It’s time for an amendment permitting the recall of politicians in Washington
News Analysis
By STEVEN A COHEN
Americans shouldn’t have to put up with a president’s inept and self-serving response to the coronavirus, which experts suggest is costing thousands of lives unnecessarily. Nor should they have to accept a cynical Senate leader who refuses to bring hundreds of House-passed bills to the floor for a vote and turned the president’s impeachment trial into a political charade.
Not only should the Constitution be changed to get rid of the Electoral College, which allowed Donald J. Trump and George W. Bush — arguably the two worst president in the nation’s history — to become president despite having lost the popular vote. It also should be amended to permit voters to correct their mistakes by recalling elected federal officials, as many state constitutions do for state officials. A recall requires politicians to face voters a second time, before their terms end; it enables voters to effectively fire state politicians who are corrupt or inept. People who are frustrated by Trump’s rambling, prime-time, self -congratulatory “news briefings” on the pandemic that fail to acknowledge reality, could do worse with their time while most of the nation is locked down than organizing support online for the constitutional amendments providing recall of a president and senators.
Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate, and then approval by four-fifths of the states, or two-thirds of the states can call for a constitutional convention. All 27 amendments thus far were approved by the first method, none by constitutional convention.
The 100 senators, two from each state, are elected to six-year terms, whereas the 435 members of the House run for re-election every two years. The founders saw the Senate as the more deliberative body of the two, but the deliberations have devolved into party politics exclusively under Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He proudly calls himself the “grim reaper” for killing social legislation passed by the House, which voters returned to Democratic control in the 2018 election, and he made a mockery of Trump’s impeachment trial. Incredibly, McConnell announced before the Senate trial began that the Republican majority would align with Trump’s defense team, and they even prevented prosecutors from calling witnesses.
Unlike in the House, where all the seats are on the ballot in November, Senate elections depend on when the incumbents were first elected. This year, 32 Senate seats are on the ballot — 12 held by Democrats and 22 by Republicans, including McConnell’s. Polls show he and Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., chairman of the Judiciary Committee and another ardent supporter of Trump, are no longer shoo-ins; they each face tough Democratic challengers. Any constitutional amendment would leave recall of senators up to voters in their respective states, of course, although anyone anywere can support petitioners. Considering the important national role played by the majority leader, a recall vote would certainly be of interest out-of-state.
Meanwhile, Democrats need to take three Republican seats and hold all their own this November in order to become the majority party. Voter turnout may be a problem come November, due to the coronavirus. A low turnout would work against the Democrats, and a House-passed bill that McConnell has swept into his dust bin would address the potential coronavirus problem by allowing anyone to vote by mail. The consistent effort to suppress the vote by Republicans in recent decades thwarts democracy. With that in mind, the Democratic governor of Wisconsin sought to postpone his state’s presidential primary, which was scheduled during one of the worst weeks of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States in 2020. Republicans objected and went to court, eventually reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. The highest court in the land both insisted that the primary go ahead as scheduled and denied a petition to extend the deadline for absentee ballots. This meant that voters had to risk their lives during the worst pandemic in more than 100 years in order to carry out their responsibility as citizens. Although he claims to be apolitical, Chief Justice John Roberts runs a court that remains firmly in the hands of right-wingers.
Trump has claimed frequently that the special counsel's investigation into Russia’s influence in his election, and his impeachment by the House for his effort to involve Ukraine in the 2020 election were nothing more than “witch hunts” by Democrats seeking to reverse the 2016 election. While the witch hunt claim certainly isn’t true, any recall effort — especially against a president — would need to be based on the person’s performance rather than party politics. Otherwise, there would be no end to elections. The behavior would need to be demonstrably egregious. It is with Trump and McConnell. They have done serious damage while in office to our democratic institutions, to America's reputation in the world and to their fellow citizens.
Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, lied to the people in order to invade Iraq in 2003, despite the fact that the war in Afghanistan was underway. They demonstrated no understanding of the region and had no plan as to what to do after overthrowing Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein. That war lasted until 2011 and cost about 4,500 American lives, and the Afghan war, begun after the 9–11 attacks on America, is still underway. The Afghan war has cost more than 2,200 American lives, and U.S. taxpayers have spent more than $8 trillion on wars in that region of the world since 2001. Afghanistan was targeted because it harbored sponsors of the 9–11 attack on America; Iraq, because Saddam was harboring weapons of mass destruction, according to the Bush administration — a claim that was not true. The House was derelict in not impeaching him.
Trump stands alone among the presidents in corruption, in using the office to advance his personal business interests, and in undermining national security in a variety of ways. He’s a pathological liar, and he displays most characteristics of a sociopath. He’s a friend to murderous dictators and abuses his pardon power by letting felons out of prison. He ignored and then downplayed the Covid-19 pandemic for 70 days before taking action, then he rejected responsibility and blamed the governors for the deadly shortfall in medical equipment. He is a clear and present danger each day he remains in the White House. It’s doubtful America can survive in any recognizable form with Trump as president for four more years.
