The fundamental unseriousness of the House Republican impeachment effort, exposed
Come on, man.
On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled House voted — along party lines — to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
They insisted that they made this move to give themselves broader investigative powers — which will allow them to uncover any and all evidence of wrongdoing by the president in regards the business dealing of his son, Hunter.
Which is bunk. This is, without question, a political move designed to muddy the waters regarding corruption at the highest levels in advance of the 2024 race.
It is fundamentally unserious. And how do I know? Because House Republicans told us! Yesterday!
Consider:
Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck had said, very publicly, that he was opposed to a vote to start a formal impeachment inquiry. “Trump’s impeachment in 2019 was a disgrace to the Constitution and a disservice to Americans,” wrote Buck in an op-ed in the Washington Post. “The GOP’s reprise in 2023 is no better.” Then, on Wednesday, Buck voted — with all of his House Republican colleagues — for the impeachment inquiry. His explanation?
Hilarious, right?
Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls was asked Wednesday what he hoped to gain from an impeachment inquiry. “All I can say is Donald J. Trump 2024, baby,” he responded. (You can watch the video for yourself here.)
If we’ve learned anything over these last few years in politics, it’s that when someone tells you who they are (or why they are doing what they are doing), believe them.
That Buck, who has cast his party’s anti-democratic flirtations as a major driver of his decision not to run again in 2024, would joke about why he flip-flopped on an impeachment vote is, well, unserious.
That Nehls would openly admit that his motivation for the impeachment effort was to promote Trump’s political prospects is a) not surprising but also b) unserious.
The reality of our modern moment is that the animating force within the Republican party is not a policy or a principle. It is organized around loyalty to a single man.
Everything elected Republicans do needs to be seen through that lens. This is the “why” that sits at the heart of the Republican party these days.
Impeachment is no exception. Elected Republicans are not dumb. They are aware that while Trump’s four indictments (and 91 total counts) may not matter to GOP base voters (and might even help the former president in the primary), they are NOT a good thing for the swing and independent voters he needs to win in next fall.
Those legal problems are not going away for Trump. So, the best course of action if you are Republicans is to try to bring Joe Biden down to Trump’s level (or close to it). If voters are convinced by next November that all politicians are corrupt, that is a win for Republicans (and Trump).
(To be clear: These things are NOT equal. But politics is not a court of law. And Republicans don’t need to legally prove anything. Rumors, whispers and insinuations will likely be enough.)
Impeachment is the strongest tool Republicans have to make that happen. Trump was impeached! (Twice!) But so was Biden! (is how this argument will go, Republicans hope.)
It may well work. But don’t mistake this impeachment for a serious endeavor. It is not. It is a purely political operation. Just ask the people pushing it.
On Tuesday you wrote Biden is in deep shit”. Unfortunately it is the American people that will be in deep shit if they do not vote in 2024 & Trump & his tribe take over Congress and the White House! It isn’t Biden who has failed the American people, look at what he has accomplished in office and write about it. It is the failure of governance by the House Republicans. They don’t care about legislating they only care about promoting hate, political Divisiveness, attacking Biden, and continuing the Trump tax gift to the wealthy on the backs of the middle class. Be careful what you wish for you may just get Trump and lose our Democracy.
The Biden campaign needs someone to fill the role James Carville did for Bill Clinton. The Republicans have become a sick joke and this needs to be pointed out loudly every day between now and next Novmember.