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A nobody; a nitwit; a pilot; a motorcyclist; a raconteur; a lover...of life - who loves to laugh, who tries to not take myself (or anything) too seriously...just a normal guy who knows his place in the universe by being in touch with my spiritual side. What more is there?

30 November 2019

Cruel Irony


See, here’s the thing about the impeachment of President Trump.  If  Democrats are hinging their whole case on Trump’s “quid pro quo” or “bribery” or whatever in his dealings on that famous phone call with Ukraine President Zelensky, they’re on shaky ground.  All sorts of “experts” have testified, and opinions (about the only thing they can testify to) vary wildly on whether the call was appropriate or not.  Yes it was; no it wasn’t.

Throughout history, U.S. presidents have engaged in these “quid pro quo” deals all the time.  If foreign nations want something from us (usually arms or money) then it would be silly for us to just give those things with no conditions.  And in fact, there are always conditions…strings, if you will – as there should be!  So Trump’s “quid pro quo” was nothing unusual or out of the ordinary.  We’ll give you this military aid…IF…you investigate corruption surrounding Ukraine’s possible involvement the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Where it became an impeachable offense, Democrats claim, is when Trump asked President Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden.  The charge is that such an investigation would provide a thing of personal value to Trump in the upcoming 2020 election, and thereby violates the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  Or…wait, hold on…by withholding the military aid, Trump was bribing Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden.

Uhhh…okay.  That’s weak, but I can see the argument.  Is it, by itself, enough to warrant impeachment?  Trump-haters say, “Yes, of course!”  

The rest of us (e.g. the non-Trump-haters) shrug and go, ”That all you got?”  Because like I said, it’s weak sauce.  Democrats are beginning to understand this, and are desperately clawing and grasping to find something that is genuinely impeachable, not just legally but also in the eyes of the American public.  According to recent news reports, even Democrats are becoming wary of all this impeachment drama.

President Trump may be the most lying, most vile, most egotistical, most duplicitous, crookedest, stupidest, most underhanded, most racist, biggest piece of shit president this country has ever seen.  Unfortunately, the best way of removing him from office is by getting someone else elected next time.  

Impeaching Trump will not get him removed from office and will not prevent him from running again in 2020.  And as “bad” a president as he may be (according to democrats), he will handily defeat whoever from the current cast of boobs the DNC chooses to run against him (unless Hillary or Michelle Obama decide to enter the race - then we could have a contest!).

Consider Nancy Pelosi.  She may be many things, but she is not politically inept.  She is one very smart politician.  When she first announced that the House would formally institute an impeachment inquiry against President Trump, you could tell by her facial expression and overall demeanor that her heart was not in it.  She knew that they were about three years too late.  She was saying the right words, but the fire and anger behind them were simply not there.  But she probably did not have a choice.  

Pelosi surely understands that the impeachment saga is losing steam.  The hoped-for uprising of public anger at and vilification of Donald Trump simply did not happen, especially among his base.  If anything, support for the president has become stronger.  And so if the Democrats push ahead with impeachment, Nancy Pelosi might just be the one held responsible for getting Trump reelected.  Talk about cruel irony!

5 comments:

Bob said...

Could not have said it better. There is no way on this earth Trump will be removed from office even if these are impeachable offenses. Read my lips, Democrats: YOU DON’T HAVE THE VOTES IN THE SENATE!

Bob Barbanes: said...

Bob, the Democrats say they're doing this because they cannot let President Trump's actions stand - their conscience demands that they do SOMETHING, even it means that Trump will ultimately not be removed from office or prevented from running in 2020. And I get that. And I'm okay with it.

Here's the deal: Democrats are frantic that Trump will win reelection. To them it is an abomination...too horrible to consider. To prevent such a tragedy, Democrats *must* sway enough of Trump's base that his narrow victory over Hillary Clinton might be negated. Remember, the popular vote was extremely close - Trump only won because he garnered more Electoral votes. So okay, convince just enough Republicans in the so-called "swing" states to vote for the Democratic nominee (whoever that ends up being). Voila!...Trump loses in 2020.

It's not a great plan, but it's the only one they've got. Me, I wish the Democrats would run somebody who is: 1) Sane; and 2) Electable. Exactly NONE of the current field of Democrat candidates is either of those things.

Maybe Bloomberg? He's definitely got enough money to challenge Trump, but he's pretty loony in his own right. His statement back in 2018 about how it's a good thing to tax the poor so they'll live longer is some Trumpian-level bullshit. Ain't NOBODY gonna buy that.

Bob said...

You’re right, of course. There’s a great piece running in The Atlantic right now about Trump’s base and what impeachment through history (with Tyler, Clinton and now Trump) has really been about — which is, of course, politics. Had he not resigned, Nixon’s impeachment and removal from office were a certainty. He was caught red handed (well, so was Clinton, but we’ll not go there), and his own party was turning on him. Resignation was his only option and he hedged his bets that Ford would pardon him. (There’s a theory that deal was cut long before Nixon resigned, but historians can debate that).

Bob Barbanes: said...

Interesting comments there, Robert! I will discretely - but with great difficulty - let the Clinton pun slide ;-)

It makes sense that, prior to resigning, Nixon made a deal with Ford. I mean, wouldn't you? I surely would've! Say the following in your best Nixon voice (and everyone's got one, no?): "Gerry, old buddy old pal...I'm in a jam here. These bastards have got me cornered. Listen, I'm gonna resign but I'm gonna need a favor. Do you think you could find it in your heart to..."

Anyway, I'm not at all sure that these current impeachment hearings nor their outcome will influence even a single Trump supporter to vote against him in 2020. At least, none of the ones I've talked to think Trump did anything wrong at all!

But what this does is set the tone for Trump's next term. If anyone thinks the Dems will give up their impeachment quest...well... This circus is going to go on for four more years!

Unknown said...

IF only experts would own their own beliefs. Half a century ago America "had" Charlie Mansion and his followers who thought he was great. They would kill for him or whatever else. "Sycophancy is flattery that is very obedient, or an indication of deference to another, to an excessive or servile degree. A user of sycophancy is referred to as a sycophant or a “yes-man. Alternative phrases are often used such as:
apple-polishing
ass/arse kissing
ass/arse licking
bootlicker
brown nosing
crawler
fawning
flunky
grovelling
hanger-on
kowtowing
lickspittle
sucking up
toady
yes man
See also[edit]
Codependency
Enabling
Flying monkeys (psychology)
Narcissistic supply
Henchman
Lackeyought
Minion
Poodle
Sidekick
Suck up kick down
Uriah Heep
Waylon Smithers"
Wow, truth is SO subjective. Hardly anyone but some thought Charlie was great, and they gave their power away to him. I wasn't afraid of Charlie, nor any self-serving, control freak, nor any devilish whacked out. Malevolent qualities are sometimes called the dark triad in psychology refers to the personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Not afraid of that. What is called the antichrist, I'm not afraid of that nor hateful of "him". Why would someone want to live under a dick-tator? Low self-esteem, a small penis (lol), hatred toward others or the country, to identify with a terrible leader with too much domination (from a terrible desire to dominate others)? Nope not afraid and I don't hate he who is the antichrist nor his... Cause and effect will catch up with the antichrist - it's called karma. And Donald Trump will not escape his karma. Obama said to Trump that he wished Donald the best, and I think he meant it. And you know, it's Obama why we have Trump in office, along with who he made the DNC leader, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and also Hillary Clinton. It's not surprise why these neoliberal Dems lose to their fellow multi-millionaires. The Republicans are afraid of Trump as if he were the antichrist. Well, if nothing else they got that right! We get what we deserve, what big money can buy. Expect the unexpected! And love your neighbor and your neighborhood.