Democrats: Don't Take the Bait on Impeachment (Adam Schiff)

[kentuck]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/opinion/adam-schiff-democrats-impeachment.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth-Visible&moduleDetail=inside-nyt-region-1&module=inside-nyt-region&region=inside-nyt-region&WT.nav=inside-nyt-region

<snip>
This is a very high bar, and it should be. Impeachment is an extraordinary remedy, not to be entertained lightly, and in the case of a president, would mean putting the country through a deeply wrenching process. It is instead a remedy that must be considered soberly, mindful of the fact that removing a president from office should be the recourse for only the most serious transgressions.

Should the facts warrant impeachment, that case will be made more difficult politically if part of the country feels that removing Mr. Trump is the result that some of their fellow Americans were wishing for all along.

During the course of our investigation in the House Intelligence Committee, we have found troubling evidence of both collusion and obstruction of justice. The special counsel, Robert Mueller, has no doubt seen even more than we have, but his investigation is not complete, and our efforts continue as well. There is much more work to do before any of us can say whether the evidence rises to the level that we should consider a remedy beyond the one that voters will render at the ballot box.

Given the evidence that is already public, I can well understand why the president fears impeachment and seeks to use the false claim that Democrats are more interested in impeachment than governing to rally his base. Democrats should not take the bait. Let President Trump arouse his voters as he will, while Democrats continue to focus on the economy, family and a return to basic decency. And in the meantime, all Americans should reserve judgment until the investigations have run their course.

...more

[avebury]

1. If it is at all possible, I would rather see

criminal charges and Trump and his criminal family and minions ending up in prison. That would be far more satisfying.

[Deb]

6. Yes, to survive intact we need justice.

[Demsrule86]

9. Impeachment is not possible without the senate for removal...we won't get the senate in 18..

in numbers big enough for the 2/3 needed...so we will have to vote him out.

[pangaia]

2. Well said. Schiff knows exactly what he is doing..

[S.E. TN Liberal]

3. Democrats need to understand why the party leadership won't push for impeachment...

...during the elections.

Unless the republican'ts wake up and decide to do what is best for the country, the Democrats can not get an impeachment and conviction to happen.

What are the chances the republican'ts will put the country before their party?

[kentuck]

4. In my opinion, Democrats should not push for impeachment...

But they should push for Republicans to hold the trump accountable. They should keep the pressure on the Republicans.

[S.E. TN Liberal]

5. Exactly,

The republican'ts need to be held responsible for TraitorTrump and all the bad decisions he, and they, have made together.

[Gothmog]

7. From Prof. Tribe

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

8. From AG Holder

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Wounded Bear]

10. All politics is local...

Candidates should run on issues that matter to the constituents they are trying to represent. As for impeachment, the only proper answer to those questions should be, "Let's see what the investigation finds before we make that call."

I suppose there might be some districts where Impeachment might be a winning issue, but I suppor the national party members who say it should not be a general issue in the mid-terms.

[woodsprite]

17. That's exactly what I told Ferris Wharton in DE. He tried to tell me that he, and other repubs

at the state and city level, are different Republicans than what we see in DC. I said "Where exactly do you think those Republicans came from?" I didn't get an answer, he just walked away.

[RandomAccess]

11. My problem is --

while I understand and (begrudgingly) agree with the point, AFAIC he's committed impeachable offenses DAILY since he got in office.

[mcar]

12. Schiff is right

[ProudLib72]

13. Yet when Pelosi says the same thing....

[Martin Eden]

14. Impeach if the facts warrant impeachment

Congress has the duty and responsibility to impeach if warranted. Failure to hold a president accountable for acts of crime or treason tacitly condones such acts and increases the likelihood of criminal behavior by future administrations.

[Mr. Ected]

15. We need to move the discussion from the political to the criminal

Impeachment is a political solution. The Republicans in Congress (and in media and their true believers) want this Mueller investigation to be viewed through the lens of a political, rather than criminal justice, attack.

This is absolutely not the case.

In fact, it's an abomination of our duties as AMERICANS to couch everything in political terms. If a Democrat has run afoul of the law, as a citizen, I would be first in line to demand that they pay the price for their transgressions. Trump and the Republicans should be no different.

However, we live in a world where facts are corrupted into assumed opinions, and attacked accordingly. Real news vs. fake news is really facts vs. opinion; the purveyors simply reduce a verifiable fact into a dubious opinion and brainwash their recipients accordingly.

Have we, as a country, become so disjointed and distrustful that we cannot distinguish between fact and fallacy? If we have, and a criminal investigation into the President is nothing more than a "witch hunt", how can a drug dealer in Wichita be accused of a crime? What crime? Who are his enemies? They caused this. They turned him in. This isn't about the laws...it's about vengeance. The entire system grinds to a halt under this thinking.

I feel sorry for my associates (I live in the rural south, where 90% of my colleagues are Republicans); they have been duped and played and suckered by their own ecosystem. The facts do not support their beliefs, but their cheerleaders have successfully blurred the lines and altered the playing field. The propaganda is so prevalent and so deeply engendered that they don't realize they've become drooling dogs in a Pavlovian tragedy.

Forget impeachment. Too many people would misunderstand and would react accordingly. We need to put these people on trial, show the evidence, and allow American jurisprudence, and not Congress, make a final and legal determination.

[smirkymonkey]

16. +1000

[EffieBlack]

18. So, can people stop dragging Nancy Pelosi for saying the same things these men are saying?