“High crimes and misdemeanors.” It practically rolls off the tongue these days, as the talk intensifies about ending this chapter of political history ahead of schedule. Hearings and findings and callings are all after a smoking gun, some act of treason, some dastardly deed that was done or ordered from the Oval Office.
Why is everybody working so hard? The easier case to be made is the second condition provided in the Constitution. Have you stopped to think what “misdemeanors” meant in the late 1700s? It wasn’t jaywalking or shoplifting. It meant neglect — not showing up for work, not doing the job. The framers included it to say the chief executive could be impeached for what he has done, and also for what he has left undone.
We could make a long list of tasks we expect our president to do that haven’t been done or done well these past six years. Couldn’t a list of these “sins of omission” make a more compelling case for the man’s removal than any of the so-called “high crimes” he may have committed?
{184 – 92 = 92}
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