This week brought in an avalanche of impeachment evidence, and I’m no longer sure what’s supposed to be a distraction from what.

Should I be focused on the emoluments violation of him hosting the G7 conference in Doral? Or should I be keeping my eye on the fact that Trump businesses kept two sets of books so they could commit tax fraud? Is this week’s top story Mick Mulvaney’s “Get over it” press conference? Or is that just cover to keep me away from the newest Giuliani story? Or is all of it to keep our minds off of the Gordon Sondland testimony? I only have one anagram in me; it’s hard to know where to start.

Fortunately, the English teacher in me is not at all conflicted about this week’s most pressing evidence that the Republican president is not fit for office. It recently came out that President Trump sent President Erdogan of Turkey a letter so unhinged that it prompted a near-universal response of “Is This Real?” (click the letter below for a larger image):

Upon receiving this letter, President Erdogan reportedly threw it in the trash.

From Hamlet:

Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

This smugness unto Erdogan came not wanted.

Now that impeachment of President Trump seems somewhat likely, some are also calling for the concurrent impeachment of Vice President Mike Pence.

Whoa, cowboy.

That’s a nice little fantasy you’ve cooked up there. I have no opinion about whether or not Pence deserves to be impeached; I’m certainly no fan, but I haven’t seen enough evidence to convince me that he should be.

But even if you disagree, there are strong arguments against bringing Pence into this. If this were a purely legal process, public opinion wouldn’t matter. But impeachment is a political process, and there needs to be a way forward after it’s over. According to a recent Fox News poll, 51 percent of American voters think that Trump should be impeached and removed from office. As the process continues, that number should continue going up. But if the Democrats are seen as making a power grab, it could go down. As long as the process ends with the Republicans retaining the Oval Office, nobody can credibly accuse them of that.

Once the House votes to impeach the president, it will be up to the Republican-controlled Senate to remove him from office, a very unlikely outcome. Until recently, I’d have said impossible, but the conservative backlash against his betrayal in Syria has been vehement. And as this president seems incapable of learning, it’s not hard to imagine him committing similar offenses in the near future. How many more of them will it take for his colleagues in the Senate to start wondering if they might not be better off dealing with a Pence administration, especially if public support for impeachment continues to grow. But there is no scenario whatsoever that would lead the Republicans in the Senate to approve a course of action that would lead to President Nancy Pelosi. None. Don’t even want it.

The main thing the Democrats have to avoid at this point is the appearance of overreach. Speaker Pelosi is well aware of this. Impeaching and removing a president is extreme enough, and it would be a phenomenal win if accomplished. But it would be a win for the American people and the principles of democracy, not the political agenda of a particular party. That’s how impeachment should be. There is a price for this kind of win, though, and that price is President Mike Pence.

I say it’s worth it.

From Julius Caesar:

Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards;

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Many wish to handcuff the churl Donald for treason, take out the Vice Crook as well.

Eh, it’s a bad idea. House wins must stay credible.

President Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria to make way for a Turkish invasion has met with a chorus of disapproval, including such unlikely voices as Nikki Haley, Mitch McConnell, and even Lindsey Graham. The decision was apparently made after a phone call with President Erdogan of Turkey, and seems to have caught everyone else off guard.

Clearly, a deal was made between the two leaders. But the question is, was Trump negotiating on behalf of the United States, or on behalf of Donald Trump? Given recent events involving Ukraine, it seems fair to speculate that it might be the latter. So, did Trump benefit financially from the deal, possibly related to Trump Towers Istanbul? Did Erdogan agree to dig up dirt on Trump’s political opponents? Did the orders come from Putin? We just don’t know, and again, this is all speculation. But something doesn’t feel right about this. And this time, it’s his own party that’s calling foul.

I say to them, you have only yourselves to blame. This is why we don’t tolerate corruption in our leadership. If you were comfortable with his abuse of power when it was only to steal an election, you are the ones who have given him license to abuse it now to sell out US foreign policy. For you bid this be done when evil deeds have their permissive pass and not the punishment.

From Measure for Measure:

For we bid this be done
When evil deeds have their permissive pass
And not the punishment.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

He’s evil. Had the dumb VIP wimps not entertained of his peevishness, he’d now be restrained.

Hello, Mr. President. It’s me, again.

You may remember that I wrote to you about single-payer healthcare. I never heard back from you, so I assume you’re still working on it. But this time I’m not writing about what you can do for me. I’m writing to give you some advice that may be helpful to you. I know you’re going through some troubling times, and I think you should do the one thing that nobody is expecting you to do. You should resign. But you won’t be resigning in disgrace; you’ve done nothing wrong! You are resigning in protest of the very, very unfair way you’ve been treated. That would show everyone. That would show them all!

The Democrats would be horrified by this very smart move. They were counting on a long drawn-out impeachment process that would drag your name through the mud between now and the election. You can rob them of that. Instead, they get President Mike Pence, who would be his own nightmare for them, injecting religion into politics in a way they never had to worry about from you. The Republicans love you, and rightfully so, because you give them the tax cuts and judges they so badly desire. So where are they now? Instead of keeping silent, they should be out vigorously defending you. No, they will not truly appreciate you until you’re gone. They will beg you to come back, and then you can remind them of their disloyalty.

Let’s face it: there’s a recession coming. Your decision to start an unprovoked trade war with China was absolutely brilliant, sir. Unfortunately, a lack of domestic support gave the Chinese too much confidence in their position because our threats weren’t credible. The Dems may never fully appreciate how much damage they caused. So why should you get the blame for the subsequent recession? If you resign now, the burden will fall on Mike Pence who, let’s be honest, was never really a team player. All of the charts will show a healthy economy under President Trump, with the dip coming later. What’s more, your resignation will trigger a market crash (your leadership was the only thing keeping it afloat) and your legacy will be even more secured. Then, they’ll all be sorry. Believe me.

Resignation will also make all of your legal troubles go away. It was all fake news anyway, driven by the partisan political agenda of the Dems. So once you’re out of power, there won’t be any reason for anyone to prosecute you for their made-up accusations of tax fraud, treason, or crimes against humanity. You can go back to your old wonderful life, maybe even retire to upstate New York. I hear Ossining is nice.

This country never appreciated you and never deserved you. You did them a favor by running and how did they repay you? You have a chance to set the terms of your departure. Sure, you’d have won in 2020, and now nobody will ever be able to say otherwise. It’s time to go, sir. And once you do, they won’t have Donald Trump to kick around anymore.

I was planning a rant about the Ukraine scandal this morning, but the Atlantic article “If This Isn’t Impeachable, Nothing Is” says everything I was going to say and more. I can’t even pull a quote; just please go read it and then come back and enjoy the anagram.

So basically, the timeline is this:

1. The Mueller Report was released. It detailed how the Russians interfered in the 2016 election, how the Trump campaign was aware of and welcomed that help, and how President Trump attempted to obstruct the investigation into his involvement no fewer than ten times.
2. The Republicans chose to put party over country and the Democrats decided to cower in the corner, and the President was not held accountable in any way for his actions.
3. The President, having been emboldened by his perceived invincibility, explicitly tried to strong-arm a foreign power to interfere in the 2020 election on his behalf by manufacturing fake evidence of wrongdoing by his political opposition.

It is now incumbent upon Congress to impeach. Failing to do so at this point is a dereliction of duty. It is no longer enough to say that we can’t do it because the Senate won’t convict. I think Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put it best (regarding calls for impeachment made before this particular scandal broke):

I want to see every Republican go on the record and knowingly vote against impeachment of this president, knowing his corruption, having it on the record so that they can have that stain on their careers for the rest of their lives, because this is outrageous to protect the amount of lawlessness and corruption coming out of this presidency.

On the other hand, if this President is still not held accountable, even for something as outrageous as this, what else will he then feel entitled to do? At some point, we have to stop blaming him for all of this, if the rest of us are willing to just sit back and allow it all to happen.

From Timon of Athens:

Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Congress must hold him in, as conmen.

Bye.

Evidence of Donald Trump’s racism has not been particularly subtle to find for those willing to see it. One could point to moments throughout his pre-presidential life, such as renting discrimination, attacks on the Central Park Five, or his shameful participation in the birther movement. One could look to his policies that disregard the humanity of immigrants and people of color. Or, one could notice a pattern of references to minority populations that assume that they are less important and valuable than whites.

What is it, then, that distinguishes the latest set of tweets from Exhibits A through Y? Last week, the Republican president posted the following to Twitter (three consecutive tweets are concatenated here, but are otherwise unedited):

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!

The difference is that up until now, the racism, though transparent enough, has all been in subtext. Republicans who didn’t subscribe to his hateful messages but still wanted to defend him out of loyalty to Team Red could at least hide behind a veneer of deniability. This is now a thing of the past. Setting aside the fact that the four Congresswomen in question are all United States citizens, and that three of them were born in the United States, telling people to go back where they came from is textbook racism. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission even cites “Go back where you came from” as an example of discriminatory language. There’s simply no debate here.

So of course, there’s a debate here, with many of the president’s apologists rushing to explain why his racist tweets aren’t racist. A handful of Republicans have denounced the comments, but not nearly enough. Others have remained conspicuously silent. And my advice for that last group is that they read themselves some Shakespeare. And while that’s usually my advice for everyone, I recommend that these quiet Republicans direct their attention to the Duke of Buckingham.

Buckingham is a character in Shakespeare’s King Richard III. He is based on a real person, but I am going to focus on the character that Shakespeare created. The play follows the journey of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Richard starts the play fifth in line to the throne, but through a combination of a can-do attitude and a ruthless campaign of cold-blooded murder, he is able to become king. His partner in crime is the Duke of Buckingham, who is willing to support Richard’s heinous treachery in order to ingratiate himself to power.

At one point, Buckingham makes a suggestion that Richard likes, and the latter responds “My other self,” which is the highest praise a narcissist can offer. Richard continues to express appreciation for the support, and tells Buckingham “when I am king, claim thou of me/ The earldom of Hereford,” as a reward.

Richard ultimately becomes king, but it’s not enough. His late brother’s sons are still alive and could one day make a claim to the throne. He brings the issue up to Buckingham, expecting Buckingham to be the one to suggest killing them.

RICHARD
Ah, Buckingham, now do I play the touch,
To try if thou be current gold indeed:
Young Edward lives; think now what I would speak.

BUCKINGHAM
Say on, my loving lord.

RICHARD
Why, Buckingham, I say I would be king.

BUCKINGHAM
Why so you are, my thrice-renownèd lord.

RICHARD
Ha! Am I king? ’Tis so—but Edward lives.

BUCKINGHAM
True, noble prince.

Richard becomes angry that Buckingham seems to no longer be his other self. He expresses his desire to kill the princes. This is a step too far for Buckingham, but he still lacks the courage to stand up to Richard.

RICHARD
O bitter consequence
That Edward still should live “true noble prince”!
Cousin, thou wast not wont to be so dull.
Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead,
And I would have it suddenly performed.
What sayst thou now? Speak suddenly. Be brief.

BUCKINGHAM
Your Grace may do your pleasure.

RICHARD
Tut, tut, thou art all ice; thy kindness freezes.
Say, have I thy consent that they shall die?

BUCKINGHAM
Give me some little breath, some pause, dear lord,
Before I positively speak in this.
I will resolve you herein presently.

At this point, an observer notes “The King is angry. See, he gnaws his lip.” Richard wastes no time before finding another lackey to do his dirty work. As for Buckingham, Richard is finished with him.

RICHARD [Aside]
The deep-revolving witty Buckingham
No more shall be the neighbor to my counsels.
Hath he so long held out with me, untired,
And stops he now for breath? Well, be it so.

And that’s all it took, a moment’s hesitation. At this point, all that Buckingham did to put Richard on the throne is forgotten. Only the most recent test of loyalty counts. Richard denies Buckingham the promised and well-earned earldom of Hereford. Buckingham flees. Richard has him captured and executed. So much for him.

And there is a lesson here for those who would defend Trump over the objections of the better angels of their nature. These tweets are not going to be the end of it. It will get worse. So the question you really have to ask yourself is: how far are you willing to go? Because once you hesitate, stop for breath even once, Trump will forget everything you’ve done for him up until that point. The rest of us won’t.

Consider all of the people who are forever tainted with this dark chapter of American history. I’m not talking about people like Stephen Miller, who uses the administration to promote his own white nationalist agenda. I’m talking about people who otherwise might have had distinguished careers, enjoying some kind of public perception of integrity. I’m looking at you, Sean Spicer. I’m looking at you, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. How’s it going, Kellyanne Conway? Everything okay, Lindsey Graham? What’s the first thing you think of when I say “Kirstjen Nielsen”? How will history remember Bill Barr? Who else wants to join the list?

And, literally while I was writing this, our Republican president attacked Representative Elijah Cummings and the city of Baltimore. Are you prepared to take this train all the way to the end? If not, this might be your stop.

Over the past two weeks, we’ve been hearing increasingly disturbing reports about conditions in the detention centers along the border. On Monday, a group from Congress went to visit these camps, and they found the claims to be true. According to Mother Jones, the House representatives report the situation is dire:

The testimony from members of Congress who had the rare chance to visit three Border Patrol facilities in Texas this week has been damning: detained women instructed to drink from toilets, pervasive verbal harassment by guards, and conditions that, for many, confirmed their worst fears of the Trump administration’s cruelty at the border.

The president for his part insists that he inherited the family separation policy that led to this situation from the Obama administration. This is, for lack of a better term, a complete bald-faced lie. The Trump administration would have you believe that this is a continuation of the Obama policy and that they were overwhelmed by a sudden increase in people trying to enter illegally. But they volunteered for this job. This situation was created by a policy of his own administration called “zero tolerance.” This meant, in theory, the arrest of anyone attempting to cross the border, but in practice, it included people legally seeking asylum as well.

Under the Obama administration, illegal border crossings were treated as a misdemeanor. Arrests were reserved for those suspected of serious crimes, like trafficking, and those rare instances did involve family separations. However, these were temporary. Under Trump’s policy, the family separations range in the thousands, and because of inadequate record-keeping, the families may not be reunited. Ever.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the cruelty being inflicted on the detainees is not due to a lack of resources, but rather, a deliberate policy choice. A Trump administration lawyer actually argued in court that they weren’t legally obligated to provide soap and toothpaste to detainees. What’s important to remember is that these are children. Their parents did not commit a felony in bringing them here. And even if they had, it would still be our obligation to treat them humanely. Desperately trying to defend the president’s policy, Brian Kilmeade accidentally said the quiet part out loud when he made the case to his viewers that everything’s okay, because these are not our kids.

Notice how he also frames the current crisis as being a result of increased immigration, rather than a deliberate policy decision, while at the same time affirming that the president is trying to send a message. When Kirstjen Nielsen, then Secretary of Homeland Security, was asked last year if the family separation policy was meant as a deliberate deterrent, she was shocked and insulted, and walked away as reporters continued to ask her the question. However, according to then-Chief of Staff John Kelly, it was intended as a deterrent. Cruelty, it would seem, is the whole point.

This intentional performative cruelty has not only created a culture of viciousness among his supporters, but it has also permeated among those tasked with taking care of the detainees. Last week, ProPublica published an exposé of a secret Facebook page for current and former Border Patrol agents that revealed a mocking disdain for the detainees. The stench is noxious, but the fish rots from the head.

We can argue about whether or not our nation’s immigration policy has been strong enough, but no matter where you stand on that issue, the answer isn’t this. You can’t just say “Well, they broke the law” or “Blame the Dems” while families are being ripped apart and children languish in squalor. One hundred years from now, our children’s grandchildren will study this moment alongside the Japanese internment camps as a cautionary tale. We’re already there. Because it’s truly breathtaking that we’re committing such flagrant human rights violations so brazenly out in the open with so little public backlash.

This president likes to strut like a prizefighter, but he has a glass jaw. He will cave to public pressure, as he has done so many times before. We can’t lose our stomachs for this fight. Democrats have one chamber of Congress and the public microphone that goes along with a primary election. We are not without a voice here.

From Henry VI, Part Three:

And there it doth remain,
The saddest spectacle that e’er I view’d.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Let’s eradicate the set dirt-ridden hate camp.

We have to end this.

I’ve been resisting supporting impeachment (rhetorical jokes aside) because I think it’s generally harmful for the country, and all for what? President Mike Pence?

Even when the Mueller report was released, detailing an abundance of evidence of obstruction by the president, and an explicit invitation for Congress to take up the baton (volume 2, page 8), I still wasn’t fully convinced that impeachment was the best option.

I’ve now come around. His behavior since the Mueller report was completed has been far worse than anything that’s in the report, and that’s already a high bar. The difference now is that if his power isn’t checked, it could do long lasting damage to our democracy. President Pence would be bad, but we’d survive it.

The dishonest release of the Mueller findings was just the beginning. We then saw a blanket denial of all Congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony. He’s now starting a ridiculous mock investigation into the FBI to further the cover-up of his crimes. What is impeachment for, if not for this?

In other times, the President of the United States knowingly spreading doctored videos of the Speaker of the House to make her appear drunk or impaired would be the worst thing he did this week. Now, it barely makes the list.

And if he loses in court and a judge tells him to release the documents, and he still refuses, then impeachment may not be the best option. It might be the only option. And who knows what happens next?

From Macbeth:

And you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Motherfucker lousily escalates a snowy indemnity.

Sorry about the language. That’s just how the letters worked out. And civility is so 2018.

From A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

Thus have I, Wall, my part dischargèd so,
And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Trump caved. Bigly.

So this wholly gaga shutdown has ended.

Now, a trial ahead.