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"The whole world is a stage," sang a soul group in the 1960s, paraphrasing Shakespeare. "And everybody's playing a part."
Both casual and committed watchers of the impeachment process can be forgiven if they believe that is exactly what is playing out in the nation's capital right now. It sometimes seems we are watching an elaborate set-piece, every actor saying his or her scripted lines, the end of the story predetermined. Then we will have a presidential election.
"As expected" is the phrase of the moment. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment, as expected. This week, the full house will likely vote, and the Democratic-led chamber will impeach President Donald Trump — as expected.
Next the House will hand over to the U.S. Senate, led by the Republicans, the articles of impeachment against the 45th president. Then, the Senate will deliberate or maybe not deliberate very much at all and find the president not worthy of removal for office — if things play out as expected.
In the end, wherever the impeachment story started, it will end as a story of bitter partisanship. Future historians may have a different view, but that is a decision for posterity.
Trump is accused in two articles of impeachment. The first is abuse of power for his dealings with the president of Ukraine. The second is obstruction of Congress for ordering a blanket stonewalling of Congress's attempt to conduct oversight, for which it has authority under the Constitution. Document requests and subpoenas are simply ignored by administration officials in an unprecedented fashion, according to some analysts.
We believe enough evidence has been presented to at least merit a fair hearing in the Senate. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled that is not his intention. He said he intends to pursue "total coordination" with the White House lawyer and Trump's representatives for the Senate process.
In other words, careful consideration of the facts is not in the script.
That has prompted some Democrats and others to call for McConnell to "recuse" himself from the process. But that in some respects is as far-fetched as Republicans who said the House under Speaker Nancy Pelosi is committing a "coup" by the way it has conducted the impeachment so far.
So the articles will be turned over and the Senate will play its part.
By the way, the 1966 soul song was about a broken heart.
The stage play in Washington is about a broken politics.
The Fayetteville Observer, a Gannett publication
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Editorial: Staged show in Congress
