While Democratic leadership in the House mucks around confusing everyone about whether there's actually an impeachment inquiry or not, freshman Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a novel idea: force Republicans to vote on either impeaching or protecting a president who is clearly unraveling before our very eyes.
“I want to see every Republican go on the record and knowingly vote against impeachment of this president, knowing his corruption, having it on the record, so that they can have that stain on their careers for the rest of their lives,” she told reporters Tuesday. “Because this is outrageous, to protect the amount of lawlessness and corruption coming out of this presidency.”
Sure, the rest of their lives, but being on record for the next election will do. In case anyone living in the real world (where up is up, and down is down) missed it, Trump is getting worse by the hour. He stumbles over words at nearly every public event. He gets major things wrong (like the particulars of natural disasters) and goes batshit when anyone has the guts to correct him. His flagging poll numbers are eating him alive. And if the economy really veers toward recession territory, he might spontaneously combust in the greatest public spectacle we have ever seen.
AOC is arguing a point that we have made at Daily Kos repeatedly—Republicans should be forced to justify their continued support for a man who is perhaps the most corrupt, dangerous and mentally unstable president this country has ever seen. Make them own it on the record. And if we think he looks bad now, just wait until this time next year—surely we cannot even begin to imagine what a hot mess the orange menace will be by then. (shudder)
One way or the other, Democratic leadership needs to get its act together. It is just embarrassing. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reporter Sahil Kapur summed up Democrats' impeachment message this way: “So, the Judiciary Committee is weighing an impeachment inquiry but not necessarily proceedings. Democratic leaders are noncommittal on any action in the full House but not ruling it out. Some Democrats want it and others don’t. It’s sort of happening and sort of not. Make sense?”
Former Barack Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau had a slightly more cutting assessment of what appears to be a strategy. "The communications staffers and consultants who have signed off on this absurd and intentionally confused message strategy around impeachment should resign from politics forever," he tweeted Wednesday.
Amen.