On the return from fencing practice this evening, I was greeted with the announcement that Speaker Pelosi has decided that the timing is right, or perhaps this incident is too important to ignore – an Impeachment Inquiry is now under way in the House of Representatives:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, a dramatic and historic move that comes as the President faces outrage over reports that he pressured a foreign leader in an effort to target a political rival.
The announcement marks the most direct step taken by the House Democratic leader to embrace impeachment proceedings and is a significant escalation in the fight between House Democrats and the President.
“Today, I am announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry,” Pelosi said in a brief speech in the Capitol, adding, “The President must be held accountable. No one is above the law.” [CNN]
This could be a terribly divisive event for the nation, or an opportunity to come together in deciding whether or not President Trump deserves to be booted out of office. It’ll all depend on several things.
First, is President Trump, in the Ukrainian incident, actually guilty of any sort of abuse of power in his dealings with the President of Ukraine? Yes, yes, “guilty” is a loaded term, but I think we can agree that Trump, in terms of how the military aid was sent to Ukraine, and how Trump communicated with the President of Ukraine, has either abused his position for domestic political gain, or he didn’t. These are facts still to be ascertained, at present more or less allegations.
Second, regardless of the outcome of the investigation, the communications of the investigating committees needs to be clear and complete to the entire electorate. If they find insufficient evidence, then that must be communicated to the Democratic base; similarly, if the impeachment motion is actually passed, then the reasons why need to be communicated clearly to the Republican base.
If messaging that suggests this is little more than a political hit job, or that he’s escaped again because of Democratic turncoats, then the nation will be in turmoil, and our adversaries, from Iran to Russia, will be inordinately pleased with themselves.
But if the Democrats can manage it, then the Republicans will have their own moral issues, as Jennifer Rubin (among other) has pointed out. And President Trump will almost certainly fight it[1]. We’ve already seen his favorite tactic, projection, in use in his accusations against the Bidens. It’s worth noting the supreme importance of not permitting Trump defenders to get away with the what-about defense. This isn’t a comparison with Biden, Obama, Clinton, or anyone else. This is about the measurement of Trump against the responsibilities of the office as laid out in the Constitution and applicable law. Period end of discussion. If the Democrats don’t put out that argument early and often, they may lose the messaging mission completely.
I expect parts of the electorate will be eternally embittered by this. The older evangelical segment, which has nursed Trump at their breast and continually backed him in his darkest moments, have invested too much to throw it all away. The Trumpists who’ve ridden his coattails into power will likewise stick with him. And they’ll never believe he’s guilty of anything more than a peccadillo, because such guilt reflects poorly on their sensibilities, their ethics, and their responsibilities as citizens.
But for those not beholden, the silent Republicans who’ve backed Trump, but with reluctance and embarrassment, they may finally have a reason to step off the runaway freight train that is the Republican Party, to follow the braver Republicans who couldn’t stomach Trump and step onto the train platform and now ride that Republican train into right-wing hell.
But that’s all speculation. Right now we’re on the first step of a path which will infuriate the Trumpists. You’ll know them by their bellowing. They see their investment in the Trump machine threatened, and the hell with good governance or the country’s moral position or its future prosperity. They’re threatened and they’ll fight like hell and deny facts and in general behave in ways most dishonorable, all in defense of their self-interest. If they were honest, they’d say “bring it on, we’re not afraid of an inquiry.” But they’re not honest. We’ve seen that with the Mueller Report, the loud proclamations that it cleared Trump totally when it didn’t, the admissions that nearly none of the Republicans, save Representative Amash, had read it.
Here comes more.
1 Except a small part of me keeps saying he’ll leave the country soon, and never come back. He’ll get out of extradition range, bellow about his victimization, and lounge about being pampered.
