Sunday School 10/6/19

For the first time, I've got a classroom update that includes not only one of the Democrats running for president in 2020, but two Republicans who are doing the same.  

Jake Tapper, on CNN's State of the Union, was the one who had had all three of them. So, here are excerpts from his interview with former Republican Congressmen Mark Sanford (SC) and Joe Walsh (IL).

Sanford has said that an impeachment inquiry is justified; Tapper asked if he would vote for moving forward with one if he were still in the House. 

You know, I don't know. I suspect so...  Again, I think we need to take this incrementally. I mean, I think, to your point, there ought to be a vote before we go into the inquiry. If you look at the last three impeachments - and in fact, one in which I actually took the vote -- you formalize the process, as opposed to having an open-ended process, which is the route that Pelosi is taking right now.

He admitted, after additional questioning that he would take the inquiry, but

I would ultimately, as I have said previously, I don't know that, ultimately, impeachment is the best way to go. I think probably censure is, given the fact that we're this close to an election. But that's a larger conversation. Would I want to investigate this? Yes.

Walsh exhibited no such hesitation.

I don't understand that, with all due respect, Mark. This president deserves to be impeached... Would I vote if I were in Congress on the inquiry? There is enough we know now to vote to impeach this president.

 He stood on the White House lawn this week, Jake, and told two additional foreign governments to interfere in our election. That alone is impeachable. This is a strong term I'm going to use, but I'm going to say it on purpose: Donald Trump is a traitor... Our founders were very specific as to what treason is. But when you look at traitor more broadly defined, this president betrayed our country again this week. And it is not the first time he did it.

Excuse me. I don't know that we should move forward incrementally. This president needs to be impeached, Jake, just based on what he himself has said. And Republicans better get behind that.

Sanford 'respectfully' disagreed, saying the point is not to come to a conclusion at the beginning, but they should follow the process laid out by the founders. And he referenced a David Brooks column, saying

...do we want to completely wipe out the Democratic debate that is taking place amongst the Democrats and some degree of Republican debate that we're trying to have, Joe, as to what we believe as a country, where we want to go, what is important to us, because the giant sucking sound will be this impeachment inquiry sucking every other piece of debate, both in Washington and outside of Washington, out the door?

Tapper wondered about the precedent of doing nothing, and asked if Sanford was worried about if Trump gets away with it, every future president gets away with asking foreign countries to interfere in our election. Sanford's answer?

Let me be 100% clear. I don't think it's right, end of story. The question is, what do you do about it? And that is a more complex question, which is, do you look at censure? Do you look at impeachment?

Walsh chimed in a couple of times, including with this comment

... Either the Republican party stands up now and says, we oppose this, we oppose collusion, we oppose foreign governments interfering in our election, either we stand up with one unifying voice with that right now, Mark, and we don't get involved in the gobbledygook of censure or impeachment or is it politically prudent. How about we Republicans do what is right, sir?

Tapper ended this segment by asking if they'd vote for Trump in 2020. Walsh is on record as a not; Sanford previously had said he'd vote for Trump over Biden and Tapper wondered if that had changed..

I don't know. Again, what I have said is, I'm an issue guy...I'm going to base my decision based on who is closest to me with particular regard to debt and deficit and government spending, where I think we have gone off the tracks in Washington, D.C.

Walsh got the last word.

Jake, I'm running against President Trump because he's unfit and he's a clear and present danger to this country. There is no way in hell I would vote for him in November. The election is about Trump, period.

Klobuchar was up next. Tapper asked if she would vote to "convict" president Trump right now, and of course I'm sure he meant "impeach" not convict. 

I think this is impeachable, that the case should be heard by the House, and it should come over to the Senate...my focus is on the fact that you have got a president that is acting like a global gangster. He is basically going to one leader after another trying to get dirt on his political opponent...

She said she was really focused on putting the evidence before the people, and on

really calling on our Republican colleagues to take this on in the serious matter, to put the country in front of their own partisanship, as we get this very serious case that I believe will come over from the House.

On whether the full House should vote on the issue of the impeachment inquiry, she said it's not necessary. What really matters, she said, is that people who have information come forward - because she said this is just like Watergate.

You had a president that was paranoid. An election was coming up. He wanted to get dirt on his political opponent... 

Tapper asked whether Klobuchar would be comfortable with the child of her VP sitting on the board of a foreign company. She said no, but reminded Tapper that

The issue here is what the president is doing, because we have the Ukrainian prosecutors saying that there's no evidence... multiple people looking at this...what really matters is that the president was repeatedly trying to get dirt on a political opponent. That is the issue here. 

We need a president, she said, that's going to put the interest of the people of the US in front of his own "political and business and partisan interests."

This guy hasn't done that. That is why the House is looking into this, because it is a security interest for our country, a violation of the law. It is very straightforward.

And so, there you have it: three potential presidential candidates, and not a SINGLE QUESTION about anything unrelated to impeachment. David Brooks said that was going to happen. And he's right.  But they can stop it.

Klobuchar talked about the courage we need from people in the Administration, in the CIA, and the House and Senate. We need a whole lot of courage from the media to separate the issue of Trump and impeachment from those who want to replace him.

You know, we need them to walk and chew gum at the same time...

See you around campus.