I didn’t expect any cathartic moment as I watched the House Impeachment deliberations. I sought only one thing — a glimmer of hope that our democracy might prevail. After all, the damage was already done — our institutions have been compromised, unfathomable corruption has been enabled, suffering of vulnerable people has been unleashed, alliances have been shattered, our election security has been compromised, and we face the real prospect of another Trump administration. Indeed, that very same day of the vote, a key component of Obamacare was ruled to be unconstitutional, and Mitch McConnell began the push to seat thirteen(!) additional federal judges — who knows how many more judges Trump may be able to seat during his tenure! Regardless of the outcome of the vote for impeachment, the ramifications of Trump administration will persist for generations.
The session was conducted admirably by Represenatives Jerry Nadler of New York, and Adam Schiff of California. Both were very articulate and on-point, wonderfully fact-checking false Republican talking points in the course of introducing each Democrat who stood up to speak. And as the hearing proceeded, many of the Democrats made clear and poignant points.
But I already knew that the Democrats would be bringing their A-game; I was more focused on the Republicans. And in that respect, despite my low expectations, I came away dismayed.
I supposed it would be as others had predicted — that Republicans would align behind talking points which were factually untrue, exaggerated, evasive, accusatory, deflective, or pointedly hypocritical. And indeed, one after another opted not to address salient facts. One after another tried to shift the focus from Trump by making reference to the alleged offenses of others.
But even in the context of this, I expected there to be some concession to reason. Some inkling that truth mattered and that our democracy might emerge intact. Alas, that didn’t come. Republicans didn’t just phone in their talking points. They proclaimed their outrage with spitting vitriol, invoking Jesus, abortion, the Bidens, and a host of other topics for good measure. One Republican Representative, Louis Gohmert of Texas, even went so far as to cite debunked Russian propaganda as the basis for his rationale for voting against impeachment.
Yes, Republicans were passionate. But except for Texas Representative Chip Roy, who acknowledged that Democrats “may reasonably view the infamous phone call and negotiations with Ukrainians as something less than perfect” (though still not rising to the level of impeachment), no Republicans stepped in to reign in any of the egregious dishonesty of their peers. So much for the party of Lincoln!
I am reminded of a 2017 interview in which CNN’s Cooper Anderson crudely challenged a Trump defender with a comment (for which he subsequently apologized): If [Trump] took a dump on his desk, you’d defend it. Of course we’ve long known this to be true — politicians defend Trump’s every word! But now we know that they are so fully invested that they will do so even in the halls of Congress, in defiance of their oaths, their constituents, and their place in history. Indeed, they will do so at the cost of future generations and quite possibly at the cost of our democracy itself.
Congressional Republicans are in positions of leadership. While they fairly respond to constituent demands, breaking news, and policy objectives, they also have it in their power to turn that around — to inform their constituents, shape news cycles, and negotiate. By using their leadership to advance dishonest and dogmatic pursuits, they demonstrate their belief that the whole of our democracy, and the whole of our world-standing is a zero-sum game, and their intention to advance positions that improve their position at the expense of others — that is, to win. Alas, the sort of “winning” that they pursue represents a great loss to many. Through such winning, “greatness” for most people will never come to pass! The impeachment deliberations brought this clearly to mind: the zero-sum belief of Congressional Republicans represents a fundamental threat to our democracy.