Senator Lamar Alexander’s explanation for who should decide what
to do about the president’s actions in Ukraine is absurd, and represents fundamental ignorance about the
Founders.
In an interview with Chuck Todd, Senator Alexander suggests that
while he found the actions by President Trump concerning the withholding of aid
to Ukraine inappropriate, the were not impeachable and—furthermore—that whether
they merit removal is a judgment best left to the people. Here the link to the clip:
Let’s address the final point first: the people, and not the
Senate, should decide in the forthcoming election whether the Ukraine allegations
merit removal. Hogwash.
First, the Founders were
not democrats (small d) but republicans (small r). All kinds of checks and balances are put in place
to insulate government institutions from the voice of the people because the Founders
feared mob rule—particularly mob rule swayed by a demagogue. The Founders
created the Electoral College, with voters casting votes for electors who—according to
the scheme laid out in the Constitution—were supposed to exercise independent
judgment when selecting the president. Furthermore, the founders
expected (wrongly, it turns out) that it would be challenging for any candidate
to achieve a majority of votes in the electoral college; thus, the House of Representatives
would often decide who would serve as president. All of these factors point
quite clearly to the notion that will of the people is really to be refined by
several institutional checks and filters.
So, to Alexander’s point: No. It’s up to the Senators to
decide whether the act is impeachable or not. Not the people in elections. That represents a profound ignorance of the Constitution and the situation facing the Founders.
To the second point about to what constitutes a high crime and misdemeanor, it is absolutely
clear that the Founders were petrified about foreign influence in elections and
the conduct of national affairs. This is why the citizenship and residency requirements
exist for the presidency: To prevent a European puppet from taking the throne. I
have to assume at some point Senator Alexander read President Washington’s Farewell
address, which cautions the nation about entangling foreign alliances. Seeking foreign
involvement in an election is precisely what President Trump did (and Alexander does not contest this point), which is precisely
what the Founders thought was dangerous. And, to be plain, it is exactly the
Senate that should decide these issues because they are supposed to be removed
from the passions of the people given their longer terms and (at least at the
Founding) their indirect election. I read the Federalist papers in college. Did they?
Then, there’s the stubborn fact (as John Adams would write) that the president broke the law: His withholding the aid in the first place was an illegal impounding (I
cover this in my presidency and Congress class; Congress appropriates, and the Supreme Court has upheld this repeatedly) and he was accepting aid to assist in his
reelection (breaking those silly campaign finance laws put into place after
massive abuses by the Nixon campaign forces that had little to do with
Watergate).
Finally, the issue of removal from office and the ability to
run for president in the future. Yes, a grave action indeed—but again, given the
fear of Kings and demagogues, again, this is precisely why the Senate must have
this ability. The danger is a president who is supported by the majority of the people—that pesky
majority tyranny that Madison warned against—who must be removed from the
ballot because they can manipulate the popular will to retain office and work their will to oppress the minority. The Senate is a check on this! As
Hamilton himself wrote (and Congressman Schiff quoted during the Senate trial):
When a
man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper,
possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits —
despotic in his ordinary demeanour — known to have scoffed in private at the
principles of liberty — when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of
popularity — to join in the cry of danger to liberty — to take every
opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under
suspicion — to flatter and fall in with all the non sense of the zealots of the
day — It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into
confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.’
On a personal note, I worked as a field staffer for Senator
Alexander fresh out of college more than twenty years ago—on his presidential
campaign. To say that I am disappointed in his position and behavior is a gross
understatement. America deserved better from him—and the rest of the Republican
caucus in the U.S. Senate. If you are upset, you know what to do. Vote like your life depends on it--because it does.
No comments:
Post a Comment