Live update:
The House Judiciary Committee is meeting.
 |
| Click: Transcript |
Republicans have a two-part strategy:
1. Angry tone: how dare those Democrats!
2. Make it unwatchable.
It isn't working.
In fact, it is backfiring on them. They are sending an unspoken message that Trump is guilty of an impeachable offense.
In fact, it is backfiring on them. They are sending an unspoken message that Trump is guilty of an impeachable offense.
Outrage. Ranking Member Doug Collins did not address or contradict the description of the actions of Trump in strong-arming a foreign government by withholding appropriated military aid to be released in exchange for their announcement of an investigation of a political rival.
Instead, he spoke rapidly and with an angry tone to question the motives of the the accusers. The charges are illegitimate, not incorrect.
"What today’s hearing is really about is that Democrats have not come to terms with losing the 2016 election to President Trump. This hearing is part of the relentless effort — since the day President Trump took the oath of office — to overturn the will of the American electorate."
His presentation leaves an unspoken message, one that may be appealing and sufficient for Republican partisans, that the impeachment is nothing except pure partisanship and that there is no need to look beyond that reality. It is the D's against the R's, another iteration of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Nothing to see here.
But there is a second, unspoken message imbedded in that, that their argument is an intentional, transparent distraction. Therefore, by implication, Trump's actual behavior will not stand up to scrutiny, and he must have done something indefensible.
Monkey wrench in the gears. Almost immediately Republican members began making time-wasting parliamentary maneuvers, starting with points of order and roll call votes. The first impression could be that it is a legitimate effort to have a fair procedure, but that impression quickly evaporates. Republicans are calling for roll call votes, to supersede voice vote, with the outcome was already determined. It is tedious. There is no pretense that it is anything but a delay tactic.
This reinforces the unspoken message that the actual content of the hearing would hurt the cause of the Republicans.
The TV coverage confounds the Republican intent. After the first roll call vote it became obvious to the news teams covering the hearing that it was a two-minute stall and that an audience would turn away. It was bad TV. The GOP knew it, and so did the TV networks. The news analysts are breaking away to provide commentary and fill the time.
The hearings are not a total loss for Republicans. The impeachment motivates the pro-Trump base, and that effect may be as strong as the effect on Trump opponents. We don't know yet. What we do know is that the Trump-Pence campaign is actively raising money based on the hearings.
Below is an email sent one hour into the hearing just as this post was being prepared. It is from Eric Trump, and its subject line is "We need you. Don't let my father down."
Instead, he spoke rapidly and with an angry tone to question the motives of the the accusers. The charges are illegitimate, not incorrect.
"What today’s hearing is really about is that Democrats have not come to terms with losing the 2016 election to President Trump. This hearing is part of the relentless effort — since the day President Trump took the oath of office — to overturn the will of the American electorate."
 |
| Don't listen to them. |
But there is a second, unspoken message imbedded in that, that their argument is an intentional, transparent distraction. Therefore, by implication, Trump's actual behavior will not stand up to scrutiny, and he must have done something indefensible.
Monkey wrench in the gears. Almost immediately Republican members began making time-wasting parliamentary maneuvers, starting with points of order and roll call votes. The first impression could be that it is a legitimate effort to have a fair procedure, but that impression quickly evaporates. Republicans are calling for roll call votes, to supersede voice vote, with the outcome was already determined. It is tedious. There is no pretense that it is anything but a delay tactic.
This reinforces the unspoken message that the actual content of the hearing would hurt the cause of the Republicans.
The TV coverage confounds the Republican intent. After the first roll call vote it became obvious to the news teams covering the hearing that it was a two-minute stall and that an audience would turn away. It was bad TV. The GOP knew it, and so did the TV networks. The news analysts are breaking away to provide commentary and fill the time.
The hearings are not a total loss for Republicans. The impeachment motivates the pro-Trump base, and that effect may be as strong as the effect on Trump opponents. We don't know yet. What we do know is that the Trump-Pence campaign is actively raising money based on the hearings.
Below is an email sent one hour into the hearing just as this post was being prepared. It is from Eric Trump, and its subject line is "We need you. Don't let my father down."
2 comments:
There's some irony in raising money from voters for a defense fund for impeachment. One can only imagine where the millions raised will end up.
The card is infantile on the order of a Cracker Jack box prize and well suited to the cult, who generally are textbook examples of arrested development. One of the tactics that Regressives use is juvenile disparagement of serious issues. This serves two purposes. It makes complex issues seemingly understandable to those who struggle with them, which then makes it easy to dismiss damning facts.
As far as Republicans are concerned, they look ridiculous. This party is so corrupted at this point that their only course of action is to disrupt and similarly dismiss what is a serious situation with pointless parliamentary distractions. They have no defenses. One must not forget it was the Republicans who forced Nixon's resignation on what most agree was less evidence. This party is devoid of principle in the pursuit of power.
I walked past a colleague’s desk as she was riveted to the Fox version of the testimony today. She was furious. “He’s such a great man!!! Why won’t they leave him alone? They are pure EVIL!”. So the cult following ironically thrives on Trump’s victimhood. He is their savior and champion. Facts be damned. The GOP legislators who are desperate in weaving a different narrative are betting their loyalty to Trump will keep them in power likely based on polling data.... which may prove a faulty predictor again.
Post a Comment