Last updated on 2019-11-26
Our Sioux Falls correspondent Dave Baumeister emerges unscathed from the tornado and flood wreckage and notices the fate of the Republic is in the hands not of a turtle, but of the voters.
Greetings Blogophiles!
This week, with the House Lewandowski hearing, impeachment seems to be back in the news. I suppose it never really left, but with so much else going on, impeachment proceedings seem to be the last thing most Americans want.
Now, it not that I think the president doesn’t deserve to be impeached, but I have to ask the question that many others are, “What’s the point?”
Of course, he has broken the Emolument Clause, he has colluded with hostile foreign powers, he has worked to rig elections, he hired undocumented workers, and he may well have been involved with Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, among a myriad of other things. But should the House of Representatives draw up and pass articles of impeachment, there would still have to be a trial in the Senate and two thirds of the members would have to find Trump guilty before he would be removed from office.
And by the time that all happens, President Trump will most likely be history. Personally, I don’t think there is any way he can be re-elected. Let’s face it, while he may have won the Electoral College, he lost the election in 2016.
In the past three years, Trump has done nothing to increase his base. He seems to think that as long as he has the same 30% who are die-hard fans, he can’t lose.
All his eventual opponent will have to do is campaign a little smarter than Clinton did, and the win is assured. Of course, that opponent will also have to be more likable than Clinton, too. And other than Bill deBlasio, I think any of the other 19 fit the bill (although Bernie needs to be careful about chewing out crying babies, and Beto needs to stop swearing!).
But, to quote Bob Karolevitz, I digress.
Getting back to impeachment, it may be the appropriate to get rid of a president who breaks the law, but let’s look at the possible collateral damage:
- A large majority of Americans do not favor impeachment. They are tired with all of the game’s playing in Congress. Democrats trying to push impeachment would be playing right into the Republican’s hands, and that would leave both the House and Senate open to a Republican take-over.
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Neither of these guys wlll decide whether Trump stays in the White House; we will. If the House moves ahead on impeachment, the issue won’t go anywhere. Keep in mind, perennial Turtle Club wannabe Mitch McConnell is still in charge there with his majority of Republicans. Granted, it is not a huge majority (53-47), and the may be enough who would go to the pro-removal side to gain the majority, but it is extremely unlikely there would be enough Republicans to join the Democrats to get the necessary 67 votes to oust Trump. So that means the Democrats have tied both house of Congress up in a futile effort which would be playing right into the Republican’s hands, and that would leave both the House and Senate open to a Republican take-over.
- Let’s just say by some chance the planets do align and everyone comes to his and her senses to convict the president. By the time the matter would be settled, it would be nearly election time anyway, wherein Trump would be ousted the normal way, which also means, the Democrats have tied both house of Congress up in an effort which played right into the Republican’s hands, again leaving both the House and Senate open to a Republican take-over.
- Or, finally, the planets have aligned, Trump is convicted, everything is done in an extremely efficient way, and the Republicans are able to pick a candidate at their convention who may just be palatable enough to voters, so Democrats lose the White House and both houses of Congress, just like they did in 2016.
While I think the last two scenarios are extremely unlikely, if the House moves ahead with impeachment, I believe the first two are very possible.
In other words, even if impeachment is the right thing to do, it may put Democrats in a “no-win” situation.
From comments I’ve seen in the past, I know there are a number of people reading this who seem to be in “do or die” mode for their candidate, but for those who want to see the damage Trump has done to the country reversed, then Democrats need a clean sweep of the Executive and Legislative branches in 2020.
There’s this pesky thing that breaks in drumpf’s favor…..https://the-immoral-minority.com/new-study-reveals-how-the-electoral-college-favor-republican-candidate-even-when-democrats-win-the-popular-vote/
And McCTurtleface is on record saying the senate would never get around to trying Drumpf as long as Moscow Mitch, Putin’s Beach, is in control.
Baumeister will be relieved to hear that, right around press time this morning, Bill DeBlasio dropped out of the Presidential race!
Chubby is a traitor and a crook, William Barr is the one to be impeached…pronto.
The “large majority of Americans” are wrong on this, because “the large majority of Americans” don’t really understand their own Constitution. It doesn’t matter what the “large majority of Americans” think on impeachment. We have a system of government that needs to be protected, and Trump is turning a representative democracy into a tyranny run by crooks and liars. The Constitution provides for impeachment for exactly this kind of office holder. Congress has a duty to impeach this President. Failure to do so is the final failure of our Constitutional form of government. We are left with nothing.
It is true that the Senate decides if this crook and liar remains in office until we vote the entire rotten Administration out. That’s the way the Constitution works. Let the Constitution work. What’s the problem with that? The Senate decides if he is ushered out of the office and the Republican Vice President takes charge of government. It would not be much of a change in policy, but it would cleanse the country of a tyrant. If they want a tyrant, the Senate can vote to keep him.
DO YOUR DUTY! IMPEACH HIM NOW!
I agree that Democrats have badly mishandled this. They shouldn’t have pussy footed around with this dictator. They should have impeached him a year ago.
You guys are nuts. HRC was not the problem. She won. Hacking, gerrymandering and electoral college/constitution obsolescence were studied and implemented by the GOP scholars to capture the election and give it to a completely incompetent idiot they can control and grab the controls of government for unsatisfied greed of the 1% who want to delay climate action and survive in their compounds as world population, economic inequality and nuclear power/weapons scientists have their way (Doc;). IMPEACH THE MTHRFKER NOW. Swear away, Beto. Prosecute the bastards Kamala. Run the ship out of the ice Liz (pun:). Mishandled by the Democratic Party my ass. The Republican party cheats on a global-GLOBAL- scale. Pffsst!
According to Rachel Maddow’s program last evening, Trump’s lawyers have now raised a remarkable new constitutional defense to two State’s lawsuits seeking Trump’s past tax returns. They argue that the States seek these tax returns to investigate whether Trump has committed crimes, and contend that the Constitution precludes a sitting President from being investigated, charged or convicted for any criminal conduct. If this is the law, then it means, of course, a sitting President could openly commit murder or any other crime, including criminal political acts, and would remain immune from being investigated or prosecuted by law enforcement to prevent future crimes or punish completed criminal acts while he held office.
If such an argument is accepted as a matter of constitutional law by the SCOTUS, which given the current political origins and makeup of a majority of the Court seems quite possible, then this would also mean that a sitting President could illegally defy election results, take unlawful steps to manipulate a presidental election and set aside any unfavorable results, or take whatever other unlawful action, including murder of political opponents or members of law enforcement, that might threaten his efforts to remain President beyond the two terms limited by the Constitution.
Under the President’s lawyers’ new immunity theory, the only remedy under the Constitution theoretically available to hold a President accountable is impeachment. Yet even impeachment may not suffice under this theory of presidental immunity. If the President cannot be held accountable by law enforcement for any and all criminal conduct while in office it seems unclear whether any decision to impeach or remove him from office could even be carried out if the President and his syncophants desire to resist such a decision.
While it may be futile today to move forward with impeachment, at least this might clarify where our country is at politically. If Thune, Rounds, McConnell and other republican senators are really satisfied with allowing a Republican President to violate criminal statutes with impunity, and if the American people are happy enough with that result to give Republicans control of Congress with SD’s votes, then isn’t that be exactly the direction where a large majority of South Dakotans want to go – protect Trump as a permanent President immune from accountability under or laws?
“Just vote the Bum out” …. Can that include Marion and Dusty ??
This discussion should revolve around duty: The House had the duty to impeach the President when they believed he had committed high crimes and misdemeanors; The Senate has the duty to convict the President of those crimes if the evidence shows guilt; the general population should make the President a one-term if they disapprove of him. But congress ignored duty in lieu of politics and outcomes. Just because the Senate will not convict, does not mean the House should not impeach. Just because we MIGHT not him out of office does not mean you do not impeach. These are not mutually exclusive, nor are they duties defined by successful outcomes.
If I subscribed to the House thinking on impeachment, I would vote FOR President Trump, because that is what politics says. I do not use politics to shirk my duty to vote as I see fit — neither should they. And if the Senate does, let that be their downfall.
Clinton polled better after impeachment because the wingnuts had to resort to trickery to get him to lie under oath. You notice wingnuts won’t place and won’t allow Dems to place Drumpf under oath. They know he will lie and they would have to defend themselves against that to the majority of voters in the election upcoming.
What Clinton was impeached for pales in any comparison to anything Drumpf has done and will continue doing if something does not happen with impeachment.
Based on actual observations since drumpf was installed in the kremlin annex, perjury is not a serious enough crime for wingnuts to act against other wingnuts, including candidates for lifetime appointments to this nation’s courts. But, it was death for WJC.
If Crappy Criminal is not impeached, what becomes of the US Constitution? The executive and legislative branches will have ignored it. Is it therefore irrelevant? Is it only applicable when political expediency demands it?
I think, as O and BCB have said, the House must begin impeachment proceedings to uphold law and order in the USA.
In addition, I believe charges ought to be brought against several others for conspiring with enemies against the USA. That includes Moscow Mitch and several others. If possible, the ones who’ve perjured themselves before House committees and elsewhere ought to be charged too. Respect for the rule of law in the federal government needs to be restored.
Lastly, of course impeachment for Kaveman. A serial liar and sexual offender does not belong on SCOTUS. If not in prison, at the least he must be disbarred.
Last, last, actions like these might put the fear in local and state governments too! Looking at you, SDGOP. 🤨🤨
1-4 are wrong. A bunch of excuses. TELL JOHNSON TO VOTE YES on impeachment. T did wrong on emoluments, vote yes , start the process. Overthinking. Don’t be weak Democrats. Write JOHNSON today, tell him Yes on impeachment.
Buckobear—sure! Voting them out can include all of the bums, from Donald, Mike and Dusty down to Al, Tim, Jon, and Phil.
I like the talk about duty and demonstrating that our Constitutional system can recognize and root out incompetence and tyranny swiftly. Let’s grab some pussyfooters by the scruff of the neck and tell them to do the jobs the Founders intended them to do.
I am again looking to crowd source information:
Does McConnell have the power to block the process in the Senate, or would handing the Senate a House impeachment force a Senate vote/trial/procedure (even if kangaroo)?
For a good laugh you can read the obit for DeBlasio’s campaign from the New York Post via Axios.
is.gd/0njVko
https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-senate-decline-try-impeachment-case
But it is also possible that, in this time of disregard and erosion of established institutional practices and norms, the current leadership of the Senate could choose to abrogate them once more. The same Mitch McConnell who blocked the Senate’s exercise of its authority to advise and consent to the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland, could attempt to prevent the trial of a House impeachment of Donald Trump. And he would not have to look far to find the constitutional arguments and the flexibility to revise Senate rules and procedures to accomplish this purpose.
The Constitution does not by its express terms direct the Senate to try an impeachment. In fact, it confers on the Senate “the sole power to try,” which is a conferral of exclusive constitutional authority and not a procedural command. The Constitution couches the power to impeach in the same terms: it is the House’s “sole power.” The House may choose to impeach or not, and one can imagine an argument that the Senate is just as free, in the exercise of its own “sole power,” to decline to try any impeachment that the House elects to vote.
There is more to read. mfi
A Pattern emerges….
Adopting Rachel Maddow-style story telling in her superlative newscast methodology (although sometimes I scream with impatience: …the point,… the point?!!!!), l proceed.
Recognize first that when a federal judge recognizes a pattern of health care insurance bad faith in denying legitimate claims drawing out the injury and trauma with delay and stress, the insurance company gets slammed, financially. Jail would be better.
This is accountability for bad behavior,
A pattern, of intentional malicious fraud on a national and world wide scale, is plainly evident from… drum roll… you guessed it… THE REPUBLICANS, and their newest stooge, President Trump. Previous stooges would be Reagan/Gingrich, Dan Quail, Bush/Cheny, Palin/McCain, and now Trump/McConnell/Thune. Notice Republicans often pair “stooges-in-charge” with smart guys/gals.
Very importantly, it is not just Republicans, but also folks like mega-billionaires like the Koch brothers, who are guilty. Greed.
The pattern is, chronologically: a) Trump’s assault on the environment; b) fossil fuel and other industry climate denial since 1989 Bush years; c) Speaker Boehner’s eight years of Obama obstruction; d) Senate candidate Rounds and Governor Daugaard’s obstruction of law enforcement and legislative committee investigations into EB5 and MCEC deaths, arson and financial fraud. This list can certainly be amplified,
Republicans all seem to want to be millionaires and pal with billionaires. It is about that simple. Abuse of power.
My point for example:
hold Bush accountable for the Iraq war;
and, hold Reagan accountable for allowing assault on consumers ($ __ billion College loan debt ring a bell, for example? Bankruptcy is a business planning tool but not for students! How did that happen/continue to happen?);
and, hold industry accountable for climate denial consequences, like big tobacco/big liquor/big pharma for addiction consequences;
and, hold Rounds/Daugaard accountable and strip Rounds of his senate office;
and, hold Trump accountable for his role in destruction of our democracy, the environment, climate denial, State, Justice/Judicial, Education, Interior, Homeland and security departments/agencies, and other disastrous policies like voting, census, immigration ect;
and strip Neil Gorsuch from SCOTUS and hold McConnell accountable.
The waste, delay, harm, litigation and obstruction Republicans and their constituents have forced upon residents of this nation are a result of their greed and abuse of power and all of them participating in this massive scam must be held accountable, criminally and civilly. This includes those like Dan Lederman, Republican legislator who refused to compel Rounds to testify in committee. The burden on the rest of us to hold them all accountable is phenomenal and those consequences as well must be accounted for. Often, decisions to prosecute are made by Republicans following a Republican political agenda. This is unacceptable.
Politics has led to corruption in the United States, of course, and now ultimately so. Our constitution is an ancient document unsuited to other than poetic value in meeting the changing day to day needs of Americans. It is as if billionaires all met at Davos in the Alps and some wiseass suggested they internally forecast what growing world population and energy use on the planet might do to threaten their wealth, comfort and exclusivity. They secretly decided to take over government. The press. Fox News, Rupert Murdoch and Wall Street Journal are all one. Koch Brothers industries. They scare US and developed world populations with doom and gloom taking over the narrative. Almost like a conspiracy. Now their idiot president is declaring his family has become a political dynasty. Because he is protected from indictment by his office, paid for by we the people.
It is the Democratic Party, over and over, that is forced to right the wrongs the Republican Party creates.
Leslie, I absolutely agree with your sentiment and condemnation of the GOP. Should WJC be held accountable for the repeal of banking regulation that helped lead to the financial collapse from banks given open reign to gamble on their own toxic holdings? As a Democrat, I wish my house were more clean and more strident in making the progress needed when given the opportunities. I truly is my hope that a Warren Presidency with the FULL backing of a Progressive Democratic House and Senate (not a milquetoast majority like Obama came to office with) can make some REAL reforms stick.
O, I too think a Warren presidency is our best hope for real reform. Sanders is all for reform, of course, but I doubt his ability to actually make it happen. Warren can, with a Progressive/Liberal Congress.
If he’s impeached and run out of office , he may also be disqualified from ever holding office again. Disqualification requires a simple majority. That’s the way to really get rid of him. If he is impeached and removed, he can run again.👿
I realize how the media has played into this dysfunctional mess. With SO much coverage of the scandal of the day (and there is one), there has been No focus on the good work the House has done raising minimum wage, insuring health care, securing our elections . . . even though all that goes to die on the desk of Mitch McConnell. McConnell has become the REAL President of the US, we just didn’t realize it: HE approves judges (that the useful stooge of the White House nominates from the Federalists pre-approved list), HE decided what legislation goes forward or dies. All this is made possible because the media continues to only report on President Trump. The House gets attention ONLY when speaking of impeachment.
Pelosi’s focus has been right, she just greatly underestimated how the press would ignore the good work of the House and limit the effect of governance and policy would have in any national discussion.
O, just a couple days ago I read an article in a major publication, forgot which, about how evil Moscow Mitch is, the great damage he has done to our constitution and our republic. It said they’re beginning to really hate him in Kentucky because they’re realizing that he’s done Nothing for them. The article said he’s been a horrible person all his life, essentially friendless, always ruthless and willing to be cruel in his quest for power.
He deserves much more than losing to Col. Amy McGrath next year. He deserves prison for treason, conspiring with Pootie. 🤬🤬
I’m with Baumeister…..”vote the bum[s] out”. While on the subject there has been a huge push for term limits in this country and WHY. If someone isn’t doing their job….”vote the bum out”. I am convinced that a term limited politician is far more dangerous than someone who is trying to make a career of politics. A term limited politician knows he only has a certain amount of time to line his pockets at the public trough while a career politician has to please his electorate each election to make sure he has more time to fatten.