One of the most notable lines from William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth” reads as follows: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Unfortunately for the citizens of the United States in 2024, the beleaguered Macbeth’s observation on the futility of life sums up both the theatricality and the total lack of merit in House Republicans’ current impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.
“IMPEACH the BUM, or fade into OBLIVION. THEY DID IT TO US!," Trump demanded in a Truth Social post last summer.
In fact, the GOP has been working overtime to draw equivalencies between Biden’s impeachment inquiry and Trump’s two House impeachments. They’re not bothering to conceal the fact that, by targeting Biden, they’re getting retribution for the defacto leader of their party, who they believe was unfairly impeached for purely-partisan reasons. Representative Troy Nehls of Texas even took it one step farther, telling USA Today that a Biden impeachment inquiry would provide Trump with “a little ammo to fight back.”
What they’re conveniently leaving out is that, unlike the Biden inquiry, the Trump inquiries both began on the basis of strong, fact-based evidence of gross misconduct and clearly impeachable offenses that required the need for further investigation. By contrast, the Biden inquiry is putting the cart miles before the horse, with House Republicans as much as admitting that they’re on a fishing expedition.
This vacant exercise in partisan politics isn’t gaining Republicans much traction in terms of polling, and while on the campaign trail prior to this week’s Iowa caucuses, GOP candidates–including Trump himself–have sought to distance themselves from the chaos in the House and to steer reporters’ questions away from the impeachment inquiry. Between Kevin McCarthy’s ousting, Mike Johnson’s election (and subsequent drama with the House GOP’s far-right cohort), and the impeachment proceedings, it makes sense that party leadership would want to put some space between themselves and this performative exercise.
But, to bring us back to another Shakespeare quote, “the play’s the thing.” House Republicans will continue wasting taxpayer dollars and legislative hours in an effort to disingenuously level the playing field between Trump and Biden and to prove their loyalty to their MAGA overlord. Unfortunately, the word “impeachment” remains irresistible to news outlets, so whenever Comer and Co. present their “findings” after the investigation, every major newspaper, digital platform, and TV news station will be there.
This brings us to a crucial question that will need to be asked over and over again during the 2024 election season: What is the media’s responsibility here? Yes, an impeachment proceeding against a sitting president is newsworthy. Yes, it would be a dereliction of duty for news channels and papers to avoid coverage altogether. But it would also be a dereliction of duty to present footage and reporting of this impeachment farce without also providing context. The “context” that needs to be provided? All of the many, many ways in which this sham impeachment differs from the two legitmate impeachments of Donald Trump.
Trump attempted to extort the president of Ukraine to gain an election advantage. Trump tried to overturn the results of a fair-and-free US election. Trump committed these high crimes and misdemeanors. The evidence of his guilt was clearly documented and presented in detail, and Trump was held accountable for them (by the House…the Senate’s failure to remove him from office is another story). It is now the responsibility of the media to avoid their penchant for both-sides-ism. Trump was impeached twice with basis, Biden is being investigated for impeachment with no basis, and one of these things is not like the others.
It isn’t a betrayal of objective news standards to report the truth. The truth is that House Democrats did their due diligence and focused their impeachment proceedings on hard evidence, while House Republicans are flailing for scraps and actively working to devalue the meaning of impeachment as a concept. We cannot allow the GOP, often with help from the media to blur the lines between Trump’s impeachments and the Biden inquiry. Contrary to Kellyanne Conway’s insistence, there are no such thing as “alternative facts.” The facts are what they are, they matter to voters, and the media owes it to the American people to share them as loudly as possible.
One of the most notable lines from William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth” reads as follows: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Unfortunately for the citizens of the United States in 2024, the beleaguered Macbeth’s observation on the futility of life sums up both the theatricality and the total lack of merit in House Republicans’ current impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.
“IMPEACH the BUM, or fade into OBLIVION. THEY DID IT TO US!," Trump demanded in a Truth Social post last summer.
In fact, the GOP has been working overtime to draw equivalencies between Biden’s impeachment inquiry and Trump’s two House impeachments. They’re not bothering to conceal the fact that, by targeting Biden, they’re getting retribution for the defacto leader of their party, who they believe was unfairly impeached for purely-partisan reasons. Representative Troy Nehls of Texas even took it one step farther, telling USA Today that a Biden impeachment inquiry would provide Trump with “a little ammo to fight back.”
What they’re conveniently leaving out is that, unlike the Biden inquiry, the Trump inquiries both began on the basis of strong, fact-based evidence of gross misconduct and clearly impeachable offenses that required the need for further investigation. By contrast, the Biden inquiry is putting the cart miles before the horse, with House Republicans as much as admitting that they’re on a fishing expedition.
This vacant exercise in partisan politics isn’t gaining Republicans much traction in terms of polling, and while on the campaign trail prior to this week’s Iowa caucuses, GOP candidates–including Trump himself–have sought to distance themselves from the chaos in the House and to steer reporters’ questions away from the impeachment inquiry. Between Kevin McCarthy’s ousting, Mike Johnson’s election (and subsequent drama with the House GOP’s far-right cohort), and the impeachment proceedings, it makes sense that party leadership would want to put some space between themselves and this performative exercise.
But, to bring us back to another Shakespeare quote, “the play’s the thing.” House Republicans will continue wasting taxpayer dollars and legislative hours in an effort to disingenuously level the playing field between Trump and Biden and to prove their loyalty to their MAGA overlord. Unfortunately, the word “impeachment” remains irresistible to news outlets, so whenever Comer and Co. present their “findings” after the investigation, every major newspaper, digital platform, and TV news station will be there.
This brings us to a crucial question that will need to be asked over and over again during the 2024 election season: What is the media’s responsibility here? Yes, an impeachment proceeding against a sitting president is newsworthy. Yes, it would be a dereliction of duty for news channels and papers to avoid coverage altogether. But it would also be a dereliction of duty to present footage and reporting of this impeachment farce without also providing context. The “context” that needs to be provided? All of the many, many ways in which this sham impeachment differs from the two legitmate impeachments of Donald Trump.
Trump attempted to extort the president of Ukraine to gain an election advantage. Trump tried to overturn the results of a fair-and-free US election. Trump committed these high crimes and misdemeanors. The evidence of his guilt was clearly documented and presented in detail, and Trump was held accountable for them (by the House…the Senate’s failure to remove him from office is another story). It is now the responsibility of the media to avoid their penchant for both-sides-ism. Trump was impeached twice with basis, Biden is being investigated for impeachment with no basis, and one of these things is not like the others.
It isn’t a betrayal of objective news standards to report the truth. The truth is that House Democrats did their due diligence and focused their impeachment proceedings on hard evidence, while House Republicans are flailing for scraps and actively working to devalue the meaning of impeachment as a concept. We cannot allow the GOP, often with help from the media to blur the lines between Trump’s impeachments and the Biden inquiry. Contrary to Kellyanne Conway’s insistence, there are no such thing as “alternative facts.” The facts are what they are, they matter to voters, and the media owes it to the American people to share them as loudly as possible.