Let us sit back, just for a moment, and absorb the reality of the revelations of the past few days. For apparently the first time in history, the president of the United States himself was the subject of a counterintelligence investigation. This means that his ties to a hostile power were significant enough to overcome the high bar the FBI would have to clear to investigate any American for possibly being influenced or compromised by another country — much less its own chief executive. We have also learned that the president has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal his discussions with an enemy foreign leader not only from intelligence and foreign policy figures in his own administration, but even from the senior officials of his own Oval Office. It should go without saying that he has tried, in this area as in so many others, to wall himself off from congressional oversight.

This is not simply a public policy or ethical issue — it’s also a rhetorical issue. Trump understands marketing and the ability to repackage his policies and manufacture a crisis in order to win. He believes — and it is possible he may be right — that the prime-time speech and subsequent visit to the southern border could result in a slight shift in public opinion and congressional sentiment on the wall. If that happens, it won’t matter how much he lied or the apparent lack of a valid grounding for his proposed border policy. What will matter is how convincing Trump’s message was. This is a pivotal moment for our country. How sad it is that all of this boils down to winning and losing, rather than the nation’s best interest. 

Impeach Trump already
Throughout history we have had political leaders who could clearly be described as constructive or destructive. Constructive leaders try to bring a nation together, support democracy, promote the common good, and work for peace and justice. Destructive leaders divide the nation, exhibit bigotry and racism, work to enhance the power and wealth of a segment of society, and often exhibit strong nationalistic tendencies.
In my opinion, President Donald Trump is an American version of a destructive leader. His bigotry, lying and nationalism are apparent.