If you believe the spin put out by even some reputable news outlets, Nancy Pelosi is a genius; a “master strategist.” We’re told she has Trump’s number; knows how to get under his skin; plays chess while Trump plays checkers; has Trump wrapped around her little pinky … and so on and so on.

The reality is Nancy Pelosi is none of the above. By not initiating impeachment proceedings, she is no better than her loathsome Republican counterparts. She is putting party above country … politics above the rule of law.

It’s pretty sad when some Republicans are calling for Trump’s impeachment … but not the Democratic Speaker of the House! If Pelosi had her druthers, Trump’s fate would be decided by the 2020 election.

A current Republican U.S. representative, Justin Amash (R-MI), has called for Trump’s impeachment. And now a former Republican representative, Tom Coleman, from the red state of Missouri, is calling both Trump and Pence ‘illegitimate.”

Said Coleman in an article he recently wrote for The Kansas City Star, “While Mueller did not find sufficient evidence that Trump or his campaign had violated a criminal statute, the net effect was that the Trump campaign encouraged a foreign adversary to use and misrepresent stolen information on social media platforms to defraud U.S. voters. Because the presidency was won in this way, the president’s election victory brought forth nothing less than an illegitimate presidency.”

Coleman goes on to say, “The political calculus not to pursue impeachment is understandable. Current polls show a majority of voters do not favor it. But critical times require exceptional leadership. Lawmakers of both parties should not blindly follow the polls but instead follow the evidence and their conscience. Politics should not rule the day. Partisan politics is what got us to this dangerous place — so dangerous, I believe, that the survival of our democracy is at risk.”

“Master Strategist” Pelosi needs to start, at the very least, an impeachment inquiry ASAP. Get the evidence out. The American people will be on board with formal impeachment once they learn the true facts contained in the Mueller report.

As Coleman noted, “This process would allow a full public review of wrongdoing, while providing Americans an opportunity to obtain a better understanding of the consequences to our national security and the lingering threat to our democracy.”

Tom Coleman concludes his opinion piece with this poignant observation:

I believe the public would conclude Democrats are no better than the Republicans who have enabled Trump for the past two years, putting party above country. It could hand Trump a second term. Failure to pursue impeachment is to condone wrongdoing. To condone wrongdoing is to encourage more of it. To encourage wrongdoing is to give up on the rule of law and our democracy. To give up on the rule of law and democracy invites autocracy and eventually dictatorship. History has taught us this outcome. In my lifetime, it has occurred in other places including the Soviet Union and Germany, as well as in Russia and Venezuela today.

Nancy do your duty, politics be damned.

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