Will Impeachment Proceedings Unite the Warring Factions in the U.S.?
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, initiated proceedings to impeach President Donald Trump saying, “The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable facts of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of his national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.” “The president must be held accountable, and no one is above the law,” she told the inquiry investigating the grounds for impeachment.
Georgia Representative John Lewis who is known for his civil rights activities, endorsed the impeachment of Trump saying, “The future of our democracy is at stake.”
Trump subsequently said he considers the inquiry an attempted coup that he will not permit. For her part, Hillary Clinton supported the impeachment of President Trump saying, “This occupant of the Oval Office poses a clear and present danger to our future, to our democracy.”
The phrase “clear and present danger,” is commonly associated with justifying aggression abroad against an enemy that has not attacked but poses a “clear and present danger,” and for restricting freedom of speech within the country in the name of war and countering espionage. It would appear Clinton and those she represents, including the intelligence agencies, favor both at this time. These agencies, like the military, are supposed to remain neutral, so as not to compromise their loyalty to the Office of the President. Instead, as the norms of the existing arrangements break down, both the military and the intelligence agencies have been openly interfering by trying to influence the outcome of unfolding events.
What we are witnessing in the impeachment battle is the failure of the arrangements enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Office of the President to resolve conflicts among the rulers and restore the confidence of the people in the current set up. The last election did not serve to restore confidence either, nor did the presidency of Obama before that. Far from it, the anger with the whole set up has grown. The struggles of the people in defence of their rights and the values they stand for is threatening to break the bounds of the existing arrangements and instead take the path of building new arrangements based on people’s empowerment. This is a problem for the rich and at least some among them hope an impeachment inquiry will divert those fighting for a new direction and embroil them instead in “protecting” the dysfunctional democracy of the rich and giving it a new lease on life.
Impeachment also reflects the intensification of the fight among the rulers as to which factions will control the presidency. In the past, presidential elections and a functioning Congress that divided up the budget among the factions, have served to resolve conflicts among the rulers so that violent civil war does not break out. But the Trump election resolved nothing, as seen in the unending fighting since. This vying for power by the factions is also evident in the fights within the Office of the President, such as the hiring and firing of generals; between the executive and the military, with generals, such as former Defense Secretary Mattis openly criticizing the President; and between the federal and state governments, with states refusing to recognize the authority of federal police agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for example. When the military publicly challenges the President, the Commander-in-Chief, it raises doubt as to whether they will follow his orders. When states, with their own armed policing agencies and National Guard troops, challenge federal authority, this too calls into question who will prevail among the contending authorities.
The rulers are concerned that the upcoming 2020 election will further intensify these conflicts as the competing factions may not accept the outcome. Such a situation could trigger open civil war, with potential for dividing the union, something the rulers are trying desperately to avoid. To do so they may turn to more imperialist war, including potential invasion of Mexico, or Venezuela, or Iran. And some evidently think impeachment proceedings may unite the contending forces, including within the military. All of this has consequences for who forms the next government in Canada as the U.S. civil war spills into Canada as a result of the integration of Canada’s economy and politics into the U.S. economy, homeland security and war machine.