House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., gives a closing statement during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on the constitutional grounds for the impeachment of President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
It’s a shame of incalculable magnitude and an embarrassment to the country that the House of Representatives – the “People’s House” – is going to vote articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
The mechanism of impeachment was created by the founders in order that a malfeasant president, engaged in or having done demonstrable harm to the republic, could be lawfully removed. The Democrats gravely disrespect the founders by reducing impeachment to a political tool in an attempt to accomplish what they can’t get done at the ballot box.
Impeachment isn’t a criminal proceeding. In a criminal proceeding, if violation of a specific statute can’t be shown, no prosecution can take place. That’s not the case with impeachment. Under our Constitution, House members– acting as representatives of the people who elected them – may determine at their discretion what is impeachable. The Constitution gives the House very wide latitude. That latitude comes with a concomitant burden of responsibility.
No such responsibility is on display. House Democrats are being grossly irresponsible. Misguided though they are, they are nonetheless not completely stupid. They know that there is exactly zero chance that the Senate – via a necessary two-thirds majority – will vote to remove the president from office. That makes their efforts cosmically cynical.
Their real goal is to wear the president down politically under cover of Constitutional process. They are weaponizing the foundational document of the republic for their own political gain. It’s abominable.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was correct a few months ago when she said to her caucus that impeachment, of necessity, must be bipartisan and broadly supported by the public. This impeachment effort is neither. As to broad public support, despite the Adam Schiff Goat & Pony Impeachment Show that took up much of November, and despite the media ceaselessly hyperventilating about “bombshell revelations” and the “walls closing in,” support for impeachment is dropping in every one of the national polls.
As to bipartisan support, it is unlikely that a single Republican in either the House or the Senate will vote in favor of impeaching President Trump or removing him from office.
On a day in the future when impeachment might actually be necessary, it will be harder to obtain public and bipartisan support, impeachment having been so trivially pursued in this present instance.
What is likely is that Democrats will find themselves hoist by their own petard in the Senate. There are political creepy-crawlies living under rocks that Democrats don’t want turned over. That won’t stop Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from turning them over anyway.
All of this reminds us that Democrats even yet refuse to accept the 2016 election. Their weak-beer impeachment case betrays their primal fear of the 2020 election. With that election looming, and despite the Democrats’ best efforts, impeaching Donald Trump hasn’t reached critical mass. The clock is running out and the Dems are 4th and 22 on their own five.
The smart money has the Republicans taking over on downs first and goal.
Great analogy Paul. Keep up the good work. We need you.
The present Democratic Party leaders have no integrity, which makes it impossible to feel shame. Any shred of decency would require that they put the welfare of our country ahead of the radical puppet masters that contribute to their campaigns; therefore, they dance and obey. Their hatred, which Pelosi denies, has also had a destructive influence on brain function; how else can you explain the 3 self-absorbed constitutional “scholars” who were called to testify before the House Judiciary Committee? Except for Jonathan Turley, these witnesses exposed themselves as the shallow hacks who populate many of the so-called “prestigious” law schools and universities. But when you step back and look at this whole impeachment process with a larger perspective, the picture may reveal a more sinister and effective tactic. Even with the apparent idiocy of this debacle, these politicians may have a plan that has little downside. Consider that the current field of Democrat candidates have a slim chance to win the presidency, and the House districts that Trump won in 2016 have a good chance to flip and return the House majority to Republicans. In this likely scenario, the Dems do not have a lot at stake by pressing forward. This smear campaign may be able to throw enough mud that something will stick, and at the same time satisfy their puppet masters. This hoax also helps deflect from the atrocious behavior that actually occurred by the DNC and Hillary in the 2016 election. This scheme also helps to inoculate the Bidens against the Ukranian and Chinese connections. Additionally, the constant barrage of distractions for our president will create at least some headwind to slow down the agenda that got him elected, including the swamp drainage project. The real payoff could come with a mental breakdown of President Trump; it is a miracle that he has had the mental toughness to be able to absorb this unprecedented and evil assault. Therefore, there actually could be a method to this madness that the Dems are inflicting upon our country. Make no mistake, the present Democratic Party has NO shame, and if they are ever able to gain control of this country, our descendants will look back on our generation with well-deserved disdain.
If Trump was a Democrat you’d hate him.
Let me rephrase that: “If Trump was STILL a Democrat…”
If a prime beef ribeye steak tasted like curdled milk I’d hate prime beef ribeye steak. But prime beef ribeyes don’t taste like curdled milk and Donald Trump isn’t a Democrat. He’s a Republican — the most genuinely conservative Republican since Ronald Reagan — and he’s governing like a Republican. Quite effectively.
And, just to be clear, if he was a Democrat cutting taxes, slashing regulation, rebuilding the military, standing up to China, standing up to North Korea, staring down the establishment wing of his party and making life uncomfortable for smug, cosseted, condescending careerists in the federal bureaucracy, I’d be supporting him for re-election — tweets and all.
To quote Joe Biden: “Malarkey.”
The chant here is “Democrats-bad-Republicans-good.”
Trump WAS a Pro-Choice, limousine liberal, New York City Democrat…until conversion was convenient.
That means that Trump was curdled milk and is now prime ribeye.
As to your “Democrats-bad-Republicans-good” assertion, please re-read the last paragraph of my previous reply. Slowly this time.
Tell me if this is slowly-enough:
After Candidate Trump vowed to “balance the budget, fairly quickly,” we’re HOW-much deeper-in-the-hole now?
Because — among reasons other-than what-we’re-spending sending-him-to, and at, his golf courses — he’s “rebuilding the military:”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/03/12/use-it-or-lose-it-dod-dropped-46-million-on-crab-and-lobster-and-9000-on-a-chair-in-last-minute-spending-spree/
At last, something upon which we agree.
The deficit is a real hole in the otherwise sound Trump vessel that has been inveighed against in this very space. See here:
https://www.youtellmetexas.com/2019/02/21/the-problem-thats-not-going-away/
Be CAREFUL…VERY careful. Saying Trump has gotten ANYTHING wrong will get you shunned faster than an Amish guy with an iPad!
My tribe tribe here in East Texas seems to be remaining loyal.
If they keep re-electing Luigi they MUST be!
Let me chime in on this “if Trump was a Democrat you’d hate him” post. If Obama were running as a Communist, and had 1/10 the positive accomplishments of Trump in his first term, I would have campaigned for him and supported his re-election. However, anyone who is interested, can take a look at the dismal performance of our former president and see the stark difference. We definitely are on the same page regarding your comment about the deficit and debt; but in all fairness, the military spending was crucial to address the neglect over the preceding 8 years. I really believe that Trump’s attention to saving money in areas of foreign aid, getting our allies to contribute more to their own defense, white house staffing, negotiating costs on Air Force 1, etc. bodes well for his mind set to be fiscally responsible. So, if the electorate will give this impeachment and obstruction party a painful spanking at the 2020 election, our president can have more freedom to complete his agenda. Of course, that is the exact reason that the Dems are making us endure this nonsense!
IT’S WORSE! Now, one-respectable Forbes — FORBES! — has become a lefty rag:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2019/02/13/6-reasons-trump-did-not-inherit-a-mess-from-obama/
Paul, you have taught me by example the utter futility of arguing with a brain dead, Liberal, Socialist, Communist sympathizing, tyrannical Democrat “fence post”. It is clear that the Democrat Party has become the Taliban version of the former Communist Party that utilizes subversion and subterfuge to use every weapon of government, academia and media to destroy the Constitutional foundations of this country and smash all disagreements with their sanctimonious dogma. Their despicable use of Inquisition methods from the Dark Ages to defame President Trump and all of his supporters (1/2 of the country) in order to Impeach him and destroy all elements of American “fairness” is sickening beyond belief. They will never be happy until their “caliphate” replaces the Constitution and our Rule of Law. That means that this political warfare will continue forever in this country until this newly minted POLITICAL terror organization is eradicated from this country.
I do not “hate” these people but I DENOUNCE them to be followers of the Communist (destroy America) dogma, but without the guns, so far. In fact they are having great success by taking advantage of the American culture of “tolerance” as defined in the Bill of Rights as they work to destroy any vestige of “tolerance” wherever they seize power. Look at the States, Cities, Universities, and Deep State government agencies that have been conquered by their political terrorism. At what point should the American people recognize that the Democrat Party and its new Taliban-like Communist forces of tyranny are, in fact, a subversive terrorist organization bent on our destruction? When should we consider them to be Enemies of the People of the United States of America that threaten our very existence as a free nation as defined by the Constitution, the Supreme Law of the Land – for which they hold in utter contempt?
Stalin (from Hell) must be cheering his political progeny as he sees our country slowly converting to a Communist Dictatorship as the Democrats adopt his radical HATRED of the America that we LOVE. Once you destroy the God ordained Family Unit, the Religious and Educational Institutions, and the respect for Constitutional Law, you are more than half-way there to the Communist Utopia that the Democrats need in order to declare victory! Trump is the INFIDEL that stands in the way of the Democrat “caliphate” and that is why they HATE him so much.
One more thing, this “Impeachment” inquisition has totally exposed the complete depravity of the Democrat Party when they can seize power and act with impunity. They have shown the American people their TRUE culture of HATE that exposes the results of “brain damage” caused by Marxist Radicalism, the Idol that they worship! The mask of Democrat “fairness” is gone and now we should see them as the Party of hatred and tyranny determined to abolish our God given rights. They despise the Constitutional founding of the greatest country ever established based on the supremacy of individual freedom and our unalienable rights from Almighty God, not the State. Only the foolish or willingly ignorant will tolerate this sick group of people that have consumed the Democrat Party.
Well stated Solomon! Yes, it is not President Trump that they hate personally; but what he represents. The political left has been moving along quite nicely, and one only has to pay attention to the drastic changes in our educational, moral, and cultural standards to realize how well their plan is working. Much of the steady incrementalism to eliminate God and freedom from our society has already been accomplished. But wait, along comes the orange demon to awaken the silent majority to resist this assault on our constitution and way of life. The United States is the crown jewel for these leftist, and if this country can be subverted into submission, the remaining “free world” will be a simple task. World domination is the ultimate goal, and to do that, the 2nd amendment must be removed or rendered toothless; many of these other issues, like government controlled health care, are simply a means to the end game. All of the howling, whining, impeachment hearings, etc. are the reactions of the left exposing their hatred for the inconvenient stumbling block that Trump represents. Along with the hard-core leftists, there are many government workers and politicians (Democrat and Republican) who are only reacting to the threat that he poses to the flow of their milk and honey. It reminds me of the infant who screams with anger, disappointment, and disbelief when the nipple is removed, even temporarily! As with our children, these insatiable cravings must be weaned, and that will take at least 4 more years!
Reference the HC Quote: “If they keep re-electing Luigi they MUST be!”
Paul, I read the article on your KTBB.com East Texas News web site at:
https://www.ktbb.com/post/?p=838284
and watched the linked video at:
https://youtu.be/CLo8JipEV2I
I am very proud to be represented by Representative Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX01). This video is outstanding. Louie is a man of great integrity and courage, something that HC might want to consider as worthy of praise. I’m really getting tired of HC’s damnable and condescending comments about our Representative that reflects OUR loyalty to America and to the Constitution, a foreign concept to HC, I suppose.