The presidency has many powers, awesome powers, but Congress also has powers, and impeachment is one of them. Trump is likely to become only the third president to be impeached and the first to be impeached over his dealings with a foreign government, one of the things the framers of the Constitution feared most.

This is outrageous to Trump, a man who has patterned his entire presidency as a rebuke to and competition with his predecessor, Barack Obama. Not only will Trump not get a Nobel Peace Prize, he’ll get an American badge of dishonor. A black president of decency will trounce the president of white supremacy.

This fact alone is no doubt pushing Trump to the verge of explosion.

He will do anything to avoid this. But this may now be all out of his hands. The whistle-blower complaint has been filed and its credibility bolstered by Trump’s own statements, the rough transcript memo released by the White House and confirmations from the White House.

There are other things we want and need to know, to be sure, because there may well be other abuses of power about which we are still unaware. But the basis for at least one article of impeachment has already been established: abuse of power. The House could vote on that one any day it wished.

In fact, paradoxically, the longer Democrats drag out their investigation to strengthen their case, the more time Trump will have to muddy the waters with lies and conspiracies, possibly weakening that case, with the public at least.

We have to remember that Trump isn’t a politician who entered the arena with a deep desire to serve and with appreciation for the country’s history, customs and institutions.

Trump ran for president as an exercise of self-flattery and to boost his brand. His win was surprising, even for him. So we should never expect him to be patriotic when he is being condemned.

Before Trump will allow himself to be chased from the temple, he’ll bring it down.

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