Opinion/Satire: GOP on Evidence For Biden Impeachment. “It’s Out There, Maybe Next to My Car Keys."

PixabayPhoto byGregMontani

Imagine you’re in a courtroom, not the friendliest of places to begin with, and you’re not quite sure why you’re sitting there when a clerk calls out your name and asks you to rise.

And you do, standing alone as everyone else stares at you, hoping they won’t get called next.

But for what?

Then the clerk reads from a prepared document.

Announcing that a hearing has been called to look into the possibility that you may have committed a crime. Any crime. That evidence will be gathered, witnesses will be called and your life will be turned inside out as the “State” determines if you, over the past months or years did anything wrong. Anything at all.

Then asks you to please take a seat and wait. And that you better call your wife and tell her you’ll be late tonight.

An unlikely scenario because the courts don’t work that way because there’s a process.

There is always a process. And it always begins when there’s more than a hunch that something illegal has happened. You know, someone comes forward to report. A person is missing or a space where the TV used to be.

That’s when questions are asked, facts uncovered, and data gathered until there is sufficient proof that a crime was committed and then the process continues and someone is eventually charged with a crime.

It’s called an indictment. It takes time. It takes commitment. But most of all it takes proof and common sense.

Something which the current GOP cohort in the House of Representatives is still searching for along with any actual proof of a crime.

Angered by the fact that former President Trump was impeached – twice – by the Democrats, the GOP has decided that they must impeach Biden as well. A Quid Pro Quo. It’s only fair.

Like two friends taking turns punching each other in the arm. You did it, so now it’s my turn.

Only all of this is not happening in the schoolyard of PS 127 in Brooklyn, New York, it’s happening live on CSPAN in Washington, DC. Our capital where 535 members of Congress are supposed to handle the running of the world’s most powerful and democratic nation as adults.

But that’s not what’s happening.

The GOP announced that a hearing would be convened, an impeachment hearing that … wait a second.

It’s important to note before going any further, that an impeachment of a sitting president is a serious matter. Flying a few friends on Air Force One over the holidays or not paying for Super Bowl tickets does not qualify.

The Constitution covers it as follows.

Article II, Section 4: The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

When Trump was first impeached by the House, months of investigation by Democratic House members went into compiling information, subpoenaing witnesses, gathering testimonies, and listening to recorded conversations between the then-president and other parties supporting claims made that would eventually be written into the Articles of Impeachment, issued on December 18, 2019.

Due diligence preceded claims aired publicly and led to the Articles being issued, asserting that President Trump had “corruptly solicited the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations into— (A) a political opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.; and (B) a discredited theory promoted by Russia alleging that Ukraine—rather than Russia—interfered in the 2016 United States Presidential election.”

On the GOP side, the following conversation sums up the GOP’s current approach.

This exchange took place on Dec 13 between Rep. Joe Neguse D-Colo. (the House prosecutor during the first impeachment trial) and Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.)

Reschnthaler was announcing that an impeachment inquiry was being initiated on President Biden.

Neguse: “What is the specific constitutional crime that you’re investigating?”

Reschenthaler: “Well, we’re having an inquiry so we can do an investigation to compel the production of witnesses and documents.”

Neguse pressed on: And what is the crime you’re investigating?”

Reschrenthaler: “High crimes, misdemeanors, and bribery.” (Referencing the constitutional threshold for impeachment – but no specifics.)

Neguse: “(But) what high crime and misdemeanor are you investigating?”

Reschenthaler: “Look, once I get time, I will explain what we’re looking at.”

Think of the above in this way. If someone in authority calls for an emergency search of an area and requests that volunteers be gathered, search & rescue dogs be summoned, and begins handing out maps to be used by the searchers, there's an assumption that one thing is already settled – someone is actually missing.

And not that everyone is being sent out into the woods to determine if someone is really missing and, if they should then be looked for.

We have pressing issues around the world that are demanding our attention. Supporting Ukraine and Israel is not frivolous. What happens if these two democracies fail is what happens when any democracy fails – history has already shown us the results, we don’t need to experience it again.

Trying to impeach a president who is doing his job, reducing inflation, creating new jobs, reducing unemployment, investing in manufacturing across America, is just plain stupid.

It’s a waste of time, money, and effort that is sorely needed elsewhere in our country. Congress already knows what the American people need and want. They’ve done the surveys, had the town hall meetings, and gathered all the “intel” they need to enact legislation that will help American families.

Paying down their mortgages and paying off student loans. Repairing healthcare so that it’s affordable to all Americans. Enabling Millennials and others to buy a home as prices continue to distance themselves from what most people can afford.

When the former president was impeached – twice – the evidence was compelling, the testimony concise, and the facts irrefutable. The threshold was met, not because the Dems were in charge but because there was so much of it, that it was impossible not to come to those conclusions.

Whatever the GOP is looking for is not in the White House. If there are any doubts about the former president’s intention if he’s elected again, perhaps one should review his most recent speeches and plans for the future.

One might even suggest that if the House GOP is looking for crimes, perhaps that’s where they should begin.