Trump’s Historic Disgrace
Donald Trump could have just stayed on TV as America’s nominally favorite nominally wealthy guy. It wasnt meant to be though. From the moment he won the election he’s taunted Congress and much of the American Public with non stop crass statements and ham-handed lawbreaking . Now what many called Inevitable has happened.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was resolute about not impeaching Trump as recently as October. Then Trump’s attempt to cheat and gain politically in the next election by shaking down the Ukrainians came to light and everything changed.
The Democrats, for their part, were outright scared the president was trying to fix the next election and essentially become a Dictator. Nothing the president did made this seem any less likely. Blundering dismissive statements by the likes of Mick Mulvaney, Gordon Sondland and others amounted to admissions. In Sondlands case, he was seemingly looking to step back from the concussive wave of criminal charges.
Three Most Likely Next Steps
So here we are. The future seems to have three possible paths.
First, Pelosi can give Trump his wish and send the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for a Reverse Drum-head Show Trial where he’s pre-certified Innocent along partisan lines. For a president who is only able to live in the moment immediate exoneration is a physical need. We all know it’s his preferred scenario.
The second option is Pelosi can take the legal route and return to letting the courts slowly but inevitably continue to rule unfavorably for the White House on who can and can not exercise Executive Privilege. This was taking forever, but mostly was wins for the Dems. It would probably drive Trump completely crazy. We all know he can’t hold his fire long or wait out a bad situation.
Then there’s Scenario Three; Negotiate a Better Trial in Senate
Pelosi could just hold onto the approved Articles of Impeachment and tighten up the case and negotiate for a better set of rules for the Senate trial. She has that right and wields the Speakers power well most times. This has the advantage of making Trump into his own worst enemy because the lack of a celebration of innocence and declaring Trump the victim in the Senate will drive the bloated Chief Executive absolutely crazy! We all know when Trump’s end comes his own actions will figure in greatly. Why not give him the chance to run his mouth? His clown Giuliani will chime right in.
When the two of them get going at the same time watch out!
Prediction – Pain
I think we’ll see a combination of scenario 2 and scenario 3. Pelosi will not immediately forward the Articles to the Senate. She’s going to hold off for a chance to have a say in how the Senate handles it and pick the best Impeachment Managers she can find.
While shes not doing that; there’s nothing stopping the Democrats from simply proceeding in court, where things haven’t gone all that bad.
The combination of No Exoneration and continuing legal setbacks could start a meltdown so profound Trump destroys himself. The same night he was Impeached Trump tried to appear unaffected and breezy, but as usual he couldn’t hold it together at all and resorted to a favorite tactic- attacking a deceased opponent.
In this case, he trashed the late Rep John Dingell (and his widow), of Michigan right on his home turf. For the first time ever there was a sort of mixed reaction when, at his hate rally, he went after Dingell’s wife and implied Dingell was in Hell. Once again another grieving family was fair game for the president, who just isn’t that stable and seems perpetually enraged. His only moments of happiness seem linked to low road behavior, like trashing dead people or War Heroes.
He could lose some more people and start to spin towards George W Bush approval ratings or worse. While the most deplorable 30% of Americans will run off a cliff with Trump no matter what, numbers matter. It’s going to be the other 70% who will get their way.
So while the Dem’s let Trump steep in his own juices for a bit, the very real possibility is he loses his mind and scares enough people to get Removed. The House could show some initiative by shuttle passing the Articles of Impeachment after a series of fresh bad revelations. Like some of his taxes getting out there or a new sexual attack accuser. This always triggers the president into a shameful meltdown across all media.
