IMPEACHED!!!

Well, the asshole-in-chief has finally been impeached! Definitely historic and cause for celebration, although unfortunately but very predictably without a single Republican vote and with a couple of Democrats voting against it. Even more outrageous than the Republicans’ unanimous see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil of Trump mentality were many of their impeachment debate points on the House floor, including comparing Trump’s impeachment to Jesus on trial and to Pearl Harbor!! Wow!! I have to admit that from my biased urban northeast perspective it was no surprise that most if not all of the most offensive Republicans had southern accents! I still believe it was a mistake to go narrow and not to include an article on obstruction of justice from the Mueller report and any other charges that could be supported. It is still a foregone conclusion that if and when it goes to the Senate for trial, Trump will be acquitted entirely or nearly entirely along party lines. However, that may be later rather than sooner in view of Nancy Pelosi’s decision to not send the articles to the Senate at least until after Congress returns from the holiday recess in January, and then supposedly only after the Senate adopts “fair” rules for the trial. That process is already at an impasse between Senate Republicans and Democrats over whether to call witnesses. Pelosi‘s generally unexpected (although recommended by some political pundits) delay gambit is of course being widely assaulted by Republicans, but it will be interesting to see if this provides any leverage for Senate Democrats to get what they want. Although Senate Republicans would be happy to avoid a trial entirely, Trump is desperately banking on being acquitted in the Senate, and will certainly pressure McConnell to get that done, which in turn might push him to give Democrats some concessions. It will be an interesting game of chicken. Republicans certainly realize that if first-hand witnesses like Bolton and Mulvaney are forced to testify, that could be highly damaging to their case against conviction. Although Pelosi could theoretically hold onto the articles indefinitely so that Trump could never claim exoneration, that would probably be politically untenable. 

Another interesting and potentially damaging development for Trump is an editorial in the periodical Christianity Today, founded by Billy Graham, which completely sides with Democrats, denounces Trump’s immoral behavior and calls for his removal! That may set up a messy debate among evangelicals, most of whom have so far been willing to condone ANY behavior from POTUS as long as he is packing the courts with conservative judges, although the more ugly and offensive his personal attacks become, the more some evangelicals may be turned off. If the Christianity Today editorial viewpoint gains traction with other evangelical publications, which seems pretty unlikely based on past example, that might just suppress enough evangelical voter turnout in the critical swing states to cost Trump the next election! Fingers crossed!!