Letter to the Editor: Regarding the constitutional question
Is it constitutional, or is it not unconstitutional? That is the question. “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind…” Making the statement: “I know a very large minority of voters has not (read the constitution), so here is a simple explanation,” involved assumptions that leave the interpretation on shaky ground. The biggest question is: how do you know that? No survey was cited; no Gallup, canter, or trotter poll. If the minority was that large, could it possibly be a majority? Might you have employed space lasers to mind meld with voters to determine their familiarity, or lack thereof, with the constitution of the U.S?
The second paragraph of “Trump’s impeachment…” quotes Article 1, Section 2: “the House of Representatives … shall have sole power of impeachment.” My question is: why bother? Anyone with the slightest interest in current events would know that there have been two impeachments in the last 15 months, naturally both began with a majority vote in the House, so why would the readership of Feather Publishing need to be reminded of something many of us learned in eighth grade?
Serious interpretation gets involved with the statement, “Failure to call prosecution and/or defense witnesses means that the Senate agrees with the House that the person is guilty.” First off, it sounds as though both houses of Congress are two big blocks, overlooking the fact that the House consists of 435 distinct members, and the Senate 100 individuals. Some might hope that 67 or more Senators accept your contention that “the person is guilty,” but 34, or more, might disagree.
Next up: “The Chief Justice shall preside,” isolating that part of Section 3, you call for the impeachment and removal from office of Chief Justice Roberts. My understanding is that Roberts has delegated Senator Patrick Leahy to conduct the impeachment. Perhaps you didn’t continue your reading to the part about Supreme Court Justices receiving lifetime appointments? Maybe you have a different viewpoint of the possible justification for impeaching a Justice. Is it possible that Chief Justice Roberts has a better grasp of the constitution than yours?
The last issue is time. It’s likely that the Supreme Court Docket is full to overflowing. Also, members of the House might be occupied with infrastructure/economic recovery legislation, humanely dealing with immigration, or preventing the forest fires that are alleged by Representative Greene to have been started by space lasers. Time in the Senate might be better spent with the advice and consent role with the many nominations by the Biden administration.
Gene Nielsen
Crescent Mills