The Athenaeum

Tag: American politics

  • A Beginners Guide to Trump’s Impeachment

    A Beginners Guide to Trump’s Impeachment

    Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, has been in the news attached to the word ‘impeachment’ for the past few months. However, as much as Trump’s impeachment has been discussed by the media, many remain confused by the impeachment, the allegations, the terms used and the constant changes taking place. 

    In order to help readers who are confused regarding the topic, The Athenaeum presents ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Trump’s Impeachment’:

    What caused the impeachment inquiry?

    The impeachment inquiry was announced on September 24th by Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic Party politician currently serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives. This impeachment inquiry is a direct result of the Trump-Ukraine scandal that came to light in September 2019.

    The Trump-Ukraine scandal surfaced after an intelligence officer, who we now know is a CIA Officer, filed a whistleblower complaint to the inspector general detailing Donald Trump’s alleged wrong-doings. This intelligence officer is known within the impeachment as the whistleblower which is a term for individuals who expose illegal and unethical information within an organization.

    In the official complaint, the whistleblower claimed that on July 25th, 2019 a phone call occurred between President Trump and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy where Trump “sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 re-election bid”.

    The whistleblower goes on to discuss how Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate potential opponent Joseph Biden and son Hunter Biden, assist in uncovering that allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election originated in Ukraine, and locate and turn over the servers used by the Democratic National Committee which were reported to have been penetrated by Russian hackers in 2016. The whistleblower additionally alleged that efforts were made to restrict access to records relating to this call.

    The report was sat on for a month when Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire advised that the complaint was not of urgent concern. By mid-September, the existence of the report was leaked, causing mass controversy.

    In the days that followed Pelosi’s announcement of impeachment inquiry, the White House released both the whistleblower’s report and the official White House record of the Trump-Zelenskyy phone call to the public. Since the release of documents, more information has been demanded and either given or not given. The details can be found in detailed timelines.

    What is being investigated in the inquiry?

    The goal of the impeachment inquiry is to understand the events that took place around the July phone call with Zelenskyy and Trump’s as well as the possibility of subsequent abuse of power.

    The House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff is leading the impeachment inquiry and has given the public the main questions he plans to investigate:

    1. Did President Trump seek aid from a foreign country to help him in a U.S Presidential election again?
    2. Was the meeting with President Trump, which Ukraine desperately sought, being conditioned on Ukraine’s willingness to launch investigations for Trump?
    3. Did Ukraine have reason to believe that the military aid they desperately needed was being withheld due to these investigative conditions?
    4. Have any of the facts been covered up regarding President Trump’s conduct?

    How does impeachment work?

    Impeachment starts with the inquiry. Although announced by Nancy Pelosi, a resolution for the impeachment inquiry must be formalized by the House of Representatives. 

    On October 31st, 2019 with a vote of 232 to 192, a resolution for the impeachment inquiry was approved by the House of Representatives. This resolution, which was formalized, details how the impeachment inquiry will function going forward.

    From this point, the House of Representatives will call on witnesses and gather evidence of Trump’s wrong-doings. They have already begun to do so, and evidence released can be seen in timelines of the impeachment.

    The impeachment inquiry will move to a vote in the House of Representatives and if Trump is impeached the process will continue; however if Trump is not impeached the process ends.

    The Senate would then hold a trial on whether to impeach the president, before moving to a vote. If Trump is convicted, he will be removed from office and Mike Pence will become president.

    Will Trump be impeached?

    At this point, it is impossible to know for sure whether Trump will be impeached or not. Democrats do hold a majority in the House of Representatives and evidence so far has pointed towards a likelihood of impeachment, but new evidence is turning up every day, making predictions difficult.

    The Senate does hold the power in the actual impeachment, it will take 67 senators to convict Trump. As there are 53 (out of 100) Republican senators right now and based on the assumption all Democrat senators will vote yes, 20 Republican senators will need to vote yes in order for Trump to be impeached. It will be interesting to watch Senators’ reactions to the impeachment’s on-goings in the House of Representatives.

    How does this affect the 2020 election?

    If impeached Trump will be banned from running in the 2020 Presidential Election. This would mean a new Republican candidate would take his place.

    Surprisingly, as shown in an article from the New York Times, the impeachment is not a major concern for the Democrats hoping to be the candidate in the 2020 election. The article describes how campaign topics have surrounded health care, the economy, and most importantly how they are going to beat Trump in the election.

    Questions regarding the impeachment have rarely been asked at campaign events and it seems like the impeachment and election are viewed as separate matters to both Democrats and the public at this time.

    What can we take from the impeachment?

    Between the whistleblower’s complaint and the evidence that has risen since Pelosi’s announcement of the impeachment inquiry, it has become evident that it is easier than citizens may expect for wrong-doings to occur at high levels of government. 

    The U.S is a country known for being democratic and fair. There isn’t the kind of government corruption seen in some other countries around the world; however, this impeachment inquiry shows that government corruption can happen anywhere, even in democratic countries such as the U.S., U.K. or Canada.

    This is not a concept that is new either, both Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached due to violations during their respective presidencies. It is easy for the public to be fooled by a government official who ends up using their power wrongfully, and it may not be the last. 

    This impeachment is a reminder for voters to vote wisely in the 2020 Presidential Election, remembering that any candidate is capable of abusing their position.

  • 2020: It’s going to be odd, long, and painful

    2020: It’s going to be odd, long, and painful

    At this moment we are just over a year away from the Iowa Democratic Caucus, the first electoral battleground to see who will be the main opponent to Donald Trump in the 2020 election. If recent polls are to be believed then Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Beto O’Rourke are the frontrunners with other candidates such as Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, and Sherrod Brown showing some potential. This is in large part because they have a significant level of name recognition or have had a recent moment in the spotlight. While each of these candidates are significant political figures, many of which have been in the national spotlight for quite some time or have other significant baggage.

    In a political landscape that has been upended by the election of Donald Trump, dozens of potential candidates are trying to see if they can mount a viable campaign. In a crowded field of candidates, a breakthrough moment is more than likely to occur. In that instance, on January 21st 2021, it’s probable that a new President will be sworn into office who no one will have heard of until the start of this campaign. It’s easy to go back to Presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, all candidates who burst into the national stage at a time when the United States was calling for change.

    Recent data shows Democratic voters and Americans across the board are looking for a newcomer to the national stage to lead the country. A poll of Democratic voters showed that the highest level of enthusiasm for a candidate was an unnamed candidate who was new to that voter. That isn’t to say voters are looking for a candidate who is more flash than substance. Despite the significant electoral problems Democrats faced in off-year elections during the 2009 to 2016 period, that weakened the field of potential national candidates for Democrats.

    There are a significant number of Democratic Governors who were elected in swing states. Very few have heard of Governor’s such as Steve Bullock of Montana, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Jay Inslee of Washington, or Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island but all are considering bids for the White House. Each has governing experience but with the potential to jolt onto the national scene with the ability to claim success and an outsiders status. It is also a distinct possibility that a mayor of a large city, such as Eric Garcetti of California or Julian Castro of San Antonio, could argue their record governing these cities (both larger than many states) qualifies them for the Presidency.

    Nearly everyone who enters this race has a fighting chance to be the winner. If a candidate is bold and lucky enough to match the moment, they are on the path to be President.

    The 2020 election has already started, just more than two years before Inauguration Day. It will likely be amongst the most divisive campaigns in American Political history. At the end of it all, Donald Trump could still be standing, or someone none of us has ever heard of could become the most powerful person in the world. My advice, expect the unexpected. Oh, and if you’re interested my top bets for the Democratic nomination are:

    1. Beto O’ Rourke
    2. Kamala Harris
    3. Joe Biden
    4. Elizabeth Warren
    5. Bernie Sanders

    My personal favourites are:

    1. Beto O’ Rourke
    2. Eric Garcetti
    3. Julian Castro
    4. Elizabeth Warren
    5. Steve Bullock

    Jonah Van Driesum is a third year Politics student and the VP Programming of Acadia Politics Students’ Association

  • People over Policy

    People over Policy

    At its core, public policy is supposed to the serve greater good, and no political party or ideology has a monopoly on good or bad ideas. Many politicians are elected and strive to do the best they can, while others seek only to better themselves. Every aspect of politics has positives and negatives, but two key elements, the policies and the politicians, define the outcome. I have often debated with myself and others about which is more important, the policies being advocated or those doing the actual advocating. Despite the conflict in my head, I can feel the truth in my gut that those we elect to represent us are more important than the policies themselves.

    While policy is important, and the goals set in a piece legislation are not something to be ignored, the overall principles largely do not change. What is important are the details of individual pieces of policy and legislation, that are often decided through negotiation and compromise between politicians. Politicians who serve the constituents and their principles, or at least try to make the best decision in a situation with only bad options, will serve their constituents and nations well, even if every choice they make is not the right one. On the other hand, politicians only looking towards the next election, while likely not destroying the country will still weaken it, and leave a widening partisan and moral gap in the governance of our society.

    I am someone who, generally speaking, leans from a moderate to a progressive viewpoint on politics. I would far rather have an honest, honourable, moral conservative or socialist in office than someone who holds my exact views but is morally and politically corrupt. It is as simple as knowing that, while the politician who does not share my values is less likely to pursue or implement policies that favour my political leanings, a politician with integrity beyond the parameters of party policy can be trusted to uphold democratic norms and maintain the public interest above all else. Meanwhile, I may love the policies that the immoral candidate stands for but I can neither trust that politician, once in office, to implement those policies or to maintain the basic democratic principles which make up the foundation of citizens’ faith in the integrity of government.

    A perfect example of why it is more important to vote based on who is running than on what their exact ideology is, is the incumbent President of the United States, Donald Trump. Despite evidence of corruption and his lack of a moral compass, Trump ultimately won the election because conservative voters in the United States decided to vote based on the policies they believed he would implement over his apparent fitness (or lack thereof) for office. The consequences of this choice based on stated policy versus apparent integrity of the candidate are that the world is under threat from Trump’s erratic behaviour and many crisis or potential crisis are going unsolved. Furthermore, burdened by the corruption and incompetence and corruption he has failed to pass a significant portion of the legislation he promised his voters, whether it is health care reform, a massive jobs program, the construction of the border wall, or the backfiring of his trade war.

    The flip side of this is seen in Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama. Obama was elected because of who he was and the change his evident integrity, intelligence, and optimism represented. Because of his positive character qualities, he was able to provide competent management for the world's most powerful economy during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He was able to make changes to healthcare, foreign policy, and the economy, even when, for most of his time in office, the opposition controlled the legislative branch of the United States and actively worked to thwart many of his measures .

    Politicians and policy are both essential factors to consider when casting your ballot.

    However, despite the importance of policy, it is far more important to consider the quality of the people for whom we cast our votes above every detail of the policies they support.

    Jonah Van Driesum is a third year Politics student and the Vice-President Programming of the Acadia Politics Students’ Association

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