This thread is intended for a civil, focused discussion on the various impeachment proceedings of President Trump and others in the administration.
Keep in mind that this is a narrowly focused thread, created to more closely manage this topic of discussion. The pros and cons of said impeachment were soft-banned in the General US Politics thread
for a few months, due to incessant arguing. However, there is a high desire to discuss said events and it is of such high prominence that we are willing to give this devoted thread a try.'
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This thread doesn't have to be a case of Why Fandom Can't Have Nice Things, but it will be, if necessary.
Edited by nombretomado on Sep 26th 2019 at 5:19:24 AM
Disasturbator
They can testify via video call if they're concerned for their safety
New theme music also a box
So they have to spend years (at least) in witness protection? That's too much to ask of someone.
—- In other news, Giuliani is under a federal investigation, including a counter intelligence probe related to actions in Ukraine.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/16/politics/giuliani-counterintelligence-probe/index.html
And as Trump's personal employee, he has no immunity or protections to speak of. He's as vulnerable as Cohen was.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Queen of Good Things, Honest
Secrets only embolden tyrants.
So.
Let me get this straight.
You're not just advocating for the whistleblower to testify. You're advocating for the whistleblower's identity to be revealed to the entire nation. At a time when the President of the United States has advocated for the whistleblower to be murdered, you're proposing that they absolutely should not be hidden or protected at all, and that every American should know their name, face, and home address.
Is that correct?
Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 16th 2019 at 2:44:33 AM
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
Sure, because everyone knows that’s worked super well for whistleblowers and other persecuted individuals in the past.
Radical anti-secrecy isn’t a position that’s compatible with reality.
Edited by archonspeaks on Oct 16th 2019 at 1:46:40 AM
They should have sent a poet.
@Ultimatum
The problem there is that one of the GOP chairs in that committee could immediately leak the whistleblower's name to the press, and you can't deny the GOP a seat at the table during a committee hearing, as tempting as that might be.
Well, provided they actually have a seat to begin with, what with Matt Gaetz being escorted from the Fiona Hill hearing the other day attested to, as his (attempted) presence was a blatant intimidation tactic.
Edited by ironballs16 on Oct 16th 2019 at 5:06:36 AM
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
I'm saying that in this case the President will be able to find out their identity if they haven't already, which almost certainly they have. The idea their identity isn't known is a joke.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
And you know this how?
The sheer corruption and minimal suspect pool to begin with. Who, exactly, is protecting their identity when there's not that many people who would have been able to get access to the phone call to begin. The Justice Department is already compromised by Trump.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
The question that comes to me is if Trump knew the Whistleblower's identity, could he possibly keep quiet about it?
I doubt Trump wouldn't tweet out the name of the whistleblower if he knew it.
I'm just pointing out that secrets in Washington are rarely that. They're more information and it's not like this is a particularly hard puzzle. Again, there's only X number of people with access to the conversation.
But that's just my opinion and it will ultimately be up to the person in question if they want to be public about the President's crooked dealings.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
A procrastination in of itself
The CIA. Probably one of very few groups of people who actually could keep something secret from the president if they chose too.
Also your conversation access point makes no sense, as the whistleblower didn’t have firsthand access to the call, they had secondhand access via people who had firsthand access.
Edited by Silasw on Oct 16th 2019 at 9:33:06 AM
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Wait, so is the argument here really “the president could possibly find out the whistleblower’s name, so we may as well blast it out to the whole nation”?
I’ll remind everyone that the main threat to the whistleblower’s personal safety isn’t the government, but Trump’s fans.
Also, the whistleblower is a CIA employee. The pool of CIA employees who have access to presidential negotiations is probably a decently sized one, and the CIA has never been in the business of giving up its secrets, and we know the whistleblower used the proper channels which gives him or her certain legal protections. At this point the only way Trump could find out their identity is if his allies in Congress told him.
Edited by archonspeaks on Oct 16th 2019 at 3:00:15 AM
They should have sent a poet.
A procrastination in of itself
I think the argument is that Trump is less likely to pull of a secret hit if the whistblower is a public figure than if they’re someone whose name is known only to a few.
Which firstly makes the huge jump that Trump can get secret assassinations to happen, and two ignores the fact that if Trump is secretly assassinating people than the most likely previous victim was a very public figure.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Yeah, I don’t really think secret assassination is an option for Trump. Like I said, the main threat to the whistleblower if they come forward isn’t coming from the government but rather the public.
Edited by archonspeaks on Oct 16th 2019 at 3:11:14 AM
They should have sent a poet.
Remember that most of Trump's "secret assassins" work for organizations that hate his guts.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Wrong thread.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Oct 16th 2019 at 1:31:40 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
We expose conspiracies by revealing the facts about the conspirators, including their identities, not the whistleblowers. Exposing them is the very best way to ensure that there would never be another one.
U.S. House Intelligence chairman says impeachment transcripts to be public
Queen of Good Things, Honest
As they should be. This needs to be publicized to hell and back.
The goal is not removal from office. The goal is a huge spectacle event that will get the American public to sit down and shut up for five minutes, and then to provide clear, concise, and effective communication of the three-years-in-the-making case against Trump.
One-stop shopping for all the myriad things he's done wrong.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 17th 2019 at 8:18:04 AM
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
And he can still get removed, if the public's response scares enough Republicans, so nothing to lose.
Ambassador Sondland has testified that Trump directed him (and Cabinet members including Perry) to work with Giuliani on relations with Kiev. While he claimed that he did not know about Trump's desire for dirt on the Biden family, he knew that political charged investigations were on Trump's radar.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/17/politics/sondland-deposition-impeachment-inquiry/index.html
In totes unrelated news; I'm pretty sure Sondland is getting fired soon.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Will it though? I'm not holding my breath.
I did say can.
Your emotional catharsis is not worth a person's life.
This is a distressingly ignorant belief that a person who has public knowledge and presence is LESS protected than the anonymity that does not exist in something that hundreds of people will and do know about it. The best protection for the whistle blower is to be a public figure.
Secrets only embolden tyrants.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 16th 2019 at 1:42:32 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.