It’s kind of interesting that the central goal of Democrats in the wild-and-wooly Capitol impeachment hearings is to use their misapplied, blistering power to ruin the re-election chances of Republican President Donald Trump. Their central case against Trump is that this is the kind of thing he did — use his powers in delaying military aid to Ukraine to get the country to stomp on Joe Biden and thereby ruin his chances of replacing Trump as president.
The Democrats know, of course, that they are not going to get enough support from the Senate’s Republican majority to give them the two-thirds vote necessary to actually evict the president. Here, however, is what they have been enjoying: hours and days of TV time in which they lambaste the president in every way possible in the hope of winning over voters. Their top spokesman, Rep. Adam Schiff, has demonstrated his skill as a debater as others jump in to call the Republicans treacherous to America, show videos out of context, toss misinformation into the mix and repeat points so often as to make sure no one misses them.
Because of the coverage of multiple TV networks, what it amounts to is one great big, incredible TV ad with millions watching. To obtain this opportunity, no money was required, just a rushed House procedure in which a whistleblower relied on hearsay for his allegations, Republicans were denied the right to call witnesses and minimal evidence was produced.
Schiff says the evidence was overwhelming and the truth inescapable even if he wants more witnesses to support the truth. You imagine him at a restaurant with a waiter providing a full glass of water. “Pour in more,” Schiff demands. “But the glass is full,” the waiter says. “I still need more water in the glass than that,” Schiff would then bark, his eyes glaring, his rhetoric getting ready to flood the room and his tip likely to be withheld.
