What Elizabeth Warren Gets Wrong About Impeachment

What Elizabeth Warren Gets Wrong About Impeachment

By Michael Wolraich on Wed, 06/05/2019 - 10:23am |

The evidence from both our own politics and from other countries with Trumpian leaders suggests that impeachment can be morally right, legally justified, and still politically irresponsible. The pro-impeachment wing of the Democratic Party is focused on the first two considerations at the expense of the third. The idea of treating impeachment as a duty—and, by extension, deliberately ignoring its politics—might be morally satisfying. But it’s dangerous for Democrats and for the nation.

...

Evidence from around the world makes a compelling case that fighting right-wing authoritarians and populists on the grounds of their personal corruption or lawbreaking doesn’t get the job done. Figures from Silvio Berlusconi to Viktor Orbán to Benjamin Netanyahu to Nigel Farage have all been attacked on those grounds—and still won election victories in the face of scandals on the scale of Trump’s. To their supporters, “our guy’s” corruption is excusable or even laudable.

URL:

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/06/05/elizabeth-warren-impeachment-227043

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I'm undecided about impeachment, and I don't agree that with everything this guy writes, but I was struck by his point about how not to fight authoritarians. Corruption scandals can and do destroy the careers of conventional politicians, but he's right that they seem to have little effect on authoritarian populists like Berlusconi, Orbán, Netanyahu, and Trump. Defying establishment rules and conventions isn't a bug to these gangster politicians, it's a feature. If you've supported Trump this far, you're probably going to ignore any additional corruption scandals and punishments. This is not just about impeachment, it's about the whole battle to defeat Trump.

by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 06/05/2019 - 10:36am

Also, like with the Steele Dossier or Bush's Guard AWOL, once something/anything goes a little bit pear-shaped, the whole thing can be too easily dismissed in totality. So Cohen wasn't in Prague, so 1 out of many documents was forged - boom, not guilty.

I'm happy with Pelosi's play-it-slow/steady stream of damning evidence. The closer to the election, the better - and I have trouble believing Trump will put all these threads behind him in any scenario.

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 06/05/2019 - 10:44am

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Read the article at https://twitter.com/HannaNotte/status/1763116222256701787

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