Iranian Missiles firing at a U.S. base posted in Iraq,a Ukrainian airliner accidentally shot down in the cold night by Iran forces & a contentious US President over stepping bounds once again while currently being Impeached by the House of Representatives....One can only help but think that 2020 has officially begun and has arrived hot & heavy. With Foreign Policy as a National discussion and with a 2020 Election underway, American's have voiced their disapproval and disinterest on going into another War,particularly with Iran. But after the US claimed responsibility for killing Iran's 2nd top General Qasem Soleimani on January 3rd by missile strike near Baghdad International Airport, war seemed almost imminent. Social media accounts since last Friday have been re-posting video spoofs of what modern day comedians like Haha Davis & DC Young Fly deem a parody of their "Thoughts going to War". I'm all for satire and for having a laugh but not at a time when over 3,500 troupes are being deployed to the Middle East. Those aren’t the children of the rich and well off. Those are the children of the working class and the poor,our children. So for most Americans and Active troops, war is no laughing matter. Prior to the strike that killed Soleimani, The House of Representatives Impeached the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump making him the 3rd President to be impeached and leaving a lasting stain on his already riddled Presidency. But with Democrats holding the House & Republicans holding the Senate,the move was pretty much a no-brainier to anyone paying attention to politics in Washington. The real Impeachment power play will happen in the Senate where political pundits are predicting that the Republican Senate will not Impeach the President due to super partisanship and the lack of spine in the Republican Party.Looming over the Impeachment Process is also the War Powers Act passing in Congress on Friday. Which really shows the weakness in the Democratic Party under Nancy Pelosi's leadership. Before the President over stepped his bounds by killing Soleimani, Progressives pushed for the same amendments in the National Defense Authorization Act that could have prevented the escalation in the first place. And stripe the President from the ability to act without authority from Congress. However, House leadership chose not to include the amendment. Krystal of the The Hill Rising reported it best on Friday by saying:
“ this is more or less an impotent gesture.1.The strike on Soleimani already happened & 2.They don’t have any leverage or way to pressure the Senate at this point. —-Where as when progressives were trying to get the amendments put in the National Defense Authorization Act they did have the leverage.”
Pelosi also has to reckon with the fact that an Impeachment in the Senate means several Senators on the Democratic campaign trail must leave to report to Washington for weeks of the Senate Trial. Leaving candidates like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren & Corey Booker vulnerable to Joe Biden who can use the ongoing Ukraine feud with Trump as a way to portray himself as the only true competitor that threatens Trump ability to be reelected. Reporting from “The Hill Rising” provides a quote from Corey Booker from the Associated Press mentioning the dilemma in the Democratic Primary if Senators have to break from the campaign trail :
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has taken the lead in Iowa, according to a Des Moines Register/CNN poll released on Friday that shows the Vermont senator jumping past his top rivals. Bernie Sanders candidacy for President does not just threaten the Billionaire class or the Corporate Elite. It also threatens business as usual for the Establishment in Washington, which represents the Democratic Leadership in Congress. I find it ironic that Nancy Pelosi's strategy for Impeachment is to hold the articles until the Senate can ensure a fair trial with witnesses. To think for once that Republicans will play ball and allow the Democrats to dictate the trial in the Senate is just foolish. Mitch McConnell ,the grim reaper, has shown no interest in giving Democrats anything they want. So I look at the winners and the losers of all of this. Nancy Pelosi claims to not care about the politics of Impeachment yet her move to hold the articles will only hurt the Progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders who are running for President and it will only help the Establishment's number one pick Joe Biden. Everything is political in Washington and whether Nancy Pelosi wants to admit it or not....Democrats could be leading with moral authority and moving with momentum if they played their cards better. Only time will tell if this will be another miscalculation from the Democrats.
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