Nov 19, 2019
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Brief Twitter obsessions from the past 24 hours centered chiefly on lies originating with or disseminated by Stephanie Grisham. First, that Trump’s doctor has sent a note excusing him from being ridiculed for his “perfecto” health. And second, that Obama staffers moving out of the White House in 2017 were really, really mean to Trump staffers. In writing. Which seems unlikely. And like we’ve heard it before.
With public impeachment hearings back underway, though, the real business of the day for us was using the occasion of Kurt Volkmer’s impending testimony as a launching pad for an expansive political science lesson. The continuing Republican obsession with the “whistleblower” isn’t ridiculous just because there’s better and more direct evidence available from other witnesses. It’s pointless, because Trump’s Ukraine scheme was doomed from the start by that other, unsung hero that unravels almost every government plot: procedure. Illustrating the point: the story of two obscure Congressional staffers who went to Ukraine to check up on things—because that’s what they do—and discovered Trump’s plot. Because that’s how obvious it was. All you had to do to see that there was something wrong was go to Ukraine and ask how things were going.
Oh, and P.S., yes, the House is now investigating whether Trump lied to Mueller.