Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) sounded like one of the women who love too much. Meaning, she looked at Donald Trump and saw not the man, but his possibilities. She casually said that he should have learned his lesson following his impeachment trial. Then, this happened.
Just after week after the president exited his articles of impeachment trial acquitted, the commander-in-chief had opened Collins’ eyes to what his wall of revenge looked like. He was after all of his political enemies.
Wednesday morning CNN’s Manu Raju explained what Colli
The senator lost her patience:
I voted to acquit the President, as I made very clear to you, Manu, on numerous occasions, because his conduct, while wrong, did not meet the high bar established in the Constitution for the immediate ouster of a duly elected president.’
Manu Raju obviously was having a difficult time with the following:
- ‘Trump’s targeting of senators — including Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney — who didn’t vote with him on impeachment.
- His “celebration” ceremony at the White House last week in which he used his presidential platform to punish his enemies, praise his friends and generally declare victory.
- The Friday firing of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (and his twin brother) as well as Gordon Sondland, the former ambassador to the European Union, after Vindman and Sondland testified in the House impeachment investigation.
- The establishment of an official channel at the Department of Justice to deal with information about Ukraine, as well as Joe and Hunter Biden, being collected by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani announcement of congressional investigations into the Bidens.
- Trump’s Monday night tweet protesting the allegedly harsh sentencing guidelines for convicted felon Roger Stone, followed by the Department of Justice’s reconsideration of those guidelines and the resignation of the four federal prosecutors involved in the case.’
That left Senator Collins holding the bag. She tried to escape the optics of Trump’s bloodbath for the last week, plus one day. Yet, there was no way that she could right the wrong she made by voting “not guilty” at the conclusion of his impeachment trial.
She continued with her futile explanation to O’Donnell. At that time, she said this about her huge political error:
‘I believe that the President has learned from this case [and he] will be much more cautious in the future.’
That argument appeared weak at the time she made it. She could not produce any evidence to support her decision. Now, she has no options to halt Trump’s campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies. Her approach continuesd to look bad.
Of course, Trump learned his lesson, but not the one she was after. POTUS would have realized:
‘They tried to impeach me and couldn’t do it. Republicans will follow me no matter what. I can do whatever I want now. And that is exactly the mindset he has brought to the presidency since his acquittal.’
Collins and a tight knot of Republican senators approached the president and urged him to refrain from firing Sondland, but to no avail. This will not be an easy 2020 campaign for her.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any orde
