So, the House impeachment inquisition is moving on -- to its Judiciary Committee and I assume the outcome of their hearings is already pre-determined, as evidenced by the comments of the Speaker this week. It’s nice to know as a Catholic, one who believes in the killing of the unborn by the way, she is incapable of hate and this is all moving forward to save the Republic. Her invocation of faith reminds me of the last great Catholic inquisition where those who didn’t agree with the church were tortured and killed for their own good and to save their souls.
Just as in the Intelligence Committee hearings the opening witnesses offered opinions, for that is all “legal experts” can offer. Not one of the witnesses has first-hand knowledge of the “high crime” that will result in the bills of impeachment but were called to supposedly shed some light on the severity of the allegations or the intent of the founders in allowing for impeachment. The fact most of them have been part of the “Resistance” movement since the election should in no way influence their expertise.
Listening to excerpts of the testimony I think I am on safe ground in saying bribery will be one of the charges. They might also throw in some stuff about self-enrichment and violations of the emoluments clause even though they have failed in the courts with that charge.
There is an interesting observation floating around, one which resonates with me. “The bar for impeachment has been set so low we can now expect to see it used routinely, but the bar for conviction is so high it has never been reached.” For those who would bring up Richard Nixon, I would just point out he resigned before the trial ever began. I am pretty certain it won’t be reached in this case.
The question for us as we approach the next election is really about what form of government do we want? Do we want what we have today where the politician’s primary concern is about destroying their political opponents, or do we want to reshape the landscape to force them to see the error of their ways? That latter option is not likely and is perhaps impossible but if the Republic is to survive it is the only true option. The only way to achieve the latter option is to completely reshape the Congress by voting out every incumbent and starting over with a new House and a 1/3 new Senate. Of course, the danger here is no one in the House would know how to act as a Representative and the professional staffers would be in complete control. So maybe that’s not a viable thing either?
Oh well, I guess we’re doomed to keep living this Ground Hog Day scenario for as long as a Republican is in the White House.
2 comments:
Today, December 10, 2019, we now know what the articles of impeachment are. The Democrats were apparently not even able to convince their own membership of any clear cut case for bribery even though they've been pushing that ever since the "quid pro quo" argument fell on deaf ears. They
ve settled for two rather vague charges that probably fall far short of being a high crime as the founders considered the issue. So we will move forward with "obstruction of Congress" and Abuse of Power... anyone think these won't be strictly party line votes?
December 12 update, Scott Adams has posted the bill of bribery was not issued because it would open Joe Biden up to the same charge and the Democrats didn't want to tarnish their leading candidate. I guess he is doing enough of that himself they didn't want to help with the process.
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