Sysyphus was condemned to push a boulder up a mountain,

[MineralMan]

only to have it roll back down again, for eternity. We are not in a Sisyphean situation, although it can sometimes seem like we are. We are not condemned. There has been no judgement against us. Unlike Sisyphus, we can walk away from impossible tasks. I suggest we do that when it comes to demanding that Donald Trump be impeached.

We, as Democrats, do not have enough Democratic Representatives in the House to impeach Donald Trump. The Republicans will not vote to impeach a sitting Republican President. Therefore, until we correct the imbalance in the House of Representatives by electing a majority in that body, calls for impeachment are an utter waste of time. If we keep doing that, we're just pushing the boulder up the hill, and following it back down to try again. Frustration is the only possible outcome.

Instead of engaging in that useless activity, why don't we do what is required to get a majority in the House, and in the Senate, too, for that matter? Why don't we let the investigation into Trump and his merry band of reprobates take its course and put our energies into doing something that will truly be useful? Why don't we focus all of our considerable power on flipping enough congressional districts to regain a majority in the House?

Even then, though, impeachment shouldn't be our goal. Without 2/3 of the Senate - 67 votes - Trump can't be removed from office. We're almost certainly not going to get those 67 Democrats elected in 2018, so there will be no removal.

Let's not put ourselves in the shoes of Sisyphus. We don't have to. Let's leave that damned boulder at the bottom of the hill and walk away to do something we can actually achieve. What do you say?

Thanks for reading this.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Seems to me it's more like cleaning the Augean stables.

[MineralMan]

2. OK. Same thing, really.

I don't want either job, frankly. If you divert a river to clean the stables, you'll just get ordered to do some other job, anyhow.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Closer analogy, though:

The fifth Labor of Hercules was to clean the Augean stables. Eurystheus intended this assignment both as humiliating (rather than impressive, like the previous labors, and as impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung.) These stables had not been cleaned in over 30 years, and 3,000 cattle lived there.

[MineralMan]

6. Well, it could be that getting Democratic majorities in Congress

is more like cleaning those stables. At least Heracles got it done.

[ProudLib72]

4. Yes, and I'd rather be Hercules than Sisyphus

Hercules actually finished his impossible tasks.

[bottomofthehill]

3. Sage Advice, we need to keep our eye on the prize and work to it.

I may not always agree with what you say (I come pretty darn close) but I am always interested.

“Question like a child, reason like an adult, and write like a sage.”
― Criss Jami, Healology

[Warpy]

7. Sisyphus's main problem was that the farther uphill he rolled that boulder

the bigger it got. An analogy would be Republicans protecting Asshole to the point that only a unanimous decision would remove him. I wouldn't put it past them, especially McConnell.

I honestly don't think impeachment is the answer. After all, it wouldn't be possible until after the 2018 election, if then, and that's a big "if" considering how many states are using hackable voting machines.

The better idea is hounding him with investigations and keeping the pressure on Congress so that little of his horrible agenda is passed intact. Keeping up the contributions to the ACLU, which has been stellar at suing him and getting his attempts to govern by fiat overturned, is also a good idea. With enough pressure, the man-baby will eventually quit. You can tell he hates the job and longs to go back to being a corporate potentate where his word is law because he can fire anyone and everyone he sees instead of being hobbled by all this governmental red tape.

I'm afraid a death by a thousand cuts is about the only way we're going to get rid of him before 2019, making him so uncomfortable and frustrated that he quits.

Failing that, we are doomed to live in interesting times.

[Turbineguy]

8. ..