# The Trump Impeachment Inquiry **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 24, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771 "2019-09-24T20:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 42
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/821 "2019-09-27T03:14:23Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > A friend of mine in Ukraine shared a meme from Ukrainian social media. It shows Zelensky in a wig and blue dress and reads: “Monica Zelensky. Available for hire to bring impeachment against any U.S. President.” > > 🙂 I’ve been searching for this image all over teh intarwebz and can’t find it; could you link to it please? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/822 "2019-09-27T03:20:10Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > What was your epiphany and how did it come about, if I may ask? Your story might be instructive on how to get others to see the light. Two things happened around the same time. I started graduate school to become a scientist, and saw that the Republican party didn’t believe in evolution. This wasn’t an opinion issue, it was a fact issue and my party was wrong on the fact. The second was I married a woman who grew up poor and non-white and yet had accomplished so much. I grew up lower middle class and racist, but I still thought I had earned everything because I had worked hard in school and gotten good grades. But, when I saw how my wife had to do so much more than I did just to break even to where I started, I realized that while I didn’t have it great and could be proud of my accomplishments, she had grown up with so, so much less. Her accomplishments, though equivalent to mine, were so much more impressive. I started recognizing that my opinions were just Republican opinions and not my own, and I was a total hypocrite. I was opposed to legalizing weed, but I smoked weed. I was strongly opposed to gun control, but I had never held a gun in my life and frankly didn’t give a shit about them. I was opposed to abortion, but when my girlfriend had a pregnancy scare, I had no problem with the idea of bringing her to get one. Growing up I actually told my parents that I thought I was adopted and Donald Trump was my real dad. My Trump supporting mom brings that up constantly to this day. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/823 "2019-09-27T03:22:00Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I know you are supposed to call a doctor is an erection lasts longer than four hours, but I think in this instance it’s completely justified. Congress is adjourning tomorrow until October 21st. Seriously, they are, after these two days’ events. There, better? ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/824 "2019-09-27T03:46:47Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Democrats can say that Trump is corrupt as hell, and the public believes that he is. But they assume a false equivalency. There’s no false equivalency. All politicians are corrupt, driven by their desire for power over other humans, greed, and ambition. These motivations are what drive them to seek office, and it’s both foolish and disingenuous to claim that your side is any purer or more righteous than the opposition. Anyone who sinks to the position of candidate for the Presidency is already rotten, and an associate of even worse persons and organizations; they’d never get that far if they weren’t. > [@](#): > > Thanks to people like Oliver Stone, in the eyes of far too many, American government is inherently nothing but total shit, totally bereft of good actors, and they’re all equally bad or nearly so. American government, and all government, _is_ “inherently nothing but total shit, totally bereft of good actors”, and they are “all equally bad or nearly so”. Every POTA has a truckload of shady and dishonest dealings behind him, and each of them has (metaphorical, mostly) blood on his hands right up to the armpits. And **asahi** , I don’t need that sanctimonious hypocrite Oliver Stone to tell me that all those who would rule are corrupt, authoritarian pieces of shit; I’ve had my eyes opened to that for most of my adult life – unlike you, who (for all your lefter-than-thou posing and screeching) betray your attachment to rule and rulers while you denigrate those who’d strike all that shit down. > [@](#): > > Dictator time. Aahh, yes, and now the mask comes off. Tell me, **asahi** , who do \*you \*like for dictator? ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/825 "2019-09-27T03:51:06Z")
I’m not **asah** i but I like Buttigieg. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/826 "2019-09-27T03:55:42Z")
For those who may not be up to speed on when impeaching a president is appropriate, he’s a helpful tip from Lindsey Graham: “You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this Constitutional republic if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Impeachment is about cleansing the office; impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.” Wait, that was back in 1999 when the president was Bill Clinton. This is what Graham said yesterday, “To impeach any president over a phone call like this would be insane!”. The shameless hypocrisy is downright comical. > **[Lindsey Graham's opinion on impeachment was different during Clinton era |...](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/09/25/lindsey-graham-impeachment-before-after-ebof-vpx.cnn)** > > CNN's Erin Burnett and David Gregory examine how Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) opinion on impeachment appears to have changed since 1999. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/827 "2019-09-27T03:55:57Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Two things happened around the same time. I started graduate school to become a scientist, and saw that the Republican party didn’t believe in evolution. This wasn’t an opinion issue, it was a fact issue and my party was wrong on the fact. > > The second was I married a woman who grew up poor and non-white and yet had accomplished so much. I grew up lower middle class and racist, but I still thought I had earned everything because I had worked hard in school and gotten good grades. But, when I saw how my wife had to do so much more than I did just to break even to where I started, I realized that while I didn’t have it great and could be proud of my accomplishments, she had grown up with so, so much less. Her accomplishments, though equivalent to mine, were so much more impressive. > > I started recognizing that my opinions were just Republican opinions and not my own, and I was a total hypocrite. I was opposed to legalizing weed, but I smoked weed. I was strongly opposed to gun control, but I had never held a gun in my life and frankly didn’t give a shit about them. I was opposed to abortion, but when my girlfriend had a pregnancy scare, I had no problem with the idea of bringing her to get one. > > Growing up I actually told my parents that I thought I was adopted and Donald Trump was my real dad. My Trump supporting mom brings that up constantly to this day. Thank you for your story. I know people with similar stories who have not recognized the disparity between their beliefs and their lives. But that Trump/father thing…man that’s just creepy. I don’t blame your mom. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/828 "2019-09-27T04:12:31Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > I’m not **asah** i but I like Buttigieg. Ask yourself, is America truly ready for its first openly gay dictator? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/829 "2019-09-27T04:26:50Z")
I just heard on the 538 podcast that a new Surveymonkey poll finds that only 30% of Americans have heard anything at all about Ukraine. WTF, America? :smack: > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > How about a highlight for those who don’t want to bother with a video. There’s really no point. That’s like asking someone to summarize a GIF. And why would you ask someone else to expend effort explaining it to you when you can’t be bothered to look at it? It’s like 20 seconds long. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > Wonderful — grazie. Prego. 🙂 > [@raventhief](#): > > I can’t keep up either, but Trevor Noah had a piece last night about “quid pro quo” and acting shady. Skip to about 5:30 for the bit about the sopranos. > > [https://youtu.be/ETAX\_P8HNNY](https://youtu.be/ETAX_P8HNNY) LOL: “That man is not actually being friendly to that other man.” I think Noah actually gives up too much ground there though. There was something much less oblique about Trump’s conversation. > [@Ravenman](#): > > I think he just went bonkers over time. There’s some Trump sycophants who are in it for real, some that are putting on an act to maintain political power, and a few who just went bonkers. Rudy is not mentally healthy. You know who makes me cringe even more? Lindsey Graham. He stood up to Trump at one time, he was McCain‘s best friend, and Trump used to rake him over the coals. Now he is such a toady, it beggars belief. I can understand (if not endorse) his discontinuing any opposition to Trump, but basic playing it safe in the GOP does not require the level of sniveling bootlicking he serves up to someone who has treated him so poorly in the past. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/830 "2019-09-27T04:30:35Z")
Lindsey Graham is the Ted Cruz of KellyAnne Conways. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/831 "2019-09-27T04:33:05Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > I sense insufficient fear here. Who believes that Tramp will fade away softly? Who thinks he won’t do his absolute damndest to preserve himself? How far do you fear he can go? Damn far, I fear. > > I fear his issuing launch orders. I fear, maybe more, an officer replying, “Can’t do that, sir.” Which would be a coup. Sure, global nuclear devastation would be worse, but are those the ultimate options? Or will we get through the near future nicely, peacefully? How? I won’t go so far as to suggest nuke devastation, but it’s worth pointing out that there’s an entire white house with skin in the game, meaning that there’s a cabal that desires its survival. People who wondered why I was so outrageously pessimistic now (hopefully) understand that a Constitution is just a piece of paper, and that the survival of said law of the land depends on a value system…which doesn’t exist anymore. The Constitution, the Republic…are in a state of decay. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/832 "2019-09-27T04:48:18Z")
I have a little more faith in the military than to think they will just shoot off nukes in every direction because President Dipshit tells them to. I’m not interested in an argument about whether he has the technical statutory authority to do so. I’m talking about just the reality and gravity of something like that. If that’s a coup, so be it. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/833 "2019-09-27T05:15:18Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > I’m not **asah** i but I like Buttigieg. Marianne Williamson will become Supreme Leader. All those who oppose her holistic vision of love will be mindfully arranged into mass graves. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/834 "2019-09-27T05:24:13Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Lindsey Graham is the Ted Cruz of KellyAnne Conways. Well, that’s certainly an interesting way of putting it! 😃 Of course, maybe Graham is a tender snowflake who considered that Bill Clinton getting a blowjob in the Oval Office so demeaned the office that it required impeachment in the interests of “restoring honor and integrity to the office”. Whereas all Trump ever did – I mean, besides obstructing justice and extorting a foreign leader for personal political gain and then trying to cover it up, and besides lying constantly to everyone about everything – was have sex with a porn star and then had his “fixer” illegally pay her with campaign funds so she wouldn’t blab. So obviously he has honor and integrity coming out the wazoo, no problem there, and so he has Lindsey’s full support. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/835 "2019-09-27T05:49:11Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Marianne Williamson will become Supreme Leader. All those who oppose her holistic vision of love will be mindfully arranged into mass graves. I love this. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/836 "2019-09-27T06:52:17Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I have a little more faith in the military than to think they will just shoot off nukes in every direction because President Dipshit tells them to. I’m not interested in an argument about whether he has the technical statutory authority to do so. I’m talking about just the reality and gravity of something like that. > > If that’s a coup, so be it. Yes, that’s a coup d’ètat. Is it the inevitable endgame? Is it how the American experiment ends? He won’t be 25th out. He won’t be impeached, tried, convicted, and removed anytime soon, not before he can wreak immense damage. Will commissioned officers explicitly disobey direct orders from the CiC? Does our future depend on mutiny? He may suffer a serious ailment. He may resign on condition of immunity. He may flee to Riyadh for refuge. He may mysteriously vanish. Or he may reveal that his presidential game is all a plot, cooked up with his old pals the Clintons, to totally destroy the GOP, exposing his supporters as Putin’s puppets. THEN the treason trials can begin. But I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/837 "2019-09-27T10:20:28Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Congress is adjourning tomorrow until October 21st. Seriously, they are, after these two days’ events. > > There, better? Holy crap, are they all hoping to give this a chance to die down or something? Because…that’s what’s going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/838 "2019-09-27T10:35:56Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Congress is adjourning tomorrow until October 21st. Seriously, they are, after these two days’ events. > > There, better? Do you have a cite for this? I’m not really doubting you, I’d just like to see this fact on some kind of context or explanation. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/839 "2019-09-27T11:14:52Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Do you have a cite for this? I’m not really doubting you, I’d just like to see this fact on some kind of context or explanation. > **[U.S. Senate: Tentative 2019 Legislative Schedule](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/2019_schedule.htm)** > > \_Tentative 2019 Legislative Schedule It’s apparently a scheduled “state work” period. Not a Boris type of thing. Or a whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/840 "2019-09-27T11:18:53Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Yes, that’s a coup d’ètat. Is it the inevitable endgame? Is it how the American experiment ends? He won’t be 25th out. He won’t be impeached, tried, convicted, and removed anytime soon, not before he can wreak immense damage. Will commissioned officers explicitly disobey direct orders from the CiC? Does our future depend on mutiny? > > He may suffer a serious ailment. He may resign on condition of immunity. He may flee to Riyadh for refuge. He may mysteriously vanish. Or he may reveal that his presidential game is all a plot, cooked up with his old pals the Clintons, to totally destroy the GOP, exposing his supporters as Putin’s puppets. THEN the treason trials can begin. But I doubt it. Any officer has the duty to disobey an unlawful order. Their oath is to defend the Constitution, not whichever was is sitting in the Oval Office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=43)