What should terrify you more is what would come afterward if Trump and the GOP were to win. Increasingly, it is clear that the Republicans are self-aware enough to understand that they are a political minority, representing the views of a rather small portion of the electorate.
The scary part is that Republicans will build an apparatus to ensure that they have minority rule indefinitely - and gerrymandering isn’t enough. That’s why Bill Barr exists. He, like the growing cadre of totally unqualified court justices, exist to destroy public institutions.
Russia’s game is in causing people to doubt democracy’s fairness, but domestically, those who can capitalize on that kind of chaos are the plutocrats and domestic authoritarians who can, over time, force Americans to accept that America is something other than democratic.
American democracy does when people no longer believe that it truly exists, and I’d say we’re on the way there. How else can we explain that we have clear, consistent testimony corroborated by multiple individuals, and yet it doesn’t seem to change attitudes?
Here, as example, is a piece of writing from Steven Miller’s friend and one of the “good people” that Trump was talking about at Charlottesville, discussing the “white genocide”:
My fantasy unicorns and rainbows take on all this is that all of the GOP fascist machinations are the last gasps of a dying animal clawing desperately to cling on to life. The long promised demographic changes (aging GOP dying off, more minorities, youthful voters heavily leaning D) will eventually EVENTUALLY take hold.
I also look to the trope of California always being ahead of the curve culturally - there the GOP is fundamentally a rump party and largely irrelevant.
This fantasy gives my old bones hope that our experiment with democracy will not fail and we will turn this around. I may not see it in my remaining lifetime, but it will come. Surely, GAWD ALMIGHTY it will come. (Can I get a witness?)
Right wing, left wing is a false dichotomy used to divide, and thus weaken our ability to act democratically to chose the best path. I hope you are not blocking out the message of this video because it cites messengers who you consider to be “right wing”.
If it were up to my wife Trump would have been impeached 100 times already. She’s just in despair because it’s becoming clear that, if this was our best shot, it wasn’t good enough.
I had hoped that this part of the inquiry would include court-ordered testimony of those who have resisted subpeonas and documents that the courts are much closer to compelling the release of. Why are we stopping now? That’s the stuff that can be thrown at Trump repeatedly in the election cycle, but now it’s going to trickle out against the post-acquittal noise? Why?
Isn’t it true that Trump had no legal basis for withholding the funds? My very limited understanding is that Congress does the vetting and had already approved the aid to Ukraine.
I actually agree with these points but maybe I have a stronger fear that the Republicans will find a way to keep winning with ever fewer numbers. And use those wins to rig the game even worse in a neverending loop of a nightmare.
We’ve been over this a million times. The Right has spent decades de-ligitimizing any voice that does not comport with their framing. Is it any wonder that when “our side” finally catches up, we find ourselves highly skeptical of any message coming from that side? Especially when we have suffered through so much bad faith arguing? Pass.
The message of the video is very straightforward. Sinclair Broadcast Group has been buying up local media stations. They force these media stations to put out certain messages called “must runs”. The video is showing such a must run. Sinclair Broadcast Group is definitively a right-wing organization. That really shouldn’t be in question. Look, I’m certainly no fan of news organizations. I’ve been critical of them in the past, I’ll be critical of them in the future. But right at this moment, by leagues and leagues, right-wing media is vastly worse by any reasonable objective measure. Sorry. I know it isn’t easy to hear that you’re supporting a party that is not fully committed to democracy, especially since you probably legitimately agree with some of their policies. Sooner or later you’re going to have to ask yourself whether party is more important than country.
I’m not sure what you mean by this. Two things I thought of, going on the assumption that you mean impeach AND throw him out in a senate trial:
The mere concept of trying to do so is political suicide. You don’t throw out the head guy when the economy is good.
People love a good economy, so they will never support throwing out the head guy, regardless of what he does as president in other matters. Therefore, it is futile to expect senators from the president’s side to vote to do so. In other words, in practicality a president will never be ousted if the economy is rolling. It’s just not possible.
Since it could be either or these or neither, I won’t make any assumptions. What I really wanted to do though, and this suggested it to me, was say that I think the idea that public support is a necessary requirement to impeach/oust the president is wrong, this idea that we elected those who will decide the fate of the president, and therefore we get to have a say in what should be done in an impeachment situation. While taking into account the opinions of constituents when deciding one’s course of action as an elected official is prudent, ultimately said officials have a constitutional duty to decide if a president is guilty of high crimes and/or misdemeanors, and it doesn’t matter how many citizens demand a say in it, or how they feel.
Just to be clear, I am making no claims as to what you, asahi, believe or meant, your post just reminded me I’ve been meaning to bring this up before.
Folks, Trump is really a “third party” President, a true outsider. You need to step outside of the two party dichotomy. It has long been a Uniparty. He needed to pick one of the two parties to run under to have a chance of winning.
Re: Annoy swing voters: I would think there is a distinct possibility that NOT voting to impeach would annoy some swing voters even more. Who knows, but I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion the other way around.
And he just so happens to have every Republican in congress defending him, covering for him, protecting him. Fox news. Right wing radio. Right wing internet. The RNC, the NRA, every right wing PAC. Yet he’s not one of you? He’s appointed tons of right wing ideologue judges at all levels, including 2 on the supreme court. Yet he’s not a Republican? What exactly are you smoking? What a bunch of BS.
What this is, is an attempt to pivot away from Trump now that he might become more of a drag than a help. An attempt to avoid responsibility for causing this to happen to America and enabling it and cheering it on every step of the way.
I say, Fuck that. You own this asshole and he will be hanging around your party’s neck forever. What the GOP has done and continues to do needs to never be forgotten.
Do you believe that it is an actual, thought out and planned strategy of the Republicans to turn this country into a lawless authoritarian dictatorship, or perhaps only that their feckless and cowardly actions under the Trump administration are simply wholly misguided, and may result in that outcome? Because I think the former idea is pretty unlikely, despite their despicable actions.