# Impeach Trump. Now.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [February 20, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327 "2017-02-20T16:47:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/61 "2017-02-20T20:59:24Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> OK. But I do think that, per **septimus** ’ post above, if the Republicans really thought they had impeachable material to work with, they would at least try to get Trump to resign rather than drag him through an impeachment process. Now, Trump might be too stubborn to see the writing on the wall, but I would suspect that an actual impeachment (vs a resignation) is a low probability event. It accomplishes the same thing, unless one were to insist on the stain of impeachment.
If it gets to that point i think there is literally zero percent chance that Trump simply resigns.
---
### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/62 "2017-02-20T21:06:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> OK, set aside the Russia thing for a moment. How about any of his tax offenses? We can start with his illegal nonprofit, the investigation of which is currently on indefinite hiatus for no clear reason.
Can we label it “illegal” even before we’ve completed the investigation?
---
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/63 "2017-02-20T21:10:25Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> **I can’t read the article (BI doesn’t like Ad-Blocker),** but is there any reason to think that this particular leading historian’s crystal ball is any better than anyone else’s?
>
> ETA: We’ll know for sure he’s wrong if Trump is still President on August 8th, right? That’ll be 200 days and he’ll have surpassed Garfield, right?
Worked for me. Even had NoScript running.
---
### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/64 "2017-02-20T21:13:00Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> I can’t read the article (BI doesn’t like Ad-Blocker), but is there any reason to think that this particular leading historian’s crystal ball is any better than anyone else’s?
>
> ETA: We’ll know for sure he’s wrong if Trump is still President on August 8th, right? That’ll be 200 days and he’ll have surpassed Garfield, right?
As I have background in social studies and history I have to disagree with the historian there. Mainly because the examples used have diddly squat to do about impeachment, the examples he uses are of presidents who died of natural causes or were assassinated.
As I pointed before, things like the sputtering, mismanagement, graft and scandals already seen (in just a month!) take a sweet time to percolate among the rank and file and then to the Republican congress critters, that is why I do think that if there is an impeachment it is more likely to show up after a few years.
---
### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/65 "2017-02-20T21:13:50Z")
The votes aren’t there yet. I don’t want to see a motion to impeach without the votes and without certainty of a conviction. I believe that by summer at latest, there will be enough damning evidence to do it and to do it right. Once done, there should be no pension for him nor should he have SS protection and criminal cases should proceed against him. And, although I am against capital punishment, I will gladly make an exception for him.
---
### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/66 "2017-02-20T21:19:06Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> I can’t read the article (BI doesn’t like Ad-Blocker), but is there any reason to think that this particular leading historian’s crystal ball is any better than anyone else’s?
>
> ETA: We’ll know for sure he’s wrong if Trump is still President on August 8th, right? That’ll be 200 days and he’ll have surpassed Garfield, right?
Allow me to quote bits:
> [@](#):
>
> The 20th-century American history professor, who recently published a book about the unfortunate fates of US leaders, added that he thought the “Pence Presidency” was inevitable. He was referring to Trump’s Vice President, Mike Pence, who would take over if Trump was to leave the leadership.
> [@](#):
>
> In a blog post, he added that he thought it was likely that Trump will be impeached or forced to resign in a matter of weeks.
>
> Feinman predicts Trump won’t last as long as President James A. Garfield, who died 199 days into office.
>
> His prediction comes shortly after the White House admitted the President was told several weeks ago that his National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had not told the truth about a telephone call with a Russian diplomat.
>
> The news fuelled broader concerns about his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the role his country may have played in helping Trump’s election.
>
> Feinman, who teaches at Florida Atlantic University, suggested the businessman turned politician is more generally unsuitable for office.
---
### Author:  [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/67 "2017-02-20T21:21:54Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> I’ll just say that I strongly disagree. If there were a Republican in the White House today who was governing like an adult (even if liberals disagreed strongly with his policies), and who wasn’t facing repeated stories about unseemly (and possibly illegal) ties to a foreign power, you would not be seeing this kind of talk.
>
> And, conversely, if Clinton was now in the White House, and the same sorts of stories had come out about her having ties to a foreign power, the GOP would have been demanding her head on a platter (and, rightly so). Part of the reason that liberals are so incensed right now is that most of the Republicans in Congress appear to have their heads in the sand over all of this.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that the Hillary worshippers would be still be screaming bloody murder over every little thing any Republican President proposed, said, did, or didn’t do. It’s pretty much SOP at this point.
I’m in favor of investigations. Especially when they uncover actual facts. Repeated stories of “what if” and “how’s about” aren’t facts. Multiple reports of someone repeatedly saying that someone said that someone else said that they think they heard somebody mention Trump’s name while using a Russian accent are not facts let alone an impeachable offense.
---
### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/68 "2017-02-20T21:22:30Z")
> [@Superdude](#):
>
> Allow me to quote bits:
Thanks. I appreciate you quoting the relevant bits here, really. But this sounds like just one more loony leftist wishing for an “undo” button on the last election. I see no actual evidence that a Trump impeachment or resignation are likely, let alone “inevitable”. Do you?
---
### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/69 "2017-02-20T21:24:27Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> I believe that by summer at latest, there will be enough damning evidence to do it and to do it right.
_Why_ do you believe this? Is it just a wish? A hope? There doesn’t appear to be any factual basis for it, so I’m trying to figure out why you set such a specific timetable (“by summer at latest”).
---
### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/70 "2017-02-20T21:24:38Z")
It all depends on the Republicans bothering to look.
> **[Politicalcartoons.com - Search: www.](https://politicalcartoons.com/?s=www.)**
>
> U.S., The editorial cartoon licensing store
---
### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/71 "2017-02-20T21:27:28Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> I take a bit of cheer from realizing a staunch right winger considers Trump the leader of his party.
Isn’t that the way it normally works: your party wins the Presidency, then the President is the de facto party leader? If you lose, then you settle for Speaker, or Senate majority leader if you’ve got them, or whatever leftover crumbs of power you can cling to if you don’t (Schumer in the Dems current circumstances).
---
### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/72 "2017-02-20T21:30:45Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> _Why_ do you believe this? Is it just a wish? A hope? There doesn’t appear to be any factual basis for it, so I’m trying to figure out why you set such a specific timetable (“by summer at latest”).
There is far too much smoke in the Russian ties for there not to be any fire. Sooner or later, someone is going to rat him out.
---
### Author:  [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/73 "2017-02-20T21:31:01Z")
> [@Superdude](#):
>
> For what it’s worth (and I doubt it’s worth anything to **doorhinge** , solely because of political affiliation), a leading historian and author claims that Trump’s term will be the [second shortest in history.](http://www.businessinsider.com/why-trumps-presidency-is-likely-to-be-the-second-shortest-in-history-2017-2?ref=yfp)
Hahahaha. A leading historian who doesn’t seem to understand how the process actually works. The dwindling number of elected Democrats in the U.S. Congress still need more seats/votes in Congress in order to proceed with an impeachment. Especially when they have no actual evidence.
---
### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/74 "2017-02-20T21:33:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> There is far too much smoke in the Russian ties for there not to be any fire. Sooner or later, someone is going to rat him out.
I don’t see much smoke, but I suppose it’s just the blue glasses you’re wearing and the red ones I have on. Is there a specific law that you think Trump has violated? Is it the Emoluments clause? the Logan Act? something else?
---
### Author:  [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/75 "2017-02-20T21:35:48Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> There is far too much smoke in the Russian ties for there not to be any fire. Sooner or later, someone is going to rat him out.
Of course there is. 🙂 Maybe the Chinese government will fulfill the DNC’s wish list?
---
### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/76 "2017-02-20T21:37:36Z")
> [@doorhinge](#):
>
> (post shortened)
>
> I watched the Democrats eat their own when they thought Bernie might win the Democrat nomination. It doesn’t matter which Republican beat Hillary, they would still be subjected to the same treatment.
No. Incorrect. You don’t understand
---
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/77 "2017-02-20T21:42:11Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#):
>
> As I have background in social studies and history I have to disagree with the historian there. Mainly because the examples used have diddly squat to do about impeachment, the examples he uses are of presidents who died of natural causes or were assassinated.
>
> As I pointed before, things like the sputtering, mismanagement, graft and scandals already seen (in just a month!) take a sweet time to percolate among the rank and file and then to the Republican congress critters, that is why I do think that if there is an impeachment it is more likely to show up after a few years.
> [@doorhinge](#):
>
> Hahahaha. A leading historian who doesn’t seem to understand how the process actually works. The dwindling number of elected Democrats in the U.S. Congress still need more seats/votes in Congress in order to proceed with an impeachment. Especially when they have no actual evidence.
You got beaten to it. And by an actual analysis based on logic rather than partisanship.
---
### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/78 "2017-02-20T21:42:33Z")
It’s folly to try to predict Trump’s ultimate demise in timing or cause. Let’s face it, we did a piss-poor job of it in the primary and doubled down in the general; Wrong and wronger still.
But it’s not entirely wishful thinking that makes me believe Trump will be his own undoing. All he’ll need is some time and enough rope. It’s the job of conscionable people in gov’t, media and electorate to make sure we remain vigilant and vocal.
---
### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/79 "2017-02-20T21:47:29Z")
> [@doorhinge](#):
>
> Yeah, I’m pretty sure that the Hillary worshippers would be still be screaming bloody murder over every little thing any Republican President proposed, said, did, or didn’t do. It’s pretty much SOP at this point.
>
> I’m in favor of investigations. Especially when they uncover actual facts. Repeated stories of “what if” and “how’s about” aren’t facts. Multiple reports of someone repeatedly saying that someone said that someone else said that they think they heard somebody mention Trump’s name while using a Russian accent are not facts let alone an impeachable offense.
Was this a similar response regarding the Banghazi attack?
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> Thanks. I appreciate you quoting the relevant bits here, really. But this sounds like just one more loony leftist wishing for an “undo” button on the last election. I see no actual evidence that a Trump impeachment or resignation are likely, let alone “inevitable”. Do you?
No, I don’t, honestly. There’s a lot of circumstantial stuff, but nothing indicating that it’d be a slam dunk, and I don’t favor moving forward unless we know that it’ll happen. I’m not a Trump supporter by any means, but going into this too soon would be a political disaster, and would rally his base around him.
---
### Author:  [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327/80 "2017-02-20T21:51:16Z")
> [@Shodan](#):
>
> That doesn’t follow, because Hillary lost the election. Since turnout in midterm elections is historically lower than in Presidential election years, you need everyone who voted in red states that voted Democratic, plus the Trump voters who voted in those states. If the same patterns evince themselves in 2018, the Dems lose, or at least do not take over the House.
>
> Regards,
> Shodan
You’re either mistaken or misunderstanding my point.
It’s not actually true that the dems need to flip Trump voters in order to take back the House. As you and John Mace seem to be unaware, Clinton won over twenty districts currently held by GOP reps. And, even apart from that, since more people vote in general elections, if Dems could simply turn out all Hillary voters in a mid-terms, they would win in a landslide.
As you note, and as I already said, however, it would be helpful to win Trump voters. This is because turning out dems in mid-terms has proved to be pretty hard. But who knows what might happen. We are deep into unexplored political territory.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327.md?page=3)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-trump-now/780327.md?page=5)