Yeah, I’m sure we’ve got him this time. This time is different than every. . . other. . . time.
Let’s go ahead and speculate if this is the death of the Republican party, like we did back in 2008.
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True but terrifying.
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I do not think that Trump will pardon Manafort.
This implies “loyalty” and Trump shows none (remember, this is a guy with Jewish grandchildren who said that the neo-nazis at Charlottesville were “very fine people”)
Plus now that Manafort is convicted… he’s a loser and Trump disdains helping losers.
Manafort is going to die in jail.
Question is wether he dies in jail from old age, or dies in jail from assasination.
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Not to mention that if pardoned Manafort forfeits Fifth Amendment protections in any legal proceedings against Trump.
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Certainly most of the Trumpkin would be Never Pencers.
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No. He’s a rich white guy committing rich white guy crimes. He’ll serve a few years in prison and live the rest of his days in comfort.
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Interesting. The conservative fever swamp was convinced Obama was going to declare martial law so he could serve a third term. Now their own dude might do so and I’m sure we all agree those same folks will permanently damage their spines bending over backward to defend it (yes, “deep state” is the go-to excuse.)
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Love it. LOL
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Not to be a pedant, but this has got to be an older quote, because we’re already 20 months into the Trumpian shit show. If he were to do it, his actions wouldn’t taint the first year of his presidency any more than they already are. The first year is already in the history books.
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Can we get some anti-Trumpers to dress up as obese American flags, go to a rally and start a “Pardon Paul!” chant? Seemingly (?) all Trump has to do is clearly say or tweet “I Pardon Paul Manafort” and it might have legal weight.
Also try chanting “Perjure yourself!” and “Resign!” and see how many at the rally are that gullible…
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The good news is precedent suggests that he won’t be entering office in an especially strong position to enact policy. Ford didn’t exactly get a free pass from either congress or the public.
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Could be that’s exactly what the Orange-Beaked Grippertwat discussed with Putin in his hour or two alone (after he gave Vlad a bj) – an October surprise paid for by Putin, but carried out through intermediaries (Syria or some such).
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And that’s the thing. A scandal doesn’t neccisarily need to remove Trump from office to cripple his presidency. And any scandal sufficiently large to force him from office is likely to cripple the administration regardless of who takes over.
And that’s all assuming that Pence isn’t implicated. Just watching how freely he lied, bald faced and confirmably, during the debates. I’ve got no reason to believe he’d have either the fore thought or the scruples to keep himself separated from any wrong doing.
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That’s what we said about Trump, too, in this very forum. Rob B. himself chastised me for openly worrying, in a thread a week before the election, that we were underestimating Trump’s appeal. We see how that turned out.
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When was that one said? He’s been president for over a year already… or does it just feel that way? (cue “Twilight Zone” music)
I keep thinking the same thing. Like Santa Claus or lasting peace in the Middle East, I want this to be true. Surely, this time will be different. But…
My deepest hope is that when Trump finally shits the bed, that the bed will be so thoroughly shat that Pence will be so busy spending the remainder of the term changing the sheets and airing out the room that he won’t have the time or energy to be nefarious.
Yeah, the only thing worse than incompetent evil is competent evil.
What I would really like is for Trump to eat up one more year of his term during which his entire focus is on trying to get out alive, minimizing any more damage he can wreak. Then when Pence takes over, he will only have about a year to do his damage.
Ummm… what number scandal are we up to now? I really felt like putting brown babies in concentration camps staffed by child molesters would be the one to do it. But his presidency is still managing to waddle along. Sure, this one might be the one… or maybe the next one will be. If not that, maybe… Ad infinitum.
Until his ass is getting loaded onto a prison bus, or lowered into the ground, I’m not putting any money on when this nightmare will end. It’s still much to early to call it over.
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What will the Fall of Traitor Trump look like?
It will seem inhuman – probably canine. Republicans hold the keys to Trump’s collapse, and Republicans maintain their rigid hierarchy out of fear as much through a reign of fear. They threaten those they perceive as below them because it makes them feel more secure to believe their is a protecting presence above them. However, should that protecting presence demonstrate weakness of any kind, the spell of hierarchical superiority can be broken, converted into rage and resentment.
Trump is one giant, quivering blob of weakness, for anyone willing to direct a moment’s attention at him. But he’s still protected by the dynamic tension of the fear network. We’ve seen that his protection can’t be broken by one or two dissenters in his hierarchy, but there is still a threshold number, and because of the multiplicative nature of networks, it’s probably lower than you might think. Would three simultaneous dissenters topple Trump? Four? Five? Would it take as many as ten?
Regardless, Trump’s moment of inconvenient public weakness will come, his cowed allies will turn on him, and his place in the hierarchy will crumple. No more Alpha Donnie, the the naked mutt emperor.
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And look at how much he’s accomplishing!
His party controls both houses of the congress, and they’re very close on that third branch of the government. But his administration has gotten less legislation passed than any in recent memory. His executive actions keep floundering in court. He’s put their majorities in congress at risk.
Crippling a presidency /= taking the guy out of office. I’m referring to the lack of sufficient political pull to execute an agenda, protect ones followers etc. He’s on the cusp of that already. As soon as its clear that association with Trump either risks taking you out of office or putting you in jail. The GOP will check right the fuck out.
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For what it’s worth, I don’t call having to look over your shoulder for the rest of your life living “in comfort,” no matter how much money may be involved.
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It depends on your definition of “effective”.
At the big stuff Trump is pretty useless, I suspect a President Pence would have gotten through both an ACA repeal and a tax bill (though less atrocious versions of both) because he would be focused and have a clear objective and strategy in mind. Trump is too ignorant and wishy-washy to be effective when he has to lead congress so things just devolve into a gong show.
But on the administrative side, ie the EPA and FCC, the only oversight is enforced by the President, and since he doesn’t care it’s a free-for-all. Pence would take that part of his job seriously, we’d still hate Pence’s EPA, but at least they’d still be attempting to protect the environment. Trump is “effective” in the sense his agencies are acting without constraint.
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“Snuff out the candle of his first year?” What? Isn’t a candle a symbol of hope?
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