On this matter, I agree. She is an inscrutable political genius playing a very complicated game of (ahem) 3D chess. She’s been making sure that all of the pieces are in place, and that this stuff has been seen, been digested by, and caused outrage in enough of the public before she strikes.
You can think of Mueller as a bishop on the board, perhaps.
Sounds familiar
I enjoyed the novel legal principle Trump trotted out:
-Mueller said you can’t indict a sitting president.
-Because the justice system presumes Innocent until proven Guilty…
-Therefore I am innocent of any crimes.
-Total exoneration!
StAbLe GeNiUs
It’s not entirely novel, Nixon made a similar legal claim in 1977:
Q: So what in a sense you’re saying is that there are certain situations…where the president can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.
NIXON: Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.
Q: By definition.
NIXON: Exactly, exactly.
Im certain Nancy believes she is a People politician, but right now it looks like she would rather take a settlement (her continued leadership) than challenge the 1% strong arm.
Its not that she doesnt care, but how much is she willing to sacrifice. So far she hasn’t shown any determination other than useless commenting.
I think Pelosi is playing a longer game. She knows that if they impeach now, the Senate will certainly acquit him, and then that road is done, with no more options.
On the other hand, she can wait until either enough republicans break ranks (not likely), or the Democrats win control of the Senate in the next election (very possible). If the Dems take control, then they can impeach and oust Trump—assuming he wins re-election. If he doesn’t win, then he is out anyway, and may be subject to criminal indictment. (If the Dems don’t take control then the situation remains as it is now: removal being impossible.)
So while immediate impeachment may feel good, it blows any chance of justice. If she waits, there is a chance of holding him accountable.
That’s not playing a game. The options you described are a roll of the dice for events that will happen even if Nancy continues to sit on her hands.
Waiting until after the 2020 general election makes no sense. Taking the summer to develop strategy is fine (assuming the Dem leadership is capable of doing this), but Pelosi has to get impeachment proceedings rolling after Labour Day with a wrap-up in the House either right before Thanksgiving or right after the first week of January. This should be the fall’s number 1 domestic political news story.
After that, spend most of 2020 hammering at the corruption of McConnell and the GOP Senators as they refuse to take action on a solid impeachment, and also continuing to highlight Il Douche’s own brazen corruption. If you want Dolt-45 to lose in 2020 and the Dems to pick up Senate seats, that’s the way to do it.
Pelosi and other members of the Dem establishment don’t yet seem to realise what everyone else does:
He isn’t cowardly. He is a professional. He’s also wading in a sea of knives.
If he starts emotional outbursts then he would have been canned immediately like the two people on his team who were texting how much they hated trump.
P.S: as a private citizen he can now be called upon to testify in trials regarding his opinions onbthe matter.
This isn’t about justice or even politics anymore. This is about American democracy, on life support. You’re basically saying, “let’s pull the plug and see if the patient lives.”
We already had this election, in 2018. The voice of the people was loud and clear. They said, “Impeach the motherf*(&%$er.”
Trump is fucked. He’s either getting impeached or voted out. I’m hoping he gets impeached, but not kicked out until voted out so Pence can’t pardon him. I wanna see him in an orange jumpsuit with no republican president available to pardon him.
Though, I think most of that would go much as today’s statement. Odds are good Mueller wouldn’t even answer in the affirmative a question along the lines of, “If you were a prosecutor investigating a private citizen for these offenses, would you charge them with a crime?”
The real gold in Mueller testifying before Congress would be 1. explorations of the redacted sections of the report (“Are there any sections or details of the report that you would not have redacted?”) and 2. nailing Barr for lying to Congress about whether he had discussed the “Summary” with Mueller. (Narrator: He did.)
No, it is not. As both a Justice Department employee and Special Counsel, his job was strictly apolitical; to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation”. Mueller has behaved excruciatingly non-partisan in fact. Like James Comey, Mueller is an old-school ‘by-the-book’ character, which may appear quaint in these hyper-partisan times, but there it is.
You can’t have it both ways. He very clearly outlined the reasons his office had for coming (or not) to the conclusions they did. Take issue with that by all means but make up your mind. He is not to blame for America’s broken political system, Democratic inaction, or Republican obstructionism and corruption.
I liked your comment because I wish for much the same thing. However, I don’t see a scenario where that plays out quite like you say.
The orange jumpsuit is feasible, but not through impeachment in the House & conviction in the Senate. Just through the normal judicial process once he’s a private citizen again.
Yes, Brave men wade is sea’s of knives, and make definitive statements like:
“If I were a prosecutor investigating anyone but the president for these offenses, I would indeed charge them with a crime.”
No, I’m saying there is only one shot at impeachment. If they fire it now, it is wasted. Nothing will happen, because Trump has the Senate locked up, and the option will be spent. This is a virtual certainty.
For impeachment to have a chance, it is better to work our asses off to get rid of that Senate shield. The last election did not break the Senate shield; the next one might.
Pelosi just said a few minutes ago that she wants to take actions that have consequences, and are not just ceremonial.
I think she is playing this game with the dates. But, I don’t think it’s this timeline, done in the House by January, is what she’s shooting for.
We know the Senate’s basic plan today is to go as short and sweet as possible. Deny as much debate as possible and close it.
If we waived a magic wand and the house voted to impeach today. Then, a month from now (or less) the Senate would be done and cleared. We’ll get a year of “Totally Cleared” advertising.
The only ways to avoid that are to either drag it out so long that there is no possible way for the Senate to complete even the shortest possible duration prior to the election. Or, to drag it out so long that there’s so much discovered to sway enough public opinion to convert more republican senators. Possibly doing both things, since they both require dragging out.
That leaves dragging it out with investigations before starting formal proceedings, dragging out formal proceedings, or both. The risk is that dragging it out can look like inaction and how to show progress and additional information swaying opinion at the same time.
It’s a tight rope to walk.
One already has. That only leaves 3 to convict trump. Remember, their big fear for opposing trump is that trump will rally his minions and defeat them in the primary. Get rid of trump, and they can avoid that trap. The have 50 Senators to lean on. Surely they can find 3 more willing to stab trumpty dumpty in the back.
thats what i mean. he’s forced out of office and tried as a normal citizen criminal
