So what is the hold up on impeachment?

[fescuerescue]

It's nearly June and it's still just talk. At this rate he's gonna destroy the country before there's even a vote!

I would like to see our leaders demanding impeachment now and twisting arms to get it on the vote schedule.

I was sure after the election, that he wouldn't make it a year, now - I'm not so sure.

[Vinca]

1. Republicans.

[yuiyoshida]

67. At this point I wonder if there is ANYTHING HE COULD DO

that would make them even Cringe.

[Orrex]

72. He could do a 180 and endorse Obamacare

Or he could call for the overturning of Citizens United.

Or he could call for taxing the top 1%.


Any of these would have him impeached before the end of the news cycle.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

73. Seconded

They're going to milk his Presidency for all that they can squeeze out of it (i.e. tax cuts, ACA repeal, "tax reform", restructuring government more to their liking). I don't think that they've thought too much beyond that. The best thing that we could do is show up in a massive show of resistance in 2018 and take away Republican power in one or both chambers of Congress- or at least thin out their ranks so as to make their agenda die a slow, agonizing death- until we can remove Trump electorally in 2020. I want Trump gone. I really do. But removing him too soon (or at all) would probably help the Republicans politically, because then we'd get Pence and the MSM would proclaim him an "adult" and laud the Republicans for being "responsible" and then most people currently energized by Trump would probably breathe a sigh of relief and go back to sleep until 2020 and then Pence would be looked at as a "reasonable" Republican candidate for 2020, which would make him harder for us to beat, not that he's any great prize (he's a total douche), but he's got the right kind of political cred to re-unite the Republican Party, bring the "Never Trumpers" back into the GOP fold, and present a "business as usual" face to the country and to the world. I say that we figure out a way to contain Trump and his damage until we can remove him and his ENTIRE (mis-)Administration in 2020.

[nycbos]

2. Because of Mike Pence. And the Republicans control the House and Senate.

Wake up

[elleng]

3. The legal process.

Take a breath.

[DonViejo]

6. Exactly, elleng....

Everyone needs to take a deep breath and let this unfold as the legal process should. It took three and a half years for the committees, special prosecutors and other agencies to get Tricky Dick but, they did.

[Voltaire2]

4. republican assholes?

They clearly are putting personal ambition and party before the future of the republic.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. The leaks need to be confirmed and turned into evidence.

"The wheels of justice grind slowly, but grind exceedingly fine."

[furtheradu]

7. Patience & ACTIONS!

Next Saturday will be PROTESTS, ever'where
Between now and then, call the heck out of OUR *elected employees*!!!
IMPEACHMENT.
It IS happening, & right on time..
Keep the Faith!

[Statistical]

8. Republicans aren't going to impeach Trump.

If anyone tells you otherwise ask them what they are smoking because it must be some good stuff.

[drray23]

9. they eventually will.

but not before they are routed in the 2018 elections and we retake house and possibly senate.

At this point, they may want to ditch Trump and try to salvage whats left of their party.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. The Republicans said if they get a lot of flack while they are "back home"

they will be more pro-active in dealing with the Trump issue.

In other words they plan on skating unless their voters hold their feet IN the fire.

it is the House Judiciary Comm. which draws up impeachment charges.
The Republican members number almost twice the Dems.

[sarisataka]

11. You answered your own question

it's s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ just talk

Any belief that is more than that is fantasy.

[demigoddess]

12. gotta have enough democrats in House and Senate.

otherwise just a lot of words. and it makes a real impeachment late impossible. timing is everything.

[UTUSN]

13. I *know* & I'm 70 1/2, so my expiration date is nigh!1

[Softail1]

14. really? is this a serious question?

sorry, but I am sick and tired of these posts about the impeachment-that-is-coming-tomorrow....if the idiot is impeached, it ain't gonna be for a while...like MAYBE 2019 if we get the house. And even then, if by some miracle the economy is humming, the Dem's will back right off....

[fescuerescue]

18. of course it's serious

It's probably the most serious question our nation has ever faced.

[former9thward]

24. Ahh no.

The Civil War where 600,000 died was about 100 times more serious.

[fescuerescue]

30. I suppose we can agree that impeachment is a pretty serious question

even if there are competing opinions are what is the most serious?

But I'm not here to convince anyone of the seriousness of the danger that faces our nation. You either agree, or you don't.

[gratuitous]

15. Impeachment is a political process

There's a lot of groundwork that needs to be done before impeachment proceedings can go forward. First, Trump's popular support has to collapse. It's going down, but not near far enough. Unlike the Republican impeachment of President Clinton (also a nakedly political process), the Republicans who control Congress aren't inclined to start on one of their own.

Next, there has to be an erosion of political support. Some Republicans have made impeachment-like noises, but a lot more have to get talking seriously about it. They're going to want and need significant evidence and testimony to move on that. In part, that's because the Republican base isn't prepared for impeachment of their dear president. But a larger part is the money men (foreign and domestic) who just spent a lot of money getting Trump in the Oval Office. They may not be ready to abandon their investment.

It's time consuming and tedious, but after watching the decades-long butthurt that has followed Nixon's resignation, I'm set to wait until all the ducks get lined up. I want there to be no doubt among all but the most partisan trolls that Trump absolutely needed to be removed from office.

[onenote]

16. Whose arms would Democratic leaders twist and how?

It's Republicans that control what "gets on the vote schedule".

If you don't know that, you need to do some homework about how Congress operates.

[fescuerescue]

17. Well it's not about me

It's about our country.

[onenote]

21. No, it's about your post. Which makes no sense.

[fescuerescue]

27. A post is just a post.

I wouldn't worry about it to much. There's pretty easy to use button to ignore it if you like.

I want to see Trump removed from office. Unfortunately, I don't have a button to do that.

[edhopper]

19. How is that going to happen

with the GOP in charge?

[fescuerescue]

28. They are only in charge

If we sit back and let them be in charge.

[edhopper]

31. They are in charge until

2018 in the House and probably 2020 for the Senate.

How do we not "let them"?

[fescuerescue]

33. I'm of the opinion that "we the people" are in charge

I hear what you are saying and I get it. But what I'm talking about is a mindset.

Your rep, whether a D, R or I represents you. It's our job to make sure they know how we feel and to demand that they act accordingly. And if they do not - give them the boot.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm having a hard time believing that the majority of country is ok with what is going on in the Whitehouse.

[edhopper]

37. They aren't

but Congress under the Republicans does not listen to the people.
And the people who vote for them don't care.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

42. We the people

get a chance to impeach him at the ballot box in 2020.

[onenote]

43. You want to give Democratic members the boot for not exercising a power they don't have

And you don't seem to realize how ridiculous that is.

You need to realize that demanding a unicorn won't get you a unicorn and its foolish to blame the person who'd doesn't produce the unicorn.

[fescuerescue]

50. please don't setup strawmen

But you did a good job of knocking it down.

Be that as it may, I want representatives that represent us. And that specifically excludes reps that support Trump and his team.

[onenote]

59. You said you want our leaders to twist arms to get impeachment on the vote schedule

But you still haven't explained how "our leaders" are supposed to do that.

Keep on evading. You're not fooling anyone.

[fescuerescue]

66. the same way they get anything done

The party out of power doesn't just take a 4 year long vacation ya know.

If you want an example of someone doing the right thing, look no further than Maxine Waters.

And pray tell, what am I evading? And what am I not fooling about? Go ahead. say whats on your mind.

[onenote]

68. Yes, Maxine Waters has spoken of impeachment. How is that twisting anyone's arm?

How is that moving repubs to put impeachment on the vote schedule? And what are the repubs supposed to schedule a vote on if nothing has been introduced?

[fescuerescue]

69. It's an expression

Feel free to choose to different words.

And yes, clearly it needs to be introduced.

[DFW]

20. Who is it exactly that does the impeaching?

The House of Representatives. Who is the Speaker of the House? Paul Ryan. Who is third in line for the presidency if Trump and Mike Dense are both removed from office at the same time? Paul Ryan.

If more time is needed to give all investigators the time to assemble a maximum of evidence on both, so that a Senate conviction seems likely, does anyone put it past Ryan to let this play out to his advantage? After all, his presidency wasn't in the history books until this scenario popped up. Now that he has a shot, he isn't going to make the slightest move in that direction until it is a sure thing.

At that point, "with a heavy heart," he will say that although it deeply saddens him, the overwhelming evidence compels him to act, blah blah blah. He will have talked this over with Mitch McTurtle, of course, and have all their money-grabbing schemes ready for launch the second he takes the oath. At least the chagrin on Roberts' face will be genuine this time.

[McCamy Taylor]

22. It can't be done until Dems take the House.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. thank you for your concern.

[fescuerescue]

25. If you aren't

why are you here?

Just curious.

[onenote]

44. Some of us are here to deal with the real world.

Why are you here?

[fescuerescue]

49. To see what I can do

to get us back on track.

[Warren DeMontague]

45. what, specifically, are you asking me, here?

[fescuerescue]

53. support

While I appreciate your appreciation....what we really need is folks push our reps to get this moving.

I'm sure that you are doing everything humanly possible, but I'm just saying that being "concerned" is step 1. We need to be moving on, as a nation well beyond step 1.

[Warren DeMontague]

56. Friendly advice- impeachment, if it happens at all, is gonna be a long haul.

And what will drive it will be evidence-based investigations, which I have some faith in. I do believe there are good professionals in Federal Law Enforcement who are looking at this. I do believe there are good people in the IC who may know considerably more than we have been let on at this date.

But Watergate took years. We'll see what happens, but at this stage in the game it's not so much a question of political process or activism. Any real move toward impeachment will follow the evidence, even Nancy Pelosi said that.

I have good Senators and a good Rep. I encourage everyone to do everything we can to elect more Democrats next time we get the chance. And certainly, contact your officials and let them know that the behavior of the executive- obstructing justice by telling Comey to stand down on Flynn, for one particularly egregious recent example, is unacceptable and rises to that level of impeachable behavior.

But we need to understand that the investigation is going to take time.

If it is any consolation, the wheels seem to be coming off the Trump bus with incredible speed. So there's that.

[oberliner]

26. He is not going to be impeached

Zero chance.

[Warren DeMontague]

46. I think theres an actual chance, if there is serious evidence that cant be hidden or explained away

But it wont happen overnight.

[oberliner]

47. With Republicans in control of Congress?

You think they would vote to impeach him?

[Warren DeMontague]

48. Depends on what it is, and how bad.

I could see some starting to jump ship if... I don't know serious corroboration of criminal activity, a money trail, this is all speculation mind you-

but again, if it couldn't be covered up or "fake news"-ed away, yeah, I think they might get there.

[Spider Jerusalem]

29. It requires a majority in the House to impeach and 67 votes in the Senate to convict

the Republicans have a majority in both houses and won't vote for it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. Seriously?

As long as the GOP controls the House it's not going to happen. Even when the House Judiciary Committee voted on articles of impeachment for Nixon, the vote was mainly along party lines. The articles wouldn't have passed out of the committee if it hadn't been for the fact that there was a Democratic majority on the committee. And by that time they had the "smoking gun" tape that conclusively proved Nixon knew about the Watergate break-in and was managing the cover-up. Do you really think there's a snowball's chance in Hell that the current GOP-majority Judiciary Committee would vote a single article of impeachment against Trump and that the total House would vote for impeachment? Or that the GOP-controlled Senate would vote to convict? Really?

If the Democrats succeed in taking back the House it might happen, but even then the Senate would have to vote to convict by a two-thirds majority, so actual removal from office would still be very improbable. No president has ever been impeached and then convicted.

[still_one]

61. While technically correct Velveteen, if Nixon hadn't resigned, he would have been convicted. That

is why the Congressional republicans urged Nixon to resign, because they knew the votes were there in the Senate to convict

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

62. In that case, true. Only a simple majority is needed in the House to impeach,

which the Dems had; and there were enough GOPers in the Senate who would have voted to convict, which is why Baker and Goldwater went to the WH to tell him he'd better resign before that happened. But some of the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee voted against the article charging obstruction of justice *even despite the production of the tape proving conclusively that Nixon was guilty of it.* - The point being that there were some GOPers who were too partisan to go against their guy even in the face of clear evidence. And they are even worse now.

[still_one]

63. you just filled in the details perfectly. Thanks

[TEB]

34. Putin is probably is wondering the same thing

[CK_John]

35. 218 members with an (R).

[Hoyt]

36. It's going to be a long wait and it may be Fitzmas in the end.

[Lotusflower70]

38. It's called time

The investigation will be thorough and not quick plus Democrats are not the majority, so Republican support is needed. I anticipate it dragging out close to the 2018 election.

[beachbum bob]

39. Last time I looked, Democrats have zero power in the House so people

Like you have to do everything they can to elect Democrats in 2018

[Best_man23]

40. I for one want the most airtight case possible

If it takes a year, let it take a year. Whoever prosecutes this will have one shot at it, so the case needs to be as strong as possible.

In the meantime, they can begin taking down the fetid, corrupt structure Trump has chosen to put around himself. Suspending Jared Kushner's clearance would be a prudent start. It is now beyond question Jared has engaged in behavior that would cost nearly any other government employee their clearance if they engaged in the same behavior.

[blueinredohio]

41. I agree something has to be done before he ruins the country

Then when he does all republicans who let him get away with the crimes he committed should go to jail for aiding and abetting a criminal

[LonePirate]

51. Um, have you noticed which party controls Congress and the White House?

Minority Democrats can do nothing.

[fescuerescue]

55. of course

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the defeated attitudes that I see in some of the responses. Not you in particular, just in general.

We have been in the minority party in the past and recovered. This time will be no different.

[LonePirate]

57. There is a difference between recovering as a party and launching impeachment proceedings.

[Kablooie]

52. More than 80% of Republicans still support Trump.

Getting them off the dole is going to be a hard pineapple to crack.

[brooklynite]

54. Yeah! what's the delay?

In the Watergate era, it only took six months from the break-in to the point when the House started debating impeachment chargers.


Oh, wait a minute...

[lunasun]

58. Good as any

http://www.ask8ball.net

[still_one]

60. For Nixon it took over a year and a half, and a lot of investigations were done. The investigation

process has been going on that long, and the special counsel has just started. Nothing is going to happen until those investigations get further along, and find impeachable evidence under testimony.

Why would you expect it to be a quick process.

You do realize the republicans are in control of congress. The only way impeachment will even happen is through the investigations, and if the evidence cannot be refuted.

Other than that, 2018

[58Sunliner]

64. Just don't wait on Cory Booker.

And full disclosure-not a troll, Russian or otherwise.

[pnwmom]

65. What a great progressive you are. Pick a Democrat, any Democrat,

and blame him for the fact that the GOP controls the House -- which means Paul Ryan gets to decide whether any impeachment goes forward.

Corey Booker called for a full investigation and getting to the bottom of what Kushner did. Apparently you'd rather we skip the investigation and just toss Kushner into prison -- but our system of justice still frowns on the sort of thing.

[NurseJackie]

71. This flurry of anti-Booker attacks suggests to me that he's a TRUE DEMOCRATIC CONTENDER in 2020!

[Orsino]

70. We have to wait a year while coy Congresscritters...

...pretend never even to have thought of impeachment, then to dismiss the idea as fantasy, then as conspiracy, then admit that so eday there might need to be an investigation, then to argue about the form of investigation, then to deny that the evidence is evidence, then to consider evidence.

Unless the president's a Democrat.

[fescuerescue]

74. Well this hasn't aged well

Just found this "looking through my things".

Here it is 2019, we control the House. Meuller is done with his work.

Alot has changed, but nothing has changed.