Charles Pierce: Democrats Must Save the Republic, Not the Republican Party

[kpete]

Democrats Must Save the Republic, Not the Republican Party
Donald Trump is the inevitable product of movement conservatism and the Republican Party that's hosted it for 40 years. Never Trumpers need to clean their own house.


That there are not at least five Republican candidates challenging El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago not only is a fine metric for judging the deep internal rot in that political party, but also a good measure of the limits of the Never Trumpers as allies in an election year. Let us stipulate the following two points: 1) It is the responsibility of the Democratic Party to do everything in its power to protect the institutions of our republic, and 2) it is distinctly not the Democratic Party's responsibility to save the Republican Party from itself, and from the political monster it has created over the past 40 years. For four decades, the party has flattered, and begged, and truckled to the very forces of which it is now terrified. Save yourselves, gang.

But that isn't happening because, for all their brave talk, the Never Trumpers want to keep the political power that base gave them while distancing themselves from its obvious and inevitable product. So, instead of gathering forces behind a primary challenge, many of the Never Trumpers seem to be content with advising the Democratic Party on who it should nominate and what policies it should pursue. This, I believe, in preparation for a campaign to blame the Democratic nominee if the country determines that it wants to live six more years in the current gale-force dungwind.



https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/amp27226472/never-trump-republicans-democrats-2020-donald-trump/?__twitter_impression=true

[wryter2000]

1. Dungwind

[TygrBright]

2. "GALE FORCE" dungwind!! LOL.... n/t

[spanone]

3. K&R...👍🏼👍🏼

'gale-force dungwind'

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. impeach or begin preparations for the funeral of the U.S.A.

The death cult will continue to attempt to bring on their "end times"; the sociopathic billionaires' club will continue to attempt to destroy government for their own gains in money and power. The electorate will not reward the Democratic Party for failure to impeach.

[BigmanPigman]

5. Hear hear!

[Jakes Progress]

6. Do you know what impeach means?

We can impeach the orange blob tomorrow.

Then what?

[SunSeeker]

8. No, we can't impeach him tomorrow. We need Mueller's grand jury info.

Those existing House fact gathering hearings can't get the grand jury info we need. Only the impeachment process can get us that: 

From the Washington Post: 

In the face of Barr’s decision not to disclose any of the Mueller report to the public or even to the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D- N.Y.) until Barr and his team have scrubbed the report of grand jury information (and other material), Nadler and committee Democrats have authorized a subpoena for the full report, setting the stage for a court fight over the committee’s right to see grand jury information. Although the public need underlying the request for disclosure in McKeever was much less pressing, the decision in that case undermines the position of Nadler’s committee, because the controlling federal rule contains no exception allowing congressional “oversight” committees to demand access to otherwise secret grand jury proceedings. 

One of the exceptions to grand jury secrecy is disclosure “preliminary to or in connection with a judicial proceeding.” To authorize disclosure of the Watergate grand jury information, the special prosecutor’s office argued that the House had authorized its Judiciary Committee to conduct a formal impeachment inquiry and that such an inquiry could be fairly analogized to a “grand jury” investigation and thus a judicial proceeding. Both the district court and the court of appeals agreed, and the Judiciary Committee obtained both the report and the underlying evidence. 

Significantly, the appeals court decision several days ago reaffirmed that exception. All three judges agreed that an impeachment inquiry falls within the “exception for judicial proceedings” and “coheres” with other rulings about the proper scope of grand jury secrecy. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-full-mueller-report-could-be-released--if-the-house-opens-impeachment-hearings/2019/04/08/e47fff42-5a14-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693_story.html 

Trump welcomed a Russian attack on our country in order to gain office, then obstructed our Justice Department, sacking an AG and an FBI Director, in order to stop the investigation into that attack. This is horrifically worse than Watergate. We must expose this behavior in the context of a formal impeachment investigation because of the seriousness of the conduct, and the need to get grand jury info. We must be on record as impeaching a president who commited these crimes.

Then what? We win in 2020.

[Jakes Progress]

11. Look up the word "impeachment".

[SunSeeker]

12. What point are you trying to make?

[Jakes Progress]

20. The House impeaches. Then what?

Everything you said you wanted can be done without impeachment proceedings. Listen to Nancy. You think she wants trump in office? You think she wants a republican majority in the Senate? Do you really think you can read Washington better than she can?

When the time is right, if the situation calls for it, then you impeach. Right now, it only benefits trump. Read your history.

Continue with all the investigations. Don't hand the advantage to the republicans. Don't turn trump's actions into a single word that they can use to exonerate him.

We can impeach him in the House right now. We have the majority. We would win the vote. Then the Senate does the trial. How do you think that would go? Do you see mitch letting a full hearing be made? How many republican votes do you think removal from office would get? Name ten.

Don't give the republicans this gift.

[Kurt V.]

10. +1

[ancianita]

7. First, SDNY should get a move on. Twelve cases are left to prosecute. We need them opened soon.

Second, getting and using the redacted evidence reveals the criminal side.

Four Dems know probably know what the redacted information is about.

Pelosi wants the country to know what it is.

Not being a lawyer, I have to ask, is that possible?

[SunSeeker]

9. None of those SDNY cases involve Trump. They are not a substitute for impeachment.

The SDNY is limited by the same OLC rule against indicting a sitting President as Mueller was; the SDNY is part of DOJ.

We must start impeachment proceedings to get Mueller's grand jury info. None of the House oversight hearings can get that. Only impeachment proceedings can get that.

From WaPo:

Significantly, the appeals court decision several days ago reaffirmed that exception. All three judges agreed that an impeachment inquiry falls within the “exception for judicial proceedings” and “coheres” with other rulings about the proper scope of grand jury secrecy.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-full-mueller-report-could-be-released--if-the-house-opens-impeachment-hearings/2019/04/08/e47fff42-5a14-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693_story.html  

Trump welcomed a Russian attack on our country in order to gain office, then obstructed our Justice Department, sacking an AG and an FBI Director, in order to stop the investigation into that attack. This is horrifically worse than Watergate. We must expose this behavior in the context of a formal impeachment investigation because of the seriousness of the conduct, and the need to get grand jury info. We must be on record as impeaching a president who commited these grave crimes. 

[ancianita]

14. I hear you. I'm not encouraged that Pelosi will do the right thing and let all the

evidence out through impeachment proceedings.

She's calculating that it will do harm to both the country and a Democratic presidential nominee.

I say impeachment proceedings will shore up the nation's confidence in Democrats to show the whole report through constant public, prime time hearings, and an a prime time impeachment vote.

[Evolve Dammit]

13. I'm guessing Barr will put his thumb on these as well. We are watching it go down, unless..

the Dems get real serious, real fast.

[Volaris]

17. Per the above post, the courts consider impeachment hearings to be

a form of 'judical proceeding' (I'd guess because the Congress is 'charging' the president with a 'crime').

Anything SHORT of that, does not qualify as a judicicial proceeding (it's an oversight matter), and so that redacted GJ info CAN (and in this case, per Barr, WILL) be withheld,

Even tho I'm not sure Barr has the power as the AG to do that?, since empanelled GJ do not operate under the Executive Branch (it's a court thing, sooooo.....)

[ancianita]

18. I'm aware. I'm also aware that Speaker Pelosi wants to hold off on those proceedings.

I realize that nothing the SDNY has could be used for the proceedings, but their info could be legal context.

The whole must be considered. The whole of what the Special Counsel's counterintelligence investigation found.

I'm just so pissed about how public interest has dropped that I'm anxious for Nadler's committee and all the other committees to begin something.

[Volaris]

19. I agree and it needs be begin soon, whatever it is.

[Fritz Walter]

15. Well done, Charlie!

He was my J-school classmate at MU (Rah-Rah!).
Although we eventually pursued different career paths after graduation, Charlie always stood out as an exemplary journalist. The rest of us? Suffice it to say that we excelled in other ways. Perhaps not as publicly notable, but significant by other measures. Looking forward to a 45-year reunion (soon). OK, maybe 50.

Stay strong, Mr. Pierce! You were trained well, sir!

[bullwinkle428]

16. K&R. And I'm sorry, but WILLIAM FUCKING WELD is just as responsible as the rest

of these feckless "never Trumpers".

He was doing an interview last week regarding his "challenge" to King Baw-bag, and he was going on and on about his fiscal irresponsibility, and was then asked about the huge tax cut. "WHY YES...OF COURSE - THAT WAS A GREAT IDEA!!"



I'm just a dumb slob, so it really shouldn't take any kind of genius-level intelligence to expose this clown for the absolute phony that he is.