House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during her weekly media availability on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 27, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Nancy Pelosi has decided to pursue the dumbest impeachment gambit in American history because she just can’t say no to the crazies on her left flank. After some speculation about whether she would, the House Speaker is going to withhold turning over the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

According to Senate rules, the trial can’t start and the process is currently stalled. But if Democrats thought that was going to hand them leverage, Mitch McConnell immediately let it be known that he’s not going to jump at Pelosi’s command. Further, the Democrat’s own impeachment attorney from the House is pointing out that Trump is not even actually impeached now.

To call it a boondoggle is an affront to hard working, honest boondoggles across this great land.

Lindsey Graham chimed in last night and blasted Pelosi’s behavior, pointing out that she’s not a dictator and that separation of powers exists.

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1207725109026476033

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Pelosi’s threats are “incredibly dangerous” and her plan to power grab ignores the separations of power statute.

“Just think for a moment, you pass articles of impeachment in the House, you refuse to send them into the Senate until the Senate constructs a trial of your liking as Speaker of the House,” Graham said. “We have separations of power for a reason. You can’t be Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Senate at the same time.”

I’m not sure how dangerous it actually is (because decorum and norms were tossed out long ago), but Graham is right on the points here. There is no power granted within the Constitution that allows the House to dictate the terms of an impeachment trial to the Senate. Pelosi is welcome to withhold the articles until they are rendered void, but doing so will garner not one inch of ground from Republicans, nor should it.

Even the mainstream media are having a hard time spinning this. Left-wing lawyer Lawrence Tribe, who came up with this inane idea, is a legit crazy person. Yet, Democrats have run with this plan and left themselves no way out. I suspect Pelosi’s plan at this point is to try to try to keep this hanging out there so Democrats can claim Trump is under some semblance of “indictment” via impeachment come the 2020 election. But if that’s their goal, there’s no evidence the current articles have that kind of staying power. Support for impeachment continues to drop and Trump’s numbers in the key states continues to rise.

Republicans simply need to make sure they have a coherent, unified strategy going forward. They can’t afford for the Mitt Romneys of the world to come out and start suggesting the GOP should give in to Chuck Schumer and his party. Democrats have sealed their own fate. Don’t rescue them.