Michael Kaarhus
22:15 Monday, Jan. 20, AD 2020 GMT
Shangri-La
Maybe the only good thing about the Burrocrats’ impeachment of President Trump is that, because Trump is not guilty of any impeachable offense, the Burrocrats could not find anything to impeach him on, but were determined to do so anyway. In order to find wrongs that Trump had done, they had to fall clear back to the tenets of their religion. In doing so, they opened two windows to their temple. Their Articles of impeachment are those windows; they describe two sins of their religion, from which we can infer tenets that the sins violate. That is what I do here.
Burrocrats are proficient at projecting, and are accustomed to placing things upside-down and backwards. So, I decided to begin with the second Article.
The Burrocrats presented their Articles as vague offenses against nebulous principles of American government, hidden in penumbras. That requires considerably more verbiage than would presenting them as sins against religious tenets. That is one reason why their Articles are long-winded, and require interpretation. If you wish, you can skip to my interpretation of Article II.
ARTICLE II: OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS
The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. In his conduct of the office of President of the United States—and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed—Donald J. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its “sole Power of Impeachment”. President Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency in a manner offensive to, and subversive of, the Constitution, in that:
The House of Representatives has engaged in an impeachment inquiry focused on President Trump’s corrupt solicitation of the Government of Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 United States Presidential election. As part of this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Executive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former officials.
In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgements necessary to the exercise of the “sole Power of Impeachment” vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives.
President Trump abused the powers of his high office through the following means:
(1) Directing the White House to defy a lawful subpoena by withholding the production of documents sought therein by the Committees.
(2) Directing other Executive Branch agencies and offices to defy lawful subpoenas and withhold the production of documents and records from the Committees—in response to which the Department of State, Office of Management and Budget, Department of Energy, and Department of Defense refused to produce a single document or record.
(3) Directing current and former Executive Branch officials not to cooperate with the Committees—in response to which nine Administration officials defied subpoenas for testimony, namely John Michael “Mick” Mulvaney, Robert B. Blair, John A. Eisenberg, Michael Ellis, Preston Wells Griffith, Russell T. Vought, Michael Duffey, Brian McCormack, and T. Ulrich Brechbuhl.
These actions were consistent with President Trump’s previous efforts to undermine United States Government investigations into foreign interference in United States elections.
Through these actions, President Trump sought to arrogate to himself the right to determine the propriety, scope, and nature of an impeachment inquiry into his own conduct, as well as the unilateral prerogative to deny any and all information to the House of Representatives in the exercise of its “sole Power of Impeachment”. In the history of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate “high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. This abuse of office served to cover up the President’s own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment—and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives.
In all of this, President Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.
This is my interpretation of Article II:
We, the Burrocrats, are the definition and the only true mediators of goodness in the universe, that We know of. To oppose Us is to oppose goodness itself, and is thus the definition of wickedness. President Trump opposes Us and threatens to occupy Our White House for a second term. His presence there is insidiously wicked. What is worse, he resists Our righteous efforts to remove him from office. Yes, he has a right to challenge Our subpoenas in Court. However, We ultimately define what is unrighteous and righteous, not the Court. And We define that his resistance to Our righteous efforts to remove him obstructs Our Justice! Therefore, we have impeached him FOREVER for obstruction of Congress; the Court can whistle Dixie. Their majority is abomidable, abhorrent and unjust anyway. Just look at who appointed them!
Now let’s look at Article I. Again, if you wish, you may skip straight to my summary.
ARTICLE I: ABUSE OF POWER
The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. In his conduct of the office of President of the United States—and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed—Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency, in that:
Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage. President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations. President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit. In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process. He thus ignored and injured the interests of the Nation.
President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct through the following means:
(1) President Trump—acting both directly and through his agents within and outside the United States Government—corruptly solicited the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations into—
(A) a political opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.; and
(B) a discredited theory promoted by Russia alleging that Ukraine—rather than Russia—interfered in the 2016 United States Presidential election.
(2) With the same corrupt motives, President Trump—acting both directly and through his agents within and outside the United States Government—conditioned two official acts on the public announcements that he had requested—
(A) the release of $391 million of United States taxpayer funds that Congress had appropriated on a bipartisan basis for the purpose of providing vital military and security assistance to Ukraine to oppose Russian aggression and which President Trump had ordered suspended; and
(B) a head of state meeting at the White House, which the President of Ukraine sought to demonstrate continued United States support for the Government of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
(3) Faced with the public revelation of his actions, President Trump ultimately released the military and security assistance to the Government of Ukraine, but has persisted in openly and corruptly urging and soliciting Ukraine to undertake investigations for his personal political benefit.
These actions were consistent with President Trump’s previous invitations of foreign interference in United States elections.
In all of this, President Trump abused the powers of the Presidency by ignoring and injuring national security and other vital national interests to obtain an improper personal political benefit. He has also betrayed the Nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power in corrupting democratic elections.
Wherefore President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.
I interpret Article I in a similar way:
Since We, the Burrocratic Party, solely define goodness as we know it in the universe, only We wield political power responsibly and justly. No one else can, because no one else has goodness. By definition then, Mr. Trump, the orange man, abuses his power. Maybe he can’t help it, not being one of Us that has goodness. But whether or not he can help it, he is a threat to goodness itself, and to the ongoing plan for the salvation of the human race, which is collectivist, Modernist, materialist government for the whole world. It’s so beautiful to behold: the Gulags and labor camps, a central government arrogating all authority to itself, that is, to Us, because only We have goodness, a State designed and intended to make life pleasant and rewarding for the Burrocratic Party only, and to ensconce Us in power. It’s the way of progress, the truth that We define and alter, and the changeable light of the world.We must impeach this President, because, to work toward anything other than the above vision, is the definition of abuse of power. But that’s what he does. He tries to enforce and govern by that tired, outdated Constitution, perhaps suitable for the eighteenth century, but not for today’s world. With that old parchment, he cannot do anything but abuse power. Only Modernist, collectivist governments are non-abusive.
We are readying his little wooden lifeboat, which We have named the Impeached Forever! After We keel-haul him, if he is still alive, We will steam to the Sargasso Sea, and set him adrift in the lifeboat with no provisions, no oars, no sail, no Very pistol, no emergency beacon, no satellite phone, and an outboard motor, but no fossil fuel to run it. Surviving the keel-hauling depends on how long he can hold his breath, and how long the Captain decides to leave him under. Whatever the outcome, justice shall then have been served. And America will go the way of Venezuela and Cuba, another glorious, New World, Modernist utopia!
I know that you can’t wait to get back to your Antifa strategy session, Women’s March organizing event, or Climate Change bike-in. So here is my summary of some of the Burrocratic Party’s tenets, as I see them:
- The Burrocratic Party is the only entity in the universe that is known to be good, just and righteous.
- Whatever the Burrocratic Party does is by definition good, just and righteous, and therefore, whatever or whomever opposes the Burrocratic Party is by definition wicked, unjust, unrighteous and obstructionist.
- Only the Burrocratic can and does govern without abusing its power. Anyone else, or any other party that governs abuses their power by definition, because they have no goodness. Only the Burrocratic Party has goodness.
- All of the punishments meted out by the Burrocratic Party are just and righteous, because they are for opposing the Burrocratic Party, which is the source and definition of righteousness and justice.
- The Burrocratic religion considers itself above strict constructionists on the high Court.
Maybe there are additional tenets that can correctly be inferred. But I think that you get the idea.
