The elephant in the room is the GOP Congress. For the last 18-20 months all I have seen in the public sphere about Congress is suggestive innuendos about Congressional exposure/Congressional complicity/Congressional vulnerability to various charges/RNC skullduggery/“Conversations” like Ryan saying “keep it in the family”…
Blatant disregard for protocol, norms, procedure…all with the apparent stance by GOP Senators and Congresspeople that there is absolutely zero that anyone can do about their corruption.
That’s the entire ballgame, to me. IF the GOP Congress can do anything it wants (in and out of the Law), then Trump will continue to be enabled by this Congress…
And as it is, Mueller ain’t talking, nor is any other LEO organ in terms of concrete actionability.
The question should not be “Is Trump above the Law?” rather, it’s:
They are already conducting (and will continue to conduct) hearings that show Trump to be criminal and incompetent. Calling them impeachment hearings would just help to solidify wavering Republicans in opposition to them instead of piling on the pain of hearing the awful truth. It’s obvious that, the minute this becomes a partisan exercise, the GOP will line up in opposition. And the Democrats don’t have the numbers to do anything about it.
Plus, if they try to impeach and fail, you think that won’t prove that Trump can get away with it?
Bingo. Impeachment is unlikely to expose anything that people paying attention don’t already know about, and no more than the investigations will; so, as a political tool, it has little value. Legally, the sure acquittal by the craven republican senate takes a lot off the table because it would be difficult to justify more investigation after an acquittal.
Pelosi sees the trap from miles away. If Dems impeach Trump but the senate refuses to remove him it will legitimize him and render him more powerful than ever. He’ll be free to act illegally and without limits.
Better to bleed him from now until the 2020 election, and hope that dem primary voters choose wisely.
What a world we live in where we have to worry about whether any given democrat will be to win against Pres Individual 1.
ETA: By the way, I have a dream that every dem candidate would refer to him only as Pres Ind 1. When Chuck “Hillary was too prepared” Todd complains, tell him to stuff it.
She can’t win her Speakership. Now there is impeachment chewing her foot off. OMG.
Re: “Nancy”. Don’t miss the Kill Bill Super Ninja Slealth Toll Queen Master flick of the write before you try to move you head.
Really.
When the Senate fails to convict he will have gotten away with it.
Lots of hearings, from all different directions. I would like to hear another committee hearing every other week. Once the ferver has settled and info assimilated, it is time for another. This is the way to convince the american population of what we all know about this corrupt scumbag.
One of my favorite lines from The Wire is when Omar says, “Come for the king, you best not miss.” That’s just true in all aspects of life, but none more than with impeachment. You get one bite at that apple and it’s game over. If Republicans don’t impeach then he will run around screaming that he was acquitted and did nothing wrong. He will say it proves there was no collusion. He will say he was right all along and that it was a witch hunt. Unfortunately, many voters will see it that way as well and Democrats will be the ones to lose credibility. Besides, I’d rather see him exposed through the Mueller report and all the investigations and then watch the entire party limp along next year trying to prop him up during an election year.
I’m on the same train. The various and sundry investigations going on in the House committees are, in many ways, a pseudo (shadow) impeachment process, but without the big scary (for Goopers and Trumpsters) “I” word to whip up the masses.
The more information that gets uncovered and put out in the sunlight will chip away at the facade. We’ve already seen how effective the Dem messaging has been over the past couple of months: the majority of Americans now figure Spankee has committed illegal acts, even in office.
Likewise, more and more stuff coming out from SDNY and other places.
The drip, drip, drip will be like water torture for Spankee (his freakout over the last weekend is probably going to be a regular occurence from here on out, as he cracks under the strain), and likewise will start to wear down support.
Nancy’s right. Let the process work. This will start to get old and people will tire of it and of Spankee. Even many supporters are gonna re-think if they want 4 more years of this.
Oh, yeah, and we’ve got four more weeks until Tax Day – lot of folks still haven’t yet sat down to figure out they’re not getting much of a refund this year. There may be a slump coming soon.
Problem with Trump is, no matter what reality dictates, his brain has no place for contrition, he won’t resign over “wrong-doing” because he can do no wrong, he has to be threatened with personal loss to get him to act.
Nothing will ever be “convincing enough for GOP” because they are part of the problem. “Convincing” in fact is entirely the wrong concept, because they, obviously, do not care. They will lie and do whatever to protect their asshole no matter what he does. So Pelosi is saying that, regarding Trump, impeachment might as well not be in the Constitution.
He won’t resign for any reason ever. Whatever legal or political jeopardy he faces as president will pale in comparison to what is in store for Citizen Trump. Hell, he may even try to stay in office after losing in 2020.
If the House investigates Trump’s behavior honestly and effectively, the movement for impeachment will gain momentum if the truth emerges. Nancy is being a lightning rod for Schiff, Nadler, Cummings et.al. They better not blow it.
