Dan Perkins: Democratic Playbook Will Be Tested in Impeachment Trial

By Dan Perkins:

For most of the last 40 years, the Democrats have controlled Washington, DC, regardless of whether they had legislative power. During this time, according to sources, they developed a playbook specifically for Republicans, and it contains the rules of the road as to how Republicans are to behave. If the Democrats attack a Republican because they don’t like what he or she is doing, the playbook requires the Republican to cower and not challenge the Democrats. Just look at performance of Republican Presidential candidates John McCain and Mit Romney and their restrained efforts to confront Obama.

The Democrats, however, had a secret weapon that was not in the playbook: it was the courts. Over the years, the Democrats filled the courts with left-leaning judges who would consistently rule against the Republicans. Just look back at the first two years of the Trump presidency where the courts were able to do from the bench things that the Democrats couldn't do in the halls of Congress.

Currently, there are 871 authorized Article III judgeships: nine on the Supreme Court, 179 on the courts of appeals, 674 for the district courts, and nine on the Court of International Trade. As of December 4, 2019, the United States Senate has confirmed 170 Article III judges nominated by President Trump, including 2 associate justices of the Supreme Court, 48 judges for the Courts of Appeals, 118 judges for the District Courts, and 2 judges for the United States Court of International Trade. The Trump Presidency has, in less than three years, replaced almost 20% of the existing Article III judges.

If the President is re-elected, he may well name two new justices to the Supreme Court, taking away the power the Democrats have had with the courts. I believe the real reason the Democrats want to impeach the President is to keep him from appointing new Supreme Court judges and bringing the court’s conservative bias to 7 to 2. Another 5 years of President Trump appointing new judges and the power of the Democratic Party will be so diminished, they may well turn out to be a minority party.

Let's go back to the playbook and look at the chapter on intimidation and see how the Democrats are already working to intimidate the Republicans in the Senate. Representative Val Demings (D-FL) on Friday called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to recuse himself from the Senate impeachment trial, citing the GOP leader's remarks the previous night about coordination with the White House.

The next step of Democratic intimidation is stated in the Red State headline, “Chuck Schumer Tries to Bully Mitch McConnell into Surrendering Control of Impeachment: Will It Work?” The playbook calls for the Democrats to get control of the process, even if they are not in power. In the House during the committee hearings, the Democrats took away the President's right to due process in that he couldn't call any witnesses.

Another example of Democrats’ abuse of power is in the full House vote by only allowing the Republicans one day to call witnesses. The Chair of the Judiciary Committee summarily dismissed the rights of the Republicans and would not allow them to call any witnesses. The Committee chair, Congressman Jerry Nadler, decided on his own to overrule the procedures previously passed by the full House. With Schumer being first, he has set the tone of his interpretation of fairness for the Democrats, and their partners in the media will support this narrative.

Under the Constitution trial rules, the role of the senators is that of the jury, and the jury cannot ask any questions. The trial will be the only item taken up by the Senate until a verdict is reached. I look for the Democrats not to sit still and ask nothing. I expect them to be a disrupting force during the trial in an attempt to take control of it.

The recent British elections saw the people rise up again in even higher numbers against the Labor Party and take their country back. I truly believe that Americans will react the same way as our friends across the sea have acted and will re-elect Donald Trump as president in 2020 in a massive landslide. We have had enough of the deep state. We need a re-elected Donald Trump to get rid of the swamp through a reduction of force during his second term and, by the way, also burning the Playbook.

Perkins Twist: We as Americans will have the opportunity to take back our country and make America even greater. We must focus our attention on getting out the vote. In 2016, 55% of eligible voters voted. The recent British election saw 67% of voters voting. We need to work to get at least 60% of likely voters in America to vote; you can help by talking to one person a day and encouraging them to vote.