You will come away a different person

No, ma’am. Trump was, indeed, impeached twice, and he remains so in perpetuity. Furthermore, both impeachments are part of the Congressional Record, and are thus irreversable and irrevocable.

Per the US Constitution, the US House has the sole authority to impeach. Please note that it does not say that the Senate shares, nor has any role whatsoever in that authority. Please note, too, that if, for whatever reason, the House fails to pass the impeachment resolution, the entire process stops in its tracks. The Congressional Record merely notes the fact that a Resolution was voted upon by those members present, had failed to receive a majorityof the vote, the total number of “yeas” and “nays” are stated without identifying any member by name, his/her party, how he/she had voted, nor even if any particular member(s) had voted at all, because, again, no member is obligated. The intent is to make reference to the fact that a Resolution was voted upon, and failed. End of story. From that point onward, unto perpetuity, the President is not impeached, nor ever was impeached. Quite literally, as though it had never happened at all.

That said, please note that this is where we part company. For this is the ONLY permissible circumstance under which an impeachment never, ever occurred. Because, if the impeachment resolution does gain the necessary simple majority of the members present – presumably, more than a quorum are, in fact, present.- the Resolution does pass, is agreed to, and the vote of each individual member is duly noted, having cast his/her ballot as “yea,” “nay,” or “present,” which is permissible. Once more, please note that it MUST pass by a majority of all the votes cast. Point being, should there happen to be an unexpectedly large number of members voting “present,” the total number of “yea” votes must exceed, by at least one, the combined total of “nay” and “present” votes. If that happens, the President is impeached, and that fact is irreversable, irrevocable, and is codified within the Congressional Record.

I must point out that I’ve explained all of this in great (and, perhaps, even excessive) detail, and for a rather simple, yet completely obvious reason: Impeachment is an extremely serious step – and the vote is just that important! It is, in fact, the second most consequential vote a House member might ever potentially cast, other than a vote to declare war. To be perfectly honest, this is why it infuriates and even offends me that so many people seem so casual about demanding that Biden (and/or Kamala Harris) be impeached. Impeachment is an extremely serious matter, and is to be regarded exactly as such. It is the only Constitutional remedy available or allowable to pass judgment on Presidential behavior. For example, on occasion in our history, censure is offered as a way to “punish” a President. The idea may indeed be valid, but the act itself is NOT authorized by the Constitution. In short, it doesn’t exist, so it is not, and cannot be, considered as punishment. We may as well say we’re going to tar-and-feather him. Sure; it’s an idea, but what does it accomplish? What does it prove? Nothing. It’s utterly meaningless. Frankly, the same goes for the recent calls to “decertify” election results in the various States. I understand what they’re saying, and what they want, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Constitution does not permit is. True; it doesn’t SAY that we can’t. But much more importantly, it does not MEAN that we can. We cannot simply do something, because we want to. Our government would have no credibility whatsoever if we just knee-jerked our way to governance. There are certain things, and certain procedures, which are just so critically important, they must be handled with extreme care and precision. But I digress.

Back to impeachment. If a President is, in fact, impeached by the House, the document bearing that fact must be transferred by the House to the Senate. The Constitution is silent on exactly how that happens, or when, or by whom. It merely says that it will occur. During Trump’s first impeachment, many Republicans – and not a few Democrats – were in a tizzy over the fact that Speaker Pelosi hadn’t yet delivered to document to the Senate, in what they felt was a timely manner. But the fact remains, there is no set procedure for precisely how this is done. Pelosi could have decided to send it, strapped to the back of a turtle, had she wished, and it would have been permissible. Please note, once more, that this is entirely different from “decertification.” How something can happen, and whether it can happen at all, are two completely different things. The fact of the matter is that Trump WAS impeached, IS impeached, and he REMAINS impeached, forever. In point of fact, he was impeached twice. Whether that second impeachment happened a week before, a day before, or even minutes before his term of office expired, it is a fact, Case closed. Only the House may impeach. And only the Senate may remove. The Constitution makes both of these facts abundantly clear. Trump likes to call impeachments “hoaxes,” but that’s nonsense. They are not hoaxes; they occurred, and are real.

In closing, impeachment is not a game, nor a stunt. It’s not “payback,” nor political one-upsmanship. It’s not to be weaponized, nor used as a means to “even the score,” as it were. We cannot credibly say, “we have to impeach Biden, because the Democrats impeached Trump.” It’s far too serious a step to trivialize it that way. Second only to a Resolution to declare war, impeachment is the most consequential, decisive vote a House member might ever take. If we play games with it, as we appear on the verge of doing, we are finished as a nation. We would be a failed state; a failed experiment. We will have failed.

Personally, I believe we’re better than that, because we are. We have been, and we must remain so. We simply cannot allow that to happen.

Like it or not, Trump is impeached. He’ll always be impeached. He doesn’t like it, but that’s just too damned bad. It’s a fact.