The term ‘impeachment’ is often used as a weapon to score political points and energize the base. And unlike a traditional trial where legal facts and opinions are argued before a judge or jury, impeachment trials are purely political.
On Dec. 19, 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached then President Bill Clinton over an inappropriate relationship with a White House intern and his attempts to cover up the affair.
The sensational details of the affair made international headlines and Republican Members of Congress were all calling for his removal from office.
On Feb. 12, 1999, President William Jefferson Clinton was acquitted on both articles of impeachment – obstruction of justice and perjury.
Afterwards, Clinton said that he was "profoundly sorry" for the affair and the burden that it caused — both on Congress and upon the nation.
In the end, no one died.
On Dec. 10, 2008, then-FBI Director Robert Mueller authorized a ruthless and unnecessary pre-dawn raid with SWAT Team members and a hostage negotiator to arrest then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill.
At the time, it was alleged that Blagojevich supposedly conspired pay-to-play schemes to fill then-President Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.
The governor’s secretly recorded and perfectly legal phone calls strategizing about political maneuvers related to the vacant Senate seat with aides and friends made international headlines.
On Jan. 9, 2009, and then again on Jan. 14, under a new legislative session, Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached in the Illinois House of Representatives.
On Jan. 30, the Illinois Senate voted to convict and remove him from office.
And after two trials, Blagojevich was convicted and later sentenced to 14 years in prison on December 11, 2011, for fundraising violations — a routine practice in politics.
He never once accepted lavish gifts or money, flew on private planes, enriched his family, or took expensive vacations in exchange for his political influence.
On March 15, 2011, Blagojevich reported to a federal prison to begin his 14-year sentence — as a non-violent first-time offender.
On July 15, 2011, the federal appeals court overturned the most sensational conviction and the centerpiece of both his trials, finding: "he did not break the law when he sought to secure a Cabinet position in President Barack Obama’s administration in exchange for appointing an Obama advisor to the president’s former U.S. Senate seat."
In the end, no one died.
Immediately after the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, the Democrats obsessed over impeaching him. On December 15, 2016, a month before he was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, an article in Vanity Fair was published, "Democrats are paving the way to impeach Trump."
On Jan. 20, 2017, the day of Trump's inauguration, The Washington Post ran a story titled, "The campaign to impeach President Trump has begun."
As the article says, "The impeachment drive comes as Democrats and liberal activists are mounting broad opposition to stymie Trump’s agenda."
The president-elect wasn’t even sworn in yet, and the Democrats were already strategizing about impeaching and removing him from office.
On Dec. 18, 2019, President Trump was impeached in the U.S. House of Representatives for a perfectly legal phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which the Democrats allege that he pressured Zelenskiy to announce an investigation of the Biden family and their business dealings in Ukraine.
It was additionally alleged that President Trump would withhold critical financial assistance from Ukraine until an investigation was opened.
Ukraine’s president denied publicly that there was any pressure from Trump during their phone call and in September of 2019, the Trump administration sent $250 million in military aide for Ukraine.
An investigation into the Biden family was not opened in Ukraine and the government got their funding for military assistance.
On February 5, 2020, President Trump was acquitted during a Senate Impeachment Trial. Case closed.
In the end, no one died.
On Jan. 13, 2021, President Trump was impeached for a second time in the U.S. House of Representatives for "incitement of insurrection" stemming from a riot at the Capitol that turned deadly on Jan. 6.
Tragically, five people died.
But to imply that President Trump ordered supporters to violently break into the U.S. Capitol, injure police officers and innocent civilians, kill people, and damage federal property is unconscionable.
It’s a lie and immoral to suggest otherwise — and equally unconscionable.
The "Trump-made-me-do-it" defense is equally laughable, and many legal experts and judges agree.
As reported in the AP, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said, "This purported defense, if recognized, would undermine the rule of law because then, just like a king or a dictator, the president could dictate what’s illegal and what isn’t in this country . . . And that is not how we operate here."
On Feb. 13, 2021, less than a month after leaving office, former President Trump was acquitted during a Senate Impeachment Trial.
However, the case for impeaching President Joe Biden on the other hand, is not only warranted, but necessary.
The catastrophe that unfolded in real time in Afghanistan was heartbreaking.
What made this even more difficult to comprehend is — that this was all avoidable.
Biden not only ignored the intelligence and advice from his military commanders that warned of the Afghan government collapsing to the Taliban, but he also lied to the world when he said, "The Afghan government and leadership has come together . . . They have the capacity. They have the forces. They have the equipment."
But worse than that, Biden created an environment that put American lives at an unnecessary and completely avoidable risk. It was dangerous for Americans to get to the airport for an emergency evacuation, and it was dangerous for our service members who had to guard the airport. Biden also promised to leave no American behind, yet that’ exactly what he did.
In the end, thirteen brave U.S. service members lost their lives and hundreds of Americans remain in Afghanistan – hostages under Taliban-rule.
But that’s not all that Biden left behind in Afghanistan — he also left nearly 85 billion dollars of U.S. military equipment, planes, helicopters, armored trucks, guns, night vision goggles, communications equipment, and tanks to the Taliban — a terrorist organization.
You can bet that our adversaries and enemies are rushing to Afghanistan to analyze our equipment – leaving our service members weaker and more vulnerable in future conflicts.
The first duty of the president of the United States of America – the Commander in Chief is to protect the people. Not just here at home, but abroad as well.
And all that Biden appears to be protecting is his image. With blood on his hands, and a country less safe, the case for impeaching Joe Biden couldn’t be more compelling.
If there’s any a time more compelling to impeach and remove a president from office, it’s now.
People died on Joe Biden's watch.
It’s time for him to go.
Mark Vargas currently hosts a radio show, Mark My Words with Mark Vargas on AM 560 The Answer. From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Vargas served as a civilian within the Office of the Secretary of Defense on a special Iraq task force. In 2009 he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Global War on Terrorism Civilian Service Medal. His civilian service included 14 trips to Baghdad. Follow Mark on Twitter: @markavargas. Read Mark Vargas's Reports — Click Here Now.
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