Here’s a collection of bits I’ve been seeing/hearing about the impeachment inquiry.
On the light side:
There have been a couple Twitter polls asking for the best scandal name. Appending “gate” might be getting old. Here’s my favorite: Ukraine Clown Posse.
#CivilWarLetters are also popping up again on Twitter. Paul Begala has a classic:
Metrics:
The data geeks at the fivethirtyeight podcast are starting to dig into the numbers around impeachment. They make a point that the survey question is important. Inquiry or impeachment could make a big difference in polling results. Nevertheless, their preliminary analysis shows that opinion has moved significantly across all political groups with the Whistleblower scandal.
538 does consensus analysis. In other words, they look for trends in various data. If you want to know what people are thinking, the 538 podcast is a pretty good resource.
The serious:
It’s all serious. Pelosi says we should approach the process with solemnity and while I’m not a Pelosi fan girl, she’s been right about many things lately.
It’s not a joke that the president (allegedly) has been calling, or has had his AG, Secretary of State and personal lawyer call, heads of state in order to get dirt on his political opponents.
It could be catastrophic to the US if Trump has managed to burn intelligence operatives in order to discredit the Mueller investigation.
The cabinet and justice department has been hollowed out. We’re looking at a collapsing government.
How long will Republicans wait before they hold Trump accountable?
I was remembering back to Watergate yesterday. I would rush home from school and watch the hearings. From what I recall, there was a long latency period before the scandal started to pick up momentum. When it did, and revelations were happening in greater quantity with greater speed, the push to impeach became unstoppable. I remember John Dean and his pretty wife in her neat blonde chignon sitting behind him. I remember the tapes, the 18 missing minutes, the Saturday Night Massacre. It all happened so fast.
This Whistleblower scandal has that feeling. All of the sudden, the wheels are coming off. We’re now past the point of no return. Barring some unforeseen event, Trump will be impeached. And this time, it looks like he won’t be able to get away with it.
The only question is whether he’ll resign, be forced out or take the country down with him.
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