# 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:** 57
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1121 "2019-09-29T13:47:55Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > So it turns out to be a nothing-burger. Or a status-quo burger. Enough for the Democrats to pounce. Not enough for the GOP to be compelled to abandon Trump. > > What’s for dinner? Burgers. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1122 "2019-09-29T13:59:46Z")
Just to point out the obvious bad faith in the GOP argument, why are they only concerned about Hunter Biden and this prosecutor in the Ukraine that was fired now? Seems like if they really cared about this huge conspiracy, it might have come up once or twice in the two years since it happened. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1123 "2019-09-29T14:03:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Burgers. Excuse me, I misspoke. Berders. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1124 "2019-09-29T14:07:22Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > If only they were doing well in the Democratic primary. But they’re not. A lot can change in four and a half months. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1125 "2019-09-29T14:09:53Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > … > > Isn’t it amazing and wonderful, by the way, that the Trump-enablers’ attempt to save him from the humiliation and danger of having those phone calls made public—by stashing them in a classified “code-word level” server that no one can access without a record of such access being made—may be the thing that brings him down??? > > No one can ‘accidentally’ erase its contents; anyone who gets into it leaves a clear record of their entry, so there can be no ‘we have no idea who did it.’ > > Delicious. Oh yes. Meta data. Data about data. Foot prints in the snow right back to your house. It’s also quite the bit of irony as Donnie has gone on, and on about the so called problems with Hillary’s email server. “Donald, this is your ass. Please carry it out the door”. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1126 "2019-09-29T14:30:31Z")
I’ve known all along that Trump would gin up something like this about his opponent. If Bernie Sanders was the front runner, we’d be hearing “evidence” that he was the mastermind behind Stalin and the Russian revolution. That’s why I thought Mayor Pete might be the best choice for a candidate. In normal times, I wouldn’t give him a second thought. But he has very little experience and very little history. In normal times, this would be a negative. But it would be a challenge for Trump to twist his political history into a tale of corruption and incompetence, since he has no history. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1127 "2019-09-29T14:40:03Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Of course Cadet Fake Bone Spurs is coward-a-go-go aka Wussy Galore. I suspect his highest priority is DON’T DIE IN PRISON. I fear he’d do ANYTHING to avoid incarceration. > > We can hope for a soft option. Resignation with immunity. Refuge in Riyadh. Perpetual cruise-ship life… somewhere. We can pray for whirled peas, too. But death and destruction are more likely. THAT is what scoots me into Scared Shitless mode. (A thunderbolt just blasted nearby. I’m too jumpy.) > > Moron? Comparison to this shitstain on Earth insults the ‘retarded’. Diminished-capacity folks I know from entertaining at a group home were usually pretty sweet. Few greedy brats. I use the term moron in the clinical sense. “used to describe a person with a mental age in adulthood of between 7 and 10” I’m probably being generous. I mean no insult to others with this disability, but prefer not to have a moron for the President of the USA. I think you would agree. That he is a shitstain and crook is a different issue all together. I hope someone it the White house has had the forethought to buy a real football. If Trump asks for the Football, hand him [This](https://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Super-Grip-Official-Football/dp/B0012SNLJG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=football&qid=1569767267&sr=8-1) While Trump is trying to puzzle through that (it may take hours) get the 25th invoked and call Bethesda. eta Mod Bone, did not see your comment. And will drop this as well. ---
**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 29, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1128 "2019-09-29T15:23:21Z")
Two days ago, I wrote the following here, referring to FiveRhirtyEight’s moving aggregate of “approve/disapprove of Trump” polls: “This approval measure is actually UP a bit as of today, reflecting three polls — two of them given a “B” grade — conducted over the past two or three days. Not good…” No one here responded to this. I know it’s early days yet, and a lot of people are simply clueless (so far) about the Ukraine thing, but shouldn’t this worry us a little? Might it suggest that maybe the future ceiling for the public approving of Trump’s impeachment and/or removal might be lower, and harder, than we hope? And that, therefore, few senators will switch over? I know, things could change. Still, this disturbs me. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1129 "2019-09-29T15:23:34Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I use the term moron in the clinical sense. “used to describe a person with a mental age in adulthood of between 7 and 10” I’m probably being generous. I mean no insult to others with this disability, but prefer not to have a moron for the President of the USA. I think you would agree. That he is a shitstain and crook is a different issue all together. > > I hope someone it the White house has had the forethought to buy a real football. If Trump asks for the Football, hand him [This](https://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Super-Grip-Official-Football/dp/B0012SNLJG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=football&qid=1569767267&sr=8-1) While Trump is trying to puzzle through that (it may take hours) get the 25th invoked and call Bethesda. > > eta Mod Bone, did not see your comment. And will drop this as well. You know, it’s kinda funny when people “eta:just saw the mod note” but don’t erase the post they clearly now understand wasn’t kosher. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1130 "2019-09-29T15:31:00Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Two days ago, I wrote the following here, referring to FiveRhirtyEight’s moving aggregate of “approve/disapprove of Trump” polls: > > “This approval measure is actually UP a bit as of today, reflecting three polls — two of them given a “B” grade — conducted over the past two or three days. Not good…” > > No one here responded to this. I know it’s early days yet, and a lot of people are simply clueless (so far) about the Ukraine thing, but shouldn’t this worry us a little? > > Might it suggest that maybe the future ceiling for the public approving of Trump’s impeachment and/or removal might be lower, and harder, than we hope? And that, therefore, few senators will switch over? > > I know, things could change. Still, this disturbs me. Of course it’s harder than you’d hoped. The guy has about half the electorate on lock and his election coffers are absolutely flush with cash, and most people think this line the Dems are pushing with Ukraine is stupid. Maybe, just maybe, if the Democrats didn’t been crying wolf since day one people would be more receptive to this new still-not-a-wolf faux cry. It’s easy to see that people are probably over it all, and that it’s all politics. This is not gonna lead to impeachment. It just doesn’t have legs. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1131 "2019-09-29T15:36:06Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > There’s not much I disagree with you on, and I find your commentary and analysis to be very much plausible. But I just don’t agree with you on the Mittens thing. The Always-Trumpers absolutely will not back Romney. I’m not convinced the rank-and-file evangelicals would just fall in line behind Mormon Mitt again, especially if Pence is still hanging around. And the Industrial Midwest union-type guys? Hell no, they’d sit out before voting for Romney. > > So let’s say the oligarchs and their highly-paid turds at Fox News throw their backs out fellating the Romney narrative, they’ll still have pissed off enough of the Always-Trumpers that it just won’t matter, imo. I have relatives that will not turn their backs on Trump between now and November 2020, even if their media sources do their best to tell them to. _Especially_ if the Trump Toadies aren’t ready to let those deplorables go. Just cuz Trump’s not in the WH doesn’t mean he’s not making headlines and creating headaches for the GOP. > > And despite being a worthless piece of wet toast, Pence will NOT lay down and simply let someone step into the place his god has laid out for him. Neither will Trump just squeak off into the darkness and live his life out playing “golf” at Mar-A-Lago. > > If everything else plays out like you predict, the GOP will be in such shambles that there’s no way they will be able to overcome the black, Latino, suburban, female, white college liberal and youth vote, even in the states of MI, WI and PA. > > Warren _can_ win. Especially with a solid running mate pick, which _will_ matter in 2020. Romney? Pence? Not seeing it. They don’t have the charisma that Trump did, but they’ll be covered in Trump’s feces. Yes, [even Romney.](https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+romney&safe=active&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS758US758&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXq4-dmPXkAhUJEqwKHRaWDJsQ_AUIEygC&biw=1366&bih=608) > > The Dems still have their work cut out for them, and need to be smart and strategic in order to win and win decisively, but I think this is their election to lose. [And that sound you now hear is me making the sign of the cross, and I ain’t Catholic so I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be smacking my earlobes this hard.] > > FTR: I’ve had a few glasses of wine tonight, so I may need to re-think or re-articulate some stuff at a later date. Which I may or may not do. But Mittens? Nope, not seeing how that gets finagled. I hope you enjoyed your wine. 🙂 I’ll readily allow that at this point, my general speculation is highly optimistic and most of all about whom Republicans will run for their presidential nominee in 2020. But there are signs that things might change in a big way. Usually when these changes occur, they happen at tsunami speed. I’m just ruminating on the reasons why changes might happen, if they do. And there are worse things out there hanging over Trump’s head. Russia, Saudi Arabia. Corruption within the DOJ and State Department. If more whistleblowers come forward – and I believe more will – then it only gets worse for Trump and the Republicans who support him as the election approaches. This may be their best opportunity to scrape him off their shoes before trying to rebuild their party with enough time left in the election cycle to believe they can accomplish this. I’ve no doubt that if they stick with Trump and somehow shrug their way through all his wrongdoing up to November 2020, Dems are going to win big. I continue to believe that abandoning Biden is a mistake, a bad one, but there are other threads to discuss this so I won’t say more than that here. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1132 "2019-09-29T15:36:48Z")
Oh, it has legs. Don’t worry your pretty head about that. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1133 "2019-09-29T15:43:20Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Oh, it has legs. Don’t worry your pretty head about that. Yep. THIS time will be different. Been wrong 10 billion times before, but THIS time you’ll get him. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1134 "2019-09-29T15:53:52Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > Yep. THIS time will be different. Been wrong 10 billion times before, but THIS time you’ll get him. Two people I know better than to second-guess: Moscow Mitch, and Nancy Pelosi. Whatever I think of their personal politics, their political acumen is way better than mine, and I suspect, yours. If Pelosi sees now as the moment to strike, I figure she’s got good reason. She didn’t strike 10 billion times before. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1135 "2019-09-29T16:03:39Z")
THIS time both Trump and Giuliani admitted what they’d done (god knows why) and Trump released a “transcript” of the phone call (god knows why) which shows him doing it. Kind of hard to cover that up again. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1136 "2019-09-29T16:15:51Z")
Keep an eye on the polls. ABC has a new one out this morning that shows the public now supports an impeachment inquiry 55% to 45%. That’s a massive shift from even a week ago. McConnell’s own reelection is tied to Trump, so to that extent he must support him. However, I don’t see Moscow Mitch wanting to be a minority leader if it looks like Dems will retake the Senate. He can retire a happy man, knowing he fulfilled his primary mission: To pack the courts with his ideological, Federalist Society-approved judges. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1137 "2019-09-29T16:23:33Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Two people I know better than to second-guess: Moscow Mitch, and Nancy Pelosi. Whatever I think of their personal politics, their political acumen is way better than mine, and I suspect, yours. > > If Pelosi sees now as the moment to strike, I figure she’s got good reason. She didn’t strike 10 billion times before. You can get on the Pelosi bandwagon if you like. Her move puts herself right in line with the fringe of her party, you know, the one she was just a few weeks ago trying to distance herself from, for political purposes. And now, a year prior to the next election, during prime time campaigning for the left, she’s gonna “strike” with an “inquiry” for completely objective and honest political reasons. If Trump wasn’t a threat to them they wouldn’t be wasting all this political capital on him. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1138 "2019-09-29T16:33:30Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Just to point out the obvious bad faith in the GOP argument, why are they only concerned about Hunter Biden and this prosecutor in the Ukraine that was fired now? Seems like if they really cared about this huge conspiracy, it might have come up once or twice in the two years since it happened. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > THIS time both Trump and Giuliani admitted what they’d done (god knows why) and Trump released a “transcript” of the phone call (god knows why) which shows him doing it. Kind of hard to cover that up again. They’re going with the “we didn’t do anything wrong defense.” This SHOULD be a slam dunk but, as usual, the Democrats are on the verge of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. They’re doing what they always do, playing defense while letting the opposition control the conversation. Because the talk seems to have pivoted to “Did Hunter Biden commit any crimes?” And I watched Meet the Press and some other news shows this morning and no one is even mentioning that we have legitimate channels for investigating such things if they are worth investigating. ITS A CRITICAL POINT. THERE WAS NO LEGITIMATE REASON TO SEND GIULIANI OUT TO HARASS FOREIGN DIPLOMATS NO MATTER WHAT HUNTER BIDEN DID. Because the right wing is taking the stance that this was a legitimate investigation and they are selling it because no one is pushing back against it. And while they are at it, the Dems should mention how batshit crazy the CrowdStrike angle is. Sorry for yelling, but this is a really important point but no one will know that if you don’t say it. The Democrats have totally and completely lost round 1 of what should’ve been a slam dunk case. And if any of my fellow Democrats think they are winning, there in a bubble. They need to stick their heads out and look at what the right wing is saying so they can properly counter it. They aren’t going to send you the talking points again and they’ve changed. Quit working with the old ones. I only hope is that the inevitable upcoming storm of White House stupid gives them more ammo. And I hope they figure out how to use it. Because they’ve totally dropped the ball and they don’t even know it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1139 "2019-09-29T16:37:45Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > You can get on the Pelosi bandwagon if you like. I mentioned McConnell and Pelosi in that bit you quoted, and you interpret it as getting on the Pelosi bandwagon. That interpretation is so fundamentally flawed that I think you need to do some serious introspection and revision of your posting philosophy before you’re worth engaging with further. ---
**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 29, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1140 "2019-09-29T16:53:38Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > …And I watched Meet the Press and some other news shows this morning and no one is even mentioning that we have legitimate channels for investigating such things if they are worth investigating. > … Chuck Todd tried to point that out, but the lunatic from La. that he was interviewing was busy talking all over him about Obama, and how lax he was on Russia. Speaking of MTP, this is a nicely dome timeline of Trump’s Ukraine deal. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TsuYJstAS4k/maxresdefault.jpg "Ukraine Timeline: From Giuliani's Outreach To Trump's Phone Call | Meet The Press | NBC News") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsuYJstAS4k) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=58)