Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current, November 09, 2017, Page 13, Image 13

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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
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