Liberal Forum
Archive
‹
Political Chat Rooms
‹
No Holds Barred Political Forum
‹
A lesson on impeachment and constitutional government
A lesson on impeachment and constitutional government
By Buffalo
23 Dec 2023 3:25 pm in No Holds Barred Political Forum
3 posts • Page 1 of 1
23 Dec 2023 3:25 pm
By Michael Master
December 20, 2023 at 7:06pm
Democrats impeached Donald Trump for, allegedly, high crimes and misdemeanors. Democrats now claim that Joe Biden cannot be impeached because he has not been convicted of any crime. So what was Trump convicted of doing when Democrats impeached him … twice? Nothing.
In 1865, Vice President Andrew Johnson was sworn into office as president to replace Abraham Lincoln after his assassination. Johnson was a Democrat while Lincoln was a Republican. An overwhelming majority of Congress was Republican. That Congress feared that Johnson would change policies (which Johnson did) and change the members of the Cabinet (which Johnson did). So Congress passed legislation with a super-majority of Republicans, The Tenure of Office Act, over the veto of Johnson, that forbid the president from releasing any members from his Cabinet without permission from Congress.
The House then impeached Johnson for ignoring its legislation. As a court, the U.S. Senate, by the one vote of Sen. Rose, then found Johnson "not guilty." One vote. One senator. Not guilty. So Johnson remained president of the United States.
Then, 29 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Tenure in Office Act was unconstitutional because the legislative branch could not impose restrictions on the executive branch that were not in the Constitution. The legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch are coequal branches that are not accountable to each in any ways other that what is allowed in the Constitution.
In 208 years, until the impeachment of Bill Clinton, Andrew Johnson was the only president to be impeached. What did America learn from that impeachment of Johnson?
Congress can define high crimes and misdemeanors in any way that it wants to define them. No indictment or conviction by a court is needed. An impeachment is an indictment. The impeachment of Johnson was a political indictment by Republicans against a Democrat. But the Senate is the court. It is the jury. And the Senate determines "guilty" or "not guilty" just as any other court does.
In addition, the House and Senate may find someone guilty who is vindicated at some later date without any means for remedy. If Johnson had been found guilty and the law he violated was found unconstitutional 29 years later, then what? What would have been the remedy? There was none. All the actions by following presidents and Congresses in opposition to Johnson's policies would have been left in place.
Finally, the three branches of the federal government are separate with a separation of powers. They deliberately are not accountable to each other
December 20, 2023 at 7:06pm
Democrats impeached Donald Trump for, allegedly, high crimes and misdemeanors. Democrats now claim that Joe Biden cannot be impeached because he has not been convicted of any crime. So what was Trump convicted of doing when Democrats impeached him … twice? Nothing.
In 1865, Vice President Andrew Johnson was sworn into office as president to replace Abraham Lincoln after his assassination. Johnson was a Democrat while Lincoln was a Republican. An overwhelming majority of Congress was Republican. That Congress feared that Johnson would change policies (which Johnson did) and change the members of the Cabinet (which Johnson did). So Congress passed legislation with a super-majority of Republicans, The Tenure of Office Act, over the veto of Johnson, that forbid the president from releasing any members from his Cabinet without permission from Congress.
The House then impeached Johnson for ignoring its legislation. As a court, the U.S. Senate, by the one vote of Sen. Rose, then found Johnson "not guilty." One vote. One senator. Not guilty. So Johnson remained president of the United States.
Then, 29 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Tenure in Office Act was unconstitutional because the legislative branch could not impose restrictions on the executive branch that were not in the Constitution. The legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch are coequal branches that are not accountable to each in any ways other that what is allowed in the Constitution.
In 208 years, until the impeachment of Bill Clinton, Andrew Johnson was the only president to be impeached. What did America learn from that impeachment of Johnson?
Congress can define high crimes and misdemeanors in any way that it wants to define them. No indictment or conviction by a court is needed. An impeachment is an indictment. The impeachment of Johnson was a political indictment by Republicans against a Democrat. But the Senate is the court. It is the jury. And the Senate determines "guilty" or "not guilty" just as any other court does.
In addition, the House and Senate may find someone guilty who is vindicated at some later date without any means for remedy. If Johnson had been found guilty and the law he violated was found unconstitutional 29 years later, then what? What would have been the remedy? There was none. All the actions by following presidents and Congresses in opposition to Johnson's policies would have been left in place.
Finally, the three branches of the federal government are separate with a separation of powers. They deliberately are not accountable to each other
23 Dec 2023 3:26 pm
as per the wisdom of our Founding Fathers who enacted our Constitution.So how does this apply to today?
The House has the authority to investigate and impeach Biden for anything it deems to be high crimes and misdemeanors. No findings by any other courts are needed. The House is a prosecutor, and the Senate is a court.
The finding by the Senate that Trump was not guilty of participating in an insurrection was a finding by a court. He is not guilty. The 14th Amendment cannot be used to keep Trump from running for office, despite the recent ruling to the contrary by the Colorado Supreme Court.
The first impeachment of Trump was wrong. If Trump had been removed from office for his call with the Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and Burisma, that would now be found to be a justified action by Trump just as Johnson was vindicated 29 years later, with no remedy to fix the harm that would have been done to Trump and America.
Today, Democrats in Congress are attempting to legislate a code of ethics for the Supreme Court. That is the very interference of one branch of government with another branch that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional with the Tenure of Office Act.
Today, Democrats are attempting to use the judicial system to stop Trump because their efforts failed in Congress. The fact is, again, that the U.S. Senate found Trump to be "not guilty" twice.
Why is President Trump so far ahead of all Republican candidates and ahead of Biden in all polls? Because Americans are understanding how Donald Trump is the victim of political demonization today, just as Andrew Johnson was a victim in 1865.
https://www.wnd.com/2023/12/lesson-impe ... 2fa2440788
The House has the authority to investigate and impeach Biden for anything it deems to be high crimes and misdemeanors. No findings by any other courts are needed. The House is a prosecutor, and the Senate is a court.
The finding by the Senate that Trump was not guilty of participating in an insurrection was a finding by a court. He is not guilty. The 14th Amendment cannot be used to keep Trump from running for office, despite the recent ruling to the contrary by the Colorado Supreme Court.
The first impeachment of Trump was wrong. If Trump had been removed from office for his call with the Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and Burisma, that would now be found to be a justified action by Trump just as Johnson was vindicated 29 years later, with no remedy to fix the harm that would have been done to Trump and America.
Today, Democrats in Congress are attempting to legislate a code of ethics for the Supreme Court. That is the very interference of one branch of government with another branch that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional with the Tenure of Office Act.
Today, Democrats are attempting to use the judicial system to stop Trump because their efforts failed in Congress. The fact is, again, that the U.S. Senate found Trump to be "not guilty" twice.
Why is President Trump so far ahead of all Republican candidates and ahead of Biden in all polls? Because Americans are understanding how Donald Trump is the victim of political demonization today, just as Andrew Johnson was a victim in 1865.
https://www.wnd.com/2023/12/lesson-impe ... 2fa2440788
23 Dec 2023 10:10 pm
3 posts • Page 1 of 1
Who is online
In total there are 5784 users online :: 13 registered, 15 bots, and 5756 guests
Registered users: Vegas, Blackvegetable, Buck Naked, Buffalo, ROG62, RebelGator, ConservativeWave, FJB, Beekeeper, SouthernFried, nefarious101, sole, Huey
Bots: NING, SiteLockSpider, LCC, ADmantX, proximic, DuckDuckBot, CriteoBot, MicroMessenger, facebookexternalhit, YandexBot, Googlebot, Mediapartners-Google, bingbot, curl/7, Applebot