As more of the Mueller investigation report is mined and made public, documenting the corruption, obstruction and deceit of unfit demagogue Donald "Not Exonerated" Trump and his cohort, Dems are under increasing pressure to act. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has previously ruled out impeachment by the House, given the turmoil it would create and distract from Dems' messaging for 2020 ("He's just not worth it."). Speaker Pelosi will be conferring with her caucus later today to consider the state-of-play. Dem Presidential candidates like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Julian Castro have called for impeachment proceedings to begin, while other Dems want to hear first from Special Counsel Mueller on specifics in his report. Of course, regardless of how the matter is decided in the House, the amoral Mitch McConnell-controlled Rethuglican Senate would never vote to convict Trump, and would filibuster any action adverse to him. Letting this unfit demagogue escape official justice is not only sickening, but is a destructive precedent to set.
Still, there's discussion about how to proceed. Ed Kilgore writing for New York Magazine, speculates that a formal vote to censure Trump by the House could give Dems something between impeachment and doing nothing. It would be a permanent, historical mark against Trump, who would only be the second President to be censured by the Congress since 1834's Senate censure of President Andrew Jackson. Kilgore suggests the slim possibility of a bi-partisan House censure vote in lieu of impeachment, if the resolution focused on Trump's despicable, unlawful behavior. It's the least desirable option, aside from doing nothing, and the least satisfying to those of us that want to see Trump held to account and punished, if only Rethugs would put their country above their party.
(E.J. Dionne, Jr., offers his thoughts on the matter as well, in Monday Reading.)
BONUS:
It's a sign of the rot in our political system that all conversation about holding the president accountable takes the form of discussing "What Democrats should do," because Republicans have utterly abdicated their oversight role.— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) April 19, 2019
