KevinC
2061
He might, but the Democrats are going to impeach him, right? That’s pretty severe, it’s only happened a few times in our country’s history. It’s an extreme measure and the strongest action the House can take.
You say “Democrats will do nothing”, but they’re impeaching the motherfucker. That’s… not “doing nothing”. All this dirt that’s coming up? It’s from the impeachment process, the subpoenas, the investigation. It’s pushing poll numbers to the point where a majority of Americans now support impeaching and removing Donald Trump. That’s a long way from where we were where the support of that languished in the 30’s. That’s all due to efforts on the part of the Democrats.
So again, how are they doing nothing? Maybe the Senate refuses to convict, but that’s not due to the Democrats not doing anything. What else do you expect them to be doing?
CraigM
2062
The problem isn’t doing nothing, it is that their best efforts and available remedies aren’t enough.
Impeaching is good, but Moscow Mitch acquitting in the senate means it is largely for show. That’s not the Dems fault, but the system is failing the same.
Should he actually try to retain office after losing it, that’s when I’d really worry about violence. However, what I think we’ll see is bluster, threats of lawsuits, claims of shenanigans, etc., but no actual efforts to overturn the vote.
Then again, I’m an optimist.
KevinC
2064
Even if he does step aside, my worry lies in him ranting about it being “rigged” and how the election was “stolen” from him, followed by a call to the “second amendment” people to do something about it. All to assuage his ego.
Trump supporters truly believe there is a corrupt Deep State looking to thwart him, and that he is a bastion against that corruption. That he is our savior and is doing everything he can to Make American Great Again, but the Deep State are traitors.
ShivaX
2065
He has thousands of people waiting for him to give the word to start killing people.
If he loses he’s going to prison. He’ll give them that word.
Lantz
2066
Fundamentally I think it comes down to how hard Americans punishes the Republicans for pulling all this shit. In the long run the only feasible balance for any tyrant or kleptocracy is the people refusing it.
Then we’ll line him up against the wall for treason.
ShivaX
2068
At best it would likely be incitement to violence. But it wouldn’t matter because adding years onto the sentence of a man who was already going to die in prison wont mean much and those people they kill will still be dead.
The blood will be on their hands. But being afraid that his followers will kill if he loses isn’t a reason to give up.
antlers
2070
The Republicans have framed it as “People like you are losing control of the country” which is very scary and effective for a majority of white people. The possibility of Republicans being punished for this is small in large swaths of the country.
Even the Democrats’ best argument, that the Republicans are trying to implement a lawless, Putin-style autocracy, won’t sway a lot of voters, who have been so terrified that they welcome a dictatorship.
Menzo
2071
Which is a good point. They may think Trump is terrible, but he’s preferable to the alternative of being forced into a gay marriage with a transexual Muslim robot and then driven from their homes by roving gangs of “rural” thugs who then steal their votes and take their jobs.
I’ll never be more happy to be wrong than I will be if this motherfucker is removed from office. I don’t think it will happen. The world feels like it’s sliding into authoritarianism, everywhere.
I’m suddenly reminded of the “this of the future democrats want” meme.
Clay
2074
Can you do another one that says, “Trump will never resign before Christmas.” for me, please?
Need. Damn. Like. Button.
We are at last at the “but that baby had it coming” phase.
Shameless self-quote from June 2017:
Re: the G7 meeting at a Trump hotel. The Dems in Congress have already done what they can to stop this:
Two of the House-passed spending bills, State and Foreign Operations and Financial Services and General Government, included language blocking the use of funds for the G-7 were it to be held at a Trump property.
Of course, Donnie knew this and did it anyway, so clearly he gives no fucks about getting a budget passed.
Which means rebellion if the institutions and leaders fail. Watering the tree of liberty, as our founders put it. The fact that power ultimately lies with the people doesn’t save us from violence and doesn’t mean everything is fine.
I think Democracy is still holding the line in Britain and the EU, probably Canada too. America is going to have a pretty rough test, but I wouldn’t count us out yet. More than half the country has disapproved of Trump for most of his tenure. It’s always possible people will choose white male kleptocracy over a woman who might raise their taxes (again), but given how thoroughly his character has been exposed, I think Trump has an uphill battle to get within the structural advantage / cheating distance again.
The worse this story gets, the harder it is for Gardner, Collins, McSally, Tillis, and maybe even Perdue, Cornyn, and Moscow Mitch (if they get strong challengers …ahem…Beto…ahem…Abrams…ahem) to have to vote on impeachment either way. It also gets difficult to see how he wins the midwest states he needs when it’s not racism and populism against technocracy but rather racism and scandal against populism in places that are really hurting from things he specifically did (like the trade war).
All those things might not matter. But if they don’t then it means that literally the worst possible candidate can win if he has the loyalty of the GOP and its media enablers. There is no way to argue that the winner of the Dem primary is again the worst candidate ever the way people did with Hillary, so if the Pocohontas “scandal” and presence of tits is enough to get Trump elected, we are not actually in a democracy any more, but rather a propaganda-supported monarchy.
