Posted on 01/10/2020 3:40:40 AM PST by Kaslin
America is the midst of an imaginary impeachment standoff between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "Both have drawn firm lines in the sand. Someone's got to give," one reporter recently declared.
There is, of course, nothing to "give." Pelosi has no standing to dictate the terms of a Senate trial; no constitutional right or political leverage. Why she has put herself in a position that will ultimately end, one way or another, with her surrendering to McConnell is perplexing.
A new piece in Time magazine does shed some light on the thought process behind Pelosi's decision to refuse to hand over articles of impeachment to a Senate whose majority doesn't want them. One of the most interesting nuggets in the piece isn't that Pelosi -- portrayed as courageous risk-taker -- had gotten the bright idea from CNN; it's that she specifically got it from noted felon John Dean, Nixon's former White House lawyer. Now, Dean is often portrayed as a patriotic, whistleblowing impeachment expert -- which is true insofar as he planned the Watergate coverup, and then informed on everyone whom he conspired with after they were caught. His real expertise is cashing in on criminality for the past 50 years.
Surely Pelosi, blessed with preternatural political instincts, wouldn't rely on Dean's advice? Surely Pelosi wasn't browbeaten into doing this by podcast bros and talking heads on America's least popular major cable news network?
Because whatever you make of the case against Donald Trump, it's getting increasingly difficult to argue that this amateurish, constantly shifting effort by the House has been effective. After two dramatic emergency impeachment hearings, a pretend standoff and massive cooperative coverage from the media, poll numbers haven't budged. They may even have ticked back toward Trump.
Yet, to hear Time tell it, Pelosi has micromanaged every step of this process, from signing off on every committee report and press release -- "aides say she caught typos in the Intelligence Committee's final report before it went out" -- to picking furniture that would make Adam Schiff and the more diminutive Jerry Nadler look like equals.
My working theory is this: Pelosi realized that impeachment was a mistake. She didn't want the president to be able tell voters that he had been exonerated by the Senate. The only way to mitigate the damage was to undertake a ham-fisted effort to attack the Senate trial and dampen, or perhaps circumvent, that inevitable moment.
In the process, however, Pelosi destroyed the Democrats' justification for rushing impeachment in the first place. Nadler and Schiff both argued that Trump's tenure in office constituted a national emergency, and that the only way to save the republic from another stolen election was to move quickly.
McConnell, on the other hand, had to take only a short break from confirming judges to inform the House that the Senate would treat the impeachment of Donald Trump the same way it treated the impeachment of Bill Clinton -- with a rules package that passed 100-0 in 1998. Under the Clinton precedent, the Senate would allow both the House impeachment managers and Trump's lawyers to make their case, with questions from the Senate to follow.
Pelosi's defenders are running out of arguments. Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin now says that acting on the Clinton precedent means that moderate Republican senators such as Susan Collins "will face the real possibility that conclusive evidence of Trump's wrongdoing will come to light after a sham trial. That would make for a disastrous, humiliating legacy."
The gaping hole in this argument, and the reason Democrats are losing the debate, is that they've already claimed to have conclusive evidence of Trump's wrongdoing. They claimed they had proof of bribery, but they didn't include it in the impeachment articles. They claimed to have proof in the Mueller Report that Trump obstructed justice, yet it's not in the article of impeachments either. Rubin herself has alleged, dozens of times, that we already have definitive proof Trump has committed an impeachable offense.
In truth, if the House had made a persuasive case, there would be public pressure on Republicans to act in a different manner. That the House did not is the only reason Pelosi embraced John Dean's silly idea -- which has drastically backfired.
I don't have a clue why the 'pubs don't get the courts involved. Since Pelosi would be one heartbeat away from being President if President Trump were impeached, how is it okay that she would try to influence how the US Senate proceeds?
There's one takeaway from all of this. President Trump has to win the next election, or the nation is out of time to survive. But he has to get some advisors back who've been scared away by all of the roadblocks that thwart good people who support the Deplorable Agenda from serving in his administration.
The Republicans don't have to give anything. The dems are the only ones trapped in this mess. If they turn the articles over, they look bad because the charges are stupid and aren't crimes even if they did happen. If they don't then the impeachment never happened.
Holding impeachment hostage has not only destroyed the Democrat argument that Trump was such an imminent threat to the country that he had to be removed from office immediately, it revealed the raw partisan calculation behind the botched impeachment.
Democrats appear to be having buyers remorse about it and they don’t really want to try it. There’s a legal doctrine called laches which says a failure to prosecute your case is grounds for dismissal.
I think the Senate shouldn’t even proceed to trial. It should sanction the House for its sleazy, reprehensible, unprincipled, unethical and unconstitutional behavior.
The House and its managers shouldn’t be allowed to profit from it. Period.
The old crone doesn’t have sense enough to be embarrassed
blah blah blah impeach blah blah ...
Is The Wall built?
Pelosi and the rest of the ‘rat traitors have already lost. There is no win here, they’ve already reaped as much “benefit” (dubious at best) from their sham as they are going to get. The plan was always, apparently, to embarrass and politically damage the President as much as possible. It was obviously never about any actual criminal behavior or impeachable offense. Well, the plan backfired on the ‘rats, badly. The President’s approval numbers went up,his fundraising went up, and the ‘rats have come out looking like cheating, lying, spoiled children throwing a temper tantrum for not getting their way. Not surprising since cheating, lying, and criminal behavior, as evidenced by the previous administration, is apparently their MO. The upshot is, Pelosi and the ‘rats have nothing further to gain from this fiasco. There is a whole lot more embarrassment, political damage, and possibly a few investigations into criminal behavior (all against the ‘rats) that could come out if and when the Senate gets control of the process. I’m beginning to doubt she’ll ever send the farce to the Senate.
It is well in its way to being built thanks to a judge in Texas and the 5th Circuit.
A live RBG seems to be as elusive as Bigfoot (I want to see her holding a daily paper).
If the 'Ratz have to admit the inability of RBG to perform her duties then they could "reasonably" argue that an impeached President should be denied the right to appoint a replacement.
Just a thought.
Doesn’t she know people are laughing at her behind her back. This 80something year old grandma should be enjoying her grandchildren but she’s pretending to play the Speaker of the House of the United States with her teeth falling out of her mouth and forgetting what she is talking about. She’s an embarrassment. Nancy, give it up already...your days of lucidity are past...you’re ineffectual. Enough!
Aunt Clara from Bewitched ...
I wonder if the attacks on the US Embassy in Iraq were orchestrated by the DNC (or at DNC request) to wag the dog of media attention away from the fiasco of shampeachment.
And even though Trump surprised them by taking out one of their Terrorist Heroes, the DNC still benefits from news focus being at least partially shifted away from shampeachment.
But eventually the focus must return in full force. And shampeachment will be revealed in all its glorious shamnificance.
Same image.
As I recall, Aunt Clara also like to imbibe too.
And repeatedly trumpeted breathlessly by the Leftist media. And now? Nothing. I guess it wasn't an "emergency" after all.
While there’s not a lot of good things about RINOs, one good thing is that when they side with the conservatives over ‘their friends across the aisle’, it means that the Democrats have gone SUPER-LEFT, to the point that even the Trump-haters in GOP (RINOs) start to defend Trump.
That’s what we’re seeing here - and it’s GREAT!!!
man...you nailed it...shes trying so hard to act like shes still in her 40’s and 50’s. sorry granny, gravity is not your friend. She can wave her arms all she wants. She’s believes the media about how “brilliant” she is...senile old hag..
Nancy wants to keep impeachment in the news, preferably the lead story on Nightly News.
That’s all.
“enjoying her grandchildren”
She needs to enjoy them before they get their iPhones.
Without this #seinfelfimpeachment the best case for the Dems was about 15 states, plus DC... after this nonsense they are looking at a best case of around 10 states and DC.. regardless of who their nominee is.
This impeachment was never about Trump... the end game has to be something else... I believe the purpose is to take out Biden, ensure a far left nominee and had them crushed... so that the party can moderate for 2024 when they might have a shot at the White House.
Basically a rope a dope for thr radical left wing so they can be knee capped
But whatever the reason it has nothing to do with Trump because there is no calculus where he was going to be damaged let alone removed by this. So the end game has to be something else
It has been reported that she has been cleared from her cancer.
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