The Trump Impeachment Inquiry

  1. has already been decided.

Moscow Mitch has told the Republican senators how they will vote, before any evidence has even been presented. They refuse to even hear the evidence.

They bitched when the hearings were held in committee. Now they bitch that the hearings will be public. In any event, they will not listen to any evidence. Think of all of the Republican Senators as being even MORE intransigent and even MORE resistant to evidence than our own favorite posters here… That is how it will go.

<Fingers in ears> “La la la la la la I don’t hear you… NOT GUILTY!”

Don’t forget that Trump already has $158 million available for his reelection campaign. All that and more will be used to defend Trump in the court of public opinion as well as attacking Democrats and convincing swing voters to stay home.

Not to mention the fact that the “mainstream media” still can’t resist repeating every one of Trump’s lies.

I still think there’s a sliver of hope that the live testimony moves public opinion that continuing to support Donald becomes untenable for Republicans. If the political cost for support exceeds the cost to cut him loose, then they will let him go. For this to happen, the public has to engage and those polls really have to shift.

I think that’s very unlikely – it would have to cut into Trump’s base, which seems impossible.

But what might be possible (though who knows how likely) is the live testimony moving public opinion to the edge of Trump’s base – something like 60-40 for impeachment and removal, such that the vulnerable Republican Senators vote for removal. Still wouldn’t be enough to remove, but the intra-GOP shitstorm that this would cause would be hugely beneficial for the Democrats (not to mention hugely entertaining!).

Frank Thorp V, NBC News:

From Wikipedia’s page on absolute immunity:

I think it is only a matter of time before Trump orders the jailing of his political opponents.

Any law enforcement will just ignore him, but still…

I think that just might be wishful thinking on your part.

CBS Will Pre-Empt Programming For Donald Trump Impeachment Hearing Coverage

Not finding this on the CBS News web page, so not 100% sure it’s legit.

Takes me back to 1973 when I was a Bright Young Thing and rushed home from work to watch John Dean’s testimony on TV every day.

It’s so unfair - for once, CSPAN has the chance to be interesting and the other networks are stealing its thunder.

I’m afraid you’re right. The US is on the knife edge of falling into despotism.

Andrew Sullivan has a nice take on impeachment

It’s all good, but was especially glad to read this part:

Wonder if Faux News will carry it, and if so, do their own voiceovers so their [del]worshippers[/del] viewers will not have to hear any of the FAKE news of their Dear Leader.

I was 11, my brothers were 10, and we were mad that our shows weren’t on the air. Andy Griffith was probably one.

And I lamented that they preempted Gilligan’s Island. I can remember so vividly asking my mother wtf was going on.

Turns out, if Trump can be believed (Ha-ha. Yeah, I know. I’ll give you a minute to catch your breath…)
He hardly even knows Gordon Sondland!
““I hardly know the gentleman”, said Trump of Gordon Sondland, whom Donald appointed as Ambassador to the European Union, and who donated $1 million to his inauguration.”

ETA: Amusing .GIFs and Twitter links at above link

The judgement included an admission of wrongdoing. So, everything you wrote is irrelevant. He admitted he ran a fraudulent charity.

“The settlement, which was finalized last month and announced on Thursday in the judge’s order, included a detailed admission of misconduct that is rare for the president, who has long employed a scorched-earth approach toward fighting lawsuits.”

We watched it in class! I always had a grudge against Mr _____ but he was a good guy.

NYMag/Intelligencer: GOP Ukraine Defense: Trump Was Just a Patsy for Sondland

The fact that the President was elected by the states is a big factor in weighing the importance of his position. I don’t particularly care if the President loses his job, I care that the states(/people) are disenfranchised. But I am making the same argument across two threads, and I invite you to join us in the debate thread.

~Max

"(CNN)The National Security Council’s top Ukraine experttold lawmakers there was “no ambiguity” ahead of President Donald Trump’s July callwith his Ukrainian counterpart that the Ukrainians would have to start an investigation into Trump’s political rival in order to secure a meeting between the two, according to a transcript of his testimony released Friday.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified to House impeachment inquiry investigators in a closed door deposition that “there was no doubt about” what Trump was asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for during the July 25 call: having a foreign government investigate a US citizen in exchange for a meeting between the two heads of state."