But it is little consolation that the presidency "in theory" isn't a haven for criminal activity if in practice that is precisely what it has become. Impeachment has proven to be an abject failure of an institution, premised as it is upon the assumption that institutional pride would trump political or partisan alliances. As such, the misbegotten policy of not indicting a sitting president, crafted entirely by self-interested presidential administrations, is an invitation to corruption - a gaping hole in the security of our government that, with certainty, will be exploited again if we do not patch it.