Jerold Nadler- 1988 and 2019

Honorable Jerold Nadler,
Chair, Judiciary Committee
U.S. House of Representatives

Jerry,

Hi, Buddy.

I'm sure you remember me! You've only had similar long chats with some hundred thousand people since the one I remember at your old office on Broadway opposite the Papaya King (two dogs with sauerkraut and a drink for a buck and a half.)   This was towards the end of your delaying Trump's Riverside development, so you told me how he had once pressured you to ease up with your objections, or he would fund someone to primary your seat in Albany. You didn't seem too scared then, as he doesn't scare you now. 

You remember when I ran against Scott for the Assembly, mostly as a lark, but it turned out to be an enriching experience.  Personally, getting most of those 500 signatures myself meant meeting people, from the celebrities along Central Park West, to one man I remember sitting alone on a bench by the river.  After we talked a bit, he thanked me with the words, "you can't know this, but I sit on this bench all the time, and don't talk to people hardly at all."

Few people can actually, on their own, change the course of history in ways that don't involve atrocities.  In the next few days, you have this capacity.  I write this with the hope that you can take a step back from the technical aspect of the crafting the articles of impeachment to visualize this moment from an historian's eye many decades in the future,  

Nancy took personal umbrage at the reporter who said that she "hated" Trump, sharing her daily prayers for him.  Yet, for reasons political or personal, hatred has become the medium of our current political culture. As such, victories will only be transitory, as they will prod the loser to exact revenge. World Wars eventually do end with one side vanquished and the other prostrated -- accepting dictated terms of submission.  But most conflicts only go into hiatus, to re-emerge in different forms, as our never really ended Civil War. 

Benjamin Franklin's words that you quoted in 1998 still apply, "impeachment is a substitute for assassination."  One difference is that murder results in transfer of his mission to others who are enraged to the point of seeking revenge.  Impeachment does not end a life, in fact it preserves the nucleus of an eponymous movement.  Impeachment or assassination, ruminating on their commonality and difference is a useful exercise right now, at this moment, while it is still possible to avoid either..

There is a proclamation on this subject, one made on the floor of Congress as the opening statement of one of the two political parties.  Of course you are familiar with it, as they were spoken by you.

There must never be a narrowly voted impeachment or an impeachment substantially supported by one of our major political parties and largely opposed by the other. Such an impeachment would lack legitimacy, would produce divisiveness and bitterness in our politics for years to come. And will call into question the very legitimacy of our political institutions.  

Far from being tentative, or subject to debate, it was a proclamation that was to be eternal, never to be varied.  Its clear desideratum of what should preclude impeachment does not lend itself to interpretation.  If anything, the term "substantially" means that the circumstances of "complete party support" would make the admonition even more absolute.

Few people have the opportunity to individually change the course of history.  By definition, such an action is a breach of what is expected, so much so that usually the actor's contemplation never takes shape to be considered as an alternate course of action.  We form associations, networks of trust based on common goals.  We have political parties and religious identities, sharing not only who we love, but who are our common enemies.

The person who articulated those words -- profound and true two decades ago, is of course the same person who is now working on the details of what will be an abrogation of these words of wisdom.  While it may seem that the die is cast, that there is no other option, I suggest that the choice is one that should be considered.  It will mean whether you dare define yourself as a statesman or remain a politician - an honorable profession.   Your 1998 statement transcended partisanship in the service of preserving the creation of our founding principles as sacrosanct.

Donald J. Trump is a flawed human being, which is a universal with infinite variations.  It is conceivable that our partisan conflagration, rising by the minute towards catastrophe, could, because of such hatred, be transformed to approach the very ideal of a nation that you so clearly articulated two decades ago.

The process of impeachment would be suspended, and replaced by respect for the office that transcends the individual occupant.  This would take considerably more courage than presenting articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate.  You have to be ready to risk your political career, be seen as a betrayer of your party, in the service of preserving our nation.  This was the message that you so clearly articulated in 1998, that is just as valid on this day.