Impeachment: Why Clinton’s didn’t happen but Trump’s will

Dear Editor,

More than a few political talk shows have compared Bill Clinton’s impeachment attempt to Donald Trump’s. The difference is this. Clinton’s actions were deemed unethical, but were ultimately determined to be of a personal nature and not harmful to the security to the United States.

President Donald Trump has been accused in the past of his permission (collusion) to allow Russia influencing his win over Hillary Clinton. That wasn’t enough (Mueller Report) for impeachment proceedings. He is now accused of outright asking for a foreign government (Ukraine’s President) to investigate Joe Biden’s son in business dealings there. Whether Biden’s son is guilty of anything unethical is actually irrelevant and here’s why. The pure act of an investigation would throw a cloak of sinister wrong-doing and even a possible conspiracy over the future efforts of Joe Biden’s Presidential Campaign. The same not too subtle suspicions (30,00 emails) thrown at Hillary Clinton in her pursuit of the 2016 Presidential election. The similarity is undeniable and unfortunately it works.

The Trump supporters who ignore his ill advised actions in many areas of political expertise, continue to close their eyes to his wrong doings. It might be compared to a situation recently exposed in the Catholic Church. For decades, fervent Catholics (example:Republicans) would never look into harm caused by some priests and their perverted actions. More importantly, when reported to the Bishop hierarchy (example:U.S. Senate members) would just move the priest to another parish. This closing of the eyes to truth led to many decades of torment and mental anguish to those tormented by the rouge priests. The problem actually grew worse over time with this attitude of “it’s just an isolated problem that can be overlooked.”

Could this continued support of Donald Trump by Republicans be an equivalent to the Catholic Church’s past attitude of “see nothing, hear nothing, do nothing?” Ignoring the most recent and including past actions of Donald Trump suggests to me that if disciplinary action (impeachment) isn’t taken the results may be catastrophic.

As a retired Missouri Highway Patrolman once suggested to me. Without discipline, in the real world, “it’s often a short trip from the high chair to the electric chair.” Perhaps a bit strong in language, but the point is made.

Mike Barhnill, Ashland