Impeachment isn’t enough.

Impeachment would remedy Trump”s “high crimes and misdemeanors.” But impeachment would not remedy Trump’s unconstitutional presidency because it would leave in place his vice president, White House staff and Cabinet, as well as all the executive orders he issued and all the legislation he signed, and the official record of his presidency.

The only response to an unconstitutional presidency is to annul it. Annulment would repeal all of it – recognizing that such appointments, orders, rules, and records were made without constitutional authority.
— Robert Reich, 8/24/18

The problem with such irrational thinking is it comes back to bite you.

The most recent example came thanks to former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, first in 2005.

If all goes as planned, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) will rise after several days of debate beginning today over one of President Bush’s judicial nominees and call for an end to Democrats’ delaying tactics. The presiding officer will then rule in his favor.

Democrats will protest the ruling and ask for a vote to overturn it. The Republican leader will seek to table that appeal. If Frist and the GOP majority prevail, a long tradition of filibustering will be narrowed and a new precedent will be set allowing the Republicans to force a vote on a nomination with a simple majority instead of three-fifths of the Senate.

But Democrats contend that the Republicans are essentially breaking the rules to change the rules. “If there were ever an example of an abuse of power, this is it,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-NV). “The filibuster is the last check we have against the abuse of power in Washington.”
— Washington Post, 5/18/05

But Harry Reid’s position began to unravel when Democrats assumed the majority….

In 2008, Reid continued to condemn the fact that the Republicans even contemplated using the nuclear option: “The Senate was set up to be different, that was the genius, the vision of our Founding Fathers. That’s why you have the ability to filibuster, and to terminate filibuster. They wanted to get rid of all of that,” Reid said.

Then he was asked if he would ever consider invoking the nuclear option himself: “As long as I am the leader, the answer’s no,” Reid promised. “I think we should just forget that. That is a black chapter in the history of the Senate. I hope we never ever get to that again because I really do believe it will ruin our country.”

Fast-forward to 2013. Now, Democrats held the White House and a Senate majority. The Republican minority had been stalling nominations and appointments by Obama, including filibustering the nomination of former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense. Senate Democrats decided to go nuclear after the Senate GOP made clear that they had no intention of allowing three vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to be filled.
— PolitiFact, 11/22/13

But the most fun example came courtesy of the super-majority Democrats in the Massachusetts Legislature.

In 2004, the state’s junior senator, John Kerry, was the Democratic presidential nominee. Party leaders knew that if Kerry won in November, state law allowed the governor — then Republican Mitt Romney — to appoint Kerry’s successor, and that person would presumably be a Republican. So, the Democratic leadership of the legislature drew up a measure to strip the governor of his senatorial appointment power.

The measure passed both chambers and was vetoed by Romney. The Democrats then muscled a two-thirds majority to override the veto. Of course, Kerry never won the presidency, but the law remained on the books.

Fast-forward to 2009. Democrats realized that the law they had enacted in 2004 forced the state to have only one senator for roughly five months — and after Kennedy’s death, that meant the state would be short one senator. From a political standpoint, that meant the U.S. Senate would have one less Democrat at a time when a Democratic president was trying to reach a 60-vote threshold to enact landmark legislation on Kennedy’s signature issue, health care. And this time, the governor, Deval Patrick, is a Democrat and presumably would appoint someone from his party.

So legislators quickly passed legislation that would keep the special election but still allow the governor to appoint an interim senator to serve until the special election. The measure passed both chambers, and on Sept. 24, 2009, Patrick named former Democratic National Committee chairman Paul Kirk, a Kennedy family friend, as the interim senator.
— Politifact, 9/24/09

So, if Robert Reich and Democrats really want to strip Donald Trump of his presidency and annul all of his accomplishments, fine.

But politics continues to remain a rather consistently cyclical thing and one day, there will be a Democrat in the White House; a Democrat who may do really bad things. If Democrats do manage to have President Trump’s presidency stripped, precedent will be set and there will be calls to do the very same thing to that Democrat, deserved or not.

Who’ll be screaming like a stuck pig then, Robert?

To be tax-exempt as a social welfare organization described in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 501(c)(4), an organization must not be organized for profit and must be operated exclusively to promote social welfare.

The promotion of social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. However, a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization may engage in some political activities, so long as that is not its primary activity.

While MoveOn.org may take on “social welfare” issues as timely, it could be argued MoveOn’s very genesis was to counter the impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton in 1998, thus their mantra “move on”.

But since “promotion of social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office”, an email sent out by MoveOn.org this morning is another example of their blatant line-crossing.

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

Donald Trump could really win this election.

And, even if he doesn’t, the whole Republican field just keeps getting crazier.

Threatening to commit war crimes by intentionally bombing women and children.¹ “Closing” sections of the Internet.² Keeping Sharia law out of a city near you.³

These are the policies Republicans support. And in poll after poll, the candidates who take the most extreme, racist, right-wing positions go up.

If any of these candidates end up in the White House in 2016, America is in deep, deep trouble. Just by commanding the national stage, Republicans are already pushing dangerous ideas into public discourse and fueling a climate of violence and vitriol.

That’s why I’m asking you to make a year-end gift to one of the most powerful—and effective—progressive groups in the nation: MoveOn.

Your gift won’t just help defeat Republicans in 2016—you’ll also help fight against the pernicious ideas that their campaigns are propagating and help elect progressives who will stand up for our values.

Click here to make your year-end gift to MoveOn now.

Maybe you’re one of the people out there who thinks that the 2016 election will be an easy win for Democrats. You might think that because Republicans are so crazy, they can’t possibly win the general election. If so, think again.

In 2014, Republicans won their biggest House majority in Congress in almost 100 years—most of them every bit as conservative as the current candidates for president.⁴ Republicans control 32 governorships, including in deep-blue states like Maryland, Illinois, and Massachusetts.⁵ And, under President Obama, Democrats have lost more than 900 state legislative seats.⁶

That’s why anyone who thinks the next election is going to be easy is kidding themselves. Even if Donald Trump wins the nomination.

Will you chip in $3 and make sure MoveOn goes into 2016 prepared for a presidential election year?

Click here to chip in and help MoveOn expose and defeat Republicans in 2016.

Maybe you think the stakes aren’t that high if Democrats lose. If so, I hope you’ll reconsider. Here are some reasons why:

There’s been a terrifying spike in hate crimes largely targeting Muslims. Given the fear mongering of leading Republican presidential candidates, a Republican president will double down on xenophobic, anti-immigrant policies.

The GOP’s war on women continues in full force. (And you better believe that a Republican president will defund Planned Parenthood.)

Speaker Paul Ryan’s ultra-conservative House of Representatives is gearing up to make deep cuts to social programs, to slash Social Security, and to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations. A Republican president will join with Ryan in a big push to make these extreme policies the law of the land.

We’ve avoided going to war—for now. But if Republicans in Congress had their way, we’d be on a road to war with Iran already.

We have Obamacare—for now. And we’re making progress on the environment—for now. But a Republican president will work every day to undo all of that.

Your year-end donation to MoveOn is a small price to pay to fight against right-wing policies that would put us on a path to economic and social misery.

Click here to chip in $3 or whatever you can.

If you want to put your money to good use in 2016, now’s the time. Laying the groundwork requires early planning. So every donation that comes in now will go a long way.

And MoveOn’s past get-out-the-vote operations have been as effective—and as innovative—as any I’ve seen out there.

Not only that, but MoveOn backs strong progressives who will fight for the little guy. That means you can put your money to use—and help win—without giving to Democrats who act like Republicans.

The other guys are funded by billionaires. MoveOn Political Action is funded with an average donation of $25. This is truly a people-powered movement.

Ready to help make sure MoveOn hits the ground running in 2016?

Chip in now.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

Sources:

1. “GOP Candidates Actually Spend Time Debating Whether to Kill Terrorists’ Innocent Family Members,” The Huffington Post, December 15, 2015
http://act.moveon.org/go/313?t=6&akid=160628.10099719.0g5iz0

2. “Why Donald Trump Can’t Actually Close ‘Parts of the Internet,’” Time, December 16, 2015
http://act.moveon.org/go/368?t=8&akid=160628.10099719.0g5iz0

3. “Ben Carson Invokes Anti-Islam Myth Even Fox News Admits Is False,” ThinkProgress, December 16, 2015
http://act.moveon.org/go/309?t=10&akid=160628.10099719.0g5iz0

4. “McSally Recount Win Gives GOP Biggest Majority Since 1929,” ABC News, December 17, 2014
http://act.moveon.org/go/310?t=12&akid=160628.10099719.0g5iz0

5. “Republicans to hold 32 gubernatorial seats after wins in Kentucky, Mississippi,” ABC Action News, November 3, 2015
http://act.moveon.org/go/312?t=14&akid=160628.10099719.0g5iz0

6. “Have Democrats lost 900 seats in state legislatures since Obama has been president?” PolitiFact, January 25, 2015
http://act.moveon.org/go/311?t=16&akid=160628.10099719.0g5iz0

Want to support our work? MoveOn member contributions have powered our work together for more than 17 years. Hundreds of thousands of people chip in each year—which is why we’re able to be fiercely independent, answering to no individual, corporation, politician, or political party. You can become a monthly donor by clicking here, or chip in a one-time gift here.

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Granted, Reich’s lament that Republicans are resisting Sharia Law in America was an immediate source of wonder and amazement, but he’s not the first to pose such dangerous naivete.

Stop The Great Anti-Sharia Freakout
Three U.S. states have passed anti-Sharia laws since 2010 and now, 17 others are discussing similar bills. While the civil rights of Muslim Americans are being compromised through such legislation, there is ZERO threat of Sharia taking root in the U.S. Law makers should stop wasting our tax dollars pandering to xenophobia during this time of economic crisis.
— MoveOn.org petition, 2011

Reasonable, thinking liberals (there ARE a few) didn’t buy it in 2011, even though the Sharia-America wish-list has been out there awhile.

Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.
— Omar Ahmad, founder, Council on American-Islamic Relations, 7/4/98

The sheer level of partisan politics (the specific naming of a party and candidates) should be an actionable offense. Then again, expecting the Obama administration to enforce the law is a stretch.

And the fact that MoveOn sucks in “gifts” that are donated 100% to Democrat political campaigns is something we hope a Trump administration reviews carefully. Especially when it comes to those “not employed” donors who managed to cough up thousands of dollars, multiple times.

To be fair, there are many so-called nonprofits on both ends of the political spectrum who use that status for personal gain, but few are as blatant a rule breaker as MoveOn.org. We’re sure Lois Lerner was getting around to investigating their mischief, right?