WITH EVERY MOVE HE MAKES, ANOTHER CHANCE HE TAKES
Some progressive voices insist that investigations into Trump’s collusion with Russia are a distraction. Stop talking about impeachment, they insist, because no matter how strong the evidence, Congressional Republicans will never vote to impeach Donald Trump. Far better, they say, to focus on the very real damage Trump and his Republican enablers are doing to America every single day. Devote your energy to fighting that.
If you’ve read much of what I’ve written over the past couple of months, you can guess that I disagree with that position. They are entirely correct about the need to resist the daily Republican assault on American values. But Trump’s collusion with Russia to sabotage the 2016 presidential election is as much an assault on American values as gutting health care, ruining the environment, or [pick any additional example out of the dozens available].
Russian interference in the election is what put Trump in a position to take a wrecking ball to American values in the first place. Without free and fair elections, Trumpism can perpetuate itself forever. Not to mention the fact that if we avoid issues that Republican Congressional majorities can simply stonewall, it doesn’t leave us much to do in the political arena.
Honestly, six months ago I expected things to be much worse. I’m impressed by what anti-Trump forces have accomplished so far. Since January 20, we’ve found that the Trump juggernaut we feared is actually a clown car filled with bumbling idiots. Destructive idiots, to be sure, but still idiots.
We’ve learned that we have allies in the press who will listen when we speak, and who will challenge Trump’s disinformation. We’ve learned that we can use mass rallies effectively; that Congressional Democrats have the discipline to form a united opposition; and that keeping the pressure on Republicans in swing districts is an effective strategy. Of course, those tactics don’t work every time, but our job is to celebrate the wins, take the losses in stride, and keep on keeping on.
We’ve also learned that the arrogance of Trump and his cronies has exposed them to serious legal consequences. And that makes the #TrumpRussia scandal different from something like withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement. Impeachment is a political matter, and it’s the hands of the Republican Party (at least until we can elect a Democratic congressional majority in 2018). By all means, maintain a healthy skepticism about the integrity of congressional watchdog committees as long as they’re controlled by Republicans.
But luckily, the comical incompetence of Jeff Sessions, Devin Nunes, and Jason Chaffetz cost Republicans control of the investigation. Now the man to watch is Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is, by reputation, competent and relentless. The entire alphabet soup of American intelligence agencies – CIA, FBI, NSA, DNI – is on the case. So are their European counterparts, who are furious at Trump and Putin. Team Trump’s secrets won’t stay secret very long.
The truth is, we don’t have to choose between paying attention to the Russia scandal and paying attention to health care (and the rest of the daily Republican atrocities). Each of us will naturally gravitate to the issues that concern us most, but everybody doesn’t have to do everything. Collectively we’ll cover all the bases. And the exposure of Donald Trump’s treason will be the cherry on top.
If you can’t tell the players without a scorecard, here’s an awesome article from Mother Jones that lays it all out – good guys, bad guys, Americans and Russians, the works.