for trump s provisions to fail, the democrats have become dictator. the democrats, meanwhile, are on firm political ground. they should ensure this impeachment inquiry is and looks fair. they should follow the precedents laid down during the last two impeachment investigations. the inquiry should be undertaken as a great act of public education. a democracy can turn into a tourney over time. they can simply decide to weaken legislative constraints or checks. liberation has risen slowly but steadily. it was a liberal democracy and within a few short years became a totalitarian dictatorship.
terms of air power, but some advisers are on the ground to the security of our allies in europe. it s not picking sides in a civil war. president trump inherited that operation well underway with isis on the ropes. largely, they have been contained in the caliphate such as it was dismantled. as we ve seen many times in this part of the world, isis or al qaeda or whatever it is has the ability to reconstitute itself. so our presence in northern syria, and we re really talking about just a few hundred u.s. military advisers, trainers, was essential to supporting the kurds, thousands of whom took the fight to isis on our behalf with our pledge of support.
terrible way, i don t know what does. what s striking about this decision, it seems as though president trump has these emotional reactions with which he wants to translate into polic policy,. the policy people think it s difficult to do, so they slow-walk a lot of it. it seemed like the pentagon trump had all but announced wemp getti we were getting out of syria months and months ago. they slow-walk it and then has a phone call with the leader, oh, my god, we still have troops in syria. have you seen a process like that? i have seen no process. i wish i could call this a process. i don t think it s coincidental that it occurs when we have a brand new security adviser, and even newer, chair chaffs of staff.
only the most extreme circumstances. the process would create deep wounds in an already divided nation. and as a practical matter, since it s highly unlikely that a republican-controlled senate would vote by a two-third majority for conviction, the political effect could well be to vindicate trump and aid his reelection. but the events of the last few weeks have led me to support an impeachment inquiry. to direct american foreign policy for personal, political gain is the definition of abuse of power. but what has been far more troubling than that phone call to ukraine is trump s refusal to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry. other presidents have contested a specific subpoena or request for documents. donald trump is effectively rejecting congress ability to hold him accountable. the rule of law has been built
sdn does not have an army or police force at its disposal. nor does the supreme court. these institutions rely on the president to accept their equality and enforce their laws and rulings. when the supreme court held unanimously that richard nixon could not use executive privilege to withhold the watergate tapes, nixon immediately agreed to comply, even though he knew it would mean the end of his presidency. all modern u.s. presidents, both republican and democratic, have expanded their powers. but trump is on a different planet. he has refused to comply with wholly constitutional legislative requests for documents, information and testimony. he has diverted money toward a project clearly not funded by congress, reportedly promised pard pardons for officials who might break the law. he has now doubled down on congressional oversight on him.