This Is Sobering

Here is a poll that reveals the following:

- 51% of Americans believe that Trump did something wrong, should be impeached and removed from office.
- 57% of Americans believe that Trump did something wrong, should be impeached but NOT removed from office.
- 70% of Americans believe that Trump did something wrong.

The difference between the 51% who believe he should be removed from office and the 70% of those who believe he did something wrong is a different problem from the 25% who think he didn't do anything wrong.  That 25% is basically the Crazification Factor.  You can't reach them; they are the Deplorables.

More concerning, in an odd way, are that roughly 1 in 5 Americans who can admit that Trump did something wrong - ask a foreign power to interfere in an American election - and yet still want Trump to remain in office. These are not the rabid MAGAts who are spewing sputtering nonsense about the Deep State or Fake News.  These are people who have assimilated a few of the basic facts in the case and decided they are OK with that.

There was some of this back in Clinton's impeachment, especially in the sense that Clinton's behavior was problematic at best and predatory at worst. The nature of the offenses, however, are incredibly different. I would characterize the '98 impeachment as being basically about work place sexual practices.  Did Clinton engage in a sexual relationship with someone far beneath him on the organizational chart?  He absolutely did.  The nature of Lewinsky's consent has changed a bit over time.  She originally said it was consensual, and she never asserted that it was coercive, rather than Clinton, as the older, more powerful figure in the relationship should have known better.  They were adults, but the inequality of their relationship made things inherently fraught with problems.

That seems essentially what Congressional Censure is for.

Trump has been accused of bending the power of the presidency to shape what should be a free and fair election.  Of course, every day brings implications of new and different crimes.  Impeachment is primarily designed to limit out of control executive power.  That is its explicit purpose.

And there's about 20% of Americans who are cool with that.