Impeachment Megathread Part 3

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Pelosi bowed to pressure and impeached Trump. It was a really bad decision which further divided the country.


On the other hand, Trump is now acquitted for life, is probably more likely to get re-elected and he'll get more power. Trump Unchained is the best Trump!

[emailking]

On the other hand, Trump is now acquitted for life

Also impeached for life (bummer).

is probably more likely to get re-elected

Sure, I can imagine there's a credible argument that his chances are a few % higher. Probably also one that they've gone down. Non-repeatable experiment so it's all just guesses anyway.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Let there be no more doubt: Republicans=fascists.

The Democrats in the 1930's were the only US political party to research and sympathise with Italy as they changed political direction. I.e. Fascism.

Trump is not a fascist. He is a nationalist populist.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Let there be no more doubt: Republicans=fascists.

The Democrats in the 1930's were the only US political party to research and sympathise with Italy as they changed political direction. I.e. Fascism.

Trump is not a fascist. He is a nationalist populist.

Nah, he's just a Trumpist.  His motto should be Quid lucrum istic mihi est?

[emailking]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1226314556399591424

[emailking]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1226537476476502016
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1226535948189675521
retweets:
https://twitter.com/bigleaguepol/status/1225174505712160768
https://twitter.com/DanaSchoonover1/status/1225144513657597952

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

Joe Munchkin.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Joe Munchkin.

Stupidity, dementia, or playground insult? With Mr. Trump, it's so difficult to tell.

[President Johnson]

Joe Munchkin.

His wife Melanie must have sent that Tweet.

[emailking]

FBI Director Christopher Wray just admitted that the FISA Warrants and Survailence of my campaign were illegal. So was the Fake Dossier. THEREFORE, THE WHOLE SCAM INVESTIGATION, THE MUELLER REPORT AND EVERYTHING ELSE FOR THREE YEARS, WAS A FIXED HOAX. WHO PAYS THE PRICE?....
....This is the biggest political crime in American History, by far. SIMPLY PUT, THE PARTY IN POWER ILLEGALLY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE ELECTION, IN ORDER TO CHANGE OR NULLIFY THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION. IT CONTINUED ON WITH THE IMPEACHMENT HOAX. Terrible!

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1226594751132114945

[Arizona Iced Tea]

If Democrats win the white house, Republicans will likely take back the US House in the midterm and pass articles of impeachment against them in retaliation. -Not that I support this, but I think it will happen.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

If Democrats win the white house, Republicans will likely take back the US House in the midterm and pass articles of impeachment against them in retaliation. -Not that I support this, but I think it will happen.

I feel like the GOP's path to a majority is wilting over time due to their suburban losses.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

If Democrats win the white house, Republicans will likely take back the US House in the midterm and pass articles of impeachment against them in retaliation. -Not that I support this, but I think it will happen.

I feel like the GOP's path to a majority is wilting over time due to their suburban losses.

You might see a reverse geographical sorting with Republicans wasting votes by getting margins in rural areas by 85-90%, while suburbia keeps its slow drift to the left.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

FBI Director Christopher Wray just admitted that the FISA Warrants and Survailence of my campaign were illegal. So was the Fake Dossier. THEREFORE, THE WHOLE SCAM INVESTIGATION, THE MUELLER REPORT AND EVERYTHING ELSE FOR THREE YEARS, WAS A FIXED HOAX. WHO PAYS THE PRICE?....
....This is the biggest political crime in American History, by far. SIMPLY PUT, THE PARTY IN POWER ILLEGALLY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE ELECTION, IN ORDER TO CHANGE OR NULLIFY THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION. IT CONTINUED ON WITH THE IMPEACHMENT HOAX. Terrible!

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1226594751132114945

As usual the big worry from the leader of the Republican Partycrime syndicate is that his criminal and treasonous actions were exposed.

And just as a reminder, all "the party in power" would have had to do to keep Demented Donald out of office, was to release information about the ongoing investigation.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Despite 24/7 anti-Trump propaganda...


https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_021020/

Split Decision on Impeachment Vote; Most Say It’s Time to Move On

The poll finds that 49% of the public approves and 47% disapproves of the Senate’s decision to acquit Trump and not remove him from office. This split is very similar to results of a Monmouth poll released the day before the trial started, when 49% said the Senate should remove Trump from office and 48% said it should not. However, public opinion on the current verdict is less positive than it was for the outcome of former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in February 1999, when more than 6 in 10 Americans agreed with the decision to acquit (e.g. 63% Pew Research Center, 64% Gallup/CNN, 64% Washington Post).

The great people of US have spoken. Time to move on, Democrats!

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1212924762827046918

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

Despite 24/7 anti-Trump propaganda...

That's why we have you, RB.  Fighting the good fight, well done. 

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Jerry Falwell, Jr. says Romney should keep his religion to himself.  Not The Onion:
https://twitter.com/twmentality1/status/1226328709742899201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%...

[Progressive Pessimist]

Jerry Falwell, Jr. says Romney should keep his religion to himself.  Not The Onion:
https://twitter.com/twmentality1/status/1226328709742899201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%...

Every time a Republican blindly says something without realizing the irony, another of my brain cells kills itself in the most painful way possible.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1226958810989965312

I think Trump and WSJ Editorial are right.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Rick Wilson wrote this right after the Senate convicted itself:https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1225608000582275072

And today, we see just how right he was, a Republicans turn up on Fox News wearing their master's uniform:

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1227249776162418695

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump contradicts past denials, admits sending Giuliani to Ukraine

The reversal came Thursday in a podcast interview Trump did with journalist Geraldo Rivera, who asked, "Was it strange to send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine, your personal lawyer? Are you sorry you did that?" Trump responded, "No, not at all," and praised Giuliani's role as a "crime fighter."

"Here's my choice: I deal with the Comeys of the world, or I deal with Rudy," Trump said, referring to former FBI Director James Comey. Trump explained that he has "a very bad taste" of the US intelligence community, because of the Russia investigation, so he turned to Giuliani.

"So when you tell me, why did I use Rudy, and one of the things about Rudy, number one, he was the best prosecutor, you know, one of the best prosecutors, and the best mayor," Trump said. "But also, other presidents had them. FDR had a lawyer who was practically, you know, was totally involved with government. Eisenhower had a lawyer. They all had lawyers."

Reminder: Donald Trump does not pay Rudy Giuliani. Russian-Ukranian oligarch and organized crime figure Dmytro Firtash does.

[emailking]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1228339437685395458

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/impeachment-gave-trump-exactly-what-he-wanted/606172/

Impeachment Hurt Somebody. It Wasn’t Trump.
In the end, the president succeeded in doing precisely what he wanted in the first place: tarring a leading Democratic rival.

The impeachment struggle is now over. Historians may one day vindicate Democrats for exposing Donald Trump’s abuse of power. But as of now, they have lost. Not only will Trump remain president, and not only does he appear stronger politically than before the impeachment battle began, but he has succeeded in doing precisely what he wanted in the first place: He tarred Joe Biden, who last year looked like Trump’s most formidable Democratic rival, with the kind of vague suspicion of wrongdoing that presidential candidates can’t easily shake.

Yet, ironically, the impeachment effort and the Republican counterattack against it have largely accomplished Trump’s goal. By keeping Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine in the news, they have turned them into a rough analogue to Hillary Clinton’s missing emails in 2016—a pseudo-scandal that undermines a leading Democratic candidate’s reputation for honesty. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee last fall launched a $10 million advertising blitz aimed at convincing Americans that Joe Biden’s behavior toward Ukraine was corrupt. After Trump’s lawyers devoted much of their energy in the Senate impeachment trial to demanding that Biden be investigated for corruption, Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming crowed that the attacks would be politically “harmful” to the former vice president “in November if he’s the nominee and I think even in terms of getting the nomination.”

Barrasso was right. Although Trump and his allies have proved no wrongdoing, the Ukraine story, according to an October Investor’s Business Daily poll, made 23 percent of Americans less likely to vote for Biden, and only 8 percent more likely to vote for him. A Hill-HarrisX poll that same month found that 54 percent of independents—and even 40 percent of Democrats—considered “Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine an important campaign issue that should be discussed.”

Biden’s extremely defensive response to the story has made matters worse. When a Fox News reporter asked the former vice president about his son’s work in Ukraine in September, Biden lectured, “Ask the right question.” In December, after Biden called an Iowa man a “damn liar” for raising the issue, Politico noted, “Biden has two methods of responding to questions about his son’s controversial business dealings in Ukraine: denial and anger. But so far, Biden doesn’t have a clear and cogent message—and Iowa voters are starting to take notice.” On caucus day itself, when NBC’s Savannah Guthrie asked about Hunter’s work in Ukraine, Biden snapped, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Amazing. Stable Genius?  

[pbrower2a]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/impeachment-gave-trump-exactly-what-he-wanted/606172/

Impeachment Hurt Somebody. It Wasn’t Trump.
In the end, the president succeeded in doing precisely what he wanted in the first place: tarring a leading Democratic rival.

The impeachment struggle is now over. Historians may one day vindicate Democrats for exposing Donald Trump’s abuse of power. But as of now, they have lost. Not only will Trump remain president, and not only does he appear stronger politically than before the impeachment battle began, but he has succeeded in doing precisely what he wanted in the first place: He tarred Joe Biden, who last year looked like Trump’s most formidable Democratic rival, with the kind of vague suspicion of wrongdoing that presidential candidates can’t easily shake.

Yet, ironically, the impeachment effort and the Republican counterattack against it have largely accomplished Trump’s goal. By keeping Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine in the news, they have turned them into a rough analogue to Hillary Clinton’s missing emails in 2016—a pseudo-scandal that undermines a leading Democratic candidate’s reputation for honesty. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee last fall launched a $10 million advertising blitz aimed at convincing Americans that Joe Biden’s behavior toward Ukraine was corrupt. After Trump’s lawyers devoted much of their energy in the Senate impeachment trial to demanding that Biden be investigated for corruption, Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming crowed that the attacks would be politically “harmful” to the former vice president “in November if he’s the nominee and I think even in terms of getting the nomination.”

Barrasso was right. Although Trump and his allies have proved no wrongdoing, the Ukraine story, according to an October Investor’s Business Daily poll, made 23 percent of Americans less likely to vote for Biden, and only 8 percent more likely to vote for him. A Hill-HarrisX poll that same month found that 54 percent of independents—and even 40 percent of Democrats—considered “Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine an important campaign issue that should be discussed.”

Biden’s extremely defensive response to the story has made matters worse. When a Fox News reporter asked the former vice president about his son’s work in Ukraine in September, Biden lectured, “Ask the right question.” In December, after Biden called an Iowa man a “damn liar” for raising the issue, Politico noted, “Biden has two methods of responding to questions about his son’s controversial business dealings in Ukraine: denial and anger. But so far, Biden doesn’t have a clear and cogent message—and Iowa voters are starting to take notice.” On caucus day itself, when NBC’s Savannah Guthrie asked about Hunter’s work in Ukraine, Biden snapped, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Amazing. Stable Genius?  

People are starting to have questions about Joe Biden. So if Trump knocked out one of his most likely challengers -- then there are more.If you want an analogy, think of Nixon's dirty trick that derailed the Muskie campaign of 1972. I'm not saying that Muskie had a real chance to defeat Nixon in 1972...

Trump is exposed for what he is even if he avoided being removed from office due to a near-party-line decision. The only Senate Republican who comes off looking good in this is Mitt Romney, whose warning about Trump in 2016 has proved true.

Democrats cannot fully undo the 2014 wave in the Senate, but they certainly have fresh ammunition against those Senate Republicans who voted to acquit Trump.

...I am reminded of "Big Julie", the Chicago gangster from "East Cicero, Illinois" (who pronounced the final "s" in "Illinois") in Guys and Dolls. "Big Julie" was modeled after Al Capone to a considerable extent, and despite all the efforts of law enforcement he could proudly state while at a prayer meeting (really -- saying how that happens introduces a spoiler into a fine stage play and a watchable movie) when he is asked to confess his sins:

"Toity-tree arrests and no convictions"

Trump has Mob connections -- Italian and Russian -- so the analogy does not fall apart.  Note that the word "convictions" has two significant meanings that create some ambiguities. The word can refer to judgments of criminal wrongdoing... or to strongly-held ethical beliefs.

If there is any truth to the allegations of grabbing women by their crotches, then he should have gone to prison a long time ago. I do not have a daughter, but if she had an encounter with someone who grabbed her by the "kitty-cat" without her consent I would advise her to prosecute if an adult -- and I would insist upon prosecution if she were underage. In Michigan such behavior (without consent or if she is underage) is criminal sexual conduct if there is no penetration and rape if there is penetration. Maybe the future President was bloviating... but good people do not brag about evil deeds that they don't do.         

[Pericles]

Given Biden is getting so little enthusiasm, campaigns so badly and gets such bad results, he probably was always overrated and the Democrats have a stronger candidate. If Biden loses the nomination and Trump helped that outcome happen, he may have done Democrats a favor (and the country too). However, most likely Burisma had no effect on the outcome either way-Democratic voters aren't going to be open to Trump's messages.