It’s official: Donald Trump is the 3rd U.S. President to be impeached by the House. The other two, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, were acquitted by the Senate. A fourth, Richard Nixon, facing imminent impeachment, resigned.

Unlike today, some Republican Congressmen mustered enough courage to buck their party and support Nixon’s impeachment. Contrast that with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announcing he’s already decided Trump should – and will – be acquitted. So much for the tradition of trial by IMPARTIAL jury.

Insiders say Trump, Clinton hater to the bitter end, is angered by his name alongside Clinton’s. He’s also angry his legacy is tarnished by impeachment. With his gigantic ego, he hoped to be remembered as a great president. Fat chance.

Likewise, Trump promoted himself for the Nobel Peace Prize for courting Chairman Kim of North Korea (saying, curiously, they “fell in love”). Trump romanced him while Kim’s saber-rattling was at all-time highs and met him repeatedly – getting little in return. North Korea continues developing nuclear weapons; and Kim promised a “gift” for America, likely renewed testing of missiles capable of reaching the U.S.

With smoke and mirrors employed by both sides in this bitter impeachment debate, deciding who to believe is difficult. But one thing is clear: if Barack Obama’s actions had remotely resembled Trump’s (including coddling dictator Kim), Republicans now defending Trump would have SCREAMED for Obama’s impeachment.

What if Obama had:

• Invited foreign countries (Russia, China, Ukraine) to interfere in our elections?
Republicans: “IMPEACH!”
In the 2016 campaign, Trump encouraged Russia to “find Hillary Clinton’s emails”. When his call with the Ukrainian president surfaced, leading to impeachment hearings, Trump encouraged China to investigate political rival Joe Biden.

• Accepted denials of another brutal dictator, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, claiming his country never interfered in our election, contradicting U.S. intelligence evidence that Russia indeed interfered?
“IMPEACH!”

• Ordered staff to impede a lawful Congressional investigation, refusing to provide documentation or testimony?
“IMPEACH!”
The 2nd Article of Impeachment is for obstructing Congress. Regardless of opinions about Trump’s misdeeds, the House is empowered by the Constitution to begin impeachment proceedings. Late Republican President Gerald Ford defined “high crimes and misdemeanors” (the standard for impeachable offenses) as “whatever a majority of the House of Representatives decides it is at any given moment”.

• Abruptly withdrawn U.S. troops from Syria, allowing Turkey to slaughter our former ISIS-fighting allies, the Kurds?
“IMPEACH!”

• Paid hush-money to alleged (multiple) mistresses to cover up affairs with them?
“IMPEACH!”
The Republican House impeached Democrat Clinton for having ONE illicit affair and lying about it.

• Told over 15,000 documented lies and falsehoods after becoming president, as Trump has?
“IMPEACH!”
Sanctimonious Republicans claimed they impeached Clinton for lying about his affair, not the affair itself.

This whole sorry episode reveals why Americans hate politicians:

• Many are more loyal to their party than to our Constitution.

• Many reverse their positions when the political pendulum swings in a different direction.
As the old saying goes, “it depends on whose ox is being gored” (any comparison of Trump to an ox is purely unintentional).

• Many have the spine of jellyfish, unwilling to stand firmly for “truth, justice, and the American way”.
Sadly, some politicians, such as Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), were also in office during Clinton’s impeachment – and took OPPOSITE positions from today’s.

In the next election, maybe the worst of them should suffer the fate, delivered by voters, of Trump’s famous TV reality-show line:
“You’re fired!”