On January 20th, 2017, the United States swore in the 45th President of the United States. Since then, the nation has seen a Women’s Rights march, a global gag rule implemented, and an argument between the White House and news outlets of the size of the inauguration crowd. What a way to start a presidency! Now, in the week that Donald J. Trump has been in office, he has managed to enact some pretty monstrous things and has managed to cause an uproar from liberals, independents, socialists, blacks, whites, Muslims, women, men, transgender, and so on. Again, what a way to start a presidency. Many argue that he should just stop while he is ahead, that he should give up the most respected seat in the nation. People want him to be impeached. Is that the answer to all of this? Do these people realize what would happen if President Trump was actually successfully impeached? Do people realize the process of impeachment?
The process of impeachment begins when the House of Representatives files charges of misconduct against the President. After these files are placed, the Senate conducts trials against the President, similar to a court case. If two-thirds of the senators find the President guilty, he is impeached and is never allowed to hold a public office again. The impeachment process takes time and money. These sources, in my opinion, can be better allocated to stimulate the nation’s economy or be used for important discussions on government policies. Either way, the process of impeachment is long and drawn out.
Written within the Constitution, is states that if the President dies, resigns, or is impeached, the Vice President becomes President of the United States. Now, in case you don’t know, the current Vice President of the United States is Mike Pence. Mike Pence, the former Governor of Indiana, has some pretty strict views in terms of human rights and government spending. Not too far off from President Trump’s views, but very radical in nature. But let’s back up to when he was a Congressman. As a United States Congressman, Mike Pence opposed President George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” policy, the Medicare prescription drug expansion policy in 2002, and advocated for a shutdown of the Government in 2011 over a fight to defund Planned Parenthood. Ultimately, as a Congressman, Pence had no desire to help the American people who were in need. All policies that were brought before him that were aimed at helping the needy American people, Pence disapproved of. Lovely. Now let’s move on to his last title, Governor of Indiana. In 2015, Vice President Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which stated that businesses who did not want to participate in same-sex weddings were not obligated too. This was passed after former President Barack Obama made same-sex marriage legal in the United States. Also, Vice President Pence signed a bill in 2016 that prohibited the abortion of a disabled fetus. So as Governor, this man took away the rights of the LGBT community and women.
As Vice President, Mike Pence has almost no real power. He cannot create laws, pass laws, or veto any laws. He is literally just a figure that sits pretty in Washington D.C. With his very colorful history of hating people that aren’t “a Christian, a conservative, and a republican in that order,” I think it's safe to say that him becoming President is even scarier than the man we have now.
The final point I’d like to make about the possibility of President Trump facing impeachment charges is that when you are on a boat, you don’t wish for a terrible captain, or for the boat to sink. When you get on a boat, you have faith that the boat will run smoothly and that the captain will be successful in getting you to your destination. The same logic applies here. If you wish for President Trump to be a terrible President, you are wishing for American to fail, you are wishing for your home to fail. Why would you wish that upon yourself and your loved ones? I’m not going to say that I agree with everything that his administration stands for, that I agree with the things that he plans to do. But I will say that I hope he doesn’t drive our great nation into the ground. I hope he is able to successfully captain our boat so we don’t sink.
