Proof? I’m Still an Impeachment Skeptic
I’m a “Trump will be impeached” skeptic. for the following reasons:
1) The entire federal Government including the Supreme Court is in the hands of ideological Republican zealots,
2) At least half of the country is firmly in the “so what?” camp,
3) The Democrats, as ever, are fractured, weak-willed and pusillanimous, and
4) The 4th estate is a joke.
That said, these new revelations about Donny Jr. turn the knob in the direction of something (not impeachment, but something) happening.
Per Josh Marshall:
Donald Trump Jr. began this engagement with Rob Goldstone on the basis of this message. “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
At a minimum Don Jr. and likely (though this is as yet unproven) all high level members of the Trump team knew about this more than a year ago. Ergo, all the total and aggressive denials about Russia’s role supporting Trump, law-breaking for Trump, etc. etc were all the most total and abject lies.
Impeachment? Maybe, but not all that likely. Resignation? More and more likely, especially after today’s bombshell courtesy of Trump Jr. I’ll wait until the media frenzy dies down but this looks like the famed other shoe has dropped. Next question, how long will the ill tempered and obese 71 year old we call Trump be able to take it?
Impeachment is not the issue here. I don’t think that will happen either. But as the enormity of this penetrates public awareness, the rest of the country will start looking at those who excuse this as if they’ve grown another nose on their faces.
I have a Republican friend who is in total denial about all of this — it’s an entirely manufactured story, hacking happens all the time, we do it too, all the standard right-wing lines. Now it will be on to “it was important to get those emails,” at which point they will actually be claiming — not that they aren’t already — that Hillary Clinton was a greater danger to America than a country that has 1,800 nuclear warheads pointed at us (as opposed to North Korea, which might have one). He will not change his views — but I guarantee he won’t be talking about them publicly anymore.
I am more optimistic than jason or Steve Newton because I have left what might be one last illusion: The country’s institutions were designed to reflect the will of the people, and when power is hijacked by a minority it doesn’t last very long.
So I agree, something will happen, even if that something is Republicans concocting new, more elaborate forms of denial.
@bamboozer: Here’s my question: If they’re willing to admit this, what are they trying to hide that’s even worse?
Well, that didn’t take long:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/11/1679717/-Republican-senators-dismiss-news-Trump-campaign-directly-sought-collusion-with-Russian-government
I disagree with you about one point. Half the country does not support tRump. 47-49% did not vote for either candidate. Whom those disaffected will vote for in 2020 is still an open question. I put tRump’s support at about 30-35%. That is why his poll numbers are so low.
My language on that was imprecise. I’m not saying 1/2 the country supports Trump. I’m saying that 1/2 the country is made up of nit wits and rubes. Some of which are partisan Republicans, some of which support Trump (the ‘You’re fired!” guy from that TV show) and some of which are too dumb to bothered to give a fuck.
I suggest that the Democrats trying to win currently Republican-held congressional seats all run on “I will vote to impeach President Trump,” and see how well that works in November of 2018.
Impeachment won’t occur because that would undermine totally confidence in the American system in the eyes of the public. The system itself (regardless of party) has an interest in an impeachment not being successful. While a GOP majority secures Dems safely voting for impeachment without impeachment actually occuring, the real truth is if the sitting President was a Dem and both houses of Congress had a Dem majority, an impeachment wouldn’t occur under similar circumstances because tnon impeachment is a system interest and not a party interest.
If Dana’s here, they’re clearly scared.
Dana: You had better hope that’s all they have to run on. If they pass Trumpcare the Democrats won’t have to run at all — they can stroll. Most people are against dying, especially if they suffer so the rich can get lots of tax cuts. You might have been too busy fiddling with your gun to notice.
Also, you seem to overestimate the strength of even red-state commitment to the conservative gospel. Every policy in the GOP agenda will hurt the economy so again, they are better off not getting anything done, though the immigration crackdown alone should bring the economy close to recession by the midterms. If they carry through on their crackpot trade policies, Katy bar the door.
In short, we’re eventually going to reach a set of circumstances in which even the Democrats can’t fuck it up, as in ’06 and ’08. Those elections came after Bush reached polling depths post-Katrina — depths Trump is approaching already.
Alby wrote:
Nahhh, I just check in from time to time.
You’re assuming that issues really matter; I no longer assume that at all. Candidates matter, and you’ve got to find one who can match President Trump in the charisma department. Remember: everyone simply assumed that Hillary Clinton was going to be the next President, based on the issues, and Mr Trump’s personal foibles. Heck, I assumed she was going to win, too.
After all, the GOP has been running on repealing the wholly-misnamed Affordable Care Act since 2010, and they’ve carried the states in which it can be argued that the ACA has helped the most people, primarily through Medicaid expansion.
Oh, by the way, though I am a supporter of the Second Amendment, it gives me a right to choose to own a firearm, and I have chosen not to do so. I am not a hunter, and I didn’t need one for protection. Now that I’ve moved to our farm, I may buy one, due to the coyotes and bears in the National Forest, which is right across from our farm.
@Dana “Candidates matter, and you’ve got to find one who can match President Trump in the charisma department.”
Trump? Charisma? Let’s see, half the country didn’t vote and of the other half that did, HRC had more votes. You’re right, the Dems blew it because they completely mishandled the rust belt states and haven’t provided any answers for the problems of fly-over country. Neither have the Repubs, but in those states, ‘Anybody but Her’ did better than ‘Anybody but Him.’ But let’s not paint this as the second coming of Reagan. I agree candidates matter and the Dems had better get their potential bench out into the mid-west stock car circuit to get some creds going. As long as we’re saddled with this antiquated system where the ‘tyranny of the minority’ can actually dictate national policy to the majority, I am not putting anything down to chance.
Trump going down….hard. You folks can pontificate all you want, but he’s toast….and all around him.
@Dana: I’m not assuming anything. Most issues don’t matter, but health care does. Every time it gets close to passage, Trump’s poll numbers drop a little more. If it passes, the Democrats will take the House, and then you’ll get real investigations into Trumpworld.
If this is what they’re admitting to, what they’re not must be really bad. There’s lots more to come, and I seriously doubt Trump will even be on the 2020 ticket.
I must have missed the Second Amendment’s coyotes-and-bears clause.
Turk. Blast from the past.
alby wrote:
No, you didn’t miss it; it isn’t there. I was simply telling you why I might change my mind on owning a rifle. Before moving to the farm, I had no need for a weapon, and now, I might.
@Dana: It was a joke. The militia is never around when you have to deal with the coyotes and bears.
Also, the ACA is misnamed only if you’re young and healthy.
Just by the by, but even if we assume the least amount of culpability by the Trumps, doesn’t that still argue they’re too stupid for the jobs they have?
Someone call the White House doctor for a Heimlich maneuver ….
Trump media team choking on their Nothing Burger!
alby asked:
It argues one thing: the Trump campaign understood that the only game in town was winning, and they would do anything to win. In an election, there are no points for second place. It doesn’t matter what anybody finds, it won’t somehow make Hillary Clinton the President. If President Trump leaves office early, for whatever reason, Mike Pence becomes the next President.
Not if Pence goes down too. The GoP can have president Ryan with 5 conservative Scotus justices running against a sure-to-be awful dem candidate.
Nope, Ryan is implicated now, too. The first clean person in the line of succession is Orrin Hatch.
@Dana: I don’t want Hillary Clinton to be the president. Like many people, I voted for her because the only alternative was this walking pustule.
You’re right about Ryan, alby… but again, this isnt normal times, there is no one, in a capacity to do it, actually interested in enforcing the law.
I still don’t think Dump leaves office without losing an election, ( if Blue De gives any indication about how moderate dems have adjusted to the loss, the D party will probably lose in 18 and 20) and even then, I wouldn’t put it past him to try and de-certify an electoral loss. I think he leaves the WH (or any of his numerous hotels he likes better) in chains.
The one bright spot here is, his presidency is crippled. This will play out very similar to if Hillary had won. Constant scandal, barely anything accomplished, every american develops a huge sphinctoral ulcer by the end of it (that will probably be considered a pre-existing condition and not covered by insurance).
“there is no one, in a capacity to do it, actually interested in enforcing the law.”
Not so. The FBI clearly is interested in it.
I’m inclined to agree that he’ll cling to the office like crab lice to a pubic hair, but I don’t think he’ll be in good enough physical condition to run again in 2020, if he lasts that long.
@Ben: Here, Josh Marshall put it better than I did:
“Big, sprawling criminal investigations of this sort rumble on in perfect indifference to whether or not you won the morning or killed it in ten different news cycles.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-vipers-and-the-derp