In an appropriate call for swift justice, the House of Representatives yesterday impeached Donald John Trump for inciting insurrection. Joining every Democratic Representative in this vote to permanently punch Donald John Trump’s history ticket with the defining stain of a second impeachment were ten Republicans.
South Dakota Congressman Dusty Johnson was not among those affirmative votes. Our lone Congressman chose process and external social arguments over immediate and necessary punishment for a high crime against Congress and the Constitution:
On process, a Congress that can rush the lifelong appointment of a Supreme Court Justice in one month can surely process the lifelong removal from public office of a criminal who poses a clear and present threat to the nation.
On division, I get the sense that the only division Congressman Johnson and other Republicans are worried about is the division within their own party that this defining vote may cause, between Republicans who support the Constitution, law and order, and plain truth and Trumpublicans who cling to the deadly cult of Donald, even in the face of the most public, blatant, and dangerous crime against the Constitution committed by any President.
The Democrats and Republicans who voted yesterday to impeach Donald John Trump again did not make a mistake. They are not sowing division by attempting to hold a criminal accountable.
The Founders appear not to have cared about either of Representative Johnson’s objections. The Founders did not write into Article 2 Section 4 any minimum time frame for impeachment or exceptions for the possibility that supporters of the impeached official might be unhappy. The law is not supposed to give a pass to people who enjoy some fame and popularity in the community; quite the contrary—the law is supposed to punish criminals for crimes and protect the public from further harm, no matter how many people may like the lawbreaker and may get upset if their revered lawbreaker is fined, jailed, or defrocked.
Impeachment is a proper response to obvious high crimes committed by a public official. Swift impeachment is a proper response to a criminal public official who poses a clear and present danger of using his office to commit such high crimes again to commit a perhaps fatal blow to our Constitutional system of government. It is not only every Congressperson’s right but sworn duty to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic….”
Donald John Trump is that domestic enemy of the Constitution. Donald John Trump must be impeached and convicted as soon as possible. In failing to support this necessary impeachment, Representative Dusty Johnson has failed to keep his oath.
Dusty lacks judgement and courage. Of course it’s divisive. When you stand up against evil, those who are evil will be pissed. They’ll vote against you, maybe even kill you. What sort of sunshine patriots do we have?
News to world, the gop is now the party of trump. I don’t believe that they have an AA for their addiction yet. So just feel real sorry for them. Boo Hoo.
I called Dusty Johnson’s office.
Gave them my name and asked him how many deaths would it take for him to vote to impeach.
What a spineless little chicken s**t.
While I did not leave that last line in my message, I did let him know that he is
disgusting.
The GOP and certainly the SDGOP are
living in an altered reality.
Strange days indeed.
Be careful people, there are Human Beings out there …..
For a flashing moment, I thought Dusty would do the right thing, however, he started making excuses about “the steal” weeks ago, claiming that 1000’s of callers supported Trump. Are they really South Dakotans or is this fake news? And how many calls did he receive from sane people who accept the vote and want a peaceful transfer of power?
I had hopes that Dusty could primary Noem for 2022 and know many Republicans who have their eyes on him as well. Just in case the Democrats don’t have a challenger, at least we’d get rid of her. Now they are both toxic.
Dusty joins Noem as a “whining poster babies” who could help us recruit new members for the S.D. Democratic Party. Or should we wait until after Thune and Rounds prove their allegiance … the flag and the constitution or the party and Trump?
I’m a former life long Libertarian who quit the party when Rand Paul really weirded out. And when Randy Seiler became head of the State Democratic Party, I joined.
If Thune and or Rounds prove equally spineless as Dusty, I’m joining the National Democratic Party. And I will do all I can to help rid our state of these idiots.
Dusty is concerned about offending the 261,043 South Dakotans who voted for his master, Donald J Trump? How about the 150,471 South Dakotans who voted for Joe Biden? You know, the guy who actually won the presidential election and whose victory Trump was inciting a deadly riot to overthrow?
Apparently doing the right thing can be really hard, you guys, and, like, divisive n’ stuff. Let’s all just move on and pretend the attempted overthrow of the government didn’t happen. No need to hold anybody accountable. They already cleaned the blood off the Capitol, so let’s look forward, not back. Dusty has a career ladder to climb! He doesn’t have time for duties and responsibilities; he’s just there for the perks!
I must have missed Dusty’s call for calm and unity prior to the certification of the Electoral College Vote. It seems to me that the Republican Party has become a criminal organization to which RICO laws apply. I do understand that Benghazi was a horrible event, but here we have U.S. citizens killing U.S. law enforcement after planning and attaching the Capitol to prevent the legislative branch from functioning. Dusty you need to call for an investigation on this. I find it very disturbing that Mike Pence was following the law and procedures and Private ‘Bone Spurs’ called him a p***y. Dusty should be a p***y like Mike.
Indi Samarajiva is a Sri Lankan who experienced 30 years of terrorism in his country’s civil war. He saw the collapse of his country and now says America’s collapse has already started. In previous articles he pointed to the deaths of Americans that most Covid deaths were due to incompetence and willful neglect by those in power and the dominant culture. He talks about that as something that goes along with cultural collapse.
Now he has another article on the terrorism we just witnessed in the Capitol Building, another indicator of cultural collapse. In fact, he says, we are already in the midst of collapse, but we don’t know it yet, or don’t want to admit it. Read this article. The link is below:
https://indica.medium.com/i-lived-thru-domestic-terror-its-already-started-in-america-8fc70a03ba16
I saw Dusty’s interview on TV. I thought he was going to cry, feeble little guy. He was incensed that poor Donnie didn’t get “due process.” Well, Dusty, he had “due process” a year ago when caught in a scheme of international blackmail. Seems to me you vote the party line then, too. Spineless doesn’t even begin to describe your behavior, little man.
The tragedy is that Dusty is so psychologically and financially dependent on the approval of his more conservative elders that he can not stand as the moderate Republican he wishes he could be. All that problem-solver stuff was one step forward. This capitulation to more extreme members of his party–not the first–is much more than a step back, it is his personal tragedy. Perhaps like Thune he believes if he can persevere he may be able to gain a leadership post where he can be “better.” Look however, at what that has gotten Thune, minority status in a Democrat-controlled Congress.
Concerns about dividing the country only seem to come into play when anyone doesn’t want to do what the GOP wants to do. Those appeals also only come AFTER the GOP tries to take what it wants through fair and unfair means. Only after failure to bulldoze their way do we get to hear the appeals for unity – a unity that still somehow gives them exactly what they wanted in the first place.
I really doin’t remember the last time there was a GOP concession to bring the country together.
The good news for Rep. Johnson is that Donald Trump will have due process when he leaves office and is charged with the crimes his office no longer protects him from taking responsibility for.
I will give Rep. Johnson a bit of credit: he does not seem to be one of the Congressional Republicans who refuse to go through the metal detectors in the Capitol — the same metal detectors that they voted to install in our schools, airports . . .
What part of the country is not divided, Johnson? drumpf is the most responsible for violence party and should serve 20 to life in prison,right alongside stoopid magats, such as yourself, magat!!.
That is a pretty low bar set for johnson and the metal detectors. I would question if he even knows what he is walking thru. I have no respect for any person who believes a crime should be dismissed because it will upset people. Politicians to an oath to “protect and defend” the constitution.They are so accustomed to lying that the oath is meaningless.
I know we’re focusing on Dusty however this just came right off the press.
January 14, 2021 at 8:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard 189 Comments
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) called the Trump-backed mob that invaded the Capitol a week ago “an insurrection,” but stopped short of signaling he’d support the impeachment article that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives once that measure to remove President Trump reaches the U.S. Senate, the Fargo Forum reports.
Said Rounds: “When the story of this last 90 days is told, they will clearly lay out that the president of the United States misled very, very good, honest, patriotic Americans by telling them time and again that the election was stolen. I believe that history will hold him accountable.”
In otherwords, history will hold Trump accountable, the GOP won’t.
“WE”RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE”
WHITE MALE CAPITOL RIOTERS: VS BLACK LIVES MATTER RIOTERS:
BEING TOLD TO WEAR A MASK VS BEING DETAINED FOR JOGGING
MANDATORY METAL DETECTOR VS MANDATORY STRIP SEARCH
BUMP STOCK & OPEN CARRY BAN VS POCKET KNIFE BAN
AMMO CLIP REGULATIONS VS MARIJUANA BUSTS
WARNING FOR ILLEGAL FIREARMS VS 20 YEARS FOR PLANTED EVIDENCE
HAD TO WAIT FOR TRUMP PARDON VS MURDERED BY NERVOUS COP
TAX EVASION CHARGES DISMISSED VS STRANGLED SELLING CIGARETTES
POLICE GUIDE THRU CAPITOL VS HANDCUFFED & LEFT TO BLEED OUT
REGULATIONS ON US GOVT. LAND VS ARRESTED ON SIDEWALK
Yet another example of profiles in cowardice from the SD GOP.
Dusty, on last nite’s PBS Newshour, said he was receiving “death threats” prior to his “no” vote.
He should have voted ‘yes” and told his cowardly threateners “screw you.”
No profile in courage here.
With only a few days left of Trump’s administration, why not impeach and convict him? We have a competent replacement ready to step in. The Republicans in the Senate could salvage a tiny bit of honor by voting and convicting on January 19. Trump would go down in history as the worst person elected to lead this country and the Republicans would look like heroes. Sure, they would all go on the death lists compiled by the Proud Boys and their kind and be hunted down, but that’s the cost of giving Trump so much power over the past 5 years.
Dirty Despicable Johnson, a traitor to the Constitution of the United States. I thought he showed his colors with Maria Butina, but now with this. When you back a Russian spy, why not back another Russian asset like trump, he must think? Thankfully when that Constitution was written, there were no death threats or imprisonment promises for all of those signers. England was cool with the insurrection in those days, just like Dirty Despicable Johnson is today with sedition that he witnessed. What does it take to stand and fight? Giving into terrorist threats is not a good sign. They will continue to do that so your vote and you will be meaningless.
Dirty Despicable Johnson is okay with this
“97 Republican Representatives of The United States House voted to say, on the record, for posterity, as duly-elected representatives of their constituents, that it is perfectly fine that the head of the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government incited an insurrection against them, the Legislative Branch, and sent an angry, armed mob of “protesters” to their building, and into their chambers, with intentions of assassination.
They stated with their solemn votes, that these actions by their president constitute neither high crimes nor misdemeanors which rise to the constitutional standard of impeachment.”
Traitors all 197.
Who would have ever imagined that reckless firearm distribution, encouragement of anti-government militia groups, and whipping up Nationalists (with a series of false narratives) would ever come back to bite the GOP in the arse?
I would request that everyone cease using the term GOP (Grand Old Party), and replace it with a more accurate moniker: POS (Party of Sedition) Dusty Johnson – POS
Quack’s Anon magat elect from Georgia claims she will impeach Biden within 24 hours of his inauguration, for abuse of power.
https://www.rawstory.com/republican-to-impeach-joe-biden/?traffic_source=Connatix
Here’s a chance for Dusty to vote for impeachment.
Thx ds.
Rounds really said this?: “very, very good, honest, patriotic Americans—by telling them time and again that the election was stolen.”
Pathetic.
o, correcto mundo. They got a couple of phone calls and cried their traitor hearts out and peed their pants.
“News reports, including direct accounts from Democratic colleagues, suggest some Republicans voted against impeachment because they were afraid for their lives. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) in a recent MSNBC interview said: “The majority of them are paralyzed with fear. I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues last night, and a couple of them broke down in tears — saying that they are afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment.” Washington Post 1.14.20
Butina gave Dirty Johnson that red sparrow look and that was that. Suddenly, he was singing the same tune as the Russian spy. Worthless, but we get what we pay for. Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed.
Dirty Despicable Johnson could be lying or worse.
“If these complaints about fear are legitimate, lawmakers committed a gross dereliction of duty by not coming forward with the information and by casting votes contrary to their oaths. And if they really were cowed into voting with the mob, they should consider leaving public life. They sound as though they don’t have the stomach for it.” From the same Washington Post article.
Jerry, more “we are the victims here” from the party of responsibility. I do think there needs to be a full accountability for the insurgent mess from Jan. 6 that we find continuing now.
One Democratic Senator was asked if the impeachment would slow down the important work of government. He said that Leader McConnell has the Senate working only three days a week; there was plenty of time to do two things that needed doing. I really believe that taking the Senate from McConnell’s leadership is the greatest victory of the past election. Although more under the radar, what the Senate has been pulling since Obama’s first term is awful.
So, am I to understand that the only way to get thru to Dusty is a death threat? He won’t respond positively to morality, law/order, Constitution…, but a death threat will do it? Maybe that’s why he looked like he was about to cry. @#%^&*!
btw, Rep. Johnson is confusing his role. As a member of the House, his obligation is to decide Impeachment: is there evidence of Presidential high crimes and misdemeanors? The Senate holds the trial and sentencing. I think Rep. Johnson leapfrogged to the role of a Senator — not a Representative.
Looks like to me dusty afraid to stand up for democracy.I would say he put party over country.Is dusty afraid he might not get reelected from his base or what.Tell us Dusty,\.
It would have been difficult to imagine an issue on which Thomas Massie and Dusty Johnson would stand in opposition to Nancy Pelosi, Cory Heidelberger, and authoritarian deep-state apologist Liz Cheney, and I’d be in agreement with the latter group, but here we are.
Welcome to Htrae.
Those who cast pragmatic votes against impeachment have increased the likelihood of violence against those who cast principled votes for it.
Republican Congressman Peter Meijer writes:
The article at this link is a great read:
https://reason.com/2021/01/08/amash-successor-peter-meijer-trumps-deceptions-are-rankly-unfit/
Dusty really claimed to have received death threats?
If this is a fact isn’t that a crime?
His life was threatened on what condition?
If it was based on his vote for impeachment and was conditioned on his voting no or it would be carried out; that is a very serious offense and needs to be investigated and prosecuted.
Dirty Despicable Johnson, is not a profile in courage. His only hope is where he now is, he certainly would not be able to run against gnoem for the governor’s job. She would eat him with potatoes.
No $200.00 BRIBE for the old folks either now. Damn, us old guys were supposed to get $200.00 each as a BRIBE to vote for the traitor trump. Bummer.
How many civil rights marches did MLK skip because his life was threatened? Or John Lewis?. Rosa Parks? Nelson Mandela?
These giants in civil rights did not receive idle threats from their own kind. They had the courage of their convictions and were willing to be beaten, hosed, attacked by police dogs and even killed to get what the constitution provided them all along and yet, wasicu wasteys denied them their rights to life and liberty.
Dirty Johnson may have been paid off for all of this. How about that? Pretty slick deal.
“WASHINGTON — On Dec. 8, someone made a simultaneous transfer of 28.15 bitcoins — worth more than $500,000 at the time — to 22 different virtual wallets, most of them belonging to prominent right-wing organizations and personalities.
Now cryptocurrency researchers believe they have identified who made the transfer, and suspect it was intended to bolster those far-right causes. U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether the donations were linked to the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.” https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-large-bitcoin-payments-to-rightwing-activists-a-month-before-capitol-riot-linked-to-foreign-account-181954668.html
Has to be a reason to ignore the Constitution, nothing says look the other way other than a pay off.
Mass shooters kill dozens of people at a time. Republicans? Thoughts and prayers.
President in office incites insurrection? Oh it would be divisive to discipline him with impeachment.
Baloney.
Wrongs done? Republicans do nothing.
There’s plenty of us who oppose them.
Join R party, primary and beat Dustin and Nome.
If in D party, run against one of them.
Welfare loving Republicans loving Insurrectionists and lies.
They get into office, they do nothing, believe in nothing (except hate and self interest) and wonder why we want people who love the Constitution, people, and promoting the general welfare?
Vote out the crybaby’s.
Are threats from thugs going to be the new normal for decision making with POS? (minus the 10 in the House who are true patriots)
While running for office in the near future, all candidates need to be vetted for past deeds and associates and all social media sites highly scrutinized. They need to answer the question: What will you do if you receive death threats for following your oath of office?
So I wonder how many threats Dusty received, who made them, and if there was any follow through. They should have been handed over to the police. It’s called law, order, AND justice. Someone is responsible and there should be consequences.
Buckobear, I’d like to hear from Dusty an honest count of the death threats he’s received: how many came from folks pushing for impeachment, and how many came from folks pushing to protect Trump?
I emphasize for Johnson, especially his family and kids, receiving right wing-nut, alt-right death threats — consider welcoming Junior Johnson to the club receiving death threats from Tories and their progeny. [My empathy is not academic. I taught my wife and kids how to look for car bombs, suspicious actions as we lived overseas during a ‘bombing era’ against US forces. The current domestic threats are hollow in contrast.] Yet, our forebears, the patriots, stood firm to the Tory death threats to establish and maintain our democratic republic. Junior Johnson failed the challenge. Failed American patriotism.
The Revolution split families. Ben Franklin’s son foolishly aligned with the cult of the Tories – after losing the revolution had to retreat to a nation he’d never set foot upon.
Many of us futility had higher hopes for Johnson to use his spine, to be a statesman, to live up to his oath. Johnson instead created Quisling Johnson, Neville Johnson – beholden to the cult of trump, not to the party of Lincoln, party of Eisenhower. The get-along-to-go-along cult force was too strong for Johnson.
Johnson, and / or his staff failed to understand the US Constitution. The role of the House is whether or not to indict. The Senate weighs evidence. The Senate exercises DUE PROCESS. Perhaps Junior Johnson and his staff could benefit from a Mitchell High School civics course. Seriously. We, even former republicans, expected much more. So. Much More.
Dusty is already facing a primary for being a wet noodle in the face of obvious and pervasive election theft.
This recent move may save his reelection .. may not. It depends on who challenges.
I think many republicans would vote for a handsome mushroom over SD Democrat-to-be John Thune.
Thune is the one to watch .. I’m sure the South Dakota democrats will try to slip somebody in under the covers again, but Thune is an insufferable Democrat on merit (not in name). We really need modern-age warfare, wartime representation right now in congress. Too many lawyers, not enough information scientists.
Information wars are raging, and the stodgy suited legal beagles in congress don’t seem to understand how next generation projectiles work, while members of congress do seem to have a handle on how to profit from installing Chinese 5G equipment and how to run a sham impeachment while making sweet love down by the fire to Chinese spies (FANG FANG!).
Dusty’s cohorts may be more of a danger to him than so-called attention getting threats he may have elaborated on. Those GOP congress people refusing to show Capitol Police what was in their handbags when the detectors sounded yesterday upon their entry to Congress should be sent back to the states they came from with shamed faces. They think they are better than anyone else and the 2nd Amendment gives them the right to ‘carry concealed’ wherever they like-even onto the House floor!
Kurt, thank you. I appreciate Meijer’s summary.
Keep it simple. Strip out all the partisan arguments and speculation about who might respond how. Focus on the simple facts: The President took an oath to defend the Constitution. The President used his position to violate that oath in a grave, obvious fashion. Should President be allowed to remain in office? Should that man ever be allowed to pursue elected office again?
John Thune is not a Democrat. He is an opportunist and an enabler of the opportunist party that has reached its logical conclusion in Donald Trump and the complete disregard for fact, law, and principle.
Cory writes:
You’re definitely welcome, Cory. You might appreciate this too:
https://reason.com/2021/01/08/amash-successor-peter-meijer-trumps-deceptions-are-rankly-unfit/
That would have been my preference. Unfortunately Jim Jordan’s preference was to rehash the events of the last five years in an avalanche of petty partisan distractions, including some provocative enough to warrant comparison with the words of the president.
Yes, when he incites a mob to interfere with a session of Congress by literally storming the Capitol, that would appear to be an example of “executive overreach” and an infringement of the constitutional separation of powers.
He should have been impeached and removed after the blatant obstruction of justice that pointlessly dragged out the Mueller investigation.
I’m going to take a little more time to consider that question.
On the bright side, watching John suffer makes me feel less bitter toward him.
Asking Representative Johnson to do his constitutional duties is a request too far removed from the reality of what he can do. Because Republicans have voter suppressed and gerrymandered SD into a one party state, there can be no direction from the state Republican bunch, thus The Dusty is left twisting in the winds. Without his white house leader, he will be lost for the next two years, as he has been for the past two years waiting for word from the man. 2022 is coming fast.
The “election theft” lie is a modern version of the Nazi “stab in the back” lie over the German surrender at the end of World War I. Noting like a good old conspiracy theory based on fabrications to gin up hate and violence. The Nazis were masters of the big lie, and Trump is the modern master. Trump also used the Nazi strategy of corrupting and co-opting conservative politicians, who thought they could control the tyrant, but who eventually came to be controlled by the tyrant. Among the first people Hitler went after were the conservative stooges, who proved to be weaklings, and most of them ended up near the top of the list of the first people the Nazis killed.
Johson failed the historical test, but it isn’t too late for Thune and Rounds. They ought to read the history of the Hitler and the Nazis, and act on it, because we almost fell into a re-run. Stop tsk, tsking” the tyrant. That does no one any good. Convict him and prevent him from holding office again. Then cleanse the Republican Party of the fascist elements. Your life depends on it.
Cory had asked:
I’d replied:
Time taken.
The article of impeachment concludes that President Trump warrants removal and disqualification partly because he’s demonstrated that “… he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office …” Because that stated basis for removal and disqualification no longer exists, it seems to me the article of impeachment is no longer valid.
If Donald Trump is criminally charged and convicted of insurrection in federal court, he should be prohibited from holding office under section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Ideally I’d say President Biden should offer him a pardon, and Donald Trump should acknowledge his own guilt by accepting that pardon, then quietly recede to a less public life.
All humans create a by product in their quest to exist. In March 2020 we almost ran out of paper to clean it up. South Dakota as a 1 party state has to create by products to survive. As smelly as they are, the 1 party state will continue to generate by products. Only a balanced two party state will clean out the mess. Dusty, smelly and all, is following the money as those who have gone before him have done. It doesn’t matter what people say, it only matters how people vote. 2022 is just around the corner, time for Democrats to reboot.
I don’t know how Robert Mueller became convinced that a sitting president can’t be held accountable for his crimes. I think Barr had a good deal to do with that questionable precept. But what Dusty and Thune and Rounds and the GOP in general are saying now is “the people can’t find a sitting president guilty of anything, while he’s president, and the people can’t find him guilty of anything when he’s a private citizen either”. Hypocrisy and political gaslighting. We in SD have NO representation in D.C. as long as the GOP rules the state.
Unlike the past election, this dog and pony farce of another impeachment trial WAS rigged. 7 wingnuts voted with Dems to hold the unaccountable maniac accountable for his crimes, but only 7 had the nerve to do their job and defend the rule of law. If only the Wizard of Oz hadn’t neglected to instill magats with a conscience..
” If only the Wizard of Oz hadn’t neglected to instill magats with a conscience..”
And the libtards with a brain.
Thune and Rounds and the GOP in general have proven what we always knew. Cowards who value their temporary jobs more than our Constitution. Chicken excrement. Surprised at that, I am not. I hold nothing but disgust for them and for Head Chicken Excrement McConnell.
Steve, missed.your mindless drivel lately. Which meadow muffin have you been hiding under?
That Steve H isn’t me.
See, people? That’s why I ask you to use your real names. Pastor HIckey owns his words and helps clarify the conversation. We speak more intelligently and civilly when we know who’s speaking and when everyone knows we are speaking.
I knew it wasn’t Hickey. This guy is a hit and run troll. Won’t stand his ground, apparently he has none.
magat retribution against their own for doing their sworn constitutional duty is swift and sure in magat land….
https://www.vox.com/2021/2/14/22282742/bill-cassidy-richard-burr-censured-trump-impeachment
Home ain’t home anymore, no, no.