I completely agree with Bill Maher last night.

[Atman]

Our Constitution is set up to deal with people who respect the rule of law. Donald Trump has zero respect for the rule of law, it is beneath him. So if Mueller subpoenas him he’ll just say “no.” Then, even if the GOP-led SCOTUS rules against him, he’ll just say “so what?” and refuse to comply. Then what? Does anyone really believe we’d sent police into the White House to arrest him?

We are in uncharted territory.

[Glamrock]

1. I do. Eventually.

But there would be shit tons of ugliness for probably two weeks. I don't think it would get that far. I don't think even the current GOP would stand for that. I think they'd impeach his ass first.

[PatSeg]

54. I am prepared for the unexpected

as each day seems to bring news I'd never thought I'd hear. Also, I remember Watergate and so much was beyond my wildest imagination. There were the unanticipated heroes, not to mention an autocratic leader, who thought it was a good idea to tape all his Oval Office interactions! A leader who documented for us what an ugly, hateful man he truly was, often the downfall of an over inflated ego. They can never get enough of themselves.

[manor321]

2. Republican voters

The fundamental problem is Republican voters, who are fascists. That's why Trump thinks he can win these battles.

I don't think he can, but that's what gives them hope.

[randr]

5. They are not the problem

People who don't vote are the problem

[PJMcK]

11. Voting should be required, like paying taxes

Everyone must submit a paper ballot for every election. A citizen can choose to make no choices but they must submit a ballot.

Think that would work?

On the other hand, I'm not sure you're correct about non-voters being the problem. I recall reading a report (I can't find it right now) that found that the voting split, say between Clinton and Trump, would be about the same if non-voters exercised their part in the franchise

Who knows? It would be nice if a majority of the non-voters showed up and voted Democratic!

[maddiemom]

37. But when you have several million people who DID vote...

and whose votes didn't count...

[randr]

51. We can't really prove votes don't count

We can prove not voting doesn't count however

[maddiemom]

57. See Bush V Gore. Then see 2016 presidential election/California. See also Electoral College.

I' m not sure what you mean by NOT voting DOESN'T count, however. (Do you mean if you don't vote, there's no vote to count?)

[RestoreAmerica2020]

71. That's right! 90M eligible voters DID NOT in 2016 presidential election

(Naomi Klien, pbs/tavis smiley.) Breakdown was not given as to political affiliation.

Then, there's the issue of purged voters ineligible in 2016 election and presently. If not resolved by individual voter by simply reregistering, then possible democratic votes will be lost for 2018 midterm election. For example approx 300K Floridian voters were purged from registry. [Nov 23, 2016 · GREG PALAST: GOP Wrongly Purged More Than 1 Million ... About six million votes didn't count.]

Our focus should be: registering ONLY new democratic voters--let GOP work to get their own voters registered; assist a friend, neighbor to reregister if needed, or drive polling sites; and, volunteer at campaign headquarters. Well, anyway that's my goal for 2018 midterm. Vote GOTV!

[randr]

3. The loud mouth brat at the back of the class has taken over

We are expecting the Principal to show up and take control but there is no Principal.
We need to display the same strength the kids are displaying in schools today. They are figuratively on the front lines of a war.
We the people, the majority of the class, need to stand up and confront the brat in the back.
It is as easy as voting.

[masmdu]

6. PrinciPAL

[randr]

7. thanx

[Martin Eden]

4. Uncharted Territory

I make no predictions.

I'm still trying to warp my mind around a vile con man utterly unfit mentally and morally becoming president.

[smirkymonkey]

8. I saw that too and I must say it chilled me to the bone.

There MUST be a way to get rid of him. He is a cancer upon this nation that is most virulent. We can't afford to have him around for a full first term, let alone a second one. At this point, I am placing my faith in KFC and McDonalds.

[Hortensis]

9. Most is highly charted. Trump can be tried in the senate and

removed from office, and removed from the White House bodily if necessary, and have absolutely nothing to say about those processes. And before that Trump could be impeached by the house without ever being interviewed or complying with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury. After all, subjects and criminals often refuse to comply.

Once Trump was removed from office, he'd have to apply to his congressman for a pass to tour the White House public areas. But it's very possible he'd be too busy dealing with the legal shambles that awaits him as a private citizen to have time for that.

Where it gets a little uncharted legally, of course, is before that, if he interfered with the special investigation so that it was not able to present a final report to congress. And the issue of whether it's possible to bypass the impeachment process and indict a sitting president (presuming an actionable crime compelled this drastic, never-before-taken action). Then off to the Supreme Court to fill in those blank spots.

SCOTUS could theoretically rule to the effect that the president was above the law, not answerable to the people, but what would that do to the balance of power, including not just congress's but SCOTUS's own ability to check a renegade president?

[TNNurse]

10. Please do not lessen the blame of this Congress. They could do something.

To me that is as bad as his election. They have sold their souls for money and status.

[kentuck]

12. Obviously, we are not a nation of laws.

Anymore.

[unitedwethrive]

13. Exactly. If this was Watergate, he would have already destroyed the tapes

Leaving the allegations unprovable.

[DemoHack]

14. The Senate would never convict him.

Not even with a November Blue Wave where every Senate Democrat wins, and we still also pick-up AZ, NV, and TN.

They (Senate Republicans) are all spineless. Maybe not Flake, but he's retiring, so what? Collins is a coward.

The only, ONLY, way to get rid of Trump is to vote him out in 2020. Until then we can win Congress this year, and attempt to neuter him politically.

[DownriverDem]

17. Maybe not

but if the Dems win big, they will be able to slow/stop the trump/repub agenda.

[onlyadream]

23. I think this is the most realistic outcome

We take the house and reclaim many seats in the Senate, making Trump ineffective. He’ll most likely ride it out to 2020, unfortunately. My hopes of impeachment are dashed.

[DemoHack]

36. I still think impeachment is possible.

But the 2/3 of the Senate, 67 votes, isn't there to convict the impeachment and remove him. He'd have to dip in approval ratings even below the 35%-ish that thinks he can do no wrong.

[onlyadream]

61. Impeachment yes, like Clinton.

But I don’t see it going any further than that.

I wish his health would fail, it’s crazy that he’s somewhat healthy for a guy with his diet and lack of exercise.

[DemoHack]

62. 2020 - the last line of defense!

If his health doesn't fail, or he doesn't get sent to prison, or he doesn't resign because he can't bang hookers as frequently as he'd like...

Then we must beat him in 2020. Must.
...Must.

[Pluvious]

70. There's still cholesterol :)

Havanother Double Cheese Big Mac mr President ?

[Nasruddin]

53. Ineffective?

He's almost completely ineffective now, with a full Republican government. He can't lead a line at the grocery store.

With a D majority insufficient to impeach, you can't rein in his corrupt cabinet (same problem).
If he's coherent enough to do so, Mr Trump can blame every bit of inaction in government on the Democratic congress,
while sitting back and preventing any action by vetoing everything. The press will go along with it and suddenly become his friend.

The Democrats in congress will face really difficult choices. I see the chaos level going way up.

[onlyadream]

60. With foreign affairs he has a lot of power. Nt

[DemoHack]

67. He's not ineffective.

See: Betsy DeVos, Scott Pruitt, Paul Ryan, House Freedom Caucus, the Trillion Dollar Tax Cut, rollbacks on Obamacare...

He's been very effective, but not in a good way.

[William Seger]

20. Yes, they would, if they start fearing the majority more than Trump's base

What we have right now is not real loyalty to the turd; it's self-interested fear of the Deplorables. If it becomes clear that they will be outnumbered at the polls because Trump did something most Americans won't accept, many Republicans will suddenly develop a conscience.

[DemoHack]

38. But we haven't seen any signs of that.

Think of all the awful bullshit he's said and done in just one year, and 35% (to about 43%) still believes he's the Bloated Orange Godking.

[William Seger]

42. Not yet, but I'm talking about the scenario in the OP

I refuse to believe the majority of Americans would accept that, and I refuse to believe that most Republicans in Congress have anything resembling real loyalty to Trump if they become convinced their own position is on the line.

[Nasruddin]

47. Vote him out

"The only, ONLY, way to get rid of Trump is to vote him out in 2020."
He's a psychopath - he'd just call the election results fake and refuse to move.
If the dementia hasn't completely overcome him by then, he'll go out and stir
up his diehards into action - if he doesn't do that well before the election.

He probably is desperate. Once he leaves office, with all the attention that's
been focused on his decades of shady activities, he's going to prison in several
jurisdictions. And that may not be all he has to worry about once out of office.

[DemoHack]

66. I don't disagree, but in that instance...

He would lose the American people. Enough people that he could pout at Mar-a-Lago the rest of his wretched life, but he would have to leave. Maybe he'd get a new show at Fox!

[Codeine]

63. Indeed.

Everything else is fantasy.

[DownriverDem]

15. From what we've seen it's all about him

trump disgusts me 24/7. I have nothing but anger towards those who voted for him. trump threatened to pull humanitarian funding to the countries if they voted for the UN resolution criticizing moving the capitol to Jerusalem. We all know he hates the head of Amazon. So what does he do? He pressured the post office general to raise the mailing rates for Amazon and others. What trump is doing in our name is disgusting. To those purists who thought "trump won't be so bad" thanks a lot for destroying us, not to mention possibly the world.

[William Seger]

16. Impeachment first, then send in the police -- 24 hours, tops

[DownriverDem]

19. How it works

1) The House is the body that holds impeachment hearings & votes up or down to impeach trump.

2) Then it goes to the Senate who votes up or down to try trump. (The Senate voted to not try Bill Clinton.)

It's not as easy as you make it sound.

[William Seger]

24. Theoretical, yes, but Congress can move as fast or as slow as they want

Any Republicans who see Trump putting their own political future in jeopardy will turn on him in a heartbeat.

[certainot]

18. he's insane but his only advantage is the left/dems complete

lack of offense on RW radio

that's really all he's ever had, a medium that may be fed and certainly has been piggybacked by the russians, which is completely ignored by liberals.

the 'pundits' are all sitting around strategizing as if a chorus of 1500 radio stations attacking muellerr and rosenstein all day for a year doesn't matter.

limbaugh feels so ignored he had to point out that it was his lying about moles and spies for an hour monday that really got that going by the end of the week - a regular pattern for 30 years. limbaugh is the guy who starts it all for the cons and whether it takes a few days of repetition or months, the left's ignorance of talk radio is still the biggest political mistake in history.

[DownriverDem]

21. Question

No one on the left is ignoring just how much the RWNJs control the media. However the rich have bought up all the radio stations except for a few. I stream WCPT Chicago Progressive Talk radio to save my sanity. What exactly do you think the left/Dems can do about it right now?

[onlyadream]

25. Too bad some wealthy Dems can't play by the same book.

Buy up all the AM stations. Or buy the commercial time on hate radio and counter the message.
Maybe Soros can’t stop paying people to protest, lol, and do this instead.

[oberliner]

27. MSNBC?

[onlyadream]

35. I'm not saying there's no one representing us

But we need more, especially on the radio to counter the BS.

[oberliner]

45. Agreed

But I do appreciate having the liberal voices on MSNBC.

Rachel Maddow, in particular.

[onlyadream]

58. Yes, Rachel is a treasure

While all the morning and day shows follow the daily crap, she’s sticking to the most important news about Russia.
AM Joy is another treasure.

[certainot]

41. talk radio is the only major medium with no direct challenge from the left

in TV. print, internet there are alts a click away but in 40 states with 80 senators there are no free easy alts to rw radio while working and driving.

and competing with a well established monopoly is like mom and pop vs wall mart.

talk radio is the difference and americans who want democracy are going to have to stop giving it a free speech free ride.

see comment below

[certainot]

44. they have a monopoly worth trillions in global warming denial, deregulation, war

tax breaks - they will keep it until liberals finally stop ignoring it.

see comment below on how to use AI to destroy rw radio

[Honeycombe8]

29. There are thousands of independent journalists in the country (& world)...

many are employed by RW corporations. But they are free to "report" and publish opinion articles w/o interference. There is a difference between political talk show hosts and real journalists. WaPo, NYT, CNN, & others report facts (who, what, when, where), and plenty of opinion pieces. This is precisely how we know what we know at this stage.

Progressive talk radio hasn't worked out, I think, because the lefties aren't into the shock hate radio, and that's the big draw for Limpballs and others. Progressive talk radio is calmer, more informative, more boring in comparison...and lefties just don't tend to listen much to talk radio, for some reason.

I think I would listen to a "left" radio show in the car, but we don't get any in my area. I do get NPR, which is at least neutral...but no political talk shows that I've hit on.

Lefties excel on tv, though. The talk shows have great ratings, and no one does political humor like lefties. Wingnuts just don't have a sense of humor. We've got it all over them. Colbert, Kimmel, Maher, Ellen, Daily Show, SNL, etc., are killing it.

[certainot]

49. a well protected monopoly shouldn't be considered part of the free speech spectrum

that's talk radio - 95% rw. and the 'market' approach to analyzing rw talk radio's dominance suggests 95% of americans who would listen to talk radio prefer the hate and ignorance and lies of limbaugh etc.

the only reason they dominate is because its a wall mart vs mom and pop monopoly. and there is a huge secondary and tertiary audience for that dominating buzz. the entire benghazi/emails issue was talk radio generated with fox doing visual cliff notes. without that unchallenged repetition from 1500 radio stations they can't magnify/amplify their billionaire interests into "public opinion".

it's not about competition, 30 years ago they put racist liars on every corner a nd stump in the country to scream your sister's a whore your brother's a thief and your ideas are treasonous all day long and the liberals and democrats ignored it.

it's about saying "fuck you" to the asshole on the corner instead of waiting for a billionaire to pay for a soapbox to put up in front of him

americans can do that by using artificial intelligence with a company like sonix.ai to digitize talk radio and make it clear to all rw radio advertisers that they can now be easily associated with the pro trump racism, hate, and lies

see comment below

[certainot]

40. digitize talk radio with AI and politicize advertising on it until the monopoly is broken

AI suddenly made it easier and cheaper to digitize what they're saying. i just got 4 hrs of limbaugh and a local blowhard transcribed in minutes at sonix.ai.

corrections are way down - it's very accurate. in that 4 hrs off the local limbaugh station the university of new mexico had 3 different ads on and the uni of cal had one two (touting diversity, science, etc), and along with a bunch of local and national advertisers they all sponsored, among other things, limbaugh explaining that global warming is a hoax, and if it wasn't it would be good for us. along with attacks on the parkland students. and the local asshole did called david hogg a punk to get his show going and didn't cut off a caller who basically explained guys like hogg will be shot.

so the transcripts can be searched for "dot" to find most of the ads and the companies' email addresses.

so all llocal and national advertisers can be found quickly without listening. all advertisers and ad agencies and universities and pro sports teams that advertise on rw trump radio need to know they can now be quickly and easily associated with the crap and lies and racism and bigotry.

we can politicize advertising on talk radio - that will democratize it

Artificial intelligence has recently made it much easier and cheaper to digitize hate radio.

[ancianita]

50. Very cool. Thanks.

[Honeycombe8]

22. I agree. Uncharted territory. Someone needs to save the country from this mobster. nt

[oberliner]

26. Who and how?

[Honeycombe8]

30. I'm pinning a lot of hope on the mid-terms. Politicians care about votes.

If that doesn't happen...God help us. I think we're looking at a repeat of Germany in the 1930s.

[oberliner]

31. The midterms are definitely looking promising

Here's to a Blue Wave!

[Honeycombe8]

33. I think so, too. Here in Louisana, we had local elections a month ago...Dems swept!

Any election that involved a Dem vs. Repub in various parishes, Dem won.

Any election that involved an Indie vs. Repub, the Indie won.

The only elections that I reviewed where the Repub won, it's because he was challenged by another Repub or ran unchallenged.

This is deep red territory full of Trumpers. This is a good sign. But it's local...and probably not many voted.

So we'll see. I have hope.

[floWteiuQ]

28. Here...

I tend to think if he refuses the supreme court, ReTHUGliCONs in senate will be forced to convict him after an impeachment in the house. They know full well when a Democrat gets back in there the precedent they set with Drumpf will backfire. Remember that though it has been weakened, the filibuster is still in play and both sides know what happens if you end it.

[Corgigal]

32. Take down his family

Every state they have done business in, get those investigations in. Show him the proof and what will happen in hours if he doesn't find a medical condition to step down. We will take everything the kids think they own. We will put them all in jail and throw away the key, states will be the prosecutors.

Now, does he care about himself kids and their empire?

[Honeycombe8]

34. Now this is an avenue of something I could see happening. The states could move on the family.

Good thinking. I see this as plausible.

[Duppers]

39. Federal Marshals

"USMS* is an agency of the United States executive branch reporting to the United States Attorney-General but serves as the enforcement arm of the United States federal courts to ensure the effective operation of the judiciary and integrity of the constitution.[4]

*United States Marshals Service

- Wiki

(A repost of mine.)

[azureblue]

43. I agree

Don has always believed and acted like he above the law. He will for sure, say, "so what? I am President and you can't touch me!" He will never respect the law. But the unethical GOP will do nothing. They will ignore Mueller's ruling and the facts and also say "so what."

Probably the only solution is to remove his presidential power, first. Or get enough people in Congress to impeach him. Even then, I expect him to refuse to leave, or listen to anyone - Don is a petty tyrant that will probably have to be frog marched out of the White House.

But then there is Stormy. It is amazing that she and her lawyer have more integrity and honesty that all of Congress combined. I believe this will be the undoing of Don. I expect Don to refuse to be questioned, to refuse to appear in court or be deposed, leaving the judge to issue a contempt of court ruling against the President. How this would play out is anyone's guess.

I am sure at some point the Secret Service that guards Don, will have a crisis moment, where they will have to decide if they are going to protect a lawless President or not. My bet here is that they will stand aside, based upon a duty to protect the Office of the President. IOW, there will come a day when people stop recognizing Don as President, and refuse to allow him Presidential privilege and protection.

[mountain grammy]

46. I also agree.

checks and balances don't work when one party rules and the party has been compromised.

[ancianita]

48. The military, and whoever cuts its checks, will take out the old and follow a new CIC.

Civilian law enforcement -- secret service, US Marshals, FBI -- and other law enforcement groups will likely stand down.

Internal civilian law enforcement is organized to follow rule of law and for them, no one is above the law.

[lutherj]

52. When Nixon refused to release the White House tapes the judge fined him $500 a day

until he turned them over. A judge could fine Trump 5 million a day. That might get his attention.

[disndat]

55. The ZTE/China Deal

Watching the discussion on MSNBC, Constitution Law scholar, Lawrence Tribe was shaking his head and rolling his eyes in disbelief, as though Crooked Trump's flouting of the law had reached critical mass. IMHO.

[Demsrule86]

56. I would like to see Trump impeached and convicted...but if that doesn't happen, I will settle for

taking the house in 18 and defeating Trump in 20. Maybe he will be indicted by a state court after he is out as his criminality has been revealed. Also, we can have a real investigation in the house after 18...if we take the house. We can also make sure Trump doesn't get any other policy goodies with the House. The Senate is tough this year. I hope we hold onto the seats we have and maybe get one or two more if we are lucky...but the house would end Trump's presidency.

[Kirk Lover]

59. If it's as bad as your post portrays the American People will DEMAND that this

muthafucka GOES.

Don't think we won't turn out???? TRY US.

[kentuck]

64. You can lead a voter to the polls but you can't make him vote.

Sort of like leading a horse to water.

There is more to voting than registering. There has to be an educational process so that voters understand why their vote is important. It's not good enough to say the other Party is evil and we need Democrats in office.

In my opinion, we need civics back in our classrooms. This is going to take a generation to turn around.

[Hoyt]

65. About only thing trump's testimony will do is catch him lying. Lying isn't going to bring him down.

If Mueller doesn't have the evidence he needs -- without trump's testimony -- he will never get trump. Maybe some aides, and a trump kid or two, but that's it. Better than nothing, but not what we need -- running trump out of office and America.

[moondust]

68. Let the markets decide (everything)!

I don't know but I've wondered if it's the long struggle between "business" (rule of money & markets/Hamiltonians) vs. "government" (rule of law/Jeffersonians) that has gotten us to this point where even the President of the United States no longer respects the rule of law and the institutions that manage it.

[Initech]

69. We are really in a constitutional crisis right now.

We have a sociopathic man baby president elected by a hostile foreign entity and a foreign news network pulling his strings like a fucked up Pinocchio. Where do we go from here?