per crime
Impeach now for obstruction. Keep digging on the financial crimes. If there’s something there (likely), then impeach again. My point is that we can’t wait forever. President Biff is warming up to ignore the 22nd Amendment and suspend elections. The clock is ticking.
I would too if – after two years of intensive, honest labor – certain people wrongly interpreted (either by stupidity or intent) my and my department’s work. Truths before swine.
Agree to disagree. I know Pelosi’s a saint to many, but all I see is another Clintonite Triangulating Neolib. Also, as has been pointed out, the cops don’t close murder cases just because prosecuting them would be unpopular; they do it because it’s right, as opposed to wrong. Pelosi’s ‘political calculus’ looks weak and gives free rein to the Trump admin. And I for one intend to hold her accountable.
If they can drag it out to right before convention season for maximum embarrassment to the GOP, fine. I think they can. But they have to start this autumn, and Pelosi has to signal that intent now instead of playing coy. She loses nothing by saying right now “we are going to review what Mueller gave us and what the state AGs give us over the summer, and plan on beginning impeachment proceedings in September.”
You’re right. So, let me apologize for my error-in-haste and instead, let’s note that a) The Senate privileges acerage over people, b) Citizen’s United has helped Republicans and c) Voter suppression helps Republicans, too. So no, not formally Gerrymandered, but f**ked-up nonetheless.
she’s not closing anything. she’s keeping it open it seems to me. she’s just not finishing it quickly. I mean no they haven’t technically even started impeachment proceedings, but they are doing investigations and digging for evidence in documents. Both regarding russia and other financial crimes.
Every day she fails to do something since the release of the Muller report has been dereliction of duty – period, full stop. And opening impeachment would give any and all investigations much more subpoena power and more public notice.
You all think Nancy P’s just bidding her time, but she’s wasting it. Because the longer she goes without impeaching, the weaker she and the case for it look.
Put another way: they are afraid of Trumpism.
Destroy Trump and you destroy Trumpism.
From that perspective, Pelosi’s hesitance makes sense. She has to convince a handful of Republicans that Trumpism is both toxic and can be destroyed.
But she does.
You don’t tell your opposition your strategy.
It’s unfortunate there’s no way to tell “us”, who would never share the information with someone who shouldn’t have it, what the plan is. But, there just isn’t.
That’s the risk, and it is a big one. That working a strategic plan to avoid handing an easy victory to Trump in 2020 campaigning on “Totally Cleared” looks the same as “doing nothing”, which will also hand a victory to him.
The only thing we have to go on is if investigations continue to occur and evidence of many different issues continue to come to light until it’s a mountain so big as to overcome what the partisan politics of the Senate have become.
It’ll help if they figure out how to enforce subpoenas, otherwise, all probably is lost.
In contrast, Senators can and should be as vocal as possible. They’re in a different game than the house, where being vocal can have an impact on changing the broken Senate. Even more for Senators that are running for President.
You can if it’s obvious to everyone that’s the only course open to you besides total inaction. I doubt anyone believes she’s going to toss the report in the bin and move on with business as normal, and no-one will be surprised when the House does take action. What she doesn’t have to go into are the details and the exact timing.
Right now Pelosi’s perceived in the same way Corbyn is in regard to a second Brexit referendum: wishy-washy, operating under outmoded assumptions. And like Corbyn she has popular members of her own caucus pretty much saying that out loud.
I agree, they should be doing all those things. I just think Pelosi wants more evidence that the Senate blockade can be broken before wasting her one shot at it. Full speed ahead on investigations, and publicity, and campaigning. As soon as there is a path through, then she should pull the trigger.
She has to proceed on the assumption that it won’t be broken, and that if it somehow is it’s a bonus. Either way, the point is to show how corrupt and enthralled to a crooked grifter the majority of Senate Republicans are.
Which is a bad sign. Since they should be in on the plan, and able to hear it without issue.
They definitely should have a plan to investigate more, and create a huge incontrovertible pile of evidence. Starting with the Mueller report and piling on all the likely financial issues.
It’s always the financial issues that seems to bring them down when everything else fails.
Right now, they haven’t even figured out how to enforce a subpoena. I’m not sure starting impeachment hearings before they figure that out has much hope.
Just so we’re clear, your preferred outcome was for Mueller to go against the law and the Constitution, rather than to do things by the book and lay out exactly what Congress needs to do to do their job? Seems to me that as the nonpartisan Special Investigator he…er… investigated.
Especially in regard to her role as a leader. Leaders who don’t lead quickly lose the confidence of their teams and impact morale generally.
This is how they could drag it out. They’ll take the summer to work out charges based on the Mueller report, and then do additional work as the financial stuff comes in from the state AG investigations.
They know how to enforce a subpoena – the mechanisms and means are available and well known. They seem scared to do it because it will upset “normality” and “comity”.
It is a tougher sell on Fox News if nobody actually said anything. It will not stop them trying, but it probably will rile up voters less if they never say it.
Fox News is going to spin not saying anything however it suits them. Their audience aren’t the people that count the media/perception game I’m discussing.
I’m sure that this is unused artwork for a Smith’s album; maybe an alternate cover for, “The World Won’t Listen”?
Not at all. My preferred outcome was for Mueller to express clearly in succinct words that he would have prosecuted trump if he was not the president, but in this case he differs to Congress to Impeach the president for the crimes outlined in the report.
But he does not have the courage to say any of these things clearly, and saying so clearly would not compromise any of his neutrality. But it would have eliminated the vagueness which Barr and Trump have rushed into making false claims.
He believes he is acting in a non-partisan way, but he is not - he is setting the stage for extreme partisanship by trump and barr. If he was brave enough to accept that he was already in a political position, and closed the door on any misinterpretation we would not be where we are today. He was being naive about “doing things by the book”, when playing with people who game the book at every turn.
He’s fucked it up, but good.
I think there’s a huge difference between “not having the courage to say things” and “saying exactly those things but in coded political language aimed directly at Pelosi and Congress and the people who will take the next step”.
You’re very unfairly coloring him as a coward and a fuckup but the truth is that you’re not giving him enough credit. You assume that speaking the language of politics is equal to not doing his job, running away in fear, and not having courage. Come on, be smarter than that.
