# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/81 "2019-09-25T02:31:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > As I said elsewhere: > > “Trump Makes Clear He’s Ready for a Fight He Has Long Anticipated” > [https://nyti.ms/2mLAdAD](https://nyti.ms/2mLAdAD) > He loves a fight. Ya can’t be a winner unless you’re in a fight. Lord, what a weak, pathetic loser he is. > > Maybe I’m blowing sunshine up my own skirt, but I feel the tide is turning against him. What gets Trump excited is "IT’S ALL ABOUT ME! EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT ME! ME!! That’s about it. Trump does not even matter at this point. He’s just the character in the show. I am more concerned about what Moscow Mitch has up his sleeve. Moscow Mitch wants to own the country. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/82 "2019-09-25T02:36:22Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Doesn’t it just mean Trump has decided to go the “there’s not enough evidence” route? I mean, there’s likely multiple taped conversations and “the Republicans” probably haven’t heard them all. All they can be working with is “Trump doesn’t think he did anything wrong and Rudy agrees!” Well the whistleblower’s attorney has already reached out to Congress to testify. If the WB report doesn’t match what the White House releases, then Trump is gonna be fucked. If McConnell is asking for the report it means he knows it’s manageable. If Trump was stonewalling and McConnell was asking for the repoirt, I’d say there was a chance of a rebellion, but right now it looks like they think it can be downplayed. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/83 "2019-09-25T02:46:22Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Just to put it in a historical context, many of the Senators that voted to acquit Clinton also voted to convict Judge Walter Nixon on pretty much the same thing less than a decade earlier (perjury to a grand jury). This is bullshit that does nothing to put things in historical context. Walter Nixon was convicted of perjury, sentenced to five years, and **refused to resign even though he was incarcerated**. So he was removed from the bench using impeachment. This is not remotely parallel to Clinton’s impeachment. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/84 "2019-09-25T02:53:33Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > You’re so absurdly partisan that you’re incapable of having an informed opinion on this issue. > > The Republicans were desperate to run powerful investigations into minor stuff, and the democrats are loathe to do anything despite massive scandals on the part of the Trump administration. What you think is exactly the opposite of true. > > Your thought goes as deep as “okay, so the Republicans were hostile to thinks that Clinton did, and democrats are hostile to the things Trump does, so it’s all the same” and ignoring the fact that the Republicans launched every extremely partisan investigation into Clinton’s minor corruptions as they could find, whereas the democrats are reluctant to launch any investigations into huge, gaping corruptions. Do you think the Benghazi hearings and the Mueller report were equally partisan? > > Trump has committed at least 100 acts that if Obama had done them instead, there would be the loudest screeching you’ve ever heard out of any political party in addition to right wing violence and calls for violent revolution. In comparison, the cowardly democrats are massively under-responding to everything Trump does, pretending that it’s just politics as usual. No one with a shred of objectivity could honestly think that these situations are equivalent - they are, in fact, almost exactly as opposite as you can get in politics. I think your use of “minor” “massive” and “huge, gaping” in this post demonstrate your own lack of “a shred of objectivity” quite clearly. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/85 "2019-09-25T02:55:15Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > 38.5% is over [twice the percentage](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/03/will-support-grow-impeaching-trump-data-nixon-offers-clue/) that were in favor of impeaching Nixon a year before he left office. It’s also a ‘minority’, not a ‘majority’. Is this really so difficult for you guys to grasp? ---
**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 25, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/86 "2019-09-25T03:23:32Z")
The polling on this is really weird. If you read the 538 article linked in post 2, it’s true that impeachment is pretty unpopular. But it’s clearly NOT because people outside his base are buying Trump’s bullshit. If the polling is to be believed, there’s about 20% of the country who DON’T identify as Trump supporters, who DO believe that he colluded with Russia and subsequently obstructed the investigation into the said collusion…but who still don’t want him impeached because…reasons? Who are these people?! Are they just partisan Democrats who think impeachment is a bad political move? If so, I would expect those numbers to move pretty quickly as that group adopts the new party line. If not, I honestly can’t imagine what their thought process might be. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/87 "2019-09-25T03:26:23Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’s also a ‘minority’, not a ‘majority’. Is this really so difficult for you guys to grasp? Unless I missed it, I don’t think that anyone said that the majority of the population supported impeachment. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/88 "2019-09-25T03:32:52Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > How does this generate more Trump voters? Were there Trump voters who were planning on staying home, but now they’re going to come out and vote? I don’t buy it. 1. The voters dont like the idea. 2. Trump will be able to point to his inevitable “Not Guilty” verdict from the senate as proof he is Not Guilty. But this isnt Impeachment _proceedings_, this is a Impeachment \*inquiry. \* As long as the House doesnt vote to indict, we’re good. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/89 "2019-09-25T03:35:01Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > I know this may be a foreign concept to Republicans, but sometimes doing what’s right for the country is more important than maneuvering for the next election. When the president allegedly leverages the power of his office to strongarm a foreign nation into digging up dirt on his political opponent, this is one of those times. How is a meaningless and impotent indictment “doing what’s right for the country”? You are talking as if there is the slightest change trump will be removed- hint- he wont be. 4 more years of trump would be horrible. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/90 "2019-09-25T03:38:28Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > … > When done for valid reasons, impeachment can tarnish a presidents reputation and reduce their popularity. If this impeachment inquiry opens up the floodgates on all Trump’s crimes, it could make him less popular with independent voters. Really? It didnt for Johnson or Clinton, and those are our only two examples. It _could,_ if there was a chance they would listen to the proceedings on CNN- but there’s no chance, so it wont. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/91 "2019-09-25T03:40:28Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The number of Democrats calling for impeachment just [hit 200 on politico](https://www.politico.com/interactives/2019/house-reps-who-would-vote-for-trump-impeachment-our-latest-list/) Let me know when we get 16 Republican senators. bring pie. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/92 "2019-09-25T03:40:54Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Unless I missed it, I don’t think that anyone said that the majority of the population supported impeachment. YOU said it. Here’s the exchange: > [@SenorBeef](#): > > … It’s not enough to just get rid of Trump. And in fact, getting rid of Trump alone might be the most dangerous of all options. There has to be a reckoning, a purge. We have to acknowledge that what has gone on in recent years is way outside the norm, and way outside of what can be acceptable from an American political party. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This seems like counting your chickens before they’ve hatched. You haven’t even gotten “rid of Trump” yet (and you’re very unlikely to do so) and yet you’ve already moved on to ‘we also need to get rid of these other guys’? > [@beowulff](#): > > The majority can dream, can’t it? It seems pretty clear to me that we were discussing impeachment of President Trump and various and sundry other Republicans, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. What was it you posted “the majority can dream” about? “a reckoning, a purge”? ---
**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 25, 2019, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/93 "2019-09-25T03:42:46Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Who are these people?! Are they just partisan Democrats who think impeachment is a bad political move? If so, I would expect those numbers to move pretty quickly as that group adopts the new party line. If not, I honestly can’t imagine what their thought process might be. I remember when Nixon resigned there were people literally crying in the streets. I don’t think they were necessarily Nixon supporters; I think they were more likely just people who loved their country and hated to see it destabilized by such a national crisis. What I hope people would realize is that though they may love their country, the Orange Peril and his henchmen do not. They care only about themselves, and are willing to defy the Constitution and all the traditional norms of governance to consolidate their power and enrich themselves. They are exactly the abusers of power that the Founders provided for Congress to be able to remove. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/94 "2019-09-25T03:43:41Z")
So there’s gonna be an impeachment “inquiry”, this fact has already been announced, due to a call that nobody knows the contents of, and a whistle blower who nobody yet knows anything about, or the contents of his complaint. During prime time political campaigning, a year before the next presidential election. And the left expects the electorate to believe this a completely non-partisan and objective investigation. And the left is gonna do it anyway, knowing that impeachment is an unpopular position. And the left wants the electorate to believe that they are not using the congress as a political tool to fuck the opposition. Bold plan, Democrats. Bold plan. I predict that the Dems will shield and block the whistleblower from scrutiny and hide any political bias apparent in the character of the whistleblower. It’s like they’re handing 2020 to trump on a silver platter. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/95 "2019-09-25T03:45:44Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’s also a ‘minority’, not a ‘majority’. Is this really so difficult for you guys to grasp? Has zero to do with my point. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/96 "2019-09-25T03:45:48Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > YOU said it. Here’s the exchange: > > It seems pretty clear to me that we were discussing impeachment of President Trump and various and sundry other Republicans, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. What was it you posted “the majority can dream” about? “a reckoning, a purge”? As I mentioned, when I said “The Majority,” I was referring to the majority of voters who didn’t vote for Trump in 2016. I’m sure that those people would be happy to be rid of his pox upon the country. But, that’s not the same as saying that the majority of voters want him impeached. I’m not sure _I_ do, unless unimpeachable (heh) evidence is uncovered to make conviction a slam-dunk. But, I would still like to be rid of him. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/97 "2019-09-25T03:46:00Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > A fair chunk of Americans are not willing to say “impeach” until they see what the actual evidence is to this charge. Let’s assume it is real and damning and that fair chunk comes over to “impeach.” > … > The argument can be made that IF the full facts _are_ as damning as the are alleged to be then he might be left with ONLY that hard base and lose everyone else. Stay in office but be destroyed. But yeah alternatively assuming they are true but are seen by the public as just what politicians do then the risk of a backlash is significant. > … If they even bother to turn on CNN to hear them. If the public ever even bothers to be informed of the full facts. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/98 "2019-09-25T03:57:18Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > No, I mean the majority of the country that didn’t vote for him and hate his orange guts. > [@DrDeth](#): > > If they even bother to turn on CNN to hear them. > > If the public ever even bothers to be informed of the full facts. Fox news is popular. So apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/99 "2019-09-25T04:13:16Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The complete absence of accountability in a political system that was set up as a modern democracy with supposed safeguards is just stunning. The Founders thought they had set up a system of checks and balances but they never counted on having the Senate dominated by a gang of unprincipled Republicans and an equally unprincipled and mendacious administration led by an orange moron. As I’ve said before, if our governmental system survives this episode, one consequence is going to be the development of a lot more explicit legislative checks on the executive, and probably judiciary checks on the legislature as well. We’ll have actual laws, rather than just time-honored “protocols”, requiring the POTUS to release his tax returns and blind-trust his assets and conform to a schedule for filling administrative positions and so forth. And if so, then I guess Trump’s dishonest pledges of “draining the swamp” will in some sense have been fulfilled after all. 😃_“I made the swamp so incredibly bigly and stinky, the most massive stink ever, believe me, that the Loser Dems had no choice but to drain it! MAGA!!”_ ---
**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 25, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/100 "2019-09-25T04:25:59Z")
Trump will not only survive this but win re-election unless the economy goes south; it’s about that and nothing more. He could fuck a goat on live TV, and if unemployment’s at 3 percent, Americans will demand that congress give him more goats to shag. That’s what “democracy” has been reduced to here. That’s all our little amoebic brains can handle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=6)