The Impeachment Inquiry Is Official. Meh.

The House of Representatives officially approved the impeachment inquiry against Trump, but it might as well have passed a resolution declaring November Topaz Jewelry Month (the topaz is the November birthstone).  Not only was it along party lines, but it was never going to satisfy Republicans who, unable to argue the facts, made a strategic argument against the process - which they've already won.  So many depositions in the inquiry have been held behind closed doors that the optics suggested that the Democrats were pushing for impeachment in secret.  Yeah, yeah, I know, the depositions are supposed to be behind closed doors, but while the Democrats may have won in getting badly needed testimony, they've lost the public relations game - like when the Audi 5000 was thought to have an "unintended acceleration" problem when in fact the real problem was that the brake and acceleration pedals were so close and so identical to each other that stupid American drivers couldn't tell the difference between the two.  News flash:  Audi handled the PR over the "scandal" so badly that the brand was almost forced out of the U.S. market. 

At least Audi had a few years to turn things around; the Democrats don't have that long in getting the American people on their side. The primary/caucus season begins in February, and the Democrats still have closed door depositions to take before they can open up the doors and let the sunshine in.  It probably won't happen until the dawning of the age of Aquarius - January 20 at the earliest.  The later it takes to have public hearings on impeachment, the more difficult it will be for them to pick a candidate who can beat Trump.  And the Democrats already have a disadvantage in that they historically are blessed with an easy Republican candidate to beat but cursed with an incredible knack for nominating someone whose election is even more unthinkable.  As far as I'm concerned, today's Democrats could lose an election to the Wicked Queen.