Mitch McConnell shares a proposed plan for a second impeachment trial

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/09/mitch-mcconnell-shares-a-proposed-plan-for-a-second-impeachment-trial.html

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Edges cautiously towards tripwire, lifts lid…

Nah, it’s just a barrel of cunts.

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Dropping Macao Mitch into a latrine would contaminate the groundwater. But I digress. House of Reps should proceed with immediate impeachment (indictment) hearings as that would preclude the failed coup leader (he screwed the putsch!) from pardoning himself for federal crimes he’s committed, right?

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I’d be happy for the government to stop funding Trump personally. I can’t imagine the bill he will charge the Secret Service to protect him at his golf course for the rest of his life.

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And also because you can bar him from running for President, or holding any other federal office, ever again.

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Far more relevantly, an impeached president can be disqualified from being reëlected by a simple majority of the Senate, which would be (a) the main attraction for Republicans and (b) a fucking relief.

ETA oh no, @SheiffFatman beat me to it /flings self into volcano

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I can’t think of a bigger gift to the GOP than to impeach Trump and ban him from running in 2024. The specter of Trump running again was always going to cloud the next four years, but after the events of last week, it’s utterly debilitating to the party. Banning him from holding office again doesn’t end Trump’s sway over the party, but it makes it possible for others to build a campaign toward 2024, even if that means fighting with Trump Jr or Hawley or whatever the biggest Trump bootlicker happens to be…

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The idea of him receiving government protection after inciting a mob to attack the government is just fundamentally absurd. Of course too little too late, but kicking him in the ass on the way out seems at least somewhat more appropriate than shaking his hand and wishing him well even if it’s more of a statement than a practical matter.

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Also absurd: the idea of the government paying multi-millions of dollars for this “billionaire’s” post-election career. Plus, he’ll undoubtedly abuse the privilege by making his escort buy rooms/amenities at Trump-owned properties.

He ostentatiously took a $1 salary as President; he should do the same regarding any escort, and assume all costs himself.

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Ironically for McConnell, as Trump undoubtedly rises to defend himself, this will tear an even greater rift between the party that never really wanted Trump in the first place and what is obviously a massive MAGA cult/faction within it.

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Prior to the Trumpsurrection, I might have agreed with you. Now, the GOP is so fractured that any pols who continue to support 45 will be shunned by the actual conservatives, while those who have subsequently “turned” on him will be attacked madly by 45’s cult.

I see his impeachment and prosecution as imperative to return to “normal operation” of the country, not to mention a strong message to the Cruzes and Hawleys that this shit will NOT stand.

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I wish I could upvote this to stratosphere!

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Yeah. His Star is setting. A few months out - the other pols won’t want him pissing in their punch bowls. They’ll be undermining him every time they get- and start whisper campaigns about how great granddad’s head has gone all spongiform from those Trump steaks being riddled with prions.

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In a few months, let’s hope Trump is rotting in a New York State or Manhattan jail cell.

God, his mug shot without the combover and orange face paint is going to be QUITE a treat!

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He’s unlikely to be able to pardon himself (almost no one thinks it would withstand legal scrutiny), but he needs to be impeached before he pardons his co-conspirators and family members, and does something else that’s horrible.

One nice thing about being impeached - he would no longer get secret service protection (nor a pension). He’s already spent public funds equivalent to 379 years worth of presidential salary by going to his golf clubs, enough is (more than) enough. I shudder to think of what his secret service protection staying at his golf clubs for the rest of his life would cost taxpayers.

Previously I’d seen some discussion of how his big PACs could be spent pretty much however he wanted (i.e. on himself, his family), but if he declared himself a candidate, he’d have restrictions put on the use of that money. So he would be better off always hinting he would run again, while never doing so. But now I’m wondering what being impeached would do to that PAC money - after all, he’d never be able to run again.

Yep, this. Whatever else the consequences are, it’s worth it just for this. Even if it did somehow strengthen the Republican party, it would still be a necessary step just to protect our democracy. (Not enough, but a necessary step nonetheless.)

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Impeachment is indictment. The Senate must still try and convict him before he loses post-presidency perks.

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An impeachment is an indictment; pounding that stake i the ground ASAP also makes any self-pardon more problematical.

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I mean - if they got it done, the fact he wouldn’t be living on the governments dime the rest of his miserable life would be great. No secret service detail?

I say do it. I’m ok with day of the inauguration for the impeachment if that’s the goal. (eta some detail)

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AFAIK the Senate must convict him (2/3 vote) on the charges in the articles of impeachment, and then decide on penalties (majority vote). If he’s not tried, convicted, and punished by the Senate, USAnians still keep paying his bills. Of course, SS protection while he’s jailed on state and federal charges might not cost much.

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