Impeachment Musings: Is it a Crime to be a Lying Bully?

I'm going to withhold judgement until the end of the Senate impeachment proceedings.  However, I'm definitely developing some opinions.  Those opinions actually don't have anything to do with trump's guilt or innocence.  They have to do with his personality, which I've written about before.  Donald trump is a bully and a liar.  Most people wouldn't disagree with that.  However, it's not a crime to be a bully.  It's not a crime to be a liar, unless you've testified under oath and open yourself up to perjury.  President Clinton made that mistake when answering questions about a tryst in the White House.  President Clinton was guilty of perjury (actually, he might have been guilty, there's still the question of what his definition of sexual activity was).

President trump has assiduously avoided testifying under oath.  On one hand this is pretty smart.  In my opinion, he doesn't know how not to lie.  However, if you lie on television, it's not a crime.  I heard trump's former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, admit this.  Where do you think he got that idea?  So, trump lies.  He lies all of the time.  But he hasn't committed a crime by lying because he never says anything under oath.

We know that trump is a bully.  Whether he's grabbing women by their private parts, name calling anyone he doesn't agree with or making fun of disabled journalists, I have been bothered by his bullying behavior from the beginning.  It's not a crime to be a bully.  It's despicable, in my opinion, but it's not a crime.

So far, I'm trying to put all of this together.  Donald trump lies and bullies.  He tells his people to undermine Joe Biden.  He tells his people to disparage a respected United States Ambassador.  He tells his people that there's no quid pro quo, when in fact there is.  It's standard bullying behavior to tell a lie in order to obfuscate the truth.

I really think that trump's supporters don't think he did anything wrong because they know he's a lying bully, and they know that's the behavior he exhibited with the Ukraine.  The people who voted for trump to become president, knew that he was a lying bully, and they're upset that the Democrats are trying to take their vote away from them.  The voted for this type of behavior!

Have other presidents been bullies and liars?  Certainly.  Have they been uncouth?  Absolutely!  Have they bullied other countries?  I'm sure that they have.  Have they assassinated foreign leaders?  Probably.  Donald trump probably wonders why he's being impeached for something that many other presidents have done.  That's a question that I'll be pondering as I digest these impeachment proceedings.