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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump's second impeachment after Capitol riots isn't enough. He needs to go to prison.
Sam Liccardo Trump's second impeachment after Capitol riots isn't enough. He needs to go to prison.
Political sanction did not deter the president from abusing his power again, nor should we believe it would deter anyone else. A criminal conviction will.
Jan. 19, 2021, 11:13 AM EST
By Sam Liccardo, mayor of San Jose
The second impeachment of President Donald Trump has concluded, not with a bang, but with a whimper. Whether it results in a Senate conviction or not, impeachment amounts to a feeble punishment for a man who will have left office anyway.
We cannot satisfy ourselves with the prosecution of the pelt-wearing members of the mob. Prosecuting only the puppets gives license to future puppet masters.
While the forces of decency, democracy and good government prevailed in this impeachment vote, we should ask what gain this battle has wrought. A Senate debate will distract that body at a time when a new president critically needs it to confirm his Cabinet, and to approve a funding package to accelerate vaccinations and Covid-19 relief. Impeachment likely persuaded nobody; on all things Trumpian, it seems, virtually no American appears persuadable.
What is needed, rather, is criminal prosecution.
To deter the next unhinged narcissist from using the presidency to undermine the electoral process, a jury must convict Trump of his crimes. Trump previously suffered impeachment for deploying unlawful means to remain in power using his office to leverage Ukraine to investigate then-Democratic opponent Joe Bidens family. That impeachment did not deter Trump from abusing his power again, nor should we believe that this one will deter anyone else. A criminal conviction will.
By imposing a personal and direct punishment upon Trump, criminal prosecution will force future leaders to think twice about threatening that essential precondition of any functional republic: the peaceful transfer of power.
It will unequivocally repudiate, once and for all, the Nixonian doctrine that when the president does it ... that means its not illegal. If democracy depends on the consent of the losers, as some have put it, then the losers consent must be mandatory, and enforced by a punitive sanction.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-second-impeachment-after-capitol-riots-isn-t-enough-ncna1254697
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Trump's second impeachment after Capitol riots isn't enough. He needs to go to prison. (Original Post)
babylonsister
Jan 2021
OP
Solly Mack
(90,767 posts)1. K&R
malaise
(269,004 posts)2. +300,000,000
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)3. Without prosecution, our laws mean nothing.
As though he really did rip up the Constitution.
Was he worth it, Republicans? Really?
2naSalit
(86,622 posts)4. K&R
I_UndergroundPanther
(12,470 posts)5. totally agree
fuckfaced piece of shit needs to be in prison a federal prison with no luxury provisions.
he needs to be punished like anyone else who commits a serious crime. no coddling.
lock that monster up.ASAP