The Founding Fathers could NOT have EVER predicted this shit

[Horse with no Name]

and what the trump *presidency has shown us is the flaws in that document.
There NEEDS to be a non-partisan Office of Legal Counsel in the government to represent "we the people".
There NEEDS to be a non-partisan body that will hold the administration to account for high crimes and misdemeanors in the event that Congress will not do it.
The power of the pardon needs to be used solely for the citizenry and NOT for political cover.

I know all of this is pie in the sky thinking....but trump is exploiting the Constitution like never before in History and it appears that we have no recourse but to sit and watch because this country is being held political hostage by a party that is worried more about themselves than the country.

[malaise]

1. Agreed - Off to the greatest page

Rec

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Founders' hubris

was they only understood patriots

they figured business interests, and they were men of property themselves, were manageable and temporary

they would be shocked by what goes on today - debt, morals, monopolists, technology, pollution, not to mention
where is the militia housed?

[ToxMarz]

3. The power to Pardon was controversial and very hotly

debated in ratifying the Constitution. I believe they could predict this, thus the controversy and debate. Ultimately they did include it. It remains to be seen whether the system works, or if Donald Trump alone has taken it down. I'm betting on the Constitution.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. They have to be turning in their graves......

as to what is happening right now before our eyes. Never in the history of this Nation, have we been witnessed to so much corruption and a Republican controlled Congress that is allowing it to happen.

"Never will you find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Obi Wan Kenobi describing the Trump White House.

[sunonmars]

5. Agreed the Pardon must be restricted to the people and not political connections

[Rustyeye77]

6. They did... it's called Impeachment.

And not soon enough .

[Skittles]

17. repukes won't impeach because they fear losing the DUMB AS FUCK vote

[BigmanPigman]

7. We need to have a non partisan separate/independent commission to investigate crimes

that doesn't need to exist only through a bill passed by a bipartisan congress.

Feinstein and many others have introduced legislature in both houses calling for such a commission but the GOP in both houses won't pass it due to their own asses possibly being guilty of crimes as well.

[colorado_ufo]

8. That is what happens when you elect a person of bad character.

We need to have a more educated citizenry.

[Nitram]

9. Yes, that is true. The internet alone played a huge part in this sordid tale.

There is no perfect system. If you have a "non-partisan" body that plays the role you suggest, it could be stealthily taken over by a partisan group to depose the president. I think the checks and balances built into the present system may be sufficient. We'll see, won't we?

After Colombia's civvil war, the constitution was changed to alternate between liberal and conservative presidents. I'm not suggesting that, but how about choosing SCOTUS that way? It would keep some balance in the court. If Trump appoints one or two more justices, we are screwed.

[Horse with no Name]

12. The SCOTUS is the reason this election was allowed to be stolen

I will never believe otherwise.

[Cosmocat]

10. I have seen this building for three decades

The creep of right wing extremism into government, with the complete collapse of the fourth estate. Been burning my ads since the mid 90s.

But, until the moment he came down the escalalator, I NEVER thought we'd elect a full out fascist, though at that point and time I quickly realized we were absolutely stupid enough to do so.

[Cryptoad]

11. Well,,,, they did say

a democracy where the majority are idiots can will not endure,,,

[LiberalArkie]

13. I think they did and that is why the electoral college was set up. They did not probably

imagine that the college would choose the same numb skull as the voters did.

[OldRedneck]

14. The Funding Fathers . . .

. . . were educated, rational people. Their mistake was in assuming everyone else who rose to their level would be the same.

[DFW]

15. In all fairness

One could have hardly expected Jefferson, Madison and Monroe to have anticipated cyber-hacking by Russia in 1787.

It would have required a pessimism they probably didn't want to contemplate to install a recall clause for the president and vice-president. For that matter, we already saw how that can be misused in the recall effort that removed Gray Davis and installed Schwarzenegger. If we had a recall mechanism in place, imagine how fast Fox Noise and National Hate Radio would have had the crazies trying to remove Obama. From day one, he would have been spending 85% of his time fighting it off. Maybe a better screening process, although that risks removing the egalitarian process of anyone (like Clinton and Obama) ascending to the presidency.

New rules to prevent another Trump fiasco would need to be written VERY carefully.

[MyNameGoesHere]

16. Well if they would have stayed sober

A bit more they might have thought about it.

https://goo.gl/B2SrKh

[Awsi Dooger]

18. I remember this as far back as Watergate

When Nixon had the Saturday Night Massacre I was in junior high. I had a teacher who had been a huge McGovern supporter a year earlier. He carried around briefcases with McGovern bumper stickers plastered on the briefcase.

During the Watergate mess students were coming up to him and saying he had been correct about Nixon. But I'll never forget his response. He said we would be lucky to get through this mess, but that eventually we would not get through something more sinister since the presidency simply holds too much power, that the founding fathers had erred in that regard.

That's one of the reasons I have held out no hope of impeachment or anything meaningful happening to Trump or any of his allies.