This builds upon a previous piece, “Remember, It’s Not Just Trump But Also This Disgraceful Trump Party that Must Be Defeated.”
******************
Starting with a few basic points:
1) The Republicans are behaving absolutely disgracefully in this impeachment process.
Even after all the ugly and dishonest conduct we’ve seen from them since Trump became President, that they are going to this length in the face of all we know about the threat to the nation and its constitutional order, at this crucial moment where the nation tries as it must to protect themselves— it really makes clear that there is virtually no limit to their moral corruption.
2) History shows there’s a danger that the dishonest ploys the Republicans use to deceive the public might work.
The Republicans are ramping up the intensity of their message, engaging in their usual kind of histrionics, shouting loudly one falsehood after another, spreading fog with arguments so poor you can drive a truck through— like the positions Trump has taken in Court (in defeat after defeat), declared by court after court of being wholly devoid of merit. But history suggests that in the court of public opinion, their disgraceful lying often works— works to keep the faithful in their false world, and to put many low-information citizens in a position of “I don’t know who to believe,” and thus taking themselves out of the game.
3) The Democrats should fight this fight on various levels— not just in legal/constitutional terms, but also in the hard-knuckle rhetorical terms to which the Republicans like to take every issue.
The Democrats keep winning handily in Court (the Trumpites get treated with contempt and some outrage by judge after judge). But in the court of public opinion— which after all really matters most in this impeachment situation — the battle is not won just by sound legal argument, plainly delivered.
The reason for concern: In this era, the Democrats have routinely been outshouted.
This is a good time to rev up the volume in confrontation with the Republicans over their lies and their betrayal of the nation and their oath of office. It’s not a matter of sinking to the level of the Republicans, who lie, but of wielding the important truths the Democrats have as weapons, hurled with an intensity and a presence in the media that fully matches what the Republicans bring to their propaganda campaigns.
The Republicans must pay a political price for their lies and red herrings and non sequiturs. (And basic slipperiness like Senator Burr the other day talking as if there’s no difference between the Ukrainians wanting Hillary to win and the Russians helping Trump to win.)
The Democrats cannot let themselves be out-shouted at this crucial moment, with the impeachment. The truth-tellers have to be at least as aggressive as the liars.
“Don’t be outshouted now. Don’t let the liars be more aggressive than the truth-tellers. Making the truth as a weapon, go after the Republicans by exposing their continual resort to lies and distractions to keep the American people from seeing the truth. It should not be impossible to see to it that the Republicans are well-punished for their lying for partisan purposes — endangering American democracy and violating their oath of office.
On one level, there is the solemn process of law and Constitution. But that fight will also be fought out in hand-to-hand political combat, where rhetoric and volume and tone, as well as legal argument, determine victory in the public mind.
*********************
Upcoming: A piece on how the Democrats could issue an aggressive challenge to the Republicans that would move the fight onto an important battlefield. This piece will have the title, “Who Are the Partisans Here?” How the Democrats Should Challenge the Republicans
Upcoming Also: A New Job for Kamala Harris: Prosecuting the Republicans for Their Disgraceful Behavior.”