Among a certain sect of Republicans, impeachment has reached sacrosanct levels of support. If you don’t buy into some of the arguments being made, even if they rely on shaky assumptions and mind-reading, you are cast into the fiery pit of disapproval.

For some, politics is a transactional, imperfect process. For others, it’s a religious rite whereby one is expected to cut off their own nose to atone for the flaws of their face. The irony being that the same people who constantly accuse others of tribalism tend to act in the most tribalistic ways.

The latest example of that comes in the reaction to Nikki Haley’s comments on the impeachment of President Trump.

In excerpt of a @CBSSunday interview to air tonight on @CBSEveningNews, former UN Amb @NikkiHaley ridicules notion of impeaching Pres Trump. "On what? You're going to impeach a president for asking for a favor that didn’t happen and – and giving money and it wasn’t withheld?" pic.twitter.com/N3CW2lrEBt

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 8, 2019

This was just too much for some within the Never Trump movement and teeth were gnashed. Nikki Haley is now canceled.

Nikki Haley is someone I once respected. https://t.co/R1rqhfcxre

— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) November 8, 2019

This is yet another reasonwhy the GOP should be starved of votes until the Trumpist rot is flushed out. https://t.co/nM7OS5Rf9J

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) November 8, 2019

It’s almost like anyone that doesn’t bend to a certain orthodoxy is readily thrown out of the club. What’s the word for that? It’s right on the tip of my tongue.

As to what Haley is saying here, she’s right. You can argue all day about the propriety of discussing investigations into corruption, including one that could possibly implicate Biden, but the idea that the current set of facts demands removing a President is ludicrous. This is exactly the kind of thing best left for voters to decide at the ballot box given the absence of any criminal activity. Overriding the electorate based on assumptions of motive and murky judgments about “abuse of power” would be profoundly damaging to the country.

Some see this Ukraine matter as their way to finally get rid of Trump while salvaging a chance to replace him in 2020. This is why you see some “true conservatives” so invested in the movement. In the end, they are deluding themselves once again. Most Republicans simply aren’t willing to hand the country to Democrats over an action that pales in comparison to others that never even sniffed of impeachment.

If even Nikki Haley doesn’t reach the standard of Never Trump these days, perhaps they should examine whether those standards are simply ridiculous.

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1192969871191166976

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