"She will cut your head off and you won't even know you're bleeding. No one ever won betting against Nancy Pelosi. (She) knows what she is doing - and that should make you sleep at night, knowing that at least somebody in this town knows what they're doing." -- daughter Alexandra Pelosi.
This quote has given some comfort leading up to the 2018 midterms and into 2019. But it no longer supplies succor. The level of unapologetic racism, flat-out obstructionism and unconcealed movement towards authoritarianism from the President and his supporters has become unsustainable. Watching this national train wreck, one wonders what will survive - the American political tradition, or Trumpism. Perhaps neither?
There are few options available to end this nightmare. One conventional method is to vote the bastards out of office in 2020. But this suggests that the election will be unaffected by foreign shenanigans, home-grown voter suppression efforts, and massive pro-Trump media disinformation campaigns. That's unlikely.
Another option is Section Four of the 25th Amendment, which allows a majority of the Cabinet to remove the President if it determines he is incapable or unfit for to serve the office. The Vice-President becomes Acting President. But the President can appeal and then two-thirds of both chambers of Congress need to agree to keep the President from re-acquiring his position. Not likely, even if Trump continues his rapid deterioration into a sphanx-fitting tub of goo. Not this Cabinet.
The other conventional method is a vote on Articles of Impeachment that is passed by the House of Representatives, and a subsequent Senate trial ends with a "convict" verdict from two-thirds of its members. That would do it, except the Senate is controlled by Mitch McConnell and the GOP. Though the Senate has a duty to conduct a trial based on House-passed impeachable offenses, it's far more likely that McConnell and Company would simply change Senate rules. It would be extreme high drama and institution smashing, but The Turtle wouldn't mind. Democracy in America will be officially dead.
What a revolting situation! In the meantime, Democratic presidential candidates and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have been following Option #1. Pelosi has been encouraging specific House committees (Judiciary and Intelligence among them) to conduct hearings on Trump's various impeachable offenses, becoming "de facto" Impeachment Inquiries. She wants the impeachable offenses laid out for the American public to see and hear, without the polarizing Impeachment process. She understands that very few in the nation (much less those in DC) have read any part of The Mueller Report.
Ideally, the Democrats would be able to show the public the cavalcade of damning transgressions that characterized The Mueller Report, with witnesses speaking and networks videotaping, a la Watergate hearings. With such info, a disgusted but informed public would vote Trump and the GOP out in 2020.
But the problem is that crucial information and witnesses are being made unavailable by across-the-board "stonewalling" techniques by Attorney General Bill Barr and various White House entities. Counteracting such efforts by issuing strongly-worded letters, then subpoenas, then citations of civil contempt, and then criminal contempt, with sundry pauses for court rulings, should take us, oh, into summer of 2020 without any resolution.
So, if you had the chance to ask Nancy Pelosi one question, what would it be? Here is what The Daily Kibitz would ask:
"The USA was born out of an existential crisis and has survived two domestically-driven ones (the Civil War and the early years of the Great Depression). We appear to be in another one now. The Administration operates through a sort of political nihilism where it's OK to ignore laws and rulings, dismantle institutions, damage checks & balances and such, as long as it benefits The Boss. The Senate is run by bad-faith leadership that cares only about maintaining complete control. The guiding principles of the post-war GOP are gone, replaced by a grotesque imperative of bigotry, blinding resentment and willful ignorance. If we were looking at another country, we'd say they're in terrible trouble. So the question is:
"How the hell do we get out of this?"
Seriously, she knows what's up. And when you're going up against the King, you better make your play count. Apparently she is opting for the "death by a thousand cuts", then the coup de grace play against the weakened bull. She understands that right now most Americans don't want an Impeachment.
But this leaky boat is springing more leaks as time goes on. The Ship of State has been taking on water and we are in serious danger.
Our opinion is that Pelosi needs to OK official impeachment inquiries. These hearings have special procedural accelerants that will cut through Administration stonewalls. It's a really big deal to impeach, and once the process is enacted, the requests for info and witnesses supersede claims of executive privilege.
It's not going to get better. We agree with the now ex-British Ambassador who stated confidentially in diplomatic messages that Trump is inept, incompetent, ignorant and not likely to change. He "radiates insecurity."
Walking through the Fourth of July crowds here in DC, we were struck by the political ugliness of the President's supporters. There were so many attendees wrapped in flags and Trump caps that it made us fear for our country. These are people who have been fired up with lots of fear and loathing. They really believe in the guy. Plenty of vulgar Trump signs, banners, flags and t-shirts at this patriotic family event:
Lots of class -- all low. We believe that H. Clinton got it right about 50% of his base being "deplorable". She may have been underestimating. They won't be swayed by damning evidence, but the non-base Independents might.
So Nancy Pelosi needs to think this through. She should review this sign on display in the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Read every part and decide if they aren't all being met today by the Trump Administration, the GOP, Fox/Hate Media and White Evangelicals:
And when she's finished with that, she should read this:
Yes, Madam Speaker, we need your help. Time to sharpen the blade. Push forward the necessary process by green-lighting impeachment hearings. Time is no longer on your side. This ship is at serious risk of going down without a rescue.
Oh, Ed. What would you be saying today? "This... is Not America." And he would be right. Good Night and Good Luck, indeed.
