Democrats can’t see it, but the optics of impeaching Donald Trump for doing something that is not significantly different from what Joe Biden did does not make good politics.
It Makes Sense If You’re a Democrat
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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No, no, Ted – the Obama administration and not least the Bidens, pere et fils, represent a golden (pardon the pun !) age in US statecraft, not least the 22 February Putsch in Kiev and the aftermath. And Robert Hunter Biden is a fine, upstanding, and talented young man ; just read the hagiography published in the English-language edition of Wikipedia….
Henri
Democrats’ “sense” indeed:
Anyone know if Pelosi is sticking with her declaration to base
“the impeachment inquiry” on ONLY HH’s Ukraine Gate*** …. as opposed to the perhaps including the 50-100 legitimate reasons?
( see, for example, Ralph Nader Radio Hour podcast with John Bonifaz )
I have on multiple occasions expressed my contempt for Pelosi on this forum: she’s two-faced, she’s a DINO, she thinks she’s really all that and a side of fries, etc.
But is it possible she’s losing her marbles? I’m still holding on to my theory that her impeachment “strategy” is a preemptive block of Trump’s next Supreme Court appointment, but I do have to add early stage senility to the mix. The case against Trump is already conjoined to Hunter Biden (Dubya 2.0), and Joe, um, Biden is going to take a hit for this.
I find it highly unlikely that the next Supreme Court appointment is important to the Democrats given the foregone appointment opportunity they surrendered in Obama’s last year with barely a whimper of protest.
The purpose of the Democratic Party, it seems to me, is to serve as a protective barrier between the Republican Party and the vast, left-orientated population of the US.
The Democratic Party is where left-oriented popular movements go to die.
If the DNC wanted the LEFT OUT to vote they would have given, and would now be giving us candidates.
Don’t be fooled by polling showing Trump falling behind.
Polls gave Trump only a 15% chance of winning in 2016.
The lower numbers Trump now shows are still much higher than 15%.
And by the rules of the game, a tie goes to the Republicans. See Gore 2000.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/politics/ now has Trump at 42.3 % approval.
Re: SCOTUS ploy:
See also the Dems particularly flaccid “strategy” regarding the Kavanaugh nomination that occurred within weeks of a midterm election.
The only factor missing was ol’ Joe (hey where a re going with those feet in your mouth) Biden to attack and humiliate the sexual abuse victim, as in the Uncle Clarence saga.
It makes sense when you realise that the prosecutor was slow walking the investigation; that’s why the West wanted him out. Still a bad look for the Bidens though.
Noam Chomsky often brings up the Nuremberg tribunal which were designed to prosecute Nazi war criminals but only of crimes so unique the allies didn’t also commit them also. E.g. when they wanted to charge Admiral Doenitz for sinking civilian ships with torpedoes the defense could show that the allies also routinely preyed on civilian ships so they had to drop those charges. Or else, hypocrisy. (The victors sure as hell are not going to charge themselves for the firebombing of cities, etc).
The elites know how to game the system they have designed themselves. To wit:
Accepting a bribe -> bad.
Taking a (ludicrously) high paying job cashing in on government contacts right after government “service” -> upstanding citizen (the revolving door). [Of course, sometimes even elites can’t help themselves and work as “consultants” even while on the job…]
Accepting stacks of money in a shady bar -> bad.
Wiring money to a campaign or a personal foundation as a charitable contribution -> noble.
Accepting money as payment for voting on a bill -> bad.
Accepting a seat on a corporate board -> doubleplusgood.
To the unwashed masses these distinctions may appear inconsequential. However, to the politically astute they are sacrosanct.
After all, our society is organized in terms of an aristocracy and the proles ever since antiquity. Should an aristocrat e.g. serve in the military, they will start their career as an ensign, which is already above the highest rank attainable by a commissioned officer. Such distinctions exists throughout society: doctors vs nurses, workers vs bosses, professors vs secretaries, and indeed, board members vs. common clerks. [To be fair, there is a little more potential for social mobility in capitalism, but the categories as such largely persist].
To even begin to question the basic right of an aristocrat to be born on third base and accept cushy goodies is akin to communist insurgency. Therefore the establishment media cannot go there.
It’s depressing reading the comments on this cartoon on go-comics. They read the establishment media, where there’s no video of VP Biden bragging, he’s innocent as a new born babe, he was just removing the corrupt politicians form the Ukraine (where the definition of ‘corrupt’ is not pro-German, ’33 – ’45 and rabidly anti-Russian), so Trump is the absolute worst president the US has ever had, and the devil would be a far better choice if running against Trump.
Hardly surprising ; here is what the English-language edition of Wikipedia (to which I linked above) offers its readers in its article on Robert Hunter Biden :
Henri
Ted, this “awaiting moderation” thing is driving me up the wall. Is there a reason? Or is it a glitch? I don’t have to know the reason, just that there is one. Or that it’s a glitch.
I keep running into this phrase: “There’s no evidence either Biden did anything wrong.” I’ve seen it in multiple media outlets (most recently, the New York Post, hardly a Biden-friendly joint).
We have evidence that Donna Brazile, Debbie Wassermann Schultz, and Hillary Clinton (the war criminal–I wonder if Ellen’s gonna friend her anytime soon) helped rig a national-level election in the United States.
We have evidence that Ellen-friend George Dubya Bush, while vice president, lied his ass off to get the U.S. into a war (that we’re still in), probably at the instruction of president Dick Cheney because the end goal was privatized control of all the oil in Iraq by Pres. Cheney’s business pals.
We have evidence that Obama bailed out the banks (too big to fail), opened the Arctic to drilling, and 11-dimension chess-fucked the middle class. We have evidence that Reagan violated the Constitution. We have evidence all over the place for all sorts of things.
So what does evidence have to do with the Bidens? We have Joe, um, Biden, on videotape BRAGGING about using the power of the vice presidency (a phrase very rarely used) to force another country to do something (https://youtu.be/UXA–dj2-CY) and the audience laughs in approval. When I bring this up, I get looks. You know, looks. I’m told it isn’t the same thing as what Trump did. I guess it depends on what your definition of definition is.
Anyway, I see that 538 is reporting that Michelle Obama (that isn’t a typo on my part) is the lead “candidate” in New Hampshire. I don’t know if one of the staffers simply gave up or if they’ve finally abandoned all pretense of being even vaguely legitimate over there at Nate Silver’s personal masturbatorium, but I can’t wait for this debate tonight. Because one way or another, it will no longer be a clown car full of crazies.
It’s definitely a glitch. I go in and check these things and repeatedly find a lot of messages waiting to be moderated which I approve. My webmaster and I are working on fixing it. Just keep commenting, I’ll keep posting them.
Thanks for bearing with us, Ted – and, of course, for your wonderful cartoons !…
Henri