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House Democrats need to impeach Trump. Otherwise, they saddle themselves with the
onus of stunning cowardice. Not just in
the eyes of our descendants, but in terms of current electability. As it stands, Democrats are defending the
Constitution by choosing not to defend it.
Trump's dictatorial bent assails our tricameral system with the dark
charisma of an insurgent white nationalism. Democrats see this. They offer stark warnings in their ominous oratory. And yet they refuse to use their Constitutional powers. Some,
like Elizabeth Warren, have taken the plunge and now stand for
impeachment. Why does the leadership waffle?
The strategy, sadly, is to be political but
unethical: to avoid doing what's right--where
right is based on the principle of challenging a burgeoning tyrant--until enough
American citizens agree that it's right.
Even in terms of practical expediency, it is a pitiable bungle. It means Democrats look passive. False leaders. Trump, on the other hand, comes across as seizing
the helm, assertive, instead of letting the ship drift in the currents. Importantly, although his mendacity is well-known,
Trump presents as serving key constituent beliefs, whereas Democrats project
timorous apprehension.
Strength versus weakness. Principled offense versus compromised defense. Which will 2020 prefer?
From a calculating perspective, some high-power
Dems think they can win next year by not rocking the boat. Polls show that a formidable number of voters
refuse to cast a ballot for Trump. Encouraging,
also, is the momentum that flipped control of the House. However, the zeitgeist of each political
season is a fickle thing, and the mindset of voters is often misread, sometimes
egregiously. Witness, for instance, the
much predicted Clinton victory that never came to pass. Quantitative crunching cannot encapsulate qualitative
irreducibles.
Democrats still aren't facing the framing factors
that toppled both party machines in 2016.
It's fair to say that all voters want leaders who say and do what they
believe. High on the list of odious
traits is mealymouthism, a rhetorical cloak of vacillation that often hides shady politics. The extensive
corruption, decades old, that erected a golden ladder for Trump is well-known
across the demographic spectrum. Any
politician that wants a leg up this political season should use the wealth-gap
distribution curve as their logo.
Right now, when it comes to protecting the Constitution, it is the Democrats who own
mealymouthism. Trump can legitimately
say he is pushing to build the wall and punish China. Can the Pelosians say they are defending the
Constitution by holding Trump accountable?
House leadership says they are aware of the imminent, extreme danger that
Trump presents, and yet they refuse to employ the powers assigned
to them, for the very purpose of protecting the United States from people like
our current President.
Some say that impeachment proceedings will insure that
Trump gets to 'run against the House'. Guess
what? He's going to run against the
House no matter what. Spineless fence-sitting will make it even easier.
It's easy to imagine how it will go:
"Look at 'em. They don't
even have the guts to try and impeach me, folks. Why?
Because they know I'm clean. It's
all a witch-hunt, folks."
Another objection is that, after the House votes
for impeachment, the Senate won't vote to convict. This argument gets things backwards. Senate complicity in tyranny is all the more
reason to stand up to tyranny. Let's,
please, avoid the metaphor of a nuclear power plant meltdown. A situation in which none of the fail-safes
meant to prevent a catastrophe actually tripped.
Failsafe devices don't have a conscience. Presumably our Democratic leadership
does. And if they don't act, their utter
debacle will engrave itself not just on the history of the United States, but also
world civilization.
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