The Left Waits for Godot—Er, Mueller ‘Resistance’ types crave impeachment desperately, but can’t be bothered to do much of anything about it. By Ted Rall
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-left-waits-for-godoter-mueller-1527113165
Mr. Rall is a political cartoonist and author of “Francis: The People’s Pope,” the latest in a series of graphic-novel biographies.
On book tour in Ohio a few weeks ago, someone asked me if Donald Trump would finish out his term. The room was full of liberals and left-of-the-Democrats.
I pointed out that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats have said that they have no interest in impeachment even if their party wins back Congress. I predicted—with the usual caveats about the perils of political prognostication—that Mr. Trump would not only finish his term but win re-election, due to the divisions within the Democratic Party.
Loud gasps all around. Some people were so peeved—at me!—that I had to remind them: “I’m not a warlock. I don’t make anything happen.”
Many Democrats are surprised Mr. Trump has hung on this long. Magical thinking is legion on the left. A recent Rasmussen poll finds that 41% of Democrats believe the president will be impeached and removed from office by 2020—more than the 36% who think the voters will reject him in 2½ years.
But how would that happen? Despite its legal-linguistic trappings—“high crimes and misdemeanors,” “counts,” “hearings,” “trial”—impeachment is a political process. This GOP president has nothing existential to fear from this GOP Congress. Should a Big Blue Wave occur, Mrs. Pelosi’s plans don’t include divisive hearings—and even if Democrats won every Senate race, they’d still be well short of the two-thirds needed to remove Mr. Trump from office.
Only one man can give the anti-Trump left what it wants: Robert Mueller. His investigation is the beginning, middle and end of impeachment fantasies.
From Clintonian centrist Democrats to Berniecrat socialists to revolutionary communists, no member of the “resistance” is lifting a finger, much less taking to the barricades, to demand the removal of the president. Trump haters are content to fête the former FBI director from the comfort of their sofas, waiting for Godot as they stare down at their Apple Watches for the notification alert of their dreams—breaking news that Mr. Mueller has dug up enough dirt to force impeachment or resignation à la Richard Nixon.
Rudy Giuliani claims Mr. Mueller’s staff assured Mr. Trump’s attorneys that no scenario leads to frog-marching The Donald out of the White House. “All they get to do is write a report,” Mr. Giuliani told CNN. “They can’t indict. At least they acknowledged that to us after some battling.” If true, the end of the Mueller investigation would mark the anticlimactic finale of one of the weirdest dramas in recent political history. Millions of voters and activists who despise Mr. Trump sit on their hands, passively watching as Mr. Mueller puts out a report.
To see how strange this is, think of Nixon. He, like Mr. Trump, was under constant fire from much of the media and faced a wide-ranging investigation, led by special prosecutor Archibald Cox. But the left didn’t just sit around and watch and hope for Cox to nail Nixon. That proved wise, since Nixon fired Cox. Political pressure mounted in the halls of Congress as well as on the streets, forcing Nixon to replace Cox with Leon Jaworski.
As Woodward and Bernstein worked their sources, Democrats held hearings, and Cox and then Jaworski issued subpoenas, the left kept up the heat. In large part as the continuation of the antiwar movement, there were numerous street protests across the country, including the takeover by anti-Nixon radicals of the Statue of Liberty on April 20, 1974, and, a week later, a demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial where 10,000 people demanded impeachment. Large crowds gathered in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, for three days before Nixon announced his resignation.
There’s nothing like that now. “The resistance” stages significant anti-Trump protests once a year—the Women’s Marches in January. Two so far. Mr. Trump must be terrified.
You can still buy “impeach Nixon” ephemera on eBay . Where are the “impeach Trump” buttons and bumper stickers? No matter, let Mr. Mueller take on Mr. Trump. No need to crud up your car.
What does it say about the state of the American left that they’re unable to make a case to the public for the impeachment they desperately want?
It’s not surprising that Pelosi-led Dems in Congress are gun-shy. Like most Beltway pols, they’re always refighting old battles. They remember how Bill Clinton’s impeachment hurt Republicans’ poll numbers and don’t want to make the same mistake.
But what about the populist left? As demonstrated by their wins in recent primaries, progressives have the momentum within the Democratic tent. But it’s not enough. Leftists need more than energy and raw numbers. Grass-roots organizing is essential.
As long as the “resistance” is more of a coincidence than an organization, Mr. Trump can rest easy. Unless Mr. Mueller comes up with something.
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