What?!? I’m trying to imagine the twisted world view that could possibly lead to this quote, and I’m coming up short.
Trump didn’t pay anything to Ukraine, he demanded payment FROM them in exchange for doing his job.
Last month, as part of my corporate job, I had to go through a short training course on corruption and bribery. This is something corporations require regularly for their employees that work with customers. That course clearly explained that bribery is when an official accepts anything of value (not just cash in a briefcase), in exchange for doing that official’s job. The exchange does not need to be explicitly written or even stated. This description of bribery fits Trump’s Ukraine dealings to a tee.
Yes there is a difference between a public official accepting a bribe and a public official offering a bribe.
A district attorney cannot accept a bribe to reduce someone’s sentence. That same district attorney can bribe a criminal with a reduced sentence to rat out another criminal.
A general cannot accept a bribe to depoly his troops in any way. That same general may be able to bribe a foreign military leader to deploy THEIR troops in some way.
A public official, especially one in the executive branch can bribe others in the execution of their executive function. I think where the you might be skipping the tracks is that you are pre-supposing that Trump did this for selfish purposes. I think it is very likely that he did this for selfish political reasons but he has an excuse, an alternative reason for why he asked for that investigation. You may not believe it but it is enough of a fig leaf for the Republican congressmen to reject the article of impeachment.
And he says he wasn’t doing it for political purposes. I’m pretty sure that his lawyers have all said this.
The executive function is not that of an automaton. He can withhold aid if he thinks it’s going to end up in a swiss bank account somewhere. I don’t believe it, but I don’t have to. So far all the testimony saying he did it for political gain is hearsay. I understand that Trump is blocking the direct testimony. I don’t disagree with you about trump in general but this is still at the moment a partisan issue.
That sounds like an opinion.
Where did I say this?
I just said that being a woman does not make her arguments any more substantive than a man’s. I’d rather not talk about her because despite her being in the pit, I don’t feel comfortable arguing with or about people that tell me that they are suicidal. Even if they are in the pit.
I suspect you have not voted for a Republican in at least 10 years. If you are a dedicated liberal, you weren’t going to vote for trump. If you are a dedicated conservative, you weren’t going to vote for hillary. If you are neither of those things, your vote might be up for grabs and trump did a much better job of getting your vote and appears to be doing a better job of getting your vote in 2020 too, and many liberals are complicit in the effort.
Apparently not to far if you are a republican congressman.
Yes, Ukraine is in fact a fairly corrupt place. Hunter Biden is a blight that peddles his family name for personal gain. It’s a wonder that he and trump aren’t best buddies. I put nothing past Hunter Biden, why do you?
They don’t give a shit. Sure, some of them drink his kool aid but a lot of them are clear eyed supporters because he is electable and he nominates conservative justices. If he can get another term you will be hoping beyond hope that RBG lasts through 2024 and Breyer isn’t young either.
Pelosi has all republican congressmen on the record displaying what will be seen as wilful ignorance of trumps corruption. I’m not saying she is omnipotent but she is politically smarter than any of us and I am just speculating/hoping that she will be able to jiujitsu their vote into a crippling liability for them.
And once that vote clearly becomes a liability, they will run away from that vote as much as the democrat ran away from the AUMF vote, only this one is less excusable.
Take for example, Trump touting his knowledge of wind power and turbines, saying “I know windmills very much. I’ve studied it better than anybody I know.” He doesn’t cite anything. He thinks saying it makes it true. Your “by almost any metric” qualifies as Trump speak, because you don’t cite anything to back up what you say.
Why would his dishonesty, ignorance of the law and the Constitution, incompetence over finances, inability to consider contrary viewpoints to his own, mob boss tactics, be considered partisan issues?
I don’t give a shit what a Democratic president would have done. That’s not relevant to his qualifications as president.
I was one myself during the Reagan era, then saw the error of my ways. I’ve drank moonshine and hunted with plenty of conservatives. I would be fine with conservatives if they adhered to what they used to stand for before Trump came along. Personal accountability, balanced budget, and distrust of Russia used to be core conservative values.
How is that different from what I said?
I don’t use Twitter, I only use Facebook to play Mutant Genetic Gladiators, and I disable notifications for any app I use. I largely avoid social media because it tries to exploit personal information. I only read news sites and don’t watch any of the news networks. Don’t try to get in my head. There’s barely room for me in there.
Good for you. You’d be a lot more convincing if you actually linked to these criticisms.
His dishonesty, ignorance of the law and the Constitution, incompetence over finances, inability to consider contrary viewpoints to his own, mob boss tactics, strong-arming Ukraine, too many to list here.
What the fuck are you talking about? I sit alone at my computer. I don’t know any of the anti-Trumpers here personally. I think some of their viewpoints are without merit, but I don’t consider them as nightmarish as those of the Trump supporters. I hated Trump long before he was president, and it had nothing to do with liberal vs conservative issues. I don’t even consider myself liberal, but apparently I am automatically because I don’t support Trump.
So you’ve claimed repeatedly, and still no one believes you.
You’re the only one. All the others are at least open and honest about it.
I’m not the one that characterized this as a bribe coming from trump. Take it up with them. I was just saying that the constitution does not prohibit a US official from offering something for cooperation.
That is if you disregard trumps explanation for his actions. I don’t believe it but it provides the republican congressmen with a fig leaf.
This fig leaf is not credible. Yes, the Republicans in congress have their heads way up Trump’s ass.
Do you really believe this nonsense, or are you putting on a show here? The corruption and illegality is in public for all to see. That most Republicans refuse to see it is something we have to deal with, but it has no more factual/truthful validity than most Germans’ support for Hitler in the 1930s.
Shit, I’ll take credit for that one. By illegally withholding taxpayer funds, Trump was using our aid to bribe Ukraine to interfere with our elections.
I’m fine with calling it extortion, if that is more palatable to his supporters. I’m kinda easy this way.
The attempted bribe was both ways, to and from Trump. He was offering something that he was trying to illegally hold up, and asking for something that illegally benefits him personally rather than the country.
I think it stands as sufficient proof that when he took the oath of office, he was perjuring himself by never intending to faithfully fulfill it (the statement of mine that you said called for mind-reading).
Let’s just call it one of the smallest factors in the calculus of how he’s disqualified from deserving acquittal.
I think there are Christian fundamentalists who want to see the world destroyed, so they support Trump.
Anyone getting huge amounts of income from a polluting industry or who work in such an industry also love him. Oil and gas, pesticide, herbicide, chemical, coal, fertilizer, internal combustion engines, military, and probably a few dozen others.
There are too many people who have no hope and just want to see their tax dollars used in some way, some fireworks that they can see and consume, as white people. If they can’t do that then something is seriously wrong in the countnry, after all, I mean they are white and everything… There are people for whom the generals killing offsets their feeling that taxes just go to people of color.