The impeachment vote: the only news was the numbers
As predicted, the House voted “aye” on its two articles of impeachment.
I was a bit surprised at the totals for one reason only: I thought the perhaps Pelosi would allow more of the Democrats in Trump districts to vote “nay.” I guess she decided it was more important to present a somewhat united front than to protect those seats.
So here were the totals – and as predicted, the only bipartisanship was against impeachment:
The vote total on the abuse-of-power count was 230-197, with Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard voting present. The obstruction vote total was 229-198, with Gabbard also voting present on that count too. In a statement, Gabbard called for a censure resolution instead of impeachment, saying, “My vote today is a vote for much needed reconciliation and hope that together we can heal our country.”
“I also could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country,” Gabbard said. “When I cast my vote in support of the impeachment inquiry nearly three months ago, I said that in order to maintain the integrity of this solemn undertaking, it must not be a partisan endeavor. Tragically, that’s what it has been.”…
Democratic Reps. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin Peterson of Minnesota opposed the abuse-of-power count, and also opposed the obstruction charge. Peterson represents a district that Trump carried in 2016 by an eye-popping 31 points.
First-term Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who flipped a GOP seat in 2018, voted yea on abuse of power count, but voted no on the obstruction-of-Congress count. Trump also carried Golden’s district in 2016.
Jeff van Drew is counted as a Democrat but is supposedly becoming a Republican. The Independent who voted “aye” is Justin Amash, who used to be a Republican.
A sad day for America, but probably not a bad one for Trump.
And I continue to wonder who the Democrats think their simulated regret is going to convince.
Does it feel as though we are living in Greece or Italy, or some other emotionally volatile and fundamentally corrupt culture? Not quite yet.
But this kind of business is indicative of how degraded the average Democrat person has become as a moral being; how unfit it is to live in a constitutional polity, and to be counted by those who value the rule of law and expect moral reciprocity as the price of association, as one deserving of the status of a political fellow and peer.
They have no interest in the original American project, nor in the well-being of middle America; and I for my part have no interest in or sympathy for them.
And I intend to act more diligently on that understanding forward; though I know many here feel that letting chaos envelop and swallow them through the practice of exclusion, if it ever should come to that, and if I ever should be able to potentially do something to stop it, is somehow a violation of some magical umbilical principle which is supposed by sensitive conservative types to thread our so-called “common humanity” together. No. And no anger here. Just a shrug at the postmortem of an already dead moral community.
It seems is that whoever runs the numbers for the democrat party have determined that President Trump is very likely to win another term next November.
They are, therefore, rolling the dice and hoping that impeachment will stain him. And then, perhaps, change the likelihood of that event.
What I think has happened is that this whole fiasco has done the near impossible and turned the President into a sympathetic figure in the minds of the truly independent.
DNW:
You are mischaracterizing what most people on the right who disagree with you on that score feel. It’s not some mystical “magical umbilical principle which is supposed by sensitive conservative types to thread our so-called ‘common humanity’ together.” I’ve not even heard that argument made, and so it’s interesting that you choose to emphasize it.
My argument, and that of most people here who agree with me, is that Democrats and/or independents who buy this stuff are often very low information voters who are busy leading their lives and not paying a whole lot of attention. I know, because long ago (in a different atmosphere, however) I was pretty much like that. So I think I know a great deal about how such people tend to think. They also dismiss the idea that their sources of news – which they tend to not read in great depth, although they read some – are fundamentally biased. And you know what? If you don’t delve into it at all deeply, and you read only the MSM, you can remain quite convinced of what they say.
I am not speaking of leftists. They are a different kettle of fish. Nor am I thinking of NeverTrumpers on the right, such as Bill Kristol or Max Boot. A very different type of thought process and emotional makeup has gone into the creation of their positions. I am talking about the basic Democrats I know. And I know plenty of them.
DNW:
I will grant you that Greek politics are emotionally volatile and corrupt however I have never experienced anything coming remotely close to this level of hateful partisanship in Greece.
Jeff van Drew is counted as a Democratic but is supposedly becoming a Republican.
-=-=-=-
Entryism (also referred to as entrism or enterism, or as infiltration) is a political strategy in which an organisation or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organisation in an attempt to expand influence and expand their ideas and program. In situations where the organization being ‘entered’ is hostile to entrism, the entrists may engage in a degree of subterfuge and subversion to hide the fact that they are an organisation in their own right.
-=-=-=-
“French Turn” refers to the classic form of entrism advocated by Leon Trotsky in his essays on “the French Turn”. In June 1934, he proposed that the French Trotskyists dissolve their Communist League to join the French Section of the Workers’ International (SFIO) and that it also dissolve its youth section to join more easily with revolutionary elements. The tactic was adopted in August 1934, despite some opposition. The turn successfully raised the group’s membership to 300 activists.
Proponents of the tactic advocated that the Trotskyists should enter the social democratic parties to connect with revolutionary socialist currents within them, and steer those currents toward Leninism.
-=-=-=-=-
The entrist tactic can work successfully, in its own terms, over a long period. For example, it was attempted by the Militant tendency in Britain whose members worked within the Labour Party from the 1950s on and managed to get a controlling influence in the Labour Party Young Socialists and Liverpool Council before being expelled in the 1980s.
-=-=-=-=-
In the interest of saving space: Rudi Dutschke
Artfldgr:
I just realized, from that quote of mine you gave, that I had mistakenly written “Democratic” instead of “Democrat.” I just fixed it.
As for whether Jeff van Drew is an entrist, it’s certainly possible. But he’s been pretty consistent as a fairly conservative Democrat (by today’s standards, anyway) during his entire political life. Of course, that has served him politically, since he’s in a district that often goes Republican:
A Democrat meme: “No one in the U.S. is above the law!” It makes me smile – laugh even. They have, by establishing sanctuary cities and states, put illegal aliens above our law. They have, by attacking ICE and trying to thwart ICE, put illegal aliens above our law. They have, by covering for the corrupt practices of the Biden family, put them above the law. They have, by charging the President with obstruction of Congress, themselves abused the law by not seeking court rulings on their subpoenas.
Another meme: “This President has asked foreign powers to interfere in our elections” All the while ignoring that the DNC and Clinton Campaign hired a foreign agent to dig up dirt in foreign countries on candidate Trump. And used that dirt to try to frame candidate Trump as a Russian asset. Also while ignoring that the DNC (Alexandra Chalupa was their agent) went to Ukraine to dig up dirt on Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and on Trump, if possible. That dirt forced Manafort to resign. All of this led to the Mueller investigation which wasted two years and $35 million of taxpayer money.
Another Democrat meme: “The Constitution is a sacred document that must be protected from President Trump.” All while ignoring their attempts to water down the First Amendment, and get rid of the Second Amendment and the Electoral College.
Still another Democrat meme: “This gives me no pleasure to have to impeach this President.” I can hear the champagne corks popping clear up here in the Pacific Northwest, as they raise their glasses of bubbly and gleefully proclaim, “We impeached the motherf***er!” Pernicious prevaricators all.
There are many more, but I’m old and tired, and disheartened by what I saw today. Mendacity has become the major tool of the Democrats. It is to weep.
J.J. on December 18, 2019 at 11:42 pm said:
A Democrat meme: “No one in the U.S. is above the law!” It makes me smile – laugh even.
* * *
I was reading a post at Claremont Review of Books today, and Mark Helperin makes the point that Harvard graduates quite literally believe they ARE above the law, and have done since the university was founded.
Final paragraphs:
https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/pride-and-prejudice-at-harvard/
Another must-read from the “Claremont Review”, penned by Michael Anton:
https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-empire-strikes-back/
(H/T Instapundit)
I hope the fat corpuscle John Tester votes for it in the senate, I’m getting tired of that corn pone huckster, and if he votes for it, he’ll get voted out, regardless if a “surprise” libertarian candidate runs.
The surprise to me are the votes by Gabbard. She occasionally shows signs of sanity. I wonder if a Neo type change is in the wind?
“…signs of sanity…”
Oh, please. EVERYONE knows that Gabbard is a Russian agent. Hillary told us so herself….
On the other hand, it is well known (as Mma Ramotswe might say) that hope springs eternal in the human breast. While one was fretting, tearing one’s hair out, refusing to eat or even stabbing oneself in various places, one of the web’s more fascinating “not-quite-but-then-who-really-knows-for-sure-conspiracy-sites” tells us that:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/horowitz-vows-deep-dive-potential-fbi-surveillance-abuse
…along with some good news from NYC:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ny-state-drops-manafort-case-paving-way-pardon
…and also (for those (of us) who lap up this sort of thing):
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/former-nsa-tech-chief-says-mueller-report-was-based-cia-fabricated-evidence
Never give up. Trust—but verify?—the Donald on this(!)…and look on in awe and pride as the Republicans finally seem to be growing—in what looks like a surprisingly positive outcome after decades of medical research—some spine:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/analysis-in-impeachment-vote-how-republicans-got-to-zero
H/T Powerline blog
Never ever give up.
But if you’re wavering, here’s something to—perhaps—provide some cheer (well, perhaps):
https://spectator.us/nancy-pelosi-dull-impeachment-spectacle/
(That Roger Kimball fella is SUCH a card….)
“DNW:
I will grant you that Greek politics are emotionally volatile and corrupt however I have never experienced anything coming remotely close to this level of hateful partisanship in Greece.”
Point taken. At least, I suppose, since ’46.
I was thinking of Bill and one of the other, possibly the first, Macs; who seemed to specialize in forlorn hopes of restored community and that will-o-the-wisp, “we”.
Among others, one confronts almost daily in the media.
“Never ever give up.”
That is right. And the reason is that it does no good to do so when you are dealing with people who are in-principle totalitarians; worshipers of a directed-evolution justice and progress fantasy they imagine they are born to be in charge of.
Those who will stop at nothing, will stop at …. nothing
Democrats and/or independents who buy this stuff are often very low information voters
In my experience here in the People’s Republic of Seattle, the progressives around me all follow events closely but go no further than the daily Received Opinion and Official Talking Points as disseminated by the usual suspects in the press and the meme factories (Occupy Democrats et al.)
They predictably screech in outrage about whatever they’re supposed to screech about that day, and there’s definitely a we have always been at war with Eastasia feel about it if you watch over time.
I wouldn’t call them “low information”. Maybe “low independence” instead.
Xylourgos on December 18, 2019 at 11:23 pm said:
And, you will always have Aristotle to your credit, come what may..