Impeachment happens tomorrow! Justice will be brought to the rotten conduct.
It was just one week ago that the articles of impeachment were drafted by the Intelligence Committee and sent to the Judiciary Committee, who debated the articles at the end of last week.
There was nothing new during the debates. Each member got to talk for five minutes at a time, for many times. They started on Wednesday evening and debated the whole next day, well into Thursday night. Chairman Nadler finally concluded the debate at 11pm on Thursday. They debated for 14 hours. I listened to some of it and learned new committee markup terminology. There were many motions to "strike the last word" which is just parliamentary talk for "(technically) take out one word from the amendment being debated and talk for five minutes about whatever I want to." And there was lots of parliamentary politeness. "As my friend on the other side said..." and "I thank the gentlelady..." when you know they really wanted to put their thumbs in each others' eyes.
The next morning, Friday December 13, the Judiciary Committee voted to approve the two articles of impeachment – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – and move them to the full House.
During the debate, the Democrats were impassioned about their duty to protect and defend the Constitution, pointing out many damaging aspects of 45's scheme, not the least of which that there will remain threats to our free and fair elections if he is allowed to continue unfettered. The GOP continued to screech protestations about the process and the fact that he shouldn't be impeached because the economy is doing so darn well.
And screech they did. As you know, I'm a political addict, and I listened as much as I could. But when the screeching started, I found myself turning the knob on the radio. I had to talk myself into turning it back and listening, because it is my duty. I had to force myself to listen while trying to keep my blood pressure in check.
Turns out it's their very strategy. Deflect, scream, complain, scream, smear, scream, deceive, and scream. They count on Americans turning away in disgust. As for me, any shred of esteem that is left for the GOP just gets worn away with each appearance of one of these howler monkeys.
Ahead of tomorrow's vote, GOP Senators have proclaimed that they will dishonor their oath that they will take ahead of the trial. Their oath, prescribed by the U.S. Constitution, will be: “I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: So help me God.’’
Both Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sen. Lindsey Graham have stated that they have no intention of fulfilling their oath. Sen. Graham was pretty clear: “This thing will come to the Senate, and it will die quickly, and I will do everything I can to make it die quickly. I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.”
Sen. McConnell said, “Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with White House counsel. There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this to the extent that we can. We have no choice but to take [the impeachment trial] up, but we will be working through this process, hopefully in a fairly short period of time, in total coordination with the White House counsel’s office and the people who are representing the president in the well of the Senate.”
So much for being impartial jurors. Read more about it in The Atlantic.
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| Joel Pett |
One thing not to forget: Chief Justice John Roberts will be presiding over the trial. He will, I hope, lend an air of solemnity to the proceedings and not let the GOP turn it into a sham.
Many individuals and entities across the country have endorsed impeachment. More than 700 legal scholars and historians have signed a letter urging the House to impeach TЯUMP. They warn about the danger to our democracy by allowing this man to trample the Constitution and to act as a monarch.
Several newspapers' editorial boards have endorsed impeachment, including our own Los Angeles Times, which writes, "(there is) overwhelming evidence that Trump perverted U.S. foreign policy for his own political gain. That sort of misconduct is outrageous and corrosive of democracy. It can’t be ignored by the House, and it merits a full trial by the Senate on whether to remove him from office."
A group of centrist Democrats came out as supporting impeachment. These folks are mostly freshmen members whose districts flipped blue and elected them but have a strong Republican constituency. They risk their seats but are following their consciences. But that Republican members of the House and Senate should have such courage.
The Judiciary Committee released a 658-page report outlining all of the evidence against 45. You can read it here, if you wish.
And on the eve of the historic vote, the Lunatic-in-Chief sent a six-page letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It was a six-page-long Twitter tirade, complete with incoherent rants, smears, wild accusations, falsehoods, deflections, and victimhood. The letter has been described as "unhinged," "scathing," "sick," "wild, false and misleading," "bizarre and frightening," and "insane." Here is the letter, annotated by the Washington Post.
Stephen Colbert takes a look at the letter:
And so, tomorrow the full United States House of Representatives will debate for a few hours and then, they will vote to impeach the 45th president of the United States of America.
I let my representative know how I feel. Have you?
"A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves." – Grover Cleveland
#Resist!
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