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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274376: Mar 14th 2019 at 7:21:14 PM

I keep coming at it from the view of someone who assumed previous impeachment attempts actually were meant to have some legitimacy beyond partisan politics (I know, I know). Hence my belief is Trump should be held to the same standards as Clinton and Nixon.

Which means he should have been arrested and removed from office long ago.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#274377: Mar 14th 2019 at 7:27:26 PM

It’s a mistake to think of impeachment as anything but a political process. You’ll notice that in the constitution impeachment powers are given to congress, not to a judicial or oversight body, making it an explicitly political process from the get go.

I’ll also point out that gross incompetence isn’t technically an impeachable offense.

Edited by archonspeaks on Mar 14th 2019 at 7:29:37 AM

They should have sent a poet.
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#274378: Mar 14th 2019 at 7:36:10 PM

No, but they plan on going after Trump on charges of corruption, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, perjury, and lying under oath (if they can actually get him to testify under oath, that is. If they can get him in court, anything he says will wind up being perjury, because he simply doesn't know what "truth" is...)

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#274379: Mar 14th 2019 at 10:45:45 PM

Bucking NDA, ex-Fox News reporter plans to tell Congress about outlet's role in Trump hush money story

House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings asked reporter Diana Falzone to talk with investigators and provide documents.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/bucking-nda-ex-fox-news-reporter-plans-tell-congress-about-n983561


More interesting than newsworthy, I think:

From the Denver Post:
Editorial: Our endorsement of Cory Gardner was a mistake

The senator’s vote on border wall is a failure of leadership

https://www.denverpost.com/2019/03/14/cory-gardner-endorsement-mistake/

Edited by sgamer82 on Mar 15th 2019 at 6:13:40 AM

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#274380: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:15:10 AM

The senator's vote on the border wall was a foreseeable result of putting a Republican into office.

Everyone always wants to be like, "Yeah, he's a Republican, but I've been listening to him speak and he's not one of those Republicans. You know, the ones that want to do all the things I hate. He's a good Republican. I think we can trust this one."

They think that him being a local means he thinks like us instead of like a Republican. But he doesn't. He's a Republican for a reason. If he didn't agree with Republican values, he wouldn't be one.

People are always so f*cking surprised when they elect Republicans and then those Republicans go on to act like Republicans.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 15th 2019 at 8:18:18 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#274381: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:30:36 AM

It's like being surprised when the scorpion stings you or when the snake bites you.

And I realize I'm being unfair to scorpions and snakes.

Edited by M84 on Mar 15th 2019 at 10:31:01 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274382: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:34:23 AM

I'm still irritated as hell that everyone kept assuming the Republicans would rein in Trump.

Trump has never been reign-inable.

Also, bluntly. I don't think their party has any moral high ground on him. They're better at lying is all.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Mar 15th 2019 at 9:55:36 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#274383: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:36:02 AM

[up][up]Scorpions can be very sweet pets and only sting people who bother them.

Republicans are closer to hippos: seemingly silly and harmless enough, but in truth are dangerousdl, violent and can attack people for no logical reason.

[up]I was one of those people back when he was elected: I honestly believed the biggest problem with Trump was the fact he was elected POTUS, not what he was going to do as POTUS, because I thought he was impossible to take seriously.

Whoever said ignorance is a blessing needs to be punched in the face.

Edited by HailMuffins on Mar 15th 2019 at 11:39:17 AM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#274384: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:37:50 AM

[up] And they fling their crap everywhere when they fight. The analogy is looking more apt by the moment.

Edited by Fighteer on Mar 15th 2019 at 10:38:08 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#274385: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:37:56 AM

And a higher kill count than you initially thought.

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#274386: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:51:46 AM

[up]x4

Trump has never been reign-inable.

Republicans never even really tried to reign him in, either; other then the 2018 budget or the vote yesterday, they never forced his hand. Either they 'screwed up' (IE, not passing legislation Trump wanted), or Trump passed laws on his own, and they certainly kept legislation he wouldn't like away from him.

Trump might be unreignable, but the Republicans in Congress certainly have given him free range.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274387: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:57:13 AM

Mind you, it's funny that Mitch tried to use Trump to get all of his Kill the Poor legislation passed.

It failed both because it's unpopular and Trump doesn't like being unpopular and because Trump doesn't care enough to support him.

Mitch needs Trump but not vice versa.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Wildcard Since: Jun, 2012
#274388: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:57:41 AM

Honestly, it's because most republicans would be happy with less minorities in America. They can deny it all they want, but most republican politicians and a good portion of their voter base are totally okay with "good people on both sides" don't mind the violence since it isn't being done against them, and hate Hispanic people so much that they don't see anyone seeking asylum as human and think of any attempt to get into this country for help is an "invasion".

[up]Good point, it is unpopular. Mostly because some rural white people are starting to realize "OH SHIT! I'M BROKE TOO!" but most republicans didn't care when it was poor black people in Urban areas.

Edited by Wildcard on Mar 15th 2019 at 10:59:08 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274389: Mar 15th 2019 at 7:59:05 AM

It's why the attempts to get Republicans to appeal to Hispanic voters failed miserably.

Most of them are racist assholes.

They didn't want to go more inclusive.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#274390: Mar 15th 2019 at 8:03:28 AM

Trump does need the Evil Turtle to a) get judges confirmed and thus keep the evangelicals happy, b) keep embarrassing bills off his desk and in part c) to prevent an impeachment motion from succeeding.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274391: Mar 15th 2019 at 8:17:35 AM

I should point out with 1:] That I'm fairly sure Kavanaugh is there to protect Trump rather than evangelicals.

Trump's order is the Inner Party. They believe in nothing but their own power.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#274392: Mar 15th 2019 at 8:27:13 AM

Incidentally, I don't agree with Drake's assessment of Gardner. He was elected in 2014, before Trump and his border wall were even a thing. And it's not the case that senators always support their party's president's policies - neither infrastructure nor the wall passed the 115th Congress, for instance. So I don't think that it would be "foreseeable".

With respect to Republicans as a whole, I am reminded how in 2016 I was arguing that Trump is - relatively - better than Ted Cruz and I still think so. I suspect that a lot of people don't realize just how involved Republicans are - witness how Evil Turtle's "healthcare reform" was called "Trumpcare" despite Trump playing little or no role in its drafting.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#274393: Mar 15th 2019 at 8:38:55 AM

Something that came up in my Reuters notifications:

Beto O’Rourke’s secret membership in America’s oldest hacking group https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-politics-beto-orourke/

A portion of the article's beginning:

While a teenager, O’Rourke acknowledged in an exclusive interview, he belonged to the oldest group of computer hackers in U.S. history.

The hugely influential Cult of the Dead Cow, jokingly named after an abandoned Texas slaughterhouse, is notorious for releasing tools that allowed ordinary people to hack computers running Microsoft’s Windows. It’s also known for inventing the word “hacktivism” to describe human-rights-driven security work.

Members of the group have protected O’Rourke’s secret for decades, reluctant to compromise his political viability. Now, in a series of interviews, CDC members have acknowledged O’Rourke as one of their own. In all, more than a dozen members of the group agreed to be named for the first time in a book about the hacking group by this reporter that is scheduled to be published in June by Public Affairs. O’Rourke was interviewed early in his run for the Senate.

There is no indication that O’Rourke ever engaged in the edgiest sorts of hacking activity, such as breaking into computers or writing code that enabled others to do so. But his membership in the group could explain his approach to politics better than anything on his resume. His background in hacking circles has repeatedly informed his strategy as he explored and subverted established procedures in technology, the media and government.

“There’s just this profound value in being able to be apart from the system and look at it critically and have fun while you’re doing it,” O’Rourke said. “I think of the Cult of the Dead Cow as a great example of that.”

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#274394: Mar 15th 2019 at 9:30:11 AM

The Republicans have no ideology but staying in power.

What? No.

They have a white supremacist objectivist reactionary ideology that at times borders on fascism, they absolutely have an ideology.

Sure there are amoral opportunists who are chiefly concerned with their own power but there were such people in the Nazis and we wouldn't say that the Nazis had no ideology.

Beto O’Rourke’s secret membership in America’s oldest hacking group https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-politics-beto-orourke/

Oh god, this is going to make the inane hero worship and idolization so much worse.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Mar 15th 2019 at 9:31:16 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#274395: Mar 15th 2019 at 9:36:58 AM

... I am at loss for words.

@CharlesPhipps: It's "rein", not "reign". The latter is a synonym of "rule" (as in "King John's rule over the country").

That said... I'm surprised to find out that "reinable" is not a word.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#274396: Mar 15th 2019 at 9:37:25 AM

They're concerned with their staying power because staying power is needed to advance their ideology. It's not one or the other. It's hard to pass Kill The Poor legislation when you're voted out of office.

What we're seeing in Washington now is the result of decades of slow but steady movement.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274397: Mar 15th 2019 at 9:55:18 AM

Yeah, typos happen when you multitask.

You'd think I'd learn.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#274398: Mar 15th 2019 at 10:03:30 AM

The problem is that the "stay in power at all costs" part of their ideology slowly starts to take over all the other agendas. It's part of the disconnect between the voters and the politicians.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#274399: Mar 15th 2019 at 10:55:54 AM

For those interested The Republic has a brutal and completely correct article on Beto O'Rourke, The Profound Emptiness of Beto O’Rourke

The man is a vacuous empty suit who has no place running for President, I'm not a fan of Sanders but I would infinitely prefer him to O'Rourke. At-least he actually stands for something.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274400: Mar 15th 2019 at 11:01:01 AM

Beto 4 Ever.

I'll vote for him over Bernie and Biden.

But not Warren.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

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