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YOU'RE FIRED! S I G N TH E PETITI O N , CA LL YOU R CO N G R E S S I O NAL R E PS W e’re taking a stand. It’s time to impeach Donald Trump. There are a myriad of reasons to do so: the looming threat of nuclear war with North Korea, the embarrassment of having a “tweeter in chief,” the terrible, amoral example he sets for the children of this nation, the numerous allegations against him of sexual assault and his unwillingness to denounce white supremacists — thus emboldening the worst elements of our country. Let’s not fail to mention Trump’s constant unconstitu- tional behavior due to his failure to extricate himself from business ventures, meaning he is taking money from for- eign powers, thus violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution. This doesn’t look so good after a series of indictments (and a guilty plea!) against Trump campaign affiliates for charges of tax evasion, money laundering and making false statements. So we know why we need to impeach him, but the real question is how? Here’s what you can do. Head over to impeachdonaldtrumpnow.org and sign the petition urging Congress to move toward impeaching Donald Trump. Why impeach? According to the Impeach Trump Now website: “The nation is now witnessing a massive corruption of the presidency, far worse than Watergate.” And the nonprofit’s case for impeachment: “President Trump’s personal and business holdings in the United States and abroad present unprecedented conflicts of interest. Indeed, President Trump has admitted he has conflicts of interest in some cases.” You can also call or send a postcard to your local B Y K E L LY K E N OY E R representative demanding action. And use social media to spread the message: #ImpeachWeek and #YoureFired. Take the #YoureFired challenge with the Impeach Donald Trump Now campaign. Film a five to 45 second video telling Trump “You’re Fired,” then share it on social media and tag five friends to challenge them to the #YoureFired challenge. You can also sign an impeachment petition, spearheaded by environmentalist Tom Steyer, at needtoimpeach.com. As Baynard Woods points out in his column in this issue, this is a matter of mass mobilization. Get out on the frontlines. The nightmare won’t end until we wake up. Eugene Weekly has joined with other alt weeklies across the country to call for Trump’s impeachment. Now it’s your turn. Kelly Kenoyer is an investigative reporter at Eugene Weekly. Follow her on Twitter @KenoyerKelly. LET'S MAKE A DEAL WITH MIKE PENCE A PL A N FO R SUCCE S S I O N ut what about Pence? That’s the question everyone asks when you bring up impeaching President Donald Trump. If Trump were to leave office before the end of his term, Mike Pence would become president — and that would mean a competent ultra-right-winger, possibly also a crook, sitting in the White House in place of the current corrupt fool. Look to recent history for a succession plan. In the final days of Richard Nixon’s administration, people had the same concerns about Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was under investigation for bribery and corruption charges going back years. B BY BOB KEEFER Removing one crook from office — Nixon — meant giving the White House to another crook, conceivably as bad or worse. The whole idea stank. The solution was a plea deal for Agnew and a job offer for Gerald Ford, a moderate, respected Republican without a whiff of corruption. Under the deal, in 1973 Agnew resigned the vice presidency, paid a $10,000 fine and got probation but no jail time on a tax evasion charge. Other charges were dropped. Ten months later Nixon appointed Ford to the vice presidency — with the understanding, some have said, that, as the new president, Ford would pardon Nixon from criminal charges in Watergate, which he did. (Ford denied that such a deal was cut.) The worst of the White House crooks got off without going to jail, but the nation survived one of its worst political crises ever. Could that happen with Pence? On the surface, the vice president seems clean of the cesspool of corruption that surrounds Trump. But he’s already been sucked into parroting the web of lies coming out of the White House. If he made the mistake of repeating any of those lies to the Justice Department’s special counsel Robert Mueller, it may be time to play Let’s Make a Deal. Writer and photographer Bob Keefer is arts editor of Eugene Weekly. On Jan. 21, 2017, he took part in a political demonstration for the first time since Nixon invaded Cambodia in 1970. eugeneweekly.com • November 9, 2017 13
