{"id":137177,"date":"2018-09-14T11:32:13","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T17:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/14\/the-insoluble-problem-from-impeaching-trump.html"},"modified":"2018-09-14T11:32:13","modified_gmt":"2018-09-14T17:32:13","slug":"the-insoluble-problem-from-impeaching-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/14\/the-insoluble-problem-from-impeaching-trump.html","title":{"rendered":"The insoluble problem from impeaching Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Believe me, I understand. I desperately want Donald out of the White House and somewhere (whether in prison, in an institution, or in a golf cart) far away from where he can continue to vandalize our society through the power of the federal government.<\/p>\n

But Trump managed to do — intentionally or not — one incredibly clever thing in his ascent: he added a "poison pill" to the political process, in the form of his successor, Mike Pence. Pence these days is known mostly for his Smithers-like fawning and admiring glances and continuous presence around Donald, but prior to a couple of years ago he was known as the arch-conservative theocratic governor of Indiana. <\/p>\n

Trump is a horrifying menace in his own right — but he's also been his own worst enemy, alienating political allies, and tweeting his way into federal court decisions against his policies. <\/p>\n

Pence, on the other hand, knows how to actually work the reins of government. He wouldn't be quite as capricious and megalomaniacal as Trump, but he'd be vastly more effective<\/i> in using the federal government to is own ideological ends. Abortion, gay rights, women's rights, birth control, anything that looks sideways at (Christian) religious "freedom," anything that has offended any conservative Christian activist group for the last fifty years — it would be all be under concerted and (unlike with Trump) coherent attack. That's clear looking at his record as governor.<\/p>\n

Getting rid of Trump would be difficult. A double-play that managed to get rid of him and<\/i> Pence is virtually inconceivable, even if Pence is found to have been involved in whatever electoral shenanigans Trump turns out to have been. Even if the Dems take a slim Senate majority (an outside chance at the moment), even if enough GOP Senators can be convinced to follow through on an impeachment indictment from the House from Trump, you will never get enough conservative Senators to constitute the 2\/3 majority needed to impeach Pence as well.<\/p>\n

At this point, the least-worst scenario is to restore gridlock to Washington, so as to keep Donald in office but unable to do much more than keep hammering at the machinery of government with a twenty pound sledge in his tiny little hands, until his term is ended. As much as I fear Trump's incompetence, I fear Pence's competence<\/i> and the directions to which he'd put it far more.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nIf You’re Hoping Trump Will Be Impeached, Be Careful What You Wish For<\/a><\/span>
\nWe could be looking at a decade of President Mike Pence\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Original Post<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Believe me, I understand. I desperately want Donald out of the White House and somewhere (whether in prison, in an institution, or in a golf cart) far away from where he can continue to vandalize our society through the power of the federal government. But Trump managed to do — intentionally or not — one … Continue reading “The insoluble problem from impeaching Trump”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":133505,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/17\/has-donald-trump-obstructed-justice.html","url_meta":{"origin":137177,"position":0},"title":"Has Donald Trump obstructed justice?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 17-May-17 10:35pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Another good article from LawfareBlog, examining what's known of the Comey memo and what the standards of obstruction of justice are in a federal court.But the article also notes that a federal indictment is not how such a case would develop. The question is whether the behavior and actions of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131076,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/14\/so-it-looks-like-trump-is-picking-pence-for-his-running-mate.html","url_meta":{"origin":137177,"position":1},"title":"So it looks like Trump is picking Pence for his running mate","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 14-Jul-16 11:22am","format":false,"excerpt":"Or so all the Informed Rumors have it.I'm honestly not surprised. Of the three \"finalists,\" Christie remains in danger in the Bridgegate thang (and is already setting up the White House transition team), and Gingrich is ... well, too likely to take attention away Trump, and too unlikely to subordinate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131109,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/17\/iraq-war-vote-errors-for-me-but-not-for-thee.html","url_meta":{"origin":137177,"position":2},"title":"Iraq war vote errors for me, but not for thee","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 17-Jul-16 10:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Per Donald Trump, its okay that Mike Pence voted in favor of the Iraq War resolution, but not okay that Hillary Clinton did, because reasons.I don't particularly hold it against either candidate because, honestly, I was in favor of the war at the time, as my (unredacted) blog demonstrates. And,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136366,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/10\/a-look-at-mike-pence-and-exiled-american-evangelicals.html","url_meta":{"origin":137177,"position":3},"title":"A look at Mike Pence and “Exiled” American Evangelicals","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 10-May-18 7:41am","format":false,"excerpt":"A fascinating article in Harpers about the focus by many in the US Evangelical Christian community on the Babylonian Exile of the Jews as a metaphor for what they see as their own marginalization by American secular \/ multi-cultural society. This is important in how that focus drives the Vice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/pence-exiled.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":134999,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/08\/you-arent-here-for-the-hunting-are-you.html","url_meta":{"origin":137177,"position":4},"title":"‘You aren’t here for the hunting, are you?”","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 8-Oct-17 3:42pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A series of unfortunate events: Mike Pence attends a football game where he knows there will be anthem protests. Mike Pence says in advance he will leave the game if there's an anthem protest. Mike Pence leaves the game because there was an anthem protest. Mike Pence raises a stink\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/pence-national-anthem.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132663,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/26\/so-how-do-we-get-donald-trump-out-of-office.html","url_meta":{"origin":137177,"position":5},"title":"So, how do we get Donald Trump out of office?","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 26-Jan-17 6:51pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A nice survey by +John E. Bredehoft of the legal means of getting Trump out of the US Presidency (prior to 2020), and their likelihood of happening. No spoilers, but I think his conclusion is accurate:https:\/\/plus.google.com\/u\/0\/+JohnEBredehoft\/posts\/gRGrHvcUCLqA couple of notes:- As John notes in passing, it's not clear that getting Trump\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/grid-cell-9252-1441814707-65B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}