Impeach Trump Y/N

It is not in China's interest to help Trump, more likely they want him out of office so they can have a more sensible/predictable negotiating partner

exactly - i'm sure they're counting the days to nov 2020 just like all of us. it's hilariously sad that trump doesn't realize he's blown all his leverage

every now and then I step back and think: This is exactly the kind of shit we expected when Trump got elected. In fact, it's not even as bad as what we expected.

― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, October 3, 2019 10:57 AM (thirty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I mean I guess not as bad in that he hasn't yet started a new war, but I really didn't think he would so purposefully destabilize things internationally. He's made new wars more likely on multiple fronts and is really much worse even than what I expected.

"if i did it you wanted quid pro quo"

Did she say that she loves this country so much that she would like to hug it 'til it squeaks? Because that's equally if not more weird than Lewandowski slurring a few words. Like, I truly can't tell the difference between his little rant there and any other talking head on Fox, so why did she single him out?

because they're all crabs in the bucket at the end of the day

Kennedy tells Lewandowski he sounds a bit "Biden-esque", but isn't Biden teetotal?

No! he's a secret drunkard! He pours Negronis into his O'Doul's!

he only drinks o'douls (0.4% ABV), but he drinks around 20 to 30 of them a day

O'Doul riles!

Oops

No quid pro quo? Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat to Ukraine, certainly thought there was. "I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," he texted to fellow diplomats -- texts Kurt Volker just gave to Congress. https://t.co/apYDBshJTL

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) October 3, 2019

deep state department

GOP will certainly just focus on the response to that text, by trump's ambassador to the EU:

In the exchange, obtained by ABC News, the concerns are expressed by Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine. Gordon Sondland, the United States Ambassador to the European Union, responds to Taylor, saying, "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo’s of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign."

I'm shocked you'd even suggest that, Bill

- SEND -

The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign."

How odd that Trump's "evaluation" was going to be based on whether or not Zelensky did him the "favor" of investigating someone who happens to be the leading contender to oppose him?

do the bidens even have any connection to china? or is it just that every country in the world should be investigating them?

I am not a federal prosecutor but this apparently widely-disseminated direction that “if you don’t say it in so many words there’s no crime!” seems... like magical thinking?

it's the I didn't do it boy!

the playground argument reaches the crucial moment of "nuh uh!"

Ignorance of law excuses not. Unless you're prez, in which case shine on, you crazy diamond.

New USA Today poll:

Americans support House *impeaching* Trump by 45-38

They support *Senate conviction and removal* by 44-35 (!)

Note: 30% of Republicans say pressure on Ukraine to smear Biden is an abuse of power.

And it's early. More will come out.https://t.co/nIaJRZgP7E

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 3, 2019

mitt romney has 45% concerns

McConnell not sure about steak or chicken for dinner.

do the bidens even have any connection to china? or is it just that every country in the world should be investigating them?

― mookieproof, Thursday, October 3, 2019 1:21 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

*tim heidecker voice* investigate the china connection!!!

re: mookieproof's “do the Bidens even have any connection to China?” I'm not knowledgeable about financial matters but I found this:

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-says-hunter-biden-walks-out-of-china-with-1-5-billion-bidens-lawyer-says-thats-not-true/

“Hunter Biden did travel with his father on Air Force Two to China on Dec. 4, 2013.

Twelve days later, Hunter Biden joined the board of a just-formed investment advisory firm, known as BHR, whose partners included Chinese entities. Affiliates of the advisory firm said they planned to raise $1.5 billion.
Some media reports over the past five years have described Hunter Biden as an owner of a private equity company that sought to raise that amount.

However, George Mesires, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in an interview earlier this year that his client’s role has been misconstrued. He said Hunter Biden was on the board of the advisory firm that did not directly invest, but instead advised those who did.

Moreover, Mesires said, it was not until October 2017 that Hunter Biden acquired a financial stake in BHR. Hunter Biden bought a 10 percent equity interest that was worth $430,000 in July, Mesires said. At least half of the firm’s stake is owned by Chinese entities, according to business records.

Mesires, asked about the matter in July, said: “To date, Mr. Biden has not received any return or compensation on account of this investment or his position on the board of directors. The characterization of Mr. Biden as owning a $1.5 billion private equity firm funded by the Chinese seriously misconstrues Mr. Biden’s role with BHR.””

Is anyone else feeling an increasing sense of dread the more this shit spins out of control? It seems like the prevailing mood is "aha, we got him now!" but these blatant calls for foreign intervention are forcing Republicans into a position where they either have to accept straight up lawlessness and a Trump dictatorship or go against their team. We all know which way they'll go.

NEW: Text messages from Kurt Volker (US Special Envoy to Ukraine), Bill Taylor (top US diplomat in Kyiv), Gordon Sondland (US ambo to EU), Andriy Yermak (advisor to Zelensky).
1. Taylor relays Z’s reluctance to become “instrument in Washington domestic, reelection politics.” pic.twitter.com/WhfAnu8ktd

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) October 4, 2019

🚨 🚨 Bill Taylor to Sondland: "Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?" pic.twitter.com/sAEETFY51Q

— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) October 4, 2019

come on!!

Republicans would never accept an outright dictatorship, they will just accept varying degrees of the President breaking the law and simply say he isn't.

Xxpost

If you say so...

That isn't less scarier per se

At a certain point, "let the president do whatever he wants while the majority of Americans become disenfranchised" is indistinguishable from a dictatorship.

"Is anyone else feeling an increasing sense of dread the more this shit spins out of control? " yes definitely

Is anyone else feeling an increasing sense of dread the more this shit spins out of control? It seems like the prevailing mood is "aha, we got him now!" but these blatant calls for foreign intervention are forcing Republicans into a position where they either have to accept straight up lawlessness and a Trump dictatorship or go against their team. We all know which way they'll go.

claiming this is a coup and flirting with the idea of Civil War really does scare me, think shit has the potential to get really bad before it'll get any better

jesus those texts... grudging credit to sondland for knowing what not to commit to recoverable media

It just so obviously flagrant and out in the open, but the line is going to be that the president can ask a country to investigate election interference and that's that.

only if it's a Republican though

Well, yeah. But the way I look at it, this is all so blatant and clear as day that if Republicans accept it, we essentially are now a dictatorship and we shouldn't worry about another party taking power any time soon.

At least the Mueller report was long and convoluted enough to where you could semi-reasonably pretend that it was 200 pages of criminal activity.

*wasn't

Well, yeah. But the way I look at it, this is all so blatant and clear as day that if Republicans accept it, we essentially are now a dictatorship and we shouldn't worry about another party taking power any time soon.

There's a really fringy element out there who might initiate violence, which would of course be a very bad thing, but there's nothing in Trump's agenda comparable to the slavery issue that could foment another full-blown US civil war if he's impeached and successfully removed from office (fat chance of that), unless that war is a couple of decades of further deepened divisions from now. What we're more likely to get are smoldering resentments that play out in tribal national politics for a while until new issues finally intervene to make all this look like ancient and irrelevant history.

Look how long people actively resented Clinton's impeachment and the 2000 'hanging chad' election. Maybe three years, with a lingering tail for a decade at most. Look at the Merrett Garland affair and how much it affects politics today. Not much at all, except for the general sense of Republicans as dirty players who hit below the belt.

I don't necessarily think an all out war will happen, but I think a peaceful transfer of power following a Democratic victory next year may not happen either.

Look how long people actively resented Clinton's impeachment and the 2000 'hanging chad' election. Maybe three years, with a lingering tail for a decade at most...

aw c’mon I still actively resent that bullshit

I keep thinking about a recent Adam Serwer article that spelled out the fact that Republicans see their own unlawful actions as justified because they view Democrats and Democratic power as intrinsically illegitimate.

Speaking of impeachment...

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/02/were-looking-near-raw-bribery-house-dems-investigating-whether-groups-tried-curry

I keep thinking about a recent Adam Serwer article that spelled out the fact that Republicans see their own unlawful actions as justified because they view Democrats and Democratic power as intrinsically illegitimate.

obv the model where one geographical half of the country neatly divides itself from and fights a war with the other half is not going to happen again but if democratic collapse is not reversed i do think we can expect more and more political violence, mostly from expanding police occupation (w support from various kinds of brownshirt) and solidifying resistance to it. eventually it will be at a point where if you dropped someone in from 2000 they would be like "wow it almost seems like there's a civil war going on" but there's not gonna be a fort sumter.

despite ample opportunity trump does not seem to me to have actually cultivated the institutional support that would allow him to remain in office after losing an election, unless of course the result can be sent to a republican supreme court again.

"ample"'s a bit of an overstatement there. someone could prob have done it tho

Look at the Merrett Garland affair and how much it affects politics today.

Merrettless Garland

Not much at all, except for fundamentally, in ways that have shifted the entire function of the government in America