Get the Impeachment over with and get on with the people's business!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

VOTERS ARE THE REAL JURORS!

by Steve Fair

     A Fox News poll released on Sunday showed half of Americans want President Trump impeached and removed from office.  Those polled broke along partisan lines with 81% of Democrats favoring removal and 84% of Republicans of those polled saying he shouldn’t be removed.   53% of Independents believe he should be removed. Interviews were conducted January 19-22, 2020 among a random national sample of just 1,005 registered voters.  75% of those polled were contacted by cell/25% by land line. Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of +/- percentage points. The poll was conducted by Beacon Research , a pollster out of Boston.  The irony is the poll showed 55% of those polled believe America’s economy is doing well and credit President Trump with that result.

     The circus that is called the impeachment continues in the U.S. Senate with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle working cross word puzzles, falling asleep and communicating on smartwatches while Democrats present the articles.  Sen. Richard Burr, R-NC, distributed ‘fidget spinners’ to GOP colleagues on the Senate floor before Thursday’s proceedings.  Few Americans are watching with less than 9 million tuning in to view this historical event.  For those who didn’t get to see what went on, here’s a recap:

     First, Democrats spent three days presenting arguments that President Trump abused power and obstructed Congress.  Over and over they emphasized the POTUS put his own interests over the United States. “You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump. He’ll do it now. He’s done it before,” Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment manager, said. “He’ll do it for the next several months. He’ll do it in the election if he’s allowed to.”

     Second, on Saturday the president’s lawyers began their defense by arguing that Democrats are trying to interfere with the 2020 election by removing Trump from the ballot for doing ‘absolutely nothing wrong.’  Pat Cipolline, White House Counsel, said there is no case against the president and the Democrats are damaging democracy by undermining the will of American voters, who voted for Trump.  “For all their talk about election interference, they're here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in American history,” Cipollone said in his opening remarks to the Senate.

    Third, the Senate is heading toward a vote on Democrat demands for testimony from top Trump aides, including acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.  It would take four Republican senators to join the Democrats to seek witnesses, and so far it appears the numbers appear lacking.

      On Sunday, Sen. James Lankford, R-OK, criticized the Democrat House impeachment managers for dragging out the trial and trying to get the Senate to act as a special counsel and investigate the president.  He also admitted Republicans want to get the trial over as soon as possible and get back to the people’s business. “They(the Democrats) wanted to move as fast as possible, and now they want to slow down the trial as much as possible in the Senate. That’s just a very odd political strategy for them, more than a fact-finding strategy,” Lankford said.  The fact is the impeachment is a political stunt that has hurt the country.  Voters are the real jurors and they will deliver their verdict in November.