General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFor everyone calling for impeachment now, are you really naive enough to trust Turtle Mitch??
Without a Senate trial, impeachment is meaningless. Could somebody please, sincerely, tell me what makes you think that Mitch would do anything different with impeachment than he did with Merrick Garland?
"We don't need to have a trial in the Senate; that trial will take place in the voting booth a year and a half from now" -- McTurtle, probably, should the House impeach.
(I am honestly looking for somebody to convince me it could possibly go any differently given the tortoise-like one's track record of brazenly defying the rule of law.)
50 Shades Of Blue
(9,978 posts)Mitch will never convict him.
Trump can do anything now - anything - and remain president.
Why that should stop the House from doing its job and launching an impeachment inquiry, I do not know.
Bettie
(16,095 posts)so, now Mitch McConnell is literally the most powerful thing in the entire country. He alone has total veto power over legislation, he alone decides who will be appointed, he alone can stop impeachment simply by existing as the giant piece of garbage he is.
And Trump, with this as the metric, can do whatever he pleases. Heck, he can dissolve congress and Old Mitch would huddle with Barr for a nanosecond and then say "Yep, he can totally do that!".
LonePirate
(13,417 posts)malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)I know this is going to sound snarky, but do you really think you are more politically adept than Nancy Pelosi?
Because I know how smart she is, I feel okay trusting her lead.
honest.abe
(8,678 posts)What McConnell does or doesn't do is irrelevant to what the House Dems should do.
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)Speaker Pelosi.
honest.abe
(8,678 posts)I think at the end of the day she will do the right thing regardless of GOP threats.
StarfishSaver
(18,486 posts)Thank you
Gracias
Merci
Grazie
ありがとう
do jeh
Danke sehr
Khop Khun Mak Kha
Spasiba
감사합니다
Takk
Mahalo
Toda
Efharisto
is just a start!
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)Bettie
(16,095 posts)"Impeachment is off the table." That was for W and his guys.
Them getting away with it all set the table for this. This creature getting away with all of his crap will enable the next guy to be even more criminal (if that is even possible).
Skittles
(153,150 posts)uponit7771
(90,335 posts)The party of the impeached has never fared well
controlling government post impeachment process
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Sounds an absurd allegation, yes? Or... dare we say, 'naive'?
honest.abe
(8,678 posts)CrispyQ
(36,460 posts)And in the future, repubs will run on, "I would have voted to impeach but the dems never started the inquiry."
Trump will claim exoneration either way. That shouldn't stop us from doing the right thing.
Columnist
May 30 at 5:06 PM
What would a president have to do, hypothetically, to get this Congress to impeach him?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-trump-doesnt-warrant-impeachment-who-does/2019/05/30/0ae3ee8a-8311-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html?utm_term=.cd16b89f5724
snip...
Obstruct a Justice Department investigation, perhaps? No, apparently thats not enough. What about playing footsie with a hostile foreign power? Abusing his office to settle personal grievances? Using instruments of the state, including the justice system, to attack his perceived political opponents? Aligning the nation with murderous foreign dictators while forsaking democracy and human rights? Violating campaign-finance laws with disguised hush-money payments to alleged paramours? Giving aid and comfort to neo-Nazis and white supremacists? Defying requests and subpoenas from congressional committees charged with oversight? Refusing to protect our electoral system from malign foreign interference? Cruelly ripping young children away from their asylum-seeking parents? Lying constantly and shamelessly to the American people, to the point where not a single word he says or writes can be believed?
President Trump has done all of this and more. If he doesnt warrant the opening of an impeachment inquiry, what president ever would?
snip...
The Trump era will end someday, and well all have to account for what we did, or failed to do, to fight for our nations soul. Mueller gave our elected representatives in Congress a clear road map for holding Trump accountable. Ten years from now, even one year from now, I wonder what well think of those who decided not to take even the first step.
uponit7771
(90,335 posts)watoos
(7,142 posts)But after that Chief Justice Roberts presides.
If McConnell has the power to not even hold a trial it would be political suicide.
StarfishSaver
(18,486 posts)And Mitch's rules will have much more relevance and control than anything the Chief Justice does within those rules.
Just as, in a trial, while a judge presides, he or she is bound by the Rules of Evidence and Civil and Criminal Procedure, the statutes, and case law. They can't just do as they please but are strictly limited in what they can do and how they do it.
Trust me. If Mitch is making the rules, this won't go well. And it's folly to think that anything he does or doesn't do would be "political suicide." We all should know better by now.
Buckeyeblue
(5,499 posts)And if he gets voted out, so what? Look at all the damage he has done. The Republicans are like serial killers who get more and more brazen with each kill, almost hoping someone will stop them.
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)If I had a dollar for everytime I heard that a trumper was committing political suicide I could buy that cannabis farm I have my eye on!
in2herbs
(2,945 posts)by the House and then let the voters decide.
uponit7771
(90,335 posts)Locutusofborg
(525 posts)The Clinton impeachment helped Bill Clinton (he got his highest job approval rating the same week he was impeached) and it helped the Democrats (they picked up 5 seats in the House when they were expected to lose mid-term election seats). Its a risk, Trump will use impeachment to rally his base and he will spin a Not Guilty verdict to mean total constitutional exoneration.
uponit7771
(90,335 posts)uponit7771
(90,335 posts)Last edited Fri May 31, 2019, 01:37 PM - Edit history (1)
... any part if the government.
Also, Clinton was relatively popular with Republicans at the time.
Syphilis is more popular with Democrats than Red Don
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)uponit7771
(90,335 posts)of government
shockey80
(4,379 posts)No one knows what will happen if we impeach Trump. Fuck turtle face. Maybe he will drop dead soon.
Baitball Blogger
(46,700 posts)KayF
(1,345 posts)it's all pointless because of Mitch!
Why even run any candidates? It's all pointless because of Mitch!
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)Just saying.
kacekwl
(7,016 posts)Don't you understand the vast majority of the voters who won you the house did so to get someone to do something about healthcare and to get this Russian supporting bankrupt loser and those who enable him for their own gain out of power and preferably in jail. Start the process NOW.
at140
(6,110 posts)Impeachment takes place 100% in House of Reps.
US Senate can vote to remove the impeached president with a 2/3rd vote (or is it 60:40)
A successful impeachment in House will serve to expose Trump's crimes.
That is good enough even if Senate does not remove him.
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)because that is exactly what Yertle would do.
at140
(6,110 posts)regardless of what the House does. Dems should focus on defeating him in 2020.
ego_nation
(123 posts)malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)ego_nation
(123 posts)They tried how many times unsuccessfully (which they knew going in) and paid zero political price for it.
TheRealNorth
(9,478 posts)Could the turtle turn this into a kangaroo court/show trial. Maybe this is what Nancy Pelosi is thinking.
Vinca
(50,269 posts)won't look too good for Republicans in the Senate to stand by their felon. Even Fox News is starting to cover the truth. Trump may not be ousted - true - but if the hearings are anything like the Watergate hearings were, he's not going to end up looking very good. Even to the cult members.
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)... If she thinks that the time is right, then I will be right there.
davekriss
(4,616 posts)It will focus national attention on the high crimes and misdemeanors our President commits almost every day.
The Senate will open the trial, make a few statements, and quickly vote to not convict. Of that Im 100% certain, slime that they are. But this will focus attention on the hypocrisy and moral failings of Republicans.
No, none of this will influence anyone who identifies as a Republican who represent a little over a quarter of the voting population but it will influence independents and Democrats.
Yeah,Trump still has the loudest megaphone (the bully pulpit), so we do need the media to do the right thing. There is risk. But what is life without adventure?
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)Love me some Democrats!!
dustyscamp
(2,224 posts)Kid Berwyn
(14,890 posts)Certainly he is in charge of the Senate. However, he depends on the loyalty of his caucus. They respond to their statess voters.
Public opinion will solidify against the GOP after open hearings on prime time tv expose Trump for the treasonous turd he is.
To knock turtle out, we demonstrate how turtle himself is compromised by Russian oligarchs.
Mitch McConnells Ties to Russian Oil Money
https://medium.com/TheDemCoalition/mitch-mcconnells-ties-to-russian-oil-money-db56f16a4824
Impeachment will turn over a lot of KGOP rocks.
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)You are making my point in the OP.
ecstatic
(32,688 posts)Why is this such a hard concept? In 50 years, we need to be able to see who voted to protect our constitution and who voted to turn the U.S. into Russia.