Trump was impeached this morning. The commentariat observed that the bar for impeachment was becoming lower.
True. But this is where the value of democracy lies: Accountability. It is irrelevant if the bar is lowered or not, or if a President is impeached for whatever reason or how frequently. The point is that political leaders must be accountable. Whenever. Wherever. US democracy has the strength to do enforce this. If impeachment is the result, so be it.
The US impeachment debate and process widely televised as never before has served as a useful ‘learning’ tool for harnessed peoples across the world: Yes, there can be alternatives to tin-pot dictators and suited and booted authoritarian leaders.
Postscript: Of course, as expected, the US Senate has acquitted Trump. But that takes away nothing from the fact that the whole, globally televised US impeachment saga has provided a telling political lesson to subjugated peoples elsewhere that even the most revered institution can be subject to legal accountability.
