Is up to McConnell, the Real President.
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No, I apologize for being defeatist. You’re right.
It’s just that I don’t see any way out of this mess until the next election cycle because there are too many disingenuous senators, judges, and officials. And too many people in this country are just fine with it because 'libs.
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I think you’re right in your original position in that the Senate almost certainly will not convict under any conceivable circumstances. But, I think impeachment is absolutely the right thing to do both politically and for the future of the country because if* the Democrats do it right and use it as an opportunity to lay out Trump’s misdeeds AND the GOP’s abetting.
If the Democrats go in telling the public that they understand there’s no way the GOP will ever hold Trump responsible for his misdeeds but the evidence needs to be presented anyway, they can turn the eventual acquittal into a political tool. At least, maybe?
*and we’re all agreed that this is a whopper of an if
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My big take-aways:
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Not one whistle blower, but 6+ people complained about Trumps behavior
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Not just a phone call - sacking of Ambassador linked to efforts to create fake investigation of Biden
What will it take for GOPistan to throw trump under the bus
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You’re 100% right that Mitch McConnell will prevent this from reaching the Senate floor and is the gatekeeper of anything positive happening in the country, for the moment.
That said, I also think that a whole lot of Republican senators and officials have essentially been kissing the Godfather’s ring with Trump and parroting what daddy says. If Trump loses steam, one way or another, I think there’s a good chance they’ll pile on the f-you train. Republicans are tribalists, but not known for loyalty.
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I don’t get the OP’s snarky comment about the PDF being comprised of JPEGs. The original whistleblower letter was presumably a hard copy. If you’re going to distribute this, you have to scan it … and that’s going to result in images.
Adam Schiff was on fire this morning. I was listening to the testimony of the Acting DNI, who started out with a pretty strong statement of why he withheld the whistleblower complaint from Congress, and Schiff maneuvered him perfectly. First, he got him to say that, regarding whether the report was credible, that “It’s not my position to judge.” Then, he got him to say that he used his judgement to withhold the report because it didn’t meet the definition of “urgent” in the statute.
Schiff also got him to say that he withheld the report due to executive privilege, and then that EP was never formally claimed by the White House.
This guy’s either going to flip on President Biff or see jail time.
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…and Trump was seeking the “uncovering” of the 2016 election Russian interference as actually Ukrainian interference, thus absolving Putin’s Russia.
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Yes. Also this:
Once Biff gets obsessed with an idea, he can’t let it go no matter how much evidence is presented that it’s bogus.
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Its amazing because he does not give a shit about the implications of catering to Putin - he just wants to make money in Russia - piddly sums by comparison to how much damage and suffering he causes. He’s a dangerous grifter - he needs to go.
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What I’m waiting for is a “tighty whitey” jail cell photo. Can you shop one of those Saddam Hussein photos?
It’s pretty clear this should be at the fore front, given the god cock shit balls of this whistleblower file.
But tying in some of the other stuff establishes a pattern of behavior. This is literally the thing he was accused of doing the last go round. And Trump himself explicitly tied the two together in plain language. Plain language that he himself released.
Right. If circumstances change they’ll line up to protect themselves and their party instead of Trump. A lot of reason they’re protecting Trump is because that’s been the best way to protect themselves and the party. The two things are synonymous.
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I think the panic is setting in.
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This is HIGHLY unlikely to happen, even if it were firmly established that this was full blown election interference or extortion of a foreign leader for political gain. That is just not how this man operates. He would never leave office voluntarily. Nixon did because, despite everything else, the man still had a sense of duty and patriotism to his country, as well as some sense of shame. Trump has none of those.
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To me, this basically comes down to two things.
- Can the investigation present something that’s clearly wrong and corrupt with no ability for it to be spun, talking pointed, requires no nuance, is simple, has a catchy tag line.
- Are the Democrats able to use the first item as stick to beat on opponents at every instance with no rebuttal possible.
There’s clearly all kinds of wrong going on. But, none of it seems to penetrate the distortion field around Trump supporters, or they don’t really care. There has to be something catchy and easy to explain.
Something every political debate, interview, ad can ask “Do you support X?”. Where there’s no nuance possible either you with Trump and support it or you don’t. And then they have to use it.
I agree that it’s a big “if” that they’ll be able to do this. People hear what they want to hear. 
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I imagine Nixon also have left office to get a pardon from Ford, a pardon that wouldn’t be on the table after a losing election. I don’t know that an analogous situation will arise with Trump, but it could become the case that Trump’s best hope for the future is to resign, claim victory anyway, and start TrumpTV.
It’s not that I think Trump will resign, but I think it’s at least possibly because there is more than one way to resign. You can resign in disgrace with your head hung low, or you can go out with a bang, like the cliche working-class employee who tells their boss off on the way out the door.
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Also a 25th amendment line, as it’s premised on his having confused a debunked conspiracy theory with reality. All those conspiracy theories Trump was re-tweeting? Turns out he probably does believe them.
Although there’s an argument to be made for putting it all out there - it would force Republicans to be explicitly okay with every single impeachable thing he’s done.
Even the president himself is making that argument - he told reporters they should look at Pence’s calls to Zelensky, which were also “perfect.”
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i don’t get this part…i get the part about getting dirt on Biden. But was president trump:
a) “thinking” I need to blame Ukraine for all that election interference because i am tied to Russia interference, therefore if Russia didn’t do it, I am innocent.
b) acting on behalf of Putin who is fighting a war with Ukraine, and Putin told him to
c) a little of both
d) something else?
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GOOD!
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listening to the hearing today it’s becoming more and more clear. Democrats want someone with a job in law enforcement or justice to render a judgement for them. But at the end of the day, the president really does have almost unlimited power legally - except that the only check is the political one: impeachment. That this is going to take democrats in the House of Representatives talking a stand and making a decision on their own. Because it it legally, only their judgement to make. no one can make it for them. It’s Not a crime if the president does it, but it can still be impeachable if the president does it.
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