Yes, President Donald Trump is going to be impeached. No, he isn’t going to be convicted by the senate and, therefore, he will not be prematurely removed from office.
Thus, in November of 2020, the American people will decide whether or not Trump should get a second term of four years, as it should be.
In other words, this entire dog and pony show was a complete and total waste of time, money, energy, and resources.
As for the context of what is allegedly being debated? (Side note; I say “allegedly,” because there is nothing actually being argued about. This is two despicable sides of a power play. There is nothing happening here that remotely resembles one side presenting evidence and the other refuting or admitting to it). Here’s a snapshot:
HE’S NOT A WHISTLEBLOWER: The second most over-used phrase of the last 6 weeks has been “whistleblower,” referring to the person who started this entire impeachment investigation. The New York Times itself all but identified the person (a CIA agent assigned to the White House), and no less than CNN has confirmed that not only is it not illegal to identify him, he isn’t a whistleblower at all, as defined by law:
“…In 1998, Congress passed the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act which formalized the process under which whistleblowers from the intelligence community could report complaints to Congress…whistleblowers are protected from work-related retaliation, including “an appointment, promotion, or performance evaluation, or any other significant change in duties, responsibilities or working conditions…Revealing the whistleblower’s name does not clearly fall under one of these categories…and…”
“…he is not a whistleblower in the statutory sense…under that statute, protected status is given to an official who reports on intelligence activities within the jurisdiction of the director of national intelligence. The statute does not apply to the president’s conducting of foreign policy, including his communications with foreign heads of state.”
YES, THERE WAS A QUID PRO QUO ATTEMPT: Are you tired of that stupid phrase yet? Your most over-used expression of the decade, defined as “a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something,” has been used breathlessly to refer to Trump asking for the President of Ukraine to do something for him (and maybe America) in exchange for aid from the USA. And that is EXACTLY what happened on trump’s “perfect call,” that has befallen all of this scrutiny. Trump’s own Chief-of-Staff, Mick Mulvaney made a classical Washington D.C. gaffe of accidentally telling the truth a couple weeks ago when he admitted as much and went on to say that it happens all of the time. Watching the White House try to walk that back since has been like an evening of DUI tests on Live PD. To be fair, Ukraine never carried out the request and Trump released the money anyway so there was an ask, but not an actual completed quid pro quo.
But of course it happens all of the time, and has since President Washington himself. The question is whether or not Americans care, in this case, or any case:
In 1978, Jimmy Carter agreed to provide Egypt with billions of dollars in foreign aid in exchange for making peace with Israel, as part of the Camp David Accords. That was a quid pro quo. In 2004, George W. Bush created the Millennium Challenge Account, which required countries to meet a host of eligibility requirements — free speech, free assembly, rule of law, property rights, transparency — before they could receive a grant of aid. That program was one big quid pro quo. Even former vice president Joe Biden has admitted to a quid pro quo with Ukraine. He held up $1 billion in loan guarantees (a quid) to get them to fire a prosecutor who was not investigating corruption (a quo).
In Trump’s case, there is the assertion that his asking Ukraine to investigate the possible corruption of Biden’s involvement in that ask, vis a vie Joe Biden’s son working for the Ukrainian government, makes it one that is not in the country’s best interest, but rather benefits him personally, since Biden is one of his most likely challengers in 2020.
This is where Americans’ eyes glaze over. For those left debating we are faced with this reality; is the presence of a person in a presidential race an immunization from being investigated for corruption? Insert thinking emoji here.
YES, IT IS IMPEACHABLE: Congress defines what is or isn’t impeachable. Stop with this argument. ANYTHING is impeachable, the case just has to be made and a majority of representatives in the House have to agree.
YES, THIS ENTIRE PROCESS HAS BEEN CORRUPT AND HIDDEN: The Democrats over played their hands but never truly declaring a formal impeachment hearing, in which The White House would be granted full rights under the law, including the ability to call witnesses and face accusers. For weeks prior to this one, the Democrats have held closed-door hearings and relied entirely on leaks to the press to report only their side of the story. Americans that care enough to pay attention see this and won’t forget it. Thus, this week, the Democrats are rolling our public hearings, still controlling the rules. We’ll see if that shifts public opinion.
YES, SOME PEOPLE INVOLVED BELIEVE TRUMP ABUSED HIS POWER: Since the release of transcripts of the secret hearings of the last few weeks, we see that up to a half dozen members of the Trump Administration have testified that it is their opinion that Trump abused his power. America will have to decide if the opinions of people are enough to kick a president out of office.
YES, THIS WILL BE THE (INITIAL) CENTER OF THE 2020 CAMPAIGN: Ironically, both Trump and the Democratic party are relying on Impeachment as the cornerstone of their campaigns for the White House in 2020. Democrats will run against Trump as a corrupt and dangerous president who has been impeached, but protected from removal by his cronies in the Senate. Trump will run on the witch-hunt premise, using the “swamp,” as his villain, and relying on his base to carry him to victory.
NO, NONE OF THIS MATTERS: In the end, all of this has been for nothing. It’s a disgrace and yet another condemnation of America 2019. Trump will remain in office, and the election of 2020 will be the thing that determines if he leaves in January 2021 or 2025. What a joke.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/08/politics/legal-question-out-whistleblower/index.html
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/andrew-mccarthy-latest-bogus-legal-argument-whistleblower
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/white-houses-mulvaney-admits-there-was-quid-pro-quo-ukraine
