Impeachment was designed to provide a method of holding members of the executive and judicial branches accountable. Members of the executive branch were to be impeached for treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors, which Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines as “In law, an offense of a less atrocious nature than a crime.” Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution states that “The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,” yet today, even the idea of impeaching a judge for bad behavior is unthinkable. Thomas Jefferson was right when he said, “For impeachment is a farce which will not be tried again.” We have turned impeachment into this farce, a mere scarecrow, depriving it of all of its power to curb malfeasance in government.
It’s not just impeachment that the American people have turned into a farce. Look at the vote in the House on HB 7888. This legislation claims to give FBI agents the authority to search the Section 702 database for information about Americans without a warrant. This blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment passed the House with a bipartisan majority. That’s right, both major political parties vote to throw your rights in the trash, and no one seems to be doing anything about it.
What happens to us when we turn the protections of our rights into a farce? Look around, and there’s plenty of evidence staring us in the face. Will the American people learn to defend their rights before they are all thrown into the trash bin of history?
https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024120
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