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President Trump's Troubles Fixate a Nation

Is impeachment on a far horizon?

The word "impeachment" is being spoken and written with a frequency it hasn't been since Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon were President.

What impact could the turmoil in Washington have on a society that's become more politically divided?

Before last week, the stock market was flying high.

Then the President fired FBI director James Comey, and the Dow Jones and NASDAQ numbers froze and started dropping, big-time.

Uncertainty and doubts about our government's integrity and credibility can be bad for more than just business.

"When you weighed the President's story against Comey's contemporaneous memo, Comey came out on top,” says Seth Kaplowitz, business law lecturer at San Diego State University. β€œAnd that's why the market sat. Because somebody's saying there's more here than meets the eye."

Just as there was in the Watergate era.

What some called a "third-rate burglary" turned out to be a third-alarm political and legal fire that consumed a President's administration.

William Lanouette covered the Senate Select Committee hearings for the "National Observer" and still recalls the articles of impeachment.

In his view, what's happening now in Washington feels "eerie and similar" to the events of Watergate, such as the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre" of high-level firings.

Coverage of today's developments is much faster and more furious.

People who closely follow the situation may find themselves "going online" to the point of distraction and dismay.

"But I think if you take stock, maybe if you read a paper or you listen to something like the evening news, you'll have a chance to take it a day at a time,” Lanouette said in an interview Thursday.

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