If you or I did what Trump did (bribery and obstruction) we'd be indicted and would expect prison. Trump has the *enormous privilege* of only facing losing his job. Want to talk about "getting outside the D.C. bubble"? Think about how our justice system works for *everyone else*.
1/ When I hear Republicans on the House floor implying that trying to cost a guy his job for something that would cost everyone else their *freedom* is somehow an "elitist" position particular to D.C., rather than an attempt to make sure we all follow the *same laws*, I see red.
2/ Any person who stands up today and says a *rich guy politician* should face not only a *different* punishment for bribery and obstruction than the rest of us would but indeed *no punishment at all* is an elitist who doesn't understand anything about how America actually works.
3/ This impeachment, as much as anything, communicates to Americans that there's at least the *mildest conceivable attempt* to hold the rich and powerful to the same statutes/expectations as the rest of us.
I concede *no ground* on the "elitism" question here, nor should anyone.
I concede *no ground* on the "elitism" question here, nor should anyone.
4/ What I bet some Democrats want to say when they hear certain Republicans on the House floor saying Democrats only want to impeach Trump because they don't like him: "I don't like *you*, either, but notice I'm not trying to remove *you* from *your* job. He's a *unique* threat."
5/ For that matter, if Democrats really wanted to impeach Trump from the day he was elected, and if Democrats really want to impeach Trump just because they don't like him, why in the world did it take until he solicited a bribe *3 years in* to get even 90 votes for impeachment?
6/ (Even the ~50 votes for impeachment Democrats had early on were for *Emoluments Clause violations* Republicans don't even *contest*, they just say they don't *care* about them unless it's the Clinton Foundation. In other words they *wouldn't* impeach because they *liked* him.)
7/ For those reading this who've never been in a courtroom, please know that every single argument you're hearing from the Republicans today would be laughed out of court, if not interrupted by the judge in midstream, as total nonsense based on the law and the evidentiary record.
8/ Today is rife with projection. Reverse everything the Republicans are saying and you get the truth: they won't impeach only because they *like* Trump (or at least his voters); they want Trump to be treated *differently* than middle America; they've *no* defense/facts to offer.
9/ I've no worry about how historians will treat what D.C. Republicans are doing today: it'll go down like a *lead balloon*, along with their reputations (if they're remembered at all).
I'm only annoyed that America must be treated to disingenuousness on such a *galactic* scale.
I'm only annoyed that America must be treated to disingenuousness on such a *galactic* scale.
10/ As for fearing elections, God! If the Republicans weren't terrified of losing their elections by angering Trump, they'd acknowledge the articles require only a finding of probable cause, a low evidentiary standard. That's why all Republicans are saying there's "no" evidence.
11/ Did you notice that no Republicans are standing up, not even one, and saying what you might expect at least a handful to say, which is that they think there's evidence, but just not quite enough? They won't because they know the standard is *probable cause*.
12/ It's important that *all* Americans understand this: if you or anyone you love committed acts along the lines of what the president is proven to have done here, *every Republican defending Trump today* would *personally* slam the prison cell in your or your loved one's face.
13/ What's at stake today for each Republican voting "no" has nothing to do with any person anywhere in America, only that particular Republican being afraid of Trump and afraid of losing their next election. As for what they're saying about the law, no lawyer would recognize it.
