It is clear that significant abuse of office is impeachable. This can even involve acts which are not illegal. For instance, if the President were to decide that he could best discharge his duties by spending half the year golfing in Scotland, free of all decision making apparatus or responsibilities, that would be impeachable.
I think it is also clear that a crime, if it is bad enough, even though it has nothing to do with his office, would constitute a "High Crime and Misdemeanor." Murder would certainly qualify. I think if the President was running a penny stock fraud machine on the side, to augment his Presidential salary, that would probably qualify as well.
But this smallest, and most understandable of perjuries, concerning the most understandable of failings, delivered in response to immaterial questions that should never have been asked in a politically funded and directed entrapment lawsuit... no, I think it is clear that this illegality is not impeachable.
The only reason we are induced to think it might be is because of the huge crisis that we have been thrown into as a result. I actually think the fault with that is more with media pile on to any scandal than anything else. For perspective, if all is crazy here, look abroad. I'm not saying some other country is reliably right and we are reliably wrong. I'm saying test any extreme passions here against what other countries think.
Doug |
