Not too fast, not too slow. Democrats have to get impeachment just right.
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
The dilemma facing House Democrats is captured by one of the most internally contradictory phrases in American legal history. In the very muddy language of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, they need to proceed “with all deliberate speed.”
Goldilocks rules again: “Not too fast, not too slow, just right.” Alas, for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Goldilocks never wrote a playbook for dealing with President Trump.
But proceed Congress must, and all who are counseling against impeachment now are overlooking the obligations of Congress that transcend politics. They want to wish away the duty of political leaders to lead, not follow, public opinion during moments of crisis. They are also misunderstanding where public opinion is moving.
And they don’t understand Trump.
The elation among Trump’s opponents when Pelosi ended months of internal party debate and opened an impeachment inquiry has rather quickly been joined by worries about the implications of her decision. There are practical questions about what to do next, and some fear that Trump will turn the impeachment fight to his advantage.
The practical questions are, indeed, important, and one of them is certainly about speed. As is often the case when hard choices are concerned, both sides have a point.
If Democrats move too fast, they risk not looking deliberate and serious. They would also not give themselves time to decide whether a modest broadening of impeachment articles beyond the Ukraine matter might strengthen the case against Trump by making clear the extent and depth of his corruption.
But the slower they move, the closer the November 2020 election comes, and the more Trump’s apologists will charge that impeachment is undemocratic. Never mind that the genuinely anti-democratic acts here are all on Trump’s side: encouraging a foreign leader to intervene in that very election, hiding his skulduggery from Congress and the public, and threatening the whistleblower’s sources.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/not-too-fast-not-too-slow-democrats-have-to-get-impeachment-just-right/2019/09/29/8e19b1c8-e16b-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1
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