Left Critics of Impeachment Going Silent

The left critique of impeachment has largely gone silent over the last few days. It's pretty much up to Aaron Mate to articulate it. His argument is somewhat sophistical -- but similar to the rhetorical sleight of hand that RT has been performing recently -- in that it reduces impeachment to a trial based on the edited and abridged telephone transcript produced by the White House of the July 25 Trump-Zelensky chat. But impeachment is an investigation launched by the House which produces articles to be judged in a trial conducted in the Senate. Impeachment is a process, and we are at the very beginning of that process.

Chris Hedges made a hash of his case against impeachment when he "debated" John Boniface on Democracy Now! There was really no debate because Hedges, looking uncomfortable in his role of impeachment skeptic, immediately capitulated and acknowledged that he was not opposed to impeachment; he was opposed to a narrow impeachment inquiry based solely on Ukraine. John Bonifaz agreed, reminding Hedges that impeachment is a broad and popular movement that has been focused on the emoluments clause of the Constitution and Trump's treatment of refugees and migrants.

Thomas Edsall has a worthwhile "It Can't Happen Here" article about the chances that Trump won't vacate the White House if he is convicted in impeachment trial or he loses the 2020 election.

The latest breaking news is the growing realization that the State Department will probably ignore some of the subpoenas from the House.

Finally, let's not forget that impeachment is not just a crisis in U.S. politics; it's a crisis in Ukraine's politics as well. This morning WSWS provides this helpful thumbnail sketch of Ukraine:

Imperialist war planners have historically considered the resource-rich Ukraine, which is geographically located at the crossroads between Europe and Asia and the strategically important Black Sea, as key to a domination of the Eurasian landmass. Control over Ukraine was central to the efforts of German imperialism to control Europe in both World War I and World War II, when the Nazis systematically worked with local bourgeois fascist forces to murder the country’s Jewish population and wage war against the Soviet Union.

Since the days of the Cold War, the US has been heavily involved in fostering right-wing political forces in the country to help bring it under its control. Following the dissolution of the USSR and the restoration of capitalism by the Stalinist bureaucracy, the Ukrainian oligarchy, while maintaining extensive ties to Germany and to some extent France, has been heavily dependent on and influenced by US imperialism. As a central component of the efforts of US imperialism to encircle and isolate Russia, both Republican and Democratic administrations have staged two “color revolutions,” in 2004 and in 2014, to bring to power pro-US presidents in Kiev.

Following the 2014 US- and EU-backed toppling of the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych with the heavy involvement of far-right forces, then US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland stated that the US had pumped some $5 billion into Ukrainian “civil society.” Since 2014, the US has stationed military advisers throughout the country, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) alone spent another $2 billion in Ukraine.