i'll just toss my previous take in here on impeachment: i'm still not really sold on impeachment proceedings because of this. the only other ostensible reason i can see for pursuing them is to try...
i'll just toss my previous take in here on impeachment:
even if donald literally shot and killed a congressperson on the senate floor, i'm not convinced you could find the necessary republican votes to impeach him in the house or senate. impeachment proceedings also infamously backfired on republicans when they tried them on clinton, and he came out of them more popular than when they started. given that there is realistically no chance of impeachment actually occurring, i'm honestly not sure what the point would be other than pandering to the base, which democrats really don't need to do at this point to win in 2020 and which they can also do in ways which won't potentially backfire and turn voters against them like impeachment proceedings might.
i'm still not really sold on impeachment proceedings because of this. the only other ostensible reason i can see for pursuing them is to try and stick up for rule of law, but rule of law isn't going to be restored by pursuing something that will fail, nor is impeachment going to dial back the creep of power going on in the executive branch which trump has used to pursue a lot of the things that will be used against him in such proceedings. it's a systematic problem that has been decades in the making that trump has just happened to expose, and impeaching trump or trying to impeach him isn't going to make it go away. it might be a step toward making it go away, but there are also other steps that could be taken instead that are less likely to backfire for the democrats and potentially lead to trump's reelection.
I think Tom Nichols has the right of it: There has been a fundamental shift in this country’s cultural expectations about who laws really apply to, and although there’s still a possibility of...
At some point, not impeaching means that nothing matters in our constitutional life, and that nothing ever will matter. Impeachment, if it follows a careful rollout and debate, can negate that legacy.
And maybe, years from now, what we need is an asterisk in the history books that says: "There was a penalty for violating the oath of office, and engaging in these high crimes. And President Trump survived due only to the corruption of a single party."
There has been a fundamental shift in this country’s cultural expectations about who laws really apply to, and although there’s still a possibility of walking that back in coming decades, I think that possibility dwindles if we only try to apply the law when we expect it to stick.
we already do this at literally every level of law, though (including when nixon was set to be impeached). if that's the standard, we lost that battle decades ago. most people don't try and...
There has been a fundamental shift in this country’s cultural expectations about who laws really apply to, and although there’s still a possibility of walking that back in coming decades, I think that possibility dwindles if we only try to apply the law when we expect it to stick.
we already do this at literally every level of law, though (including when nixon was set to be impeached). if that's the standard, we lost that battle decades ago. most people don't try and prosecute charges they know won't ever stick, even if those charges are entirely valid.
i'll just toss my previous take in here on impeachment:
i'm still not really sold on impeachment proceedings because of this. the only other ostensible reason i can see for pursuing them is to try and stick up for rule of law, but rule of law isn't going to be restored by pursuing something that will fail, nor is impeachment going to dial back the creep of power going on in the executive branch which trump has used to pursue a lot of the things that will be used against him in such proceedings. it's a systematic problem that has been decades in the making that trump has just happened to expose, and impeaching trump or trying to impeach him isn't going to make it go away. it might be a step toward making it go away, but there are also other steps that could be taken instead that are less likely to backfire for the democrats and potentially lead to trump's reelection.
I think Tom Nichols has the right of it:
There has been a fundamental shift in this country’s cultural expectations about who laws really apply to, and although there’s still a possibility of walking that back in coming decades, I think that possibility dwindles if we only try to apply the law when we expect it to stick.
we already do this at literally every level of law, though (including when nixon was set to be impeached). if that's the standard, we lost that battle decades ago. most people don't try and prosecute charges they know won't ever stick, even if those charges are entirely valid.
There's a good politico article on why dems need to stop "chasing the impeachment unicorn" that I wish would come to pass. But I doubt it.