As the Dems careen headlong into public impeachment hearings this Wednesday, they stand poised to blow any chance of actually removing Donald tRump from office.
Yeah, I know, tRump could appear on live national television, twist the head off a puppy (a Labradoodle yet!) drink its blood, and claim that the cagey canine had been an ISIS sleeper agent, and his cult followers would pump their fists and chant “USA! USA!” And two days later he could claim that he had, in fact, never done the nefarious deed he’d only just been bragging about, asserting that the video feed had been somehow morphed in real time by the Deep State, and they’d all nod their cretinous heads and say “Yup, yup yup.”
But it’s my belief that there are enough people out there who could still be persuaded that His Orange Fecal Stainess needed to be Ti-D-Bowled from office that there just might, might be enough ReTrumplicans out there to consider actually voting to do so.
And as much as it may seem that tRump’s blatant extortion of Ukraine and his patently illegal solicitation of foreign intervention in our election is a slam dunk case for removal…..it isn’t. It’s too complex for a lot of people. Ukraine? Where’s that? Why should I care? Who cares about foreign policy? Hell, both sides do it (Chuck Todd told me so!)
It also opens up your leading contender for tRump’s job (okay, okay, ONE of your leading contenders) to a golden opportunity for GOoPer smearing. Yeah, I know, they’re doing oppo research on Mother Teresa just in case she comes back from the dead and registers in time for Iowa. But that doesn’t mean it should be made easy for them.
But there’s something that everybody, and I mean everybody, understands. And that’s graft. Nobody likes getting robbed by their public officeholders. And the tRump Disorganized Crime Family has treated the entire presidency as a means by which to stuff their pockets.
tRump has spent one-third of his time in office at his own properties. He owns these places. The White House staff that accompanies him takes taxpayer money and funnels it right into his maw. A mere wave of his scepter and these folks are all comped, but where’s the percentage in that? He even charges the Secret Service for the golf carts they use to chase his wrinkly cheater’s ass around the golf course. Think of that! The Secret Service has to protect him, and thanks to his untempered greed, the Service has to pay him for the “honor” of doing their job.
“Emoluments Clause” may sound like arcane constitutional law, but Arabs paying bribes? Folks understand that, and they don’t like it.
Prior to tRump no one had ever raked in as much money for an inaugural as Barack Obama. It was an astounding amount of cash. But tRump blew that figure out of the water. And yet, as is so often the case with this classless fuck, the inaugural was done very much on the cheap. Boatloads of that cash, much of which appears to have come illegally from foreigners, was never spent. Promises were made that the leftover lucre would be donated to charity. But no accounting has ever been given (and we all know that if you’re the tRump family charity begins...and ends...at home.)
Then there’s the shady cash purchases, at greatly inflated prices, of tRump properties. Does anyone here at DK doubt that The Donald has been money laundering for Russian Oligarchs/Mobsters/Friends of Vlad?
And of course there’s the tax fraud. And the bank fraud. And the gaming license fraud. Lather, rinse, revolt.
And once again…...this stuff is easy to understand. Folks grasp graft when they see it.
And tRump and his defenders can whine that these are merely allegations, and the Dems can respond “Yes, well, if there are documents that would exonerate the pResident it’s mighty puzzling that he’s refused to honor any and all requests to produce them.” And that’s obstruction, and folks understand that too!
Look, Dems, I get it. When it comes to tRump there is a veritable treasure trove of malfeasance. There’s a very real danger of overplaying your hand. In fact, I think that if there is indeed a method of tRump’s madness it’s that the very volume of his evilness is so great that Americans have become inured to it.
But if you want a snowball’s chance of actually removing the tangerine turd that is Donald tRump you’ve got to go after him for the corruption.