BY BOB BEARDEN

Impeachment inquiry is on! The investigation into the president and his many, many, many lies, his many, questionable tweets and his general conduct is finally going to happen. It is as Nancy Pelosi said in her announcement a sad day for our nation and its citizens. But we must curb the overreach of this man and his attempts to subvert our democratic republic into an arm of Trump holdings. We must learn if he has colluded [there’s his favorite word again] with a foreign power to subvert our democracy. We must find out just how much he has damaged our nation. That he openly flouts the law of the land there can be no question.

But does what he is doing rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, that is the question? Since he and his cabal of toadies will not allow the normal business of our Congress to be conducted leaves open the questions that need to be answered as to whether he has violated the law. In so many ways it appears that he has, and he has essentially left the House of Representatives no other choice but to proceed with an impeachment inquiry.

Many critics are saying that the American public is against impeachment, but that was even more so the case during the early stages of the Watergate hearings on the impeachment of Nixon. Polls during that time showed only 19% of the public favored impeaching Nixon. Current polls say 39% favor impeachment now. It is obvious that a larger segment of our citizens favor impeachment than did in the Watergate years!

Polling can’t be the driving factor behind an impeachment inquiry; the truth must be what motivates!

But there isn’t much choice left but the road to impeachment since the president and his henchpeople continue to refuse to follow the rule of law. How it will turn out no one knows. But it is what it is, and public opinion will rise, or fall based on what the House inquiry finds.

And it is a sad day for our nation, but it is inevitable given what this man has done and how he has openly flouted the law and openly encouraged those around him to do likewise! Whether you are Republican or Democrat you should want the rule of law to apply equally to every citizen of this nation regardless whether it be the president or anyone else!

– Bob Bearden is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Central Labor Federation and a member of Mayflower Congregational Church, UCC, in Oklahoma City.