Impeachment going south for Democrats
There is a scene in the 1993 film “A Bronx Tale” in which a biker gang is carousing in a bar only to be told to leave by the manager. When they protest, a wise guy, Sonny, played by Chaz Palminteri, tells them they can stay for one beer. Instead of drinking that beer the biker thugs shake them up and spray the staff while hurling insults at them. Sonny comes back in and tells them, “That wasn’t very nice. Now youse gotta leave.”
When the lead biker rudely dismisses him, Sonny walks to the door, closes and locks it before turning to the gang and proclaiming, “Now youse can’t leave.” From the back of the bar pour hordes of wise guys who promptly deliver unto the biker gang an epic beating.
In the impeachment of Donald Trump, we have come to the “Now youse can’t leave” moment.
Democrats in Congress, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, (D-Calif.), have committed to use their most sacred constitutional maneuver — apart from declaring war — in order to penalize the elected president of the United States for “bribery” and “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The business of Congress has been set aside as witnesses have testified for hours on end. This week Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-Calif.) takes over. Democrats and the compliant media will take deepdives into high-minded constitutional issues and the American people will be admonished to appreciate the seriousness and sobriety of it all.
As with the two weeks of hearings led by the Intelligence Committee, we can expect the gathered spectators in the room to applaud and cheer when someone says something damning about the president.
The train has left the station, the bikers have taken the bar. It’s on.
But there is a problem. The political process the Democrats have committed to is not working. Polling numbers are not looking good, especially among independents, and other Trump numbers have settled right back to where they were before the hearings started.
Each day of impeachment is bound to bring diminishing returns, especially if Democrats cannot manage to legally compel anyone in Trump’s inner circle to testify. Doing so will take litigation as they’ll all claim privilege and that could drag the process on for weeks and weeks.
Once impeachment hits the Senate, it is the GOP’s turn to go on offense. On the docket, in person or not, will be Hunter Biden and indirectly Joe Biden. While the name and reputation of the sometime Democratic frontrunner is besmirched, Sens. Liz Warren, Bernie Sanders, Corey Booker, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar will be cloistered in the hearing room for the duration. That is time not spent in Iowa or New Hampshire.
The fatal flaw in the impeachment proceedings is that the most explicit and shocking aspect of the “crime” came at the very beginning. Everybody knows about the phone call. It is old news.
Should President Trump have held up aid in order to investigate the Bidens? No. However, it is also fair and prudent to ask questions about Hunter Biden’s affairs in Ukraine, which were obviously a byproduct of his father’s position as vice president.
Democrats have made their choice. They’re now in a position that could turn out to be politically damaging on a historic level but they have made a commitment to the American people to play out this heavy process whatever the cost. They owe it to the American people to act on their convictions because they are public servants.
And anyway, now they can’t leave.