October 26, 2019

If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.”   That quote, attributed to Carl Sandburg, usually applied to trials, sums up reaction by Republican to the impeachment inquiry.  Unable to defend Trump on the facts, they have tried arguing the law, claiming that the process adopted by the Democrats is unlawful, unfair and unconstitutional.

However, the Constitution vests in the House the power of impeachment, so the last argument evaporates.  The accusations of unfairness and illegality have two forms.  The first is that the procedures followed by the Democrats are unprecedented, but they are the procedures used in the past by Republicans.  The claim that Republicans are frozen out of the process ignores the presence of GOP members on the various committees. 

The second form has been pushed by Senator Graham, who calls on his legal experience to claim that Trump should have defense counsel present at the hearings.  The Senator, despite his training, apparently does not understand the difference between indictment — the grand jury process — and criminal trial, nor between impeachment by the House and trial by the Senate.   (While he’s offering up legal analogies, he might want to reflect on his future status in a trial before the Senate; jurors are supposed to be unbiased).

A gaggle of House Republicans, sensing the failure of their arguments on law as well as facts, moved on to yelling and pounding , in this case at the door of the conference room where a Defense Department official was about to testify to a committee considering impeachment.  They milled about, interrupting the hearing for five hours.  It would be hard to imagine a clearer showing of desperation than this resort to adolescent bullying by alleged supporters of due process.

Given their level of clear thinking, we might expect, when the inquiry moves to pubic hearings, a Republican argument that proceedings should be held behind closed doors, since public revelation of Trump’s malfeasance would be unfair to him.

The sad, tragic, frightening aspect of the Republicans’ mindless defense of their leader is the tribalism it reflects and encourages.  Providing an example, a major league umpire reportedly tweeted: “I will be buying an AR-15 tomorrow, because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way, YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER CIVAL[sic] WAR!!! #MAGA2020.”

Trump, showing signs of panic, feeds that us-versus-them divisiveness; in a recent tweet, he declared war even on fellow Republicans: “The Never Trumper Republicans, though on respirators with not many left, are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats. Watch out for them, they are human scum!”  Was that simply Donald being over the top?  No; it’s official White House doctrine.  Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, asked whether Trump regretted “human scum,”  replied: “The people who are against him and have been against him and working against him since the day they[?] took office are just that.” 

Trump must be removed from power, by impeachment and conviction or by election, but the aftermath may not be pleasant.