History will be cruel to many who DIDN'T become whistle-blowers

[struggle4progress]

Updated: September 29, 2019 - 3:06 PM
by Will Bunch

There’s been a lot of failure in American politics these last four years, but has there been any more miserable and embarrassing than the alleged and, we now know, probably mythical “Resistance Inside The Trump Administration"?

Do you remember that? On Sept. 5, 2018 — barely a year ago, although it feels now like six or seven — a ranking member of the Trump administration published a remarkable, anonymous op-ed in the New York Times in which the author meant to assure the rest of America that — despite the downward-spiraling lunacy that we witness every day on our TV screen or in our Twitter feed — we should fear not because “many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

Some 389 endless days later, we still don’t know who the writer is, but there’s one thing we can say with utter confidence. He or she is a coward. So, too, are literally dozens of other so-called public servants — many obscure, but some with the nation’s highest medals of valor pinned near their feckless, quivering hearts — who went to work each morning and watched an American president shred the Constitution and betray our fundamental values and yet chose to say nothing.

It took the great courage of one person — and two-thirds of an out-of-control president’s disastrous term in office — to show us how deeply the stench of fear otherwise permeated 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That one whistle-blower — maybe a CIA agent, but definitely an individual who did not check his or her moral compass at the White House front gate — has revealed Trump’s abuse of power, potential lawbreaking and casual willingness to solicit, and arguably extort, foreign election interference in his dealings with Ukraine. These revelations have brought Trump to the brink of impeachment and could topple the tottering Jenga of corruption that has been his administration ...

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/trump-impeachment-whistle-blower-mattis-maguire-kelly-20190929.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Why a Trump impeachment should terrify you

President Donald Trump deserves to be impeached. But the prospect terrifies me, and it should terrify you, too.

That’s not to say that it’s the wrong move. Arguably, it’s the only move, at least in terms of fidelity to the Constitution and to basic decency. From the moment that Trump stepped into the office of the presidency, he has degraded it — with words that a president has no business speaking (or tweeting); with ceaseless lies; with infantile and often unhinged behavior; with raging conflicts of interest; with managerial ineptitude; with a rapacious ego that’s never sated; and with foreign dealings that compromise America’s values, independence and interests. How can principled lawmakers not tell him, in the most emphatic manner available, that enough is enough?

But there’s no way to say what happens now that a formal impeachment inquiry is being opened. None. You’re going to hear a lot in coming days and weeks about Bill Clinton, but using the example of his impeachment in late 1998 is a bit ridiculous: He was a very different president accused of very different offenses at a very different time. Besides which, political analysts who do cite it don’t agree on the lessons. So a pundit making confident predictions about the political fallout from the impeachment of Trump is a pundit far out on a slender limb.

... while an impeachment’s effect on November 2020 is unknowable, its effect on us as a nation is almost certain. A dangerously polarized and often viciously partisan country would grow more so, with people on opposing sides hunkering down deeper in their camps and clinging harder to their chosen narratives as the president — concerned only with himself — ratcheted up his insistence that truth itself was subjective and up for grabs ...

https://www.nny360.com/opinion/editorials/why-a-trump-impeachment-should-terrify-you/article_51f5a01d-aaad-5f8f-b889-2056731a09ca.html

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. yeah, but it's a fast-shrinking segment hunkering down behind Twitler's treasonous ass

[pbmus]

17. Bingo...

[Mister Ed]

2. I say history will be just to them, not cruel. n/t

[eppur_se_muova]

10. You got it. nt

[struggle4progress]

3. Democrats loaded for bear on impeachment charges

DAVID PRIESS Washington Post 19 hrs ago

... History offers a wide spectrum of options to consider. At one extreme, lawmakers can compile a comprehensive list of all the things that the president has done to violate norms of presidential behavior, up to and including possibly illegal conduct. Such an expansive list could include everything from Trump’s conduct regarding Stormy Daniels to his public disparagement of the country’s law enforcement and intelligence institutions, from his personal profiteering while in office to his reported pledge to pardon executive branch officials who are charged criminally for expediting construction of his border wall. The other extreme would see representatives focus on just one egregious act, most likely the abuse of power apparent in the Ukraine affair.

In between, many options remain. Close to the get-him-for-everything camp was the approach of House Republicans in 1868, who adopted 11 often-repetitive articles of impeachment against Johnson. Among them was one, approved by a 2-to-1 margin, accusing Johnson of making “with a loud voice, certain intemperate, inflammatory and scandalous harangues, and did therein utter loud threats and bitter menaces . . . against Congress.” (Neither that nor any of the others received enough votes from senators to convict and thus remove the president.) Representatives also offered — but were unable to get passed by the House — articles of impeachment against Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman that accused those presidents of, among other things, attempting to disrespect and disgrace the legislative branch. Lawmakers certainly could try to lob similar charges at Trump now, but such sniping at Congress is considered par for the course now and such articles wouldn’t get far.

The House Judiciary Committee took a different path with Richard Nixon. There was no shortage of potentially impeachable acts; members of Congress had offered more than a dozen impeachment resolutions before finally passing three articles in the summer of 1974, covering obstruction of justice, abuse of power and refusal to obey congressional subpoenas. They did not pass two articles that described clearly worrisome behavior — concerning Nixon’s failure to pay taxes and the administration’s falsifications of records regarding the bombing of Cambodia — because even Democratic committee members wanted to focus on the main charges.

... the process of selecting articles of impeachment isn’t about feeling good, checking boxes, answering every mystery or pleasing some part of a political base. It’s about moving forward with the solemn constitutional duty of calling the president to account for treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors — and to make the case to the Senate that it should, in turn, take the serious but important step of removing an unfit president outside the normal electoral cycle ...

https://www.wacotrib.com/opinion/columns/david-priess-democrats-loaded-for-bear-on-impeachment-charges/article_ada3de87-9a17-5254-a265-0b758d0ca16f.html

[struggle4progress]

4. Trump is guilty, but impeachment is a mistake

30 Sep 2019
By David Brooks - The New York Times

... impeachment is a political process, not a legal one. There is no obligation to prosecute. Congress is supposed to do what is in the best interest of the country. And this process could be very bad for America:

This will probably achieve nothing. To actually remove Trump from office, at least 20 Republican senators would have to vote to convict him. If you think that will happen because of this incident, you haven’t been paying attention to the Senate Republicans over the past two and a half years.

Usually when a leader takes a big risk, it’s because there’s a big upside. But Nancy Pelosi is taking a giant risk and there is little upside. At the end of this process Trump will probably be acquitted by the Senate. He will declare himself vindicated and victorious in his battle against The Swamp. An ugly backlash could ensue — in both parties.

This is completely elitist. We’re in the middle of an election campaign. If Democrats proceed with the impeachment process, it will happen amid candidate debates, primaries and caucuses. Elections give millions and millions of Americans a voice in selecting the president. This process gives 100 mostly millionaire senators a voice in selecting the president ...

http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/editorials/115826-opinion-yes-trump-is-guilty-but-impeachment-is-a-mistake

"I'm hoping everybody will believe I'm a centrist"

[Hermit-The-Prog]

9. Brooks can roll up the NYT and stuff it where his brain resides

[pbmus]

19. Bingo...

[struggle4progress]

21. +

[scarletwoman]

23. Precisely! (nt)

[ffr]

6. Brilliantly said!

Nobody else had the balls or otherwise to finally stand up to this governmental virus of a cabal.

[Claritie Pixie]

7. Jenga of Corruption...can't wait until it crashes.

[struggle4progress]

8. 'He gave us no choice'

By Jonathan Tilove
Posted Sep 29, 2019 at 7:44 AM
Updated at 7:27 PM

... Nancy Pelosi rose early Sunday and prayed for President Donald Trump.

... she attended the 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. Austin Catholic Church on Guadalupe Street ...

... “Tuesday morning, he calls me, it’s one week since this all started, he calls me and he says, ‘Nancy, hi, I’m at the UN about to speak and I’m calling about gun safety.’ ... He said, ‘We’re working with Republicans and Democrats.’ And I said, ‘What Democrats? Anybody I know?’” ...

But, Pelosi said, the gun talk was merely Trump’s “entree into getting me to pay attention to what he’s saying” ...

https://www.statesman.com/news/20190929/pelosi-on-trump-impeachment-he-gave-us-no-choice

[Skittles]

12. yup

she did not act until her hand was forced but......she prays for him

[struggle4progress]

11. "We could not ignore what the president did."

Nancy Pelosi: We could not ignore what the president did. He gave us no choice. So it wasn't any change of mind. I always said we will follow the facts where they take us. And when we see them, we will be ready. And we are ready ...

Scott Pelley: He told you about the phone call?

Nancy Pelosi: He told me it was perfect. There was nothing in the call. But I know what was in the call. I mean, it was in the public domain. He didn't even know that it was wrong. You know, he was saying, "It was perfect. There was nothing wrong." Well, no, it is wrong. It is wrong for a president to say that he wants you-- another head of state-- to create something negative about his possible political opponent to his own advantage, at the expense of our national security, his oath of office to the Constitution and the integrity of our elections ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nancy-pelosi-adam-schiff-kevin-mccarthy-why-trump-impeachment-inquiry-launched-60-minutes-2019-09-29/

[struggle4progress]

13. Trump has no plans to add legal firepower

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump has no plans to add fresh blood to his legal team to respond to the fast-moving U.S. House of Representatives impeachment inquiry, one of his lawyers said, a stance some legal experts questioned, especially if the showdown culminates in a Senate trial over removing Trump from office ...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-whistleblower-legal/trump-has-no-plans-to-add-legal-firepower-for-impeachment-fight-lawyer-idUSKBN1WE0UQ

[struggle4progress]

14. Most Believe Trump's Ukraine Call Is Serious Problem

Chas Danner

A majority of Americans believe that President Trump’s attempt to pressure Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival is a serious problem that merits an impeachment inquiry, but the new scandal doesn’t shock them, according to to two new polls released Sunday. An ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted September 27-28 found that 64 percent of Americans believe Trump’s call with Ukraine — which alarmed an intelligence-community whistle-blower enough that they filed a formal complaint — is either a very serious or somewhat serious problem. A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted September 26-27, meanwhile, found that 72 percent of Americans thought the call was either illegal (41 percent) or improper but legal (31 percent).

55 percent said they agreed that the act merits an impeachment inquiry. There was less resolve for impeachment itself, however. Only 42 percent of respondents to the CBS/YouGov poll already believed that Trump deserves impeachment before the inquiry has been conducted, including 75 percent of Democrats, 16 percent of Republicans, and 35 percent of independents. Overall, 22 percent of Americans thought that it was too soon to weigh in on that question.

Americans also seem largely resigned to the fact that their president is the kind of leader who is willing do something like this. Only 17 percent of respondents to the ABC/Ipsos poll said that the news of Trump’s Ukraine call surprised them ...

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/polls-majority-backs-impeachment-inquiry-suspects-trump.html

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15. Giuliani immediately contradicts himself

Clark Mindock
New York

Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said he would not cooperate with House Democrat impeachment enquiries, before immediately contradicting himself ...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rudy-giuliani-contradicts-himself-adam-schiff-impeachment-trump-a9125756.html

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16. Not too fast, not too slow.

By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Columnist
September 29 at 7:43 PM

... they need to proceed “with all deliberate speed” ...

... all who are counseling against impeachment now are overlooking the obligations of Congress that transcend politics ...

If Democrats move too fast, they risk not looking deliberate and serious. They would also not give themselves time to decide whether a modest broadening of impeachment articles beyond the Ukraine matter might strengthen the case against Trump by making clear the extent and depth of his corruption.

But the slower they move, the closer the November 2020 election comes, and the more Trump’s apologists will charge that impeachment is undemocratic. Never mind that the genuinely ­anti-democratic acts here are all on Trump’s side: encouraging a foreign leader to intervene in that very election, hiding his skulduggery from Congress and the public, and threatening the whistleblower’s sources.

... Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr can be counted on to do all they can to obstruct, confuse, obfuscate, change the subject and smear the president’s critics. The more ponderous the process, the more ineffectual Congress will look, and the more time a stunned and reeling president will have to regroup ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/not-too-fast-not-too-slow-democrats-have-to-get-impeachment-just-right/2019/09/29/8e19b1c8-e16b-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html

[struggle4progress]

18. Impeachment battle changes everything for 2020

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 6:21 PM ET, Sun September 29, 2019

... Impeachment is now a go. The decision by House Democrats to launch a formal impeachment inquiry will fundamentally reshape the ways in which Washington works (and doesn't) over the coming months ...

What's fascinating about the politics here is how much is unknown and unpredictable. Yes, we know that that House Democrats will focus on the allegations that Trump abused his office for personal gain in his interactions with the Ukrainian president. And yes, we know that Trump will call the whole thing a hoax and a witch hunt and a thousand other things designed to lessen its impact.

What we don't know is, how will the public react to all of this? Before the Ukraine story broke, clear majorities of the country opposed congressional attempts to impeach Trump. Early polling in the wake of the Ukraine story suggest that number is moving somewhat, with more people now saying they believe an impeachment inquiry is justified.

... does that impeachment bump stay as the long work of further investigation by Congress into Trump's activity in Ukraine continues? Or does the six-headed Congressional investigation turn up information that makes this all look even worse for Trump? Do any Republicans of consequence -- long-serving members or influential behind the scenes players -- come out and say "Yes, I think this President has done wrong"? ...

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/politics/2020-election-week-ahead/index.html

[struggle4progress]

20. Trump allies push denials

By LAURIE KELLMAN

... “All that needs to be done, at this point, is to make sure that the attorneys that represent the whistleblower get the clearances that they need to be able to accompany the whistleblower to testimony,” said Schiff, D-Calif., “and that we figure out the logistics to make sure that we protect the identity of the whistleblower.”

As Democrats and the director of national intelligence worked out key arrangements, Trump’s allies erupted in a surge of second-guessing and conspiracy theorizing across the Sunday talk shows, suggesting the White House strategy is unclear against the stiffest challenge to his presidency. One former adviser urged Trump to confront the crisis at hand and get past his fury over the probe of Russian election interference ...

On a conference call later Sunday, Pelosi, who was traveling in Texas, urged Democrats to proceed “not with negative attitudes towards him, but a positive attitude towards our responsibility,” according to an aide on the call who requested anonymity to share the private conversation. She also urged the caucus to be “somber” and noted that polling on impeachment has changed “drastically” ...

Stephen Miller, the president’s senior policy adviser, called the whole inquiry a “partisan hit job” orchestrated by “a deep state operative” who is also “a saboteur” ...

https://www.apnews.com/1041b44f79854c55bf075537ed2dfe69

[Hermit-The-Prog]

22. bookmarking for the ton of information!

Thank you!

[meadowlander]

24. Dan Coats, John Kelly, HR McMaster

And all the other “adults in the room” missed the boat by about 18 months.