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Impeached? Not So Fast.
Well, well, well! (Or as Homicide Hunter detective Joe Kenda would say: “My, my, my!”)
President Trump has not been impeached. There has been no “mark of Cain” affixed to him after all. That according to law professor Noah Feldman who “testified” at the House Judiciary Committee hearings in support of impeachment. Per Professor Feldman, Trump is not impeached until the Articles are presented to the Senate. So long as Nancy holds on to the Articles in her attempt to … whatever she thinks she is doing … then impeachment remains only a progressive dream as yet unrealized.
The blunders continue. One theory is that Nancy will exact some agreement from Senate Majority Leader McConnell over the procedures for the Senate trial. But why should McConnell concede anything? He has already made a powerful and extended case for why the Senate should summarily dispose of the Articles. And if Feldman is correct, then the Senate is free to proceed with the regular order if, and until, the Articles are presented.
Another theory is that Nancy knows this enrages Trump and expects it to prompt him to do something intemperate that will strengthen the Democrats’ electorally. The Democrats have already threatened to do serial impeachments as long as Trump is in office, and Schiff is even threatening Vice President Pence. So, chaos is the order of the day.
Well, Trump is the master of chaos. So, it is unclear how chaos works to Trump’s disadvantage even as it continues to harm the country, until the country totally tunes out. McConnell is not a chaos guy. And as he mentioned in his speech, it is the function of the Senate to cool the temporary passions of politics to which the House is prone. A third of the Senate is up for re-election in 2020: 23 Republicans and 12 Democrats. The economy is doing well and the Dems are making asses of themselves. Yes, the big money players could be problematic to Senate campaigners if the contributors have a strong desire to see Trump removed. But I don’t think that many Republican Senators up for re-election see “regime change” as in their interests.
The media can be relied upon to parrot any message the Dems want to send. Heck, it’s probably the media with its Democrat operative alums holding the levers of power who are actually setting the agenda anyway. But their influence is waning. It is the Googles, Facebooks, Twitters, and YouTubes of the world that can do the Republicans and Trump the most harm.
So, it comes around to Trump. He is the only voice that they fear to silence — only because it could not escape notice. He must continue to own the bully pulpit and make use of Nancy’s non-impeachment to rile her base and give the lie to the “constitutional emergency” that she claims. Every day that Nancy does not move, independents move Trump’s way. This is not a time to give an inch.
Published in General
The MSM is saying President Trump has now a permanent stain. I told MrsCheese I thought that was on Monica’s blue dress .
I think the country is already there.
Spot on analysis.
It might be chaos because, Nancy and The Democrats don’t know what they are doing and have been so reliant of media messaging on their behalf, but they are now confusing the media. The audience has lost the plot.
None of it makes sense and the odd realities supersede the ability of the media to provide coherent defenses.
This is where Mitch or someone needs to go and see Trump and say “Look, man, we may have had our differences, but let’s just sit on this. As long as they don’t send them, it’s as if it never happened. We got your back.”
The Republicans simply need to say “Let us know, NancyBear. Until then we are getting on with the people’s business.”
The intellectually curious part of me wonders (a bit) how history will record this if the House never passes the articles of impeachment on to the Senate. History refers to Presidents Johnson and Clinton as “impeached Presidents,” since they were impeached but the Senate did not convict them and remove them from office.
I am not willing to take Noah Feldman’s word (given the ridiculous things he said in his “testimony”last week). But, I see the point of the principle behind the opinion – if the House prevents the Senate from performing the second stage of the process, has the House really completed the first stage of the process? But history doesn’t always record the legal fine points, particularly as here when recording the legal fine points takes a lot of words. History likes broad simplistic descriptions.
So, will history record that President Trump was impeached or not impeached? Will history record that the House failed to complete the process of impeachment?
The Senate needs to take it up now before the Democrats can use it as an election issue to flip the Senate. Yes I know they need 67 to impeach but they only need 51 to write the rules in the Senate. Do we need a rehash of the circus?
How much energy is this sucking out of the Dem Candidates!
Not delivering the Articlo is a giant blunder.
Congress is going on vacation as well as the elite journos. Trump will be very accessible and will keep slamming this in front of various Christmas Trees.
Proceeding with impeachment was a giant blunder. they should have said “We ain’t gonna get anywhere with this, so instead we are going to start passing bills that represent what we, the Democrats, want done.” Then they should have explained how the Republicans are the party of no. That would have been a strategy. This? This is nonsense. But I may be in my own bubble.
Sources for inside information on the Durham criminal investigations are beginning to emerge with media reporting. If impeachment goes on the shelf for a period of time while Pelosi tries to leverage McConnell, the media will go to Durham, Giuliani, and Ukraine. I think that could make this winter very interesting.
Gee, Nancy, if you guys weren’t serious about all that impeachment hullabaloo, no problem. We have a country to run while you kids play.
As long as they keep sending bills to the President for him to sign, I refuse to believe that they really want to impeach the guy. Why would you ask someone that you think it unfit for office to endorse your legislation? Does that not imply that your legislation is unfit to be endorsed?
Is she looking for a quid pro quo?
ISWYDT
Someone posted the joke in the funny political meme group so I can’t take credit for it.
I read somewhere that today Nancy said Trump would be “stained forever,” as if that was all she really wanted, whether he is removed or not. The way I see it, he could also be “aquitted forever,” which either cancels that little business or makes it totally a partisan clash, either way not such a stain after all.
An honest man.
I’ll bet we have more than a few honest men and women here.
How about in the House of Representatives? Here’s a question. Take out Jeff Van Drew because I don’t know what he thinks about my question but all the other Democrats must know something of the Bidens’, that’s father and son, I don’t know about brother, dealings in the Ukraine matter but none of them can see any issues in that but they can read Trump’s mind for intent far better than IG Horowitz can in his investigative targets. Is there an honest man or woman in the House Democrat Caucus?
Doubtful.
If the Dems are happy that they have “impeached Trump,” I say let them sit there thinking they’ve accomplished that mission.
A while ago, Bill Maher was saying it would be worth crashing the entire economy if it tarnished the Trump presidency. (I guess it would need to be tarnished enough that he wouldn’t win in 2020.) This impeachment might mean that now the weaponized CIA won’t diddle around with the economy.
So right now we have a peaceful earth, a robust economy, a wakening public, and the Dems gloating over the fact that they are the world’s greatest legislators. Fine by me. Leave them in their state of entrancement, and let’s let the rest of us enjoy the holidays and wait for things to get back on track.
“Never interrupt an enemy who is busy destroying himself,” stated Napolean Bonaparte. Meanwhile Tiny Tim reminds us “God bless us everyone!”
The Lame Steam Media hasn’t made sense in a long, long time.
Their object is and always was to get the word ‘impeached’ on the Nightly News (oxymoron?) each and every day until at least October 31st. That may be best accomplished without sending the articles to the Senate where they would surely die quickly.
Like Rush said, it’s all about the asterisk. The whole point of impeachment – knowing they’d never get a conviction – was to damage Trump any way possible. Leftist journalists can now start every article with “President Trump, impeached by the House in 2019,” etc.
I still say the next Republican House should hold anti-impeachment hearings, then vote to nullify the impeachment. This would add a second asterisk which says the House process in 2019 was a sham.
I had not seen this suggestion of yours earlier. I endorse it.
Note that it doesn’t remove the impeachment from the Congressional record. Instead, it puts an asterisk on the Democrats and Pelosi.
Trump is only partially impeached. So I’ll say he’s been peached. Maybe that counts for his orange – or more accurately – peachy complexion.
From Eat a Peach:
Last Sunday morning, the sunshine felt like rain
The week before, they all seemed the same
With the help of God and true friends, I’ve come to realize
I still have two strong legs, and even wings to fly
So I, ain’t a-wastin time no more
‘Cause time goes by like hurricanes, and faster things
Well, Lord, Lord, Miss Nancy, why all your cryin’?
Been around here three long days, lookin’ like we’re dyin’
Go step yourself outside, and look up at the stars above
And go on downtown, baby, find somebody to loveMeanwhile, I ain’t a-wastin’ time no more
‘Cause time goes by like pouring rain, and much faster things
You don’t need no gypsy to tell you why
Ya can’t let one precious day to slip by
Well, look inside yourself, and if you don’t see what you want
Maybe sometimes then ya don’t
But, leave your mind alone and just get high
Well, by and by, way after many years have gone
And all the war freaks die off, leavin’ us alone
We’ll raise our children, in the peaceful way we can
It’s up to you and me brother
To try and try againSo, hear us now, we ain’t wastin’ time no more
‘Cause time rolls by like hurricanes
Runnin’ after the subway train
Don’t forget the pourin’ rain
I guess Sean Davis (Federalist) had it right: “Dem Impeachment debacle is like watching a bunch of monkeys trying to hump a doorknob.”
Joe Kenda is my hero.
This is the most bizarre strategy I’ve ever seen. I’m one who thinks Nancy Pelosi is generally pretty smart, if evil. But what the hell she thinks this is going to accomplish is beyond me. I assume Cocaine Mitch wished her a Merry Christmas, told her to “call us if you need us” and went home to Kentucky.
True. But what you are stating is common sense, and the bubble of common sense has always been small .🙂
She is an idiot if she believes it gives her leverage. But she may simply hold to the notion of never let an opportunity go by for your opponent to trip themselves up. If they give her something then she wins. As a practical matter the House was not going to present before Christmas so her trolling about whether she will present or when is just some yuletide fun for her. If she presents within a few days of January 6 then she has simply roiled the newscycle during the recess and done what was planned all along. Mitch is not taking the bait, and more’s the good.