This is how democracies die and dictatorships arise

[Soph0571]

[secondwind]

1. And the first dictator is the hardest.

[democratisphere]

2. The time has come for Nancy Pelosi to begin impeachment proceedings

after the Summer Congressional recess.

[saidsimplesimon]

3. "Who's Going to Stop Me?"

I did not post the final paragraph because it presents a grim future should we despair.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/trump-to-america-whos-going-to-stop-me/ar-AACQcIW

Trump to America: Who’s Going to Stop Me? (from The New York Times)

Michelle Goldberg
14 June 2019

In a new interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, parts of which were released on Wednesday evening, Donald Trump announced his willingness to betray and subvert American democracy, again. Asked what he would do if he were offered foreign dirt on an opponent in 2020, he said he’d take it, and pooh-poohed the idea of calling federal law enforcement.

“Oh, let me call the F.B.I.,” he said derisively. “Give me a break, life doesn’t work that way.”

That Trump has no loyalty to his country, its institutions and the integrity of its elections is not surprising. That he feels no need to fake it is alarming. With the end of Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation, House Democrats’ craven fear of launching an impeachment inquiry, and the abject capitulation of Republicans to Trumpian authoritarianism, the president is reveling in his own impunity.

Maybe the insult of it can jolt the country out of its current stasis. Every so often, Trump says or does something so grotesque that it cuts through the despairing numbness engendered by his presidency, galvanizing the forces of decency anew. It happened after Trump defended white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, after he compared nonwhite countries to excrement, and after he bowed and scraped before Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. This should be one of those moments.

snipped last paragraph, available at weblink provided above

[Farmer-Rick]

4. The reason for Trump, aside from our capitalist economy

That promotes profits over common sense and morality, is because of Mitch McConnell.

The Senate is preventing the rule of law. I think this needs to be said every time impeachment outcomes are discussed. It's frequently left out in the corporate media.

Sometimes, listening to corporate news, you would think there is only one legislative body, only the House run by democrats who are dragging their feet.

What about the Senate? It still exists in some form. Are they really going to have a real impeachment hearing open to the public? Is Mitch going to stop his Russian gravy train by allowing a Trump trial in public?

[alwaysinasnit]

6. If not for McTurtle, 45 would never have been able to do what he has done to date. I totally agree.

[Blue Owl]

5. He's thinks he's a real wise guy, that Donald Trump...

n/t

[JoeOtterbein]

7. First the US House of Representatives must make the firm decision...

...to not impeach.

(tears)