Cushman: A Biden Impeachment Would Be an Attack on Democracy
(Graphic by Sydney Stam | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
September 9, 2021
During his campaign, President Joe Biden promised to end costly wars in the Middle East, a promise he made good on when he decided to end the two-decades long conflict in Afghanistan.
However, it was a decision easier said than done. Service member deaths, Americans and Afghan allies left behind and the general chaos of the exit have caused many to criticize Biden. Some Republicans, though, have gone further, calling for impeachment, a move that looks politically motivated with 2022 midterms coming up.
Congress should not impeach Biden over Afghanistan because it would set a dangerous standard of politically motivated impeachment that would have severe political consequences in the future.
When former President Donald Trump was impeached the first time, Senate Republicans rejected the open-ended charges of power abuse proposed by House Democrats. Regardless of the validity of the charges, many people felt that impeachment against Trump was politically motivated in nature.
Many Trump supporters voiced their frustrations online, saying that the impeachment was “a hate-fueled vendetta to punish President Trump because he won the election,” and “the reason he has been impeached (by the House) is to hurt his ability to win a second term.” There was an understanding from voters and members of congress that presidents should not be removed from office based on the political motivations of one party.
Republicans’ accusations of Biden are clearly politically motivated. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham stated, “it’s dereliction of duty to leave hundreds of Americans behind enemy lines, turn them into hostages, to abandon thousands of Afghans who fought honorably along our side [and] to create conditions for another 9/11 that are now through the roof,” and that the president should be impeached for it.
However, disagreeing with how a president handles an action does not meet the standard for impeachment. This threat of impeachment seems rooted more in policy disagreement than any high crime committed by President Biden. With the 2022 midterms coming up, Republicans need to find a way to stand out and give their voters something to fight for. It appears that some Republicans want to use impeachment to appeal to voters unhappy with the 2021 presidential outcome and boost their chances of electoral success.
When Democrats wanted to impeach Trump based on political motivations, Republicans stood by their president. As The Hill writer Adam Dershowitz wrote, “Now the shoe is on the other foot, and some Republicans want to broaden the criteria for impeachment while Democrats want to narrow it. Welcome to Washington, where constitutional — and other — principles are generally invoked and then ignored, depending on whose political ox is being gored.” To go through with Biden’s impeachment wouldn’t just make Republicans who stood up for President Trump hypocrites: it would have long-standing consequences for our democracy.
When our founding fathers came together to create our government, they set a high bar for presidential removal. A president can only face removal from office if they commit a high crime like treason or bribery. By normalizing impeachment, using it against every president our party disagrees with, we take away its seriousness. If a future president commits a high crime, will their impeachment seem like a partisan stunt? Will it hold the same political weight?
When either side can ignore the results of a presidential election by brandishing impeachment trials toward a president they didn’t want, our elections lose their legitimacy. A Biden impeachment creates a harmful narrative as it would validate voters who believe Trump won in 2020.
Elections are one of our most fundamental processes and their legitimacy needs to be protected. When someone enters the oval office fairly, the opposing party shouldn’t try to remove them out of spite or because they disagree with their handling of a decision. That holds true for President Biden as much as it held true for President Trump.
Republicans who stood by Trump through his impeachment should defend Biden just as fiercely now. They should defend the process of presidential elections and their outcomes. They should work to make sure impeachment does not become a regular tool used against presidents that one party disagrees with.
Many Republican congress members have been open about the pressure to impeach Biden from their constituents. Many Americans would have their representatives impeach the president, especially those who felt cheated by the 2020 election.
However, members of Congress have a responsibility to protect the legitimacy of our democratic systems. When it comes to impeachment, our Republican Congress members have a choice between short-term political victory or the longevity of our electoral system. Even if it means losing support from some constituents, I know what I would want them to choose. I know what would make me support a politician in the future and it isn’t political virtue signaling.
Presidents should be impeachable. If President Biden commits a high crime, our Congress should carry out an impeachment trial. However, if our Congress impeaches Biden based on policy disagreements about Afghanistan, it will show how little they care about the legitimacy of our institutions.
Jenn • Oct 1, 2021 at 10:26 am
The only ones who want him are the ones who would rather saw their own foot off than admit they were wrong about him.
Stop supporting a bad president just because you hated the former one. It doesn’t make any sense. You can still hate Trump and understand getting Biden out of the house is imperative to America’s future, the protection of it’s people, and the nation’s reputation.
YaMom • Sep 26, 2021 at 7:26 pm
1) Afghan – No man left behind, Yes.
Don’t negotiate with terrorist, Yes.
Sends more troops to Afghan after the fact, Yes.
2)Open border policy left unhindered but American Rescue Plan recreating ties into all parts of the economy is passed into office almost immediately. <—-worry about this later.
3)What about the first incident with the suspicion of United States Security at risk with the Ukrainian Government. That his OWN son has ties with.
TVI • Sep 25, 2021 at 3:41 pm
😂
Since when do Republicans care about Democracy? Republicans hate democracy, and do everything in their power to subvert it, including rolling over for the guy who tried for four years to become a fascist dictator of the US.
Trump set these wheels in motion by releasing 5000 Taliban prisoners, and promising them US withdrawal in 2021 in exchange for temporary restraint from attacking American troops.
Billy • Sep 16, 2021 at 9:12 pm
What democracy ? You have an AH who’s president, who left Americans behind to die. He already killed men women and children including our American soldiers. Should be impeached,tried for war crimes and executed. Biden is an enemy of America. Everything he has done is against America and its people.
Jonny • Sep 16, 2021 at 6:27 pm
Biden supporters make me laugh.
Owen • Sep 16, 2021 at 8:04 am
Yes sir
Jared • Sep 13, 2021 at 8:37 pm
tRump is just as responsible as Biden for what happened in Afghanistan but Biden being a bully .. no way. That title solely belongs to tRump and only dump. EVERY human being makes mistakes, no one is immune from that NO ONE! Biden did the best he could with the hand he was dealt by the former guy. dRump IS NOT a Saint…. he’s a bully, narcissist, racist and the list goes on. My grandmother always said that ALL politicians are crooked and I believe her. Every human being does things and makes choices that benefit him or her. We as humans have always done that.
Up until the 2020 election I had always voted for the person I felt had the experience needed for the position they were running for regardless of party affiliation. I say up until 2020 because as of this posting I will NOT vote for a republican ever again because of tRump and his childish bulling ways and it irritates me even more that the republican party is supporting this idiot. I was under the impression that the republican party used to stand for law and order but that’s not true any longer. It’s not about one guy but the republican party is doing that and I find it disgusting that they are worshiping a spoiled man child. Yes, I’d be saying this about the democrats if they were doing it because I am not a republican or democratic. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW…. NOT EVEN A FORMER PRESIDENT OR SITTING PRESIDENT!! IF they are then America has totally gone to hell. As far as I’m concerned the election is over….. just because your candidate of choice lost doesn’t mean you can threaten or kill a fellow American. Grow up for God’s sake. My young daughter acts more mature than many of our current politicians.
Justin Kluck • Sep 13, 2021 at 6:49 am
I don’t have issues with your article. You did your thing, I disagree with your article, but get where your coming from. The problem is, Joe biden is a threat to you, to your kids, to the country, and the country’s future. When you have a politician who fights 1a, and 2a, and forces mandates onto the people, it’s chipping away at what the government as a whole can take from us. And it never is all at once right,? It’s always a slow burn, little by little, see if we can ban conservative conversation on social media, it’s dangerous, it excites riots, and then well ar15 nobody needs one of those, or magazines that hold 10plus rds, again, nobody needs those, they are dangerous. But you start to see, those right we were gifted by our founding fathers were there to.make sure both sides had an equal voice, and we the people are able to standuo for ourselves against a government. We can’t fight the government without ar15s, and without higher magazines. Do we use those for sport as well? Heck yea , why? Because it’s fun, and it’s a skill, like shooting pool, or golfing. And the more you practices and train, the better you get. Thats been ameriac forever. But now joe is really impeding into our freedoms, little by little. Once the government gets those, we will never get them back. So its important we don’t allow that. Trump may have been brash, but he was respected globally. Facts. You need to be respected globally, and you should make decisions based on what’s best for the country unlike joe biden. Whom for 50yrs has been on the wrong side of politics, meaning, against us. Why be against the people? Because it benefits joe biden that’s why. He left thousands of Americans behind, and allies, amongst billions of dollars of our bet equipment. Hmmmmmm seems a bit odd right? Leave the taliban hundreds of thousands of fully auto weapons the ammo needed for a never ended in war,, hundreds of helicopters, more so that austrailia owns actually. A full arsenal. He just left there. Does that make sense to you? No drone strike to eleimate those items so they dont get sold to China to be reverse engineered, Or used against us somewhere else? Odd right. Almost like it was a YUGE mistake, or more so what I think, Is a deal biden struck with the taliban. But who knows why or what. He should be impeached, on the basis of treason against the American people. Willingly leaving a military aresenal to the taliban is treason. Simple. Leaving tens of thousands behind, treason. Mandating vaccines against the people, that’s illegal. . My body. My decision. If you think mandating a vaccine to a Healthcare worker who has seen the side effects, and chooses to say no, gets fired because of that is smart, then I’m sorry but your not very smart. We could stand to loose a fair amount of Healthcare workers, and does that seem very smart during a pandemic? Ummmm no, no it doesn’t. Furthermore, he keeps saying hebwill follow the science, but he’s not. Because if he was, he would see that covid is mutating due to the vaccine not being effective at ELIMINATING it. It just helps you not get as sick supposedly. So covid then is forced mutated. Facts look it up. You don’t get rapid mutations from unvaccinated people, you you it when you have vaccinated people who aren’t really vaccinated. It knows the vaccinated haven’t really been sick in most cases, so the protein is ignored and they get covid. Or, we could just get covid, be smart, be healthy, take vitamin d, and 99% probably be just fine. And then our naturally immunity will be a FAR safer alternative than a fired shot that was shoved through the fda because joe knows some people running it. MoNEY. Its always about money. You cant emergenct force a vaccine thru the fda if their are treatments for covid. So they disregard everything as false information to shove that thing thru. Seems illegal righ? Cause it is. What I’m saying is, he’s not better than Trump, Trump said things and it hurt old sensitive people feelings. And biden is about infringing on our liberties,, and forcing peiple to do things we just aren’t sure about.
That’s dangerous. Silencing conservative speech,, and censoring information is dangerous.. trump was about keeping this country safe and powerful. I don’t care about his past relationships or what his taxes said. Or I he called someone fat. If he did they prolly were right? Big deal. Most billionaires taxes would be a mess of loopholes. I want someone who knows those loopholes, and how to make money, and run huge companies, because this country is essentially just that. But
Kathleen • Sep 12, 2021 at 7:31 pm
Can you please tell me one good thing that demoncrates in office have done for our country the US or it’s existing people (people who have lived here, raised here and invested their money, time and have history here in living, promoting, and paying taxes here to see this country grow) while it does seem that the only thing demoncrates have done is tear this country in half promoting everything and everyone who resides outside of this country. They are tearing the family unit apart, they have silenced free speech and let group they have paid for and supported rob, burn buildings down while screaming defund the police. Biden and his VP are a disgrace along with his whole administration and peoples distrust and dislike for him and his administration are growing. We will not worship Satan. We do not support agenda 21 nor a NWO.
Jeffery Mills • Sep 12, 2021 at 1:28 pm
Funny you idiots did not think that a Trump impeachment would be an attack on democracy. A Biden impeachment would be a blessing. He is an inapt demented fool who is power hungry and crooked as all get out. He is in bed with all the wrong people making money form he and his crooked family. He is a liar and has been through out his entire political career. He sucked as a politician, vice president and now a stolen presidency. Everything that idiot touches goes to trash. He is a danger to our freedoms and our country. He has not got one leadership bone in his body. Look at the failure in Afghanistan. He had no plan to do it right, he just does like he always does makes choices without thinking. He and the entire democratic party must go. They hate America and everything that America stands for. Its a good thing that we did not have woosies like we do today settling this land, because they would have never made it. This party is dividing this nation and biden boy continues to cause the divide. He is barking up the wrong tree, playing the big bully, because the American people are about fed up, and if he wants a war brought to his door, than that’s what the demented dictator will get.
Jose • Sep 11, 2021 at 11:05 pm
Im disgusted that you call yourself a writer. You defend this guy? The blood of our marines navy and soldiers lies in your hands as well as your supreme leader Biden. I hope that when they do have the military trials that the media scumbags are placed right there next to their supreme leader OBIDEN
Garret Aho • Sep 11, 2021 at 1:10 pm
This article isn’t aging well as Joe Biden literally fights this message with each tyrannical breath. Sit down, Joe’s administration is currently an entire onslaught against freedom and democracy smh
Charlotte obergfell • Sep 11, 2021 at 11:21 am
Biden wants a Totalitarian Rule, he is an Authoritarian and doesn’t like anyone to say no. HIs impeachment will not be an attack on democracy but a fight for our rights as Americans. Biden and his team handled the Afghanistan situation very poorly and now the Tailban is asking for more money or else. The unfortunate part is our president is insane enough to give them what they ask for. I feel we should fight back and let them know we do not take threats. Our nation used to stand proud but we have become weak , leaving our men behind was insanely wrong and cowardly and it’s has truly shown how irrational our president is.
Biden and his team should bury their heads in the sand and be ashamed for letting this country down. Now he’s is taking away our right to choose. It’s get the vaccine or else. He is supposed to protect our rights not take them away . People have lost their jobs due to this vaccine mandate which is unconstitutional. Our hospitals are short staffed because people are fighting for their freedom. I for one will not sit idly by and have someone dictate my future. I believe that if we all stand together and say enough is enough we are taking back our country change will happen for the better. However if we continue to allow him to force us to as he wants we will continue to fall as a nation. First it was mandatory insurance,now it’s mandatory vaccination, next it will be our guns. I’m ready for a long haul and I will fight with my bare hands to uphold my rights and the rights of every other American that is willing to stand up for themselves.
Derek Williams • Sep 11, 2021 at 10:54 am
Nope, still not convinced it’s partisan.
#impeach46
Alex • Sep 11, 2021 at 10:47 am
Impeaching Biden is not a political play, he left Americans behind enemy lines (in the United States our NUMBER ONE RULE IS “NO MAN LEFT BEHIND”), he got 13 service members killed, he left billions of dollars worth of military equipment for the taliban to use as they wish, he’s currently blocking private rescue efforts to get our Americans home, the man literally stares at his watch as they bring out the bodies of our service members clearly showing he does not care about them or their sacrifices then he doesn’t even acknowledge the people he left behind all he can talk about is how many people he got out, no one cares about how many are home safe, we care about those still suffering behind enemy lines being hunted and tortured as we speak! To top it all off he wants to take away Americans jobs during an unemployment and inflation crisis because they don’t want to take an experimental unproven vaccine that no one knows what the long term side effects will be?! He is literally the definition of a tyrannical dictator!
Dillan • Sep 11, 2021 at 7:57 am
In its ppl like you that will cause the collapse. Oh screw the red or screw the blue. Know what everyone needs to grow up including urself and stop falling subject to tribalism such as urself obviously and remember we r all human. And Biden should be impeached for what he’s done. As should have trump. So instead of pointing blame address the problem at the root.
Steve • Sep 10, 2021 at 8:39 pm
First off. Do you REALLY believe Biden received more votes than any other president in history? People should be concerned shouldn’t they? Looking at all he has done and the fact we are now a complete joke to the world? Not to mention inflation going thru the roof. What happened to not negotiating with terrorists? Just give em a country, arms and ammunition and hope they give your people back? Then take away the arms from our law abiding citizens? Have you seen what’s going on in Israel? The Mid East? Our economy? Oh yeah go joe! The man can barely stand can’t talk and now forced vaccinations? But pro abortion ? People should be able to decide what they do with their bodies unless of course it doesn’t fit our political agenda? While I’m at it do you understand our amendments? You know the part about retaining an armed militia so the states could protect themselves from a corrupt government? Ya know the one you dems hate?! If this isn’t a corrupt government I have no idea what is? Is this america or Russia? China? Impeachment would protect us from a complete idiot destroying what’s left of this country before it goes too far and it’s too late Oh yeah you speak of our founding fathers …you need to read further .. they were all about “ god and country” ya know that nasty word nobody can say in public? GOD Oh lol I digress you’re from Utah “god” isn’t a word most folks out there are familiar with. There’s a book out there its really a great story! It’s called a bible might wanna read it but if you do ( make sure you hide in the corner with the lights off your friends might burn your house down if they catch u reading it ) Defending that idiot is ludicrous he doesn’t need to be impeached he needs to be tried for crimes against america on the front lawn of the White House and sent to Gitmo with the rest of his buddies. Looks like Idaho is finally succumbing to California stoooopid is running over their borders as fast as illegal aliens are running over the wall. But that’s just another story of complete failure of the Biden regime. But your right he’s great ! Godless idiots
Bob Loblaw • Sep 10, 2021 at 5:57 pm
Your writing is highschool newsletter at best. I’d recommend switching your major, as your vapid drivel shows you are outside your depth. You clearly do not understand that the original plan for withdrawal was abandoned, along with Americans, nor do you seem to understand that the dangerous standard you mentioned has already been set by the Democrats.
Timothy Dyhr • Nov 3, 2021 at 9:32 am
I believe this response concurs with my sentiment but I really feel troubled that directed attacks against dissenting views and censorship on social media. If there’s no freedom of speech for the unpopular there’s none for the popular. I will say this to the author and her charge that we conservatives are a threat to democracy? Well the author of this will most likely live longer than I. This I will guarantee if the democrats get everything thing they want. Then kiss democracy good buy and welcome to Marxism. The author of this article will know the error of backing these money grubby oligarchs who will line their pockets with trillions of dollars your children’s grandchildren will owe.