The case against impeachment

News flash, I'm no fan of President Obama and his policies.  I disagree with his vision for the country and am disgusted by his continual violations of the Constitutional separation of powers.  He has not "faithfully executed the laws of the land" as required by the Constitution and he has enforced the laws in such a way as to bypass the legislative authority of Congress.  In my view his actions are impeachable and, in a sane and rational system, would lead to his conviction and removal from office, if only to send a message that this behavior is unacceptable in our Constitutional Republic. 

So why am I opposed to impeachment?  The reality of Washington politics is that the Democratic controlled Senate will NEVER find this President guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, no matter what evidence the House presents.  EVER.  The Democrats are so politicized at this time that they will ignore and obfuscate the issues.  Just look at the number of pieces of legislation passed  by the House that have never even received a committee hearing in the Senate, followed by accusations that the Republican controlled House is a "do nothing" body.  Meanwhile, the media will lead the news each evening and each day with reports on the impeachment and with plenty of quotes by Democrats about what a waste of taxpayer money and time it is, and how it is distracting us from the "real" issues.  The public gets the message that Republicans are wasting time and money and failing to deal with the problems facing the country and concludes that the impeachment is a political stunt.

Unfortunately until both sides play by the same rules there will not be a successful impeachment of a Democratic President.  There has to be a willingness by both sides to put aside policy differences and recognize that the rule of law should apply to everyone equally.

On a larger point I am concerned that this general acceptance of the idea that we are "a nation of laws, not a nation of men" is being eroded to the point where we may never find that common ground again.  When we look at the illegal immigrants flooding across the southern border and the dismissal of any argument against their lawbreaking by special interest groups, when you look at the justifications that are constantly trotted out to justify illegal behavior, it seems clear to me that this nation is breaking up into interest groups pitted against one another, and that the idea of a common goal under a common set of beliefs is slowly but increasingly disappearing.  I wonder if we can get it back.