“The mills of the gods grind late, but they grind fine,” is a quotation ascribed to the Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus. It found its way into English via Longfellow’s translation from the German of the work “Retribution” by Friedrich von Logau. Today, the most common formulation of the concept is that “The wheels of justice grind slowly, but exceeding fine.”
Tonight, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S.D.C. for the District of D.C. denied the Justice Department’s request to stay her ruling directing that grand jury material from the Mueller investigation be turned over to the committees of the House of Representatives investigating impeachment.
While the current center of attention of the march to impeachment is Trump’s attempt to shake down the Ukrainian government, we tend to miss the fact that there is parallel impeachment inquiry ongoing, namely the inquiry into Trump’s efforts to obstruct justice. The pace of that inquiry accelerated this evening. As another poet put it: “Don’t speak too soon, for the wheel’s still in spin.”
Are they truly running in parallel? I thought that Pelosi and the House are putting all their eggs into one basket, string-arming Ukraine about the Bidens.
I don’t think so. Remember, the Mueller report and the underlying investigation is much like the Starr report. That is it supplies sufficient facts that we don’t need the investigatory depositions that have been necessary to get to the bottom of the Ukraine investigation.
The Longfellow wording I know is slightly different:
“The mills of God grind slow / But they grind exceeding small.”
Mitch’s hostile op-ed on the Kurds was a warning. If Trump continues to screw up badly enough, he is prepared to stick in the knife. Perhaps acquittal or a no-show in exchange for resignation? The Presidency is lost to the GOP in 2020, it’s a question of saving Senate seats. The other path is the 25th amendment: if Pence is caught between McConnell and Trump, I suspect he will opt for the former.
I think the 25th amendment is pretty much off the table, since it requires a majority of cabinet members to vote to declare the president unfit. I’m fairly sure this cabinet doesn’t have a majority who would do that, short of something obvious, such as a coma.
As for a deal between McConnell and Trump (acquittal or a no-show), it’s hard to see how Trump could be obliged to hold up his end of the deal.