In 2018, many Democrats and moderates sent a blue wave into Congress in response to the first two years of the Donald Trump presidency.
Even Oklahoma and Kansas sent Democrats to the House of Representatives from districts that were very pro-Trump in 2016. Most analysts interpreted that election as voters calling for the legislative branch to do its job of being one of the checks and balances for the executive branch.
So why is a Republican the only member of Congress pushing for the House of Representatives to impeach President Trump? The Democrats asked for a mandate from voters. They made promises. They got the votes they asked for but they haven’t delivered much more than a few angry tweets and hearings with no action.
Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan) recently made his case on Twitter that impeachment is necessary.
On Twitter, Amash said, “Impeachment, which is a special form of indictment, does not even require probable cause that a crime (e.g., obstruction of justice) has been committed; it simply requires a finding that an official has engaged in careless, abusive, corrupt, or otherwise dishonorable conduct.” He went on to say, “Contrary to (Attorney General William) Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi agreed. Unlike Rep. Amash, she isn’t willing to do anything about it.
Pelosi said Trump gives her party grounds for impeachment every day, yet she has no intention of pursuing that course of action.
She said impeachment would be divisive for the country, but she isn’t ruling out lesser actions.
“This isn’t about passion, it’s not about prejudice, it’s not about politics, it’s about the presentation of the facts. It’s about patriotism and wherever that path takes us, we cannot resist,” Speaker Pelosi said, “But on the other hand we have to exhaust every other remedy on the way.”
I don’t think voters who supported a Blue Wave did so because they wanted the House of Representatives to scold the president and express their disappointment when he thumbed his nose at their requests for information. The Democrats are satisfied to try to embarrass the president and keep the threat of impeachment alive.
So far, their main accomplishment has been a few hearings and document requests that prove the president has something he deems to be worthy of hiding. It is unclear if the Democrats are concerned about the effects of an impeachment that the GOP-controlled Senate would kill or if they are keeping that card up their sleeve to pull out during a presidential election.
Activists are losing patience with the Blue Wave, but Pelosi will never tip her hand.
Only time will tell if the Democrats will ever do anything of substance with the mid-term electoral victory.
Kent Bush is publisher of Shawnee (Oklahoma) News-Star and can be reached at kent.bush@news-star.com.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pelosi pushed on impeachment by Republican representative