Is Donald Trump Done for?

[Gori the Grey]

Impeachment will drown out everything else, Senate won't care, Trump campaigns on being vindicated.

Here's what happens if you don't do it. Trump claims even greater vindication--even Democrats realized there was nothing there!
And your Democratic voters, who voted you in in large measure to keep this guy in check, feel no reason to vote Democrat in the upcoming election.

Besides, impeaching him forces all Republican senators to go on record supporting lawlessness. There'll be some districts states where that means they lose their seat.

Edit: Oops, I see my mess-up, so I fixed it. I had House districts in mind also. They'll have voted not to impeach, before senators vote not to remove. And yes, I should have said "may."

 

[Lexicus]

Besides, impeaching him forces all Republican senators to go on record supporting lawlessness. There'll be some districts where that means they lose their seat.

Like which districts? Which Senators?

 

[rah]

I'm suspect also.

 

[Gori the Grey]

McSally, Gardner, Tillis, Collins

 

[Phrossack]

Today, Rick Perry declared that Trump is the Chosen One sent by God. .

I truly believe that if Trump told his followers to murder every Democrat they knew, they would do it. They have defended him every step of the way, and the more obscene, cruel, and inhumane things he does, the more they like him. He has a cult that sincerely believes he is the Messiah returned. While not all Republican voters belong to this cult, all of them are willing to tolerate it.

At some point we have to acknowledge that the US is no longer united. A very large portion of the country wants an absolutist monarch who claims divine right to rule, and who grants them extra privileges at the expense of everyone else. And another large portion of the country isn't crazy about this but is willing to tolerate it indefinitely without opposition. Only a minority of Americans oppose an absolutist theocracy. And they're largely unarmed, unorganized, and untrained for conflict.

Peace will not and cannot last like this.

 

[Kyriakos]

The division is here to stay.

 

[Lexicus]

McSally, Gardner, Tillis, Collins

Good luck with that.

 

[Sommerswerd]

The division is here to stay.

Canada wouldn't have us. They don't want to deal with all our issues and bs.

Today, Rick Perry declared that Trump is the Chosen One sent by God. I truly believe that if Trump told his followers to murder every Democrat they knew, they would do it.

I don't think it's anywhere near this. Most Trump voters are just Republicans... regular, vanilla, run-of-the-mill Republicans, who are going to vote for the Republican nominee, whether its Daffy Duck, Odin the Allfather or Rick Santorum. They aren't going along with any murder-suicide pact or secession pact or any other such craziness... and if there were anything like that going on they would deny that its even happening and call it Fake News liberal hysteria, because that's what the FOX would say it was.

I thing the grim truth is that the Democrats need to be running a lot more young, exciting, charismatic candidates to capture the sentiment of voters, and then start engaging in more uncompromising down-and-dirty-guerilla warfare tactics in Congress, to slowly pry out the system/rules the Republicans put in place to gain their outsized share of power. It's not sexy or inspiring, and it won't take place quickly, but it seems like that is where we are.​

 

[Traitorfish]

Only a minority of Americans oppose an absolutist theocracy.

This seems like a very mild exaggeration.

 

[Lexicus]

If you replace "absolutist theocracy" with "fascist state" it is probably even less of an exaggeration

 

[Phrossack]

Canada wouldn't have us. They don't want to deal with all our issues and bs.I don't think it's anywhere near this. Most Trump voters are just Republicans... regular, vanilla, run-of-the-mill Republicans, who are going to vote for the Republican nominee, whether its Daffy Duck, Odin the Allfather or Rick Santorum. They aren't going along with any murder-suicide pact or secession pact or any other such craziness... and if there were anything like that going on they would deny that its even happening and call it Fake News liberal hysteria, because that's what the FOX would say it was.

I thing the grim truth is that the Democrats need to be running a lot more young, exciting, charismatic candidates to capture the sentiment of voters, and then start engaging in more uncompromising down-and-dirty-guerilla warfare tactics in Congress, to slowly pry out the system/rules the Republicans put in place to gain their outsized share of power. It's not sexy or inspiring, and it won't take place quickly, but it seems like that is where we are.​

This seems like a very mild exaggeration.

While Perry did say he also saw Obama as "chosen," more than a few Republicans sincerely believe Trump was chosen by God to save America. It's also fair to say most Republicans do not oppose any of his overreaches of power. And Republicans make up a rather large minority of the country. When you combine them with the "moderates," compulsive centrists, and people who are permanently indifferent to politics, you'll find a majority of Americans either approve of unlimited power in the hands of a "divinely inspired" ruler, or aren't sufficiently bothered by this to vote against such a ruler. Disapproving of a divine-right elected monarch without voting against him is not opposition; it is indifference.

 

[Estebonrober]

So once again Trump is not done for. More wasted time, and hopefully the next phase won't prevent Bernie from campaigning so that he may be stuck in a procedure which obviously won't lead to Trump being removed.

In the meantime, as a consequence of the impeachment proceedings, Trump got a free pass on making US policy in the middle east even more catastrophic. But that is small fry - the main thing is to try and fail to remove him cause this will surely make his numbers fall.
One has to ask oneself: if Trump's numbers still haven't fallen, after being an international cretin for 3 years, whose fault is it exactly? Surely not the DNC's. I guess that leaves the public.

Yes it leaves the public. Blaming democrats for republicans forgetting the essence of the nation they are living in is not reasonable. The public has lied itself into a mental pretzel that is likely unbreakable. Its self referential conspiratorial reality creation.

 

[Traitorfish]

While Perry did say he also saw Obama as "chosen," more than a few Republicans sincerely believe Trump was chosen by God to save America. It's also fair to say most Republicans do not oppose any of his overreaches of power. And Republicans make up a rather large minority of the country. When you combine them with the "moderates," compulsive centrists, and people who are permanently indifferent to politics, you'll find a majority of Americans either approve of unlimited power in the hands of a "divinely inspired" ruler, or aren't sufficiently bothered by this to vote against such a ruler. Disapproving of a divine-right elected monarch without voting against him is not opposition; it is indifference.

I don't think you're being entirely honest, here. You're identifying Republican power-grabs with a move towards, as you phrase it, theocratic autocracy, or as Lex phrases it, a fascist state, and concluding that because only a minority of Americans are opposed to these power-grabs, only a minority are opposed to autocracy and/or fascism. But the identification of these power-grabs with a autocracy and/or fascism is non-obvious, and is not widely shared, even among people who oppose it.

I think the degree to which many Americans are content to let a bunch of sociopathic grifters re-write the rulebook of civic life to suit themselves is troubling, but I don't think it pays to over-dramatise it.

 

[Lexicus]

But the identification of these power-grabs with a autocracy and/or fascism is non-obvious, and is not widely shared, even among people who oppose it.

Really? Trump's power-grabs are not readily identifiable as autocratic? Maybe fascist is too strong a word but to say they are not obviously autocratic is obviously ridiculous.

 

[Mouthwash]

I think the degree to which many Americans are content to let a bunch of sociopathic grifters re-write the rulebook of civic life to suit themselves is troubling

 

[Phrossack]

I don't think you're being entirely honest, here. You're identifying Republican power-grabs with a move towards, as you phrase it, theocratic autocracy, or as Lex phrases it, a fascist state, and concluding that because only a minority of Americans are opposed to these power-grabs, only a minority are opposed to autocracy and/or fascism. But the identification of these power-grabs with a autocracy and/or fascism is non-obvious, and is not widely shared, even among people who oppose it.

I think the degree to which many Americans are content to let a bunch of sociopathic grifters re-write the rulebook of civic life to suit themselves is troubling, but I don't think it pays to over-dramatise it.

I am being honest, and I'd thank you not to imply otherwise. Say I'm not being fair or accurate if you like, but not "dishonest."

When Trump's lawyers publicly declare that he has unlimited immunity to all laws, and when the GOP spent eight years blocking everything Obama did while demanding unlimited obedience to Trump, how is that "non-obvious"? When the administration defies every subpoena, and accuses the whistleblower(s) of treason, how is that not obvious?

Republicans *know* it's authoritarian, and they approve because he's *their* authoritarian. Moderates, compulsive centrists, and the permanently indifferent either know it is by now, and choose not to meaningfully oppose it, or are somehow blissfully unaware, and aren't opposing it.

 

[El_Machinae]

Pride has become a happy event, many of which you can bring your families to. I'm not nostalgic for the time when the pride parade had to wear hoods covering their faces to prevent them from being beaten and oppressed in their private lives. Because that used to be the Civic Norm.

 

[Mouthwash]

Pride has become a happy event, many of which you can bring your families to. I'm not nostalgic for the time when the pride parade had to wear hoods covering their faces to prevent them from being beaten and oppressed in their private lives. Because that used to be the Civic Norm.

Kind of missed the point there.

 

[Traitorfish]

Really? Trump's power-grabs are not readily identifiable as autocratic? Maybe fascist is too strong a word but to say they are not obviously autocratic is obviously ridiculous.

When Trump's lawyers publicly declare that he has unlimited immunity to all laws, and when the GOP spent eight years blocking everything Obama did while demanding unlimited obedience to Trump, how is that "non-obvious"? When the administration defies every subpoena, and accuses the whistleblower(s) of treason, how is that not obvious?

Republicans *know* it's authoritarian, and they approve because he's *their* authoritarian. Moderates, compulsive centrists, and the permanently indifferent either know it is by now, and choose not to meaningfully oppose it, or are somehow blissfully unaware, and aren't opposing it.

I think Trump, personally, believes himself to be an autocrat, and attempts to act as one. I don't think it follows that he is right, or that it is working. If he's a dictator, he's a deeply ineffectual one. Most of the really sinister work done by the Republican Party seems to be emanating from the legislative wing of the party, who I don't think have any strong interest in creating an autocrat who might break free of their influence. They're more interested in entrenching themselves in the legislature, in the supreme court, and at the state level, than erecting an autocracy that could easily escape their control. The United States is not a post-Soviet state, it doesn't need iron-handed strongmen just to keep the fabric of the state together, nor are the Republicans the sort of idealists who need a Leader to bring them into a better tomorrow. (Even if a lot of Trump supporters would subscribe to both claims.) The Republican leadership want a managed democracy, and Trump is a tool which has presented himself to that end.

I think you would have a hard time arguing that homosexuality only achieved widespread social acceptance after large companies recognised Pride as a good PR opportunity.

 

[Takhisis]

Mouthwash could have pointed out Google's intention to take over the world as we do every night, Pinky with something that did not immediately tie them to his well-known homophobia.