On Impeachment and Party Loyalty

            The US needs less loyalty to party. In the 1990s, the House of Representatives, controlled by Republicans, voted to impeach the President. The Senate, controlled by Democrats, did not vote to remove him from office. Everything is clear in hindsight, but a President having an affair and lying about it should be impeached and removed from office. But Democrats were loyal to their party, despite the objections of the other party. I am not a conservative Republican, but I can imagine how in their morality, President Clinton’s actions would have bothered them.

            Now, Democrats are potentially going to impeach a Republican President. And Republicans are being loyal to their party. In the future, there should be an agreement between the political parties that they will impeach if the other party objects.

There are different moral frameworks, and not all moral frameworks agree on what is right or wrong. Even though Democrats didn’t see the big deal with President Clinton’s conduct, it was a big deal to conservative Republicans, and he should have removed him anyway. Acknowledging that there are different moral frameworks still leaves room for objective truth. Democrats are upset about President Trump’s conduct, and Republicans are being loyal to their party.

The problem is obviously party loyalty. Party loyalty blinds people to right and wrong, truth, and other perspectives. The only case of successful impeachment was when a party was going to convict their own leader. That is the kind of moral leadership the country needs. Democracies are ruled by consensus, including impeachment. If one party objects to the leadership in a democracy, then that should be enough to remove the President.