So our Constitution allows one man to shit on the world for four years?

[Cyrano]

Seems so.

A fool, a clown, an ignorant buffoon is taking a giant crap on humanity. No part of our Constitution stops him from doing that. And no one else can stop him because we're the "most powerful country in the world," and whoever is president is the "most powerful person in the world."

Yeah, I know, there's that impeachment thing. But it's useless when a criminal organization that calls itself a political party, (and currently owns the Senate), decides that it's in their best interest to let a madman run amok.

We now own the House, one big lever of power. But it ain't enough. We can impeach the insane White House occupant, but so what. It's meaningless because he won't be convicted in the Senate. He won't be removed from office. He will be free to go on doing anything he wants to do. He can try to push any piece of insanity that Sean Hannity whispers into his empty, ignorant head.

So we're looking at a minimum of two more years of crazy.

Amending the Constitution to address our current situation is a virtual impossibility in today's political environment. It's not going to happen.

Can two more years of crazy destroy American democracy? I don't know. So fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a tough ride. And there ain't no cavalry on the horizon riding to the rescue.

And there sure as hell isn't anything the courts or the House can do to drop a straight jacket on this madman.

In short, we won big in this month's election. Hopefully we can slow down being drawn into Trump's sewer of quicksand.

[manor321]

1. This is why presidential elections are important

And it's why the media needs to educate the populace instead of putting on a daily reality show.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. I could not agree with you more. Trump's sideshow was good for ratings, so

the media covered him incessantly while other candidates were virtually ignored. They treated the whole campaign like a game show and helped to elect a clown.

[marlakay]

25. When news changed to entertainment

From a place of national importance in facts is when the country has slid down.

If they still had real just the facts news like when I was a kid this never would have happened. The media doing what their corporate masters wanted let the Trump games begin and continue while they made the most money ever not concerned in how it is destroying the country.

Total opposite of my childhood where they tried hard to find out the facts and report on them.

Back then 60 minutes was exciting because they brought out things we didn’t know about. You know who brings out world news now? John Oliver. I learn more about what is happening from him in other places than anyone.

[CrispyQ]

2. This:

[DBoon]

6. our Constitution allows two men to shit on the world for four years

Trump and McConnell.

Without the Senate's active support, Trump would be well on his way out.

[CrispyQ]

14. Pretty much.

An interesting article.

When Albert Einstein’s Pal Found the Constitutional Flaw That Can Lead to Fascism

[struggle4progress]

21. Godel was a very talented logician but there's no reason to think he had good insight

into law or politics

[CrispyQ]

32. And yet here we are with a complicit Congress on the precipice of fascism. -nt

[struggle4progress]

38. That really has nothing whatsoever to do with Godel's 1947 claim,

concerning which we should say:

First, that there is no clear and definite record of whatever Godel's argument was;and

Second, that Godel was a mathematical Platonist, meaning that he believed in the existence of an ideal world of logically consistent truths, an attitude that only the worst of ideologues would bring to the practice of law or politics, since politics by nature requires reconciling incomparable views and interests, and since effective notions of law require a certain pragmatism in the face of imperfectly resolved facts and notions

The ability to follow a fixed idea to its logical conclusion can be useful in some circumstances, such as when when theory-building, but for practical reasons it is most useful if one is also able to backtrack from extreme conclusions and re-start with modified assumptions, to see where the new assumptions lead. In this regard, it may be worth remembering that Godel, at least later in life, had lost the important ability to set aside bizarre conclusions and essentially died from self-starvation, resulting from his paranoid belief that people were trying to poison him

[renate]

36. I never heard about this before in my life, and now twice in three days

I just read about this! But Laurence Tribe isn't so sure:

https://tinyurl.com/yc3gr6gb
https://preview.tinyurl.com/yc3gr6gb

Google Books doesn't show the whole chapter, but there's enough of it to give the idea.

I highly recommend the book this chapter comes from, by the way, for anyone who's interested in quantum physics: When Einstein Walked With Godel, by Jim Holt.

[brush]

3. Good post. At least we can investigate the hell of him...the whole Russia thing and...

the apparent sign off on the Khashoggi murder and dismemberment should be at the top of the list.

[lunatica]

4. President Obama is right

We are the change we seek.

Period.

We’ve already made a huge change by getting a majority in the House. That will effectively stop Trump in his tracks. The Senate can’t do a damn thing about it either. Then we move on to the next elections in 2 years.

[former9thward]

15. The House stops very little.

Only the Senate is required to confirm appointments. Most of the House's work is passing budgets unless you think the House will allow a two year government shutdown.

[PJMcK]

30. The House does have other authorities that you're ignoring

For example, all legislation has to be passed by both Houses before it can be sent to Trump for signature/enactment. I don't think a Democratic-controlled House will pass bills sent by the Senate.

The investigative powers of the House committees is another power that can stop or influence activities by the Executive branch.

Regardless, what do you think Democrats in Congress should do for the next two years?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. For the Constitution to do what it was designed to do -

that is, prevent one of the three branches of government from becoming too powerful - the other branches have to act as a check. The framers anticipated the possibility of an unsuitable president so they set up a system that was supposed to keep that president under control (or remove him if necessary). Apparently they didn't anticipate the possibility that Congress would be a bunch of spineless sheep, or even complicit.

[ProudLib72]

8. Did NOT anticipate! That's the understatement of the year!

Where else, than in the Senate could have been found a tribunal sufficiently dignified, or sufficiently independent? What other body would be likely to feel confidence enough in its own situation, to preserve unawed and uninfluenced the necessary impartiality between an individual accused, and the representatives of the people, his accusers?
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_2_5s9.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Nice try, Hamilton. But it's not working...

[cpamomfromtexas]

7. He will become a dead corpse hanging on the necks of GOP

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. What other kind of corpse is there?

But yeah, he'll be their albatross forever.

[cpamomfromtexas]

22. You are right, it's redundant. Except well Trump is a corpse

And he breathes.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. Therefore, a zombie.

Zombie Trump.

[Celerity]

28. Rime

Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.

[NoMoreRepugs]

10. As the pressure ratchets up on tRump my fear is

he will become more unstable and in an effort to protect himself do things we can't conceive of at the moment.
Hard to judge what's possible when you are looking at someone who is unlike any President in our history

[unblock]

13. he's not "one man". he's merely the singular embodiment of a dysfunctional movement.

if he were really just "one man", he'd be easily removed. a sane republican party would gladly accept pence as a replacement and just shrug him off like an "oops".

but donnie has a lot of support in key institutions.

most notably, the media due to the eyeballs he can deliver through his "shock jock" persona, and the senate, where republicans in "safe" states fear getting primaried by someone more loyal to donnie than they are. which, in turn, is due to the extreme right-wing media outlets that act like loyalty to donnie is more important than anything else.

hopefully, history will record this movement as the last gasp of white nationalism in america, something present at our founding and that is taking centuries to die off.

[Different Drummer]

16. Well said! n/t

[Retrograde]

17. The Constitution provides checks - McConnell

and Ryan refuse to enforce them. IMHO, McConnell is just as dirty as Trump and gives in to protect himself, or he's getting some sort of enrichment from the Kochs and their ilk. He's aided and abetted Trump in putting together a cabinet of unqualified morons and packing the courts with ultra-right judges: an actual leader who had the ultimate best interests of his country in mind - and some spine - would have stopped some of the more egregious picks (de Vos and Kavanaugh in particular) before they even came to a full Senate vote.

And Paul Ryan, who arguably has one of the most powerful positions in government, has done nothing constructive with it.

[Maven]

18. Our current system isn't sustainable.

We have an archaic Constitution that was never meant to be our governing document for 240 years. It has enabled a tyrannical and increasingly radical minority to impose its will on the majority.

That has led to our perverse present-day political reality, in which a lowlife criminal sleaze has been placed at the levers of the most powerful (for now) government in the world, against the wishes of most of the country’s citizens, and with the protection of a Senate controlled by a dwindling minority of the population.

It isn’t sustainable. There are too many forces, both internal and external, that will cause it to crumble and break apart.

From my point of view, the only question is whether we’ll have an amicable separation or a much uglier divorce and reconciliation. Those who believe that things can just go back to the way they were because we won one election are missing the forest for the trees, IMO.

[mnhtnbb]

20. I agree. We are facing a very perilous time in this country

in terms of which way we'll go: evolving towards the idealistic goals of our original governing documents or degenerating into a form of oligarchy or authoritarian rule.

[Quemado]

29. I couldn't have said this better

If low population states that have too many electoral votes keep electing idiots like Trump, states along the West Coast and in the Northeast will look at the situation and decide to leave. Others like Colorado will follow.

[SammyWinstonJack]

19. Impeachment and not conviction/removal will make that asshole an even

bigger asshole. He'll get even any way he can.

[Quemado]

34. That is true - he is the king of vendettas.

Whatever legal or political action taken against him had better work.

[customerserviceguy]

23. At the time the Constitution was written

the United States was a minor player on the world stage. I'm sure they didn't imagine the importance this nation would attain in the grand scheme of things. One could truly say that such did not occur until the 20th Century.

We have the provisions of the 25th Amendment, which was passed even with the burden of having fifty states to have to get a 3/4 majority in support of this law. All it takes is courageous people to exercise it, there's your straitjacket.

[Beartracks]

26. It didn't contemplate the complete spinelessness of the conservative party.

The Founding Fathers presumed only honorable men would hold office, men interested in public service, democratic ideals, and rule of law.

Oh - and not selling out to foreign nations.

=======

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

27. The Founding Fathers may have had a variety of opinions about how to set up

the basic foundation of our country, but they were unified by one purpose -- "to establish a more perfect union."

They probably didn't even consider adding a provision that required the president to be of sound mind. They just assumed no one would elect the village idiot to lead them over the cliff.

[kentuck]

31. No, I don't think the Constitution permits it?

But, there is a political Party that allows it.

Republicans have chosen not to follow the Constitution. That is not the fault of the Constitution. That is the fault of the Republicans.

[radical noodle]

33. This

The right thing was done when Nixon was in office and Republicans at that time supported the Constitution. They have gone to the dark side.

[Quemado]

35. The Republicans follow the Constitution only when it benefits them.

One example: they have cleverly found a way to game the Constitution's provision for the Electoral College. Their candidates for President appeal to the masses that live in certain states using cultural issues, in order to get their votes.

[mulsh]

37. Our Constitute does no such thing. It applies only to US government & gives little power to the exec

The Constitution concentrates broad powers in the legislative branch. Unfortunately over my lifetime, roughly 60 years, large parts of the Republican and lesser parts of the Democratic parties have tossed these powers right out the window, those powers interfering with fund raising activities, and over to the turd flinging powers of the executive branch.

The ability to shit on the greater world is a fairly recent development. Since around the Spanish/American war presidents have diligently stretched their reach and worked on distance and accuracy in their fecal exertions. This of course had ended in mixed results but in general has increased the surface area their excrescence reaches and damage it causes. It's a rarely touted aspect of "American exceptionalism."

Of course we've been fortunate in that most of the men who have held those offices chose to mainly focus shitting on the United States and its citizens. With Trump we see the potential for world wide fecal destruction one sociopathic moron can produce.

It's stunning at times.