The first day of the Democrat impeachment proceedings was about as exciting as watching grass grow. In fact, the best spin that the Trump-hating mainstream press pundits could come up with went something like this: The Democrats have laid the groundwork and set the goal posts for their impeachment strategy. They hope to convince the voting public that the whole is more than the sum of its second- and third-hand parts.
Well, if Schiff and his crew of partisan hacks erected those goal posts, something bad happened to their team: Their two disgruntled State Department witnesses were drop kicked through the uprights by a sharp Republican defense.
It was almost (but not quite) painful to watch the look on Ambassador William Taylor’s face as he reacted to the righteous ridicule of Republican Jim Jordan. It was priceless:
“We’ve got six people having four conversations in one sentence, and you just told me this is where you got your ‘clear understanding [that President Trump wanted the Ukrainians to go after the Bidens].’”
Jordan continued, as the ambassador laughed. “Ambassador, you weren’t on the call, were you? You’ve never talked to Chief of Staff [Mick] Mulvaney? You’ve never met the president. … And you’re their star witness?”
The Ambassador was saved by the bell as time expired. One almost expected a referee to step in and call a TKO.
Then there was tag-team member Rep. John Radcliffe’s clearly undiplomatic and challenging question to both witnesses: “In this impeachment hearing today, where we impeach presidents for treason or bribery or other high crimes, where was the impeachable offense in that call?”
Then he asked, “Are either of you here today to assert that there was an impeachable offense in that call? Shout it out. Anyone?”
Both were silent. Finally, Ambassador Taylor’s stammering recovery was to the effect that he was not there to do that.
We get it, Ambassador. What you and your State Department handler were there for was to protect the Deep State. In fact, the hearing was all about unelected career bureaucrats locked in a desperate struggle over the control of American foreign policy.
If the outcome of that struggle is the removal of our nation’s head foreign policymaker, so be it. There are rules and paradigms, you know. They involve going through proper channels and adhering to protocols and policy papers. We can’t have a rogue President disrupting years of State Department prerogatives in conducting our country’s foreign affairs.
In any case, Nancy Pelosi’s dumb decision to allow Adam Schiff’s star chamber intelligence committee to run the show could turn out to be the biggest mistake she ever made. The Democrats clearly had no cohesive plan. The best witnesses they have so far are two snooty diplomatic corpsmen who wilted under scathing Republican cross-examination. They had to be continuously rescued from their “well, duh” moments by leading questions from Democrat’s side.
So, judging by the committee’s lame first-day performance, people are wondering “Is that all they’ve got?”
“Mueller 2.0” will turn out to be an astonishing debacle for the Democrats as the voting public grows weary of listening to rumor and third-hand charges from pointy headed deep state blue bloods who didn’t like President Trump running foreign policy.
If this mess gets to the Senate, look for a protracted tar pit for the Democrats as the Republicans spread out a mock trial over Democrat primary season.
