by John Walters

I saw something late last night, I believe it was during Brian Williams’ “The 11th Hour” broadcast, that said Democrats would continue trying to persuade Republicans to quit obstructing every initiative of President Biden’s simply on the basis that they’re his.

There is no try, as everyone’s favorite little green man, Yoda, once said. There is only do.

Mitch McConnell, who may be the most evil man ever to occupy a chair in the U.S. Senate, understands this. Democrats still do no.

Yesterday the transcripts of former White House counsel Don McGahn’s testimony from Friday were released (McGahn negotiated a deal in which he’d only testify if it was not televised, because he’s smart enough to know that his words would then live forever in infamy on YouTube). McGahn, in case you missed it, testified that his boss, Donny Trump, had ordered him to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the midst of his investigation. McGahn chose not to do so, explaining that such a maneuver would be a textbook example of obstruction of justice, the very thing that Mueller was investigating.

Then, when word leaked, Trump wanted McGahn to write a release saying that it was he, McGahn, who wanted to fire Mueller and that Trump had nothing to do with it. That Trump had never ordered this. A direct and outright lie, confirmed by one of the two men involved.

This on top of listening to tapes, released earlier this week, in which Rudy Giuliani explicitly states the “quid pro quo” that Trump wants from the Ukraine. And then Trump went out publicly and said, “No quid pro quo.”

I don’t know how many more pieces of evidence anyone needs to see that Trump is an outright crook and that Republicans are hell-bent on destroying democracy in exchange for returning to power. And, having learned their lessons from the past four years, never relinquishing it again short of an outright war.

Democrats cannot just try. They must do. If that means putting Donald Trump in shackles now and worrying about the ramifications later, do it. If that means openly investigating every last aspect of January 6th and holding the powerful people (in Congress and in the White House) accountable, do it. If that means telling McConnell and Joe Manchin to go f*ck themselves and pressing ahead with legislation anyway, do it.

You’ve got the will of the majority of the American people on your side, do not squander it. There is no try. There is only do.

On this same Brian Williams’ telecast last night a former U.S. Attorney, I believe her name was Joyce Vance, argued the merits of Attorney General Merrick Garland opting against prosecuting Trump with, “If we begin prosecuting former presidents, we’re going to look like a banana republic.” Dear Ms. Vance. See the picture below. We’re already there.