Blistering! -- "A panoply of impeachable offenses"

[ffr]

Once Trump is gone, the U.S. must completely reform the presidency

Trump himself has committed a panoply of impeachable offenses.

...there will be a reckoning in U.S. politics. For nearly three years now, a corrupt, authoritarian presidency has hacked away at democratic institutions and safeguards. Trump has surrounded himself with self-enriching cronies, conspiracy-minded propagandists and, yes, even criminals.

Trump himself has committed a panoply of impeachable offences. As an unnamed co-conspirator in the case against his former fixer Michael Cohen, Trump directed the commission of a crime. He likely attempted (or succeeded in) obstructing justice in the Russia probe. He has not, despite his promises, divested from his businesses and is making a profit from foreign governments, in violation of the constitution.

Can the constitutional ‘checks and balances’ impede a villain in office?
<snip>

If it takes this horrific circus of a presidency to teach America’s political establishment that only fundamental change will protect the country, and the world, from unfit presidents, it is a price worth paying. - The London Economic

BRAVO!

[The Blue Flower]

1. Excellent article

Thanks

[Pepsidog]

2. Quite of the year from John Bolton:

”I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up,” Mr. Bolton, a Yale-trained lawyer, told Ms. Hill to tell White House lawyers, according to two people at the deposition.

[paleotn]

3. Though the particulars will take much thought....

The justice department should be removed completely from the executive branch. Whether it becomes independent or part of the judiciary is up for debate, but I am certain that no president should ever have the power to co-opt the justice dept.

[soldierant]

5. The Judiciary could use a reform or two itself

And I realize this is not a cureall, but I would say the electoral college needs reform (or removal) before the office of the Presidency does. Generally speaking the rules of office are fine - but what we have here is playing outside of them. Better enforcement of existing rules is not the same thing as reform, though it may well feel like it after this debacle.

[calimary]

26. The Electoral College should be abolished. It's now voided

the voice of the voters for not one but TWO presidential elections - when the winner of the popular vote did not win the election. How long do we have to suffer under that?

[soldierant]

30. No argument from me on that.

I support the National Popular Vote Compact at this point, but I'm sure we'll have to deal with the Electoral College down the road. When that time comes, it will be very helpful of the NPVC has already made it ineffective.

[unblock]

16. No, the justice department should remain where it is

The vast majority of what it does needs direction from the president. They need to prioritize which laws to enforce and so on. Presidential direction here is fine.

It's only when it comes to investigating the White House or other political figures that there's a real problem. We need independence for that. Something like the old independent counsel act would be fine but with reforms to prevent the non-stop partisan hackery that dogged Clinton during his time in office.

[paleotn]

31. Actually, I don't want any president giving direction on enforcement.

Enforcement must be completely firewalled from even a hint of partisan politics. I know it's a pipe dream to wish for a complete uncoupling, but independence is still better in that regard than an executive cabinet post.

[unblock]

32. i very, very strongly disagree.

we need public accountability for law enforcement priorities. it is completely unacceptable for law enforcement to target a minority group or region, for instance; or to allow select others to skate. there needs to be accountability.

some presidents have prioritized civil rights cases, others have made busting monopolies a priority. that power can be used for good.

we've had something that has generally worked, until donnie exposed the flaws. we just need to repair it. bring back something like the independent counsel act, most notably.

[MartyTheGreek]

4. Then Moscow Mitch has some blame to share too!

[Botany]

9. Moscow Mitch was in Cleveland, OH in 2016 RN convention when Manafort, Russians, Ukrainians, ...

... and other Trump people as they were rewriting the party platform as per the Ukraine to make
it more "Putin Friendly." Mitch has been "all in" from the get go.

[softydog88]

6. I read the article and

it wasn't lost on me that the examples of unchecked presidential power and corruption - Trump, Nixon, George W. Bush, Reagan and Warren G. Harding - are/were all Republicans. Nor is it lost on me that the absolute worst president EVER - George W. Bush - only retained that title until the next Republican came along. The GOP just keeps feeding this country white men who are in way over their heads. I sure as hell hope we learn from this, and our next president is not someone we could see ourselves having a beer with, but rather someone with knowledge, expertise and experience. The presidency should not be where one starts in getting experience in government. Not that any amount of prior experience would have aided this president.

[orangecrush]

7. What does race have to do with competence?

Welcome to D.U..

[alfredo]

11. well, women and minorities have a different experience they can use.

Will that mean a leader with more empathy? Will that mean better government? Obama successfully exploded the myth of white superiority and sent the Republicans into a psychotic break.

[orangecrush]

14. Good points all.

[softydog88]

20. My point was that the GOP lacks diversity

and, as such, they are less and less capable of being able to understand the viewpoint of much of the country.

[ffr]

8. +1

Agree completely.

[CloudWatcher]

10. Republicans all

It is pretty obvious that the Republican party is the opposite of patriotic, regardless of how they wrap themselves in the flag.

[erronis]

12. We have remarked on this "coincidence" before. But I don't think it's the (R)epuglicons who

are to blame (other than their greed and spinelessness); it is the over-wealthy of the US and abroad - sometimes labeled plutocrats or oligarchs - who want to rid themselves of the burden of rules, restrictions, laws, and fees.

And thanks for a good lead-in!

[StClone]

23. Another article kind of goes with your thoughts

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/12/republicans-must-lie-to-survive-they-have-no-other-choice/

[StClone]

24. Another article to read addresses this

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/12/republicans-must-lie-to-survive-they-have-no-other-choice/

[erronis]

28. Thanks for that article. It is so spot on.

The wealthy do not care one whit about any of these issues. They would be perfectly fine with resolutions either way. The significance of these issues is that they pose no threat to the economic dominance of the wealthy, so they are safe for public discussion. Thus, these are the issues Republicans deploy to attempt to trick the working class into voting for the GOP.

[Taraman]

13. Before all this hubbub, I had no idea

that the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice was the highest legal body in the land. I had thought it was the SCOTUS. Who are these guys? I had hoped Mueller or Rosenstein would try to clarify the OLC ruling that indicting the President would interfere with his golf game.

Furthermore, is it possible to indict a cabinet officer or do they have to be impeached as well? Like Pompeo, Barr, Perry?

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. eliminate "acting" cabinet members

[wallyworld2]

17. I would not eliminate

But I would have them limited to a period of time they could act in that position and I would make sure the next in the line of command would be that acting cabinet member.

They aught to be a limited time, time for proposing a cabinet member and time limits for investigations into proposed cabinet member background. Not years long and certainly not another short and limited, like the Kavanagh confirmation hearing.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

18. Agreed.

The ONLY reason trumpie did this was to avoid the confirmation process. He has no respect for Congress and fails to understand that there are THREE co-equal branches of US government. He thinks that as president, he can do whatever he wants and that he is above any attempt to reign him in or curtail his extravagances.

[Demovictory9]

19. k&r

[triron]

21. [phone]

[kag]

22. I might disagree with one thing...

That it is a "price worth paying". I doubt if the Kurds think that this experiment in shitshowness is "worth" it. I doubt if the children who might never see their parents again, just because they are brown refugees think it's "worth" it. I'm damn sure that all of the people who have lost loved ones to gun violence think it's "worth" it.

Wouldn't it have been nice if we could have learned this lesson without getting so many people killed or scarred for life?

Other than that, spot on.

[erronis]

33. Well stated!

[pecosbob]

25. Republicans have come and gone since this began (looking back to Nixon)

All had more or less the same agenda...fuck the poor, help the rich get richer, sabotage all legitimate attempts to govern, marginalize and silence all that complain. But none were the original author. That would be the one percent. To blame it on a handful of corrupt pols does us a disservice.

Our real dilemna is finding a solution that doesn't involve guillotines.

[captain queeg]

27. We must demand the equivalent of unconditional surrender

FDR got a lot of grief from historians saying the demand extended the war. Probably did. But then there could be a clean sweep in the aftermath. Of course there has not been complete peace, but the world has been relatively peaceful since WWII. I don’t need a list of all the wars that have taken place in the interim but nothing in the scale of the world wars.

The corruption and evil that was never fully stamped out has grown to catastrophic proportions now. It needs to be rooted out and destroyed.

[Perseus]

29. Many are going to think I am crazy, but I don't think trump is a totalitarian

He is just a clueless SOB who is, on top of all his flaws, a brat who has no clue of consequences, and he just behaves like a brat, always creating chaos wherever he goes because someone will pick up the crap he leaves in his path.

I say this because I don't think he has enough brains to think like a totalitarian, he makes too many mistakes along the way. I really believe we are dealing with a man-child who is a brat.