<<So, then, why would the Bidens, in particular, be so stuck in half the country's craw?>>
Because Joe Biden is running for president and it was Joe Biden who used the power of his office to get a prosecutor fired. And it is Joe Biden who did what Trump is accused of: He withheld aid the Ukrainians were expecting so as to get that prosecutor fired. This is an actual quid pro quo, is it not?
On top of this, you probably noticed that a government agency, whose acronym I can't recall right now, ruled last week that Trump's withholding of aid was illegal. If this is a fair ruling, then my half believes Biden is guilty also.
My personal opinion is this. The accusations against Biden and the distaste for Hunter are warranted. The investigation of Biden by Rudy or anyone else is appropriate. Call it opposition research because obviously it is being done because Biden is running for POTUS. The only thing inappropriate was Trump 'belly-flopping' into the middle of it by asking Zelensky to help. This was a blunder. It's Trump being a novice. It's Trump being not crafty like Hillary was
The investigation of candidate Biden is no different than Hillary asking a foreign agent to put together opposition research against Trump. The only difference is that Hillary didn't blunder by making it known from the beginning that she was behind the investigation of Trump that produced the oppo research, the Steele dossier. If you recall, she hid it by having a DC legal firm make the payments to Steele.
As for Trump's phone call distracting top officials, threatening the security of both Ukraine and the US, and creating an international incident, isn't that rather hyperbolic? Remember, too, that it wasn't the phone call that did any of this. It's the attempt at impeachment for a mistake that didn't rise to the level suggested by the Constitution. A reprimand in the form of a censure was perhaps the appropriate remedy.
You probably feel that Trump is getting away with something, and I can understand that. It wasn't a 'perfect' phone call. Maybe Trump needed to be called out for it. I say maybe because it's likely that all presidents have made phone calls to foreign leaders asking for things that might rile up the opposition party and be deemed inappropriate.
Democrats, though, are doing irreparable damage to the impeachment process as laid out by the framers. As I knew they would, Democrats are now crowing that Trump will at least be stained with the impeachment label. Pelosi said as much last week, and Claire McCaskill, former Senator of Missouri, used the exact words in an interview a few days ago. Unlike the Clinton impeachment, there was never any bi-partisanship in the beginning, something the framers asked for. Now we clearly have such a change in procedure that it's likely there will be more impeachments done anytime we have the party of the POTUS opposite the party of the House. Impeachment could deteriorate to an act of bullying, no meaningful foundation to it required. An opposing House might even undertake multiple impeachments, as some Democratic commentators are now actually floating be done to Trump. |
