By opposing a sham impeachment, I upheld my oath of office

No! I said “no.” I voted “no.”

After months of partisan and fabricated investigations, House Democrats voted to impeach our president, despite the fact they didn’t have the evidence or facts to comply with the Constitution. But they were as predictable as the showoff at the backyard barbecue who asks you to hold his beer while he attempts a feat of strength. In both cases, the brag is bold, but the result is painfully pathetic.

Democrats wanted to impeach President Trump in the worst way. Literally. They wanted to impeach him before he took the oath of office. They’ve called for impeachment every day he’s been on the job. They’ve even claimed they can impeach him multiple times. No doubt, a decade from now when he’s happily in retirement somewhere, they’ll call for him to be retro-impeached.

The reasons for canceling the votes of the 63 million Americans who put him into office have morphed faster and more frequently than the weather. First it was a gaggle of lies about Russia. When that collusion delusion fizzled out like a wet firecracker, Democrats clumsily switched scripts to spurious charges dealing with Ukraine. Yet every clear-eyed review of the facts shows nothing the president did was impeachable. But relying on facts and evidence is old school thinking for some people.

Yet, as a member of Congress, I knew I was going to vote on the two articles of impeachment that were being jammed through the people’s House. I decided early on that I would speak during the debate, to give voice to the men and women I represent and the other Americans who are furious about this fiasco.

One idea I had for my speech on the impeachment issue was to point out a few facts that Democrats are desperate for Americans to forget. And it would be straight out of the history books. Here are some of those historic facts.

Several of our presidents owned  slaves.  No Democrats voted to impeach  them  for it.

Our 28th president  re-segregated  the federal government and showed a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) propaganda film in the White House.  No  Democrats voted to impeach  him.

Our 32nd president put more than 100,000  American citizens into  internment  camps, including  children. No  Democrats voted to impeach  him.

And now, Democrats want to impeach our 45th president because they didn’t like one of his  phone  calls.

But, while I knew I wouldn’t have enough time to make those historical points, I focused my speech on another important perspective.

From the well of the House of Representatives, where some of the giants of American history have called our nation to action on issues large and small, I used my time to offer a solemn moment of silence.

You read that right. I called for a moment of silent reflection, and for all those in the House chamber to stand for those 63 million Americans whose voices the Democrats want to silence with this sham impeachment. That’s 63 million people across 50 states, and it includes the overwhelming majority of hardworking people in Eastern and Southeastern Ohio, which I represent.

Those who hate America’s duly-elected president took to their social media accounts to whine, and some called my office, senselessly screaming. Sad, but not surprising.

After the moment of reflection, I ended my speech with these words: “Disenfranchising 63 million voters gives me 63  million reasons to vote  no.”

And then I voted “no.”

I cast that vote for the 63 million. I cast it for my constituents. And I voted “no” for the World War II veterans, the Korean War veterans, the Vietnam War veterans, and our generation’s current conflict heroes across the United States who gave their vote for President Trump and then later died, with the hopeful notion that the commander in chief in whom they placed their final political trust would serve for the full four years they gave him.

And, perhaps most importantly, I voted “no” to vindicate the solemn oath I took to support and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. I took that oath seriously as a military officer, and it means just as much to me now as a member of Congress.

One part of the oath in particular gives meaning to what I do every day as an American leader. I pledged to “bear true faith and allegiance” to the Constitution. Since the Democrats woefully failed in their constitutional obligation to provide clear evidence of treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors, bearing true faith and maintaining allegiance can only bring about one principled vote. And that’s exactly the vote I registered.

“No.”

Bill Johnson represents the Sixth District of Ohio. Prior to being elected to Congress, he served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force.