Did Trump collude with the Russians to influence the 2016 elections or didn't he?
Did he have extramarital affairs with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal or didn't he?
Did he instruct Cohen to use his campaign funds to pay off these women or didn't he?
Does Trump have a multitude of conflicts of interests with various foreign governments and do these business dealings influence how he steers U.S. foreign policy towards those countries?
Did Trump share top secret information in his private conversations with Putin or didn't he?
Did he engage in multiple examples of self-dealing with the Trump Foundation or didn't he?
Have Trump and members of his cabinet engaged in a plethora of corrupt practices, using their public office to advance their own private financial interests...or didn't they?
And the list goes on and on and on and on...
Many have already written how difficult it is trying to keep up with Trump's potentially (and often likely) illegal acts - something akin to trying to drink from a water cannon. I'm truly grateful to the folks who do just that - investigative journalists, especially - undertaking the Herculean task to maintain at least a modicum of cleanliness in the filthy stables that are our government.
Despite what seems to be a mounting list of high crimes (felonies) and misdemeanors the mavens and machers of the Washington Insider Baseball League have poo-pooed the idea of taking any concrete steps towards initiating impeachment proceedings. Instead, they have insisted that we wait for the publication of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, which may or may not see the light of day, according to Robert Barr, Trump's nominee for Attorney General.
And while I get the importance of getting the facts right and while I am aware that some House committees are preparing separate investigations into Trump Administration malfeasance, at some point we're going to have to realize that the perfect may actually be the enemy not only of the good but of getting something done. As Rabbi Hillel famously once said, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?" (Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14)
Even if such efforts need to fly under the radar for the time being, the time to begin...was last year. Work those relationships and reach out across the aisle to build common cause with the few members of the Republican Party that are still willing to place the national interest over those of the GOP. Raise public awareness among the American public about the threat Trump and his cronies pose to our institutions of governance. Reach out to major social, broadcast and print media outlets to execute an effective communication plan that counteracts the Right wing fake news factories, spreading alternative facts and Trump-scripted agit-propaganda.
There's too much work that can and needs to be done now for us to wait around for some sort of harmonic convergence of optimal political conditions. And as the Trump Administration's potential crimes continue to increase daily, they'll soon reach mountain-like proportions, giving us the grand peak of corrupt practices: Brokelaw Mountain.
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