Mike, I think you've pierced to the heart of it. Everything else has faded or failed (or crashed) in the rearview mirror of recent history, and it's time to make one more legal, Constitutional attempt to rid ourselves of this blight. Then we can say we did all we could, and pursue the final recourse. In preparation for that, here's my Substack on the matter (partially inspired by Notes from the Circus):
I sent your article on impeachment to my Congressional Representatives along with my comments today. If we get something going in DC quickly I'll move hell and earth to be there.
One more thought: until the Republican Congress gets burned by their constituencies, they’ll tow the line. But I’ll carry an “Impeach them all” sign at the next protest.
I didn’t post that - it’s not intended…but, I have been out in the streets for many years holding forth against the right’s folly and madness and will surely stand up for the March 28 no kings 3, since visible protest serves important purposes (and makes me feel good). Yet I’m ready to up the ante. Practicing non compliance and demanding impeachment is the right direction. We need leadership. As much as I am sickened by a self dealing Congress, I am likewise sickened by the complacent among us who may talk the talk, but who, with a long sigh, sit back and let someone else do the hard work.
Would we have told MLK to stop marching for civil rights because there didn't appear to be enough votes in Congress to pass legislation? Or do you keep making good trouble until enough minds change to deliver those votes? The patriots in this country must overcome their learned helplessness.
I did not say that at this time Americans should stop marching or demonstrating against the current administration's depraved actions, nor otherwise give up. I said that a very specific action that you advocate, impeachment, is unwise at this time. Disagreement with your advice does not signal learned helplessness.
"We are not weak. We are not poor. We are not outnumbered in any strategically meaningful sense. We do not have to tolerate destructive, malicious, murderous, kleptocratic regimes expanding through intimidation and calibrated aggression. It is in our direct interest and in the broader interest of humanity to stop doing so."
"Instead, we have allowed transnational norms of statecraft to take root in which the leadership of the most powerful and promising civilization in human history, the 21st century West, is best portrayed as a reactive crowd of sheepish or boorish clowns rather than the principled, resolute and astute leaders we deserve."
I've enjoyed, and learned from, your posts for quite a while. And I appreciate what you are trying to do. Most of the time. And I agree that impeachment is the best route forward. But when you say "If you feel this is not the right approach, then my charge to you is that you are historically ignorant, cowardly, and not fit for the historical moment.", I can only say, fuck you, you self-righteous prick. I lived through another self-righteous-prick time, in the late 60s and early 70's, and those people were not productive then, and you adopting this holier-than-thou attitude now is also not productive. We are all better off encouraging engagement, each person in their own way, than having a gaggle of micro-dictators telling us it's their way or the highway. I hope you are a big enough intellect to consider this a constructive criticism.
It will take a Republican Congress to impeach itself. I don't see that happening. If protesters came to DCin large numbers and protested on the steps of the capital the Republican Congress and the President would call in law enforcement and people would die. Is your point that protesters need to start dying for our country? Certainly soldiers die for our country - just this past week. But soldiers are equipped for battle. Protestors will never win a battle with the US military on the other side. They simply don't have the necessary weapons. I don't see a good ending. Flesh that out for us.
Well, perhaps a few million Americans who actually give a shit about the Constitution should march on Washington and suggest they change their minds about these matters. Perhaps we should remind them who they work for. Perhaps we should remind them that they represenatives of the people. And the people really do not like Congress right now.
So Mike, will YOU be one of a “few million Americans, who actually give a shit about the Constitution, marching on Washington?” Or is that exhortation for “other Americans”-just not for you? I think that is a valid question, to which your readers, like me, deserve an answer.
I think impeachment needs to become a midterm election issue. In the front lines and we hold any and all running in the midterms accountable. We make it the no. 1 issue and they cannot back away from it. If you live in a red state even more pressure on republicans. They need to really be held close to the fire. The House could easily impeach in 01/27. We only need about ten Republicans in the senate depending on how the senate election turns out. There has to be a full force of constituents in red states holding them accountable.
Needless to say, not easy to do. The narrative has to change. People in blue cities in red states need to push push push.
Oh, if I could only transmit a hug to you via cyberspace. Mike, we've had some occasional areas of disagreement, but 90% of the time, our neuronal pathways run parallel to each other. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with a highly educated gentleman trying to convince him of exactly those words that you said in the second paragraph of your commentary.
"there really is only one protest you should be organizing right now. It should be directed at Congress, and the demand should be: impeachment now. We insist."
Mike, the real question is, or rather lies in, whether the Republican Congress is recalcitrant and will dispose of their oath of allegiance to Donald Trump and supplicants, and step on to moral ground. I don't know. I propose that the least we can do, and I emphasize, "least," Is to call senators and congressmen every day. Links to the telephone numbers are below.
Call those members of Congress, not only in your state, but in every state, and let them know precisely how you feel about the absolute necessity that they adhere to their oath of office and their loyalty to the Constitution and not to the unprincipled and lawlessness of an off-the-rail president.
Also, Mike, I wish to acknowledge your commentary today in terms of its succinctness and not requiring the attention span for 30 to 45 minutes of so many other commentaries. I say this constructively in light of the epidemic of a form of attention deficit disorder where reading commentaries or editorials for more than 15 to 30 minutes is beyond the capacity of most Americans today. I hear the excuse of, oh, I'm so busy, but I don't see most of my friends, neighbors, family as being productive in what they do from day to day. They are just cognitively lazy or lack discipline to read a book or even a chapter of a book in its fullness.
So thank you in this incredibly fucked up country for being the voice of reason and hearing clearly what is going on, what is at stake, and what must be done. For a moment today, I was beginning to believe that I was the only person left on this planet that could see that the King not only has no clothes, but that he's carrying a military assault weapon.
Good points, but I must say as an individual who is easily distracted, I enjoy Mike’s long essays. I find them interesting and challenging and yet I rarely have difficulty staying with him through the whole essay. Ok, yes, there are a few exceptions where he lost me after a few paragraphs but that is rare. Some Substack writers are repetitive and don’t say much that is actually new. I can probably read them in my sleep with their long-winded roads to “been there and done that.” They lack the ability to challenge me in my thinking so kudos to Mike for writing with substance and grace.
If I didn't think Mike's writing was worth my time, as a professional, as a scientist, as a family member, I wouldn't spend time reading his comments or replying with my own comments. But I don't entirely agree with what you said. I think that Mike at times is repetitive. I believe that there's too much weight using philosophical jargon that I understand is used by others that love using such words. My brother-in-law is a professor of political science and I have the same remark about him. But suppose that, in talking to you, I had that same love of medical jargon, and I asked you whether you have paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. Would you rather me say, "Are you waking up at night short of breath," or would you prefer to spend your time going back to the dictionary on your computer and looking up what PND stands for? Not a big complaint, but for me, sometimes it comes across as being pedantic. If I found it intolerable or excessive to the point of being painful, I would stop reading Mike's commentaries, and obviously I have not. And it is a rare day that I start off my commentary by saying, "I could hug you right now," as I did in today's reply.
But that is Mike's love, and that's okay. I read what I can handle, make my comment, and go on with the rest of my day.
So Mike, I loved your concise to-the-point commentary today, and I will continue to be a subscriber. I will always relate to you my honest feelings, which may not be shared by others.
Mike, I also sent your article on Impeachment to our elected representatives in Congress with the Subject Line: "Honor your Oath of Office and Impeach Trump and His Cabinet Now!" I posted your article to my husband's Facebook Page and stacked it to my substack page.
My bottom line and constant attempt since 2016 has been honoring our oath as citizens to support and defend our Constitution and the promise we made to secure the Blessings of Liberty for our posterity.
I fit the bill on every single line of what you said with the following caveats.
⫸ My hearing has been ruined by my service to this country in the military and the lack of decent technology for hearing aids.
⫸ My heart remains strong despite being partially destroyed by well-meaning but ignorant fellow colleagues who treated me for malignancy but caused more side effects than benefits.
⫸ My mind is the most intact and sharpest it's ever been. I just wish my body could follow. My son and I wrote a book entitled "What We Must Do for a Democracy to Survive in 2020," listing 21 key issues that could have been addressed by the media and by our politicians, but it never got to the right people, for they weren't listening. See http://tinyurl.com/2j4b3acd for all formats of this book. Next week I'll be starting an updated second edition of this book.
⫸ I am not a defeatist, but I am cynical about what today's America is all about insofar as work ethic. There is so much that we could be doing that is incredible. There are inroads to solving the energy crisis. There are ways, as a consequence, to change the biosphere. There is methodology being developed to improve the quality of life and the duration of life. There are tools to teach others how to evolve to a truly civilized society, and yet so much of this remains pushed to the back of the shelf in the proverbial lockbox of Al Gore.
If the people are in a begging posture, it seems to me that they're not listening, or their hearing, with or without hearing aids, is impaired.
We cannot go after every single fire that Trump and his fellow corruptors have started. That is just crazy making and energy depleting. We have to do what Mike has hit on in today's commentary and go after our presently deviant Republican Congress and convince them to start acting with a core of ethics and a loyalty to the Constitution, not by a destroyer of democracy. So for all those starving citizens who you say are begging, there are keys on the table. So look and act and use those keys.
First: You Sir, owe me no defense. I appreciate your personal exposition. It’s moving. You remain the only taker. Passion outside of one’s expertise is often, yet not always (of course), lacking in the Academic Class. That, and a tendency to only move among their Herd while Appealing to those in the Higher Stratum and positioning themselves as Charitable at a Distance to the Lower. Mingling is unacceptable otherwise. I am of the Lower. Looking up at those Looking Down if Looking at All is distressing to say the Least. Failing in the USA is burdensome and relentlessly insecure. It Weighs & Weighs through the years turned decades. And we Feed Off each other Down Here. It’s Vampiric.
If you don’t hear the Begging then it’s either for your lack of same or me hearing an echo in my own head.
I am Incredulous along with you, that for all our Intelligence and Advancements and Institutions of all Stripes and so on and so on, how it is we are facing Catastrophic consequences in All the Things we touch upon as Humans? We are a Very Scary animal. Too Smart for our own good. Too Dumb to get out of it. All of it Driven by selfish Endeavor and lack of Empathy and Respect and Foresight.
As for Al Gore. Fuck Al Gore. He is Full of Disdain. A Snob to the nth degree. And even worse, A Bore. I can hear the sound of his Voice in my Head now & wonder, “How is that?”.
Good Night or Good Day to you Dr.
Hope I didn’t Bore you. As for the Keys: Where the Hell are the Locks?!
Thank you Mike. I completely agree; a mass impeachment is what is needed at this time.
Mike, I think you've pierced to the heart of it. Everything else has faded or failed (or crashed) in the rearview mirror of recent history, and it's time to make one more legal, Constitutional attempt to rid ourselves of this blight. Then we can say we did all we could, and pursue the final recourse. In preparation for that, here's my Substack on the matter (partially inspired by Notes from the Circus):
https://chrisk139473.substack.com/p/the-final-three-lessons?r=4ptn5x&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I sent your article on impeachment to my Congressional Representatives along with my comments today. If we get something going in DC quickly I'll move hell and earth to be there.
One more thought: until the Republican Congress gets burned by their constituencies, they’ll tow the line. But I’ll carry an “Impeach them all” sign at the next protest.
I didn’t post that - it’s not intended…but, I have been out in the streets for many years holding forth against the right’s folly and madness and will surely stand up for the March 28 no kings 3, since visible protest serves important purposes (and makes me feel good). Yet I’m ready to up the ante. Practicing non compliance and demanding impeachment is the right direction. We need leadership. As much as I am sickened by a self dealing Congress, I am likewise sickened by the complacent among us who may talk the talk, but who, with a long sigh, sit back and let someone else do the hard work.
An impeachment vote would fail in the House of Representatives. This would be celebrated as a win for Trump. Not now, Mike.
I say we change their minds so that they vote differently.
Fair enough; but I meanr "now." Maybe things will turn ugly enough for a few Rs to vote for impeachment.
Would we have told MLK to stop marching for civil rights because there didn't appear to be enough votes in Congress to pass legislation? Or do you keep making good trouble until enough minds change to deliver those votes? The patriots in this country must overcome their learned helplessness.
I did not say that at this time Americans should stop marching or demonstrating against the current administration's depraved actions, nor otherwise give up. I said that a very specific action that you advocate, impeachment, is unwise at this time. Disagreement with your advice does not signal learned helplessness.
On a related note:
"We are not weak. We are not poor. We are not outnumbered in any strategically meaningful sense. We do not have to tolerate destructive, malicious, murderous, kleptocratic regimes expanding through intimidation and calibrated aggression. It is in our direct interest and in the broader interest of humanity to stop doing so."
"Instead, we have allowed transnational norms of statecraft to take root in which the leadership of the most powerful and promising civilization in human history, the 21st century West, is best portrayed as a reactive crowd of sheepish or boorish clowns rather than the principled, resolute and astute leaders we deserve."
https://dichebach.substack.com/p/autocratic-escalation-democratic
Awesome!!
I've enjoyed, and learned from, your posts for quite a while. And I appreciate what you are trying to do. Most of the time. And I agree that impeachment is the best route forward. But when you say "If you feel this is not the right approach, then my charge to you is that you are historically ignorant, cowardly, and not fit for the historical moment.", I can only say, fuck you, you self-righteous prick. I lived through another self-righteous-prick time, in the late 60s and early 70's, and those people were not productive then, and you adopting this holier-than-thou attitude now is also not productive. We are all better off encouraging engagement, each person in their own way, than having a gaggle of micro-dictators telling us it's their way or the highway. I hope you are a big enough intellect to consider this a constructive criticism.
I commit myself to the judgment of my posterity. But not to you, good sir.
No
Mike, will you be out there in the streets with us?
Yes
Awesome, Mike!!
It will take a Republican Congress to impeach itself. I don't see that happening. If protesters came to DCin large numbers and protested on the steps of the capital the Republican Congress and the President would call in law enforcement and people would die. Is your point that protesters need to start dying for our country? Certainly soldiers die for our country - just this past week. But soldiers are equipped for battle. Protestors will never win a battle with the US military on the other side. They simply don't have the necessary weapons. I don't see a good ending. Flesh that out for us.
Well, perhaps a few million Americans who actually give a shit about the Constitution should march on Washington and suggest they change their minds about these matters. Perhaps we should remind them who they work for. Perhaps we should remind them that they represenatives of the people. And the people really do not like Congress right now.
Will you be marching with us?
Mike, will you be marching with us?
So Mike, will YOU be one of a “few million Americans, who actually give a shit about the Constitution, marching on Washington?” Or is that exhortation for “other Americans”-just not for you? I think that is a valid question, to which your readers, like me, deserve an answer.
I am thinking a tax revolt.
I've been calling for a tax revolt for some time. We should all fill out our W-4 forms so the federal government gets nothing.
I think impeachment needs to become a midterm election issue. In the front lines and we hold any and all running in the midterms accountable. We make it the no. 1 issue and they cannot back away from it. If you live in a red state even more pressure on republicans. They need to really be held close to the fire. The House could easily impeach in 01/27. We only need about ten Republicans in the senate depending on how the senate election turns out. There has to be a full force of constituents in red states holding them accountable.
Needless to say, not easy to do. The narrative has to change. People in blue cities in red states need to push push push.
Oh, if I could only transmit a hug to you via cyberspace. Mike, we've had some occasional areas of disagreement, but 90% of the time, our neuronal pathways run parallel to each other. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with a highly educated gentleman trying to convince him of exactly those words that you said in the second paragraph of your commentary.
"there really is only one protest you should be organizing right now. It should be directed at Congress, and the demand should be: impeachment now. We insist."
Mike, the real question is, or rather lies in, whether the Republican Congress is recalcitrant and will dispose of their oath of allegiance to Donald Trump and supplicants, and step on to moral ground. I don't know. I propose that the least we can do, and I emphasize, "least," Is to call senators and congressmen every day. Links to the telephone numbers are below.
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Congressmen and Senators- links to Washington, DC, telephone numbers.
https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Call those members of Congress, not only in your state, but in every state, and let them know precisely how you feel about the absolute necessity that they adhere to their oath of office and their loyalty to the Constitution and not to the unprincipled and lawlessness of an off-the-rail president.
Also, Mike, I wish to acknowledge your commentary today in terms of its succinctness and not requiring the attention span for 30 to 45 minutes of so many other commentaries. I say this constructively in light of the epidemic of a form of attention deficit disorder where reading commentaries or editorials for more than 15 to 30 minutes is beyond the capacity of most Americans today. I hear the excuse of, oh, I'm so busy, but I don't see most of my friends, neighbors, family as being productive in what they do from day to day. They are just cognitively lazy or lack discipline to read a book or even a chapter of a book in its fullness.
So thank you in this incredibly fucked up country for being the voice of reason and hearing clearly what is going on, what is at stake, and what must be done. For a moment today, I was beginning to believe that I was the only person left on this planet that could see that the King not only has no clothes, but that he's carrying a military assault weapon.
Good points, but I must say as an individual who is easily distracted, I enjoy Mike’s long essays. I find them interesting and challenging and yet I rarely have difficulty staying with him through the whole essay. Ok, yes, there are a few exceptions where he lost me after a few paragraphs but that is rare. Some Substack writers are repetitive and don’t say much that is actually new. I can probably read them in my sleep with their long-winded roads to “been there and done that.” They lack the ability to challenge me in my thinking so kudos to Mike for writing with substance and grace.
Please hear the entirety of what I said.
If I didn't think Mike's writing was worth my time, as a professional, as a scientist, as a family member, I wouldn't spend time reading his comments or replying with my own comments. But I don't entirely agree with what you said. I think that Mike at times is repetitive. I believe that there's too much weight using philosophical jargon that I understand is used by others that love using such words. My brother-in-law is a professor of political science and I have the same remark about him. But suppose that, in talking to you, I had that same love of medical jargon, and I asked you whether you have paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. Would you rather me say, "Are you waking up at night short of breath," or would you prefer to spend your time going back to the dictionary on your computer and looking up what PND stands for? Not a big complaint, but for me, sometimes it comes across as being pedantic. If I found it intolerable or excessive to the point of being painful, I would stop reading Mike's commentaries, and obviously I have not. And it is a rare day that I start off my commentary by saying, "I could hug you right now," as I did in today's reply.
But that is Mike's love, and that's okay. I read what I can handle, make my comment, and go on with the rest of my day.
So Mike, I loved your concise to-the-point commentary today, and I will continue to be a subscriber. I will always relate to you my honest feelings, which may not be shared by others.
Mike, I also sent your article on Impeachment to our elected representatives in Congress with the Subject Line: "Honor your Oath of Office and Impeach Trump and His Cabinet Now!" I posted your article to my husband's Facebook Page and stacked it to my substack page.
Here is a link to something I wrote in September 2025 titled "Time to Stand Up," in case it is of interest: https://susansommer.substack.com/p/time-to-stand-up?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
My bottom line and constant attempt since 2016 has been honoring our oath as citizens to support and defend our Constitution and the promise we made to secure the Blessings of Liberty for our posterity.
Nothing else matters.
Is there any of the Well Versed among the Academic Class out there with:
Ears that Hear the Back Beat and not just Chorus?
Eyes that See like a Seer?
Mouths that Speak like a Revolutionary?
Hands held high that Dare form Proud Fists?
Hearts that Beat in Unison with all Life on Earth?
Minds to Envision a Future worth Sustaining?
I Think Not.
PROVE ME WRONG.
The People are in a Begging Posture.
I fit the bill on every single line of what you said with the following caveats.
⫸ My hearing has been ruined by my service to this country in the military and the lack of decent technology for hearing aids.
⫸ My heart remains strong despite being partially destroyed by well-meaning but ignorant fellow colleagues who treated me for malignancy but caused more side effects than benefits.
⫸ My mind is the most intact and sharpest it's ever been. I just wish my body could follow. My son and I wrote a book entitled "What We Must Do for a Democracy to Survive in 2020," listing 21 key issues that could have been addressed by the media and by our politicians, but it never got to the right people, for they weren't listening. See http://tinyurl.com/2j4b3acd for all formats of this book. Next week I'll be starting an updated second edition of this book.
⫸ I am not a defeatist, but I am cynical about what today's America is all about insofar as work ethic. There is so much that we could be doing that is incredible. There are inroads to solving the energy crisis. There are ways, as a consequence, to change the biosphere. There is methodology being developed to improve the quality of life and the duration of life. There are tools to teach others how to evolve to a truly civilized society, and yet so much of this remains pushed to the back of the shelf in the proverbial lockbox of Al Gore.
If the people are in a begging posture, it seems to me that they're not listening, or their hearing, with or without hearing aids, is impaired.
We cannot go after every single fire that Trump and his fellow corruptors have started. That is just crazy making and energy depleting. We have to do what Mike has hit on in today's commentary and go after our presently deviant Republican Congress and convince them to start acting with a core of ethics and a loyalty to the Constitution, not by a destroyer of democracy. So for all those starving citizens who you say are begging, there are keys on the table. So look and act and use those keys.
First: You Sir, owe me no defense. I appreciate your personal exposition. It’s moving. You remain the only taker. Passion outside of one’s expertise is often, yet not always (of course), lacking in the Academic Class. That, and a tendency to only move among their Herd while Appealing to those in the Higher Stratum and positioning themselves as Charitable at a Distance to the Lower. Mingling is unacceptable otherwise. I am of the Lower. Looking up at those Looking Down if Looking at All is distressing to say the Least. Failing in the USA is burdensome and relentlessly insecure. It Weighs & Weighs through the years turned decades. And we Feed Off each other Down Here. It’s Vampiric.
If you don’t hear the Begging then it’s either for your lack of same or me hearing an echo in my own head.
I am Incredulous along with you, that for all our Intelligence and Advancements and Institutions of all Stripes and so on and so on, how it is we are facing Catastrophic consequences in All the Things we touch upon as Humans? We are a Very Scary animal. Too Smart for our own good. Too Dumb to get out of it. All of it Driven by selfish Endeavor and lack of Empathy and Respect and Foresight.
As for Al Gore. Fuck Al Gore. He is Full of Disdain. A Snob to the nth degree. And even worse, A Bore. I can hear the sound of his Voice in my Head now & wonder, “How is that?”.
Good Night or Good Day to you Dr.
Hope I didn’t Bore you. As for the Keys: Where the Hell are the Locks?!