If you need some reassurance that the United States isn’t melting into a puddle, an NBC News/WSJ poll concerning the impeachment proceedings might provide just a bit:
Forty-eight percent of Americans believe that Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while an equal 48 percent say they disagree. …
Asked to explain their feelings over whether to impeach and remove Trump from office, 25 percent of all respondents (including 55 percent of Republicans) say the president has not done anything wrong.
An additional 22 percent (including 35 percent of Republicans) say that he may have done something wrong but that it doesn’t rise to the level of impeachment.
That 35 percent of Republicans believing Trump did something wrong tells us that at least some Republicans recognize the error of Trump’s ways, and that means there’s something agreement over the obvious facts on the ground. That’s important. That they don’t agree that impeachment and conviction is called for isn’t a matter for condemnation, but for discussion.
It’s when obvious facts are denied out of hand that I despair. But once an admission of the facts is made, then you can ask your favorite Trump cultist (who may not be one if they admit to the facts), What do you mean? How far must a President, regardless of party, stoop before impeachment proceedings are allowable, in your judgment? And once the discussion begins, then you have a chance of persuading the obdurate Republican that allegiance to Party over Country is not permissible, and that spelling out how awful the conduct must be will then permit examination of Trump’s many flaws in comparison. And make them think a little harder about their allegiance.
