Watching the House impeach President Trump for the second time today, a week before Trump’s scheduled departure from office, I was reminded of the title of Abbie Hoffman’s book Revolution for the Hell of It. This was Impeachment for the Hell of It. The whole impeachment thing has become a matter of political theater, about as serious as Nancy Pelosi’s shredding of the text of Trump’s State of the Union speech last year. As Glenn Reynolds puts it, “They were talking about impeaching him before he was even sworn in, which tells you a lot about the seriousness of this stuff.” If Republicans ever retake the House, maybe they should make it an annual event for Democratic presidents.
I meant my comments in the adjacent post partially tongue in cheek, but I find it difficult to take the Democrats seriously except in their will to power. I don’t say the same of the 10 Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment. I have no reason to think any one of them is unserious or insincere in his or her devotion to duty. In this case, however, they are in bad company.
PAUL ADDS: These are the ten Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump:
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
Liz Cheney of Wyoming
John Katko of New York
Fred Upton of Michigan
Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington
Dan Newhouse of Washington
Peter Meijer of Michigan
Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
Tom Rice of South Carolina
David Valadao of California
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