The Impeachment Process Has Officially Begun (1 Viewer)

[Andrus]

By Laura Bassett

After months of internal arguing among Democrats over whether to impeach President Donald Trump, the dam is finally breaking in favor of trying to remove him from office. The Washington Post reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would announce a formal impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, following a bombshell report that Trump illegally asked Ukraine’s government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, one of his political opponents. (He essentially admitted to having done so over the weekend.)

“Now that we have the facts, we’re ready,” Pelosi said Tuesday morning at a forum hosted by The Atlantic. At 5 p.m. the same day, she was back with more. "The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the constitution, especially when the president says Article Two says I can do whatever I want," referring to the segment of the Constitution that defines the power of the executive branch of the government. Pelosi's message was that checks and balances of those branches are just as central to the Constitution. And one more thing: "Today, I am announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry," she said at a conference broadcast on Twitter by the Huffington Post. ...

Read the Full Story - InStyle

 

[V Chip]

TWhat I am saying is there is no way I would vote for any of the democrats now. And that goes the same for many other Americans.

You just described 90% of the Republican Party.

You could take Ted Cruz (or Nikki Haley, or Josh Hawley, or nearly anyone), have him keep all of his positions on the issues but run as a Democrat, and the vast majority of Republicans would never vote for him just because of the (D).

 

[Intensesaint]

Trump is a threat to our Republic. I’d vote for Pence over him, even though Pence is horrible. If you love our Republic, a vote for almost anyone else is preferable.

We also heard he was going to destroy the economy too. And Uncle Traveling Jim addressed the hyperbole in the economic thread as unhealthy in political discourse.

I know it's anecdotal and you wont believe me, but there is a black owned barber ship right next to my business and I know the owner and many of his clients quite well, and they all support Trump because of many of his actions in the past two years to help black Americans, doesn't seem like much of a threat to them.

 

[Beach Friends]

You just described 90% of the Republican Party.

You could take Ted Cruz (or Nikki Haley, or Josh Hawley, or nearly anyone), have him keep all of his positions on the issues but run as a Democrat, and the vast majority of Republicans would never vote for him just because of the (D).

In this environment, I would not vote for my own brother if he ran for Congress as a Democrat. A vote for even a decent Democrat is to vote to keep the likes of Schiff, Naddler and Maxine as the chairs of committees, and keep the seats on such committees at such a number they have the squad on them.

No thanks.

 

[Lapaz]

A lot of those things are not impeachable offences.

Some are serious charges though, have proof?

The impeachable on all counts was tongue in cheek, but some of these are. Nevertheless, a tiny search can find evidence of all of these. Without searching, off of the top of my head, here is the proof you requested.

Mocking disabled: he did this at a rally mocking a disabled reporter.

soliciting hacking: he did this at a rally asking the Russians to find Hillary’s 30,000 emails.

hiding his debtors: he did this by not showing his taxes which would reveal his debts.

hiring crooks: much of his administration and ex campaign associates are in jail for assorted crimes.

mocking war heroes: he did this when he mocked John McCain for the audacity of being captured, even though he was too scared to fight himself.

attacking Gold Star families: he did this when he attacked the Kahn’s for daring to challenge his knowledge of the constitution

raping women: about 17 women have accused him and he bragged about grabbing women’s vaginas without consent.

and on and on.

 

[V Chip]

In this environment, I would not vote for my own brother if he ran for Congress as a Democrat. A vote for even a decent Democrat is to vote to keep the likes of Schiff, Naddler and Maxine as the chairs of committees, and keep the seats on such committees at such a number they have the squad on them.

No thanks.

I didn't say for Congress, but I get it.

 

[Intensesaint]

The impeachable on all counts was tongue in cheek, but some of these are. Nevertheless, a tiny search can find evidence of all of these. Without searching, off of the top of my head, here is the proof you requested.

Mocking disabled: he did this at a rally mocking a disabled reporter.

soliciting hacking: he did this at a rally asking the Russians to find Hillary’s 30,000 emails.

hiding his debtors: he did this by not showing his taxes which would reveal his debts.

hiring crooks: much of his administration and ex campaign associates are in jail for assorted crimes.

mocking war heroes: he did this when he mocked John McCain for the audacity of being captured, even ghiihe was too scared to fight himself.

attacking Gold Star families: he did this when he attacked the Kahn’s for daring to challenge his knowledge of the constitution

raping women: about 17 women have accused in and he bragged about grabbing women’s vaginas without consent.

and on and on.

Wait so mocking disabled is an impeachable offence?

And you didnt provide links as proof to any of the other claims, just because you type it out doesnt mean it happened.

Is grabbing women's vagina's prior to being in office impeachable? Especially if these were women who were attracted to men of power and liked it?

This is all pretty flimsy.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

You do realize that you're quibbling with a lawyer and a journalist about the meaning of a word, right?

Let me help. Etymology is the study of the origins of words. So if we look up the etymology of "overturn" we get:

overturn (v.)
early 13c., of a wheel, "to rotate, roll over," from over- + turn (v.).
Attested from c. 1300 in general transitive sense "to throw over violently;" figurative meaning "to ruin, destroy" is from late 14c.
Of judicial decisions, "to reverse," it is attested from 1826.
Related: Overturned; overturning. Old English had oferweorpan "to overturn, overthrow."

A colorful word with a colorful history and a rainbow of possible meanings and connotations.
Those of us who have studied the language in order to make a living do not see words in black and white, as meaning just one thing, exclusive of anything else. That's why we bring up meanings and shades of meaning.

We could go a step further and study the use of "overturn" as part of jargon, particularly legalese, but without sounding condescending, I would hope the point is made. Citing a single definition here, then excising the words from that definition and providing definitions to those words is pointless.

So, from what I'm reading here at the end of day is there's a very real possibility that the Democrats are experiencing some trepidation that the worst predictions from months ago could come true - Impeaching Trump may have been a huge miscalculation.

Clearly you missed the point I was making. Jim was the one who zeroed in on a specific meaning of the word 'results' when others responded based on the obvious meaning and connotation.

And now that I am drilling down to the core meaning of a word, language is suddenly colorful and evolving with numerous meanings. You don't get to have it both ways.

Besides, I would think a journalist like yourself would prefer that people use clear and concise language when possible.

 

[Intensesaint]

Schiff and Nadler are great public servants.

That's your opinion, they are pretty terrible to me.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Wait so mocking disabled is an impeachable offence?

And you didnt provide links as proof to any of the other claims, just because you type it out doesnt mean it happened.

Is grabbing women's vagina's prior to being in office impeachable? Especially if these were women who were attracted to men of power and liked it?

This is all pretty flimsy.

If it's unsolicited, it's actually a criminal offense.

 

[Lapaz]

Wait so mocking disabled is an impeachable offence?

And you didnt provide links as proof to any of the other claims, just because you type it out doesnt mean it happened.

Is grabbing women's vagina's prior to being in office impeachable? Especially if these were women who were attracted to men of power and liked it?

This is all pretty flimsy.

Like I said it was tongue and cheek. I’m not going to do the work for you. Everyone that has paid attention knows all of those things are true. The only one that qualifies for impeachment are the ones cited in the constitution like treason. The solicitation of a foreign country to hack probably qualifies, and the Meuller report gives plenty of evidence of it. The rest of the acts and crimes just made people want to impeach him to “cleanse” the office, just like Lindsay Graham said was enough reason to impeach Clinton.

 

[Intensesaint]

Like I said it was tongue and cheek. I’m not going to do the work for you. Everyone that has paid attention knows all of those things are true. The only one that qualifies for impeachment are the ones cited in the constitution like treason. The solicitation of a foreign country to hack probably qualifies, and the Meuller report gives plenty of evidence of it. The rest of the acts and crimes just made people want to impeach him to “cleanse” the office, just like Lindsay Graham said was enough reason to impeach Clinton.

What do you mean do the work for me, you made the claim, it onus is on you to provide links and proof of those claims.

 

[Lapaz]

We also heard he was going to destroy the economy too. And Uncle Traveling Jim addressed the hyperbole in the economic thread as unhealthy in political discourse.

I know it's anecdotal and you wont believe me, but there is a black owned barber ship right next to my business and I know the owner and many of his clients quite well, and they all support Trump because of many of his actions in the past two years to help black Americans, doesn't seem like much of a threat to them.

Those black clients are uninformed, because black unemployment dropped much more under Obama. Trump has managed not to hurt the economy by putting it unnecessarily on a credit card and removing regulations that we’ll have to pay for in the future. It’s penny wise and pound foolish.

 

[Lapaz]

That's your opinion, they are pretty terrible to me.

Why are they terrible?

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Wait so mocking disabled is an impeachable offence?

And you didnt provide links as proof to any of the other claims, just because you type it out doesnt mean it happened.

Is grabbing women's vagina's prior to being in office impeachable? Especially if these were women who were attracted to men of power and liked it?

This is all pretty flimsy.

Mocking a disabled reporter:

Did Trump mock disabled reporter or not?

Once again, a comment by Donald Trump has become a point of contention in a presidential debate. This time, it revolved

www.politifact.com

Asking a foreign government to hack a political rival:

Trump Asks Russia to Hack Hillary’s Missing Emails

“Russia, if you’re listening...”

www.thedailybeast.com

Hiding his debtors:

He is fighting the release of his tax returns.

Hiring crooks:

6 Trump associates have been convicted in Mueller-related investigations

Six Trump associates have been convicted of crimes since he took office, all stemming from the Mueller investigation. Some of the defendants pleaded guilty, others were convicted after jury trials.

www.cnn.com

Mocking war heroes:

Trump Carries On Criticism Of McCain, As A Republican Calls His Words 'Deplorable'

The president again complained about the late Arizona senator during an Ohio speech, even criticizing the McCain family for not showing gratitude to the president over the late senator's funeral.

www.npr.org

Attacking Gold Star families:

Trump-Khan feud: A timeline

The feud has eaten through several news cycles.

thehill.com

Raping women:

The 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct

In May 2023, a Manhattan jury found Donald Trump liable for the sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll. Here's who else has accused him of misconduct.

www.businessinsider.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...t-billy-bush-counters-trumps-arse-tape-claims

 

[Dragon]

So, do you think there is anything I can say for Trump to gain your support in 2020?

I think the question is with all those proven facts (court records) why do YOU support someone who has done that?

 

[Dragon]

Repeating all the negative info that was ineffective in the 2016 campaign will yield a net effect of zero.

His list of shortcomings and the propensity for those opposed to him, constantly reciting that list over and over, reminds me of Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards and before him, Governors Huey and Earl K. Long . . .

"He may be a crook, but he's our crook."

So you support a crook for the highest and most honerable office in the country?

 

[MT15]

So this current crop of Republican voters in this thread would rather risk destroying our American republic with a known grifter, crook and con man in the WH than vote for a law and order democratic candidate. That’s what I saw admitted here.

They would vote for someone who is trying to destroy the rule of law that has been the linchpin of our society for over 200 years, and replace it with cronyism and nepotism, where if you’re connected to the President, you can do no wrong, while if you oppose the president, you will be smeared, lied about, crimes will be fabricated and the DOJ will be weaponized against you.

There are several good candidates on the democratic side, plus William Weld is running on the Republican side. He’s a good man, and I would vote for him over Trump in a second. You all don’t have to support Trump, you don’t have to repeat his lies, or support his criminality. But you do it, and you’re happy about it. It’s astounding.

 

[samiam5211]

In this environment, I would not vote for my own brother if he ran for Congress as a Democrat. A vote for even a decent Democrat is to vote to keep the likes of Schiff, Naddler and Maxine as the chairs of committees, and keep the seats on such committees at such a number they have the squad on them.

No thanks.

So it's just a game and you are going to support your team no matter what.

The jersey (D or R) matters more than what the person says or whether or not they have integrity.

This is exactly what Washington's farewell address warned about.

There are people in both parties with this attitude, but it should not be acceptable in any case.