bearister said:

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Impeachment isn't the answer to America's political crisis


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/26/impeachment-america-political-crisis-donald-trump-centrists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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On the merits of the article, I disagree.

The American government doesn't need to agree with all of my positions to function. The political crisis is not that we have a right winged president. I may not like it, but that is not the crisis. A centrist president isn't a problem. A liberal president isn't a problem (or the only solution).

The crisis is that having an unstable, egomaniac, liar as president who doesn't know what he is doing and won't listen to those that do. I would gladly take any other Republican president, even Nixon, in my lifetime because whether I liked their methods, policies, or solutions, I believe that they all did what they thought was best for the county rather than themselves. I believe that they tried to do right all Americans rather than punish their rivals (okay, that last one might not apply to Nixon).

Republicans are not the crisis. Centrists are not the crisis. Donald Trump is the crisis.

I could think of a lot of things that I think would improve government. Eliminate the filibuster. Take away the power of the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader to determine the entire legislative agenda. Would be easy. Every bill is loaded into a database. If a majority go in and click to request a vote on the bill, it gets voted on. I'd also give the president the power to call for a vote on a bill. Get Congress working again.

But there is a difference between dysfunction, which is a normal issue, and crisis which is a Trump issue.

OaktownBear said:

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bearister said:

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Impeachment isn't the answer to America's political crisis


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/26/impeachment-america-political-crisis-donald-trump-centrists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

---

On the merits of the article, I disagree.

The American government doesn't need to agree with all of my positions to function. The political crisis is not that we have a right winged president. I may not like it, but that is not the crisis. A centrist president isn't a problem. A liberal president isn't a problem (or the only solution).

The crisis is that having an unstable, egomaniac, liar as president who doesn't know what he is doing and won't listen to those that do. I would gladly take any other Republican president, even Nixon, in my lifetime because whether I liked their methods, policies, or solutions, I believe that they all did what they thought was best for the county rather than themselves. I believe that they tried to do right all Americans rather than punish their rivals (okay, that last one might not apply to Nixon).

Republicans are not the crisis. Centrists are not the crisis. Donald Trump is the crisis.

I could think of a lot of things that I think would improve government. Eliminate the filibuster. Take away the power of the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader to determine the entire legislative agenda. Would be easy. Every bill is loaded into a database. If a majority go in and click to request a vote on the bill, it gets voted on. I'd also give the president the power to call for a vote on a bill. Get Congress working again.

But there is a difference between dysfunction, which is a normal issue, and crisis which is a Trump issue.

---

I agree Trump has brought instability, chaos and lying to the presidency but the GOP have been a big part of the problem as enablers who have lined up behind Trump in lockstep and fear. The GOP once had the interest of the U.S. in mind and how the GOP viewed Nixon said a lot but with Trump the GOP have sat on their hands and have given Trump a free pass on his behavior.

OaktownBear said:

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bearister said:

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Impeachment isn't the answer to America's political crisis


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/26/impeachment-america-political-crisis-donald-trump-centrists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

---

On the merits of the article, I disagree.

The American government doesn't need to agree with all of my positions to function. The political crisis is not that we have a right winged president. I may not like it, but that is not the crisis. A centrist president isn't a problem. A liberal president isn't a problem (or the only solution).

The crisis is that having an unstable, egomaniac, liar as president who doesn't know what he is doing and won't listen to those that do. I would gladly take any other Republican president, even Nixon, in my lifetime because whether I liked their methods, policies, or solutions, I believe that they all did what they thought was best for the county rather than themselves. I believe that they tried to do right all Americans rather than punish their rivals (okay, that last one might not apply to Nixon).

Republicans are not the crisis. Centrists are not the crisis. Donald Trump is the crisis.

I could think of a lot of things that I think would improve government. Eliminate the filibuster. Take away the power of the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader to determine the entire legislative agenda. Would be easy. Every bill is loaded into a database. If a majority go in and click to request a vote on the bill, it gets voted on. I'd also give the president the power to call for a vote on a bill. Get Congress working again.

But there is a difference between dysfunction, which is a normal issue, and crisis which is a Trump issue.

---

Trump is the immediate crisis, but there is another GOP-driven crisis that has been slower-growing. The issue is not conservative policies (though I think most of those are bad), but rather the Republican Party's efforts to continue pushing those policies with a minority of the vote. If I'm outvoted, so be it, but since I became a voting adult (in 1998) I've seen two very bad Republican presidents elected with a minority of the vote, popular legislation held up in the Senate because of states with fewer people outvoting states with more people, blatant partisan gerrymandering all across the country (the lion's share of it benefiting Republicans), and fresh new efforts to restrict voting rights, entirely driven by Republicans. That's not being outvoted, that's someone grabbing power and then changing the rules so it's harder for you to win.

The only solution to that is making sure Republicans lose and then rewriting the rules to make it more fair.

Another Bear said:

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OaktownBear said:

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bearister said:

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Impeachment isn't the answer to America's political crisis


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/26/impeachment-america-political-crisis-donald-trump-centrists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

---

On the merits of the article, I disagree.

The American government doesn't need to agree with all of my positions to function. The political crisis is not that we have a right winged president. I may not like it, but that is not the crisis. A centrist president isn't a problem. A liberal president isn't a problem (or the only solution).

The crisis is that having an unstable, egomaniac, liar as president who doesn't know what he is doing and won't listen to those that do. I would gladly take any other Republican president, even Nixon, in my lifetime because whether I liked their methods, policies, or solutions, I believe that they all did what they thought was best for the county rather than themselves. I believe that they tried to do right all Americans rather than punish their rivals (okay, that last one might not apply to Nixon).

Republicans are not the crisis. Centrists are not the crisis. Donald Trump is the crisis.

I could think of a lot of things that I think would improve government. Eliminate the filibuster. Take away the power of the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader to determine the entire legislative agenda. Would be easy. Every bill is loaded into a database. If a majority go in and click to request a vote on the bill, it gets voted on. I'd also give the president the power to call for a vote on a bill. Get Congress working again.

But there is a difference between dysfunction, which is a normal issue, and crisis which is a Trump issue.

---

I agree Trump has brought instability, chaos and lying to the presidency but the GOP have been a big part of the problem as enablers who have lined up behind Trump in lockstep and fear. The GOP once had the interest of the U.S. in mind and how the GOP viewed Nixon said a lot but with Trump the GOP have sat on their hands and have given Trump a free pass on his behavior.

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There is no question they have enabled, largely, I believe, out of fear. They care about their jobs too much. But my point is that is dysfunction that is helping the crisis isn't the same as the crisis. If Trump were gone, the crisis would be gone.

Of course, in this case, Trump being removed from office would mean that at least some of the enablers decided to stop enabling (Michael Murphy, long time political strategist and anti-Trump republican said he believes from conversations with senators that if Trump were impeached and there was a secret ballot, 30 republican senators would vote to convict.

The scariest thing about Trump is that whether Trump is the fascist to bring down the democracy, what we've seen is the blueprint for how it would be done with Congress doing nothing. Republicans too afraid to do anything, and Democrats (until now) letting everything go hoping to win the next election. I'm not sure what would have moved the Democratic leadership other than directly attacking their lead candidate in illegal fashion. As I said elsewhere, IMO they had no choice at this point.

My take on the Dems is Nancy Pelosi did the math on the Mueller report and there was simply no way to get through a 400 page report that took a year, and get the public behind it. Then there was constant distractions, chaos and hammering from the GOP. The whole Mueller report was just too hairy for the looking at your phone age. Pelosi knew it was a losing proposition....there was no traction.

For Ukraine-gate, whole other story. Major traction. The CIA official who wrote the whistleblower report was trained to get the details and he didn't fail, it appears. Trump was running a mob shake down, one on one but with capos and consigliere...but's no internet, vague association, etc. Pelosi did the math and gauged public sentiment, correctly I believe and said it was time. And right, there was no choice. The illegality is glaring.

In any case, while this whole deal just shot out of the cannon, I think it's going to slow down...instead of a massive brutal hammering, Trump will get the drip, drip, drip torture.

If Nancy Pelosi gets Trump removed from office she will go down among the savviest of politicos to ever walk the halls of Congress. She's already way up there.

bearister said:

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Impeachment isn't the answer to America's political crisis


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/26/impeachment-america-political-crisis-donald-trump-centrists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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Really???
Because I thought assassination was out of the question.

sycasey said:

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concordtom said:

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Ha, listen to the part of Kellyanne Conway part. What a b!t*h.

I do worry, though, that bear2force is right in that too many people won't vote for a woman (Warren). We live in a sexist country, very much so, still.

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The "flyover states" everyone is so worried about (MN, WI, MI) all have women Senators, in some cases quite liberal ones (Tammy Baldwin). So I hardly think it's impossible for a Democratic woman to win the Presidential vote there.

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I hope you're right.
Did you read the post I made a couple months ago about my mini poll while waiting at a Walmart? I asked folks if they thought a woman could be president. I think it was 3 of 3 women said No, and they backed it up with opinions negative about women's abilities.
I was SHOCKED!! It became a bit of a comical conversation when I asked who paid the bills and ran the household (the women did) and pointed out that "But you're a woman, saying this about women--???!!!!!"

I think it's gotta be like racism, heightism, fatism..... genderism.
Subconscious.

OaktownBear said:

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Republicans are not the crisis. Centrists are not the crisis. Donald Trump is the crisis.

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Wrong. Donald Trump is the f***ing NIGHTMARE!

dajo9 said:

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If Nancy Pelosi gets Trump removed from office she will go down among the savviest of politicos to ever walk the halls of Congress. She's already way up there.

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A bronze statue in the halls of the Capitol!
A memorial on the D.C. Mall!
Nancy Pelosi International Airport!

concordtom said:

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sycasey said:

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concordtom said:

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Ha, listen to the part of Kellyanne Conway part. What a b!t*h.

I do worry, though, that bear2force is right in that too many people won't vote for a woman (Warren). We live in a sexist country, very much so, still.

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The "flyover states" everyone is so worried about (MN, WI, MI) all have women Senators, in some cases quite liberal ones (Tammy Baldwin). So I hardly think it's impossible for a Democratic woman to win the Presidential vote there.

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I hope you're right.
Did you read the post I made a couple months ago about my mini poll while waiting at a Walmart? I asked folks if they thought a woman could be president. I think it was 3 of 3 women said No, and they backed it up with opinions negative about women's abilities.
I was SHOCKED!! It became a bit of a comical conversation when I asked who paid the bills and ran the household (the women did) and pointed out that "But you're a woman, saying this about women--???!!!!!"

I think it's gotta be like racism, heightism, fatism..... genderism.
Subconscious.

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Subconscious sexism exists, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to overcome.

Another Bear said:

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In any case, while this whole deal just shot out of the cannon, I think it's going to slow down...instead of a massive brutal hammering, Trump will get the drip, drip, drip torture.

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I fear that the only drip, drip, drip that Trump is going to face will be that of a golden shower.

Looks like Pompeo has been subpoenaed to appear before three committees. Just waiting for the other members of the seven dwarfs and Gollum to get their subpoenas. Gollum is running all over the place throwing people under the bus like the Idiot in Chief has been doing since the transcript was released. Mulvaney, Pence, Perry, Volker, Barr, and Pompeo must be pissed that the Idiot in Chief has tossed their names to reporters as he goes on a tirade day after day. Their turn is coming next to testify before Congress.

The number of Trump collaborators involved in the crime and cover up is crazy. Besides the big names, there's a bunch of staffers. Of course Trump is the kind of guy who will absolutely throw anyone and everyone under the bus to save his own butt. The problem here is the one reaction to that is to flip on Trump. Given the numbers, you have to think someone will flip.

Crazy that ASU's Daily Cal gets this scoop.

B.A. Bearacus said:

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Crazy that ASU's Daily Cal gets this scoop.

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Like Rick Wilson's book title, "Everything Trump Touches Dies".

Rudy is the best friend a Democratic committee member could have and if you are in the State Dept. you can't stand the big mouth *****.

You can't make this **** up, apparently Rudy is going to participate in a Kremlin backed conference where individuals on the U.S. sanction list will be appearing and where Putin is scheduled to appear.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/giuliani-set-to-make-paid-appearance-next-week-at-kremlin-backed-conference-that-includes-putin/ar-AAHWXmD

The NRA said the cash might be a problem but truckloads of AR-15 rifles will be provided to tRump's Deplorables.



"The only way you are getting Mr. Trump is from our cold dead hands!"

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU has a decent rep.

Oh and BTW, from NPR, U.S. still has Russkie problem...
[url=https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals][/url]

Quote:

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NRA Was 'Foreign Asset' To Russia Ahead of 2016, New Senate Report Reveals

The National Rifle Association acted as a "foreign asset" for Russia in the period leading up to the 2016 election, according to a new investigation unveiled Friday by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Drawing on contemporaneous emails and private interviews, an 18-month probe by the Senate Finance Committee's Democratic staff found that the NRA underwrote political access for Russian nationals Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin more than previously known even though the two had declared their ties to the Kremlin.

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Trump can do more damage than Nixon. His impeachment is imperative


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/28/donald-trump-richard-nixon-impeachment-robert-reich?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

From the LA Times:

Quote:

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"At this point, [Trump] could be caught walking out of a Federal Reserve bank with two giant sacks of money in his hands and no Republican would vote to impeach him for grand larceny," said a senior Senate GOP aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"Our voters want two things from their congressmen: [dumping] on the media and blindly defending the president," the aide added. "That's what being a Republican has come to."

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Sounds about right. I wonder what percentage of Republicans lament what has become of the Republican party.

This could actually blow up to be something big. Think of the security server as Nixon's tapes. A lot of stuff on there that Trump and the GOP don't want out.

Report: White House hid Trump transcripts with Putin, Saudi royals\

Quote:

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The White House didn't just hide the Trump-Ukraine phone call, CNN reported last night it also locked down transcripts with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Saudi royal family, including crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Why it matters: This aligns with the whistleblower complaint, which noted that White House officials said there was a pattern of hiding personally sensitive phone calls on systems designed to protect national security secrets.

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B.A. Bearacus said:

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I saw The Specials in Burlington, VT in 1998 and it was an awesome show with tons of energy. But, damn those white boys can't dance.

Donald Trump should face the death penalty for treason

https://mol.im/a/7515883

bearister said:

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Donald Trump should face the death penalty for treason

https://mol.im/a/7515883

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bearister said:

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Donald Trump should face the death penalty for treason

https://mol.im/a/7515883

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Haha...that's coming from a GOP.

If Weld posted on Reddit he would garner a lifetime ban after his first comment.

Would you expect anything less from the son of a convicted felon that was was an enforcer for the mob?

Rudy Giuliani: Ukraine sources detail attempt to construct case against Biden


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/29/rudy-giuliani-ukraine-biden-trump-impeachment?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The GOP's top fast-yapping poodle spitting talking points and babble at Jake Tapper who isn't having it.