As I write this, the U.S. House of Representatives is in session, poised to impeach Donald Trump a second time. This time, unlike last time, it will be a bipartisan effort, as at least six Republicans have joined the effort including Liz Cheney (R-WY), daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney (what a weird sentence to write). Furthermore, according to congressman Jason Crown (D-CO), backed up by credible reporter Tim Alberta of Politico, more republicans wanted to come out in favor of impeachment, but they were literally scared for their lives and those of their family to do so. That's quite unsettling, if true, but no excuse, in my opinion. Resign if that's your attitude. Go live a fear-free life. You don’t belong in Congress if you aren’t willing to stand up to terrorists. It’s your job and your duty as an American leader. People like AOC (D-NY) have undoubtedly faced these types of threats everyday since their election, and they still come out breathing fire and fighting back. And part of me wonders how sincere these fraidy-cat Republicans actually are. Is it possible they’re actually scared of the political/social backlash and are using physical safety as a cover? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the case.
After the House votes to impeach, it will go to the Senate, where it will not be addressed until January 19, one day before Trump will leave office anyway. Mitch McConnell, although he apparently believes the president committed impeachable offenses, will not allow the Senate to convene before then. I almost - repeat, almost -- admire McConnell’s Machiavellian maneuvering (and I definitely like a good alliteration). This way he gets to see a Senate trial against Trump, which he clearly wants, and possibly a conviction*, but it won’t be on his watch. It won’t actually remove the president from power, and it will take away time and resources from other Democratic initiatives. It’s win-win for him.
*It’s a huge longshot that 16 Republican senators would vote “yea,” but there are rumors in the ether that the institutionalist like McConnell want to take back the party from the Trumpists, which, if true, would drastically increase the odds of conviction. This would only vindicate McConnell’s bad behavior in placating Trump and laundering his misdeeds almost his entire term to get tax cuts and judges, but I’d rather have McConnel's team win this fight a thousand times over. When one side would rather assassinate fellow Americans than accept the loss of a fair election (that wasn’t even that close), then I’m probably backing the other side by default.
I think impeachment is the correct decision, even if a Senate trial comes after Biden’s inauguration. There must be consequences for Trump's Big Lie and his seditious demagoguery. A bipartisan conviction would be a massive embarrassment for him, and I think it would prevent him from collecting a presidential pension and from ever holding office again – a non-trivial punishment given he could otherwise run for president again in 2024. (I’ve read conflicting opinions on whether or not conviction actually would carry such penalties, and I’m not sure what the truth is.)
With that said, I’m very sympathetic to Biden’s worry that a drawn-out impeachment trial will hamper his agenda. Democrats won themselves a tremendous opportunity when they swept the Senate runoffs in Georgia.** They will soon hold all three legislative houses, but possibly for only two years, and there is a lot to get done in that time, and it’s not going to be easy, as not only do they not hold a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, a single Democratic defector can sink a bill.
**Despite the polls, which were almost spot on, showing both Dems with narrow leads, I considered them significant underdogs a month ago. Then I went to Georgia for Christmas and felt the energy first-hand and talked to my sister-in-law who was "cautiously optimistic," and thought "maybe they can actually pull this off..."
In rough order of priority, here are the top ten things I think Biden and congress should try to do (not including impeachment):
1. Confirm Biden's cabinet picks
2. Get Covid stimulus checks out the door -- as much money as possible, in as many people's pockets as possible, as quickly as possible
3. Persuade Stephen Breyer to retire; replace him with a young liberal justice like Ketanji Brown Jackson
4. Massive infrastructure/jobs bill
5. Close the loopholes in Obamacare; move toward universal coverage
6. New voting rights act; end gerrymandering
7. Court reform
8. Green energy initiative (would be higher, but Biden can do a lot unilaterally on this front, I think)
9. Immigration reform
10. Police/crime justice reform
Trying to come up with the correct order of this list was very difficult, and I'm still not sure I got it right (and I'm probably missing something really important). I feel pretty strongly that 1, 2, and 3 are correct, but after that you could almost put them into a hat and pull them out. They all seem equally important. And some of them might require changing the filibuster rules, which is a monumental task in and of itself. So, you can see why I'm understanding of Biden not wanting an impeachment trial to be the central focus of the beginning of his presidency.
But it still has to happen.
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment