After Robert Mueller’s “I-did-my-job-now-do-yours” statement, there’s no place for Democrats in the House to hide, so they may as well get on with it. So he wants to be impeached? Call his bluff. He’s got what appears to be a pretty good hand--a zombie Republican base, a cowed and complicit press, a public divided 50/50 on impeachment, the Russian disinformation apparatus--but folding is not an option. Somehow I don’t believe it’s the timing of the showdown that’s the issue. It’s the fear of the showdown. Turn the impeachment card over and you win or you lose. That’s scary. What if we lose!
How about “we’re going to win” this time? How about positive thinking, confidence that it’s the right thing to do, trust in our fellow Americans, embracing Constitutional authority and duty? When his bet is called by impeachment and he has to play his cards, why so much doubt that it’s a bluff? Why give him any more time to deal from the bottom of the deck?
There are a lot of white male Republicans, but there are far more angry Democrats (way more than 13 or 18), a huge wave of pissed-off women, and generations of energized young people fearing for their future. Public opinion may overwhelm the press and give them courage to re-frame and resist. Is it really that improbable that months of impeachment coverage will generate such a groundswell of public outrage that even Republican senators may have to think seriously about the political advantages of loyalty to the mad king?
Time to mix metaphors--Roll the dice, Democrats! Only the illegitimate squatter in the White House and his cronies are betting you won’t roll a 7 or 11.