Sometimes we must do what’s right

A good friend asked the other day why House Democrats are going forward with impeachment when they know that President Donald Trump is almost certainly going to be acquitted by the Republican majority in the Senate.

The answer: Because the Constitution demands it.

Smart political strategists would argue that the impeachment process, with the Senate GOP on board for the president, is a dumb move for Democrats.

Surviving a Senate vote, they will tell you, the president can portray himself as a martyr and the victim of a “witch hunt.”

That will enliven his base and would likely improve his chances for re-election. But — no matter what House Republicans say — this is not about politics.

It’s about right and wrong. It’s about the difference between a monarchy and a republic. And it’s about all those presidents yet to come.

The issues, when you get right down to it, are pretty simple.

If soliciting foreign involvement in American elections in order to win an advantage at the polls is not an impeachable offense, what is?

If holding up military aid for an ally, a country at war with Russia, to get a political edge is not an impeachable offense, what is?

If stonewalling Congress in its legitimate oversight function isn’t an impeachable offense, what is?

Much as his supporters would like to insist to the contrary, this is not about Donald J. Trump.

It is about the presidency.

Not just this president, but every successor who will follow him in office.

What’s the future for our republic if every president believes he is immune from investigation, can ignore Congressional oversight and can play footsie with foreign governments?

Vaunted principles like “no man is above the law” would be rendered meaningless or become quaint notions from an earlier, more innocent era.

Small town newspapers like this one struggle with issues like this.

We know that if we’re to have any influence in building a consensus on things like the need for a four-way stop sign or community improvement, we have to bite our tongues sometimes.

But this is too important.

This matters too much to the republic we love, to its values and to its future.

So, impeachment is required, not as a smart political strategy but as a moral and patriotic obligation.

Sometimes you have to do tough things simply because they’re the right thing to do.

And impeachment is the right thing to do. — J.R.