Keller @ Large: Impeachment Of President Trump Should Be Last Resort

BOSTON (CBS) - In the wake of the implication of President Trump by his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen in potential campaign finance law violations, you're hearing the word "impeachment" thrown around quite a bit. And while top Democratic leaders are warning their colleagues to lay off the topic until after the special counsel completes his investigation of the president, that won't stop the chattering classes from talking about it.

The last time we had a president impeached was twenty years ago when the House impeached Bill Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice. He was subsequently acquitted in the Senate.

President Richard Nixon was never impeached; he resigned before things got that far. And there's just one other case of actual presidential impeachment, Andrew Johnson in 1868.

Why is impeachment of a president such a rare occurrence? House Speaker Paul Ryan put it this way the other day when he slapped down an effort to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over his handling of the Mueller investigation.

"I don't think we should be cavalier with this process or with this term, number one. Number two, I don't think that this rises to the level of high crimes or misdemeanors, that's a really high standard," he said.

Ryan has it right. The attempted impeachments of Nixon and Clinton were contributors to the bitter, divisive political climate we're stuck with today. Removing a president by any means other than the vote inevitably leaves people feeling disenfranchised, and should be the ultimate last resort, no matter how much it might scratch your itch to see the incumbent gone.

Share your take with me via email at keller@wbztv.com, or use Twitter, @kelleratlarge.