes so that you can donate some of that money you saved to our campaigns/cause.
63
This is a wonderful capsulation of what is askew in the design of our government’s Constitution. We are locked into a process of no return. Trump cannot lose. We, the people cannot win. We now have the perfect storm to finally see the weakness of our Federal system. Sort of “we have seen our enemy and it is our Constitution. Our primaries system for determining candidates, in effect since 1968, is at the bottom of getting a demagogue such as Trump into the Presidency. The Federalists preferred party selection, not the voters, of presidential candidates because the people were incapable of good choices as we now witness.
69
@NOTATE REDMOND I agree that the article is wonderfully written, but I don't see how party selection would improve the choices we would get, especially given the monolith that the Republican party has become. It seems like it would be (just) a more direct path the Trump-purified next candidate.
9
@PJFBostonlawyer
The GOP hierarchy tried everything to void Trump’s ascent to the GOP nomination in 2016 to no avail. They despised him.
7
@NOTATE REDMOND “...we have seen our enemy and it is our Constitution."
Sorry you feel that way. Ironically, it's the Bill of Rights that helps empower you to even criticize such a thing. Personally, I don't take my rights for granted. I happily embrace them every single moment of every single day.
2
Great essay! I love getting insights from information I have heretofore been unaware of.
36
Since the constitution doesn’t really specify the exact rules for Senate impeachment trials, it does seem that the problem concerns the majority party having the near absolute ability to call the shots. If it’s their guy being impeached, they can block witnesses, documents and evidence from seeing the light of day. If it’s the other party’s guy they can order that POTUS must be questioned on videotape that is then played for all the world to see, and also have a needle stuck into his veins for a blood sample, as was done to Clinton.
Neither scenario resembles what we Americans expect to happen in an honest search for truth and justice. And, of course, there’s the whole Mitch McConnell/Majority Leader problem. How does someone who got 806,787 popular votes in Kentucky last time he was on the ballot have so much power to obstruct and thwart the will of the sizable majority of 350,000,000 Americans who want witnesses called and documents produced in these proceedings? I don’t believe that the framers had in mind this much power in one man - of either party - outside the executive branch.
We need a bipartisan constitutional amendment specifying once and for all fair, consistent rules for Senate impeachment proceedings that will be the same for any future president, of any political party, who (God forbid) behaves in a manner leading to impeachment - a middle ground between sticking a needle into the president’s arm and total, blanket, absolute executive immunity.
213
@Joanna Stasia Except in this case the problem concerns the minority party having the near absolute ability to call the shots.
4
@Joanna Stasia I guess Mitch is the embodiment of the 1% where a couple million from Kentucky are more important than 40 million from California.
7
Yes, well almost. If it were not for representation by the minority, this problem with the senate et al would not be here. Democracy is a delicate balance. That balance has been destroyed - by gerrymandering, voter suppression etc, not the inherent makeup of our government.
283
Add to the list one Mitch McConnell and here we are. Just imagine where we might be, even with Trump as President, if the Grim Reaper we’re not in charge of the Senate. He, perhaps even more than Trump, is the sand in the gears of democracy.
20
@slowaneasy
I don't see how gerrymandering is relevant to the federal senate. These are statewide elections. You can't gerrymander state lines. The boundaries are decidedly fixed.
5
@Andy : But one still votes for Democrat or Republican senators, so I think gerrymandering district boundary lines still affects election of senators, too. Any explanations counter welcome.
1