Don’t get lost in the ‘no quid pro quo’ nonsense.  Trump is being impeached because he asked a foreign source – Ukraine – for campaign help.  That’s a felony for anyone and a severe problem for an elected official.

Sure, Trump also managed to abuse his authority, obstruct justice, commit criminal conspiracy, lie to the American people, yadda, yadda.  Any major crime usually includes a host of related individual crimes.  And yes, Trump’s abuses of authority will need to be unwound eventually. That doesn’t change that Trump confessed to the main crime: Trump asked a foreign source for a thing of value for his 2020 Presidential campaign.  Trump wrote it clearly in his unofficial summary of the Ukraine phone call. Being Trump, he then committed the offense a second time on the White House lawn in front of dozens of reporters. 

So far, the best Republican defense has been that Trump didn’t really mean what he said.  Unfortunately for Trump, all the evidence so far shows that Trump and his co-conspirators were deadly serious.  The Republicans are stuck with denying Trump’s written and broadcast confessions.

Because that sucks, Republicans picked through the criminal scraps and found anything they thought they could use: “There was no quid pro quo!”  It was thin gruel – Trump left a wide swath of broken laws and specific ‘quid pro quo’ demands – but it seemed the best option.  It should be a problem that Republicans were asking their members to knowingly lie repeatedly, but most politicians followed the “No quid pro quo!” nonsense in rough harmony.

Remember: Trump asked foreigners to help his campaign.  That’s why the House is impeaching him.  So, don’t get lost; “quid pro quo” was always a distraction. 

And that should be weird.  Republicans keep highlighting another of Trump’s (many) impeachable offenses, hoping we’ll look away from the big, well-documented crime.  When did that seem like a smart strategy?

Anyway, that’s why it’s both entertaining and morally satisfying that White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney blurted out the truth on camera today.  In plain language over a 39-minute press conference, Mulvaney admitted that the President did illegally withhold the Ukraine aid (a crime) in return for dirt on the Bidens (a big crime) and that lots of people helped (a third crime).  Mulvaney admitted it all on camera!  We all knew that as the truth, of course, but talk about a gift.

I wish I could smile about it, but really.  We need a better Republican party than the criminal enterprise in place now.

Every politician knows the central truth.  They may not know the specifics, but everyone knows Trump’s confessions.  Despite that, Republicans aren’t doing more than frowning and mouthing mild ‘concerns.’  Words.  None of the Republicans in the House or the Senate have suggested any action.  Nothing.

Really, the Republicans need to go.  I just hope we can make ourselves a real conservative party and not another astroturf thing like the Koch brother’s Tea Party.