A point common to all the anti-impeachment arguments, though, comes right out of an old Western; as the lawmen used to say about the cattle-rustling varmint after he was caught, “Hanging’s too good for him.” In this case, impeachment is seen as too rarefied, too technical a proceeding to end Trumpism. Trump should be defeated at the polls; ejecting him in any other way provides too many opportunities for after-the-fact stab-in-the-back recriminations, and will only further convince his base that the “deep state” conspired against him. Indeed, given the congressional Republican Party’s cultlike adherence to Trump, beginning a process in the House that can end only with acquittal in the Senate wouldn’t be good for the Democrats, or for the country.
These arguments have weight. A President Pence would certainly continue to appoint right-wing judges and limit L.G.B.T.Q. rights and ignore climate change and all the rest, and might do so more efficiently, being better able to concentrate on the task without getting distracted by Fox News or the allure of military parades. But what if he did? These may all be policies worth opposing; they’re not crimes that can’t be tolerated. It’s the core premise of any liberal democracy that people have to accept the program of the party in power no matter how little they like it, or even how morally repugnant they find it. The argument for Trump’s eviction rests not on the kinds of laws that he would like to pass but on his unique contempt for the whole concept of the rule of law.
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