NEWS AND OPINION:
The old phrase “united we stand, divided we fall” now applies to Republicans. We already know that Democrats and Republicans agree on very little, and that’s that. The impeachment proceedings, however, are prompting division within the GOP rather than inspiring a united front against an unprecedented challenge.
The wavering Republicans include closet “Never Trumpers” who are still in a snit that President Trump won the White House. Some have policy differences or condemn the brash but productive ways of a deal-making president.
Yes, well. Six weeks before 2020 dawns is not the time to have vapors. The old phrase “stay calm and carry on” applies here. GOPers must remember that multiple polls suggest voters are sick of negative politics and a “do-nothing Congress”; many also consider impeachment both a waste of time and money. In the meantime, the news media is only too happy to amplify the appearance of GOP family discord. Some headlines of the past 24 hours:
“House, Senate Republicans split on impeachment strategy,” notes Axios.
“GOP divided on defense of Trump over Ukraine,” proclaims The Wall Street Journal.
“After day one of impeachment hearings, is Attorney General William Barr distancing himself from Trump?” asks MSN.
One report broaches the effect of even a small schism.
“By most everyone’s judgment, the Senate will not vote to remove President Trump from office if the House impeaches him. But what if senators could vote on impeachment by secret ballot? If they didn’t have to face backlash from constituents or the media or the president himself, who knows how many Republican senators would vote to remove?” writes Juleanna Glover for Politico.
She is a former adviser to former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, among others.
“A secret impeachment ballot might sound crazy, but it’s actually quite possible. In fact, it would take only three senators to allow for that possibility,” she continues, citing multiple conditions which might lead to this outcome.
“If there was a secret ballot in the United States Senate, I think Trump would lose 90-10,” MSNBC host Joe Scarborough publicly noted in late October. “If there were a secret ballot in the Senate this morning, Mike Pence would be president by noon.”
WHAT THE VOTERS SEE
Voters don’t expect fair play from the media in their coverage of House impeachment hearings.
A Rasmussen Reports survey released Thursday finds that 53% of likely U.S. voters think most reporters are “trying to help impeach President Trump” when they write or talk about the impeachment effort. That includes 76% of Republicans and 48% of independents.
These voters are also paying attention: 86% say they are following the hearings. Few think the press are neutral, however. Overall, only 32% of voters believe most reporters are simply interested in reporting the news in an unbiased manner. Only 8% say they actually are seeking to block Mr. Trump’s impeachment. The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday.
DEPLORABLE MOMENT OF NOTE
“I dedicate this book to the Deplorables,” writes Donald Trump Jr. in his new book “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us” — currently No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list.
“While the elite of the other party look down on you and would rather you stay silent, I salute your work ethic, patriotism and values. America wouldn’t be great without your blood, sweat and tears. I always stand with you! I am proudly one of you,” Mr. Trump says, adding his own trigger warning.
“Do not continue reading this book if you don’t like conservative ideas or if the thought of reading bad words scares you. Do not continue reading if you don’t have a sense of humor or are American but somehow, magically, Donald Trump is not your president,” the author advises in his 304-page book, published by Center Street.
KEEPING UP WITH JANE
Let us consider actress Jane Fonda, a former anti-war protester who journeyed to North Vietnam in 1972 at the height of the Vietnam War, earning the nickname “Hanoi Jane.” A pair of well-known environmental skeptics now speculate on her near future.
“Jane Fonda moved to Washington, D.C. so she could get arrested every Friday at the U.S. Capitol to protest U.S. energy policy and lobby for the Green New Deal. The question looms: Will Jane Fonda return to Hanoi to protest Vietnam’s rapid acceleration of coal and oil to cloth and feed its population?” asks Marc Morano, founder of Climate Depot, a news site which tracks climate alarmist trends.
“If coal and oil use allegedly threaten a ’climate emergency’, why isn’t Fonda heading back to Hanoi to protest the Vietnamese government’s fossil fuel use?” he wonders.
“Vietnam can’t build enough coal plants soon enough to keep pace with its booming economy. Now that Hanoi Jane has become Climate Calamity Jane, her presence in Vietnam is probably no longer welcome,” observes Steve Milloy, founder of JunkScience.com, another news site which debunks environmental claims.
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POLL DU JOUR
• 56% of Americans disapprove of the job the Congress is doing; 65% of Republicans, 55% of independents and 49% of Democrats agree.
• 52% say Congress is accomplishing “less than usual”; 61% of Republicans, 47% of independents and 52% of Democrats agree.
• 42% blame Democrats in Congress for this failure; 80% of Republicans, 43% of independents and 6% of Democrats agree.
• 34% blame Republicans in Congress; 5% of Republicans, 24% of independents and 73% of Democrats agree.
• 21% blame both equally; 14% of Republicans, 29% of independents and 19% of Democrats agree.
Source: AN ECONOMIST / YOUGOV poll of 1,500 U.S. ADULTS CONDUCTED NOV. 10-12.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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