To Impeach or not impeach? That seems to be one of the most discussed political question among Democrats on social media these days. We are all sick and tired of the drama, the lying, the stupidity, and the self-serving egotism which spreads on a daily basis liked fetid swamp water across our country from its malodorous source in the White House. Now that the several criminal attempts by Donald J. Trump to obstruct justice have been itemized by the Mueller Report, the cries for impeachment from Democrats across the nation have grown audibly stronger. These cries have been echoed by several candidates seeking the Democratic nomination.
Those who express this sentiment are fully aware that while the House of Representatives has the votes to impeach Trump, Republicans in the Senate will not contribute the votes necessary to amass the 67 that are needed to convict and expel him from office. That fact doesn’t seem to matter to the Democrats advocating impeachment. They are intent on inflicting as much damage on the man they detest above all others; regardless of the ultimate outcome.
On the other hand there are adept political strategists such as Nancy Pelosi who have a different point of view. These people have concluded that while impeaching Trump would be emotionally satisfying, it would not be good political strategy unless we are reasonably sure that they have the votes in the Senate necessary to convict him. And they don’t have those votes right now and that is unlikely to change in the future. After analyzing the situation carefully, I have come to agree with their rational.
My first concern is that impeachment would make Trump into a mortar in the eyes of his rabid supporters and later give him yet another reason for claiming that he was falsely accused. Nothing rallies Trump’s supporters to his side like attacks by Democrats, and impeachment would be viewed as the most egregious attack of them all. Then, with most if not all of the Republicans Senators vigorously defending him, when he is not convicted by the Trump he will spend the rest of his first term crowing about how the Senate cleared him of all wrongdoing and that he was again the victim of a partisan witch hunt. That of course would be a lie, but for those who pay little attention to politics until it is time to vote, it may a ring of truth.
The media will be overloaded with impeachment news blocking out almost everything else. Each House hearing would be covered to excess by the cable news channels and network news programs. While House Democrats will do their best to make sure that the full extent of Trump’s crimes are reveled to the country, House Republican will go to extremes to minimize the damage and protect the president. Then, with Republicans in charge to the trial in the Senate, expect them to only go through the motions while constantly accusing the Democrats of partisan bias. When it’s over, what the voting public will see is that we spent a lot of time and money on another quest that failed.
Meanwhile the Democratic agenda in the House will be lost in all of the noise of impeachment. No, I know that our representatives can “walk and chew gum at the same time” and they will also be working to implement their Democratic agenda. However, with the impeachment process drowning out almost everything else in the media, it will look to the voters that instead of trying to make good on the promises made in the 2018 elections, Democrats spent all of their time in a hopeless attempt to bring down Trump.
What we need to do is continue to investigate Trump while passing the legislation in the House that the country needs. That will force the Republicans in the Senate to pass that legislation or demonstrate to the American people that they are not on their side. It would be counter productive to get bogged down in an impeachment process if there is no chance of getting Trump thrown out of the White House. That would be like a prosecutor putting someone on trial when he or she knows that no jury would convict the accused.
We didn’t take over control of the house by promising to impeach Donald Trump. We sold the voters on the proposition that we would work in their best interest on health care and other issues. That’s how we won in 2018 and that’s the formula we must follow to win in 2020. If the investigations turns up additional wrongdoing by Trump that will force Republicans in the Senate to reconsider, then the door to impeachment will still be wide open. Like her or not or not, Nancy Pelosi is one of the shrewdest politicians in this country. She knows what she’s doing. Her formula worked in 2018 and it will work going forward in 2020.
Cajun 5/4/2019