Greg Sargent makes some good points:
President Trump’s explicitly stated position on the Ukraine scandal is that there was nothing whatsoever wrong with the conduct detailed in the White House summary of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
What Trump needs right now is for as many Republicans as possible to voice this position as well. He needs them to also state unequivocally that there was nothing whatsoever wrong with that conduct, as opposed to merely attacking Democrats and the process.
Yet two new revelations underscore why this will only grow harder for Republicans: A diplomat will testify to new details about the freeze in military aid to Ukraine, and it’s now clear the “transcript” of Trump’s call is incomplete. Both will worsen the basic dynamic for Trump.
There are some, like Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who are acknowledging that what the president did is deeply wrong but still insisting that it doesn’t rise to an impeachable offense. That’s earning Portman some blistering criticism. It doesn’t seem like a great piece of turf on which to stake your tent if you’re looking for safety.
Honestly, though, that is about the best the Republicans can do. Outside of some Freedom Caucus sycophants, GOP lawmakers are simply not going to parrot the line that the call was “perfect” or that the president’s conduct more generally was acceptable.
It would help them help the president if Trump would admit an error in judgment. It may infuriate most of the country, but it’s still a tenable position to argue that with an election so close at hand, it would be best to let the voters decide Trump’s fate.
That’s hard to do if it’s not the official line coming out of the White House. At some point in the near future, I think this may become an unbearable problem for many Republicans who want to either vote against impeachment or acquit him of the charges after a Senate trial.
The call with the Ukrainian president seems unlikely to remain as the main focus of the probe or the charges. We’ll be looking much more at what preceded the call and the actions of Rudy Giuliani and his Ukranian thugs. This really is the biggest scandal in American history, and the phone call is the least of it. I believe the hearings and the trial will bring this out and make it excruciating for anyone to argue that the behavior merits a mere slap on the hand.
People like Senator Portman who have staked out a middle ground will see the ground shift beneath them. He’ll be looking for a safe place, but he won’t find one. If he could argue that the president has acknowledged his error and is remorseful, it would perhaps give him a new piece of turf. But the chances of that happening are almost nil.
I continue to think that Trump’s own character and personality are the reasons he may actually get removed from office.
It has long seemed like Trump, though a symptom of a larger problem — the complete moral bankruptcy of our society to an extent and one of our major political parties lock stock and barrel — might very well suck that corrupt and corrupted party down the tubes. I think that’s what we’re watching but it’s playing out in slow motion. Our system operates in a way that provides the Republican, by historical accident, with much cover. The shift we’re seeing won’t play out all at once but it is playing out. When a tipping point comes, we’ll see a profound shift.
Of course this won’t happen entirely on its own, at least not in the foreseeable future. Democrats must be smart, clean and take advantage of the groundswell. Corruption and scandal on our side can undermine the cause. So can failure to work hard and to work smart.
In the event Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren find themselves in the White House, it’s going to be important to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If they can get there while calling for Medicare-For-All, great. Just don’t fail to then focus on those fall-back positions that might be achievable. Increased ACA subsidies for instance. The long awaited public option. Just keep advancing the ball. Hopefully Democrats won’t be too stupid or too timid to push the ball forward. Eventually people will get that these programs are good. They may not be grateful because there’s not a lot of that going around, but they should at least grow attached to them and become unwilling to accept less.
All of which is another way of saying it’s not safe to be Republican, full stop. Regardless of how they dance the Trump impeachment jig. Yes, the hearings and possible trial make their choices far more fraught. But it’s ultimately their lack of character, their complete cavalier disregard for the well being of their constituents, that will destroy them — as soon as there are enough educated constituents to figure it out.
I agree with you about Trump being a symptom of a larger moral bankruptcy. There is something really wrong with a society that allows someone like Trump to get anywhere near leadership. He is an obvious charlatan, whose only values are the negative ones of hatred, anger, ignorance, lechery, and sloth. Not only that, he has zero knowledge about policy or how the government works. It’s hard to imagine a leader, or indeed a human being, with fewer redeeming qualities.
But…that said…you seem to have the belief that this will necessarily see a reaction to this, a kind of moral revulsion, or a come-to-Jesus moment among the population. I hope that this is true, and on alternate Tuesdays I tend to believe it will be. But, it is also possibly true that there won’t be a counter-reaction, that the more damage you do to a society, the less resources it has to fix itself, that things will just get worse and worse.
The main question here is: does history proceed in cycles of reaction and counter-reaction? Or is it a series of unrepeatable contingencies, such that once you push a society one direction, it can get off course forever?
I fear the second of your two scenarios that instead of a cycle or pendulum we’ll pass a point of no return.
Martin, please do something about your site cookies! It’s been months since the relaunch and I still have to provide my password every single time I want to read a “Prime” post.
Hey JordanO,
What browser are you using, and are you sure it’s not a settings issue on your side? I’m using Chrome and don’t see the same behavior as you do. I have to log in more often than I did on BooManTribune, but it’s not every time or every day, more like every week or two.
I am using Mac laptop and iPhone. I have the login problem with both.
Same problem except not every time but often
I’ll pass this along to the programmer. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I have the same problem in Android
Jordan, I had the exact same problem (using Safari browser). I tried logging in without providing either userid or password. This forced me back to a login/signup page that included the ‘Remember me’ check box. I checked that, logged in with my userid and password, and since then have had no problem (@ 3 days).
“I continue to think that Trump’s own character and personality are the reasons he may actually get removed from office.” Given that the Mueller investigation happened entirely due to Trump’s behavior, I agree. All he had to do, once inaugurated, was say how terrible it was the Russia attacked us and that he would marshall the full weight of the federal government into investigation and prevention. But that was impossible for him to do.
We’ve been saying for a long time around here that the Portman Gambit is the Repubs’ only tenable option. Sure it is intellectually absurd, and doesn’t take into account that the Ukraine Shakedown isn’t an isolated instance of Der Trumper “seeking” foreign aid in an election. His corruption is endemic, and as a political criminal he can’t restrain himself or be expected to stop. And of course we have the “conservative” precedent that lying about a blowjob obviously was sufficient grounds to remove a prez from office–or will the Portman Gambit hold that that was an error by Repubs as well? But it’s not really necessary for Portman to address this little problem, I suppose, as “conservatism” abounds in bad faith arguments and wallows daily in hypocrisy.
I’m surprised you see that the July 25th call to be (in future )declining in importance, since this appears to be the entire focus of every bit of depo testimony submitted so far. The call was Der Trumper’s own decision and action; he can throw Giulinani and Co. under the bus whenever he wants and no “conservative” (cog or elected) will care one whit. Plus, the cloak and dagger machinations of Rudy are going to be way beyond the attention span and cognitive ability of 3/4 of America.
The focus now should be on demanding the actual transcript, but this was obvious from day one and it is inexplicable why Dems didn’t immediately start the process of demanding it. There is clearly no basis for holding any aspect of it privileged.
I am not an attorney but it would appear that with the inquiry having been voted on and approved by the house they have a legal right now to seek whatever is in that hidden file, plus those tax returns. . Given the quid pro quo involving holding back congressionally approved funds could make it even worse. He should be in jail as in lock him up. And these bastards who now ignore subpoenas or lie could find themselves behind bars. How sweet is that. Corey are you still in the states. We may want to speak with you again.