RSS
Some Republicans see the Ukraine/Biden impeachment inquiry as a deep-state coup attempt against President Donald Trump. Some progressives are beginning to scratch the surface of an alternative — but equally cynical — analysis that I think leftists ought to consider:
Trump’s impeachment is a DNC/centrist coup attempt against progressives inside the Democratic Party.
Democrats could have launched impeachment proceedings over any number of more compelling issues: Trump’s child separation policy at the border, the Muslim travel ban, emoluments, the president’s erratic behavior on social media. Why the Ukraine/Biden affair?
The House inquiry is hardly ideal from a framing perspective. The only conceivable reason that the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma hired Vice President Joe Biden’s screw-up drug addict alcoholic son, with zero experience in the energy sector, to sit on its board of directors for \$50,000 a month was that he was the vice president’s son. Vox notes that “the situation constituted the kind of conflict of interest that was normally considered inappropriate in Washington.” Pre-impeachment, no one knew about this sleaze.
Knowing that his worthless son was working a no-show “job” there for a company brazenly trying to buy his influence, Vice President Biden ought to have been the last Obama administration official to call the president of Ukraine about anything. Democratic leaders, corporatists to a man and firmly on team Biden, nonetheless are aware that their impeachment inquiry risks exposing their preferred candidate to the kind of scrutiny that can lose an election.
Biden apologists like New York Times resident conservative columnist Ross Douthat are furiously spinning the argument that Americans should ignore Biden’s corruption to focus on Trump’s worse corruption. “Hypocrisy is better than naked vice, soft corruption is better than the more open sort, and what the president appears to have done in leaning on the Ukrainian government is much worse than Hunter Biden’s overseas arrangements,” argues the Dout. But impeachment is a political process, not a legal (or legalistic) one. We knew what Trump was when we elected him; this point goes to the president.
So why go after Trump over Ukraine/Biden and not, say, the fact that he’s nuts?
Risks aside, to rescue Biden’s flagging campaign, the Democrats’ Ukraine investigation transforms him into a victim — not successfully, I think, but anyway, it tries. Liberals love victim narratives.
And now, the crux: Elizabeth Warren. When Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry, the self-styled progressive from Massachusetts was rising in the polls so fast that many analysts, myself included, believed she had become the most likely nominee. I still do. That goes double following Bernie Sanders’ heart attack, which fuels concerns about his age.
As impeachment proceedings do, the current effort to sanction Trump — remember, the odds of getting 67 senators to vote to remove him from office are exceedingly long — will dominate news coverage as long as they go on. It’s going to be impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, 24/7.
The drone of impeachment will eclipse Warren’s remarkably disciplined campaign. She has plans for everything, but the media won’t cover them. Warren trails Biden on name recognition. How will voters get to know her? I’d be spitting bullets if I were her campaign manager.
As I’ve written for The Wall Street Journal, progressive ideas are dominating the current presidential campaign cycle on the Democratic side. Most of the top candidates have endorsed Sanders’ key 2016 promises: free college, Medicare for All, \$15 minimum wage. Nearly 3 out of 4 Democratic voters self-identify as progressive.
Bernie lost the Battle of 2016 to Hillary Clinton, but he won the war. Corporatists still control the Democratic National Committee, but the vast majority of Democrats lean left. Before Biden entered the 2020 campaign, it seemed clear that four decades of Third Way/Democratic Leadership Council/New Democrats/Clintonite party rule was coming to an end. A progressive, either Sanders or Warren, would almost certainly be the nominee.
Biden’s campaign is about one thing: blocking progressives.
Samuel Moyn, interviewed in Jacobin, sort of gets it. “(Democratic Rep.) Adam Schiff and many others are not concerned about saving the Democratic Party from its historical errors, including its own disaster in 2016,” Moyn says. “If impeachment becomes a distraction from that much more pressing campaign to save the Democratic Party for the Left, then it will have been a disaster.”
What better way for moderates to recapture control of the Democratic Party than by impeaching Trump? The impeachment brigade has progressive allies like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “squad.” But the pro-impeachment Democrats who are getting airtime on MSNBC, unofficial broadcast organ of the Democratic Party, are the centrist/DNC “national security Democrats.” (Note the new/old branding. Scoop Jackson, call your office.)
Impeaching Trump may not be a fiendishly clever conspiracy to recapture the Democratic Party from the left. It may simply work out that way — dumb luck for dumb corporatists. Regardless, pro-impeachment progressives are dupes.
Why impeach Trump when it seems so unlikely to result in his removal from office? Why risk energizing and further unifying the Republican Party?
As their backing of Hillary over the more popular Bernie in 2016 showed, the old DLC cabal is more interested in getting rid of the progressives in their own party than defeating Trump. Impeachment may not nominate, much less elect, Biden. But it just might neutralize Warren.
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Hebrew
Hindi
Italian
Persian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
I don’t know if this is true, but it’s an interesting perspective I hadn’t considered. Thanks for the insight.
Interesting theory but getting the nomination requires amassing delegates by winning primaries. This is going to favor a progressive though in states with open primaries Republicans will have the option to do some mischief by backing Biden or Sanders ( if neither drop out).
The other ‘wild card’ is Barr/Durham. The Democrats, Warren included, do not want to have to campaign with Jim Comey, John Brennan and other Obama officials under indictment or on trial. Any Pelosi/Schiff ‘impeachment will unravel in that scenario.
Funny how the US is moving towards a USSR with American characteristics when it comes to political intrigue
I actually thought it was a Warren move against Biden. Pretend you’re opposing Trump but it actually implicates Biden. Otherwise they’d go after emoluments which to my mind is the only plausible grounds for impeachment. It amuses me that Progressives think they can impeach a President because they don’t like his policies, such as the Muslim ban. It’s got to be something that’s actually illegal.
No, getting the nomination has NOTHING to do with “votes” and “primaries”. The preselected successor gets the nomination, and the preselected successor “wins” the “election”. Since Trump “won” the 2016 “election”, we know with perfect certainty that Trump was the preselected successor.
Hillary’s emails told us his purpose. He’s a Pied Piper, carrying on the same agenda as previous presidents while leading populists into the trap for slaughter.
I disagree. I believe that the push towards impeachment for Ukraine is a means of pushing Biden out of running by making him toxic (by bringing his son’s connections to light) and setting up Warren as the de facto nominee. Warren, for all of his progressive bluster, comes off as someone who is, while not nearly as corporatist as Hilary, someone who’s votes can be bought. She comes off as a DNC version of Ted Cruz in that regard. If anything, Warren may further push for Neo-Liberal policies like the Gang of Eight immigration bill that leaves the border open but kills domestic labor by creating a thousand loopholes to keep illegals working, or push for expanding Obamacare, but you’re never gonna get the 15/hr wage or single payer. Biden on the other hand is unreliable, mentally and physically, for the DNC to guarantee a win against Trump. why else have you not heard Biden’s BFF Barry come out to his support?
As for the RNC: The fact ive been seeing many neo-cons like Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, and Lindsey Graham slowly distance themselves from Trump for his calls tells me that they are watching the tea leaves. I think if they could more comfortably see the possibility of hitting 67, they would all pull a Caesar on Trump and outst him before the election. I think many of them want the status quo back, and they see that happening more with Warren than Trump. Many of them are either on the way out, or know they have a kooshy job as a lobbyist or commentator waiting for them after congress, so its not much of a risk. They know the blue demo replacement is happening, and they would rather play pet than cattle.
Beyond me as to how anyone could possibly support such a charlatan and grifter as EW, an opportunistic fake who has been riding on a false identy for decades in order to remain entrenched in the academic gravey train, a venue populated by the most crooked greed-ridden scumbags known to society: perfessers.
Of course one can expect anything from so-called “progressives”, the ultimate in dissolution and deception.
And something that really puzzles me beyond my Mensa capabilities : Just what are “progressives” progressing to? More gay rights, and socialism/communism? What does the vague expression “progressive” actually infer in their worldview?
Authenticjazzman “Mensa” qualified since 1973, airborne trained US Army vet, and pro jazz artist.
“to rescue Biden’s flagging campaign, the Democrats’ Ukraine investigation transforms him into a victim”
Nothing can rescue Biden when the videos of him groping little girls hit the evening TV news. They’re easily found on the internet, and I assume the oppo is holding them back from mainstream TV until and if they’re needed. I assume that all LoFos, and even most Democrats, will be repelled by his pedo behavior on the videos. There’s no way Biden will ever be elected President.
“Free” college–even for millionaires’ kids–that’s Democrat logic. “Medicare for All” — including and especially illegal migrants, who have only begun to flood our borders, compared to what’s coming. And Democrat logic is to attract millions more, every way they can. Meanwhile, I’m sure we’ll get Medicare for All, as soon as I turn 65, and that’s not soon. \$15 minimum wage–typical vote buying, and Dem Logic applies the same wage in Fargo and Fayetteville as in SF or NY. Idiots!
I say all of the above, mind you, as someone who holds no brief for the Republicans, who are just as idiotic, only in slightly different ways.
I disagree as well. Mentioning Ukraine can do Biden absolutely no good. The guy was a useless candidate in 1988. Today he’s just old and useless. Time to brush him aside to make way for the darling of the establishment, which is not Elizabeth Warren.
This was a Clinton hit job to make way for the return of Hillary. The DNC, MSM and Neocons will all be dancing in the street by the new year. Then we’ll see if they can get her elected by forcing Trump into a war with Iran or if they have to use election fraud in the swing states.
Another vote that this article is 180 degrees wrong. Most likely this was an effort to get out in front of all the corruption of the US politicians, (((Soros)), (((Pinchuk))), and (((Kolomoyskyi))) in the Ukraine that Trump was going to expose. Guiliani investigated all of that, but Lee Stranahan was reporting on this at least 2 years ago.
But assuming that this was not a deep state effort to “project” to get out in front of the scandal, then I suspect Hillary first. If not her, Warren. If not them, then the DNC in general to get Biden out because he has lost it cognitively.
Warren is just a more marketable Hilary. I think even the most staunch swamp creatures have to realize that Hilary’s name is Cancer. In fact, I only believe that they keep her around due to how deep herfinancial claws are in politics, if her bank-rolling of the DNC was any indication. I dont think you could have a more toxic candidate to run for the DNC if you had Hilary pick Al Sharpton as her running mate.
Neo-Cons may love hilary because she’s a swamp creature that they can pretend to take shots at, but even they know that Hilary v Trump 2 woudl be an even bigger disaster. Warren is the closest way they can replcate that while still having a shot of winning. Trump has already lost Minnesota and Michigan, while Ohio has gone full red. The two states he needs are Pennsylvania and Florida, and Trump needs both if he has any chance of winning. Bernie would be the best hope for both states, but if they are hell bent on killing Bernie, Warren is the closest shot they have.
I stand by my assertion that Warren’s common woman shtick is smoke and mirrors. She’s just as swampy as Clinton, she’s just less obvious about it.
Ted Rall seeing clearly.
I have also described Ukrainegate as an establishment ploy (about a week before).
Sept 26: At first I thought impeachment was a distraction from an imminent war with Iran.
Sept 29: But I soon realized the political implications:
Oct 3: I described exactly how impeachment is an establishment ploy to help Biden (these are just the bullet points, see more at the link):
Oct 4: I further fleshed out the issues:
“Democrats could have launched impeachment proceedings over any number of more compelling issues: Trump’s child separation policy at the border, the Muslim travel ban, emoluments, the president’s erratic behavior on social media.”
– Ted Rall, moron
Ted is as dumb as a rock. You can’t impeach a president for malfeasance. Imagine how stupid Ted looks if we examine each point:
1. I want to impeach Trump for border/child separation.
(Only problem is that he went through the courts, and every other prez has done the same)
2. I want to impeach Trump for ‘Muslim’ travel ban
(Teddy forgets that he won that case in the Supreme Court)
3. Emoluments!
(Forget Hillary’s two billion take while SOS or the Biden cronyism)
4. I want to impeach Trump for Twitter
(Baby Talk)
I think that you’re reading the wrong Vox. What other Vox is there? Well, it’s as clear as Day. 😉
Absolutely.
Biden stands no chance: he’s corrupt, he comes across as a bully with the press and, nail in his coffin, he CANNOT keep his hands off young girls. I mean, Christ, he leans in and sniffs their hair. Anyone who has seen these videos, and they will be part of attack ads, cannot but walk away thinking “holy shit, this guy is a rapist”!
Further, he never remarried and I very much doubt he has a girlfriend. I have no idea what these people in the Democratic part are thinking or if they are thinking but it’s clear Biden is a pedophile and probably a violent one. This guy is not electable. You just can’t sell Biden. It’s insane that he hasn’t been pulled aside and told to retire.
And ‘Liawatha’ or ‘Pocahontas’ is a delusional socialist lunatic. Wall Street and tons of other players would never support her let alone Middle America.
Who do the Democrats really have?
Hillary?
So why go after Trump over Ukraine/Biden and not, say, the fact that he’s nuts?
The answer is quite simple, Trump wanted the Democrats to impeach him over Ukraine and Biden, and he baited them into doing it. The Democrats are reacting, Trump is the one actually following a long-term plan.
Trump knew they were going to try and force him out of office, that is why he strung them along with the Mueller investigation for two and a half years while he let his investigators complete their investigations. Following Sun Tzu, he has chosen the impeachment battlefield he wants to fight on. Biden is doomed, while Trump has set up alternate win scenarios depending on whether the House succeeds in impeaching him or not.
” 99% of Democratic voters will not care that Biden’s son got money from Ukraine and China”
99% of Democratic voters do not care about any of the corrupt and criminal activities of their party honchos, main thing is they don’t get caught.
AJM
Precious is quite right. The Democrats have stuck a fist in the tar baby.
Yes. It’s more than hair-sniffing. In at least one video Biden is groping for the chest of a little girl. In another, the girl is calling to her parents for help to escape the abuse! The display is all the more disgusting for the fact that the parents stood by and let their kids be abused, as the price they had to pay for the advancement of their pathetic puny political careers.
I’m guessing that most voters haven’t seen the videos yet. In the unlikely chance that Biden is the nominee, EVERY TV-watching voter will see the videos, and even mainstream Dems will be repulsed by what they see, as will every LoFo and “undecided” voter. Pedophilia is the most powerful taboo remaining in the USA, even this perversely “transformed” USA of 2019-2020. Some few radicals like Rall and Antifa will no doubt discount the clear video evidence, due to their thirst for leftist power By Any Means Necessary, but the vast majority of Americans will never vote for that groper when they see those videos.
How could they think this would hurt Warren, I do not know, I think it’s already hurt Biden much more that they dreamt possible., while doing little to dent Trump’s popularity
They have given that impression by ‘no one is above the law’ , but they don’t have to prove he broke the law to impeach him. The info the Russian supposedly had on Clinton did not amount to “emoluments” as set out by Mueller, so how can they prove the info from Ukraine is equivalent to money?
I disagree with the post’s thesis. Impeachment hurts Biden, but has nothing to hurt Warren. If: it looked like super-rich tax proponent Warren might possibly win; the stock market would fall; put the country into recession; Trump loses if the economy is not growing, and so Warren would will become president.
USA?
Bullshit. A 2 cents tax per dollar above 50 million dollars wont affect the market one way or another.
Is the 7% sales tax affecting your spending habits?
It is extremely difficult to comprehend how anyone on Earth could think the Warrren is a viable candidate after being caught in FOUR bald-faced lies (so far):
1. She has no Indian blood,
2. Her recipe in Pow Wow Chow is plagiarized straight up from a French cookbook.
3. She was not asked to leave/fired/contract not renewed because she was pregnant.
4. Her grandparents did not elope at all and certainly not because her grandfather’s parents did not approve of her grandmother’s non existent Indian blood. Newspaper records show the opposite.
But even if that were not the irrefutable facts, Warren is an angry, phony schoolmarmish figure that no one likes except for addled regressives like Rall and middle aged cat ladies.
She can take her place with angry, bitchy, phony Kamala Harris in the Hillary Clinton Hall of Fame for Defective Female Candidates, which is located on the Titanic.
I’m getting more and more urgent push-polls from DNC-linked groups pushing Hillary as their candidate. I’ve resisted the strong impulse to remove myself from their lists, simply because I want to see what they’re up to.
Actually, I’m pretty sure I did remove myself a while back, but the messages keep coming.
I think I will send them a positive response to see what happens next. If I end up with indigestion, well, I can afford to lose the weight.
Why so low? Why not 22 cents per dollar? Why not 102 cents? Why not prison terms for anyone with that kind of money?
I don’t understand the logic behind these taxes. They won’t stop those people from doing what they’ve been doing all along; only slow it down a tad. Jailing a Gates or a Jobs or a Woz or a Buffett or a Branson or a Soros would make sure nobody else follows their example.