What Went Down On Day 1 Of The Impeachment Hearings

A historical sidebar here: Four days ago was the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a big victory for the strong foreign policy stance against the USSR of Presidents H.W. Bush and Reagan. That serves as a stark contrast with the foreign policy we are hearing about right now.

To Nathaniel’s point — I think one thing Democrats are battling in this is the way news works. In this episode, it may be that the most damaging evidence — the “smoking gun,” perhaps — came at the beginning of the process. And yes, there are things being said now that should be a big deal, but don’t seem new …

This hearing reminds me of the Comey, Cohen and Mueller hearings in some ways. Bad presidential conduct is described in legalistic but still quite explicit language. Except in the case of Cohen, the key speaker(s) is a white man with lots of credentials who can’t be easily cast as a liberal Trump hater. The conduct has been reported and basically confirmed already in the big papers.