We need to talk about the impeachment proceedings. More specifically, Republicans’ conduct. How could we not?
A little court truism states that, in trials, if the law is on your side in a trial, you bang on the law; if the facts are on your side, you bang on the facts; if neither is on your side, bang on the table.
Republicans are not only banging on the table but now lack any semblance of coherence in all the noise they are making.
The GOP is coming at every move by the Democrats from every angle possible, even when many of their points are contradictory to one another. As when House Democrats began impeachment hearings, Republicans complained that they were being unrightfully excluded from sitting in. They protested that the public should also have access to the information.
Private hearings are an entirely normal part of impeachment proceedings, and Republicans utilized them during the era of Clinton’s impeachment. Furthermore, some of the protestors present were actually on the panels that conducted the inquiry into President Clinton.
At first Republicans claimed the Democrats were being sly and deceitful. Once the hearings became a public manner, however, the GOP labeled them as show trials.
Even as Trump’s party attempts to undermine the proceedings, a national poll shows public approval ratings of the impeachment inquiry reaching 55 percent. If revelations continue flowing in at their current rate, public opinion could continue to support impeachment hearings.
Furthermore, Trump defenders have very little of substance to say. When they do say something, it doesn’t seem to help. The conflicting comments from Republicans began when the whistle-blower’s complaint first emerged. The attempted defense was claims of hearsay, which was quickly and easily debunked.
As the panels began their private hearings, these Trump crusaders constantly fell back on the ad hominem fallacy. This is an act of attacking the character and/or circumstances of those testifying rather than attempting to disprove their statements. Trump’s team stooped so low as to attack long-time Ukraine expert Lt. Colonel Vindman when the member of the National Security Council explained that he sought to correct the abridged transcript of the call with Ukrainian president Zelensky. Vindman is not the traitor in this situation by any rational measure.
Republicans also seem to claim that Trump’s request for a favor was an authentic desire to remedy corruption in Ukraine, rather than a quid pro quo aimed to gain political leverage over an opponent.
If Trump were even remotely interested in combating corruption, he would not befriend corrupt dictators nor would Ukraine be the first country in need of help.
Anyone wanting the truth of this situation should instead focus on the damning facts that seem to arise every single day.
