Rob Menendez’ “Orange Jesus” Meltdown Is Stellar, But Will It Bounce Off?

Simplicity is the essence of elegance, goes the saying, and it can apply to speeches as well as anything else. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) gave an impassioned summary of the ludicrousness of the impeachment proceeding(s) in the House of Representatives. He addressed the Mayorkas impeachment, but his words easily applied to Hunter Biden’s laptop, the impeachment of Joe Biden, or whatever other performative theater is on the docket in the House at any given moment. The House of Representatives is a farce. It’s a rudderless ship and this describes it as well as anything you’re going to hear.

EXCELLENT! He's on the mark with every word! The GOP has been told not to do anything constructive during the election campaign year. NOTHING. ZERO. They are NOT for the people, but for the "orange Jesus/god" they worship. The dictator in waiting.

— ScubaSuzyQ 💙🇺🇸🌎🌊🌊BeKind #BeGentle #Love💙 (@susanmcgraw88) January 31, 2024

James Comer aka Comer Pyle was an obscure congressman before he started doing political histrionics. Now he’s on Fox News several times a week.

It would certainly be nice to think that’s finally the case. And it may well be. Meanwhile, a new poll points to the fact that if Trump gets convicted of a felony, that will be the bridge too far. Nice to think there’s some morality left in this country.

The Bloomberg poll was conducted in seven states that will likely determine the outcome of the election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Interestingly, the poll suggested 20 percent of voters from those states who had voted for Trump in 2020 would be either “somewhat unwilling” or “very unwilling” to vote for him again if he were convicted.

“The preponderance of polling out there shows that there is a chunk of Republican voters who say a felony conviction would be a bridge too far,” said GOP strategist Dan Judy. “Does that mean that Donald Trump still gets 80 to 85 percent of Republican voters, rather than 90 or 95 percent? Probably. But that could easily be the election right there.” […]

But there is a vast difference between the GOP electorate and the public at large. A new Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday found Trump to be viewed favorably by 79 percent of Republicans but by just 40 percent of the general public.

In addition, Trump will now face months of attacks from the Biden campaign and his allies. The general contours of that assault are already clear, with Trump’s foes arguing that his election would put democracy itself at risk.

Trump asserts his innocence of all the charges against him. Meanwhile, his lawyers have repeatedly pressed for delays.

Trump’s trying to run out the clock but for the moment the hush money trial is set to begin March 25. The classified documents trial is on calendar for May 20. The Georgia election racketeering trial is set for August 5 and that would be after Trump is crowned the GOP’s candidate in mid-July — unless one of the previous trials goes south and he’s convicted of something.

And of course that leaves us with the big kahuna, the January 6 insurrection trial. That could take place this year before the election as well but for the moment the issue is the question of immunity. It has not been decided yet but legal scholars are predicting that there is no such thing as presidential immunity as Trump conceives of it.

Meanwhile, Trump is always his own worst enemy and each time he gets in front of a crowd and does one of his endless gaffes and malapropisms, he undermines what little is left of his credibility.