On Saturday, Robert Reich, who was the Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and worked in the Ford and Carter administrations, posted a conversation he had with his “friend who’s a former Republican member of Congress”. Basically, his friend claimed that the Republican Congress is patiently waiting for President Trump to cross a line, break a law, do something unconstitutional (in other words, be himself), so that they can have a legitimate reason to impeach him.
Upon impeachment, Vice President Mike Pence will become the President of the United States, which, according to Reich’s friend, is what the GOP wanted all along. Pence is the one who embodies the ideals of the GOP, and electing Donald Trump was secretly an election for Mike Pence.
According to Mic.com, some of Pence’s more controversial stances are:
- Anti same-sex marriage
- Anti trans rights
- Anti HIV/AIDs research funds (re-appropriate these funds for conversion therapy)
- Anti coed military (100% male military)
- Reintroduce “don’t ask, don’t tell”
- Anti Planned Parenthood/reproductive rights
- Religious Freedom Restoration Act
- Reducing the definition of rape to “forcible rape”, which decreases the number of “legitimate” rapes
Many of these stances are extremely right-wing, but our Senate and Congress are both under a Republican majority. There is no reason for Trump’s impeachment to anger anybody except for those that voted for him. Assuming Reich’s friend’s information is an accurate representation of the Republicans of Congress, this impeachment is going to happen. This is a scarier prospect than a President Trump. Pence, who has been a politician for years, knows how to conduct himself accordingly, how to navigate through the trickiness of politics, and how to discover the loopholes to push his hateful agenda through Congress.
Once again, we are reminded why we who are eligible to vote must vote. The midterm elections are in two years, and it is of utmost importance that Democrats regain some footing, if not a majority, in government. It is our responsibility to ensure that this happens, or face the potential consequences of an extremely discriminatory and patriarchal America (think 1960s).
