Busy News Day

   It was a busy news day today.
   House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven prosecution managers to handle the Trump impeachment, and the full House voted along party lines to send to the Senate, which was done later in the day.
  The prosecution team will be led by Adam Schiff of California, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Jerrold Nadler of New York, chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
   Separately, more evidence has come out documenting the president's pressure on Ukraine -- through his lawyer Rudy Giuliani -- to intervene in the American election. Meanwhile, Republicans in the Senate are increasingly dissatisfied with the president's strategy on the Iran issue, and the chamber is likely to put limits on his war powers. Whether the president will veto such an act is something to watch for.
   House members are still challenging the Senate to call witnesses in the trial. Nadler said, "Any trial that does not allow witnesses is not a trial, it is a coverup."
   There has also been talk that the Senate will dismiss the allegations even before hearing evidence, prompting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to say, "Dismissal is a coverup."
   The entire process is in large part a reaction to the president's attitude displayed in his comment that "Article II of the Constitution says I can do whatever I want."
   A careful read of that part of the Constitution indicates no such thing. Try it.
   The document starts by specifying that "The executive Power shall be vested in a President ... (who) shall hold his office during the term of four years," and it specifies how the president be elected.
   Next is a list of qualifications for a candidate. That the candidate be a "natural born citizen" (not native born; if one parent is a citizen, the child is a citizen no matter where born), and the candidate be 35 years of age and a resident of the United States for 14 years.
   Section 2 then specifies the powers a president has, mostly dealing with appointments and nominations.
   Section 3 directs that the president "give to the Congress information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."
   Note the phrase "recommend to their consideration." This is not to say the Congress must obey.
   Finally, Section 4 stipulates that "the president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
   That last paragraph is what brings the news of the day to the fore. Nowhere in the section dealing with the  presidency does the Constitution say, hint or suggest that person holding the office has unlimited powers.
   That would be a dictatorship or a monarchy, which is what caused America to declare its independence in 1776.
   And at root, that is what precipitates the current crisis -- to prevent a dictatorship in America.