Tom, forget impeachment and do good

(Tom Steyer, a smart investor who turned straw into gold by converting a puny $8 million into $30 billion in 20 years in the stock market, is now spreading his wealth by sponsoring a $10 million campaign to impeach President Donald Trump. So far, he has gathered 5,000,000 signatures on his petition.)

Open Letter to Tom Steyer:

Dear Tom:

On Trump’s behalf, I will concede that he lies better than an Arabian rug. He is crude, ridicules minorities and is a bigger mistake for president than James Buchanan or Warren G. Harding. But there is no treason, no bribery, no high crimes, maybe a few misdemeanors. While you may think there are impeachable offenses, they are not and your campaign is unwise and a waste of money.

In the first place, Donald Trump was elected president fair and square. It is true that Hillary bested him by 3,000,000 popular votes but he won the Electoral College by 306 to 231.

No, the Russian meddling did not make the difference. They may have nudged a few voters but not enough to graduate from the Electoral College.

No, Hillary didn’t steal those 3,000,000 votes. The President’s special commission to investigate fraud at the polls was a fraud in itself, as confessed by a member of the commission last week. It only proved that our elections are fraud- free and all of the state legislation to make voting difficult has been unfounded.

Since the legitimacy of his election troubles him, Donald should be given a certificate of election by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to bring closure. Donald would get the first good night of sleep in seventeen months and would sleep through his tweeting time, leaving foreign policy to the State Department. Everybody would win.

In the second place, the mechanics of the impeachment process make it impossible to accomplish without guns in the street. Tom, most of those signing your petition are Democrats. The Republicans love Trump. So look at the politics.

To successfully impeach the President, the articles of impeachment must by brought by a majority of a Republican House of Representatives. The trial then goes to the Republican Senate where two-thirds of the members must vote to throw Donald out of office. How many Republicans do you have lined up? I thought so.

Besides, the President would have his second team sitting in the Supreme Court just itching to get into the game.

In the third place, the impeachment proposal is contributing to the polarization that is now freezing representative democracy in its tracks. By keeping this contentious issue in the public forum, the antagonism between the combatants increases, polarization is served and the Russians just love it. They couldn’t have come up with a better way to divide the electorate.

Unless the Democrats demonstrate some restraint when they win control of the House in the upcoming midterm elections, they may get the idea that they ought to impeach the President. That would be shooting themselves in the other foot.

Your petition will just feed the debate, setting impeachment as a temptation that electoral victory may not be able to resist.

In the fourth place, your money could be spent on any number of more fruitful efforts. Even though we are the richest country in the world, we have scores of neglected needs. The “have not” folks are having less and could use $10 million worth of help. Call me. I have a list.

Well, Tom, that’s my case. Just put the placard down and do good.