Yes, it is a source of shame. And deep frustration
by digby
On June 10, in an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Trump’s lawyers contested the claim that the House’s impeachment power could justify subpoenaing the president’s financial records while gleefully pointing out to the judge that impeachment is not even on the table. They wrote in their brief:
Speaker Pelosi has steadfastly denied that the House’s investigations are in any way related to impeachment. In March, she unequivocally told the Washington Post, ‘I’m not for impeachment.’ In late May, the Speaker reiterated that ‘any suggestion that Democrats are planning to pursue impeachment ‘simply isn’t the truth.’” After she received the district court’s ruling in this case, the Speaker boasted that the Committee had prevailed despite “the fact the House Democratic caucus is not on a path to impeachment.” Just four days ago, the Speaker again told senior Democratic leaders that “she isn’t open to the idea” of impeachment, and Chairman Cummings “sided with Pelosi.”
Is it not a source of shame for rank-and-file Democrats, whether on the left or in the “center,” that Trump lawyers are citing Pelosi’s refusal to impeach him as their defense in court? As their justification for ignoring congressional subpoenas?
Yes, it is. But I’m not surprised. My entire adult political life has been characterized by Democrats refusing to fight the ever more radical Republican Party and conservative movement that fed it.
This isn’t about policy or “kitchen table issues.” I accept that the Democratic Party is a big tent ideologically and the ongoing arguments about policy are healthy and to be expected. It’s about this congenital unwillingness to confront what’s happened and continues to happen to the right wing. They simply will not accept that something toxic and dangerous has evolved before their very eyes. They are the political equivalent of climate deniers.
They are not just silly buffoons. For all of their lunacy and off-the-wall personalities, this is movement with a dark and dangerous post-modern view of how the world works. It is very foolish not to take them seriously. They have a full-fledged propaganda arm, vast sums of money and they control about 40% of the population.
But hey, I’m just screaming into the void here, as usual, watching our politics get crazier, and angrier, hurtling further and further out of control.
Yes, ashamed. And tired of it.
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