President Trump

[JimHow]

I’m just not seeing it.
You’re going to bring down the presidency, rip apart the soul of the county, over a silly phone call from Orange Head to the comedian president of Ukraine?
So the public knows about this call. We have a transcript. If the public thinks it’s so outrageous, they can vote him out.
But the nuclear war, country destroying option of IMPEACHMENT?
Give me a break.
Who’s gonna bring down Godzilla.
Gerry Nadler?
AOC??
Riiiiight.

[JimHow]

Whatever happened to those new bombshell allegations against Kavanaugh?
Whatever happened to the big bombshells we were going to get from Robert Mueller?
The failing New York Times and their new fake news Kavanaugh allegations.
Robert Mueller and his tens of millions spent that resulted in... absolutely nothing.
Talk about total lightweights.
Godzilla swats away the NYT, Robert Mueller, the Amazon Washington Post like they are mosquitoes.
And by the way, if we somehow get 20 Republican senators to switch over and convict (haaaaahaaaaa, haaa, omg, that is such a good one, I can’t stop laughing), we are left with... Mike Pence.
Oookay.
I am being totally honest when I say I would rather have closet left of center, closet pacifist Orange Head in there than Michael “Praise the Lord” Pence.
Election Day is only a year away, it would take that long to impeach and convict anyways.
The Democrats will rue the day they pursued impeachment and allowed Orange the victimhood card.

[Racer Chris]

Last night it was reported that the House has enough yes votes to Impeach.

[DavidG]

Impeachment is a "nuclear war, country destroying option" that will "rip apart the soul of the country?" Worse than what we have now? Where have you been the last few years? Enjoying your little patch of peace and prosperity as the real country destroying is proceeding apace from Trump's Constitution-mocking administration?

It’s time to stand up to the self-confessed brazen criminal acts and say it’s not ok to offer our tax dollars to another country in exchange for digging up dirt on a political opponent. What’s the point of our checks and balances if we never enforce them?

Doesn’t matter that there’s zero chance the Senate will convict. Might even be a good thing, as I agree with you about Pence. Impeachment is the right thing to do. Until recently I was of the opinion that if you go for the King, you best be successful. At this point, the political calculation is less convincing than the need to stand up for what’s right, regardless of what the Senate will do. Who knows, maybe this will work against R Senators in battleground states.

[JimHow]

A million times worse than what we have now David.
Impeachment in an election year....
It will energize the rabid Trump base even more, and turn off that rust belt swing vote against the weak knees Nadler crowd. And then you will get Orange Head for four MORE years.
I read the transcript of that call. I just don’t see the big constitutional level “threats” in that pleasant, joking, congratulatory call that the national Democratic Party sees.
Were you calling for impeachment after the Mueller report?
Were you calling for impeachment of Kavanaugh after that fake news story by the failing New York Times last week?
Where did those supposed earth-shattering “scandals” get the Dems?
So how many articles of impeachment are you calling for?
Are you lumping all of his “brazen criminal acts” from the past or just this 15 minute phone call with a comedian?
I guess time will tell. I’ve studied this guy pretty closely over the past four years, I predict this will backfire on the Democrats, just like impeachment of Clinton backfired on the Republicans.
Elections have consequences. Nothing we are seeing from Trump should be any surprise to anybody.
The citizens wanted a Molotov cocktail thrown into the swamp in 2016, and they got it.
If the Democrats didn’t like it they should have gotten their act together.

[Racer Chris]

Based on the last 24 hours news cycle I predict impeachment in 2019 is a near certainty.

[JimHow]

Impeachment... Eh, in this day and age, they are a dime a dozen.
Show me a conviction, now that would be news.

[jal]

I would love an impeachment, I just can't see how the Senate is going to go for one. I just hope Pelosi didn't overreach.

The hearings are incredibly long, almost unwatchable. Adam Schiff questioning Maguire just focuses on small insignificant details that make the whole affair look more petty than a pursuit of justice. I can see the Republicans classifying this as a witch hunt.

[JimHow]

I had to turn the sound off on Schiff, I couldn’t stand listening any more to the petty grade school attempts at “gotcha” over insignificant, petty points. This is going to be a disaster for the Dems.

[DavidG]

Jim, I was not for impeachment after the Mueller report. I was for throwing the crook in jail after his term ends.

I dont know about Kavanaugh. Too many claims to ignore but not enough proof to impeach. The time to gather evidence was before confirmation. Grassley and the Rs effectively prevented that in yet another demonstration of their willingness to place party over country.

I disagree deeply with your characterization of Trump's activities as trivial. And with your position that an impeachment in an election year would be worse than doing nothing.

[JimHow]

I don't know if I would use the word "trivial," but I'm just saying that the results of a national election can't just be reversed except upon the most serious of charges, and I'm just not seeing that here.

[DavidG]

Soliciting foreign interference to assist with your re-election is plenty serious in my book, and it deserves to be addressed with impeachment in the House. It should be followed by conviction in the Senate but we both know that's extremely unlikely to happen.

[JimHow]

Eh, then you would have impeached John Kennedy for his secret activities.
And LBJ, of course.
And Nixon, of course.
Maybe not Ford and Carter, but certainly Reagan for Iran-Contra and other stuff.
Clinton committed felonies (and war crimes?) while in office, he was impeached.
W of course should have been impeached.

Let's impeach them all, i say....

[Racer Chris]

Soliciting foreign interference to assist with your re-election is plenty serious in my book,
...

This was not solicitation. It was extortion.

[JimHow]

John Kennedy was screwing underage interns in the White House, Bill Clinton was ejaculating in the Oval Office onto the face and dress of young Monica.
Oh, the outrage at Trump's behavior from the Democrats....
He that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone....

[JimHow]

If this conduct with the Unkrainian president is as outrageous as the Democrats say it is, then surely the American people will rise up in their indignation and vote the bum out in overwhelming numbers. What's the problem. Exactly the way the system is supposed to work.

[JimHow]

A good article by Karl Rove:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pelosis-ci ... opin_pos_1

The Democrats, architects of the Steele dossier, complaining about Trump working with Russians to dig up dirt on a political opponent. That's rich.

[Racer Chris]

A good article by Karl Rove:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pelosis-ci ... opin_pos_1

The Democrats, architects of the Steele dossier, complaining about Trump working with Russians to dig up dirt on a political opponent. That's rich.

Paying a private company for research on one's political opponent is not equivalent to indebting the nation to a foreign power by "asking for a favor".

[Racer Chris]

If this conduct with the Unkrainian president is as outrageous as the Democrats say it is, then surely the American people will rise up in their indignation and vote the bum out in overwhelming numbers. What's the problem. Exactly the way the system is supposed to work.

Impeachment of a President who acts as though he is above the law is exactly the way the system is supposed to work. He was explicitly warned by the FBI Director and the Chairperson of the FEC that accepting foreign assistance to one's campaign is against the law. In this case, not only did he do that, but he leveraged money belonging the US public for personal benefit in the effort.
The House goes on a 2 week recess after tomorrow. Lets see how the representatives fare in their Town Hall meetings.

[JimHow]

"Paying a private company..."

You mean funneling money through a private company to contact a foreign government about dirt on your political opponent....

Why didn't Hillary and the Dems just disclose it up front if it was so legitimate?

So you were okay with the Trump Tower meetng then?

My Democratic House rep up here in the evenly split second CD isn't touching impeachment with a ten foot pole. Like Rove said, it is the moderate Dems in the swing vote districts who are going to be hurt by this. The AOCs are going to be just fine.

[Racer Chris]

"Paying a private company..."

You mean funneling money through a private company to contact a foreign government about dirt on your political opponent....

Why didn't Hillary and the Dems just disclose it up front if it was so legitimate?

So you were okay with the Trump Tower meetng then?

My Democratic House rep up here in the evenly split second CD isn't touching impeachment with a ten foot pole. Like Rove said, it is the moderate Dems in the swing vote districts who are going to be hurt by this. The AOCs are going to be just fine.

What foreign government did the Clinton Campaign get dirt from Jim?

The results of the research were so alarming that it was given to the FBI rather than use it in the campaign.

Veselnitskaya worked for the Russian Government. Of course I wasn't Ok with that.

Only 17 democratic members of the House are currently not in agreement with Pelosi's announcement of the Impeachment Inquiry this week. Your Rep must be one of those 17.

[JimHow]

Yes, that is correct, my rep is one of the 17.

Re the Steele dossier. A pretty good summary from Wikipedia of the way I've understood it, what is it about these facts that you dispute?

In October 2015, Fusion GPS was contracted by conservative political website The Washington Free Beacon to provide general opposition research on Trump and other Republican presidential candidates. In April 2016, an attorney for Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC separately hired Fusion GPS to investigate Trump, while The Free Beacon stopped its backing in May of 2016.[2] In June 2016, Fusion GPS subcontracted Steele's firm to compile the dossier. DNC officials denied knowing their attorney had contracted with Fusion GPS, and Steele asserted he was not aware the Clinton campaign was the recipient of his research until months after he contracted with Fusion GPS.[9][10] Following Trump's election as president, funding from Clinton and the DNC ceased, but Steele continued his research and was reportedly paid directly by Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn R. Simpson.[11] While compiling the dossier, Steele passed information to both British and American intelligence services.[12][13]

[AKR]

I love it. If we could only get DJT out that would bring v.President Pence, an outcome I would much prefer.

And on the plus side, impeachment would be part of his permanent record, he could never explain away.

History would have marked him for all time.

No gilt edged buildings with his name could erase that.

Melania would light into him with the shame he has brought too.

Everyone seems to have forgotten her culpability in this whole mess, when she got tired of his his "If I was President...." speeches and goaded him onto the hustings, with tragic results for her whole family.

[JimHow]

Yes, President Mike Pence... And for another 8 years after finishing up Orange Head's term.
Let's hope for that, fellow Dems....

[DavidG]

Jim, you are demonstrating false equivalence-itis at a level usually seen only in rabid Trump supporters. I’m starting to worry about you, man.

[Racer Chris]

Pence hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell of becoming president in a general election, and if he takes over for the remainder of Trump's term it will be entirely as a lame duck.

[JimHow]

Chris: ...and Donald Trump had no chance of getting elected in '16. Don't worry, it's a moot point, Mike Pence ain't gonna be president because DJT ain't gonna be convicted by the Senate. In fact, I'll make a prediction: He ain't gonna be impeached by the House either because the Dems will eventually see how much they are harming themselves and will end up not bringing articles.

David: Not at all, I'm a liberal Democrat who thinks Orange Head has been a disaster for the country. I'm just not afraid to call out the hypocricy and weakness in the Democratic Party establishment when I see it, like I did in 2016. i see the same mistakes coming in 2020.

[Blanquito]

Jim, you are demonstrating false equivalence-itis at a level usually seen only in rabid Trump supporters. I’m starting to worry about you, man.

Big + 1. Reading Jim’s posts here is like reading the WH’s talking points accidentally sent to the Democrats.

[Blanquito]

Jim and the GOP’s position is that we shouldn't investigate Trump's efforts to rig next year's election because hey, there's an election next year.

[JimHow]

Unlike you guys, I don't resort to insults ("enjoying my little patch of peace and prosperity") merely because I disagree with you.
It is you guys who are in lock-step with whatever the Democratic National Committee and the mainstream media feed you.
Would you like me to go back and pull out some quotes about how you guys were promising this Trump guy was gonna go down as soon as Bobby Mueller's report came out? Oh, boy, the Rachel Maddow crowd was in a fever pitch about the Russia inestigation... And then... nothing.
Or all the outrage from the Democrats just last week -- including some of the presidential candidates -- over the supposed new Kavanaugh revelations... which were quietly pushed to the inside pages by the accusing once-proud NYT and soon disappeared altogether.
And here we go again....
Okay, Patrick, I will bet you a 1989 Lynch Bages that this "treason" by Donald J. Trump does NOT result in impeachment and conviction by the Senate.

[DavidG]

Jim, I’ll agree that the Ds are guilty of hypocrisy and weakness, but that’s a separate issue.

Here's the false equivalence in your argument: putting illicit sex or hiring a private company for opportunity research on the same level as using taxpayer dollars to leverage a foreign government to file criminal charges against your opponent. The last President who did something similar was Nixon and he resigned. Yeah I know the break-in was a crime in itself but the abuse of power and interference in our electoral process was the heart of the issue. The duty to preserve our form of government mattered more than party loyalty and Nixon knew it. Not so much now.

Clinton was impeached, but not for the blow job. For lying about it under oath. He wasn’t removed from office. The country survived.

[JimHow]

That’s good that you’re not upset that Bill got a blow job in the Oval Office in a position of power over a young girl, David, I’m sure that Kirsten Gillibrand and some of the other little fillies in the Democratic fold wouldn’t have any problems if DJT did anything like that in the Oval Office.

But all the stuff that was supposedly promised from the multi-million dollar Mueller investigation... we heard about it, month after month after month from the MSNBC political “experts”... Was all that promised treason that never materialized a false equivalency as well?

I like Tulsi Gabbard, I’ve been wondering why she hasn’t caught on more. She comes from a liberal state, she seems to be showing admirable restraint in this whole afair, recognizing the harm that election year impeachment proceedings will bring to a hyper divided country.

[DavidG]

Unlike you guys, I don't resort to insults ("enjoying my little patch of peace and prosperity") merely because I disagree with you.

That was not meant as a personal insult. Apologies if it offended. It was meant to point out the hypocrisy of claiming it's a beautiful day in the Oval Office when you know it isn’t. Which is what it sounded like when you wrote this:

My life hasn't changed one iota because of Orange Head. If anything, I have more money in my pocket.
I mean, we're all doomed because of climate change, and younger women are losing their reproductive and other rights, but those are due to failures in the system unconnected to Trump. I think the Congress is a much bigger problem than the presidency. I have Trump friends, nobody is fighting each other in the streets, no signs of the militias coming out of the hills up here in Maine.

In any case, I’d rather stick to opinions about current events. You know I love you or I wouldn’t bother arguing with you.

[JimHow]

Ha of course you you guys know I say that stuff to present a different perspective.
As I have said many times...
Some of my best friends are Trump supporters.
I live here in the second congressional district of Maine... a blue state, but this CD... one of two in the state... went for Orange Head. There is another world out there outside of the liberal coasts and metropolitan areas.
Not everyone who is Republican is a bad guy.

[DavidG]

That’s good that you’re not upset that Bill got a blow job in the Oval Office in a position of power over a young girl, David, I’m sure that Kirsten Gillibrand and some of the other little fillies in the Democratic fold wouldn’t have any problems if DJT did anything like that in the Oval Office.

There you go again. I was very upset that Bill Clinton had sex with a woman he had power over. But it had almost nothing to do with running the country. Clinton and Trump evoke similar levels of disgust in me for their treatment of women. Clinton may have learned, or mellowed, or just become more discreet, but it doesn’t excuse his behavior.

I’m not a fan of Gillibrand's shoot first, ask questions later approach to sexual harassment claims. I think backlash against that attitude risks slowing the necessary progress in empowering women. Don’t you think the accused should have at least a tenth of the opportunity to defend themselves as Trump has?

[JimHow]

I have one goal: To see Orange Head defeated in 2020 and a Democrat elected.
He may be impeached but he won’t be convicted.
I think impeachment runs the risk getting Trump re-elected , that it will play to the gutter, where this political Godzilla is at his best, indeed, he is the best ever. I don’t think we can compete with him there, and I think impeachment will help, not hurt, his re-election chances in 2020. The Democrats are gonna screw this up again.

[JimHow]

I’ve said all along that Gillibrand was the one candidate I would have not voted for because of the way she treated Al Franken. And I don’t think Al should have resigned. This should have been between him and his constituents.

[Racer Chris]

I think Nancy Pelosi has this one. She won't screw it up.
I found this quote from her most recent telephone conversation with DJT very interesting: "You're in my wheelhouse now Donald."
The next day he released the July 25th phone call transcript, and the whistleblower complaint.

[JimHow]

I truly hope you are right, Chris.
All I want is a Democratic victory in 2020.

[JimHow]

You know, I've been watching Fox News all evening.
I realize we havent gotten to Tucker and Sean yet, but I gotta tell ya...
The News Division of Fox News?

I gotta tell ya...

Fair and balanced!

There, I said it. If you listened to the MSNBC crowd, you'd think these Fox reporters were all Orange Head lackeys. Not the case! I'm sorry, my liberal friends. As left as Rachel and friends? Certainly not. But completely biased for Orange? Absolutely not!

They are giving Kelly Conway et al a major hard time right now.