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SethMeyersMuellerTestimony.jpg

SO, LIKE, NOW? IS NOW ENOUGH TO IMPEACH HIM?

By Emily Cutler | TV | July 25, 2019 |

By Emily Cutler | TV | July 25, 2019 |


SethMeyersMuellerTestimony.jpg

You know I’m going to end up yelling at some point, so you might as well watch the video first.

So here’s my problem with the current calculus done on gaming out impeachment: people don’t really want to be convinced that the President of the United States has committed crimes while in office. And they super don’t want to be convinced that the sitting President of the United States has acted in ways warranting removal from office. They either actively support the President (as ever, around forty-three percent), or they think it’s a hassle and an embarrassment, and if this were really that big of a deal, someone would do something about it.

Good news, there is someone who can do something about it, and it’s the House Democrats. Bad news, there is someone who can do something about it, and it’s the House Democrats.

You know how Petr did that post the other day about great quotes from fictional characters? And it included Tommy Lee Jones’ greatest line delivery ever in the form of “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it!” I don’t disagree, but I don’t fully agree either. A person can be smart. If you can sit down with a single person to discuss a complex issue, and convince them that they have to act. And even then there’s the problem of convincing them to act after they’ve been at work all day, have to pick the kids up, and need to get dinner. In that situation, it’s a little hard to care. You know when it’s not hard to care? When literally everyone is talking about the same thing, and everyone seems to be enthused about it. Remember how everyone in the country loved soccer for like four weeks? Remember Megan Rapinoe? Yeah. Having someone feeding you information about a thing they are excited about and dedicated to removes all barriers to entry to support it. They’re right there explaining all the rules of soccer to you, and showing you lots and lots of pictures of a lavender-haired goddess. It’s so, so easy to care.

And you know what’s the opposite of that? One of those work emails where someone blasts six or seven people to ask, “Does anyone know anything about this?” I mean, maybe. I might know. But if I have to do any of my own research, I’m going to be much more likely to let it slide until someone tells me what to do about it. Unless you specifically direct a request or question to a single individual, everyone is going to assume, “If it’s that important, someone will tell me.”

House Democrats? You have to tell everyone individually what happened, why it happened, and what needs to happen now. And allowing Trump to dig his own grave is not getting the job done.

People know that what he’s doing is bad. That’s why he’s got only a forty-something percent approval rating. But how bad is it? The Mueller report didn’t say “He broke the law.” No one’s arrested him for anything. All politicians are corrupt. If it’s really that bad, someone would do something about it. That “something”? It’s impeachment. Not because most people already understand and support impeachment, but because the “I” word tells everyone, “THIS IS A REALLY BIG DEAL SO WE’RE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.”

Impeachment isn’t the result of a campaign to get everyone to understand the President’s crimes. It is the campaign. Most of the people who will be voting for you, your base, already support it. If you haven’t gotten as many people on board as you want with your current methods, there is literally nothing worse Trump can do to help you out. And avoiding impeachment isn’t ending the talk of impeachment. There isn’t a way around this, there’s only through. You’re going to have to do it. Right now what you’re telling everyone is that you don’t believe what he’s done is wrong enough to warrant impeachment. Not yet. If you don’t feel compelled by the evidence, how are you supposed to convince the rest of the country to be? Stand up and tell everyone this is a big deal. Do your job, and tell us this is important.



Header Image Source: NBC