The date was October 8, 1998. I was visiting my mom and dad where
their TV was tuned in to events transpiring on the floor of the United States
House of Representatives.
The House voted to commence impeachment proceedings against
Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, for "high crimes
and misdemeanors".
The “high crime” of having sex with an intern in the Oval
Office and denying that sexual relationship while under oath.
It should be noted that Clinton’s testimony under oath was
part of an investigation led by Independent Counsel Ken Starr than began as an inquiry
into Bill and Hillary Clinton’s involvement with a real estate deal gone wrong called
Whitewater.
After digging and digging and then digging some more, Ken
Starr could not find anything illegal associated with Whitewater to hang on the
Clintons.
But Republicans were damned sure that son of a bitch Bill
Clinton had done something wrong so Ken Starr kept looking to see what else he
could find.
What he found was Monica Lewinsky, a young intern who had
sex with Clinton.
The very married Bill Clinton, while under oath, denied
having sex with Monica Lewinsky.
Ms. Lewinsky had a navy blue dress with a semen stain on it
that said otherwise.
And the game was on!
Republicans in the House of Representatives were filled with
righteous indignation that the hallowed sanctum of the White House Oval Office
had been sullied with such sordid sexual escapades and Bill Clinton was not fit
to led this great nation.
Republicans, at that time holding the majority in the House
of Representatives, passed the article of impeachment, making Bill Clinton only
the 2nd President to be impeached by the House.
The impeachment trial went to the Senate where Senators
voted to acquit Bill Clinton and not remove him from office under the legal proposition
known as “hell, I wouldn’t want my wife to find out I’m getting my dick sucked by
my intern, either.”
Which brings us to 21 years into the future. Articles of
impeachment are headed to the House floor.
The articles allege the following:
- Trump put his personal interests above U.S. national security by pressuring Ukraine to open investigations into his Democratic adversaries.
- Trump waged an unprecedented campaign to block impeachment investigators from obtaining witness testimony and documents as they sought to probe the allegations.
The Democrats are going into this impeachment with a shit
ton of evidence, testimony, documentation and more to assert their case for
impeach.
The Republicans are countering the Democrats with a strategy
best described as “We don’t give a fuck what you have!”
A wide and wild variety of assertions made by the Republicans have endeavor to refute the Democrats' case, ranging from "Trump did nothing at all" to "Trump did all that stuff but he's the President and can do what he wants".
During one of the impeachment inquiry hearings, I heard a Democratic congressperson lay out their case for impeachment in a methodical way, going from Point A to Point B to Point C and so forth and so on.
In response, this congressman's Republican colleague took ti the microphone to yell about things that had nothing to do with points previously laid out. Instead, this GOP Congressman bellowed, "The Democrats don't want to talk about how great the economy is under Donald J. Trump! The Democrats don't want to talk about how stronger the military is under Donald J. Trump! The Democrats don't want to talk about the 63 million people who voted for Donald J. Trump!"
All of which had nothing to do with the subject at hand.
Look, back in 1972, Richard M. Nixon won re-election as President by an unquestionable landslide. There is not a question that Nixon enjoyed broad support across the nation.
In two years, he resigned as President.
Whatever good Nixon did as President, whatever popularity Nixon enjoyed as President, Congress has before it a record of illegal and unethical behavior with Nixon at the center. The case against the President was methodically assembled and the evidence was overwhelming.
It was at this point, Republican Senators went to the White House and laid it on the line for Nixon: if he didn't resign, he was going to have his ass impeached.
Everybody looked at the same information and both Democrats and Republicans came to the same conclusion: Nixon was in a shit ton of trouble.
Now here in the present....
Whatever good one might think Trump has done as President, whatever popularity Trump has as President, Congress has before it a record of illegal and unethical behavior with Trump at the center. The case against Trump has been methodically assembled and the evidence is overwhelming.
Everybody looks at the same information but unlike in 1974, Democrats and Republicans come to different conclusions: The Democrats think Trump is in a shit ton of trouble.
The Republicans allege that Trump has done no wrong.
In 1974, impeachment against Nixon had bi-partisan support. It should also be noted that not impeaching Nixon also had bi-partisan support. The case for or against Richard Nixon had to be made based on the facts, not on political affiliation.
In 2019, support for impeaching Trump is not bi-partisan simply because the Republicans refuse to acknowledge the facts before them.
Trump thinks having the Democrats vote for impeachment in the House will be a badge of honor with his rabidly fervent base. Besides, the fix is in: the slim Senate majority for the GOP guarantees there will be no vote to remove Trump from office.
Let me say again what I've said before on this blog:
"Ain't nothing gonna happen."
A wide and wild variety of assertions made by the Republicans have endeavor to refute the Democrats' case, ranging from "Trump did nothing at all" to "Trump did all that stuff but he's the President and can do what he wants".
During one of the impeachment inquiry hearings, I heard a Democratic congressperson lay out their case for impeachment in a methodical way, going from Point A to Point B to Point C and so forth and so on.
In response, this congressman's Republican colleague took ti the microphone to yell about things that had nothing to do with points previously laid out. Instead, this GOP Congressman bellowed, "The Democrats don't want to talk about how great the economy is under Donald J. Trump! The Democrats don't want to talk about how stronger the military is under Donald J. Trump! The Democrats don't want to talk about the 63 million people who voted for Donald J. Trump!"
All of which had nothing to do with the subject at hand.
Look, back in 1972, Richard M. Nixon won re-election as President by an unquestionable landslide. There is not a question that Nixon enjoyed broad support across the nation.
In two years, he resigned as President.
Whatever good Nixon did as President, whatever popularity Nixon enjoyed as President, Congress has before it a record of illegal and unethical behavior with Nixon at the center. The case against the President was methodically assembled and the evidence was overwhelming.
It was at this point, Republican Senators went to the White House and laid it on the line for Nixon: if he didn't resign, he was going to have his ass impeached.
Everybody looked at the same information and both Democrats and Republicans came to the same conclusion: Nixon was in a shit ton of trouble.
Now here in the present....
Whatever good one might think Trump has done as President, whatever popularity Trump has as President, Congress has before it a record of illegal and unethical behavior with Trump at the center. The case against Trump has been methodically assembled and the evidence is overwhelming.
Everybody looks at the same information but unlike in 1974, Democrats and Republicans come to different conclusions: The Democrats think Trump is in a shit ton of trouble.
The Republicans allege that Trump has done no wrong.
In 1974, impeachment against Nixon had bi-partisan support. It should also be noted that not impeaching Nixon also had bi-partisan support. The case for or against Richard Nixon had to be made based on the facts, not on political affiliation.
In 2019, support for impeaching Trump is not bi-partisan simply because the Republicans refuse to acknowledge the facts before them.
Trump thinks having the Democrats vote for impeachment in the House will be a badge of honor with his rabidly fervent base. Besides, the fix is in: the slim Senate majority for the GOP guarantees there will be no vote to remove Trump from office.
Let me say again what I've said before on this blog:
"Ain't nothing gonna happen."
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