Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends. If you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.
Even two weeks is a very long time when Donald Trump is president. So, by mid-September you may have let your senses dull. As much as there were separate promising fronts in slowing and ultimately ending Trump’s abuse of America, the resistance may have seemed a bit stalled. The committee investigations underway since the release of the Mueller report were impeded by Trump preventing Don McGahn and others from testifying. The multiple efforts to get Trump’s tax returns were still out there and still very promising, but with uncertain timing. There was nothing to do but register voters, fight voter suppression, persuade independents and support strong candidates. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Then came the whistleblower’s complaint and with it a level of previously unreached clarity. In no way is this huge revelation about a single “perfect” telephone call. An American president, his personal lawyer, and his State Department used multiple tactics overall several months to induce a small, extremely vulnerable foreign nation to do Donald Trump’s personal political bidding. This included not only the freezing of critical military aid but the recall of the American ambassador. It is an array of impeachable acts that disgrace the Presidency. These acts would outrage Lindsay Graham if Lindsay Graham still existed in his previous human form.
The whistleblower complaint itself should be required reading for every American. There are multiple excellent analyses off what is unacceptable and why it is unacceptable. Importantly, for most of us these disclosures resolve an impassioned, hugely consequential and well-articulated debate between those of us who had not been ready to move forward with an impeachment inquiry and those of us who insisted upon it.
This missive was resolutely in the first camp, viewing moving toward impeachment as a blind alley, with the Senate virtually certain to acquit and with Mitch McConnell being handed a megaphone. Until now, this missive found unpersuasive the argument that justice demands impeachment, since justice is not clearly and automatically served by acquittal. Moreover, since as many as 65% of voters had indicated that they didn’t want impeachment, moving forward seemed like Democrats would be sustaining a self-inflicted wound that might be unhealed on November 3, 2020.
There are those that still feel that way and express those cautions, most notably David Brooks, who is wrong on this matter but undeserving of the resultant enmity. But everything has changed with the Ukraine disclosures. The argument that we must pursue the impeachment inquiry is the winner for two reasons. First, these particular non-Presidential acts are so out of bounds that to ignore them would cause poor James Madison to spin in his grave. One cannot be blind to the Constitution and then count on it to remain the unsurpassed guide to our 230-year experiment in self-governance. It was Trump and Giuliani who removed our alternative, not us.
Second, since we are most likely by far to settle this once and for all on November 3, 2020, it is still fair to ask what additional risk we are taking on in our obsession with beating Trump at the ballot box. The amount of risk depends in large measure on how the inquiry and any subsequent steps are handled. Thus far, we have benefited because Nancy Pelosi has demonstrated a reluctance to impeach. In part because of her cautious approach, a new CBS news poll shows that 55% of voters (including 23% of Republicans and 49% of Independents) approve of the inquiry.
It wouldn’t be overly optimistic to expect another bit of news. Actually, there may be several bits. With such huge changes in the last two weeks, why assume the gathering of information regarding Trump misdeeds is complete? It is not out of the question that someone will reveal additional damaging charges about the Ukraine, or tax fraud, or conversations with Putin, or Kim Jong Un, or Mohammed Bin Salman, or any other people that Trump happens to call.
In pursuing the impeachment inquiry, we have done the right thing. However, let’s remember the right thing doesn’t automatically turn out the right way, and it’s up to us to make certain it does. Our most likely outcome in going down this path is that impeachment processes will cause an additional Trump slide which would lessen his chances of re-election still further. Our biggest danger is that we will go about the process so carelessly that independent voters will become more tired or angry with us than they are with Trump. An advantage in securing the right outcome is that the American people rightly think that Trump is an unreformed teller of untruths. It makes it difficult for him to provide even the slightest shred of exculpatory information about the “perfect call.”
Doing the right thing does not mean getting caught in social media fantasies. Barring some huge additional disclosure that stomps on the Constitution, there is no chance that 20 Republicans will vote for conviction, and Democrats Doug Jones of Alabama and Joe Manchin of West Virginia may not either. Former Senator Jeff Flake’s comment that 35 Republican Senators would vote for conviction if there was a secret ballot is worth nothing, because there is zero chance the Senate would change its rules to provide for a secret ballot.
For Republican Senators, the fact that 2020 is an election year is hugely consequential. Nixon was impeached during the second year of his second term. This time around, there would be no time for Republicans to recover from a conviction vote. Thus, Trump aligned voters would walk away in November, and elections even in red states would be carnage for Republicans.
Absent major new disclosures, we won’t get the votes in the Senate. If we don’t, we can take our resultant free time to underscore the Democratic agenda that was so successful in the Congressional elections of 2018. This includes universal health care, with full protection for those with pre-existing conditions; recognition of climate change and development of robust actions to decrease its threats; and, restoration of global alliances that have kept our country strong.
Now is still the time to be sorting out our candidates. We should be expecting them to refrain from inappropriately drawing blood from each other, while still demonstrating their differences. We should expect them to act like they are all in the same party. We should want her or him to appear on the electoral horizon as someone who is president of the whole country and who will restore American promise one step at a time.
And, taking advantage of our increased momentum, we should do these three things:
| 1) Keep Richard Burr and Mark Warner Heading in the Right Direction | |
| Having Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr work closely with Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Committee is an under-recognized advantage for justice seekers. Burr is not error-free, and he is not showy, but he is definitely on the varsity compared to his House Republican counterpart Devin Nunes. To almost no attention, Burr and Warner have already held a closed hearing about the whistleblower process with Joseph Maguire, Acting Director of National Intelligence. If the impeachment issue gets to the Senate, the Burr/Warner relationship will be key to forging a deliberative process. It’s time to call Richard Burr at 202-224-3154 and thank him for his evenhanded approach to the whistleblower complaint. | |
2) Remember That Smaller Advocacy Organizations Go to Court | |
 | A federal judge has permanently rejected a Trump administration policy seeking to ignore the long time “Flores” protections which requires detained families to be released in twenty days. Though this ruling will be appealed, it is a major step in protecting families of undocumented detainees. This was one of three favorable immigration rulings on the same day. Notable in the Flores case is the involvement of the National Center for Youth Law, which for years has been a smaller, stalwart organization working on foster care and youth homelessness, among other challenges. Their increased involvement in the rights of kids under immigration law is a valuable step and should be supported. |
3) Boost Stacey Abrams’ Schemes | |
 | Stacey Abrams is tired of voter suppression, which is a big problem in at least a dozen states, and which notably cost her the governorship of Georgia. There are a lot of Democrats who would like Stacey to run for one of the two open Georgia Senate seats, but now she is fully focused on Fair Fight, the best new entrant battling the suppression that has gone on far too long. Financial support would be terrific. If you aren’t able to do that right now, sign up for Stacey’s suppression alerts and 50-state campaign so you will know what you and all of us can do to help. |
Our country has massive imperfections. Some have been fielding the theory that the change that has besmirched us during the last three years is our future writ large. It’s not. Not now, not ever. After we get this man out of office we will put ourselves and our country back together again one large and glorious step at a time.
David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington
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