On my mind: Impeachment.

Bill Bernstein

by Bill Bernstein - First, it shouldn't need to be said but does: As my 7th grade history teacher Harry Allison jammed into us, to impeach means "to bring charges against." Nothing more. Removing a federal official requires a trial in the Senate and a 2/3rds vote to convict. As I read it, nothing requires the Senate to hold a trial if the House has voted to impeach someone. And I predict in this case if the House votes to impeach Trump the Senate will not even hold a trial.

Democrats have been vowing to impeach Trump from the moment he was sworn in (possibly earlier). They have a ready-made narrative that Trump is corrupt, Trump is a criminal. They have spent 3 years trying to find a fact pattern that fits that narrative. This is why you see the same words and phrases used by them, whether talking about Russian collusion, German banks, his tax returns or the Ukrainian telephone call. All of them are supposedly examples of "Trump is corrupt, Trump is criminal."

He is many things but corrupt or criminal is not one of them. That is why these narratives fall apart when the facts finally come out. It won't be any different here.

Back to impeachment. Many Democrats ran on the promise they would impeach him. That barking idiot Rashida Talib at her swearing in said "We're gonna impeach the motherfucker." She got applause. It is the applause line for the Democratic Party. It is a fund raiser for them and a motivator for them. It gets their blood going.

But back in America no one really wants to see this. Nancy Pelosi and the senior Democrats know this, and they have fought impeachment every time it has come up (articles of impeachment have been introduced by Democrats every session). Now the groundswell from the young Progressives has become too much to bear and they will go ahead with this.

Good.

Because once they impeach Trump, what else do they have? As I say, the Senate probably won't consider it, and if they do they aren't removing him.

So what will the Democrats run on next time? Impeaching him again? That won't work Passing motions of no confidence like Britain? Who knows.

Again, back in America people understand the Democrats have nothing to offer working people. They will have spent time and energy on a symbol. Not on fixing problems. Trump will likely be reelected and every Democrat not in a safe district will be tarred with this impeachment business. This will likely make the Democrats merely a regional party without national standing. They have already lost over 900 seats in elected positions in the country, being mainly an urban party.

Bill Bernstein, formerly of Nashville where he was owner of Eastside Gun Shop, now lives in Brunswick, Georgia. He is an expert on the Second Amendment.  He is a scholar with a BA degree from Vanderbilt University and  degrees in Classics from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, UNC-Chapel Hill, and University of Pennsylvania.

Top Stories