Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[crashcourse]

what will come out of it is a lost summer of hearings culminating with a made for tv event with comey as the star.

meanwhile the repubs up for election in blue states have no choice but stay as far away from trum as possible--a shoift to blue opens up a whole new ballgame obviously

trump saying I hope you go easy on him is in no way obstruction

cant believe all this effort to try to get pence in office.

somebody want to explain why wikileaks offered that 20K reward for the dnc staffers murder last year?

[froot loops]

Making predictions on this right now is a fools errand, there is a bombshell report every day. What we know now is incomplete. This is the outgrowth of running a business dependent on Russia money, it probably has nothing to do with trying to get Pence in office.

This is all of Trump's doing. Nobody told him he needed to have Flynn in his administration. There were giant red flags about the guy.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Our favorite Freedom Caucus member, Justin Amash, says that if the Comey memos are accurate then they are grounds for impeachment. Also said he trusts Comey more than Trump. Reminder that he called for an independent commission a week ago

[Wild Hoss]

I feel fine predicting that all these bombshells will result in Donald Trump being president of the United States at this time next year. The number of Republicans that would vote to impeach when push came to shove could be fit into a Chevy Suburban.

[hack]

I think, ultimately, that, yes -- there won't be impeachment based on what we know now. Have there been treasonous crimes committed? It sure as hell looks like it, and based on a common-sense reading of what treason it, he has without a doubt done it more than once. But to reach the formal conditions required is going to take time to determine. Committing a crime is not the same as being convicted. I think the gap between those two things illustrates the big-picture problem. We have a system here, and it has evolved in a way in which the letter of the law prevents the spirit of the law from applying. People can belly up to the trough, wrap themselves in the flag and take a shit on the rules over and over and over again without facing the consequences. At some point the letter of the law has to be rewritten to bring it back in line with the spirit. Continuing to focus solely on the letter of the law is a recipe for continued decline.

That said, we're going to know more things. We're four months into this circus. He's going to do more and we're going to know more. Impeachment is necessary and exceptionally important. Americans have to give their politicians boundaries. If they don't, then this stuff will continue to happen.

My prediction, at this point, is a wave election in '18, but it may not be enough to flip the house or even the Senate, given what seats in the latter are to be contested. But there will be enough aisle jumpers to impeach. My prediction is based on a mix of hope and reason. Probably too much hope. But the next scandals will boost reason in the mix and diminish hope.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I see it the same way you do, Hoss. I linked to an article on this very subject (R's won't get it done) by Robert Reich but he did offer that if Trump continues with these kinds of blunders and miss-steps, if his poll numbers continue to plummet, the voters won't abide by his continuing presidency. That will produce the predicted outcomes in the mid-terms - R's will get swept or close to it - and this will produce the necessary political climate to make Trump accountable to both the voters and to Congress.

He could resign, he definitely, if the trends continue, will not be re-electable in 2020 and if things play out on the legal front, in good time, he could be impeached.

Hopefully, nothing really bad happens in the mean time and it probably won't but Trump has demonstrated what appears to be a clear inability to govern effectively and conduct the affairs of state in the nation's best interests instead of his.

[Mainevent]

Agreed that impeachment seems far fetched at this stage, but as Froot rightly points out, the hits just keep coming with this crew. Who knows what's around the bend.

And the Republicans are in a bit of bind going down that road, as Trump's base doesn't care about any of this, they buy everything the orange-tator is selling them. The Republicans go after Trump they have problems. If they swing and miss, you can be sure the retribution would be massive. And if they succeed and Pence steps in, and they fail to deliver on all of Trump's hyperbolic promises, the base will blame them and say Trump would have gotten it done if they just gave him time or supported him more.

I never thought Trump would last 4 years, I didn't see him putting in the work or liking the criticism that comes with the position. But I thought he would either resign and blame the "swamp" or both parties conspiring against him. Then he'd go out and keep doing the rallies that he loves so much and continue to rile up his diehards with all of his nonsense.

[froot loops]

If there was to be an impeachment there needs to be loads of evidence, as Hoss says it is political. I have seen a few articles arguing that his actions have already entered that realm, but for the countrry's sake you need to go farther than crossing the minimum to do it.

Impeachments are toxic, Nixon avoided his by resigning, the Clinton one was fairly ridiculous and they have poisoned political discourse.

[Wild Hoss]

I never thought Trump would last 4 years, I didn't see him putting in the work or liking the criticism that comes with the position. But I thought he would either resign and blame the "swamp" or both parties conspiring against him. Then he'd go out and keep doing the rallies that he loves so much and continue to rile up his diehards with all of his nonsense.

JMO, but his entire foray into politics has been a money-making gambit from the get-go. I think his business career had stalled (or worse), and always having been more of a celebrity than a business tycoon, politics provided a means to recharge his brand. Being old, fat and married doesn?t keep you front-page on the tabloids.

So, when the job becomes more work than its worth, or its associated negativity starts to harms Ivanka?s sales of cheap Filipino-made dresses, he?ll quit. Donald doesn?t do what Donald doesn?t have to do.

What I wonder, is if this has been baked in from the time it appeared he was going to win the nomination. Hence the attachment of the misfit- Pence- as the heir-apparent; once DJT has refilled his coffers the president the GOP really wants steps in. DJT goes out to start his TV network and sell chinese-made MAGA hats.

[Wild Hoss]

If there was to be an impeachment there needs to be loads of evidence, as Hoss says it is political. I have seen a few articles arguing that his actions have already entered that realm, but for the countrry's sake you need to go farther than crossing the minimum to do it.

Impeachments are toxic, Nixon avoided his by resigning, the Clinton one was fairly ridiculous and they have poisoned political discourse.

JMO, but I don't think his numbers are going to fall to the point where he is legitimately impeachable. Not for this guy, in this political environment.

Dubya dripped below 30% approval for a bit, but we have sitting congressman using the "I" word, and Trump is still sitting at over 40% approval. That rating is as much, or more, a pushback against the Liberal Agenda! as it is support for DJT. Its not going to budge much, IMO.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Plausible.

[Dr. Strangelove]

RE: "Israel is okay with Trump leaking their secrets"

Two former heads of the Mossad blast Trump

http://www.timesofisrael.com/former-israeli-spymasters-rip-into-trump-say-israel-must-reassess-intel-sharing/

[Dr. Strangelove]

JMO, but I don't think his numbers are going to fall to the point where he is legitimately impeachable. Not for this guy, in this political environment.

Dubya dripped below 30% approval for a bit, but we have sitting congressman using the "I" word, and Trump is still sitting at over 40% approval. That rating is as much, or more, a pushback against the Liberal Agenda! as it is support for DJT. Its not going to budge much, IMO.

Trump's current approval/disapproval RCP average is 39.9-55.0%. That's pretty dismal.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html

[Dr. Strangelove]

The President's inspirational message to Coast Guard graduates today

[ame]https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/864881494380171264[/ame]

[Wild Hoss]

Trump's current approval/disapproval RCP average is 39.9-55.0%. That's pretty dismal.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epo...oval-6179.html

The threshold for impeachment has to be dismal enough though. That would require, I think, 22 GOP votes in the House right now? (238 Pubs, and 4 vacant seats iirc, IDK how that works) That just gets us to the Senate.