The House is getting ready to vote on whether to lodge articles of impeachment and rallies are being organized across the country by Impeach.org to show support for this on Tuesday. The headline in the ProJo accidentally said “Wednesday.” The following is my opinion of how to handle the impeachment and may not reflect that of rally organizers.
Yes, let’s impeach the bastard, and then: The House should hang fire! Do not send it on to the Senate, just keep investigating in the House. Perfectly legit. We have all heard from the odious McConnell and Graham that they intend to violate the oath they would be taking at the start of the trial (on a bible I presume — so, going to hell). I like the idea now percolating through Congress suggested by Watergate hero John Dean. Will Bunch quotes Dean in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Let’s impeach him now and NOT send it to the Senate rather keep investigating in the House, and add such supplemental articles as needed!” Dean wrote on Twitter this weekend. “Just let it hang over his head. If the worst happens and he is re-elected, send it to the Senate. But keep investigating!!”
This makes so much sense, but I despair that the Dems are too wedded to what might be considered standard operating procedure and playing by the rules. Guess what: this is playing by the rules.
I am contacting Representative Cicilline right now. You can too. His Washington number: (202) 225-4911. His local number: (401)729-5600. Or email.
Maybe Speaker Nancy Pelosi could be persuaded of the wisdom of this approach. Bunch adds:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a brilliant strategist but not an outside-the-box thinker. It’s hard to imagine Pelosi and the Democratic leadership embracing a radical idea like Dean’s — but they should. And it’s not only because impeachment is the sanction that Trump and America needs right now, while an exoneration in the Senate would be dangerous for democracy.
I will not be able to attend this rally and frankly I think we should keep the rallies to a minimum lest their impact become diluted.
Harvard Con Law professor, Laurence H. Tribe, has suggested ending the process in the House with “a condemnatory ‘Sense of the House.'” I like Dean’s idea better.
Impeach rally, 5pm, Tuesday, December 17, State House, 82 Smith Street, (directions)
I wrote the ProJo about that “typo” (or was it?) since the rest of the article says Tuesday. Kind of suspect. Especially with the ignorant cartoon on the editorial page which adds insult to injury. Although the paper has done a good job of chronicling Trump’s misdeeds on the front page over the months, have to say that.