Noise

With impeachment looming, both sides are lathered up about how to manage the fallout.  Democrats are gathering facts and constructing subpoenas.  Trump supporters, which includes most Republicans say it is a witch hunt, that there is nothing to see here aside from Trump being Trump.  Polls show a near even split that favor impeachment versus those who don’t, but the impeachers have been gaining ground.

In the meantime, the Republican National Committee—or is it Trump’s largess, I can’t tell—is putting out TV ads that impugn the Democrat’s motives peppered with images of left-leaning Democrat Congresswomen stating they and their colleagues want to overturn the 2016 election.  Some even say they see nothing wrong with Trump’s phone call to the President of Ukraine calling for him to investigate the Bidens because he was just trying to ferret out corruption.  He also has called upon China to investigate the Bidens.  One wonders if he is so big on calling out corruption why he has not said something about corruption in Russia, North Korea, or many other countries rife with it?  It’s probably just coincidence that he has called for investigating corruption targeted at a potential 2020 rival.

The Republican play book apparently is to muddy the waters and create as much noise as possible to deflect the impeachment steam roller.  They also call upon some familiar tropes—“fake news”, “presidential harassment”—to make their case.  In the meantime, congressional committees are plowing ahead with witnesses, calls for documents, and trying to decide how wide they should investigate.  I’m afraid the longer they drag this out, the more they play into Trump’s hands.

Here are the undisputed facts:  Trump has solicited foreign governments—Ukraine, China—to investigate a potential political rival.  He denies there was a quid pro quo, although it seems clear that he was holding up military aid to Ukraine and pressuring China to play ball with a trade deal in exchange for investigations.  But the reality is proof of a quid pro quo is not needed, because the mere act of soliciting a foreign power to interfere in our electoral process is a crime, and many say enough itself to support impeachment.  There’s no need for uncovering more evidence—Trump has admitted it in plain sight.  So House Democrats—and maybe some Republicans?—get on with it.  Draft the Article(s) of impeachment and vote.

Pundits say Trump expects for the House to impeach, but the Republicans in the Senate to hold and not convict.  If twenty Republican senators don’t cave and vote to convict, he’s probably right.  So where will we end up?  A house divided, where we are now.  And the noise will continue well into 2020.