The scariest aspect of the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump is how both sides of the aisle dramatically weakened the tools the Founding Fathers provided to allow the three branches of government to hold each other accountable.

In the wake of this sprint to a hollow, half-baked answer, one question stands out: In the next push for impeachment, what will the House and Senate be willing to rush through, overlook and ignore so politics dictate the final answer?

Never mind justice. Never mind a fair trial. Never mind the principles upon which our country was founded. And, in this case, certainly never mind those Republican senators who essentially admitted Trump was guilty but lacked the moral compass to hold him accountable.

The only lesson America learned from this impeachment is that the House and the Senate are filled with political pawns, rather than lawmakers fulfilling their oaths to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Had that been the case, the Democrat-led House impeachment team would have used the full force of the courts to enforce subpoenas issued to key witnesses, hear their testimony and gain access to key documents the Trump White House refused to release.

Instead, with eyes clearly focused on the next election, they rushed through their process — apparently hoping the Senate trial would do that hard work for them. Or perhaps they realized their case was not going to rise to the justifiably high standards for removal from office set by the founders.

The Republican-led Senate proved even more pathetic. When confronted with overwhelming proof that the House did not provide all the evidence, a majority of senators chose blind allegiance to party and voted in favor of the president instead of pursuit of the truth. Among the tools at their disposal, but not used, are hearing witness testimony and cross-examining those witnesses.

Worse yet — and proving their spines are made of political pudding, not courage — many Republican senators admitted outside of the trial in chambers that the president was probably guilty.

Partisans, please don’t go blind trying to see this for the color you loathe — or love.

Rather read this for what it is: a commentary about elected officials from both parties who put their partisan allegiances above the constitutional oaths they took after you elected them.

Their irresponsible handling of the impeachment process itself — not the outcome — has weakened our democracy. How? By taking a sharp tool that should be treated with the utmost gravity — the impeachment process — and dulling it with contempt.

Their overriding obligation was — and must always be — to fully and fairly utilize the processes put in place by the framers to make sure questionable actions of elected officials in all branches of government are thoroughly examined based on all relevant facts. Their collective decisions made of a mockery of that process, setting a precedent for future proceedings to also wield impeachment like a double-cross on a reality TV show rather than the act of statesmen and stateswomen.

The result not only further divides America today, but it seriously weakens the nation future generations will inherit.

 

— St. Cloud Times, Feb. 7