To the editor:
Now that the farce called impeachment is over, what next? Our president was impeached by a partisan vote in the House and will almost surely be found innocent by a partisan vote in the Senate. These are facts that are known and accepted by both parties. That said, can anyone explain the purpose behind the impeachment of the president?
Some think it was nothing more than a political ploy by the Democrats to obtain some kind of advantage in the 2020 elections. Why else would they enter into a process with the end results a forgone conclusion?
I really don’t care too much about the whys of impeachment. The Democrats have shown us that persistence was the only thing needed to reach their goal of a partisan impeachment. Which is why my concern is more about the impeachment process itself.
I find it unreasonable that a federal official (impeachment isn’t reserved for the president only) can be impeached by only a majority vote of the House. To be fair, and protect the sanctity of elections, I believe a two-thirds vote, as is required by the Senate to convict and remove an official from office, should also be required by the House to impeach. In a case where one party holds a two-thirds majority voting edge, a certain percentage of votes from the minority party should also be necessary.
The president has veto power. The purpose is to force a vote of two-thirds to override what he considers poor legislation. One object is to protect laws from being passed by a partisan vote.
The question here is: Why isn’t the president of the United States afforded the same protection from the impeachment process?
Walter Crean
Madawaska
