Last edited Sun Oct 6, 2019, 10:52 PM - Edit history (2)
If it's out in the open, it can't be a crime.
It's not political; it's about fighting corruption.
Biden's the corrupt one, and Ukraine colluded with the Clinton campaign--it wasn't Russia colluding with my campaign.
There's nothing wrong with having private conversations with foreign leaders. (Except for that pesky Presidential Records Act.)
So-and-so told me to do it.
It was just a joke.
And so on.
As silly and just plain false as those arguments are, Democrats do need to be vigilant about controlling the narrative by pointing out how wrong the arguments are *and* - I would argue - by pointing out what tactic is being employed. Because as obvious as it is to some of us, I guarantee many people aren't going to recognize that Trump and his minions are attempting to convince people that their transparency (never mind that it was forced by the whistleblower) equates to innocence. 'I'm not hiding this, so it can't be wrong.' When he says on live TV that China should investigate Biden, Dem leadership should hold a press conference and spell out exactly what he's doing, which is two things. First and foremost, he's committing an impeachable offense. Secondly, he's trying to fool the public into believing that crimes committed openly can't possibly be crimes. Dear American people, don't be fooled--transparent illegality is still illegality. And remind the American people that there is still much that *is* being hidden, including transcripts of calls that have no business being stored on a server meant for highly classified records. And remind the American people that making threats to whistleblowers is witness intimidation and a crime. Never underestimate the ignorance of the American people; they need constant reminders.
And Democrats also need to avoid taking too long, as the public could get bored. At the same time, to have any chance at flipping any Republicans (let alone flipping enough to get a conviction), Schiff and Co. have to gather a mountain of damning evidence. Since there's little chance they'll get the documents or the testimony they've requested -- subpoenas and judge's orders mean nothing to this administration -- Schiff and Co. are reliant upon more and more whistleblowers coming forward. Also, they need public support for impeachment and removal to continue to rise, which is where controlling the narrative comes into play.
I suspect even audio of Trump engaged in clear quid pro quo with Putin (such as doing Lord Vladimir's bidding in exchange for him not releasing tapes of Trump engaged in heinous acts) would not be enough to flip 20 Republican Senators. Those assholes are so corrupt, so bent on bringing about fascism and so ethically bankrupt that I'm not sure anything would sway them to remove Trump from office. I don't give a shit what Biden says, there are most certainly not "a lot of really good Republicans." Maybe, just maybe, more whistleblowers coming forward and public support for conviction continuing to rise will convince McConnell and Co. to persuade Trump to resign, but we can't count on that. This is not the Republican Party of 1974 (not that those Republicans were all that great).
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