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A Secret Senate Impeachment Vote Would Be Outrageous
The Washington Examiner ^ | 11/12/19 | Tom Rogan

Posted on 11/12/2019 2:11:28 PM PST by Enlightened1

A president's removal from office is one of the most solemn responsibilities afforded to Congress. It cuts to the heart of the relationship between the citizenry and their representatives, the act of voting, and the principle that no person is above the law.

Those principles inform why I deeply disagree with former GOP adviser Juleanna Glover's argument on Tuesday that the Senate should introduce a rule change to allow senators to cast secret impeachment votes. Writing for Politico, Glover asks, "What if senators could vote on impeachment by secret ballot? If they didn’t have to face backlash from constituents or the media or the president himself, who knows how many Republican senators would vote to remove?"

Glover suggests this rule change would be justified in that trial jurors often vote in private.

It's a silly argument with a silly excuse.

First off, the difference between trial jurors and senators is that the latter are voting out of free choice. If senators don't want their votes recorded and their records scrutinized, they have no business serving in the Senate.

That speaks to the broader moral point here: the accountability of politicians to those who gave them their power. On an issue as controversial and consequential as impeachment, accountability and visibility are more crucial than ever.

To allow senators to cast impeachment votes and then to deny voters the right to know those votes would be profoundly un-American.

It is something that belongs in the Chinese Politburo, not the world's greatest democratic chamber. And if the principle is set here, why not extend it to other controversial votes? Those on matters of war and peace, for example? Once we go down this road, we quickly end up...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: impeachmentvote; secret; senate
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1 posted on 11/12/2019 2:11:28 PM PST by Enlightened1
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To: Enlightened1

Sounds like the cowardly Republicans in the Senate are floating this.

They want to hide their vote from you. Rest assure this happens, then they will vote to remove President Trump.

This could trigger a Civil War.


2 posted on 11/12/2019 2:13:01 PM PST by Enlightened1
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To: Enlightened1

A republic, if you can keep it.


3 posted on 11/12/2019 2:13:23 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats only believe in democracy when they win the election.)
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To: Enlightened1

A widespread revolt would be in order. It would be time to storm DC


4 posted on 11/12/2019 2:13:32 PM PST by RatRipper
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To: Enlightened1

For the record if the Republicans in the Senate do this, then I will never vote for a Republican again.


5 posted on 11/12/2019 2:13:46 PM PST by Enlightened1
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To: Enlightened1
This could trigger a Civil War.

Guess again.

6 posted on 11/12/2019 2:14:27 PM PST by CatOwner
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To: Enlightened1

After the precedent is set, they can hold secret votes on EVERYTHING, that way they can lie to their constituents about how they voted and nobody can prove otherwise.


7 posted on 11/12/2019 2:14:47 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats only believe in democracy when they win the election.)
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To: CatOwner

Roll the dice then...


8 posted on 11/12/2019 2:15:02 PM PST by Enlightened1
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To: Enlightened1

“What if senators could vote on impeachment by secret ballot?”

What if those in power could just completely ignore the Constitution and do whatever they felt like doing? That would simplify things considerably.


9 posted on 11/12/2019 2:15:10 PM PST by rightwingcrazy (;-)
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To: Enlightened1
For the record if the Republicans in the Senate do this, then I will never vote for a Republican again.

Well, at that point there will only be one party, so you won't be tempted to renege on that promise.

10 posted on 11/12/2019 2:15:29 PM PST by CatOwner
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To: Enlightened1
They want to hide their vote from you. Rest assure this happens, then they will vote to remove President Trump.

As someone once said, "Just kill them all and let God sort 'em out."

11 posted on 11/12/2019 2:15:30 PM PST by RatRipper
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To: Enlightened1

Yep! “Chum in the water” from the communist news media...


12 posted on 11/12/2019 2:15:38 PM PST by SuperLuminal (Where is Sam Adams now that we desperately need him)
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To: Enlightened1

If Mitch were to institute this policy change, it would reveal him to be one of the deepest deep state stinks of all time.


13 posted on 11/12/2019 2:16:13 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Pledge: "...and to the Democracy for which it stands..." I give up. Use the democRat meme...)
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To: Travis McGee

Ping.


14 posted on 11/12/2019 2:16:30 PM PST by TADSLOS (You know why you can enjoy a day at the Zoo? Because walls work.)
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To: CatOwner

Eeyore


15 posted on 11/12/2019 2:16:52 PM PST by kiryandil (The Media & the DNC tells you who you're gonna vote for. We CHOSE Trump.)
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To: kiryandil

Prove me wrong. It won’t happen. We’ve had enough happen in the last 3+ decades to warrant one. It’s only the left that is engaging in a civil war, and they are getting their way on nearly everything.


16 posted on 11/12/2019 2:18:55 PM PST by CatOwner
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To: Enlightened1
The Swamp is deep. Swamp creatures are seemingly everywhere and, like cockroaches (emphasis on the first syllable), they abhor the light of freedom, of liberty, of our Constitution and of our beloved Republic.

Where's a drum of Round-Up for Swamp Creatures when you need it?

17 posted on 11/12/2019 2:18:57 PM PST by glennaro
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To: Enlightened1

Ain’t gonna happen.

Remember how terrified the Washington Establishment was of the Tea Party movement?

They ain’t seen nothin yet.

When did I start writing in patois?


18 posted on 11/12/2019 2:19:36 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (BLACK LIVES MAGA)
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To: Enlightened1
This could trigger a Civil War.

Good let's end all of this shit once and for all.

19 posted on 11/12/2019 2:19:50 PM PST by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
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To: Enlightened1

Never happen not in a million years. Even Senators aren’t stupid enough to think this would EVER fly.


20 posted on 11/12/2019 2:20:20 PM PST by traderrob6
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