So, in other words, Mitch McConnell would be for it.
Sorry, didn’t see that post.
Sure he can. Whatever instincts he had that allowed him to file for bankruptcy all those times would be the same instinct that makes him able to resign.
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I wonder if this was a trial balloon. Now Mitch has to worry that these 30 senators might actually grow a spine, and wonder if convincing Trump to resign now might be [strikethrough]the only way he keeps his Majority Leader position[/strikethrough] in the best interests of the legacy of Donald J. Trump.
(Dammit, how do you do strikethrough on SDMB?)
I believe he would resign, but not in anything so dignified as a Nixonian way. He would claim that he can only fight the “deep state” from outside the “swamp”, and would work to constantly stir up trouble for the rest of his life.
Nah. As I have said before, when he leaves office he will not step foot in any any blue state for a New York minute. He will go on a neverending bus tour (staying out of airports, where the federal government predominates) of deep red states. He will have protection from the law enforcement apparatus in those states, and it’s unlikely anyone including the federal government will push their luck in trying to do much about it as long as he stays in that part of the country.
And you can go from Georgia to Idaho without ever leaving the deep red areas. He’ll just barnstorm around, holding rallies every other day and annoying the hell out of us—but will just be an irritant we will have to endure for a while, until his sedentary junk food lifestyle finally catches up to him.
I think there’s a small chance that he could do a rage quit. If the writing on the wall is so big that even he can see it, I think his ego might shift to “you guys are all losers and you don’t deserve me.” This could happen even if he’ll be subjecting himself to prosecution – he’s shown that he does not often make the best strategic or tactical choices. . .
I wonder what the odds are of Trump jetting off to Russia, Saudi Arabia or Israel.
My money would be on Saudi Arabia. The princes there have opulent palaces with gold fixtures (and other crap in god-awful taste), so Trump would fit right in.
I’m sure a Saudi prince would love to have a US President as a pet. He could invite folks over to look at Trump in his apartment, through the one-way glass.
See him as a cult leader. What does a cult leader have to gain by stepping down from the cult? Shame? A loss of power? Loneliness? Much better to be martyred and keep the love of the cultists.
The cultists might eventually abandon the cult leader, but doing so has a huge cost, as long as the cult is coherent: anyone who leaves will face the fury and shunning of those who don’t. Even if you want to leave, it’s real hard to be the first.
The Senate is full of flunkies who were in the church before it was taken over by a cult leader. As long as the leader is in charge, they face reprisals from him if they disagree with him. As long as the cult is coherent, they face reprisals from cultists if they martyr the leader.
The whole system is remarkably self-reinforcing. I don’t expect any of the three levels–the leader, the flunkies, or the cultists–to crack, because each of them faces reprisals if they do.
This is going to be real ugly.
Putin wouldn’t want to have to deal with a useful idiot every day; he wouldn’t be allowed off the plane. Israel has problems enough of their own; the plane might be prevented from entering their airspace. Saudi Arabia might just let him in, but they would make an ostentatious display of walking him past the bone saw sharpening room on the way to his new lodging.
Pretty sure that this is somewhere in the top 5 rules of the GOP Handbook.
[del]Like this.[/del]
Use ‘del’ instead of ‘strikethrough’.
And if we are fair, the Democratic handbook too. Which IMO is as it should be. Fortunately, we have better voters.
That’s what I think, too. And he won’t announce it until he is safely ensconced. He’ll slink off in the dead of night like the slithering, slimy sneak he is, leaving everyone else to clean up the mess.
No way he resigns. As someone else upthread (apologies for not recalling who) pointed out, there will be pardon-proof state arrest warrants awaiting him even if Pence decides to sacrifice his entire political future (such as it is) and pardon him for the federal crimes.
The report just confirms what was pretty obvious from their political fundraising and connections to Russian individuals. The Kremlin hacked the political system financially and organically. It’s important to expose groups like the NRA for the traitors they are.
I think he’d have a hard time leaving Frump Tower behind, and it is located in a blue state. Maybe he would be willing to give it up as long as he got a new place that was just as gaudy.
Invite them all over for a party and make some drinks.
I’ll just ask Trump who posted this thing I’m quoting, and then tell him no take backs.
How about this for an interesting scenario?
Impeachment goes to the Senate and gets 60 votes to remove. 65% of the public says Trump should resign “for the good of the country”. 53% of Republican voters say they would rather have Pence or someone else on the ballot next fall. Opinion begins to be divided on talk radio and Fox News, but Trump loyalists fiercely denounce the “Vichy Republicans” in their ranks.
What does Trump do in this scenario? What do Pence* and McConnell do?
*I also wonder what Pence’s political advisors are telling him to do right now.
60 votes = acquittal = “Total Exoneration! The Witch Hunt is Over!”
It’s hard to imagine this happening. 10 GOP Senators aren’t going to risk their necks unless they know there are 7 more going that way. Mitch will make sure his troops either vote party line acquittal, or he’ll tell at least 17 (the ones in the safest seats) to vote to remove, depending on what his finger in the wind tells him.
It’s good advice for folks to barrage their congressperson with phone calls and emails. But my congressperson is Nancy Pelosi. She doesn’t need any nudging from her constituents. who am I supposed to call? Some random representative in Kansas or Virginia? Congresspeople don’t give much credence to messages from people outside their district, do they?