It shouldn't take an ex-Republican to tell Democrats to do their duty, but that's what happened on AM Joy this morning. David Jolly was blunt: "They have a duty under the constitution to consider whether or not the president broke the law."
Indeed. Then Jolly took it one step further, and again hit the nail on the head.
"And the finality that will confront Democrats is this," he warned. "If you refuse to impeach the president and hold him accountable, you're taking the same actions that Attorney General Bill Barr is taking by saying, 'I see the Mueller evidence, but I'm not going to hold the president accountable.'"
This should go without saying! The only reasons I can see for any Democrat, whether a voter or an elected official, to demur from their moral, ethical and constitutional duty is ignorance (they haven't taken the time to read the report) or cowardice. Republicans will shirk their duty because they're addicted to power and are completely sold out to the Trump Crime Syndicate (see Romney, Willard).
Bottom line: There are no other options and we shouldn't need a former Republican to tell us that.
To put an exclamation point on it, hear what panelists Tara Dowdell and Elie Mystal have to say.
"But the arguments that people are making is that it's going to divide the country. We're already divided," Dowdell said. To which I say, AMEN. Stop pretending we're not.
Dowdell went on to cite Dr. Martin Luther King's fight for civil rights and the fight against slavery which were also unpopular but mandated as a moral matter.
"People want, and particularly Democratic voters, they don't want Democrats to be a little better than Republicans," she argued. "They want Democrats to be unequivocally better than Republicans. They want Democrats to have backbone."
Yes, we need the party that isn't an unabashed crime syndicate to have backbone and fight for what's right. Let's stop playing the game where we pretend there are reasonable Republicans. There aren't and in the era of Trump, they've unleashed all of their greed, avarice, cynicism, and power grabs.
Elie Mystal nailed it when he pointed out where Obama screwed up by assuming Republicans would be reasonable: Merrick Fcking Garland.
"I'm old enough to remember Merrick Garland, and I'm old enough to remember the Republicans not playing ball, and the Democrats didn't burn it down right now," he cautioned.
"No, we fight the battle in front of us and this is the battle in front of us,," said Mystal.
THIS. ALL DAY LONG, THIS.
Stop worrying about 2020. Stop pretending there's some way to get Republicans on board and start fighting. Today.
Oh, and please...if you haven't, read the report and make sure your Congressional Representatives have too. Don't rely on what other people say. Read it for yourself and make sure they have too.
