I have a really important case study for you today about how Republicans end up muddying
the waters and winning merely by distracting.
As you probably know, Donald Trump has been impeached.
We have an impeached president, only the third in the history of the United States.
We are now standing by for the Senate trial, which will begin when SA a house speaker,
Nancy Pelosi sends the impeachment articles that the house approved over to the Senate
and acquittal is all but a foregone conclusion in the Republican controlled Senate.
I've talked about how it could go differently.
It's not likely to go differently.
This is all about Donald Trump, but Republicans have been able to turn this around and make
it about Joe Biden during the last week, democratic primary candidate and former VP Joe Biden
said to the Des Moines register last week, he would not comply if the Senate subpoenas
him to the impeachment trial of Donald Trump in the Senate.
Now, Joe Biden accurately told the newspaper that sending a subpoena to Joe Biden would
be a way to take attention off of Trump and that part he was right about.
But then he said that he wouldn't comply.
And of course, Joe Biden is right that subpoenaing him to the impeachment trial would be an attempt
to distract from Donald Trump.
But immediately Republicans respond with, how could this be?
Biden would ignore a subpoena, even though Democrats won't stop talking about how Republicans
are ignoring subpoenas and they're terrible because of it.
This Joe Biden not care about the constitution, which is obvious concern trolling, but it
pushes the story to being about Biden instead of being about Trump.
So then this leads to another round of Biden talking about this.
Having to clarify Biden a few days later, had to go back and say, well, hold on.
Of course I would obey a legal constitutional subpoena tweeting about it.
In addition to talking about it, saying on Twitter quote, I want to clarify something
I said yesterday in my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful
order and in my eight years as VP, my office, unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence, cooperated
with legitimate congressional oversight requests.
But I am not just going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas
for my testimony in the impeachment trial.
That is the point I was making yesterday and I reiterate this.
Impeachment is about Trump's conduct, not mine.
The subpoenas should go to witnesses with testimony to offer to Trump's shaking down
the Ukraine government, so now it gets more muddled with commentary about the commentary.
Joe Biden said he wouldn't comply.
Then he said, of course he would comply, but what I mean is it wouldn't make any sense
to subpoena me.
Republicans are great at this and Biden's stepped in it.
What Biden should have said from day one is this impeachment trial has nothing to do with
me.
Any attempt to pull me into it would be an attempt to distract.
Of course, I believe in the constitution and the rule of law and I will always do what
is legally required of me, but the idea that I should be part of this Senate trial is a
political strategy make to meant to make impeachment about me instead of about Donald Trump.
He didn't say that.
Instead, he sort of tried to be tough.
I won't go, but that's the wrong thing to say.
He has to walk it back.
They are experts, experts in this.
They won't even fight the substance.
They distract, misdirect.
They get Democrats to argue with themselves.
We've got to be smarter.
We can't be falling for this stuff.
And Joe Biden did remember that.
Uh, tomorrow, January one big membership special going out by email, an obscene discount, an
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show for 2020.
It's an election year.
This stuff matters.
Get on our newsletter by signing up@davidpakman.com and then tomorrow you'll get an email with
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It's disgustingly obscene.
The membership special we're running tomorrow,