Republicans march over the impeachment cliff - taking their self-respect with them

[dajoki]

Republicans march over the impeachment cliff – taking their self-respect with them
How can Republicans pretend to the world that their vision of America – where a president can happily use military aid to coerce a foreign government to smear his political rival in an election – is the model for democracy?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/31/republicans-impeachment-trump-richard-wolffe?

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How will the nation’s Republican senators look anyone in the face and say they have any rights to keep in check a corrupt and criminal president? How can they pretend to be Trump’s victims when they marched themselves off a constitutional cliff?

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Faced with so many profiles in courage, our reality TV star of a commander-in-chief will carry on regardless, seeking out fellow grifters, foreign strongmen and domestic weaklings. Will he feel liberated by the failure of the Senate trial to seek out more foreign interference in this year’s election? The answer may be similar to the one about bears dumping in forests.

Short of removal from office or federal indictment, there are no constraints on Trump’s conduct. He can hire another goon like Rudy Giuliani to work with sketchy foreigners running businesses called something like Fraud Guarantee. Then he can shovel any amount of sketchy cash on to Facebook’s mountain of money to beguile the gullible about the guaranteed fraud. Because a president can’t be impeached for inappropriate crimes. And because political free speech is untouchable in the fantasy world where Mark Zuckerberg thinks he’s helping humanity.

This has been a historic week for self-destructive politics. Like turkeys voting for Christmas, the British government celebrated its withdrawal from its biggest trading relationships just as Republican senators celebrated their own castration.

Both sets of magnificent morons claimed they were acting for their imaginary friends in the future: a future where Britain will once again bestride the ocean, and presidents will once again lead the free world feeling free from the fear of partisan impeachment.

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[kentuck]

1. Fear is a powerful motivator.

One of the four freedoms enunciated by FDR.

[NewJeffCT]

3. yes

fear of a mean Tweet, fear of being harassed and threatened by Trumpsters, fear of being blacklisted from cushy jobs at RW "think" tanks and/or as Fox News guest analysts (Shep Smith?), fear of primary challenges, etc

[Liberalhammer]

2. That's because they are betting on monarchy

To keep them to keep them in power.

[world wide wally]

4. They don't care what form of government we have as long as they are in charge