As the Democrat impeachment farce concluded its meltdown in the House Intelligence Committee this week, it’s clear Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and company think we’re idiots.
Schiff claims he doesn’t know the identity of the political-operative-masquerading-as-a-“whistleblower” while other Democrats insist that hearsay is sometimes more relevant than first-hand accounts. (Ponder that one in the context of proposed red-flag gun laws. Who in his right mind would ever give these people the power over their natural rights?)
All the while, witness after witness made it clear there was no quid pro quo, no bribery, no nothing of anything at all. Just a lot of discomfort with President Trump’s departure from the “interagency consensus.”
The mind-blowing stupidity of all of this is difficult to swallow, especially when one realizes—as some of us have been saying for quite some time—that Trump’s approach with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression is a complete reversal of President Obama’s.
Recall how Obama sought to appease Russia (don’t forget he pulled missile defense systems from Poland and the Czech Republic to appease Vladimir Putin) by turning a blind eye and sending blankets to the Ukrainians. Trump? He sells them anti-tank Javelin missiles. But somehow this makes him Putin’s puppet?
As this Stalinist theater of the absurd continues, it has become very hard to use the word “impeachment” when describing anything the Democrats are doing currently. That term implies some actual constitutional process and order. What we are seeing, and have been seeing over the past three years, has precisely nothing to do with the Constitution.
Democrats and administrative state actors have defied the Constitution by refusing to accept the constitutional will of the American people in electing Donald Trump. They have abused and denied such constitutional rights as due process, abused the Fourth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment . . . hell, pick any amendment from the Bill of Rights and you could make an argument they’ve abused that as well.
The Constitution, as the Framers intended, has been a deep frustration to the Left for over a century. They have masqueraded for decades behind calls for respecting “norms,” imitating constitutional vocabulary, but working to undermine its foundation pretty much every single day. The beauty of what is unfolding now is the clarity it provides: the masquerade is over, the pretenses are done. We can now see them for who they truly are, the statists they have always been.
Doing the District Math
What works in our favor right now is that Democrats like Schiff are functioning idiots who didn’t game out where all of this is likely to end up.
First, by highlighting Ukraine and the Biden family, much of the story has become about Burisma and Hunter Biden. According to some reports, that story is even uglier than we initially thought.
It now looks as though $7.5 billion was laundered in the process of working Hunter Biden through Franklin Templeton to the Obama Administration’s hand-picked Ukrainian ex-president (election meddle much?) and that the $3 million or so that Hunter supposedly received was, in fact, closer to $16.5 million. To make matters worse, that money may not have been the funds channeled from a corrupt energy company but may have been funds obtained by even more “criminal means.”
Beyond that, what do people think is going to happen when the clown-show hearings end? The “impeachment” inquiry then goes to the House floor and members argue over articles of “impeachment.” Let’s say that after watching the “hearings,” the three-dozen or so Democrats in swing districts Trump won in 2016 actually vote against their own best interests in favor of articles of impeachment. Fine. Some might survive in 2020, but what if only a dozen survive? The GOP is likely to retake the House.
For the sake of argument, let’s say articles of “impeachment” pass the House and go on to the Senate for trial. What do you think “Cocaine Mitch” will do?
Think about it: Mitch McConnell has two real priorities in life. He wants to be the longest-serving Senate majority leader in history (meaning he needs to win next fall and keep the majority) and he wants to reshape the federal judiciary—which if you haven’t noticed, is moving right along. By the end of the year, another 40 federal judges will join the bench.
What a Senate Trial Would Look Like
McConnell and the Republicans are in the driver’s seat in the Senate. While I never underestimate the ability of Republicans to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, let’s say McConnell plays it right and messes with the Democrats. Let’s face it, they picked the dance, but McConnell now gets to call the tune.
What if McConnell, unlike Schiff, allows the Trump team to call any and all witnesses in their defense? According to Senate rules, that’s entirely possible. Among the potential names on the list: James Comey, James Clapper, John Brennan, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Glenn Simpson, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, the “whistleblower,” members of the media who were complicit in advancing the Russia-collusion conspiracy fairytale, and dozens of others. Heck, Trump should see if President Zelensky will come and testify. Swear every last one in, put them on national television and let’s dance.
McConnell could stretch the trial out for six weeks, eight weeks, or even longer. Then, after maximum pain has been inflicted, he would hold the vote acquitting Trump. The 2020 Democratic presidential primary will be thrown into chaos. Fundraising would be disrupted. Campaign events would need to be rescheduled to accommodate the trial. Any real contender in the 2020 primaries—including material witness Joe Biden—would, of course, have to be in the Senate. It would be must-see television.
While there is some angst about how Pierre Delecto would vote in the trial, have no fear: Pierre and Mitt Romney only get one vote between them. While there might be a few others who prove to be gutless wonders, do you really think Thom Tillis is going to vote against Trump? No Republican Senator in his or her right mind who’s up for re-election—and there are nearly two-dozen in 2020—is going to vote against a president with a 95 percent approval rating in the Republican Party, especially those senators running in battleground states like Tillis.
So to Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and the rest of the clowns in the Democratic caucus: by all means, throw us in the briar patch of a Senate trial. Let’s make that magic happen. When it’s all said and done, I’m pretty sure you will deeply regret it in November 2020.