America is more polarized now than it has been at almost any time in our history. That is where this column begins — with those polar ends.
To many Americans, Trump is clearly not seen as a good president (an average of the many polls that are out there indicates about 52 percent disapprove of the job he’s doing). He fares better with his base. With those voters, his highest rate of disapproval was 46 percent. But, to many of those in that 46 percent, Trump can do no wrong.
Meanwhile, impeachment is not being talked about to address any illegal acts by the president; rather, it has become a political weapon. It opens and changes the political landscape. Rolling that dice would be like playing craps.
There are things we know would happen.
Impeach Trump and you get Vice President Mike Pence, who has been uttering Trump’s praises and has been following blindly like a puppy. We don’t want to unleash Pence, who is as homophobic as they come. His steadfast support of Trump and the president’s wall tells you where he’d be on immigration and other issues. With Trump out of the way, it would be Pence holding the Republican flag in 2020, and he would most likely start with that 46-percent approval.
While impeachment most likely would make it through the Democrat-controlled House, getting 67 votes in the Senate (the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote of the Senate to remove a president from office) is unlikely. For the Senate to vote to impeach, there’d likely have to be a smoking gun in the Mueller report or elsewhere. It would take 11 Republican votes. No American president has been impeached because the two-thirds majority of votes to convict him were never reached.
So, what to do?
Stay the course. Continue to uncover the evidence of wrongdoing. Continue to seek a Democratic ticket that can win the trust of the American public.
What about your anger?
Hold that in check, and hope that somewhere in the judicial system there is a sealed indictment just waiting for Trump to exit the White House and enter a courtroom.
Which brings us to our last item: pardons. None should be offered.
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. You can follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarkSegalPGN or Twitter at https://twitter.com/PhilaGayNews.