FLODDEN AWAY

Once again, Democrats have fallen in a trap created by their own bias and incompetence. Everyone knows that the only reason Nancy Pelosi called for a vote to approve an “impeachment inquiry” is that Lindsey Graham got 50 Republicans to call the current process a sham. What that means is that any articles of impeachment forwarded to the Senate would have been instantly rejected. Democrats were intimidated into providing a fairer process.

They should have done that, but they didn’t. Instead, they are apparently going to vote on the same process, with pretty much the same rules. The only difference is that Devin Nunes can now submit requests for subpoenas, but he must do this in writing and Adam Schiff must approve. Based on past performance, there is zero chance that Adam Schiff will handle this with anything approaching fairness.

Democrats have locked themselves into a lose-lose scenario.

There are rumors of a delay in scheduling the vote. That would be a real clue that Nancy Pelosi doesn’t have the votes. Even a delay would be a devastating rebuke for both Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.

If there is a vote, and it fails, it is even worse. In addition to the obvious rebuke of both Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, this would infuriate a large portion of the Democratic base. It would also embarrass every current candidate for the DNC nomination, assuming they are capable of feeling shame. Adam Schiff would have a very difficult time continuing with the current process.

But even if it wins Democrats have a huge problem. This is an admission that the current process is fatally flawed. Whether Adam Schiff realizes it, or not, it will be a public rebuke of him. To make this worse, the proposed rules are so obviously tilted toward Democrats that it will be still be difficult to defend the process. It is even more difficult to justify letting Adam Schiff handle this.

To make things worse, at best this is still not a vote for impeachment; it is not even a vote for an impeachment inquiry. It is only a vote to continue with the current process and at some point, turn it over to the House Judiciary Committee, which can then start an actual impeachment inquiry. This will satisfy no one other than the usual left wing pundits on the MSM who view anything and everything as evidence the noose is tightening on Donald Trump. Take comfort in the knowledge that these people have a well-earned reputation for being wrong about everything.

This is the ultimate lose-lose scenario. The IG report will be released shortly. Odds are high that John Durham is going to start indicting people. There is a very real possibility that a report will conclude that the Hillary Clinton campaign colluded with Ukraine in a failed attempt to influence the 2016 election.

While Democrats are hyperventilated over the very thought of colluding with a foreign government to influence an election, while they are screaming this is grounds for impeachment, they missed something. They could be confronted with actual evidence that the Obama administration did this and more.

Perhaps, somehow, somewhere, Adam Schiff has real evidence that will save the day, but I doubt it. It is pretty clear that if Democrats had anything, we would already know all about it.

Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field by Walter Scott, published in 1808.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise(sp) to deceive!”

By the way, the Battle of Flodden Field is very interesting. King James IV, of Scotland invaded England in defiance of his advisers. At first it looked like he was winning, but the Battle of Flodden Field was a disaster and he was killed along with most of his nobles.

TDM