How crazy is the Democratic base?
Before giving the obvious answer, consider that there are several members of Congress who want to indulge the nutjobs calling for Trump to be removed via the 25th Amendment or impeached. Just who are the crazy ones? Democratic members of Congress or their rabid-dog base?
"People are pissed and know we have to fight," one senior House Democrat told Axios.
So, because Democratic voters aren't getting their way, they want to constitutionally remove the Republican president? And there are members of Congress who agree with them.
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) said that while she "called for 25th Amendment and impeachment" over Trump's posts on Truth Social about Iran, she doesn't think it is "the best use of our time."
"That's not the fight right now," the former Trump impeachment manager said. "Right now we have to end this war and we have to reclaim our Constitutional responsibility."
Impeaching a president for what was posted on social media is bat guano crazy. And siding with Iran by wanting to force the war's end prematurely would, in another time, another era, be considered treasonous.
She added that Democrats should try to "bring prices down, bring anxiety down for all Americans." Perhaps if you repeal about 10,000 costly and unnecessary regulations, prices may start to drop.
And dialing down the hysterical rhetoric that portrays the United States on the cusp of dictatorship could help bring the political temperature down a bit, too.
Trump's comments about Iran this week have led dozens of Democrats to call for his impeachment or removal through the 25th Amendment to the Constutition.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced Wednesday that Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) will lead a virtual briefing about the 25th Amendment on Friday.
What we're hearing: A Democratic leadership aide and a House Democrat close to the leader told Axios that Jeffries has given no indication he would get behind a proactive Trump impeachment effort this year.
The Democratic leader has remained characteristically opaque in his public statements, saying in a Morning Joe appearance on Thursday: "We've ruled nothing out and we've rule nothing in."
Several House Democrats told Axios they have not received more explicit guidance from leadership on impeachment behind closed doors.
Yes, but: Jeffries has given several clear indications of his lack of zeal for impeachment in general.
Jeffries is a political pro who knows how to weigh odds and judge the efficacy of what actions to take. Only brain-dead crazies want to impeach Trump over Iran or anything else, not this year or next year or any other year.
Rep. John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, introduced articles of impeachment against the Republican president on Monday, even though he knows it's useless. “If you're expecting an immediate vote on this or whatever, that's probably not going to happen,” he said.
Jeffries decided not to lead from the front. “I don't want to get out ahead of that discussion,” he told Time Magazine. He said that if Democrats choose that path, “we want to be able to do it in an informed way.”
Informed by what? The Constitution says you can only impeach a president for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Scholars are in general agreement that the transgressions cannot be political. The Democrats disagree with Trump about going to war with Iran, even though if Biden had done it, they'd have been beating the tocsins of war and singing "Over There."
It's a political fight. If they want to impeach Trump on constitutional grounds, they would have to show that the War Powers Act was constitutional, a confrontation they don't want with the Supreme Court. Neither side wants to get a definitive ruling on War Powers because it would take away a valuable political weapon in attacking the opposition.
Right now, Democrats can only posture about the war. And they look extremely silly trying to remove Trump using the 25th Amendment when they sat on their hands and denied that there was anything wrong with Joe Biden for four years. They are not in any position to judge fitness for office.
Jeffries is going to have to put a leash on about a third of his members in the House who are chomping at the bit to unleash the hounds of impeachment.
PJ Media will give you all the information you need to understand the decisions that will be made this year. Insightful commentary and straight-on, no-BS news reporting have been our hallmarks since 2005.
Get 60% off your new VIP membership by using the code FIGHT. You won't regret it.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member