Did we BREAK Impeachment?

Published 2020-02-07
Is it even possible to convict and remove a President?

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#Impeachment #Politics #SocialScience

In December of 2019, President Trump was impeached by a majority in the House. In February of 2020, the President was acquitted by a thin majority in the Senate (still far away from the needed 2/3rds to convict). Although there were certainly some surprises, it’s hard to say that there was any doubt in the outcome. Part of this came when Republicans in the Senate explicitly promised to coordinate with the White House and when many announced that they had determined his innocence regardless of what was going to come out. Given their majority status in the chamber, many felt that the process was unfair and rigged from the get.

This isn’t the process the founders thought of. It’s fair to ask whether or not they made a bad system for removing a President.

And after a lot of thought, I don’t think they did. At least, not initially. I wonder if, instead, we broke impeachment. And whether or not breaking it more might help.

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Sources:

thehill.com/homenews/senate/479299-collins-breaks-…
www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/11/12/path-to…
www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opinion/trump-senate-ac…
www.vox.com/2018/7/9/17525860/nazis-russell-walker…

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Video Sources:

   • Senators Find Trump ‘Not Guilty’ Of A...  
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   • McConnell: 'No chance' Trump will be ...  
   • Brazil's Dilma Rousseff removed from ...  

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All Comments (12)
  • @hgp2461
    we are acting like an insurance company that does not want to give insurance money even if they owe it
  • @PaulyT999
    The Framers couldn't predict the internet. If impeachment trials were held in private then we could possibly have a completely different historical outcome starting with Clinton.
  • @Edymos29
    I really wish somebody did the same content for my country. I understood everything.
  • @rupen42
    It wasn't very clear in the video, but the Brazilian VP mentioned turned against president Dilma. His centrist party is the biggest party in Brazil, so they have a lot of power in the 2 Chambers of Congress (so a lot of say on impeachments).
  • @tnorthrup1986
    You're welcome, sir. as to the previous video, thanks again for the shout out. If you want to dive a bit deeper into why my thoughts are where they are on those issues let's find a way to chat about it at your leisure. but broadly speaking I'm thinking public health--both in the nuisance area and with regard to overdoses. If you can only use heroin or meth in the place you buy it or your own home it vastly increases (for most) the odds of an overdose being detected in time to get help. and it cuts down on the public nuisances like the way drunk driving laws do. and yes, you are a bit of a libertarian, and I see and understand your worries, sir. there is an awful lot I want government to keep their hands off of and their noses out of. as weird as it sounds, that kind of weird dichotomy is why someone like me who is to the left of Bernie most of the time finds himself drawn to Mayor Pete. as to this video, I have less to say. I've said before that I think the ultimate solution is abolishing the Presidency and the 17th amendment and the curtailing the Senate so that it is a far more oversight-oriented body. that is never going to happen, but I don't know if our current system could so much be fixed. also, I'm about halfway through Ezra Klein's new book Why We're Polarized. You remind me a lot of a younger, more conservative version of him. And he's also a relatively new father so the dad jokes he throws in once in a while are fun in the book too.
  • @EurasiaOnYT
    Do you believe that ranked voting is the best way to create a multi-party system in the US? Or in what ways could the US realistically create a multi-party system? Great video like always nonetheless!!!
  • @mephistosinner2
    The senate helps protect smaller states against the tyranny of larger ones. The Senate is a prominent body against malignant state actors in the congress like New York and California.
  • @mephistosinner2
    I love how he completely skips the fact impeachment wasn't justified from the start, this was congresses failing NOT the senates. You might not like Trump but impeachment did nothing for this country. If Yang doesn't get the nomination ill be voting for Trump and its in large part because of these impeachment moves (as well as the stellar economy )