If there is any honor left in GOP representatives, last Wednesday’s incitement to violence should be the last straw. And even if they don’t really feel it, saying so - and voting like it is - might be the best way to save their political futures.
If they don’t, they will find themselves a long way out on that limb. And a GOP ready and willing to rebrand itself is holding the saw. Today a handful have already started to deploy the “Wicked Witch’s Guard Gambit” (WWGG) to make the media (and as much of America as possible) forget about their years of enabling Trump. They’ve ridden on his coattails throughout #HumptyTrumpty’s tenure despite their own unpopular policies and now expect us to take their change of heart at face value.
Like the aforementioned guards who suddenly changed from horrific automatons to sympathetic heroes, handing Dorothy the broom after she freed them from the spell of their oppressor, some members of the #SeditionCaucus will point to this moment as their tipping point. It should’ve come a year ago during the first impeachment, or frankly, during Trump’s first weeks in office when he demonstrated that he was incapable of respecting the job or the nation.
Read more about the WWGG dynamic here https://www.opednews.com/articles/Will-the-GOP-Try-the-Wick-by-Todd-Telford-Cabinet_Congress_Democrats_Disenfranchisement-210112-429.html
For five Senators, the Capitol violence already was that final straw. They abandoned their pledges to vote “yea” on the objection to the Arizona and Pennsylvania electoral college votes being counted. But in the House, over half of the GOP representatives - mindful that courting the current base may provide their only path to reelection in two years - went along with the objection ruse.
These 138 members of the House #SeditionCaucus have gambled on the Trump voters remaining loyal to the outgoing president’s Congressional supporters. But with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that he is in favor of impeachment, that bet has changed odds dramatically. There are calls for #SeditionCaucus members to forfeit their seats, and there is a process to remove them through a two-thirds vote in the House.
Here’s an even better punishment that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may have at her disposal: deny all 138, including House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, the ability to sit on or vote in any committee. This would strip them of contributing directly to any legislation. And that forfeiture of all their power would mean that no billionaires will see any payout in backing the continuation of their political careers.
There’s no reason to offer quid if you aren’t going to get any pro quo.
Pelosi should warn potential impeachment nay voters of this likelihood. And knowing the repercussions, the vote to impeach may be overwhelming. That might give McConnell reason to make the same threat if he has that power under Senate rules.
And he could even provide cover for those who are afraid to vote to impeach by arranging with Chuck Schumer to do a voice vote on removal, say the yeas have their two-thirds majority, and Trump is done.
This may actually provide the option for a painless #Trumpectomy that yields the least amount of violence across the nation. With stiff penalties being sought for last Wednesday’s perps, the loud Proud Boys won’t see any tangible payoff and return to their basements.
Mike Pence will probably delight in being #MicroPresidentPence. He’ll boldly renounce the attack on democracy but issue Trump a few pardons in the minutes before the inauguration. Or, if no begging has been done, he won’t.
I’d be fine with Biden being 47 instead of 46. Folks might have to redo the swag, but that’s a pretty small price to pay for saving democracy before the madman in the White House can destroy it further.