# Trump and a feeling of momentum for impeachment **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 16, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785 "2017-05-16T19:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/101 "2017-05-17T17:57:50Z")
If the way to get half the country to get on board is to shut half the country up, then it’s the first half who has the problem, not the second half. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/102 "2017-05-17T18:02:37Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Eh, this is the same bullshit as Roderick Fenns “we really ought to be nicer to nazi’s and haters” foolishness. > > "Lol, it’s the Dems fault that Trump is President. > > If you guys hadn’t been so mean, we would’ve voted for JEB! But since y’all weren’t nice, we chose Trump." > > You really believe this bullshit, FP? I’m not sure you understood the point. At this time you would think the lowest type of intelligence - i.e. those incapable of realizing during the campaign that Trump was unsuited to be president - would have already seen the light in this regard. But it’s possible that these people have been inured to criticism of Trump. Having seen so much of it that they didn’t feel was justified, they now just reflexively dismiss all of it as same old same old. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/103 "2017-05-17T18:19:00Z")
On another note, I think one problem with impeaching Trump is that his problems are collective. IOW he hasn’t done any one thing that is by itself serious enough to impeach him over. If you add up the sum of his actions and reports of his personality and approach to the job, it’s clear that he is utterly unqualified to be president and is just cluelessly thrashing about. But if you break it down part by part, there’s no one thing that you can hang your hat on, ISTM. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/104 "2017-05-17T18:24:31Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > It is hilarious when non-liberals talk about a “liberal bubble.” The actual research that has ever been done on this shows that by any reasonable measure liberals are not bubbled, as a whole, while conservatives are. When conservatives accuse liberals of living in a bubble, it’s like a cosplay fan insisting that the rest of the world is languishing in a non-“Sailor Moon” bubble. Yeah, technically that’s true, but wildly devoid of any sense of proportion or contextual reality. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/105 "2017-05-17T18:51:41Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > The more Democrats oppose Trump, the more the GOP rank and file will demand that the GOP help Trump \*withstand \*impeachment. Better for Democrats to be quiet for a few months and let the GOP do the loud vocal criticism of Trump and impeaching of Trump, with the Dems only showing up to cast votes on Impeachment Day. There is absolutely no good reason for anyone with any morals to be quiet about what is happening right now. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/106 "2017-05-17T19:02:13Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > What’s Il Douche to do? Well, hold rallies, of course! I can hardly wait. > > And the future _Fox and Frauds_ headline: > > **Senate Names Trump to President Emeritus!** > > "Today, by unanimous vote, the Senate has elevated Donald Trump to be America’s first President Emeritus. The President Emeritus will abstain from the mundane and trivial everyday duties of President to allow him more time for glorious and transcendent incandescence. In a rare gesture of graciousness, President Trump has insisted that Vice-President Pence be officially “inaugurated” as President. > > Due to an upsurge in violent deranged hippie college radicals, preparations are under way to move PE Trump to a secure location in Leavenworth, Kansas…" So you like the idea I had last week! (Bold added.) > [@The Trump Presidency HAS to end with Impeachment... right?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-presidency-has-to-end-with-impeachment-right/786406/84): > > (Posted May 12, 2017)…The only way Trump will leave (while breathing) is if he can somehow spin his departure as that of a WINNER. He must be a winner. He cannot tolerate BEING a loser or even being CALLED a loser. > > I’m having a wild fantasy that the Democrats should declare him the winner of the popular vote, offer him some kind of permanent title like _ **President Emeritus** _, raise funds to carve his face on Mt. Rushmore next to Lincoln (he was a Republican, too, dontcha know) and give him a win-win way out of this mess so he can play golf every day and open a Trump Hotel in Moscow. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/107 "2017-05-17T19:22:16Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > It is hilarious when non-liberals talk about a “liberal bubble.” The actual research that has ever been done on this shows that by any reasonable measure liberals are not bubbled, as a whole, while conservatives are. It’s not nearly hilarious as the shock that rattled around liberal circles in November 2016 when they realized that they and their predictive models had been wrong, that Clinton wasn’t going to be the next president. Remember [this](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C39Ag-XUkAADsvC.jpg)? I don’t care though. I was responding to an OP that started out “I have a feeling …”. I was trying to present him some outside perspective. If BPC or you are confident that you’ve got a good grasp of the mood of the country today, and can accurately predict the probability of impeachment / Trump resigning, then by all means carry on. No need to pay any attention at all to those people in Sailor Moon costumes. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/108 "2017-05-17T20:38:05Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > The more Democrats oppose Trump, the more the GOP rank and file will demand that the GOP help Trump \*withstand \*impeachment. Better for Democrats to be quiet for a few months and let the GOP do the loud vocal criticism of Trump and impeaching of Trump, with the Dems only showing up to cast votes on Impeachment Day. _“All tyranny needs to triumph is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”_ -Edmund Burke ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/109 "2017-05-17T20:50:00Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’s not nearly hilarious as the shock that rattled around liberal circles in November 2016 when they realized that they and their predictive models had been wrong, that Clinton wasn’t going to be the next president. Remember [this](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C39Ag-XUkAADsvC.jpg)? Democrats underestimated the fear and loathing that Trump supporters and rank and file Republicans have for progressive ideas. That was the “liberal conceit” - the error in thinking that half the country couldn’t possibly be so stupid as to vote for a lying con artist who wasn’t fit to shovel shit from one place to another. As to who was actually fooled by the orange buffoon, well, _that’s_ actually the hilarious part. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/110 "2017-05-17T21:20:19Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > The more Democrats oppose Trump, the more the GOP rank and file will demand that the GOP help Trump \*withstand \*impeachment. Better for Democrats to be quiet for a few months and let the GOP do the loud vocal criticism of Trump and impeaching of Trump, with the Dems only showing up to cast votes on Impeachment Day. Is there any reason to think that the Republicans in Congress would give a damn about any crimes Trump might be committing if they weren’t feeling pressure from the Democrats? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/111 "2017-05-17T21:24:38Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’s not nearly hilarious as the shock that rattled around liberal circles in November 2016 when they realized that they and their predictive models had been wrong, that Clinton wasn’t going to be the next president. Remember [this](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C39Ag-XUkAADsvC.jpg)? Yes, it was a shock to us. We didn’t believe people would be stupid enough to actually vote for Donald Trump. Trump supporters proved us wrong; they really are that stupid. And now reality is proving why voting for Trump was stupid. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/112 "2017-05-17T21:56:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t care though. I was responding to an OP that started out “I have a feeling …”. I was trying to present him some outside perspective. If BPC or you are confident that you’ve got a good grasp of the mood of the country today, and can accurately predict the probability of impeachment / Trump resigning, then by all means carry on. No need to pay any attention at all to those people in Sailor Moon costumes. As it was said before anecdotes are not data. As I pointed in another thread: > **[Nearly half of U.S. voters support Trump impeachment as President’s approval...](https://www.nydailynews.com/2017/05/17/nearly-half-of-us-voters-support-trump-impeachment-as-presidents-approval-numbers-dip-further-poll-shows/)** > > President Trump’s approval ratings have fallen yet again, while the number of American voters supporting his impeachment is on the rise, a pair of new polls show. Just 42% of U.S. voters said… > [@](#): > > The latest Public Policy Polling survey found that nearly half (48%) of Americans supported impeachment proceedings for Trump, while just 41% said they would not support them. [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-poll-idUSKCN18B2LN](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-poll-idUSKCN18B2LN) > [@](#): > > The May 10-14 poll, which was conducted after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, suggests the public is increasingly uneasy with allegations of meddling by the Russians in the U.S. election. Trump’s dismissal of Comey, who was leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into ties between the White House and Russia, intensified calls by Democrats for an independent probe. > > According to the poll, 59 percent of adults, including 41 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Democrats, agreed that “Congress should launch an independent investigation into communications between the Russian government and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.” > > That compares with 54 percent of all adults, including 30 percent of Republicans and 81 percent of Democrats, who felt that way when the poll last asked the question in February. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/113 "2017-05-17T22:03:09Z")
Doj just appointed a special counsel to investigate Russian electoral interference - > **[DOJ Appoints Special Prosecutor To Investigate Trump Campaign's Russia Ties](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doj-special-counsel-russia-trump_n_591cbfa2e4b03b485cae5465?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009)** > > The decision is not a "finding that crimes have been committed," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein stressed. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/114 "2017-05-17T22:04:35Z")
Wheeee! :)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/115 "2017-05-17T22:04:48Z")
In (possibly?) related news - Wall St had a bit of slump today > **[Wall Street Is Starting To Panic About Trump](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-stocks-wall-street_n_591ca8cfe4b03b485cae42d5?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009)** > > Stocks dropped 1.8 percent Wednesday. I expect it will all come down to this in the end ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/116 "2017-05-17T22:13:26Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I hate to question the sincerity of your attempt, but I wasn’t thinking of InfoWars or a MediaMatters screen grab. Try reading this article: > > [FOX News](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/16/white-house-says-trump-info-sharing-with-russia-wholly-appropriate-rips-leaks.html) Hey look: more minimization. The implicit trust of a Trump lackey over a well-respected newspaper. And the reason I went to MediaMatters was because they had a good overview of what the primetime at FOX actually looked like. Of course, now we know that McMasters was basically full of shit, and that that leak to the Russians was about as “appropriate” as, say, telling North Korea who our spies in the field are - technically the president can give out this information, but he’d have to be a real _asshole_ to want to. And apparently, the leak wasn’t even planned - it was just something Trump threw out there to brag. And now you add to that the fact that the primetime set - Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, etc. - were harping on how awful the democrats were, and that _fucking conspiracy theory_, and basically ignoring the big news… Yeah, we have a problem. > [@](#): > > or go check what other news outlets have to say. I’d suggest looking at some of these: > > WSJ > > Chicago Tribune > > NY Post > > Las Vegas Review-Journal > > you might try checking in with the National Review too. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you think the Wall Street Journal or the Chicago Tribune represents mainstream conservative thought, [the movement has left you behind just as badly as it left the National Review’s “Never Trump” folks behind](https://www.cjr.org/analysis/breitbart-media-trump-harvard-study.php). The reason I picked Breitbart and Infowars was because _Breitbart and Infowars are the big names in conservative media now_. Next to FOX, obviously. Sure, those places you mentioned _exist_, but they’re not even on the same level as things like IJR or Gateway Pundit. This is why I went to /r/The\_Donald (or perhaps you can recommend different forums to look to when I want a look into the cesspit that is modern conservative thought?) - to make sure I wasn’t woefully off base when looking into the stories people are talking about. And lo and behold, I saw a reflection of the shit posted on Infowars, Breitbart, and Hannity’s god-awful show. But even to take the example you cited… That’s your big “gotcha”? “Hey, look, FOX News isn’t so awful! They covered the story in a way that wasn’t utterly retarded, just mostly retarded!” Nice one. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/117 "2017-05-17T22:26:42Z")
Nancy Pelosi [damps the momentum.](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/pelosi-pushes-back-on-impeachment-calls-without-facts-its-hearsay/article/2623179) ---
**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:** [May 17, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/118 "2017-05-17T22:30:17Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > On another note, I think one problem with impeaching Trump is that his problems are collective. IOW he hasn’t done any one thing that is by itself serious enough to impeach him over. … All he has to do is lie about something while under oath, isn’t that the Clinton standard? Let’s put that lyin’ fuck under oath, and ask him a few questions. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/119 "2017-05-17T23:08:04Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > All he has to do is lie about something while under oath, isn’t that the Clinton standard? Let’s put that lyin’ fuck under oath, and ask him a few questions. He can’t not-lie. It’s not in him. Watch his face in the Lester Holt interview when Holt is pressing him about the “three times” Comey supposedly told Trump that he wasn’t under investigation. Trump comes up with ‘once at a dinner and twice in phone calls’ and Holt says ‘in the phone calls, did he call you or did you call him?’ and you see Trump thinking up a “reasonable” answer on the fly: > [@](#): > > TRUMP: Then, during a phone call, he said it. And then, during another phone call he said it. So, he said it once at dinner and then he said it twice during phone calls. > > HOLT: Did – did you call him? > > TRUMP: In one case I called him and one case he called me. Transcript: [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/05/11/president\_trumps\_full\_interview\_with\_lester\_holt.html](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/05/11/president_trumps_full_interview_with_lester_holt.html) The video: [Watch Lester Holt's Extended Interview With President Trump](http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/pres-trump-s-extended-exclusive-interview-with-lester-holt-at-the-white-house-941854787582) No, I don’t have proof that Trump was inventing–but if there were a way to settle the matter definitively, I would place a large bet in advance of the determination. In any case: if he is put under oath and questioned _he will not be able to refrain from lying._ ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785/120 "2017-05-17T23:33:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Nancy Pelosi [damps the momentum.](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/pelosi-pushes-back-on-impeachment-calls-without-facts-its-hearsay/article/2623179) Naw. Honestly, she doesn’t matter on this anyway. Besides, as I’ve said, it doesn’t have to be impeachment. I feel today the momentum continues to build against Trump more than I did when I wrote the OP. The White House seems even more in disarray than ever, the WH staff more despondent and on the defensive, Trump more harried and things going down hill even faster. Might just be the ‘liberal bubble’ I’m in, but even the stock market seems to agree… Of course, he COULD pull all of this out, or weather the storm. But will he? I have my serious doubts at this point… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-a-feeling-of-momentum-for-impeachment/786785.md?page=7)