That an impeachment trial against a former president would be a dangerous precedent to set should have been obvious to every American citizen, with or without a law degree. Although some countries do routinely try their former chief executives on political charges, those countries are never happy or prosperous places in which to live. Rather, they are miserable and benighted states with authoritarian regimes which have become the principal enemy of their own people.

Sadly, our government, with its rapidly growing and unchecked power to coerce its citizens at all times, in all places, and in most things, may now be treading along the path to becoming just such a regime.

Even a cursory reading of the Constitution quickly leads one to the conclusion that impeachment and the resulting trial are reserved for grave crimes which could justifiably lead to the removal of a sitting president. That is, after all, nothing more than the clear wording within the document itself. Calling for a peaceful march on our seat of government was not a crime when the Constitution was enacted in 1788, any more than it is today.

Yet here we are, ready to march into the abyss, led by Democrat senators and representatives blinded by the fundamental motivating drive common to all Leftists: The sheer lust for power at any price. You may rest assured that not one of them has given serious thought to the consequences of their actions for the country. That is simply not what Democrats do when baying for the blood of their enemies. So let us take a step beyond the clear unconstitutionality of these proceedings and the fact that Donald Trump committed no crime. Let us stare directly into the gaping jaws of the future that the Democrats have already set for us.

And a sad future it will likely be. America has been the greatest democracy on Earth for nearly two hundred and forty-five years. The political experiment which the Founding Fathers brought forth in Philadelphia in 1787 was a new kind of democracy based on three divided branches of government, each branch subject to the checks and balances of the other two. Now, thanks to the ruthless and irresponsible actions of every single Democrat in Congress, the checks and balances which make our democracy possible are in mortal danger.

I am speaking particularly but not solely of the two irresponsible impeachments foisted on the American public in the space of just thirteen months. Do not forget the Democrats’ previous threat to pack the United States Supreme Court with political hacks willing to do the bidding of their party. That would be the end of the independence of the judicial branch of our government. The Democrats are merely awaiting the arrival of the appropriate circumstances to strike this blow.

But to return to the impeachments, consider the question not only of their lack of substance, but of their recent frequency. Democrats will of course blame Donald Trump for their filing of three impeachment articles in such a short space of time, but rest assured that they will do the same to any future president with whom they viscerally disagree. Allow me to put the present situation into perspective: Forty percent of all the impeachment proceedings ever launched against sitting (and now former) presidents in all of American history have been brought in the last thirteen months!

If impeachments and impeachment trials are to become a routine part of our political future, then surely the independence of our executive branch of government is now also under threat. Shall a mere majority of House seats determine whether or not a proceeding as grave as impeachment be launched for purely political purposes? Shall America risk a never-ending series of brutal impeachments, each one further damaging whatever is left of our political consensus? Shall we destroy the one form of democracy which has given this huge and disparate country a stable form of government?

These are all considerations which our Senators should take into account as the trial begins, and hopefully ends in a quick acquittal. God help us if the American experiment in democracy were to break down. There is no viable replacement on the horizon…

Louis Gurvich, Chairman
Republican Party of Louisiana