At today’s House Impeachment Hearing, 55-year-old House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.) gave an impassioned plea for reconciliation after the Jan. 6 melee Democrats insist was orchestrated by Trump. McCarthy listened to his Democrats colleagues denounce Trump as a “clear and present danger’ to U.S. national security, all because a few bad apples in last speech went ballistic, before a joint session of Congress tallied the Elector College vote Jan. 6. Trump told his backers to protest loudly but peacefully marching on the Capitol. When the mob turned violent, stormed the Capitol, defaced government property and lost control, Trump could do nothing other that watch the colossal mess. Yet Democrats in the House today blamed Trump for “incitement to insurrection,’ making the strongest possible case that Trump was responsible for an attempted coup d’etat.
It’s hard to believe that any Democrats believe that the mob scene was an “insurrection,” when the mob was led by a 33-year-old lunatic wearing a bearskin hat and horns, toting an American flag tipped spear. If that doesn’t tell the real story of the misfits, misanthropes and losers that stormed the Capitol then nothing does. No one really believes that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was an “insurrection” since no one was really armed other than finding a few pipe bombs and Molotov Cocktails. Insurrections involve heavily armed militias toting automatic rifles and handguns, not zip-ties and spears. Yet the House today accused Trump of deliberately, knowingly and willfully, “inciting an insurrection,” something so preposterous it’s laughable. It was no laughing matter when 80-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signed her name on the new article of impeachment, accusing Trump of “incitement of insurrection.”
McCarthy tried a balancing act with his Democrat colleagues but they were not impressed. McCarthy called on the House to censure Trump but opposed the new impeachment article. “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding,” McCarthy said, hoping Democrats would come to their senses before voting to impeach. McCarthy understands that House Republicans have a real problem denouncing Trump, while, at the same time, running for reelection in two years. Many of House Republicans’ constituents voted for Trump and think that undeniable irregularities occurred in the 2020 vote. McCarthy found little sympathy among Democrats to stop the impeachment vote, moving to the less draconic censure action, something bound to fail.
Some Republicans think to reinvent the GOP, rank-and-file Republicans must denounce Trump and start from scratch. While it’s highly unlikely that Trump has any political future at age 74, Democrats want to stop him from running for public office. It’s unclear that even a conviction in the Senate after Trump leaves office would stop him from running again. But for practical purposes with the media completing its demonization of Trump over the last four years, he couldn’t run for Dog Catcher, certainly not president. Cheney’s denunciation pulled no punches, blaming Trump for the Jan. 6 “insurrection,” insisting Trump did nothing to stop it. Cheney’s position is popular with Democrats but doesn’t reflect the truth because Trump never asked anyone to storm the Capitol and commit any crimes. Democrats want GOP elected officials to say the 2020 election was fair-and-legitimate.
Republicans that want to survive and get reelected in the next Midterm walk a fine-line denouncing Trump before their Democrat colleagues. Nothing could be more popular now for Democrats than denouncing Trump. But for Republicans, it’s a different story. “People don’t seem to understand that the only election that matters is your primary,” said Brenden Buck, an adviser to former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). “I’m going to vote against impeachment, and that’s going to give me credibility at home with my base,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-S.D.), showing the dilemma faced by Republicans looking to get reelected. Democrats are beyond euphoric getting the new impeachment article, despite not knowing how it fairs in the new Democrat Senate. Requiring two-thirds to convict, it’s doubtful that enough Republicans will join Democrats to convict in the Senate trial.
Republicans have a real dilemma dealing with life after Trump. Unlikely to return to politics because of his age, Trump won’t have much influence in future elections other that comparing his accomplishment to Biden. If the economy tanks and the Covid-19 crisis doesn’t get much better, the GOP will find its footing without Trump, because, above all else, Democrats under Biden must perform. Democrats and their media friends spent four years demonizing Trump, telling constant lies about his ties to Russia, all based on former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s fake “Steele Dossier.” No one in former President Barack Obama’s White House, federal law enforcement or intel communities paid a price for framing Trump. While Biden expects to get good press from Trump’s enemies, he still has to deliver on the economy and the Covid-19 crisis. If he doesn’t, the GOP will rise again.
