During the mid-term election campaigns last year, Pelosi had given strict instructions to those who were running for office not to speak the “I” word, that is, impeachment. If the question came up, the candidates were to deflect, dissemble and otherwise avoid answering the question.
“This election cannot be about impeachment. I don’t think it’s in the interest of America’s working families to focus on that, unless we have more to go on, which we don’t at this time. I think it’s not unifying for the country.”
Pelosi wasn’t worried about the country. She knew that it would hurt the chances of Democratic candidates if they showed support for the idea of impeachment. That would hurt her chances of becoming Speaker of the House again. The Democrats were to campaign on “governing” and bringing “civility” back to Washington. In other words they were to lie to the public and pull the wool over the public’s eyes about their real intentions.
When the Democrats won the House, they immediately dropped all pretenses about not going for impeachment. They re-wrote the House rules for different committees to aid in the impeachment effort. They were weaponizing these committees against PDJT just as the Obama administration had weaponized federal agencies against their political opponents from 2012 through 2016.
The Democrats had no intention of trying to govern. Their first commandment says that power is their God and anything they can do to gain more power is okay.
Pelosi had a script laid out for impeachment. However, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) couldn’t wait. On the day she was sworn into office, she told her supporters “we’re gonna impeach the mother***ker.” Others started pounding the drums for impeachment. To say that trouble was boiling within the Democratic caucus would be the understatement of the year.
Pelosi advised patience. On Monday Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) advised lawmakers to push two messages during TV appearances. The first was the Democrats’ domestic agenda (which is non-existent outside of providing special privileges to special groups) and the second was that the President is not above the law. Pelosi admonished him to follow his own advice.
So the narrative that they want put foist on the public is that PDJT is acting like he is above the law. That the most law-abiding President in memory is violating the law because he thinks he is above the law. This is a fake narrative on steroids. Once again the Democrats are projecting the crimes of their own Presidents onto the current holder of the office.
On Sunday, Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the House majority whip, was interviewed by Jake Tapper on CNN. Tapper asked,
“But it sounds like you’re — you think that the president will be impeached, or at least proceedings will begin in the House at some point, but just not right now?”
“Yes, exactly what I feel,” replied Clyburn.
Clyburn went on to say that the Democrats must “educate the public” before moving ahead with impeachment proceedings against Trump. So he was echoing what Cicilline was saying. Create a false narrative in the public’s mind that PDJT is violating the law.
Clyburn continued,
“We think that we have to bring the public along.”
“We do believe that, if we sufficiently, effectively educate the public, then we will have done our job, and we can move on an impeachment vote, and it will stand.”
“The House has to determine the timing for impeachment.”
“What Nancy Pelosi is trying to do and the rest of us in the House of Representatives is to develop a process by which we can efficiently move on this issue, so that, when we get to a vote, it would be something that she calls ironclad, I call effective. And that is why we are trying to take our time and do this right.”
As it turns out, Clyburn had stepped badly outside the Speaker’s rules on impeachment speeches. Pelosi called him into a private meeting on Monday evening.
Emerging from the meeting Clyburn walked back his remarks that suggested that impeaching PDJT is inevitable. He said he’s “farther” from backing impeachment than most of his caucus. And that he has always felt this way.
“I’m probably farther away from impeachment than anybody in our caucus. We will not get out in front of our committees. We’ll see what the committees come up with. I’ve said that forever.”
Here’s what this episode tells us. On Sunday Clyburn spoke the truth about what he thought would happen. Apparently a lack of impeachable crimes is not an impediment to the Democrats for beginning impeachment proceedings. On Monday evening, after Pelosi “cracked the whip”, Clyburn toed the Speaker’s line of thought and advanced her narrative to the American public. Clearly Pelosi does not think that Americans have been “educated” enough for impeachment to start. Or is her real concern that educating the public on impeachment may cast a spotlight on the genuine high crimes and misdemeanors that took place in the Obama administration?
The Speaker may be having difficulties with the extremists of her caucus. However, it is clear that older, elite, minority members of the party know who the boss is.