There’s an old saying in legal circles: “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither on your side, pound the table.”
The Republicans, in the wake of the most devastating testimony yet in the impeachment inquiry, are pounding away at the table. They’re doing it with typical Republican buffoonery, but that doesn’t mean they won’t break something.
Today, a couple dozen clowns disrupted the latest round of hearings by storming into and occupying the secured room where Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper was scheduled to give a deposition about what she knows regarding the suspension of military assistance to Ukraine. She would know a lot since she’s the Pentagon’s point person on Ukraine policy.
The Repubuffoons’ cri de coeur (du jour) is to whine that the hearings are taking place “behind closed doors” and that the buffoons are locked out.
“If behind those doors, they intend to overturn the result of an American presidential election, we want to know what’s going on,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of President Trump’s most rabid defenders. (To protect Trump, Republicans are staging a display of lawlessness. It’s failing. WaPo 10/23/19)
First, there will be no overturning of an election behind those doors. If Buffoon-in-Chief Trump is impeached, that will only come after fully public hearings and a floor debate in the House. It will then be up to the Senate to conduct a trial and to vote on whether or not Trump gets to keep his job. It will all be very public. You’ll even be able to watch on TV!
But more importantly, the Repubuffoons have a total of forty-eight members on the three committees that are conducting the hearings (Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight). They are all welcome to participate in the hearings, including asking their own questions. And, in fact, they have been participating. News media quote those members as they spout their own spin after each session. Just Google Jim Jordan, ranking member of the Oversight Committee. He can’t shut up about his take on each and every meeting held so far.
How crazy will things get? It’s hard to say. But it’s clear that Trump’s party is losing on both the facts and the law. They have no strategy save disruption. They will keep pounding on whatever tables they can find and they aren’t the least bit concerned about breaking something. Like our democracy.
Buffoons are supposed to make us laugh. But these clowns are verging more toward Stephen King’s It. Frightening. And just in time for Halloween.
Photo credit: Bernard Spragg @ Flickr Public domain.