Impeachment in search of a high crime

OPINION:

This is always the problem with “government first” kleptocrats. They are constantly coming up with “solutions” — sometimes “final” ones — and then they go off in search of a problem.

In this case, the government-firsters have an impeachment in search of a high crime or misdemeanor.

Originally, for President Trump it was that he got elected. In their eyes, that was the first impeachable offense of his presidency. (Actually, his entire campaign was an impeachable offense to them but they never thought in a million years he would get elected. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!)

The crime of getting elected was soon eclipsed by his second impeachable offense — his inaugural address in which he vowed to keep all the promises he made during his campaign. There is, literally, no greater threat to the kleptocrats than some rogue politician elected by smelly voters who then gets into office and then aims to keep the promises that got him there.

Since then, it has been a waterfall of fantastical hoaxes and fairy tales and flat out lies dressed up as “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Democrats want to impeach Mr. Trump for colluding with Russia — only to discover that it was the Democrats colluding with Russia.

Then they want to impeach him for not taking 2016 election meddling seriously enough. Then they want to impeach him for taking it too seriously.

The latest bamboozling head-scratcher is about Mr. Trump colluding with Ukraine. Once again, though, Democrats are hoist by their own petard to learn it was actually their presidential front-runner, Joseph R. Biden, who was colluding with Ukraine.

This latest accusation is so incomprehensible and so weak that Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff could not present the case forcefully without manufacturing evidence — a perjury so serious that it would have landed any witness before him in jail.

But, hey, he is a congressman. He can lie however much he wants.

Meanwhile, you hear so-called “conservative” Resistance Republicans in Washington — especially in the media — wagging their fingers at people who are appalled at all the Mickey Mouse nonsense House Democrats now claim as impeachable offenses.

“Impeachment isn’t a LEGAL procedure. It is a POLITICAL one,” they say. “An ’impeachable offense’ is whatever the House says it is!”

Whenever someone says that, know that they are your greatest enemy.

They are government-first Resistance Republicans who hate Mr. Trump even more than the Democrats do. And when they say that, they are winking at Democrats to say: “Go ahead. Take him out for any reason you want. Not only will we never hold it against you, we will secretly work to assist the coup.”

All this, of course, is occurring at the precise moment that there is an actual national presidential election going on in which American citizens will decide whether they want to replace Mr. Trump or allow him to serve another term.

Any unbiased observer would tell you that it would be far fairer and more just and more honest and do far less damage to our country to allow citizens to make this decision rather than giving it to a bunch of angry, rabid Democrats in Congress.

Certainly, polling suggests the American people would rather have that choice to make themselves.

The only problem for Democrats is if they don’t run on impeaching Mr. Trump, they have to fall back on the issues and all their policy platforms.

And that would destroy them at the ballot box.

• Contact Charles Hurt at churt@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter @charleshurt.