Why Trump gets away with everything

[Zorro]

A depressing mystery hangs over our politics: Why is it that when we have a president whose behavior puts our security interests in peril, our political parties can’t confront the threat together?

Here we have a whistleblower from the intelligence community who, as The Post reported, found a “promise” that President Trump made to a foreign leader “so alarming” that the “official who had worked at the White House went to the inspector general of the intelligence community.”

If what Trump did is entirely innocent, you’d assume the White House would want everything to become public so the president could be cleared of suspicion. After all, Trump tweeted on Friday that he had had a “perfectly fine and respectful conversation” and that “there was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!” Further, he accused the whistleblower of being “highly partisan.”

So why not share all the information available with the House Intelligence Committee? If Trump’s accuser is some kind of “partisan,” why wouldn’t the president want the world — or at least Congress — to know his basis for saying so?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-trump-gets-away-with-everything/2019/09/22/3b883b6a-dbe3-11e9-ac63-3016711543fe_story.html

Well, duhhhh. It's been no mystery. The Republican Party is the party of criminals and traitors, and has been since Nixon.

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

Instead, the White House and Justice Department are stonewalling, thus ripping apart systems of accountability that were put in place to prevent the abuse of the substantial powers we have given our intelligence services. This is part of a larger undertaking by Trump and his minions to block Congress from receiving information or hearing from witnesses, which is part of Congress’ normal and constitutionally sanctioned work of keeping an eye on the executive branch.

When Republicans held Congress during President Barack Obama’s administration, it seemed that a missing box of staples might have been enough to launch 100 subpoenas and months of hearings. Now, the GOP is going along with a president whose lawyers — in a court-filing trying to block the Manhattan district attorney from getting Trump’s tax returns — are asserting that “a sitting President of the United States is not ‘subject to the criminal process’ while he is in office.” It is a sweeping and astonishing assertion that a president is above the law as long as he sits in the White House, no matter which level of government might be investigating him.

We have become so accustomed to what is blandly called “political polarization” that we don’t think there is any mystery about why the Republicans rally to Trump no matter what he does or what dangers our republic might face. It’s just what they do now.

And so far, this extreme partisanship has worked for Trump and his party. Attorney General William Barr’s false account of what special counsel Robert Mueller concluded in his probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election poisoned the public debate because it sat there for weeks before the report itself was released.

The lie that Mueller had cleared Trump took hold just enough that it turned the discussion of “partisanship” on its head. If Democrats pursued impeachment, the Trumpists argued, they would be the partisans. Fear that this ploy would work has made Democrats in swing districts wary of impeachment.

Thus did Trump get an additional benefit from Barr’s initial falsehood, backed up by his own party: While Democrats are united in condemning Trump’s behavior, they are divided on the impeachment question. A split opposition is exactly what Trump wants and needs.

The lesson to Trump so far: If lying and stonewalling work, and your own party is too afraid to challenge you, stick with the program.

[global1]

2. Can We Believe A Transcript Of This Call If Released By The WH?....

I would rather have the recording of the call as too much time has transpired between the call and now. I'm sure a transcript will have redactions on it. So how can we trust the fact that it was strategically redacted by the WH to clear Trump?

[volstork]

6. Won't Ukraine officials

have a transcript, too? I'd trust theirs before I'd trust anything coming out of this WH.

[mac56]

3. "When Republicans held Congress during President Barack Obama's administration,

it seemed that a missing box of staples might have been enough to launch 100 subpoenas and months of hearings."

[Leith]

4. Ever since St. Ronnie said that there were no enemies to the right

rethugs have been closing ranks and outshouting anyone who disagrees with them. They have most media fulfilling their roles as sycophants and proverbially muddying the political waters ever since. They've been doing it so long that they don't even know any other way of being.

[KPN]

9. That about sums it up perfectly I'd say.

[Chakaconcarne]

5. They can still be the party of criminals and traitors....

But why draw so much attention to it with someone like Trump?

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Trump is warming up the "WITCH HUNT" LP as we speak

only a matter of time. Bill Barr on bongos.

[guyfromla]

8. Beacuse we have spineless dems

And we keep on sending these spineless characters year after year - who are becoming multi multi millionaires within years as the have "Name Recognition". Fuck it!! If you want what you want implemented - send true progressives to Congress!!

[Skittles]

13. yes

and still DUers SWOON over some of these people - ENOUGH already - if they are not up to the job, we need to get people in there who can do what needs to be done

[amb123]

10. Today's GOP proves Barry Goldwater was wrong

Today's GOP proves Barry Goldwater wrong when he said, "Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice."

Today's GOP proves that extremism in the defense of Liberty DESTROYS Liberty.

[Toorich]

11. THEY play the long game...

...end the fairness doctrine, purchase radio and TV licenses. They ride wedge issues
on State ballots (abortion, guns, gay marriage, Sharia law, etc. ad nauseum) every
election cycle.
They own the state houses and gerrymander the hell out of congressional districts.
We have, over the years, tried to ignore or politely correct their obviously wrong notions,
as if we were admonishing children. Their response is to redouble their attacks.
Democrats then retreat and apologize. Institutionally, we Democrats suffer from a form
of Battered Child/Battered Spouse syndrome. We need to get "plumb mad dog mean" to
steal a phrase from Outlaw Josie Wales.
Historically, there is only one way to deal with a bully. Doesn't matter if the bully is a country
or a political party or an asshole on the playground. When dealing with this trash we need to
remember the words of wisdom from Mike Tyson, " Everyone has a plan until you get hit in the face."
We got to hit them in the face.

[Cosmocat]

12. YYEEPP

he is a symptom, DECADES of conservative media skull fucking this country of all decency and common sense.

Until the country at large recognizes the republican party as stage 1 cancer, and repudiates it in mass for the next generation, we are going to continue to slide into a fascist shit hole.