Schiff: Memo Of Trump Call a Fundamental Betrayal - Video

[_Some Schmo]

It's weird to me that people think the political ramifications of an impeachment are as important as Congress actually doing their job of oversight. If you claim to care about the US constitution, then the political ramifications should be irrelevant to you.

For anyone who doesn't think we should impeach, you are either arguing in bad faith or just don't appreciate the destructive precedent you want to set, letting a lawless president do whatever the hell he wants. It's that simple.

He won't actually be removed from office (unless the GOP grows some integrity, which we know won't happen), but at least Congress can say they did their job, and we'll have a voting record for every congress person on this issue.

[_honorentheos]

Before y'all grab your pitchforks, I'm just saying that this is where the battle will be fought on this issue. If we can recall, Biden said he would withhold $1 Billion in loan guarantees if Shokin wasn't fired and Shokin was supposedly fired six hours later. Maybe Biden was bragging and misstated actually what happened. The guy likes to plagiarize so perhaps his comment was not exactly what happened. However, this is what the Repos and Fox will crow about and use as a measuring stick against whatever comes of this whistleblower complaint.

I think it is a waste of time and what the democratic house should be doing is passing pocketbook legislation that the people want like reforming the affordable care act by adding in a single payer component. If the republicans stop this, then there is an issue the democrats can run on.

The demand that Shokin be removed was because he was failing to prosecute people and businesses accused of corruption. It's almost impossible to imagine how one can see a quid pro quo existing in Biden saying the US and NATO wanted to see the person removed who was protecting the owner of the business that hired Hunter Biden or they would withhold aid. There is a certain international quid pro quo of the kind we engage in all the time. Like telling countries they need to make changes regarding human rights if they want our aid, or not facilitating the arming of groups opposed to us or causing abuse or violence.

If you see issues with that, well, there isn't much anyone can tell you that is going to clarify how stupid the argument is that what Biden did is comparable.

[_Res Ipsa]

Trump is now engaged in full throated witness intimidation. Keep digging, Mr. President.

[_moksha]

Trump is now engaged in full throated witness intimidation. Keep digging, Mr. President.

Exiled might observe that Trump is performing a public service by warning this wayward civil servant not to sleep with the fishes.


By the way, it was Trump's own staff that alerted the whistleblower.

[_Some Schmo]

It's hilarious that certain GOP pols want to claim there's no explicit quid pro quo. It's like they have to hear, "If you dig up dirt on my opponent for me, I will, in exchange, release the military support dollars we promised" otherwise it's not explicit enough for them.

It just goes to show Republicans know the GOP base doesn't damned read (the Mueller Report proved that), and will readily believe and repeat whatever BS they are fed by their "thought leaders" (whatever's in the latest edition of BS GOP Talking Points Everyone Must Now Repeat).

[_EAllusion]

Trump is now engaged in full throated witness intimidation. Keep digging, Mr. President.

The most likely outcome is still that it goes nowhere in the Senate. McConnell might even have the GOP backing to dismiss the articles without trial. Trump can dig all he wants. He's already in for a few pennies. I'm skeptical that there's that many things he could do at this point that are going to tip the scales any more.

The focus is now on Democrats not screwing up how to perform a proper impeachment inquiry that allows them to uncover as much as possible and communicate it to the public. At the same time, they should be using the heightened scrutiny to protect the 2020 election.

[_Res Ipsa]

Trump is now engaged in full throated witness intimidation. Keep digging, Mr. President.

The most likely outcome is still that it goes nowhere in the Senate. McConnell might even have the GOP backing to dismiss the articles without trial. Trump can dig all he wants. He's already in for a few pennies. I'm skeptical that there's that many things he could do at this point that are going to tip the scales any more.

The focus is now on Democrats not screwing up how to perform a proper impeachment inquiry that allows them to uncover as much as possible and communicate it to the public. At the same time, they should be using the heightened scrutiny to protect the 2020 election.

I'm not so sure that the Republican senators are as slavishly wedded to Trump as are his most ardent supporters. I don't think many of them see Trump as the future face of the Republican party. They made a political calculation that supporting and protecting Trump was the best way to continue to hold a Senate majority. But calculations can get recalculated, and they have a chance to be the heroes who saved America from a mentally deteriorating, out of control president.

But, frankly, I don't care what the Senate does. If McConnell simply refuses to hold a fair and open public trial on a bill of impeachment, he and the senate Republicans just become part of the coverup. This is the party that impeached a president for lying under oath about consensual sex unrelated to his presidential power. Can they really afford to be seen as condoning a bona fide abuse of presidential power? Aren't there about a jillion video clips of these guys complaining about Obama's abuse of power?

By trying to make this election about corruption, Trump has opened a Pandora's Box that Relief Society would like to stay shut. Trump wants to talk about Biden? Okay, we'll talk about Ivanka Trump's Chinese patents. Or how Jared Kushner disastrous real estate purchase was miraculously bailed out by a loan from Qatar after Kushner got cozy with the Saudi Prince and Saudi Arabia started accusing Qatar of harboring terrorists? Seriously, what happened to all that once Kushner got his bail out? Or maybe we should take a look at that new plant built in McConnell's state by a Russian Oligarch or his wife's dealings as Transportation Secretary that seem to have substantially benefitted her family's business. When it comes to corruption, Trump just started a gunfight armed only with a pen knife.

So far, it's been pretty easy for the Republican Senate to line up behind Trump. There really hasn't been any cost. I think those days are over. If they stay the course, they may very well be risking Collins' seat. Maybe McSally's. And then things may get a little scary.

I think we're in "all bets are off" territory right now.

[_MeDotOrg]

I think we're in "all bets are off" territory right now.

Keep in mind, we're 2 days removed from the official announcement of an impeachment inquiry. It took the Watergate investigation over a year to find the 'smoking gun'

We've already heard “I would like you to do us a favor though” after Zelensky asks about Javelin missiles. You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to hear the implicit quid pro quo. We still know little of Giuliani's contacts with Ukrainians. He won't say if he has a security clearance, which I assume is Rudyspeak for 'no'. However, Giuliani says he was acting at the behest of the State Department. If Rudy doesn't have a security clearance, someone at the State Department probably has a lot of 'splainin' to do I also would like to know how William Barr did not recuse himself from the I.G. investigation, because he is specifically mentioned in the telephone transcript.

I go back to this line from Trump's inaugural, which was a declaration of first principles:

At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America. Through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.

Donald Trump cannot differentiate loyalty to the Constitution and the institutions of government from personal loyalty to Donald Trump. He doesn't understand the mindset of a person who believes that principles come before loyalty the the current occupant of the office. Today Trump told the families of government staffers:

I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy. You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.

A man who cannot differentiate between personal loyalty and loyalty to the Constitution cannot differentiate between a whistleblower and a spy.

[_Res Ipsa]

Have you heard the one about the Republican senator who was handed a smoking gun? He looked in the barrel, then indignantly exclaimed "I don't see any smoking gun in there!!"

[_moksha]

The only thing left to decide about Trump is do we try him as an adult?
-- Michael Moore