And soon, soon, I will crush him in my fist.
Let’s not be like them. A lot of things about Trump and his henchmen and women (and his party) make me sick, including their attack on carefulness, process, and knowledge. They are anti-humanists. They don’t care about law or truth; they have no notion of due diligence. They are, in no way, temperate. In no way, governed or careful. They are all impatient id, appetite, and spleen, and it is damn gross.
Nancy Pelosi is governed. She is careful, methodical, and strategic. If your impulse is to say I’m wrong, then think about what was involved in getting the un-herdable cats of the Democratic caucus to pass the ACA. If your impulse is still to say I’m wrong, think about what was involved in being the first woman in the history of this sexist country to wield that gavel. Even among Democrats, sexism was (is) no small barrier to putting a woman in charge. And she is in charge.
In the press conference yesterday, Pelosi made it clear that impeachment will happen if either one of two conditions are met:
1) The Trump Administration continues to block investigations: what Pelosi called a “cone of silence.”
2) The investigations successfully go forward and reveal that Trump committed crimes.
Q: Speaker Pelosi, you have long said there’s no point moving forward with an impeachment inquiry because Republicans control the Senate –
Speaker Pelosi. I have never long said that. I have never long said that.
If we have a case for impeachment that’s the place we will have to go. The fact why I’d like it to be a strong case is because it’s based on the facts. The facts and the law, that’s what matters. Not politics, not partisanship, just patriotism. I don’t care, I mean I’d like the Senate to be responsible and honor their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution, to see what a challenge this is to our national security. What the Russians are trying to do to our country. But the stronger our case is the worse the Senate will look for just letting the President off the hook.
If we have a case for impeachment that’s the place we will have to go. Then she dismissed political considerations. Then she dismisses considerations of what the Senate will do. The statement is clear, direct, and unequivocal.
Yes, statements need to be followed up with actions. Pelosi’s history shows that she a person of actions, that she says what she means. Did she blink in the budget fight? NO. Did she stiffen the spine of a jittery caucus? Hell YES. If nothing has happened a few months from now, I’ll start to get frustrated myself. But what I’m seeing now is a leader with a careful, methodical plan.
But who needs a careful plan, right? Let’s just whoop right in! But, again, Pelosi:
We want to have the strongest possible case to make a decision as to what path we will go down and that does – is not endless in terms of time or endless in terms of the information that we want.
But, if it comes to a point where the cone of silence and the obstruction of justice and the cover up in the White House prevents us from getting that information, that will not prevent us from going forward. In fact, it’s even more grounds to go forward.
And again:
So, when we go down this path, we want it to be as unifying for our country, not dividing. And that’s why, we want it to be the strongest possible case.
She is going slow because she’s doing this carefully.
Look, I know we’re all smarter than Nancy Pelosi (snark), but even she is smart enough to know that Trump and his troll-cohort are going to continue stonewalling. (In fact, it’s even more grounds to go forward.) Further, if you listened to Cummings, Schiff, and Nadler, yesterday, it was VERY CLEAR these people all know that Trump is guilty of multiple, impeachable offenses. Nadler said:
And we face a time of great danger. Richard Nixon said he thought that the President was a dictator. He said, ‘If the President does it, that means it’s not illegal.’
President Trump echoed that yesterday. He said, ‘Under Article II, I’, that is, he, ‘can do anything I want.’ That is a totalitarian picture, not a democratic picture. The United States must be safe from this.
So, we have to paint the picture of what’s going on. A picture of someone, who gladly accepted help from a foreign power interested in subverting our election, our democratic election process. And that’s what it is, subverting our election process and taking the choice of our President, to some extent, away from the American people. That’s what the Russians attempted to do and that’s what the Trump campaign welcomed them in doing.
A President who engages in crimes, repeated crimes, to cover up these unpatriotic and dictatorial actions and this cannot go on. And it is up to Congress to safeguard the Constitution, and we will do it.
Does this sound like someone who doesn’t know what we’re up against?
I understand frustration. I’m frustrated hearing so many people pee all over Speaker Pelosi! And I’m frustrated that the disgusting, disgusting man in the White House is in the White House.
But, from what I heard yesterday, our leadership is doing what we want: they’re just doing it carefully, and in a way which maximizes the chance of success. All in all, even now, I am proud to be a Democrat.
P.S. I might have gone way over fair use. Does it still apply in cases of press conference transcripts? Ugh.
