Our Constitutional democracy is still working

[Cyrano]

We have a madman in the White House, and my guess is that, in any other country in the world, a revolution or coup would already have taken place, or would be well under way.

But not here. Our Constitution says that a president is in office for four years unless he's impeached and convicted, or removed from office by the 25th Amendment.

We are beyond outraged. We're bitching, moaning, writing, calling, demonstrating in the streets and doing everything allowable by our constitution, even though the maniac is ignoring it all and doing whatever he wants to do.

But aside from all the broken norms and outright crimes that can be laid at his feet, we are still allowing the system to run it's course.

There's much to be said about that. The Administration is ignoring the limits on it's power, and the Republican Party is ignoring everything.

Yet, we are playing by the rules.

Hopefully, in another year and a half, the creature will be gone and the long, difficult haul toward repairing/rebuilding the wreckage will begin.

But let's not ignore the bottom line. As of now, the American Constitutional democracy still exists despite all the horrible damage that has been done to it.

It's possible that it may get worse and the whole thing will fall apart. In the meantime, let's go on holding our breath for another year and a half and do everything possible to make sure we don't fall off that cliff from which there's no return.

And one more thing. If/when we regain control of the levers of power, those who have so damaged America, and the world, must be held accountable and made to pay for any and all crimes they committed.

[Snake Plissken]

1. A revolution or coup should have already taken place

The frog has already died in the boiling frog experiment known as the Trump Presidency

[Cyrano]

3. No. We are the frogs. And we're still here.

[empedocles]

2. The Constitution, the checks and balances, yes, its working . . . deliberately

[Mme. Defarge]

4. Merci.

[0rganism]

5. yeah, so long as we ignore all that fussy stuff about "emoluments"

maybe we can just get that part amended out since we're not using it anyway

[Cyrano]

6. That's just one more thing to be addressed if/when we regain power

If we don't regain power, we're going over that cliff I spoke of in the OP.

But if we do, there is so, so much that must be done to ensure that the madness we are living through now can never happen again.

[redstatebluegirl]

7. I agree, as frustrating as this evil person is the system is working.

I think when he is gone and we somehow get power again in all three branches we need to put some additional checks and balances in place to keep some of the things he is doing from happening again. Executive orders come to mind first of all.

Nothing will happen as long as turtle man has control of the Senate. The Presidency is important yes, but the House and Senate are MORE important!

[NewJeffCT]

8. Congress has been ceding authority to the Executive Branch for decades

it's just that Trump is abusing the authority

[standingtall]

9. I fear if we do get back power including the Senate

It will be business as usual. We will keep making the mistake thinking we can just go straight to the American people to make our case without any meaningful structural reforms to our Democracy. The only meaningful lasting reforms are adding States or adding supreme court justices or both.

[Cyrano]

11. Perhaps.

Making Puerto Rico and D.C. states would help. It would sure balance the Senate.

However, structural changes take time. Hopefully, if we regain power, the damage caused by the orange nightmare and the corrupt Republican Party, will be an incentive for Dems to enact some meaningful legislation.

I'm really not holding my breath for much change. But if this current administration and Republican Party can't impel the Dems to change/fix/amend the system, I don't know what will.

Perhaps we'll have to wait for evolution to take humanity where it needs to be. But my fear is that climate change will destroy our species before we can outgrow our childhood.

[Falcata]

30. DC will never be state

because the nation's capital wasn't meant to be controlled by any state. PR voters can't make up their minds about what they want. I posted something similar in a thread about this and was told those were RW talking points, I guess facts are inconvienient things to some.

[Mike_DuBois]

31. I agree with you

D.C. Statehood should never happen. Rather see Upper P split off and Cali divide North and South to get a couple new States and six Senators.

[kentuck]

10. I disagree.

I think we are losing ground every day. Nothing is working as it should .

[Cyrano]

12. We're losing battles. We haven't lost the war.

[empedocles]

13. We are winning court battles with trump [Wapo recently reported 40 wins to 9 'con wins]

trump's weakening polls, especially in the key states, steadily getting better for Dems.

[Dave Starsky]

15. He delays, ignores, or appeals the court battles.

It seems to be never ending.

In the meantime, he does whatever the fuck he wants, which is usually what Vladimir Putin tells him to do, or whatever else comes out of his diseased mind.

[empedocles]

18. Piece by piece, traitortrump is losing

[Cyrano]

19. Yes, the wheels of justice turn slowly and are often blocked

But, at the moment, it's because the madman and his minions are controlling the White House, the Senate, and too many of the federal courts, including the Supreme Court.

I hate to use a cliche like this, but: "What goes around, comes around."

They won't be in power forever. It's my belief that, under today's Republican Party, currently led by a know-nothing, dangerous buffoon, they have peddled a sick, greedy, mean-spirited, version of what a civilized society should be.

Given their unpopularity among a vast majority of Americans, I think their time is coming to an end. They are clinging to power by gimmicks, scams and their fingernails.

The Democratic Party as a whole has always had a more gracious vision of how people should coexist. It's a version that stands on a bedrock of basic human decency. Don't get me wrong. Dems aren't perfect and they aren't offering Eden. And some, of course, are corrupt.

Nonetheless, the Democrats ruled America from FDR to Harry Truman, about 20 years, (mostly through WWII and its aftermath), and those years built a prosperous American middle class that lasted until the Republicans managed to destroy it.

When/if the Democratic Party regains control of the presidency, and the house and senate, things will get a lot better a lot faster.

But the one thing they must do is make answerable those who have committed crimes during this administration. And that includes the madman. No administration (and no political party, Republicans), should ever again be allowed to run the country as thought they were a criminal enterprise.

[Bettie]

16. I agree

and it scares me.

We've pretty much lost the judicial branch for at least a generation.

[bdamomma]

14. Cyrano

We the people, cannot be trampled on. Hopefully, he or may be even McConnell will meet with some or multiple health issue/s, they both look like shit now.

[Hortensis]

17. "We are playing by the rules." Both the ONLY way we can protect them

and our leaders' highest duty to our representative democracy and its people.

[lame54]

20. Playing by the rules...

Is our Achilles heal

[Dave Starsky]

21. It's "heel", and the rules are still important and necessary.

But when someone hits you below the belt, again and again and again and again, then you have to switch to the "other rules", which means you make that person regret forever that they ever tried that shit in the first place. Then you can, and must, go back to the rules.

Our next best opportunity is to bring about a massive change in our Constitutional government in November 2020. And you and I, and everyone else here, needs to start working on that now.

[lame54]

22. I'll work on my spelling...

You can work on building a better cup

Until then, they will exploit our goody-two-shoe-ness

[Dave Starsky]

24. "Building a better cup"

What do you mean by that, comrade?

[Yeehah]

23. No, it's not.

It effectively ended when the corrupt republican senate refused to act on Obama's Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland.

[bucolic_frolic]

25. Trump judges will block many attempts to reverse and repair

a few will prove so ill-suited as to resign. Some will make a go of their jobs. It's the ideologues that present the problems.

[NightWatcher]

26. It may be intact but it's not working (functioning).

It needs people to work and they (the entire GOP) are actively obstructing it.

[empedocles]

27. Yesterday, played live by Rachel, a judge cut the cujones off of a very expensive

Adkin Gump attorney//Achin trump attorney. Judge told that attorney that by 4p he needed to filed w/o crap. 4p AkinGump admitted Deutsch did possess the [incriminating tax returns].

The process is moving forward. Not as fast as some here, [understandably] would have it, but it is moving forward. [trump tweets since then confirm that 'the process is against trump, moving forward].

[Kurt V.]

28. we are a plutocracy. that is all.

[ooky]

29. That pesky Constitution has certainly slowed him down.

We're not all the way through it yet though. One thing for sure is we have seen it put to the test, and stretched. I believe if Trump has contributed anything at all he has certainly demonstrated some glaring weaknesses in our Constitution, and the need to start looking at some amendments if we don't want to ever have another repeat of this miserable presidency.