The House Judiciary Committee didn’t vote to send the Nixon articles of impeachment to the full House until there was live audio tape of him saying the CIA director should tell tell the FBI director to stop the investigation into the Watergate break-in on the grounds that it was a national security matter. After that, the Republican committee members who were on the fence voted in favor of impeachment.
Trump has publicly admitted to the same level of obstruction – most notably when he candidly said he fired Comey because Comey wouldn’t end the Russia investigation – and we’ve seen next to nothing out of the Republicans.
I’d not even be sure that live tape of Trump on the phone with Putin, saying something like, “Thank you for all your assistance in spreading lies on social media and leaking stolen documents to Wikileaks. It was very helpful to my campaign, and as we previously agreed when we made this arrangement during 2016, we will begin to implement policies favorable to Russia in exchange for your interference in the election, which was to get me elected” would get the Republicans to move. Maybe one or two. But as long as Trump’s is the only living human hand that can wrench entitlement money from The Poors, as Paul Ryan has long salivated about doing, the fleecing of the American people will continue unabated.
I think that’s a fair point. Expecting a sudden short term reversal is wishful thinking.
But the third side of that coin is just how narrow his win was in the first place. Guy basically failed his way to a win. And it was as much (if not more so) some one elses failure as it was his victory. He doesn’t have the broad support of a majority of Americans from the start. And the circumstances that lead to his election aren’t set in stone and haven’t just been stagnant. While that could go either way. They haven’t exactly been successful at advancing their end of things. Most of their sinister plots have been pretty damn keystone cops.
I don’t think you can say he almost certainly gets re-elected. Neither do I think you can say he almost certainly doesn’t. And even going with “more than likely” in either case is pushing it too far. Too many variables right now. To many potentially major things that could significantly change the playing field.
One scenario I haven’t seen mentioned is the Secret Service walking off the job. It sounds crazy but I wouldn’t be shocked if they said they won’t guard a criminal and demanded his resignation.
And it’s a terrible reason to can an executive. We shouldn’t be condoning kink shaming even if it feels good to take the shot at such an excerable person
Hopefully in 2020, for those who previously voted for Trump, he will be remembered as that vile fart that nobody in the room could escape from. They promise themselves to never do that again.
How the hell do you figure that? He has, at best 40% approval rating. And Dems are pissed and we will continue to stay pissed through 2018 and into 2020. We will not let up and we will show up in huge numbers in the coming elections.
This.
Anecdote: I recently talked to our SF Bay Area county #1 ADA, who despised Trump, as all right-thinking folk do. He told me that most of the Sheriff’s deputies were Trump supporters.
The Republicans have swallowed a poison pill. They’re trying to maintain their composure rather than puke all over themselves, but Trump isn’t making it easy for them. This isn’t just garden variety corruption and incompetence they’re having to assimilate; it’s conspicuous mental instability that refuses to be contained, and which has, in fact, only become more volatile as he’s fired his advisers. To assert that he’ll never be removed from office is to suppose that he’s not capable of anything so egregious that Republicans decide they can’t be sick any longer.
And it might be better that they just hold tight while their organs fail. Let the damage be total so that right uses up its political pendulum swing in just 4 (horrible) years.
I hate what’s happening, but I think that it’s cause for optimism. This bit by Slavoj Zizek sums it up for me:
Seconded. It’s bad enough knowing Trump’s Presidency is going to be a permanent chapter in the history of our country, I sure as hell don’t want to see that asshole get a monument on the National Mall.
Look, I have been a registered Democrat for thirty years. I have contributed to and worked on campaigns for most of them. And I have been more disappointed and angry every time as they have worked tirelessly to become the Republicans of an election cycle or two back.
It has lost them their base. It has lost them the White House, the House, the Senate, the Courts, the State Legislatures, the Governorships, the Working Class and more. Hell they even lost to Donald Trump. Starting with Bill Clinton they became dedicated to the deindustrialization of the United States. They are barely a Party anymore and have forgotten how to lead and inspire.
And they never, EVER admit it. They have never corrected course. They just double down on their mistakes and screech at the voters for not being enthusiastic enough.
That is a Party committing suicide, and it has broken my heart.
alternately, if you look at the D policy agenda over those 30 years… maybe it’s every bit as much the party of the working class as are the Republicans?
Friend, we were bamboozled.
The major US parties are the ones that either A) punch down and cheer or B) punch down and validate the pain it causes. Huge difference. Punching up is not one of the options we’ve had in our lifetimes, in -reality-.
