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Why Impeachment Failed
Townhall.com ^ | February 7, 2020 | David Harsanyi

Posted on 02/07/2020 4:48:20 AM PST by Kaslin

It's comforting, no doubt, to believe that Donald Trump has survived the impeachment trial because he possesses a tighter hold on his party than did Barack Obama or George W. Bush or any other contemporary president. In truth, Trump, often because of his own actions, has engendered less loyalty than the average president.

It's difficult to recall, after all, a single Democratic senator throwing anything but hosannas Obama's way, which allowed the former president to ride his high horse from one scandalous attack on the Constitution to the next. In 1998, no Democrat voted to convict Bill Clinton, who had engaged in wrongdoing for wholly self-serving reasons, despite the GOP's case being far more methodical and incriminating.

The chances of any party removing its sitting president without overwhelming evidence that fuels massive voter pressure are negligible. It's never happened in American history -- unless you count the preemptive removal of Richard Nixon -- and probably never will. Democrats are demanding the GOP adopt standards that no party has ever lived by.

Perhaps if the public hadn't been subjected to four years of interminable hysteria over the United States' imaginary descent into fascism, it might have been less apathetic toward the fate of "vital" Ukrainian aid that most Democrats had voted against when Obama was president.

And perhaps if institutional media hadn't spent three years pushing a hyperbolically paranoid narrative of Russian collusion -- a debunked conspiracy theory incessantly repeated by Democrats during the impeachment trial -- the public wouldn't be anesthetized to another alleged national emergency.

You simply can't expect a well-adjusted voter to maintain CNN-levels of indignation for years on end.

Beyond the public's mood, the Democrats' strategy was a mess. House Dems and their 17 witnesses set impossible-to-meet expectations, declaring that Trump had engaged in the worst wrongdoing ever committed by any president in history. (I'm not exaggerating.) When it comes to Trump criticism, everything is always "the worst thing ever!"

Even if Trump's actions had risen to the level of removal, Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler were terrible messengers to make the case. These are not the politicians you tap to persuade jurors; they're the politicians you pick to rile up your base.

Despite all the fabricated praise directed at Schiff over the past couple of weeks, the man reeks of partisanship. Not only because he's been caught lying about the presence of damning evidence against Trump on more than one occasion, but because he played a sketchy role in helping the whistleblower responsible for sparking the impeachment come forward.

Even then, instead of spending the appropriate time building a solid case, subpoenaing all the "vital" witnesses, and laying out a timeline, House Democrats, by their own admission, rushed forward. They justified taking shortcuts by warning that the country was in a race to stop Trump from stealing the 2020 election just as he had allegedly stolen the 2016 election.

That wouldn't have been a big deal if Nancy Pelosi hadn't exposed the supposed need for urgency as a ruse, by withholding the articles of impeachment from the Senate for weeks. She did so despite having zero standing to dictate the terms of the trial, no constitutional right to attempt to dictate them and no political leverage. In the end, she got nothing from Mitch McConnell for her trouble.

Meanwhile, Democrats had spent most of the House hearings focusing on difficult-to-prove specific criminal offenses of "bribery" and "extortion" -- poll-tested words that were taken up after the House realized "quid pro quo" didn't play as well with the public.

Then, they didn't even bother including the "crimes" -- no, you don't need a violation of criminal law to impeach, but the word was incessantly used by House Dems anyway -- in their open-ended articles of impeachment, written expressly to compel Senate Republicans to investigate for them.

The House had no right to demand that, and the Senate had no reason to comply. So as soon as the upper chamber took up impeachment, Democrats began dropping one "bombshell" leak after the next -- the same strategy they deployed during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings -- to drag out the spectacle and maximize the political damage.

Some of us would certainly have preferred that more Republicans concede Trump's call was unbecoming and, in parts, inappropriate, even if it didn't rise to the level of an impeachable offense. But Democrats keep demanding that Republicans play under a different set of rules.

The Constitution, a document under attack by the very people claiming to save it from the president, worked exactly as it should. The House is free to subpoena all the "vital" witnesses Republicans have supposedly ignored, and then send a new batch of impeachment articles. Impeachment isn't tantamount to a "coup" any more than Senate acquittal is unconstitutional or corrupt.

Pretending that democracy is on the precipice of extinction simply because you didn't get your way, though, is nothing but histrionics.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: 116th; acquittal; impeachmentinquiry; miserablefailure; nancypelousi; speakerpelosi; witchhunt
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To: Kaslin

We are watching Theosophical Gnostic esoteric guru Helen Blavatsky and her butt buddy George Gurdjieff’s little plan for world domination by her magical Nazi wizard “Secret Chiefs” go down the crapper.

War in Heaven. Destroy the Work.


41 posted on 02/07/2020 6:29:12 AM PST by Yollopoliuhqui
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To: Kaslin

It didn’t work because there was no evidence of a crime and indeed, no crime.

I don’t think the call was even inappropriate. Trump was trying to influence/apply pressure. Welcome to any business negotiation....hell, any negotiation. Welcome to politics. Joe Biden openly bragged on video about having actually done what Trump is alleged to have done but did not actually do. Hardly a peep from the Democrat Party or the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party the MSM, about it.


42 posted on 02/07/2020 6:36:15 AM PST by FLT-bird
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To: Kaslin

What I want to know is: has someone told Vindman and Ciaramella to “get your shit and get out!” yet?


43 posted on 02/07/2020 7:03:59 AM PST by Sans-Culotte (With every passing day, I am a little bit gladder that Romney lost in 2012.)
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To: Kaslin

What a complete moronic airheaded dufus retard!

First of all, regarding President Trump, both he and the COUP plotters on the left, knew he was 100% percent innocent all along! Only the dependant dumb sheeple fodder could be fooled!

I do not care who this author writes for, their predications and arguments are either pure “left wing stupid”, or they are left wing PSYOPS trojan within the conservative vail!

1. A crime is not a crime, and guilt is not guilt, because a highly politicized and dishonest political consensus. President Trump was not simply innocent because he had a few more votes in the Senate than the highly politicized and weaponization illegal and conspiratorial “stazi type” police state *COUP* plotters could garnish!

2. Trump always knew in his own heart, he was completely innocent with a clear conscience, because he simply never did what he was blamed of doing. Nor would he ever have been, because he loved America. And in his heart, he would fight anyone who would act destructively against America, which includes wrecking his own family’s future!

3. It was the no-moral-boundaries, global socialist, left-wing within our own IC, DOJ, FBI, and several Congressional offices, which were working hard to make stuff up specifically to frame an innocent President. They knew what they were doing in conspiring with Russian Kremlin ops and Ukraine, and elements of the foreign services of at least four other countries to take him down! *ALL* knew nearly every conspiratorial detail of what they did was a lie, sedicous, treasonous, and highly illegal, and damaging at various levels, to the integrity and operations of our own nation!

4. With a handful of very noteworthy exceptions, the Republican Party not only did little to nothing to defend an innocent President Trump, and did nothing to pressure the rogue IC and DOJ to do the job of defending our freedom and nation — For the first two plus years, the Republican Party either went along with, or assisted the hard left lawless *COUP* planning, and encouraged and pushed for the highly political, and lawless, Mueller investigation! Sessions, Ryan, Burr, even Graham, etc... proactively and decisively went against Trump!

When this all started, the Republican Party had command of both Chambers of Congress! Had they worked with President Trump, they easily could have stomped the life out of the lawless, highly illegal, and rampant rogue sedition being carried out by hard left elements within our IC! AND THEY SHOULD HAVE!

But like the anti-God, anti-morallity, anti-American, global socialist Demon Party, they too were willing to tolerate the lawlessnes to get rid of President Trump!

*ONLY in this decisively “live or die” election cycle scenario, and because of team Trump’s clear policy success’s, incredible popularity, ability to bring in big money, and the Republican Party finally realizing they were cutting their own political throats FOREVER, to not support the President most of them knew was innocent all along, have we seen a rather last minute unification and coalescence around President Trump!

What we are seeing now is quite last minute!

President Trump has spent most of his first term fighting with BOTH the Demon Party and the Republican Party. In my lifetime, I have never seen such blatant isolation of a president from either party!

With the exception of the DoD, The Republican Party has fought him on many pro American positions. Most of them still don’t want to defend our borders, and still won’t stop funding for abortion, or get the budget under control, or work legislativly to deal with clearly illegal rogue left wing states policies.

This author is complete nutso, and his predications reveal his true morally unprincipled leftist bent!

Townehall needs to crush this outed leftist puke!

Almost cannot even believe they let this rot leftist Trojan author happen!


44 posted on 02/07/2020 7:08:20 AM PST by patriotfury ((May the fleas of a thousand camels occupy mo' ham mads tents!))
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To: Kaslin

Why the democratix party failed. Because they are lying cheating scum..who have totally over played their hand. A 9 high can’t beat a Royal Flush.
Go ahead and try to bluff..you are going to lose no matter.


45 posted on 02/07/2020 7:11:14 AM PST by Leep (Everyday is Trump Day!)
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To: patriotfury

Apologize for all the mistakes. Between my very tired eyes and fighting with auto correct, there are many mistakes.


46 posted on 02/07/2020 7:15:19 AM PST by patriotfury ((May the fleas of a thousand camels occupy mo' ham mads tents!))
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To: Kaslin

Impeachment failed because DJT did absolutely nothing wrong.


47 posted on 02/07/2020 7:22:00 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: Kaslin
In truth, Trump, often because of his own actions, has engendered less loyalty than the average president.

BS. In truth? Tell us what action he did that would cause that?

I contend he did not do a damn thing wrong, but the whole Republican Party leadership and pundit class are the ones who have been completely wrong.

Hear me, GOPe!

For years you have let the democrats and media run roughshod over you without fighting back. You concede, reach across the aisle and duck responsibility like no other party.

President Trump's combative spirit is what YOU should have had all along.

You condemn his actions because you are too weak and spineless to confront your political foes.

Seriously, what the Hell are you all doing in politics?

Is it the money?

Is it the ability to position yourselves into some minor roles in Washington, that is, the scraps the democrats don't want?

To many millions of Americans, the policies and ideals put forth by the democrats Leftists are anathema to the ideals of America and Freedom. To us, they are an existential threat.

Yet you don't see them that way. Guess what? They see you that way if you so much as raise your voice to them.

We don't want you, need you or need your capitulation. We don't want to watch you harrumphing and tut-tutting to the media. We want to see you shout over them, be a strong voice, speak for us.

We want Donald Trump. We NEED Donald Trump.

48 posted on 02/07/2020 7:22:42 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (The prisons do not fill themselves. Get moving, Barr!)
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To: Pete Dovgan

President Trump is DEFINING THE JOB!
Husane Obuttboy absolutely demonstrated the don’ts of the job.
GW exemplified the establishment-approved executive position.


49 posted on 02/07/2020 7:27:38 AM PST by caprock
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To: Liz
she desperately wanted to take his place

I read here on FR that in the moments after her tearing up the official SOTU speech copy, she pronounced that Congress was "dissolved". Not adjourned.

It seems in her shattered-dream moment, she couldn't resist play-acting her inner megalomaniac; just as with the passing-out-of-pens episode mentioned, she exposed her inner desire to rid her world of Trump, then Pence, and then upon assuming the Presidency be rid of the current elected Congress by dissolving it, to be reformed with syncophants of her own choosing.

50 posted on 02/07/2020 7:43:49 AM PST by Tellurian (DeMullahkRats would smugly tell even God "you didn't build that".)
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To: 2111USMC

Look, I can respect having a different height wall against “investigations” being used against politicians running for office to be used, as Dershowitz book said, in a game of “guilt by accusation”. See the election cycle of “Culture of Corruption”, where a number of politicians lost their long-held seats due not to their own malfeasance, but Dem prosecutorial malfeasance.

That said, this situation had Biden brazenly bragging of actions which were on their face suspicious.

It also had no evidence of coercion by Trump. The House and it’s Impeachment managers skipped right past that leg and simply assumed it was so.


51 posted on 02/07/2020 8:10:58 AM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: central_va

It might have risen to the level of scowling, if Biden hadn’t been openly bragging about it.


52 posted on 02/07/2020 8:13:29 AM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Kaslin

This guy sucks. Is he a Never Trump clown?


53 posted on 02/07/2020 8:20:11 AM PST by Luke21
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To: A_perfect_lady

So by using an investigation to remove a political rival, Dems made a poor case that it’s wrong to use an investigation to remove a political rival.
—-
That’s really the core of it, isn’t it?


54 posted on 02/07/2020 8:30:25 AM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Kaslin

You can’t compare Democrat loyalty to Republican loyalty. Democrats aren’t loyal in the moral sense, any more than Stalin’s drones were loyal to him. It is more a cult of personality, or a religious ideological devotion, devoid of any higher motive than self-preservation. For Republicans, it is a matter of adherence to the figurehead that champions the party’s principles, but adherence to the principles first.


55 posted on 02/07/2020 8:35:50 AM PST by IronJack
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To: StoneRainbow68
There’s nothing inappropriate about:
“We’ve got the former Veep here bragging in public that he strong-armed you guys. Any truth to that?”

Exactly. And this is how the Repubs should have been saying it. Over and over and over. It's just that simple. Instead, they bury it all in too many words, just like they always do. Like the author of this article.

56 posted on 02/07/2020 8:57:18 AM PST by Eroteme
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To: marktwain
It is far more than histrionics. It threatens the very fabric of our nation. One party being unwilling to accept the results of an election, threatens the foundations of the country.

Well said. I've had it with the soft peddling of what is happening here. This is not a mere attack on Trump, the man. Nor are the perpetrators mere emotional toddlers. We face a calculated, sustained threat.

57 posted on 02/07/2020 9:12:55 AM PST by Eroteme
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To: Tellurian

A likely scenario ....... Nanzi’s wont ever admit Trump won.


58 posted on 02/07/2020 9:34:23 AM PST by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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