If presidents can be impeached for lying to the American public about their extramarital affairs, then they should also face impeachment for lying about former presidents committing espionage and treason.
The fact that one lie occurs under oath and the other occurs on social media should not make a difference. If anything, the lie on social media should be taken more seriously, as it is aimed directly at the American people. Especially when the lies on social media pertain to treason, and the lies under oath were about a blowjob.
Throughout much of his second term as the President of the United States, Bill Clinton found himself faced with one of the most infamous scandals pertaining to the oval office in the last several decades.
As a kid who was around the age of eight at the time, it was difficult to tell exactly what was going on. I realized the President of the United States was in trouble and that he had done something seriously wrong, and it seemed like it was all about his extramarital affairs. As a matter of fact, it was not until years later that I, or any of my friends for that matter, realized why the impeachment actually took place.
The Bill Clinton scandal is not remembered for his lying under oath. It is not remembered for coming to fruition through a tangential far-fetched connection to the Whitewater scandal that never amounted to what Republicans had hoped it would. It isn’t remembered for Linda Tripp covertly recording conversations, possibly illegally, with Monica Lewinsky that would later be given as evidence to a grand jury.
It is remembered as a case where the president used his power to get a blowjob and got caught. Monica Lewinsky is not remembered as girl who may have felt pressured into performing sexual favors for someone in power, or the woman whose life is forever affected and tainted by a mistake she made in her youth, but instead is always associated with the infamous Bill Clinton blowjob scandal.
Bill Clinton is not the first, nor will he be the last, powerful politician to utilize his power for inappropriate benefits, no matter what they may be. He also was not the first president to lie to the American people, and as we have since learned is still not the last.
There were gray areas with George W. Bush. Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction like he told us they did, but at the same time, it is perfectly reasonable to believe he thought he was telling the truth. Was it irresponsible? Almost definitely, but that doesn’t make it intentional or malicious.
The Bush controversies with Iraq are much different than those that have taken place thus far with the Trump administration. Donald Trump attacked many people both before and after his election and subsequent inauguration. He continually places the blame of his shortcomings on those he perceives as the opposition, and uses any tactic available to him to distract the public from his many controversies and scandals.
One such attempt at distraction is to continually use Twitter to lie about his political rivals. One recent instance is Trump’s accusation of former president Barack Obama wiretapping his phones prior to the election, something for which the Trump administration has yet to produce a single piece of proof, and clearly has no intention of doing. Probably because it doesn’t exist.
Espionage is no small accusation for a sitting president to make, especially when it targets a preceding president. These are the types of claims that could end up with the accused in a courtroom facing counts of treason and conspiracy.
It seems this may be just another byproduct of having a president who continually tweets about every possible conspiracy that crosses his mind or his desk, and it is well documented that President Trump is no stranger to slandering those who may conflict with his political ideologies, or people who simply wish to ridicule the man.
It also could be construed as an attempt to cover up recurring scandals. Regardless of which is the truth, lying to the American people as the President of the United States is irresponsible and reason for condemnation as well as impeachment.
The major difference between what President Clinton did and what President Trump has continuously done is that Mr. Clinton was accused of lying under oath, whereas Mr. Trump lies on Twitter.
President Clinton was brought to an impeachment trial by the House of Representatives on counts of perjury and obstruction of justice after two other counts did not make it past a House vote. Perjury was the main issue that was constantly discussed during the trial.
“The matter before the House is lying under oath. This is called perjury,” Rep. Henry Hyde (R) said at the time of the trial. “The people’s trust has been betrayed.”
If the case is about betraying the people’s trust, then lying on Twitter is at least as egregious as lying under oath.
Lying under oath is something that happens in a courtroom with hundreds of members of the press crowding around and rushing to report what has been said, and sending information through verified sources and channels so that by the time it gets to the American people, we have a pretty good idea whether or not it’s factual. Lying on Twitter, on the other hand, goes immediately unfiltered out into the world where millions of uninformed people who have no real desire to do research and learn the truth immediately digest the information.
For Trump and many of his apologists, his tweets are immediate truths. For dissenters, there is no chance that a hint of truth is in a single social media post. The unfortunate reality for modern day America is that the latter is almost always the case.
So, if the President of the United States has lost the faith of the American people, no matter how the lies are told, how can he be trusted to run the country? After all, he is supposed to be an employee of the people. We are his boss, and if he is not doing his job adequately, he should not be allowed to continue.
The question at hand is not necessarily related to what is a crime that constitutes a loophole that can be exploited to attempt an impeachment of a president because of a difference in opinion or party. The issue is lying to the American people, regardless of the way it is being done.
The President of the United States has continued to lie to the American people time and time again, shamelessly. The lies are empty shells of excuses with as much substance as a reality TV program; something the president is unfortunately all too familiar with.
There is no substance. There is no attempted cover-up. There is only distraction. Distraction from the fact that the leader of the free world is attempting to steer the country in a direction of militarized nationalism and dictatorial obedience, while capitalizing on an irrational fear of the religion of Islam.
Even his actions pertaining to these issues could be a distraction, though, from his attempts to marginalize the ongoing investigation between the Trump administration and its ties to the Russian government.
Distraction in relation to the numerous Trump scandals is further exemplified in his continuous tweets attacking people leaking information about his relations with Russia. The name Linda Tripp is hardly remembered in regards to the Bill Clinton case, and the majority of those who are too young to remember have never even heard the name.
Bill Clinton defended himself in multiple ways against the case for his impeachment, and some of his tactics were less than exemplary, but one thing that did not happen was an attack on the source of information. Not only did President Clinton leave the origins of his scandal out of the conversation, he did so despite the fact that there was controversy about the legality of the evidence provided.
President Trump, however, has constantly attacked the leaks in regards to his possible collusion with Russia, and those anonymous reporters who are responsible for relaying the information. It’s a simple distraction technique that is intended to fire up his supporters and have them asking questions about security and privacy, instead of wondering why there is so much evidence piling up against the president in terms of possible treason.
The questions remaining pertain to why the president feels a compulsory need to continually lie, and why it is acceptable to the American people. President Trump’s former National Security Advisor, Mike Flynn (who said on the campaign trail that if someone is asking for immunity, they have probably done something wrong), was forced out of his position because he lied about talking to Russian officials during Trump’s presidential run. He has since asked for immunity in return for telling everything he knows about the Trump team’s communication with Russia before and during his presidency.
Aside from Flynn lying about Russia, several other Trump appointees have been found to have lied to Congress under oath.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied about his communication with Russia. EPA Chief Scott Pruitt lied about his use of personal emails. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos lied about being on the board of her family’s foundation. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin lied about his bank “robo-signing” documents, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price lied about having an investment opportunity that was only available to a select few investors even though he claimed it was accessible to everyone who invested in that particular company.
Those are just the lies and liars we know about so far.
The fact is, facts are hard to come by with this current administration. So, if they cannot be trusted to be honest with the American people, why is this administration allowed to remain in power? Is lying about marital infidelity really a more egregious offense than lying about treason, collusion, and corruption?
The United States government is meant to serve the people of this country. The reason the political authorities of this nation are elected is because they are supposed to represent our interests and needs as a people.
In order for this political system to function on even the most basic level, the people must be capable of having faith and trust in their elected leaders. On a grand scale, it is not important if a person who has been trusted with public office lies in a courtroom or lies on Twitter; if they lie to the American public at all, they should not be trusted with public office, and must be removed.
If President Clinton can face impeachment for falsehoods related to extramarital affairs, then President Trump should face a minimum of the same treatment for fabrications that accuse a former president of espionage and conspiracy to commit treason.
Or, perhaps he could just face impeachment for corruption, colluding with a hostile foreign power, violating the emoluments clause of Article 1 of the Constitution, inciting violence against American citizens, violating international treaties, attempting to violate the First Amendment, or for his general disregard for the country he serves and its people.