This article is from The Editor’s Corner, with insights, short-posts, and general ramblings from Editor/Owner Justin Stapley.

The President has demanded that Republican members of Congress stay in lock-step with his message on Ukraine. And, his message is that the call was perfect, his actions in regards to Ukraine were totally justifiable, and that there is nothing to see here but an illegitimate Democratic coup.

This goes far beyond what Republicans need to do to defend the President in the impeachment trial. In fact, if this had not been the demand by the President, he may not have been impeached in the House in the first place. If Republicans had been allowed to take the “indefensible but not impeachable” approach, I wager enough moderate Democrats would have agreed their political futures weren’t worth risking on impeachment in these circumstances.

But instead, Republicans were forced by the President and his supporters to defend everything as all well and proper. And, frankly, it was this demonstration of absolute obeisance that got the president impeached. The crisis expanded from “So, what did the President do,” to “My God! What else could he get away with?”

The Democratic moderates observed the astonishing behavior of their Republican colleagues, and were forced to face the reality that our current president believes he can do anything and his party is fully supporting him in this autocratic pipe dream. They were forced to conclude that impeachment may very well be necessary to check this president’s dictator-like ego.

And, as if Congressional Republican kow-towing isn’t bad enough, I continue to see so many rank-and-file Republicans push insanely faulty talking points day in and day out. So, to these Republicans I offer several questions and a declaration of inconvenient facts.

If everything was all well and proper, why wasn’t this done through the State Department and appropriate channels? Why was Trump using his personal attorney? (Why is this, say, not comparable to using a personal email?)

If Trump cared so much about corruption, why is he sending troops to support the extremely corrupt Saudi government when he was willing to withhold money from Ukraine? (Ukraine may have their problems but they’re not, you know, killing and dismembering journalists)

Here’s the facts of the matter: Trump inappropriately used his personal attorney as a back channel diplomatic liaison to dig up dirt on a political opponent, and doubled down on this strategy by using the office to coerce a foreign power into doing so. Statements and testimony have made it evidently clear that Trump wanted an announcement of an investigation, and cared little about the specifics of said investigation, or whether one actually took place for that matter. He wanted to take down a political opponent, full stop. Everything else is spin cycle.

I am willing to respect several arguments. I can respect the view that what Trump did was immoral, but not illegal, and voters can decide. I can respect the view that what Trump did was entirely inappropriate but doesn’t rise to the level of impeachment, and voters can decide. I can respect the view that even if impeachment is warranted, removal is impossible and Congress should only censure, and voters can decide.

But what I can’t respect, and what my conscience compels me to contend with, is the absurd narrative that Trump is not only innocent in all of this but should be commended for caring about corruption. And, I especially am horrified when so many take to calling the appropriate and constitutional mechanisms for checking Presidential power an illegal coup.

Do you have a response to this article? Would you like to offer your own take on this topic? Feel free to submit your own article or offer a comment below.

Justin Stapley is the owner and editor of The Liberty Hawk. As a political writer, his principles and ideas are grounded in the ideas of ordered liberty as expressed in the traditions of classical liberalism, federalism, and modern conservatism. You can follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.

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