Conservative columnist Max Boot wasn't shocked when he saw Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proclaim he had no intention of being an independent juror during President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. The Trump antagonist penned his Sunday column dripping with sarcasm.
His fellow conservative colleague, Jennifer Rubin, similarly said that no one expected anything better from Graham. Boot extended his disdain to the entire Republican Party.
"Here’s what the usual suspects — you know, the human scum, traitors and enemies of the people — are saying, They point out that Republicans fervently denounce the mythical Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election and then turn around and argue that President Trump has the right — nay, the obligation — to demand Ukrainian interference in the 2020 election," Boot said, being tongue-in-cheek.
With acrimonious contempt, Boot pretended that he would attempt to defend Republicans against allegations that they "are unprincipled, two-faced hypocrites."
After a dig at hypocritical Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, Boot flattened the fraud of Republicans blasting Democrats for wanting to impeach Trump quickly in his term. National Review writer Andrew McCarthy, "once wrote a book called Faithless Execution: Building the Case for Obama’s Impeachment. He even advocated the impeachment of Hillary Clinton before the 2016 election."
But no one has been attacked more than Graham, Boot explained. Twenty years ago, Graham served as an impeachment manager against former President Bill Clinton for lying about an affair. Today, Graham calls the proceedings, “A sad, ridiculous sham in the U.S. House of Representatives. This needs to come to a quick end.”
“You do not even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role,” Graham said back then. Today, the GOP has changed, saying the president isn't accused of a crime.
"One Republican even contends that it’s 'really sad' to see Democrats trying to impeach Trump 'on the eve of Christmas,'" Boot described. "That would be former speaker Newt Gingrich, who led House Republicans in impeaching Bill Clinton six days before Christmas 1998."
Boot said it not only looks bad, but it makes Republicans look as though they have no principles or core beliefs, an accusation they've tried to fight back against since Trump has deviated so considerably from the Republican Party platform.
"Once you understand that is Republicans’ sole philosophy, everything else clicks into place," wrote Boot. "It explains how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could refuse to grant Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garand a hearing because 2016 was an election year while readily admitting that if there is a Supreme Court vacancy in 2020, 'Oh we’d fill it.' It explains how Republicans could excoriate 'King Obama' for ruling by executive order and yet vote to uphold Trump’s decision to declare a 'state of emergency' so he could spend money on a border wall that Congress didn’t appropriate. It explains why Attorney General William P. Barr can advocate nearly unlimited presidential power when Republicans are under attack but not when Democratic presidents are being targeted."
Finally, Boot said that Americans should look no further than the president's Twitter meltdowns, which blame everyone else for his problems and point fingers at him.
"Or, as acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says, 'Get over it,'" Boot quoted. "Because they’re not changing, no matter how embarrassing and ridiculous their reversals become in the eyes of the 'Radical Left, Do Nothing Dems' and the 'Fake News Media.'”