The impeachment trial of US President Trump (January 16th to February 5th 2020) ended yesterday. The Senate, controlled by his own party, the Republicans, found him not guilty. He remains the president.
The two charges:
- Abuse of power – for asking a foreign power, Ukraine, to help him win the 2020 election.
- Obstruction of Congress – for refusing requests for witnesses and evidence.
Acquittal: Only 48% of the Senate found him guilty of the first charge, 47% of the second. Well short of the 67% required by the constitution.
No witnesses called: All but two Republicans voted to allow no witnesses to be called. What kind of trial is that?
The Republican arguments during the trial showed that the facts were not on their side.
- Some said Democrats had not proved their case – yet refused to allow any eyewitnesses to be called.
- Some said the next election, not impeachment, should decide the matter – but will apparently allow Trump to cheat in that election.
- Some said that Trump did do it – but that it does not rise to the level of impeachment.
- Some said Trump now knows better – even though Trump does not admit he did anything wrong.
- Some, going full fascist, said that as president he can do whatever the hell he wants – because whatever is in his interest is in the national interest.
Mitt Romney, a Republican senator who ran for president in 2012, was the only senator to cross party lines. The other 52 Republican senators backed President Trump.
Compared with Watergate: In 1974 when President Nixon was threatened with impeachment, only 15 Republican senators were willing to back him. So Nixon resigned. He, like Trump, had also been caught abusing his power to win re-election – the whole Watergate thing.
Trump above the law: In Watergate the catchphrase was: “No man is above the law.” Not anymore! Republicans have been moving towards full-blown fascism and this is a big step in that direction.
John Bolton is a loose end that is still hanging out there. Not that I am holding my breath or anything. He was Trump’s national security advisor and one of the eyewitnesses Republicans blocked. He never appeared before the Senate – but he has written a book. Trump is trying to block it from coming out.
Republican Bubble: Not that I expect Bolton’s book to shake Trump’s voter base, the infamous 35% that have stuck with him through thick and thin. They get most of their news from the Republican Bubble, especially Fox News and Trump’s tweets, so they are guarded from any inconvenient truths. As they were throughout the impeachment trial.
The 2020 election: The only thing that can possibly stop Trump now, short of illness or death, is the 2020 election in November – you know, the one in which he is now allowed to ask foreign powers to help him win. He will presumably receive help from Russia, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. At least.
Trump forever: Right after Trump was found not guilty, he tweeted a video that showed him winning election after election “4EVA”.
– Abagond, 2020.
See also:
- impeachment
- Watergate
- past posts:
- 2006: Republicans
- 2008: Mitt Romney
- 2012: Romney 2012
- 2012: Republican Bubble
- 2015: Donald Trump
- 2016:Β The Trump Era
- 2017: The 35%
- 2018: Republicans are going over a cliff
- 2019:Β The Mueller Report
- The 2020 election for US president
- John Bolton
- Ur-Fascism
- petro-fascism
543
MAGA or white, either way would be good.
TRUMP 2020.πͺπͺπͺπͺπ₯ππ³
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Never vote for Democrats.
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Nasty Pelosi trick blew up in her horse looking face.
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I hope his base enjoys learning to read and write Russian now that he has sold American real estate to Putin – all 50 of them.
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Reblogged this on Project ENGAGE.
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Please stay on this subject.
Trump has a base which includes many Christians who do not like abortions.
Do not believe all of his supporters are ignorant!
Many Christians have made a deal with the devil because they want to stop people from engaging in sexual activities which results in creating unwanted babies which are aborted.
Please study the support group of the president. it (the republican party) is also in the hands of the very very rich.
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This is great Abagond, America will finally crumble, albeit from within.
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“Many Christians have made a deal with the devil because they want to stop people from engaging in sexual activities which results in creating unwanted babies which are aborted.”
I met such ‘Christian’. He was a staunch opponent of abortions until the girl he was fooling around with got pregnant. He was pressuring her to get an abortion and even contemplated pushing her down a flight of stairs to get rid of the incipient “little crumb snatcher”. So much for Christianity, eh?
Did you guys take this charade seriously? The whole Trump Russian puppet thing is silly. What’s so great about arming the Ukrainians? This was a political show trial like the Clinton impeachment. The Republicans failed to convict Clinton just as the Democrats failed to convict Trump. Nothing to see here, move on.
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I met such βChristianβ. He was a staunch opponent of abortions until the girl he was fooling around with got pregnant.
That’s usually the case. I knew a ‘good’ Catholic girl who did the same thing, got an abortion. I can’t imagine what her penance was!
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This was nothing but a sham and a pony show designed to distract us from real issues. Both sides knew it wouldn’t work. After all they all want the same thing and agree on the same things. Trump had already committed a plethora of impeachable offenses. Hell, even his open and blatant racism makes him impeachable, but because both parties agree on his racism and his imperialistic acts of aggression, these were never argued.
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I wish the amoral socialist Democrats would leave America and take the illegals, Gays, baby killers and SJW with you. Illegals are turning America into a shithole country.
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It will be interesting to see who shows up for Trump on election day.
I personally know several people who were strongly in the “Let’s give him a chance” and “He’s a businessman and that’s what we need” camps before. I don’t think impeachment had any substantial impact on them, but most of them had already become disenchanted with Trump and the impeachment was just one more thing on the pile. But, even though they think he’s a joke now, they’re going to vote for him again (if they vote). Although, I have had a few ask me my opinion of Bloomberg.
I don’t personally know anyone that believes impeachment wasn’t a political stunt. I do know a few Democrats that were excited and optimistic about it though.. like they legitimately believed the Senate would have a real trial and reveal serious wrongdoings that even they couldn’t spin their way out of.
I also wonder if Pelosi would have even allowed it had the Democrats taken the Senate in 2018. Sure, the vote could have removed him, but I think they’d rather run against Trump than Pence.
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Open Minded Observer: He will be re-elected in all likelyhood.
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Quit promoting a deceit. The Senate had the prerogative of conducting the type of trial it decided to conduct. It can have witnesses, but it does not have to. The trial it conducted was based on an examination of the evidence forwarded by the House and the presentations of the House managers. For the purpose at hand, it was a legitimate trial. Sorry.
I’m not a a Freudian, but it is time to call and end to id-oriented politics and conduct some real business there in Washington.
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Reblogged this on We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident and commented:
This is a great summary. Thanks.
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Why do people insist that this was some sort of stunt? I think it’s mainly because this country has done an excellent job of denying the majority of citizens a decent education.
Trump has not only broken the law, he has abused the power of his office to a degree that is truly shocking to anyone who gives a damn.
Republicans love to say that about Obama. But they meant Obama abused his office by showing up and actually governing at all. Obama governed for the general welfare. Trump is, and only every will be, out for himself.
Trump had to be impeached if for no other reason than to show him that his malfeasance is seen and could come with a cost. Honestly, I hope to heaven the Democrats subpoena Bolton to the House of Representatives and Impeach Trump all over again. And again all the way up to the election. If for no other reason than to keep the Republicans away from their precious donors for awhile. Oh and to remind them that they’re will always be someone to hold them accountable for what they do.
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I see why blacks were slaves, they are forever killing each other and innocent bystanders and you people are worried about Donald Trump, do you think he’s the only racist. How about your white buddies in the Democrat party who have an agenda for everyone except black people.
The only time white Democrats use the word black is vote time.
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Can someone make a gofund me to send all blacks back to Africa if they hate Trump so much and take your leftwinger buddies with you. Without rich white people you blacks wouldn’t have jobs.
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@Lou Nar
“He will be re-elected in all likelyhood.”
I’m done guessing the outcome, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised either way.
@thatdeborahgirl
“Why do people insist that this was some sort of stunt?”
Speaking only for myself, because I don’t believe the majority of members of the House and Senate, of either party, had any doubt about the outcome of this impeachment. I believe the pros and cons were calculated solely from a political perspective. I believe that they believe they can bend the “will of the people” to their whims and rewrite history according to the outcomes. In my more cynical moments, I believe Nancy Pelosi went ahead with the impeachment solely to quell the passions of the fresh new idealistic politicians championing it and force them to fall into line… defeated and beholden to the party for continued support.
“Trump has not only broken the law, he has abused the power of his office to a degree that is truly shocking to anyone who gives a damn.”
I wholeheartedly, 100% agree. I just don’t think the majority of our elected officials actually feel this has any bearing on their jobs as party-before-people politicians.
“Trump had to be impeached if for no other reason than to show him that his malfeasance is seen and could come with a cost.”
Whether or not there was any cost to him remains to be seen. I love the idea of repeated impeachments though… continuing drip, drip, drip of impeachment dominating the media could drive up voter apathy among Republicans just enough to see him dethroned. However, if Bolton had anything of any real substance to offer, it would have been out by now. He’s peddling a book and the Democrats leveraged that to create some additional drama for the added media attention.Trump did what he did and even his own attorneys acknowledged it for all intents and purposes. Now it is up to us to unseat the jury. Heck, if Democrats could get to a 2/3 majority in the Senate, they could expel the left-overs for dereliction of duty and remove Trump should he be reelected and re-impeached.
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“Why do people insist that this was some sort of stunt? I think itβs mainly because this country has done an excellent job of denying the majority of citizens a decent education.”
A little full of yourself, aren’t you, dear? All presidential impeachments have been political show trials, the outcome is determined by the political strength of the opposing parties. The only education one needs to determine the outcome is grade school math. At Trump’s level, what he does is a crime only if enough Congressmen and Senators say so, regardless of his actual conduct. Never steal anything small.
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You mean black Democrats and their white liberal friends. Blacks are the pets of white liberals.
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“Why do people insist that this was some sort of stunt? I think itβs mainly because this country has done an excellent job of denying the majority of citizens a decent education.”
The poor quality of education has people believing the contrary–IE that there are still two distinct parties with differing worlds–that one is good and the other is evil, when in actual fact both parties want the same thing. Both parties keep the government essentially the same, maintaining policies favorable for corporations and militant foreign policy whichever party was in power–only offering any kind of reform when it becomes necessary to maintain the public’s trust or improve the country’s image.
“Trump has not only broken the law, he has abused the power of his office to a degree that is truly shocking to anyone who gives a damn.”
Actually he has broken the law and committed a whole host of impeachable offenses, but because, as I mentioned, both parties agree on most things, he was not and will not be impeached on things like his racism or his war crimes.
“Republicans love to say that about Obama. But they meant Obama abused his office by showing up and actually governing at all. Obama governed for the general welfare. Trump is, and only [ever] will be, out for himself.”
Obama committed a whole host of war crimes, too. He targetted innocent people with drones and expanded the war on terror into Africa–meaning he is directly responsible for the deaths of scores of black people! Also, Barrack Obama, the half black son of a Kenyan immigrant, had open disdain for black people, which he never missed an opportunity to express. He wouldn’t even call George Zimmerman a thug, or Dylan Roof a terrorist. Despite having two Black attorneys general, he would not go after cops, vigilantes and even entire governments who were slaughtering black people as young as twelve, or knowingly poisoning water supplies. Obama was not a President of the people, he was a bought and paid for shill for white-supremacy.
“Trump had to be impeached if for no other reason than to show him that his malfeasance is seen and could come with a cost.”
Annoying Orange had to be impeached to further the illusion that the government is working for you and not its pay masters, and that the system does not need to be dismantled and rebuilt.
“Honestly, I hope to heaven the Democrats subpoena Bolton to the House of Representatives and Impeach Trump all over again. And again all the way up to the election. If for no other reason than to keep the Republicans away from their precious donors for awhile. Oh and to remind them that theyβre will always be someone to hold them accountable for what they do.”
This will not happen.
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Why do people insist that this was some sort of stunt? I think itβs mainly because this country has done an excellent job of denying the majority of citizens a decent education.β
The poor quality of education in this country has people believing the contraryβIE that there are still two distinct parties with differing world viewsβthat one is good and the other is evil, when in actual fact both parties want the same thing. Both parties keep the government essentially the same, maintaining policies favorable for corporations and militant foreign policy whichever party was in powerβonly offering any kind of reform when it becomes necessary to maintain the publicβs trust or improve the countryβs image.
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@bigboy:
Opinions are like anuses, everyone has one.
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@ Lou Nar
“Both parties keep the government essentially the same, maintaining policies favorable for corporations and militant foreign policy whichever party was in powerβonly offering any kind of reform when it becomes necessary to maintain the publicβs trust or improve the countryβs image.”
I mostly agree with your assessment. However, I don’t think either party cares one whit about the “public’s trust” or the “country’s image”. All they care about is money and power.
The only reforms they make are cosmetic. They immediately water down those “reforms” when public attention is fixed on yet another celebrity scandal or other types of junk news.
While the American public is currently browbeaten by the current system, they are still discontented with the way the country is run by two wings of the vulture.
John Della Volpe cited a poll of American voters on the site Real Clear Politics that indicated:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/30/why_our_politicians_leave_americans_wanting_142267.html
Maybe that is why we never see, “none of the above” on the ballot.
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@herneith and as such generally ought not to be displayed in public!
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Can’t say I didn’t see his acquittal coming.
Then again, I can’t help but feel this was all an elaborate distraction for something else.
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I doubt he can live that long with all of the drugs they stuff into him.
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This seems like it was four months ago.
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What a joke that these are our leaders?
The coronavirus has more principle!
Of course, I’m not surprised in the least.
Truth stopped mattering a loooong time ago.
Perversity has unbuttoned its cloak and now flashes us continually.
We just avert our eyes and move on, awaiting the comeuppance.
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