So the impeachment hearings have begun. The GOP got what they wanted—public hearings—and naturally Trump is complaining about there being public hearings. Because what he wants, what he believes, is that he should be above investigation. His lawyer actually stood in a court of law and stated that if Trump gunned down a man on 5th Avenue, he shouldn’t be able to be investigated. Indeed, the next step in Trump’s incessant tax dodge is to try and bring it before the Supreme Court and see if his handpicked judges decide to overturn the 1970s court ruling that helped sink Nixon.
My guess? They will.
Because as far as Trump’s supporters are concerned, this country is no longer about the Constitution, no longer about serving the people, no longer about anything except aiding them in holding onto power and doing whatever they want to do. That and demonizing Democrats, including blocking all the House’s efforts to pass laws and then accusing them of being the “do nothing” Democrats. You know, not dissimilar from blaming a rape victim for dressing in a way that encouraged the crime. Not identical, obviously, but the same spirit: blame the people being abused for the actions of the criminal.
You know, kind of like what Trump is doing right now: He’s on Twitter accusing Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch of being incompetent. Of course he is. That’s the way what we loosely refer to as his mind operates. I’m sure that if Yovanovitch had a choice, she would be happy not to have to expose herself to this continuing butchery of her reputation.
Yet the GOP doesn’t seem to understand that, and they’re proving it as they continue to berate Adam Schiff for obviously changing his mind about calling the whistleblower. The reason for his deciding not to do so is obvious: Trump has stirred up his base, labelling the whistleblower a traitor and asserting that it’s a shame we’re not dealing with such a man in the way we did in the old days. We know full well that there are people out there—mostly in Florida, it seems—who would be more than happy to carry out Trump’s wishes. If the whistleblower were to go public, that would be the end of his life. Done. He’d be signing a death warrant for himself and quite possibly for his family as well. Plus everything he said has already been verified by other witnesses who were privy to the phone call, so exposing him to public view will accomplish nothing except put a time clock on how long he has to live. But that doesn’t stop the GOP from incessantly hammering away.
Why? Because they have no case. But in a classic example of misdirection they continue to try and draw peoples’ attention away from this fact, even though Trump keeps making it difficult. His timing of his tweet attacking Yovanovitch while she was testifying is just another case of proving that everyone who has ever worked for him has a reason to be afraid. Sooner or later he’s going to turn on Rudy Giuliani, and it will be fascinating to see what Giuliani does then to assure his role of being “the hero.”
Meanwhile people keep comparing this entire business to Richard Nixon, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it is completely different. Nixon, remember, put forward a veneer of civility and being presidential. It was only the release of the audio tapes which betrayed a foul-mouthed Nixon plotting his cover up that served as a cold dash of water on America’s face. They realized they were being lied to and their support of Nixon evaporated.
That’s not going to happen here.
People knew they were getting a lying dirtbag when they supported Trump. Since being elected he has lied publicly over 13,000 times and yet he still enjoys support on his base. Foul-mouthed? Trump uses profanity on Twitter, at rallies, at speeches. He’s normalized language that, if Obama used it, Congress would want to impeach him on that basis alone. His crime of extorting the president øf Ùkráìņë? He boasts that people should read the transcript, which PROVES THAT HE DID IT. He doesn’t care. His supporters don’t care. They have checked out on the entire concept of the Constitution, of civility, of the law. They’re too busy hating liberals to recognize what it is that Trump has done. “Leave it to the voters,” they declare. Right, because maybe they’re interested in seeing how many popular votes the Democrat can win by in the next election before the Electoral college goes to the GOP again.
We need to face facts: the GOP is not going to impeach Trump. They have thrown out any hope that they may remember the Constitution that they are sworn to protect. Instead they have sworn to protect the President and given up the notion that they are an equal branch to the Executive. They are laying the groundwork for an imperial presidency which they will only regret once the Democrats are back in charge of the White House
Let’s pray that happens sooner rather than later.
PAD
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I honestly believe that if the Dem candidate won the popular vote by 300 million and got 500 electoral votes, the right would start screaming about the “tyranny of the majority”. They are unhinged.
Geez PAD, now I understand why you’re such an awesome creator of fiction. You just laid out the whole story from the Earth 2 version of what’s going on. but lets get back to Earth 1. Here is how this will play out. The House, realizing just how stupid this whole sham is making them look, will not even have a vote.
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I mean, he really hurt that woman’s feelings and yet she couldn’t come up with a reason to impeach, same with the two tools from the day before, you know the guy who heard from his co-workers best friends, mother-in-laws, hair dresser about the phone call to the Ukraine. Um, no can’t find a reason to impeach. you know why? because there is nothing there other than he dared to get elected, he dared to beat that windbag Clinton with the electoral college vote, which is what we use, sorry about the popular vote not working out but I’m glad New York and California don’t get to pick the president year after year.
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Trump is not a politician, SURPRISE!!!!! you know that probably half of the Republicans want him out also. He is not one of them, he is not part of the political elite. He is stirring up all the šhìŧ that goes on in the whole fûçkìņg toilet called D.C. Folks are nervous, some lucrative side deals are going to disappear, you know like getting tens of thousands of dollars a month for doing nothing from a foreign country, gosh who could that be??
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I know you will give me the drink the conservative Kool-Aid response but what the hëll, this was fun to write. Not as good as the fiction you produce, it does not even come close,I bow before the master.
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I’m sure a minion or two will jump in and defend you, probably with the Kool-Aid comment or something else just as original.
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You know he is going to be reelected right? The great unwashed and obviously not to bright folks, are going to put him back in the White House. You will have another $ years of Freak Out Fridays to write better get that thinking cap on.
Pat,
OF COURSE there will not be a vote. Not the purpose of this at all. The sole reason for this charade is to defeat Trump next fall. If they had a vote, then the GOP would then go and find another candidate. Like most big lies, you have to keep shouting it, and shouting it and shouting it till it becomes the TRUTH!!!!!
Thank you Mr. David for another concise, thoughtful analysis on last week’s events. Nice job presenting a blend of passionate information. Keep up the good work.
I wrote the following earlier to someone who said he/she was thinking of no longer reading the website because of the quality of the comment, but comments for that page were closed. They still apply here, more recently.
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I am not meaning this disrespectfully, but perhaps for you the solution is what so many others than John Oliver (who seems to get a kick out of them) do with regard to YouTube or Twitter:
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Don’t read the comments.
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You originally came here for Peter’s writing (as I presume we all did) — just read him here. Eventually we’ll get back to discussing his fiction simply because keeping such a mad on for so long is self-destructive, and Peter himself is smart enough to know he is going to have to let go of Trump and Trumpeters every so often just for his own good.
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It’s something I have done by force of will on Facebook, because if I commented in rage about everything which enrages me by or about Trump every time it occurs, people would stop reading my comments, too.
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And guys (you know who you are) when your writing comes down to nothing but constant repetition of “go fûçk yourself,” “you’re an asshat,” and pretending to write like Elmer Fudd when he was a child, it is more than definitely time to step away from the keyboard. Take a break. Re-read some of Peter’s books — you can’t have read every single thing he’s written, ever, have you? Buy some you haven’t read yet, putting money in his pockets and family budget he more than deserves for the quality of his work.
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Then come back and comment on those you’ve read, old or new. We will all be the better for it.
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Again, no disrespect intended toward anybody. As Quark pointed out to the Vulcan lady (Maquis member? — I can’t remember at this second), peace is also a commodity which you can buy at a bargain price and sell dearly. Let’s all do some of that.
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Good wishes to all.
I wrote the following earlier to someone who said he/she was thinking of no longer reading the website because of the quality of the comments, but comments for that page were closed. What I wrote still applies here more recently.
.
———————–
I am not meaning this disrespectfully, but perhaps for you the solution is what so many others than John Oliver (who seems to get a kick out of them) do with regard to YouTube or Twitter:
.
Don’t read the comments.
.
You originally came here for Peter’s writing (as I presume we all did) — just read him here. Eventually we’ll get back to discussing his fiction simply because keeping such a mad on for so long is self-destructive, and Peter himself is smart enough to know he is going to have to let go of Trump and Trumpeters every so often just for his own good.
.
It’s something I have done by force of will on Facebook, because if I commented in rage about everything which enrages me by or about Trump every time it occurs, people would stop reading my comments, too.
.
And guys (you know who you are) when your writing comes down to nothing but constant repetition of “go fûçk yourself,” “you’re an asshat,” and pretending to write like Elmer Fudd when he was a child, it is more than definitely time to step away from the keyboard. Take a break. Re-read some of Peter’s books — you can’t have read every single thing he’s written, ever, have you? Buy some you haven’t read yet, putting money in his pockets and family budget he more than deserves for the quality of his work.
.
Then come back and comment on those you’ve read, old or new. We will all be the better for it.
.
Again, no disrespect intended toward anybody. As Quark pointed out to the Vulcan lady (Maquis member? — I can’t remember at this second), peace is also a commodity which you can buy at a bargain price and sell dearly. Let’s all do some of that.
.
Good wishes to all.