As I survey the unalloyed genius present in the online commentary to my articles, I consistently see exhortations to impeach that person, kick another out of office, or arrest and throw away the key in regards to someone with whom the commentator disagrees with. Seems an awful lot like the unfair and arbitrary way former president Trump was treated during his two impeachments. Made up charges, false indictments, and sham trials. Conservatives and Republicans, in their ideological zeal, should not be guilty of the same witch hunt attitude when it comes to current political opponents. What is good for the Democrat goose, proper due process, was also good for Trump, the Republican maverick. And oh yeah, it’s also unconstitutional.
Personally, I love how many self-proclaimed constitutional experts there are online, especially on our side. I am not one, though I have a decent acquaintance with the document. As such, perhaps some of them who call for political opponents to be drawn and quartered should first refer to the Constitution itself. To wit:
“The United States Constitution forbids legislative bills of attainder: in federal law under Article I, Section 9, Clause 3 (“No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed”), and in state law under Article I, Section 10. The fact that they were banned even under state law reflects the importance that the Framers attached to this issue.” What is a Bill of Attainder?
“A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder or writ of attainder or bill of penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of persons, guilty of some crime, and punishing them, often without a trial. As with attainder resulting from the normal judicial process, the effect of such a bill is to nullify the targeted person’s civil rights, most notably the right to own property (and thus pass it on to heirs), the right to a title of nobility, and, in at least the original usage, the right to life itself. Bills of attainder passed in Parliament by Henry VIII on 29 January 1542 resulted in the executions of a number of notable historical figures.” Both quotes are references from online sources regarding constitutional law. In simple terms, don’t use the government to pursue your political vendettas.
We are a nation of laws, not of individual fiefdoms and political warlords. Those laws should apply the same to anybody regardless of party and or ideology. Just because Trump was treated shabbily by the Democrat House does not give us carte blanche to treat Democrats the same in revenge. We need to beat them at the ballot box, not through horse manure shenanigans. I post this film clip too much. But alas, some always need reminding…
Now granted, our erstwhile online pundits usually do not call for a legislature to get involved. They just want some Democrat to exit the area of operations post haste, no matter what the law or due process. And in a perfect world, where also my girlfriend is a tipsy and overly amorous former Big Ten cheerleader whose father owns a chain of liquor stores on or around the Chesapeake Bay, this would peacefully happen and the nation would be better for it. But per the last election, the Democrats have the majorities right now and they aren’t going anywhere until the next election. So just as we naturally and legitimately resented the hell out of their unfair persecution of Trump, we should not engage in a double standard and advocate the same unconstitutional acts against them.