The Dam Has Broken Part II

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step   Chinese proverb

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time   Steven Wright

The old saying goes, “Ah, it seems like only yesterday,” but in this case it really freakin’ almost was! It was only a couple of days ago that I penned an article entitled “The dam just broke,” in which I stated that with Attorney General William Barr’s craven capitulation to the House committee, rather than face contempt charges, it was only a matter of time until other Trump obstructionists started to honor subpoenas for documents and testimony.

But sweet Jesus, I gotta be honest with you guys, I kind of thought that it would take a little bit longer than this! What a bunch of totally spineless wimps these Trump lemmings are turning out to be. I guess it just goes to prove that after one craven coward cops a suckers run, the rest figure that it really isn’t worth spending tens of thousands of dollars on having a lawyer blather brainlessly in court for a couple of hours, only to be told to quit fooling around and go testify to congress anyway.

So, Hope Hicks is the Judas Ewe who will lead the rest of the little Trumpkins lambs to slaughter, huh? Next Wednesday, in the House Judiciary committee, mark your calendars. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I was supremely pissed to find out that the agreement was that Hicks was going to testify in closed session, with no spectators or cameras allowed. But when I finished kicking my feet, and throwing my stuffed Paddington Bear repeatedly across the room, and cooled my dumb ass off, I realized I was cool with that, as long as a couple of conditions were met. And I know how seriously Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler takes my conditions.

First of all, a witness testifying “in camera,” or behind closed doors, is no guarantee of secrecy. There can be a number or reasons why a committee may want to hear from a witness without the testimony being simultaneously heard and broadcast to the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the testimony will be secret, or kept from the public. If Jerry Nadler is allowing Hope Hicks to testify in closed session, so she won’t have an image in her head of The Great Pumpkin staring at the 72″ screen in the residence, with steam billowing out of his ears, before throwing the Tivo remote through the screen, that’s no skin off of my nose. As long as committee members, especially Democratic committee members, are allowed to exit the hearing room and blab like town criers to the assembled media, fine by me. And a full and unedited transcript of the testimony released a day or two later, would serve the purpose just as well, allowing network anchors to read great gobs of her ratting out of His Lowness to an avidly waiting world. Besides, allowing Hicks to testify in a closed session will likely stop GOP mental midgets like Meadows, Jordan, and Gaetz from mugging to the cameras for the boss.

The second reason that I’m full down with Hicks testifying in closed session is just so long as Chairman Nadler didn’t negotiate away Hicks being required to testify about all of the really good, juicy shit that everybody wants to hear her talk about. Donald Trump Jr’s closed door testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary committee today was likely a total waste of time, since committee Chair Lindsey Graham, the decency vampire of the Senate, likely negotiated away Trump being allowed to be questioned on any topic that might allow him to perjure himself, namely everything the Democrats wanted to question him about. But I honestly don’t see this happening with Nadler, not with the activist sharks he has on his committee.

Because, this is just the appetizer my dear readers. I figure that McGahn’s former chief of staff, Annie Donaldson, will be the next domino to fall, likely followed by McGahn himself. And whether they testify publicly or not is unimportant at this stage, because they will be providing documents and testimony under oath before the committee.Documents and testimony that Nadler can leak to the public, but more importantly, show to Speaker Nancy Pelosi to prove that there is actually a 4-11 fire underneath all of that smoke. Fire that will have voters jumping into the impeachment bucket brigade line.

And once that happens, then the formal impeachment hearings will start. And when they do, Donaldson, Hicks, McGahn et al will be back. And their presence will give Robert Mueller cover to appear and flesh out is report at long last. And this time it won’t be behind closed doors, this time it will be in a chair in front of a bank of television cameras. And those hearings will be covered live, gavel-to-gavel, by every network in the country, including FOX News, as a public service requirement in their license. And when that happens, watch the needle of public opinion finally start to move irrevocably in the direction of impeachment. And watch GOP Senators suddenly develop a severe, life threatening allergy to television cameras.

We are indeed not at “the beginning of the end.” And we’re not at “the end of the beginning” anymore either. we’re just starting to pick up speed as we pootle on down the road, and it’s going to be one helluva ride.