Do Me a Favor

Hello, Americans.  Your favorite political junkie here.  While you were out walking the dog, washing the car, or whatever it is you do, I’ve been keeping up with the cable news and watching baseball—GO TWINS! —so I can furnish you the synopsis of the goings on in D.C.  So, do me a favor—pay attention!

Undisputed facts:  Donald Trump held up a congressionally authorized payment to Ukraine allocated for their defense against Russia.  In a phone call to Ukraine’s president Zelensky he noted how good the U.S. had been to Ukraine, and Zelensky agreed stating he needed the money to buy arms.  He also mentioned that he and his comrades had stayed in Trump owned hotels.  (Cue big suck up sound). Trump told Zelensky he wanted him to do a favor. (Cue here comes the shake down).  Investigate Cloudstrike, the outfit that looked into the 2016 hack of the DNC and concluded it came from Russia that Trump apparently thinks came from Ukraine, and investigate Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, and his involvement with a Ukrainian gas company.  Trump implied there was something crooked about both and told Zelensky that he would have Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney, and Bill Barr, the U.S. Attorney General call.

Other item of note:  a whistleblower gathered information from high level sources and submitted documentation that revealed presidential abuses of power.  He or she also noted that transactions of a political nature were placed on a secure server that is used for highly sensitive national security purposes.  Trump is incensed and stated that whoever turned over information is a spy, and we know what people did to spies in the old days, now don’t we?

So, there you have it.  Nancy Pelosi got off the fence and called for an impeachment inquiry.  Many dems thought this was peachy-keen and believe they have the smoking gun.  Pelosi says this is a cover up.  Congressional committees have ramped up and subpoenas are starting to fly.  Trump defenders are saying this is a witch hunt and there was no quid pro quo.  Pundits are pundit-ing and public opinion polls are moving towards supporting impeachment.  But conventional wisdom says that even if the House votes a bill of impeachment, which they likely will, the Republican dominated Senate will never convict.  In the meantime, nothing gets done, but it will make interesting television for political junkies like me.

So, again, Americans, do me a favor—pay attention.  The stakes are high.