Regardless of who is in the White House, impeachment is a serious issue. The national and international ramifications of having a sitting U.S. president impeached are innumerable. Even if the president is cleared of the charges brought up by impeachment and is not removed from office, the national shame remains. 

President Richard Nixon’s impeachment occurred almost 45 years ago and it still haunts the political consciousness of the U.S. That impeachment made the U.S. look weak in the eyes of its adversaries, particularly China, North Vietnam and the Soviet Union. Additionally, the impeachment of President Nixon destroyed the American people’s faith in its government and helped to throw the country into an economic crisis.

Despite the serious nature of a presidential impeachment many people only see it as a tool to advance their political ideology. Some do not understand what impeachment really means. They do not understand the potential instability it will bring, or how it will weaken American bargaining power on the world stage. They do not understand how having a president impeached would benefit the country’s greatest enemies Russia, China and Iran. Worse yet, these people may not care.

Recently, Congress has begun an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump and, not without due cause. The facts which have emerged regarding Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are concerning. The accusation that Trump was attempting to force Zelensky into giving him potentially incriminating evidence on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son is beyond serious. The Washington Post reported that days before Trump’s phone call with Zelensky, Trump had halted almost $400 million in military aid meant for Ukraine. Some believe this was an attempt by Trump to coerce the Ukrainian government into producing information on Biden and his son.

Many Americans are happy that the president is being accused of these crimes. These same Americans see the impeachment of Trump as a way of undoing the 2016 Presidential Election. Anyone who wants their president to fail, be corrupt or hopes their president is impeached, regardless of the facts, does not care about their country, but only their political affiliations. No matter who the sitting president is, an American should not hope they are a failure. The country does not benefit from a bad president from either party. Americans should not rejoice at the prospect that their country is failing them. To quote Abraham Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Impeachment is necessary in some instances. If the Congress’s impeachment inquiry charges the president with an impeachable offense, no American should rejoice. The country does not win. The country only suffers, especially if the charges are proved true. If the president is convicted and removed from office there should be no joy. There should be reflection. An American should say to themselves, “Thank God, we were able to get a corrupt man out of office, but how did we let him get there in the first place? How can we prevent this from happening again?”  

Impeachment is no laughing matter. We need to take it seriously. 

Photo from WilliamCho via Pixabay