As the nation watches on a 24 hour news cycle, claims and counterclaims on who orchestrated the 2016 presidential election meddling by a foreign power, in comes allegations of President Donald Trump's obstruction of justice and circumvention of national security protocol. I must point out that while there are many pundits and legal experts trying to explain and convince the masses one side or the other, what lacks is a better informed and engaged electorate beyond partisan politics and bickering.

There is no civic engagement in the United States today which makes the ongoing impeachment inquiry sound like a conversation between aliens somewhere in an obscure part of the milky way.

There are a few who understand the impeachment process and these are the ones who get frustrated at those who don't understand it. There is the political football being lobbed around by both sides which further murkies the details and derails opportunities for those seeking to have some sense of understanding and benefit from the engagement.

I will therefore make a feeble attempt at explaining that the looming impeachment of the sitting president does not mean his removal from office. It is in fact just a formal process of outlining the charges levelled against him. It only takes a simple majority vote for the House of representatives to approve the articles of impeachment and with the partisanship in American politics today, that is as good as given.

The herculean task lies in the Senate whose members must hold a trial presided by the Chief Justice of the United States and then vote whether to remove the president from office or not. Currently the U.S. senate is Republican controlled making it very unlikely that a two thirds majority would be reached to convict and remove the president from office.

It is worth noting throughout its existence, the US House of Representatives has impeached only 19 federal officers and only 2 of these were presidents.President Andrew Johnson in 1868 became the first president to be impeached and President Bill Clinton in 1998 became the second and last to be impeached via resolution 611 on grounds of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice. Both men however were never convicted by the Senate and thus continued with their duties as President.

That being said, it is very likely president Donald Trump will be impeached, but highly unlikely he will be removed from office. Those who think America deserves a better commander in chief will therefore have to campaign against and vote for an alternative candidate come November 2020. I can say with certainty that the old democratic process that has provided this constitutional republic with all its residents at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since George Washington is the sure way to elect a new leader of the free world.