SO, IS THIS A "WASTE OF TIME"?

Last week, FiveThirtyEight reported on the results of its most recent impeachment poll. Here was a key finding:

Many Americans don’t think Congress should be spending its time on impeachment.... Overall, a slight majority (51 percent) of Americans say the process is a bad use of Congress’s time, while 45 percent say it’s a good use of time....

Among those who said impeachment was a bad use of time, a plurality (39 percent) said that it’s because the process distracts Congress from more important issues....

Among Republicans, 23.6% called impeachment a "waste" of Congress's time -- and so did 4.5% of Democrats.

You probably know some people who talk about impeachment this way, or you've seen them being interviewed on TV. Congress should go back to focusing on the issues! they say.

Democrats in the House, of course, passed nearly 400 bills in 2019 before the impeachment process started, many of them on important subjects like infrastructure, prescription drug prices, and early childhood education. For the most part, those bills are languishing in Mitch McConnell's Senate, and will never be voted on.

But if many ordinary citizens thought Democrats in Congress had the wrong priorities, will they have the same reaction to this?

Trump warns on impeachment payback: 'You'll see'

... When asked about his press secretary's comments that the president was suggesting in his remarks Thursday on impeachment that his Democratic political opponents "should be held accountable," Trump said, "Well, you'll see. I mean, we'll see what happens."

Trump showed little sign of wanting to mend fences with the Democrats, saying they suffer from “Trump derangement syndrome" and that there is "a lot of evil on that side.” ...

He left open the possibility that the White House will dismiss Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, after he testified in Trump’s impeachment inquiry.

That happened, and Trump is also looking for ways to punish Mitt Romney, investigate Hunter Biden, and otherwise get payback.

(UPDATE: Trump also fired Gordon Sondland.)

Will the public call that a waste of time? Will the public demand that Trump focus on the issues?

We'll see.