Peter Lemiska
Explaining the impeachment yawn to befuddled Democrats
By Peter Lemiska
On November 9, 2016, angry and frustrated Democrats embarked on an odyssey of opposition and resistance, intent on discrediting and ultimately removing the newly-elected president. They're still angry and frustrated, but in recent months, they've also become befuddled, absolutely bewildered at the public response to their impeachment foray.
They've tried everything to evoke nationwide contempt for the president, the same contempt they feel, that same zeal for his impeachment. Now, after weeks of hearings and the promise of more, they've evoked not much more than a collective yawn.
Of course, the same Democrats who were screaming for impeachment from day one, ardent critics like Maxine Waters and Al Green, they're all in. On the other side, no one is surprised by the push-back from Trump's loyal supporters. But there are still tens of millions of mainstream Americans who remain undecided on impeachment, or oppose it outright. They've left Democrat leaders baffled, bewildered, and utterly befuddled.
Why are so many ambivalent on this issue? Why can't they see those high crimes and misdemeanors? Or to paraphrase Rex Harrison, as Professor Henry Higgins, why can't they think more like a Democrat?
Objective Americans, along with a handful of Democrats, think independently. They may not have ivy league law degrees, but they do have common sense. They're smart and perceptive, and they know when they're being bamboozled.
They hear Democrat leaders in the most somber tones they can muster, bemoaning this course of action they were "forced" to take. "This has nothing to do with politics," they say, with noble indignation. But Americans have all heard their hateful rhetoric and their orgiastic screams for Trump's impeachment. They've looked at the facts, and they've seen the strict party-line vote. They know it has everything to do with politics.
And when Nancy Pelosi and the others say they must impeach this president because "No one is above the law," perceptive listeners know those Democrats have qualifiers. They know about the irrefutable quid pro quo between the Obama Administration and Ukraine. They remember Hillary Clinton's exoneration, based on that incredible claim that no reasonable prosecutor would consider charging her. Americans understand that every time Democrats wax self-righteous, they're really saying, "No one is above the law, Democrats excluded."
And when they start to extol the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, discerning Americans know something's off kilter. Only a few weeks ago, Democrats, liberals, and progressives were demeaning the Founders as racist, misogynist, white men. They were tearing down monuments erected in their honor. Their newfound reverence for our Constitution is equally hard to swallow. Before they needed it for impeachment, they saw it, not as the cornerstone of our republic, but as a living document, needing constant tweaking. Their comrades have worked tirelessly to diminish our free-speech rights, our gun rights, and the citizenship provisions outlined in the Constitution. And for years, they've been trying to undo our Electoral College, defined in Article 2, Section 1. Most American are smart enough to see through their new facade.
And they're not fooled by theatrics, either.
There's a humorous old saying, often associated with the legal profession, "If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with B.S." Having tried the latter, Democrat Congressmen recently invited a panel of law professors to dazzle us with brilliance. The one panelist opposing impeachment was ignored by the Democrats, while the other three were encouraged to spew their palpable hatred and bias unabated. Their testimony definitively explained how we got to where we are today. It showed that in law and politics, there's no room for reason in a mind filled with hate.
The vast majority of Americans are also fair-minded, and they see a process made decidedly unfair by closed-door hearings and biased witnesses, hand-picked by Democrats.
They hear Democrats accuse President Trump of abusing his power, calling him a would-be king. Those same Democrats were silent when Barack "my way or the highway" Obama vowed to bypass Congress with his pen and his phone. Where were they when he abused his executive powers to create new immigration law and to block congressional subpoenas?
They say Trump conducted foreign policy to benefit himself. But when Obama lied about the events leading to the death of four diplomats in Benghazi, could that lie have been anything other than self-serving? And when he made that covert, unilateral deal with Iran, many argue that his real purpose was to create his foreign policy legacy. Considering all the concessions he made, it's clear he wasn't thinking of America's interest.
Fair-minded Americans reject the blatant hypocrisy and inequity – the selective congressional oversight.
Finally, those opposing this impeachment are pragmatic. They think in practical terms, and they're inclined to keep what works. None of the dire predictions about a Trump presidency ever materialized. After three years, the stock market hasn't collapsed. Our economy hasn't crumbled, and World War III hasn't started. On the contrary, the stock market and our economy are booming, world affairs are relatively stable, our military is stronger, and the president is working to secure our borders.
Practical thinkers also know that this effort is doomed to fail in the senate. They recognize it as spiteful exercise in futility, a waste of time and money that could better be spent enacting meaningful legislation.
It's obvious why this impeachment effort isn't gaining traction. Most Americans simply don't think like those who control the House and the Democrat Party. The vast majority of Americans are objective, fair-minded, and pragmatic – and they're smart enough to know when they're being played. They've seen how Democrats took a fairly innocuous telephone conversation, twisted it, spun it, and exaggerated it, into a constitutional crisis that they now blame on the president.
© Peter Lemiska
December 10, 2019
On November 9, 2016, angry and frustrated Democrats embarked on an odyssey of opposition and resistance, intent on discrediting and ultimately removing the newly-elected president. They're still angry and frustrated, but in recent months, they've also become befuddled, absolutely bewildered at the public response to their impeachment foray.
They've tried everything to evoke nationwide contempt for the president, the same contempt they feel, that same zeal for his impeachment. Now, after weeks of hearings and the promise of more, they've evoked not much more than a collective yawn.
Of course, the same Democrats who were screaming for impeachment from day one, ardent critics like Maxine Waters and Al Green, they're all in. On the other side, no one is surprised by the push-back from Trump's loyal supporters. But there are still tens of millions of mainstream Americans who remain undecided on impeachment, or oppose it outright. They've left Democrat leaders baffled, bewildered, and utterly befuddled.
Why are so many ambivalent on this issue? Why can't they see those high crimes and misdemeanors? Or to paraphrase Rex Harrison, as Professor Henry Higgins, why can't they think more like a Democrat?
Objective Americans, along with a handful of Democrats, think independently. They may not have ivy league law degrees, but they do have common sense. They're smart and perceptive, and they know when they're being bamboozled.
They hear Democrat leaders in the most somber tones they can muster, bemoaning this course of action they were "forced" to take. "This has nothing to do with politics," they say, with noble indignation. But Americans have all heard their hateful rhetoric and their orgiastic screams for Trump's impeachment. They've looked at the facts, and they've seen the strict party-line vote. They know it has everything to do with politics.
And when Nancy Pelosi and the others say they must impeach this president because "No one is above the law," perceptive listeners know those Democrats have qualifiers. They know about the irrefutable quid pro quo between the Obama Administration and Ukraine. They remember Hillary Clinton's exoneration, based on that incredible claim that no reasonable prosecutor would consider charging her. Americans understand that every time Democrats wax self-righteous, they're really saying, "No one is above the law, Democrats excluded."
And when they start to extol the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, discerning Americans know something's off kilter. Only a few weeks ago, Democrats, liberals, and progressives were demeaning the Founders as racist, misogynist, white men. They were tearing down monuments erected in their honor. Their newfound reverence for our Constitution is equally hard to swallow. Before they needed it for impeachment, they saw it, not as the cornerstone of our republic, but as a living document, needing constant tweaking. Their comrades have worked tirelessly to diminish our free-speech rights, our gun rights, and the citizenship provisions outlined in the Constitution. And for years, they've been trying to undo our Electoral College, defined in Article 2, Section 1. Most American are smart enough to see through their new facade.
And they're not fooled by theatrics, either.
There's a humorous old saying, often associated with the legal profession, "If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with B.S." Having tried the latter, Democrat Congressmen recently invited a panel of law professors to dazzle us with brilliance. The one panelist opposing impeachment was ignored by the Democrats, while the other three were encouraged to spew their palpable hatred and bias unabated. Their testimony definitively explained how we got to where we are today. It showed that in law and politics, there's no room for reason in a mind filled with hate.
The vast majority of Americans are also fair-minded, and they see a process made decidedly unfair by closed-door hearings and biased witnesses, hand-picked by Democrats.
They hear Democrats accuse President Trump of abusing his power, calling him a would-be king. Those same Democrats were silent when Barack "my way or the highway" Obama vowed to bypass Congress with his pen and his phone. Where were they when he abused his executive powers to create new immigration law and to block congressional subpoenas?
They say Trump conducted foreign policy to benefit himself. But when Obama lied about the events leading to the death of four diplomats in Benghazi, could that lie have been anything other than self-serving? And when he made that covert, unilateral deal with Iran, many argue that his real purpose was to create his foreign policy legacy. Considering all the concessions he made, it's clear he wasn't thinking of America's interest.
Fair-minded Americans reject the blatant hypocrisy and inequity – the selective congressional oversight.
Finally, those opposing this impeachment are pragmatic. They think in practical terms, and they're inclined to keep what works. None of the dire predictions about a Trump presidency ever materialized. After three years, the stock market hasn't collapsed. Our economy hasn't crumbled, and World War III hasn't started. On the contrary, the stock market and our economy are booming, world affairs are relatively stable, our military is stronger, and the president is working to secure our borders.
Practical thinkers also know that this effort is doomed to fail in the senate. They recognize it as spiteful exercise in futility, a waste of time and money that could better be spent enacting meaningful legislation.
It's obvious why this impeachment effort isn't gaining traction. Most Americans simply don't think like those who control the House and the Democrat Party. The vast majority of Americans are objective, fair-minded, and pragmatic – and they're smart enough to know when they're being played. They've seen how Democrats took a fairly innocuous telephone conversation, twisted it, spun it, and exaggerated it, into a constitutional crisis that they now blame on the president.
© Peter Lemiska
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(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
