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The Mueller report has been released, with redactions of course, and it is a damning document. Not only does it detail Russian efforts to attack our election to help the Trump campaign and the Trump campaigns eager acceptance of that help, it paints a picture of Donald Trump as an unethical man with no regard for the rule of law.

In this report, we see a president who doesnt deserve to be president. We see attempts over and over to obstruct justice, which in some cases succeed.

The question is: What are we going to do about it? Obstruction of justice is a crime. If Trump committed that crime, hes a criminal. Are we simply going to allow a criminal to sit in the Oval Office and face no consequence? Are we simply going to let the next presidential election be the point at which Trump is punished or rewarded?

It is maddening to think that we are at such a pass. But, my mind is made up: I say impeach him.

I know all the arguments against.

First, even if the House voted to impeach Trump, the Senate would never vote to convict and remove him. This is the failed impeachment theory.

But, I say that there is no such thing as a failed impeachment. Impeachment exists separately from removal. Impeachment in the House is akin to an indictment, with the trial, which could convict and remove, taking place in the Senate. The Senate has never once voted to convict.

So, an impeachment vote in the House has, to this point, been the strongest rebuke America is willing to give a president. I can think of no president who has earned this rebuke more than the current one.

And, once a president is impeached, he is forever marked. It is a chastisement unto itself. It is the Peoples House making a stand for its people.

Then there is the idea that an impeachment would be contentious and increase public support for Trump the way it did for Bill Clinton.

But I find the conflation of Clinton and Trump ill-reasoned on the issue of the publics response in polling.

First, Clintons approval was subject to change in a way Trumps is not. Clinton experienced a 40-point swing in his approval over his presidency, according to Gallup. Trumps seems almost impervious to change, no matter the news.

People either love Trump or hate him. Impeachment will most likely not change that any more than Trump seeing fine people among Nazis or locking children in cages.

Furthermore, Clinton jumped 10 points, from 63 percent 73 percent, just after the House voted to impeach him. But, five month later, those gains had vanished and then some. His approval rating sank to 53 percent.

Im tired of all the fear and trepidation.

Senate Republicans are worried about getting on the wrong side of the Republican base.

Mitt Romney wrote in a statement on Friday, I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President.

But, will that sickness give birth to action? No, if the last two years is our guide. This is the strongest statement among Republican senators, but it is as toothless as a babys mouth. This admonition is idle.

House Democrats, at least the leadership, are afraid of looking like they have a blood lust and inadvertently increasing Trumps chances of re-election.

Folks, this is not the 1990s. Until 1996, CNN was the only cable news network. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram didnt exist. Google wasnt founded until 1998. Cellphones were in their infancy, and few people had them.

Furthermore, the massive and growing amount of campaign spending will drown out anything that happened months prior.

In 1996, Clinton raised $42 million for his re-election bid; in 2012, Obama raised a billion for his.

And finally, there was no President Trump in the 1990s producing a head-scratching number of headlines each day. Trump cant ride a victory nor will he be crestfallen in defeat. There would likely be untold new outrages even after an impeachment.

As for me, Im afraid of lawlessness and the horrible precedent it would set if Congress does nothing.

On Friday, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter that the House should initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States.

In another tweet she explained:

To ignore a Presidents repeated efforts to obstruct an investigation into his own disloyal behavior would inflict great and lasting damage on this country, and it would suggest that both the current and future Presidents would be free to abuse their power in similar ways.

I worry that inaction enshrines that idea that the American president is above Americas laws. I worry that silent acquiescence bends our democracy toward monarchy, or dictatorship.

As Thomas Paine wrote in 1776, In America the law is king. He continued: For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.

Who will we let be king in this country, the president or the law?

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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Opinion | Impeach Donald Trump? - The New York Times

Every modern U.S. President tries to influence the world. President Donald Trump has done this through opposing the NATO countries not paying their fair share, pushing China and our North American neighbors for fairer trade agreements and withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement. His boldest move in this direction is likely his personal efforts on the issue of North Korea. President Trump has, in fact, used the past year to place his imprint on a problem spanning more than six decades.

Despite denuclearization agreements in 1992, 2005 and 2008, North Korea has become a nuclear power. President Trump decided to ramp up sanctions early in his tenure (which other Presidents have done) but decided to take a very different tack thereafter.

In June 2018 President Trump broke with decades of U.S. policy and held a summit with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un in Singapore. The President believes that only personal diplomacy can solve this crisis. The Presidents supreme confidence in his own ability to persuade others to make a deal is now the basis for American denuclearization policy toward North Korea.

President Trump deserves great credit for daring to try to personally persuade Chairman Kim to join the family of nations. This approach holds the possibility for historymaking changes on the Korean Peninsula to make us all safer.

Christie, a Republican, is a former governor of New Jersey

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Donald Trump Is on the 2019 TIME 100 List | Time.com

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's suggestion for fighting the massive Notre Dame fire did not get good reviews.

Tweeting that it was "sohorrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris," Trump added: "Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!"

Professional firefighters called Trump's proposal impractical at best. Deploying the kinds of airplanes used to fight forest fires would be dangerous in an urban area, they said, noting that force of the water could knock the building down and threaten firefighters on the ground.

President Donald Trump(Photo: Drew Angerer)

"Thedrop of water by air on this type of building could indeed result in the collapse of the entire structure," the French government civil defense agency tweeted.

It later tweeted out a statement in English, in an apparent response to Trump,saying that "hundreds of firemen of the Paris Fire Brigade are doing everything they can to bring the terrible #NotreDame fire under control. All means are being used, except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral."

The French newspaper Le Monde derided Trump's plan as "impossible."

Critics on Twitter called Trump's comment the epitome of second-guessing in the middle of a disaster.

"Thanks Fire Chief Bill," tweeted Michael Cohen, a Boston Globe columnist.

More: 'Everything is burning': Famed Notre Dame cathedral ablaze in Paris

Later, during a roundtable discussion on the economy and tax reform in Minnesota, Trump called Notre Dame "one of the great treasures of the world," and said it "looks like it's burning to the ground."

Before giving remarks on the economy, Trump said of the fire: "That puts a damper on what we're about to say."

Air tankers arebrought in to fight wildfiresthat are spread over a wide area, andare often brought in hours or even days after the event starts.

Wayne McPartland, a retired New York CityFire Department battalion chief, told CNBC that aerial tankers are not the answer at Notre Dame.

If you hit that with tons of water from above, thats going to collapse the entire structure and make the situation worse,McPartland said.If you miss, you might hit civilians in the street.

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Donald Trump suggests 'flying water tankers' to fight Notre ...

President Trump is making a 2020 prediction about who his opponent will be in the race to come. Veuer's Nick Cardona has that story. Buzz60

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump, who has yet to release his tax returns, went after Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night after the 2020 Democratic presidential challenger released returns that showed him to be a millionaire.

In a series of tweets, Trump first attacked Sanders and later predicted that the democratic socialist, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, would emerge as the two "finalists" against him in the 2020 election. Biden has yet to officially enter the race

"I believe it will be Crazy Bernie Sanders vs. Sleepy Joe Biden as the two finalists to run against maybe the best Economy in the history of our Country (and MANY other great things)!" Trump wrote on Twitter. "I look forward to facing whoever it may be. May God Rest Their Soul!"

It's not the first time Trump has chimed in on the crowded field of Democrats who have entered the race for the White House in 2020. He's attacked Biden's physicalcontacts with supporters, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's heritageand Beto O'Rourke's hand movements while talking.

More: Who is running for president in 2020? An interactive guide

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This was, however, the first time the president has weighed in on a challenger's tax returns.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.(Photo: Steven Senne/AP)

"Bernie Sanders and wife should pay the Pre-Trump Taxes on their almost $600,000 in income," Trump wrote on Twitter. "He is always complaining about these big TAX CUTS, except when it benefits him. They made a fortune off of Trump, but so did everyone else - and thats a good thing, not a bad thing!"

On Monday,Sandersreleased 10 years of tax returns that revealedhe and hiswife, Jane, earned more than $550,000 in 2018,including $133,000 in income from his Senate salary, and $391,000in sales of his book, "Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In."

The filings also show he raked in more than $1 million in both 2016 and 2017.

The documents show that Sanders, who throughout his career has called for an economy and government that works for everyone and not just the 1 percent, is among the top 1 percent of earners in the U.S. According to the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, families in the U.S. earning $421,926 or more a year are part of this group.

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After Trump's tweets, some on social media pointed out that Trump has yet to release his tax returns, going against decades of presidents who have made it a traditional act of transparency. The president has claimed he hasn't allowed the public to see his finances becausehe is under audit.

"How much did you pay in taxes @realDonaldTrump?" Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer under President Barack Obama, wrote on Twitter. "Show us the tax returns. Its time to put up or shut up."

Contributing: Associated Press

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Donald Trump attacks Bernie Sanders' tax returns on Twitter

Donald J. Trump has referred to China as our enemy. He has called it a major threat. Remember, he once wrote on Twitter, China is not a friend of the United States!

Some people in China have their own label for the polarizing American president: savior.

At dinner tables, in social media chats and in discreet conversations, some of the countrys intellectual and business elite are half-jokingly, half-seriously cheering on the leader who has built a large part of his political career on China-bashing.

Only Trump can save China, goes one quip. Others call him the chief pressure officer of Chinas reform and opening.

Their semi-serious praise reflects the deepening despair among those in China who fear their country is on the wrong track. An aggressive outsider like President Trump, according to this thinking, can help China find its way again.

The Communist Party has become more involved in business, the economy, public discourse and other elements of everyday life. Many of these elite fear that after 40 years of reform and opening up, China is retreating. To make matters worse, nobody at home appears willing or able to fight the trend. President Xi Jinping has become the countrys most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, hurting the chances that internal opposition can push back.

Then came Mr. Trump and his trade war. Among other demands, American negotiators are calling on China to play a smaller role in the countrys economy. They want the Chinese government to stop throwing money at state-controlled companies. They want lower trade barriers and a level playing field for private businesses.

That puts Mr. Trump, oddly, in sync with a number of Chinese intellectuals and business types. Should the Communist Party step back from the economy, their thinking goes, it might have to loosen its tight grip over the rest of society, too.

The trade war is a good thing, said Zhu Ning, an economist at Tsinghua University in Beijing. It gives us hope when were hopeless.

The various demands by the U.S. government could force us to carry on with the reforms, said Tao Jingzhou, a partner at the law firm Decherts Beijing office. Theres a Chinese saying that carrying out a reform is equivalent to a man cutting off his own arm, which is very hard. It might help if someone else forces you to do it.

Even some retired officials have said they believe that the trade war could have positive effects. Long Yongtu, who led the negotiations for Chinas entry into the World Trade Organization, said at a forum last month that trade friction could be a good thing.

It could be a healthy pressure that pushes China to move forward, he said.

The chances that Mr. Trump alone can change China's ways are exceedingly slim. The Communist Party risks looking weak if it agrees to too many of his demands. True reform would have to come from inside.

We cant count on the external force to save China, said Wang Gongquan, a billionaire liberal activist and former venture capitalist. He was among the first group of people who were detained or jailed after the party intensified the crackdown on dissent and civil disobedience six years ago.

Changes will only come, Mr. Wang added, when responsible people inside and outside the government push for it together.

Still, the hopes about Mr. Trump acknowledge the role the outside world has played in Chinas gradual opening over the past four decades. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, the Communist Party has largely been a reluctant reformer, often pushed and lured by internal and external forces.

Even some in the Trump administration seem to be hoping that internal voices will speak up. In an interview with National Public Radio, Robert Lighthizer, Mr. Trumps top trade negotiator, was asked about the likelihood that the trade war would lead to changes in China.

You have to start with the proposition that there are people in China who believe that reform is a good idea, Mr. Lighthizer said. And you have to believe that those people are at a very senior level.

The challenge now will be to find those internal voices in a time when dissent can be quickly squelched.

Unfortunately, theres no force to be joined with in China, said Liu Suli, a liberal thinker and enthusiastic Trump supporter who founded an independent bookstore in Beijing. Theres only a pool of stagnant water.

The breadth of support for Mr. Trump in China isnt clear. Many business leaders dare not speak out for fear of angering the Communist Party.

The talk is hard to miss. The first time I heard the Only Trump can save China quip was a few months ago from a self-described apolitical tech entrepreneur in Guangdong Province in southern China. He complained about rising taxes and growing government interference in the economy. He was worried that if his start-up failed, he could end up on a newly created blacklist that would prevent him from taking flights and checking in at some hotels.

This image of Mr. Trump is often at odds with reality. Supporters of his who have long pushed China on human rights are cheering a president who wants to make it harder for migrants fleeing political persecution to find sanctuary in the United States. Its a strange disconnect to listen to graying activists educated free thinkers, some of whom have gone to prison for their ideals put their hopes in a man who openly admires autocrats and calls journalists the enemy of the people.

Optimists nevertheless point to signs that they say show Mr. Trump is having an impact. Facing both the trade war and a slowdown in growth that began in the middle of last year, Chinas leadership has embraced some modest liberalization. The government has promised to cut taxes, ease other burdens on the private sector and give markets a somewhat bigger role in the economy.

More market-oriented actions are being reconsidered or put back on the table, said Mr. Zhu, the Tsinghua economist. In this sense, the trade war is helping Chinas reform.

But theres little evidence that the leadership is easing its grip in a lasting way. The few business-friendly gestures are reactive rather than proactive. In other words, there hasnt been any fundamental change in the leaderships thinking. The party must control, as Mr. Xi has said, all tasks.

Some Chinese supporters of Mr. Trump, particularly dissidents or those living in exile, believe that he plans something bigger: regime change. Liu Junning, a pro-democracy dissident in Beijing, pointed to Vice President Mike Pences stern speech in October in which he accused China of numerous offenses over the years. Mr. Liu also pointed to Venezuela, where the Trump administration has pushed for new leadership.

In part, this group believes past presidents were too soft on Chinas Communist Party. But they also cite the patina of toughness that Mr. Trump accumulated in his pre-political days. Mr. Liu cited Mr. Trumps book The Art of the Deal and his reality TV show, The Apprentice.

Trumps approach is that he gives you a task and he expects you to get it done. Otherwise, youre fired, Mr. Liu said, alluding to the reality show. He can be very tough.

How tough he will be about fixing Chinas economy still isnt clear. In public comments, Mr. Trump has focused on getting China to buy more American goods. His advisers have said he will press for economic reforms, but any pledge by China to cut subsidies to state-owned companies or favored industries would be difficult to verify, much less enforce.

I dont think helping China to reform is Trumps main political goal, Mr. Zhu said. He may just want something to tweet about.

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Donald Trump, China Savior? Some Chinese Say Yes