If It’s Not Viral, It Didn’t Happen

The public phase of the Trump impeachment hearings began this morning. Here’s one of the headlines in the Washington Post:

I don’t blame Alemany for writing this or the Post for running it. It’s almost certainly true, after all. But just think about how depressing this is. The president of the United States extorted a foreign country to dig up dirt for the president’s personal gain. His personal lawyer spent months on this task. The ambassador to this country was fired for refusing to help out. Diplomats were subverted to make clear what the president’s demands were. The evidence for all this is voluminous and clear.

And yet, nothing will happen unless Democrats get themselves a “viral moment.” Maybe this will do it?


Ha ha. Of course not. This is merely more evidence of Trump’s guilt, and we already have plenty of that. Apparently the key defense of Trump at this point is not that he’s innocent, but that extorting foreign countries for personal gain is really not that big a deal for a president of the United States.

Not. That. Big. A. Deal.

Jesus.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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