The Atlantic: IMPEACH DONALD TRUMP
Starting the process will rein in a president who is undermining American ideals—and bring the debate about his fitness for office into Congress, where it belongs.
On january 20, 2017, Donald Trump stood on the steps of the Capitol, raised his right hand, and solemnly swore to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States and, to the best of his ability, to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. He has not kept that promise.
Instead, he has mounted a concerted challenge to the separation of powers, to the rule of law, and to the civil liberties enshrined in our founding documents. He has purposefully inflamed America’s divisions. He has set himself against the American idea, the principle that all of us—of every race, gender, and creed—are created equal.
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The oath of office is a president’s promise to subordinate his private desires to the public interest, to serve the nation as a whole rather than any faction within it. Trump displays no evidence that he understands these obligations. To the contrary, he has routinely privileged his self-interest above the responsibilities of the presidency. He has failed to disclose or divest himself from his extensive financial interests, instead using the platform of the presidency to promote them. This has encouraged a wide array of actors, domestic and foreign, to seek to influence his decisions by funneling cash to properties such as Mar-a-Lago (the “Winter White House,” as Trump has branded it) and his hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. Courts are now considering whether some of those payments violate the Constitution.
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Trump’s bipartisan critics are not merely arguing that he has dishonored the presidency. The most serious charge is that he is attacking the bedrock of American democracy.
........... By delaying the start of the process, in the hope that even clearer evidence will be produced by Mueller or some other source, lawmakers are delaying its eventual conclusion. Better to forge ahead, weighing what is already known and incorporating additional material as it becomes available.
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........The process of impeachment itself is likely to shift public opinion, both by highlighting what’s already known and by bringing new evidence to light. If Trump’s support among Republican voters erodes, his support in the Senate may do the same. One lesson of Richard Nixon’s impeachment is that when legislators conclude a presidency is doomed, they can switch allegiances in the blink of an eye.
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With a newly seated Democratic majority, the House of Representatives can no longer dodge its constitutional duty. It must immediately open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump, and bring the debate out of the court of public opinion and into Congress, where it belongs.
MORE:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/impeachment-trump/580468/
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Seen in today's 'toons:
would not be transferable to Mike Pence. He's as dull as dishwater, doesn't berate people or get into twitter wars at the drop of a hat, and just can't spin superlatives like Trump. 
I suppose the evangelicals would flock to him, but he's going nowhere with only the god squad on his side. Could you imagine Karen Pence as "first" lady? What a dichotomy; Melanie Trump and Karen Pence. 
Talk about polar opposites!
It's the only way to be sure...
He actually resigned in order to avoid impeachment. If he had stayed any longer, he would have been impeached and convicted and removed from office. Nixon was told that by his own GOP party leaders, and that's when he knew he had to go quickly.
Impeachment means the question is called, it's equivalent to indictment or charges brought against the President. It is enacted by the House of Representatives. Then there's a trial conducted in the Senate, and all the Senators are members of the jury. They have to vote whether to convict or not. That's what you remember from Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. He was impeached but not convicted, and he remained in office for the rest of his term.
Robert Mueller is the special investigator who has broad powers, but he cannot make the decision to impeach Trump. He will write the report of his findings and the House will decide whether Trump should be impeached. The Senate decides whether he should be convicted.
