![['Did You Know That with Alan Walter']](https://saltwire.imgix.net/did-you-know-that-with-alan-walter-3009037.jpg?cs=srgb&fit=crop&h=568&w=847&dpr=1&auto=compress%2Cenhance%2Cformat)
The popular Ireland-based gambling website “Paddy Power” thinks it's highly unlikely Trump will last his first term in office without being impeached. The odds are currently 4-7 that the president will be impeached before Inauguration Day 2021. Meaning, you bet seven to make four plus the seven you bet.
To put it another way, odds makers at Paddy Power think it's nearly twice as likely Trump will be impeached as it is likely that he will serve out his four years in office.
We have U.S. mid-term election coming up in November. As things stand, just 24 of the current 240 Republican House seats would need to switch to join the 194 Democrats to form a simple majority to impeach President Trump. And the way events are playing out with the Mueller inquiry and their impact on the mid-terms, this is a very likely outcome.
The “impeachment” of a president or other high official of government means that a statement of charges has been levelled against the individual by the House of Representatives, as the first step towards possible removal from office.
Following impeachment, it is then the Senate’s turn to “try” the accused. I very much doubt that Trump would subject himself to the shame and rigors of such a public trial; so just like the impeached Richard Nixon he would likely choose to resign and move on. On the other hand, he could be accused of criminal activities involving Russia, in which case the case would be prosecuted in the courts of law.
Trump’s short time in power has so far been a rollercoaster of crises and policy disasters that many Americans will be happy to see come to an end.
However, by his conduct Trump has exposed the dark underbelly of American society, which makes us question how great a country it has been in its history to-date, let alone whether it can recover some of its supposed past glory.
Trump’s term in office has exposed for all to see a system of values held by so many Americans, that is so regressive that turning the ship of state around for the better will take at least a full generation to achieve.
The impossible U.S. health care situation comes first to mind as definitely not “great” and not something to be proud of. It is justified by the belief that Americans are responsible for their own health care whether rich or poor….and while so many of them begrudgingly object to a universal system such as we have, we unquestioningly contribute through our taxes for the benefit of society as a whole.
On another topic…. is it so “great” to be ranked as one of the most violent countries in the world?
Even though it has half the total population of a selection of 22 other high-income nations in a recent survey, the United States accounted for 82 percent of all gun deaths last year. In the same survey the United States also accounted for 90 percent of all women killed by guns, and ninety-one percent of children under 14 who died by gun violence.
Aside from the weak performance of the reporting media during the campaign, the poor level of education in the U.S was likely a contributing factor to Trump’s election. The latest OECD study on schooling shows the U.S., while the wealthiest nation in the world, sits at 28th in the world rankings compared to Canada in 10th place. Not so “great” eh!
Didn’t Trump proudly proclaim “I love the poorly educated” during his campaign, and with good reason?
And is it a “great” country where a majority of the population profess to be devout believers and yet show scant respect for Christian values when it comes to the treatment of visible minorities, and those who were dealt a poor hand in their lives?
The country seems to have taken a pass on the Eight Beatitudes delivered by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount – you remember from Sunday school - Blessed are the pure of heart; Blessed are the meek; Blessed are the peacemakers; Blessed are the merciful, etc. They seem a little out of place in Trump’s America.
Alan Walter is a retired professional engineer living in Oxford. He was born in Wales and
worked in Halifax. He spends much of his time in Oxford, where he operates a small farm. He can be reached at [email protected].
