CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS
The Constitution’s Sweet Spot
by
M. E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
#twill #tcot #sbalich #eyesrightopen #maga #leadright #constitution
As you all know, a putter has a sweet spot; a bat has a sweet spot; any golf club has a sweet spot; as does the United States Constitution. It is that exact spot where the intended tensions between separate but equal branches of the federal government and the power between government itself and We the People intersect. We are governed by the consent of the governed through elections and our wishes, as Sovereigns of the United States, are transmitted through elected representatives to desired policy. To rebuke the consent of the governed by an arbitrary process is either a tyranny against or a protection for the sovereign. Which is it in the Impeachment process now going on?
Miss Constitution outlined in a former column the parameters of the Impeachment process.
- It must be commenced by a vote of the whole House of Representatives acting in their role as prosecutor of executive and judicial officeholders
- The result of the vote must be bipartisan
- The vote should not conflict with an upcoming election as the People will be acting as prosecutor through their votes
What would negate the three requirements above is a real national emergency. If an enemy missile was headed our way from North Korea and the President did not order counter measures, for instance. If the President of the United States, acting as Commander in Chief, attempted a take-over of the country through a military coup. If the President of the United States accepted a bribe from a declared enemy or funded a declared enemy of the United States such that our troops and/or citizens were in imminent danger for their lives, then the Impeachment process is justified. Otherwise, if an election is close at hand, the People can decide if a President has been acting outside of the nation’s interest or is aiding and comforting an enemy of the United States.
This is the high level of context regarding the process. Impeachment is not about personal dislike; it is not about a Mary Jane moment of pique and tantrum; it is not about the endless battle between the powers of the Executive and the powers of the Legislative that is one of the Founder’s intentions for our system. No; it is about a duly elected President of the United States and whether he injured the nation at such a high level that the Will of the People must be suspended and set-aside by our other elected representatives at the national level for the good of the nation. A substitute in judgment, so to speak. A very serious prospect. A very high bar.
What constitutes that bar?
Article II, section 4 of the United States Constitution: conviction by the Senate of Treason, Bribery, or other HIGH crimes and misdemeanors. Note the word HIGH. Not a crime but a high crime that injures the nation. Only treason is specifically defined in the Constitution. Article III, section 3:
- Levying war against the United States
- Aiding enemies of the United States, giving them comfort
- A required confession by a sitting President or two eyewitnesses of an ACT of treason
There is no such thing as I heard the President was going to instigate a military coup; there is no such thing as I presume the President is going to take a bribe from a foreign enemy; there is no such thing as it is my opinion that the President is capable of taking a bribe by a foreign enemy plans a coup, or is injuring the country. No; two people must see with their own eyes an act of treason by the President whose act is levying war against the country or aiding and abetting an enemy of the country who levying war against us. A very high bar.
This week we will be treated to Constitutional “experts” who will explain their views on what constitutes appropriate criteria for Presidential impeachment so close to an election. You will have the chance to juxtapose those views against those of Miss Constitution. How very interesting and fun! Treason, of course, will be off the table, but what constitutes a high crime, misdemeanor or bribery will be discussed.
Our first impeachment process involved Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln after Lincoln’s assassination. He was not elected President of the United States he was elected Vice-President of the United States and took over early in Lincoln’s second term. An election, then, was not close. President Johnson was despised by the Congressional Radical Republicans who wanted to punish the South after the Civil War. Policy differences caused Congress to pass the Tenure of Office Act knowing President Johnson would violate it as a usurpation of his authority. Articles of Impeachment were brought against him and he was acquitted. Do policy differences meet the bar of high crime?
Richard Nixon got himself personally involved in knowledge of a break-in to the offices of a rival political party and then tried to cover it up. Does the attempted break-in rise to a high crime? Does the cover-up? Does arrogance? Nixon resigned. A bipartisan Congress thought it met the standard. Miss Constitution is not sure unless the break-in was treasonous.
Bill Clinton was involved in infantile and unbecoming behavior in the Oval Office with, technically, an employee of the Executive branch. He lied about it under oath. Does this behavior rise to a high crime? Was the person involved with the President a spy? A declared enemy of the country? Was the nation in danger? The People of the United States elected and re-elected a President with known qualities and character traits that they felt they could overlook for policy reasons. That is the right of the Sovereign through the election process.
So, what is the sweet spot for Impeachment of a President in the Constitution? Miss Constitution would say Treason or Near Treason. Betrayal of the nation. Knowing and willful injury to the Sovereign. Transferring Sovereignty to another country or group of countries or an international body. You decide; put yourself in the role of a Supreme Court Justice hearing oral argument.
Copyright©2019 M.E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
missconstitution.com
