The idea I keep hearing that impeachment with conviction is merely "symbolic" is ignorant and misunderstands how the politics of authority work.
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And this, in turn, damages his effective authority. That's critical to bargaining power in standoffs between the legislative and executive branches, like the one we're having now.
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This has real political and legal teeth, regardless of the prospects of conviction. The important thing for the House, before launching impeachment, is pulling public sentiment to its side by drawing a contrast between sober standard procedure and hyper-partisan lawlessness.
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From Day One, Trump has been "symbolically" running down the legitimacy of congressional Democrats, casting them as un-American, vaguely treasonous partisans because demagogues grasp the public psychology of authority, even if they literally don't know what the rules are.
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VERY SOPHISTICATED bien pensant sighs about impeachment without conviction being "merely symbolic" amount to advising unilateral disarmament in the public relations game of contested authority, and a gift to Trump, a genius of steamrolling his opponents with "mere" symbolism.
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Exactly. Add to the fact that not being removed by the Senate would allow Trump to claim a major win.
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And Dems could realize, and argue, that they are acting as "partisans" for the common good and partisans for the Constitution and partisans of democracy. (Technocratic/consensus mindset makes this hard.)
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this is where your argument fails
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It's incredibly frustrating that this will be so much harder now than it was in 1974 given the conservative media machine that didn't exist then. Even if the House gets to conduct fruitful hearings with cooperating witnesses, Fox etc will counter the message.
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Senior Fellow, Progressive Policy Institute.