Bring it:
Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992)
Section 4
The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
19
Spot on. Try to shore up your follow columinst Bruni who is shaking with fear and is quick to sell out the constitution and have Democrats to just shout rathere than do their constitutional duty.
10
Never forget cohen’s anti Obama sneers helped elect trump
5
We will soon get to find out who the traitors to the U.S. Constitution are. (Hint: Republicans.)
10
Ahh, if only Netanyahu had gone down too-- it would have been a trifecta for democracy and sanity!
11
Johnson and Trump. Two charlatans.
Two men who’ll meet their fate
as leaders of two caravans
called “Lawlessness and Hate”.
Nancy Pelosi. Lady Hale.
Two women who know better.
They know what is beyond the pale
and obey Law to the letter.
The world is watching. What’s at stake?
It’s how we want to live!
The Rule of Law, for Goodness’ sake!
Something will have to give…
7
Schadenfreude indeed.
Exquisite writing Mr. Cohen - a very satisfying skewering of
two spurious scoundrels delivered with surgical precision.
Yesterday was a very good day for the law.
10
Cohen is absolutely right. There comes a point when political calculation must give way to the truth. Besides political calculation can often end up being poor politics. Trump has stepped over all existing norms showing utter contempt for them.
Just wringing ones hands at this behavior and not use the tools available to restrain him amounts to surrender to lawless behavior. There is no way Democrats can avoid drawing articles of impeachment at this time and not end up looking like passive enablers of this horrible man.
9
Maybe it’s time reporters, editors, columnists and talking heads drop the accepted wisdom Mr. Cohen includes in this piece: “the Republican-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to vote to convict him.”
Our mutual cynicism is damning our ideal of self-government. Could we have the tiniest bit of optimism that some Republicans senators would have a pang of conscience and vote to remove the scoundrel? Otherwise, this common thread of pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
11
Rudy and Donald are "brothers in boorishness" or 'My brother from another mother' as they often refer to each other!
Both engage in lawless behaviors and are thrice married. The only difference is that Rudy drinks like a fish but Trump is a teetotaler.
3
trump is what Senator Harris said on the debate floor " trump reminds her of the Wizard of Oz: ' When you pull back the curtain, it's a really small dude'"
No one have described donald trump so perfectly !
Now the giant little man`s munumental ego has been shattered into tiny pieces.
trump the lawless liar of an accidental Presisedent is going to face the consequences for ripping his fellow citizens blind.
trump has very little self esteem and I want to see him wither under pressure.
But,Yes, he sill could win in 2020 .
3
Get the CIA to organise a leader swap. The Conservative Party will sack Trump as their leader and the UK prime minister and Joe and Jill Sixpack will never vote for a toff like Johnson for president. Who knew extraordinary renditions could be morally justified?
President Trump was our American dictator-in-training at his UN Press Conference today. How can we still bear to witness his maundering lies repeated ad nauseum? May the Congress impeach him and may the Supreme Court remove him from our presidency as soon as possible. He is destroying American democracy.
And Boris Johnson, Trump's separated at birth hair-furor twin, is leading England into the cataclysm of Brexit. Johnson and his American counterpart are both on the brink of imploding or exploding. Two countries, a special relationship, grotesquely inept and unfit world leaders! The world is on the brink of existential climate and political catastrophes.
4
Tough talk Roger...but all true even though too mild when compared with the 'crime' we must pay for, years to come: the loss of trust in our democratic institutions. This, because Trump has abused the power of the presidency to it's utmost absurdity, all to satisfy his sick ego, and his greedy pockets. The fact that his 'base' remains dazzled by this charlatans' lies and insults, distractions and ability to find scapegoats to explain his deep incompetence, and corruption, and the flagrant ignorance that makes him so arrogant, is no excuse to 'look the other way'. Trump's evil behavior and outright obstruction of justice has convinced us all that he feels is above the law, 'free' to do as he pleases, however criminal the intent. And Boris Johnson is on his way to copycat our ugly bully's rancor. Beyond republican complicity in Trump's misrule, ought we not look in the mirror, and ask: why in the world did we elect this demagogue, a liar and a crook, given we knew about it for years already?
6
Sigh... Roger is like an excited seventh grader playing his first basketball game of the first season of varsity ball and predicting state championships.
I hope Trump gets impeached - I fear he will not - the transcript is far from black and white - the Ukraine President brought up Biden - the Ukraine Pres brought up Giuliani.
Boris is an equal opportunity buffoon but guess what - he would win an election if one was held right now. The courts there somehow magically read his mind and knew what was in his heart when he prorogued Parliament and magically decided it did not meet 'their' standards.
We get what we deserve in our leaders - the sad part is that we voted for these folks in the case of the Trumpster and in the near future in terms of Boris.
1
I watched Trumps “ news conference “ this afternoon, the entire performance. He was flanked by his favorite two flunkeys, Pompous and Munchkin. Surreal, is the best word. HE sounded entirely unlike his usual, much slower and quieter. Went off on many tangents, but the purpose was to obviously proclaim his innocence and reassure his base. It was like watching a Twilight Zone episode, sponsored by Xanax. This is finally about to get interesting and real, and not just the drip, drip, drip of the usual
TrumpCrimeFamily exploits.
YOU OWN HIM, GOP/NRA Party. Congratulations.
5
Nixon thought the Senate would save him.
They sent reps to say, no, we won’t.
Republicans want their seats more than Trump.
The rats will run.
1
Oddly enough meteorologist was the one legitimate job Stalin ever held. So maybe that career choice does have something to say about autocracy and the love of exercising power especially power over those who cannot resist you.
3
I hope this makes things more difficult for swing state republlcan representatives.
4
"The American and British leaders meet their nemesis. It’s called the law."
Corruption among world leaders? Trump and Johnson may be on the brink. But Netanyahu may be back in. Oh well. I guess two out of three ain't bad?
3
Frick and Frack both aided by the GRU's massive disinformation campaigns. Boris, the product of Brexit and Trump by hacked emails distributed by Wikileaks. Both hired to destroy the NATO alliance...They must both be shunned and politically destroyed. The UK should remain and Trump must be impeached and imprisoned.
1
The corruption in the Trump administration is bigger than just Trump's attempt to bribe Ukraine's English-speaking leader. The NY Times also reported: "Last week, the (Justice Department's) criminal division concluded that there were NO legal grounds for a criminal investigation in to Mr. Trump’s behavior...." raising additional questions: Isn't the Criminal Division headed by a Trump-nominated lawyer who represented Russia's Alfa Bank (for Kirkland Ellis) right up through the time he was fast-tracked to head the unit? DoJ Barr is also Kirkland Ellis alumnus. K&E worked for Russian oligarchs. Both men also had oversight of the Mueller investigation. Sigh. Lots of chilling connections.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/26/us/politics/brian-benczkowski-justice-department-nominee-russia-bank.html https://www.newsweek.com/so-many-conflicts-so-little-time-1396435
https://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2019/04/william-barrs-ties-to-russia-via-dcs.html
2
Roger,
You overly conflate these two, though I must admit some commonalities exist. Trump is the real deal wannabe autocrat, and Boris is but a pale Trump impersonator, without the benefit of Trump’s TOTAL amorality.
The Trump cancer is obviously contagious. Perhaps if we excise the infection others can do the likewise.
That Trump released this redacted transcript, putting what he feels is the best face on it, demonstrates his total inability to comprehend his malfeasance! It’s totally incomprehensible!
We now know that Republicans have willful blindness to remain in power. Let them try to wrap themselves in the flag after Trump.
The Trump minion has not grown since his inauguration, and the simple choice will be between democracy or autocracy.
1
'On the Brink'---and voters of 2 great democracies have to pull back from that brink.
Be ‘pragmatic’? That’s the easy way out, as our politics pushes us further and further out from our interests and security.
Pragmatic is a handy euphemism---it means the GOP extremists get most of what they want--even if not all they want.
Pragmatism is what the powerful will allow to happen, so their interests are served. Then their opposition who try to hold out for principle are called ‘ideological fantasizers.’
Photoshop the truth, or just use a sharpie?
We need a laugh. Satire from The Borowitz Report, in The New Yorker:
“Panicky Trump Orders Dozen New Sharpies Before Releasing Ukraine Phone Transcript"
"The President was reportedly incensed after discovering that aides had not replenished his supply of Sharpies after he used his last one diverting the path of Hurricane Dorian.”
Trump and his loyal 'enforcers' are in the business of diverting our democracy. For his fans, Trump redefines reality---like Nixon---“When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal,”
Many voters are now nervous about impeachment. But per W. Post --- “Public support for Nixon’s impeachment started out small, but by summer of ‘74, when Nixon resigned, support had climbed to the high 50s.”
Meanwhile, let’s find out the Truth-- does Trump use the same hair dye as Boris Johnson?!
3
Doesn't even require crime--A violation of public trust which is what impeachment is all about.... one can violate their public trust and be clean of criminal law violations and still be impeached--In this transcript it does appear the President is using the powers of his office for his own personal benefit at the expense of national security
CNN Inside Politics
1
On the brink of irrelevance, I'd say.
1
Trump has now implicated the Vice President, the attorney general and the secretary of state in his scheme to force Ukraine to come up with fabricated evidence on the Bidens.
Get rid of all of them and clean house!
1
“Never before in history have meteorologist (sic) come so close to being a bellwether of creeping autocracy.”
Bravo!
2
While I’d love to see Trump go immediately, these inquiries will keep the focus on Trump and take all the air out of the Democratic primary contests. Democrats... who?
Hear, hear!
With the devolution of the politics of the US and the UK, we are witnessing the denouement of Reagan/Thatcherism.
And the resultant perilous state of Western democracy.
And all Putin, Xi and others, including oligarchs at home and abroad, have had to do is sit and watch with glee. "It's so easy!..."
2
“Truth was fungible. It could always be fixed through a touch of Photoshop, or a pliant attorney general.”- Or a few sloppy lines drawn with a Sharpie.
Better yet, just say, as Trump did during a veterans association speech in 2018, “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”
Unfortunately for Trump this impeachment really is (finally) happening.
2
How can the performances of two mad yellow tops be tented, so that we might see them out of our lives and on the stage? It is theater that I can't imagine. Who could possibly put them in their places, near but not too near and just far enough so that we could actually see them? It's sheer madness to live where they leave no quiet space and for these two yellow tops to be the heads of countries; it seems impossible. It is impossible, but it has happened. This madness is thickened by the the millions of carriers that sing their praises and hate all the 'others'. We were so unprepared. No one wrote of this at any time, not Shakespeare, Moliere, Beckett or Genet. I don't know that a playwright could imagine or reimagine it. Cohen writes as though sanity is coming back and will reign to some degree again. At least two women, Pelosi and Hale have raised that possibility. I'll believe when I see it.
2
Whoever photographed Trump and Johnson together at the beginning of brilliant your piece should be congratulated for capturing their commiseration over respective doomed futures.
In addition, I like to think that Lady Hale' summation of the Britain's Supreme decision declaring Johnson's swinish maneuvering null, void and illegal will inspire our Congress, the Senate included. to put an end to Trump's thuggish reign. and the sooner the better.
2
Hear! Hear!
Thank you, Roger, for this pitch-perfect piece. You have laid it out superbly.
I just have one question for the die-hard Trump supporters like Lindsay Graham and Doug Collins. If anything resembling this phone call had been made by the previous resident of the White House, would it still have been the nothingburger the GOP claims it is? Hmmmm? Somehow, I doubt it.
3
These past 2 days have been pure sensory overload for both liberals and those who still believe that ethics, compassion and integrity have a role to play in political leadership. Charlatans deserve nothing less than the most insulting rejection and rebuke that their electorates or institutions can deliver.
2
In the photo with Boris’ hands measuring how big, one wonders if Trump is mulling over the smallness of Boris’ objectives. Trump’s lies ARE bigger and more numerous.
3
It is past time for this corrupt man to be impeached. I am more afraid of what would happen if we refused to impeach than I am of anything else. If you don't impeach you've already given up.
2
Frank Bruni's editorial about the Trump impeachment proceedings sounds like it could apply to Boris Johnson. Same arrogance and disrespect for the office and the rule of law, same incendiary language, same nationalistic hubris, same "the end justifies the means" mentality, at the risk of inciting violence. Dangerous and unhinged individuals both. The only differences: Boris would score higher on an IQ test, and Donald's ability to inflict much greater damage internationally.
2
This last week has been a great one for democracy when you also add in the rebuke of another bombastic nationalist, Netanyahu.
Congress is doing what it is entrusted to do, enforce the rule of law in the face of a lawless president. Even the conjured up, redacted, reinterpreted transcript of the Trump-Ukrainian phone call is sinking his ship, just imagine what an actual voice recording would reveal. Lindsey Graham went on national TV last night gas lighting Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. He bellowed that the transcript to be released by the WH would end all speculation and clear trump. I wonder how crow is tasting to Graham this morning.
Yes I too worry about what will happen if this creates a total distraction from the business our Congress should be conducting, the posture and actions of the illegally stacked SCOTUS and the Republican controlled senate but I don't care. Those that choose to align themselves with and enable trump shall eventually suffer the same fate. Good bye Donald, good bye Boris and good bye Bibi. Maybe the three of them can form a narcissist support group.
1
Swept to power in the wake of disinformation fuelled populist surge both Trump and Boris Johnson have already come to the brink with imminent fall from grace if not from office soon. Disgrace as they are to their society and the nation they tried the impossible to assault the very foundations of the rule of law invluding the very existence of the liberal constitutional democracy, just to fulfil their personal lust for power and wealth in an unabashed manner.
1
The article goes around two political personalities, Johnson and Trump, as if they were singular, occasional accidents of the two oldest democratic societies of our planet and the leading powers of the "good" West in perennial fight against the "bad" powers.
Unfortunately, there is no track of the fact that both leaders, lead political parties and popular movements. Otherwise they would not be there to govern.
It is time for the liberal, progressive media to start a deep and vast analysis of the factors, which have injected ur-fascism elements in the political, electoral dialectic in the two oldest democracies.
Are we at risk that the two oldest democracies would lead a worldwide movement for autocratic democracies?
Wait a minute! But is this autocratic democracy the one attributed rightly to Mr Putin?
As I listen to Trump spew his unadulterated nonsense at his news conference I am left stunned by his ability to deflect and lie in full dictator mode. I ask myself over and over again how the party he represents can stand idly by and watch your country being ripped apart.
What troubles me most is the way he speaks of the free press as not just peddling ‘fake news’ but as corrupt. By continually doing this the facts become more murky, less understood or believed.
This is how dictators operate; Bannon and Miller must be salivating.
This latest debacle was an accounting provided by the White House, not the democratic party, the White House! Trump asked a leader of a foreign country to dig up dirt on a political opponent and happily put it out to the public, then wondered, ‘what's your problem?’
Next up, the campaign to discredit the whistleblower, stay tuned.
1
In Parliament today, Johnson responded to being informed that his words had inspired death threats against MPs by making the bald assertion that he had never heard such “humbug” in all his life.
So he's never heard humbug? He must not hear anything he says.
2
Excellent summation. Like Roger Cohen, I'm overjoyed the Pelosi finally put her high-heeled foot down.
For far too long Democrats operated on the basis of political calculus, not political courage. How can anyone say this is a colossal mistake
made without even knowing what the whistle-blower had to say?
such calculus is what has emboldened this president, making him cocky and extremely reckless. This latest caper was so brazen, so arrogant that it led to a drammatic rise in support for impeachment.
Only time will tell how this plays out in the long run, but in the short run, those of us horrified at this president's behavior are breathing a sigh of relief that for once, this president seemed chastened.
2
The astounding thing was that Trump and his advisers thought that the phone transcript cleared him because he never made an explicit quid pro quo- defense dollars for a ginned u Ukrainian investigation of Joe Biden.
Also, Barr’s name is now ruined and every act he has taken has to be re-examined since Trump’s conversation included statements about Barr and Zelensky talking about looking into Biden.
2
"Lawlessness of dictatorial China"? I'd be more careful with those words if I were you. China may be a single party dictatorship, but it's far from lawless. The rule of law in China is just simply...hostile to any form of dissent. Not quite the same thing as lawless.
1
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin leans back in his gilded Kremlin chair enjoying the spectacle of the West and the Atlantic Alliance tearing themselves apart from within. Who needs hypersonic weapons when the leaders of the free world are intent on destroying democracy for you.
2
Trump thrives at the center of a whirlwind and now he's got it. He will play this impeachment for all it's worth. The ultimate reality show: Survivor Island - President's Edition!
This is the reason he ran for president in the first place - to burnish his brand. There is no real downside for him. He will not be convicted by the Republican senate and he will be even more the center of attention. Me, Me, Me...
And who knows - it might even help to get him elected again.
:(
The parallels between Brexit and Trumpismo continue to amaze me. Hopefully they will both collapse at the same time under the fetid mire of their lying waste. And then maybe we will be able move on to a better place.
Probably will get messier before it gets better...
1
Like every soldier or sailor, I took an oat to uphold and defend the constitution. Long after my service, I recall it and abide by it. Unlike POTUS, who cannot abide by our constitution, Speaker Pelosi took a similar oath with seriousness, although it is unclear if launching an investigation is politically wise. Indeed with Moscow Mitch leading the Senate, any impeachment may never be tried in the senate.
Yes, the rule of law should be upheld. Not only should POTUS feel the weight of the law but all the craven toadies in the Republican caucus should be held responsible at the polls.
Vote in 2020 to uphold our constitution, while you still can.
12
It’s beginning to feel like it did in the summer of ‘73.
9
Just keep this in mind. When the GOP Senate turns the trial into one long Trump rally and he is acquitted it will establish that Trump Power is above the law. This will be the end of our Constitution. You may say you dont care because at least we tried, but I loved that country that will soon be dead, I dont love this dictatorship.
6
Nancy Pelosi and the democrats finally acting to begin an impeachment investigation has one overriding quality of good: it is a sign that there are still people who, in our confused melee of national life, are willing to stand up for principle over expedience. If they hadn't, I'd have to abandon the party.
8
The law, yes.
But the law is only as powerful as its enforcement.
The British High Court enforced the law, and Johnson, like Icarus of legend, went crashing to the earth.
The problem in the US has not been the law per se, but the willingness to ENFORCE the law.
The Supreme Court here now sees itself as an adjunct of the Executive. Same with the DOJ under Barr, who acts as the President’s defense attorney, not the chief US law enforcement officer.
What Trump has run into is someone willing to ENFORCE the law, and that someone is Nancy PELOSI and her congressional colleagues.
Laws are only as strong as the character of the people who write and defend them.
Our national character is being tested as surely as our laws.
11
Trump asked the Ukrainian President to open an investigation against the family of his opponent. This alone constitutes clear and present abuse of executive power. There is no doubt based on more than 200 years of constitutional practice and judicial understanding.
And certainly he used 400 million dollars of congressionally approved financial aid to extort the “favor”. The evidence isn’t as clear cut but good enough.
I resisted impeachment based on the collusion with Russia and the obstruction of justice because Mueller obscured the crimes in a legalistic and cautious report that would have been a bombshell 30 years ago. The arguments were too complex and the crimes too obscure for modern time social media America.
This time is different: Trump attempts to kill the constitution and democracy in broad day light and he brags about it. If an impeachment process does not convince enough Americans to chase him out of office in 2020 then voters have failed their ancestors who fought for democracy and future generations who will live in a dystopian and lawless society, the Trump world.
It is a sentinel event in American democracy.
10
Thanks for this excellent column. Spot on! The man is callous, unlawful, spiteful and sometimes quite clueless. Since he rarely reads, how could we expect him to understand anything in the Constitution except Article 2, which he interprets wildly? In this case, he thought the transcript (only partially released) would exonerate him because he thinks his wording was clever and his threat veiled. He was growing increasingly bellicose and reckless as he thought no one would stand up to him. Impeachment is a good way to brand him with what Charles Blow compared to the Scarlet Letter. It is even possible that some senators will eventually vote against him rather than joining the "dishonor list" of those who are willing to excuse his high crimes. Ignominy now lies waiting for those who lack the ethics and the courage to call Trump what he is. He should be FIRED from his Reality TV Show version of the presidency.
11
thank you Roger Cohen for an articulate column that enlightened the situation of Trump in particular for me. You are right: the House Democrats must impeach Trump and then let the Senate do its own process. Our entire government is in peril as you write-- has any U.S. President ever gone after a U.S. Weather Service meterologist? Or blackmailed a foreign power to get dirt on an American political opponent? Our founding fathers of our Republic did not set up another king, but an executive limited by law and by the Congress to only do things authorized by law and the Constitution.
10
The thing that is never discussed is how Labour failed to keep their own base focused on the real reason for the steepest decline among G8 countries and unemployment for millions: the abject surrender of Britain's industrial base by the same people who are now driving Brexit. Disinvestment, asset stripping and offshore tax evasion, all convened, managed and directed by a Tory regime. Absolutely nothing to do with EU, though Germany took a different route of home protection and worker ownership very successfully, which tends to rankle some.
Brexit is the next chapter in this sorry saga of home based piracy. How did they lose to Farage and this lot? Immigration did the trick and it happened right under Labour's noses, some went along for the ride. This is not just a failure to deliver a fundamental message, it is a betrayal of Labour's raison d'être. No amount of moaning about the right wing press can account for it.
Corbyn has neither the wit nor the intellectual integrity to tell the leavers they are wrong and make it stick. It's not hard. The truth is manifest. And now he has made his party irrelevant with a fudged position. There will be no better deal than the one May wrangled, a lie to say otherwise.
It is indeed In or Out, a question that should never have been asked but now the truth is widely shared about the Brexit con, Remain is the only way out of the cul de sac.
22
@Angstrom Unit
Excellent essay.
7
@Angstrom Unit The trouble is that the British Labour party is stuck in a 19th century time warp where it's all out war between the bosses and the unions. The rest of Europe has moved on but they don't want to leave their comfortable la la land. Germany took a different approach, giving unions representation on company boards and making sure that their young people got a good education. The contrast is staggering.
7
@Angstrom Unit Indeed, nicely put in all respects.
3
On Cspan TV Sept 25, we saw many in the British House of Commons labor party showing their fury at Boris Johnson on his return, after their high court's decision ruled against his shutting down parliament. Real emotion from the opposition. They gave it to Boris good.
As shown every Sunday on cspan, their system has much more argument and response than in our congress.
Parties sit facing each other on opposite benches. The public watches from the balcony. The PM and the opposition leader give their speeches on current situations. The Speaker calls out 'questions for the prime minister' then calls on members for their opinions and questions.
It’s often rowdy and noisy so the Speaker of the House has to keep yelling out Order, Order! pronounced Awdahhh, Awdahhh! Let the member be heard!
Exotic customs these foreigners? It’s on cspan video. Can you imagine Trump having to answer questions every week in the congress? Another planet.
13
@Meredith
I've often thought the same thing but in truth, all the public bluster hasn't mattered or helped to resolve anything. Their current state of affairs is just as chaotic and confused as ours is.
Funny how Roger extols the rule of law and the virtues of democracy for an entire column, only to pivot to an appeal for the UK to ditch Brexit, despite it being arrived at through democratic means.
1
@Vin
"despite it being arrived at through democratic means".
It apparently was arrived by a referendum that was decided by a very thin margin. So, I guess you may call it 'democratic."
However, the incredible stalemate that has resulted is also "democratic" to the extent that it makes one wonder did Britain's citizenry really understand all the implications of the various Brexit exits? Apparently not enough to get any Brexit options to happen, partly because there are lots of potentially disastrous results that are lingering. Hence, democracy is at work right now, and we'll see what is "democratic" later than expected.
12
@Vin The Brexit vote was the result of lies promoted by the pro-Brexit politicians: That the UK could get out of the European Union by imposing its own favourable terms to the Union. The pro-Brexit politicians pretended to ignore the other side of the negotiating table: The European Union. Guess what? It does not work that way. Now finally a lot of pro-Brexit voters understand reality: That they cannot get a Brexit deal to their liking (because they have to negotiate with the EU), and that a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the UK (just think about all the UK citizens who live in other European countries: they would lose all the privileges that go with being members of the EU). This was easy to see way back when before the Brexit vote, but the pro-Brexit politicians sold a lot of propaganda to gullible voters, who drank their potion of lies. Maybe the UK should go ahead with a no-deal Brexit. Let's see how well the Brexit supporters like that. The UK will just become the backwater of Europe. Already many financial companies have relocated outside the UK, with all the job losses of the case.
10
don't skew the facts, Roger is right, Brexit based on lies is not the people's will.
the people were misled and that's a dangerous path for a democracy to take.
I am not french but an American so facts should always remain facts.
when they are interpretation of facts, they are not facts anymore but opinions.
and the reality in all democracies is that the vast majority of voters are not well informed. I think this is one of the major flaws of democracy, for democracy to work and work well, politicians stick to facts and their opinions but not.mix the two and voters at least live up to their constitutional responsibility by being well informed
7
Yes, Johnson violated the law. He has been called and the situation is rectified
But the UK political establishment violated Democracy. For three years, finding it unpalatable, it refused to implement the vote 52:48 of the citizens of the UK, to leave the European Union.
They are still waiting.
1
@John -- Funny, I was under the impression that hundreds of people have been working tirelessly and spending untold amounts of money to implement the so-called will of the people, in the process consuming almost every aspect of British politics and civil service to the exclusion of practically everything else. I wonder how I got that mistaken impression after following the issue on a daily basis.
14
@John
The situation rectified? Is that Johnson unwillingly forced back to the legislature he unlawfully tried to silence and declaring - with the confirmation from his own Attorney General that 'the Supreme Court judgement is WRONG'?
The situation hasn't been rectified, it's has
d some emergency field repairs - those being that, at least for the time being, it's not possible for ONE individual to seize absolute power and to rule supreme without checks, balances or accountability.
Oh, and there's no legal mandate for Parliament to implement the 2016 referendum result. That ballot, like all referenda in the UK, is ADVISORY and has no legal standing. It's true that both the major political parties campaigned the 2017 general election to either 'respect' or implement the referendum result but NEITHER party (particularly the one led by the hapless Theresa May) achieved a majority and neither were able to form a government. And, importantly, neither party made a pre-election manifesto committment to a no-deal Brexit - which is exactly what Parliament appears to have successfully prevented.
Sorry, over here, soundbites like yours no longer count for anything.
12
But what, exactly, did they vote for?
To paraphrase HL Mencken, every complex problem has a simple solution. Elegant, easily explained....and wrong.
1
Wouldn't it be interesting on this side of the pond if Mitt Romney decided to announce a challenge for the Republican nomination after one or two or twenty shoes drop during impeachment?
A pre-vetted candidate might suddenly be viewed as the GOP's best hope of keeping the White House if the proceedings start turning off everyone but Trump's most loyal base.
8
@b fagan -- There have been three republicans who have announced. Romney wouldn't necessarily sway the establishment.
1
@b Fagan
I am looking forward to the hearings, I have never seen such corruption in all aspects of government, corporate America by white men in my entire life.
Interesting to listen to there numerous lies and there god given superiority. Moscow Mitch, religious Pence, Graham he is good for serious thinking especially when his old tapes are played in regards to the meaning of impeachment. Bringing back the dignity of the office, now he is singing a different song.
The whole world will be watching it will be must see TV
Putin will be calling the white house telling them how to improve there TV performances.
By the way is your looking for a GOP candidate look at Bill Weld, he actually was part of the investigation into Watergate and he is probably the only GOP who is smart, and has dignity, character. The rest of the GOP are all Russian supporters
I can only ask my Canadian friends if they will welcome me in 2021 when I need to move to Nova Scotia if Trump is re-elected. How long does it take to become a citizen? How long before I can stop paying for my health insurance before I become eligible for care in Canada?
So many questions but the fear is there.
9
@davey385
It wasn't easy in 1980, and I gather that it has only become more difficult.
Canada is not utopia, but it is a sensible country. Witness our current federal election:
It will occur on 21 October, forty-two days after it officially began. All Members of Parliament are up for re-election; the party with the most members will elect the next Prime Minister. (I will not be voting for Justin Trudeau; I will be voting for his party.) The details of snap elections, et al, are readily available on Google.
3
@davey385...when you find out the answers to Canadian citizenship, plz let us know.
It's not too early to start letting your senators know how you feel. People keep saying the senate will never convict Trump. They may change their minds if they know the public is fed up with the corruption, the chaos, and the lack of civility that comes with Trump's presidency. The senators' jobs are on the line, too, and if they sense that the public is disgusted, they may finally see that Trump is a liability.
37
We shouldn't assume too readily our "independent institutions" will check Donald Trump's headlong rush to autocracy. The Republican Senate seems only too eager to join him in the establishment of a criminal oligarchy along the lines of Putin's Russia, and the Supreme Court of today is as likely to follow ideological blueprints as Constitutional guidelines. Trump has already gotten away with obstruction of justice. Why should he fear consequences for ongoing malfeasance?
16
I am still trying to figure out how many out of wedlock children Bojo has. But at the same time, I am not clear what purpose it would serve for him to resign. Really. What would change? People don't want the awful Corbyn. No one seems to want the Brexit deal that the EU is offering. (I am told that some finance is moving to Dublin.) The problem does not seem to be Bojo. From what I can tell, the problem is the electorate that wants something it cannot have. What's the solution to that?
9
What the electorate wants can be given to it by politicians without leaving the EU. The same ills as in the US require the same remedies. What we urgently need is more enlightened Tories and Republicans. Exiting the EU, if anything, might make things worse rather than better for Britain unless politicians change their tack. So: Reduce inequality (more redistribution), invest in the NHS (healthcare), invest in education, re-industrialise, improve infrastructure, work to reduce regional discrepancies (London soaking up all the talent and investment), invest in public services and in housing, stop privatisation of every public thing under the sun. Easy, isn't it?
2
@Cobble Hill
They could get over it, for one thing.
And you're mistaken. They may or may not care for Brexit but, to a man and a woman they want the more civil, decently supportive, economically viable country they lost to the ugly depredations of Reagan/Thatcherism, that tsunami of mindless economic destruction brought them by the party of Boris Johnson, now vamping about as some kind of savior.
well, gosh, golly! As if we here would know anything about that problem.
“...independent institutions...make the law meaningful.”
There aren’t enough American citizens who agree, Mr. Cohen. And two of those institutions that should be independent (Mitch McConnell’s Senate and the John Roberts Court) are are joined to Donald Trump by either ideology (McConnell) or pledge (SCOTUS).
We have neither sober, mature deliberation in the Senate nor have we law out of the Roberts Court: its decisions are returned by the Federalist Society. In the middle is the executive, a cyclonic force of willful destruction.
Donald Trump is Boris Johnson—and vice versa.
24
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
I actually have a lot of faith in Roberts. I think that Gorsuch may prove true too in a crisis like this. The other three, of course, are very dubious. However, they do not want too be remembered as hacks and theory might just follow a strong lead from Roberts to protect the Constitution and the integrity of the Court.
10
@Lefthalfbach
A forlorn hope, I fear. Roberts has proven himself duplicitous, unfaithful, and a none-to-subtle ideologue.
Other than an occasional focus-group-tested whine about his fear SCOTUS may be perceived as partisan (MAY be?) Roberts is clearly pleased to go about dismantling the rule of law right out in the open for all to see.
I am 75 years old and I have never been so glued to the news to learn about the latest escapades of Boris and Trump.
I get up each morning and the first thing I do is turn on my computer to get the latest updates and check again just before going to bed.
I have read that having a purpose in life helps to prolong it and I am determined to live long enough to see how all of this shakes out.
67
Don’t worry Richard. I’m 78 and have lost those concerns.
@Richard Phelps....same here. Besides reading/watching the news and commenting--but not to overdo it---we must eat our vegetables, exercise and meditate daily, to live to see a Democratic president.
Hopefully one that's not just 'better than Trump'--but with high principles---not too 'Pragmatic'!
@Richard Phelps
it has become entertainment eh?
I've written to all three of our Alaskan Republican representatives in Congress - the long-overdue-for-replacement Don Young, US House of Representatives since 1973; the seemingly rational, yet Trump-supporting Dan Sullivan, US Senate; and Lisa Murkowski, who has proven herself to be an honest and reasonable voice in the Senate.
These are our only three representatives in Congress, and I begged them to please remember that their oaths of office make them duty bound to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" - NOT to defend the "president". I hope that they remember this when the time comes to vote on Trump's impeachment.
81
“Article II allows me to do whatever I want.”
This is true despotism, period. Whether the appeal is to god or a founding document, it is equating oneself with an almighty and incontrovertible power. As Cohen says, that is 180 degrees away from the basic founding principle of the US.
It remains unbelievable that tens of millions of Americans seem to have forgotten that. Or want to turn back the clock 300 years.
73
As I listen to Trump spew his unadulterated nonsense at his news conference I am left stunned by his ability to deflect and lie in full dictator mode. I ask myself over and over again how the party he represents can stand idly by and watch your country being ripped apart.
What troubles me most though is the way he speaks of the free press as not just peddling ‘fake news’ but as ‘corrupt’. By continually doing this the facts become more murky, less understood or believed. This is how dictators operate; Bannon and Miller must be salivating.
This latest debacle was an accounting provided by the White House, not the democratic party, the White House! Trump asked a leader of a foreign country to dig up dirt on a political opponent and happily put it out there, then wondered, ‘what's the problem?’
Boris Johnson and Trump will have to face the law eventually, but I suspect Johnson has a modicum of respect for it, whereas Trump has none.
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How about the complicity of the Veep? He should know Trump is unhinged and he has a legal obligation to the voters, too.
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@Bella M -- The current GOP believes in only one thing: Staying in power, and they can do so only through dirty tricks (gerrymandering, voter suppression), because their base is dwindling and because their ideas are out of step with what most Americans want.
They want near-complete control of the courts; they want to continue to lower taxes for the wealthy; and they want to almost-eradicate govt by starving it of resources so it can't function. They'll do anything, even tolerate DJT, to achieve these goals.
Volunteer, starting now and through Nov. 2020, to ensure that people on the margins are registered to vote and are able to get to the polls.
21
Trump's feebleminded stream of consciousness was on full display at the UN news conference, His seemingly instinctual tactic when under pressure is to lie, lie, lie.
54
The Constitution provides for impeachment when the President commits a "high crime." Trump went way beyond that when he promised arms and other goodies to Ukraine if they investigated the Bidens. That's a hire crime.
24
Thank you, Roger Cohen for this paragraph:
All of this worries me, but in the end I don’t care. The balance has been tipped. Nobody can accuse Pelosi of rashness. She has been deliberate. She said, “No one is above the law.” That principle must be cardinal.
What I read today suggests that half or more of readers here don't agree. How sad. They sound already defeated, certain that Pelosi's courage will lead to Democrats' carnage in 2020.
Yet more than 200 Democrats in the House are sticking their political necks out to support an impeachment inquiry. Those of us who agree with Roger Cohen's summation, must show them our support.
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The Toddler leaders
Neither elected by their constituents
Both compulsive liars
51
This article returns to the "Senate won't convict" canard.
The point consistently missed is that a Trump impeachment is the best opportunity to put the Senate on trial. They've consistently betrayed the US's best interests an favour of partisanship. But Trump represents the best chance to make clear how craven, how compromised, how corrupt they are.
Proceed with impeachment.
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@dan...exactly. Too many in our media keep saying, what about the senate? But impeachment will put them on trial too. McConnell will demonstrate what far out rationalizations he can think up to excuse political crimes.
This is a chance that shouldn't be lost, to redirect the downward direction of our democracy.
The effect will show in future years, as the younger more progressive voters replace many older voters who have been vulnerable to GOP messages, against their own interests.
Or vulnerable to Democratic party caution and centrist 'pragmatism'. Same as much of the media.
6
' The law is a ass..an idiot' from ' Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens
The law is not fair nor just nor moral nor objective. Black Africans were lawfully enslaved and separate and unequal in America. Brown First Nations human pioneers lands, lives and natural resources were legally stolen in America.
The corrupt criminal evil immoral inhumane malignant culprits were white European Judeo-Christian invaders and occupiers and colonizers and conquerors.
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@Blackmamba
This is very true. The law is settled policy. In the case in point, however, the law Mr. Cohen is referring to is the set of principles that underpins democracy, which, for all its flaws and imperfections, is preferable to absolutism. Don’t you agree?
If Trump is impeached, with powerful causes made plain to the American people, and the Senate still does not convict, then either the American people will revolt against the Republican controlled Senate in response (hopefully the case)... or, would-be democrats will sit this out again, and the Trump loyal will hand him another victory despite. In the latter case, American democracy will have been provably lost. I fear the latter.
11
@PT in Melbourne, but it is not yet morning, as Mr. Scrooge found out. There is still time to push with all our might for the first of your two hypothetical outcomes. We still have a chance to save our nation.
It is always repeated that Trump wouldn't be convicted in the Senate due to the Republican majority, which assumes that those Republicans believe they would lose power if Trump were thrown out. But what if they decide after a brutal airing of his gross abuses that they will convict him and then Pence can be President? What if they calculate that Pence would win in November? A win-win situation for these patriotic and upstanding Republican politicians? Maybe. I'm sure Mitt Romney will eagerly step in if Pence is too overwhelmed by the idea of betraying Trump, right?
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"For Congress to ignore what Trump has done would be to set a dangerous example for future generations." Speaking of future generations, how do these Republican lawmakers think history will treat them? I'm enjoying Ken Burns' documentary series on country music on PBS and, whenever I go back in time with Ken, he paints a picture, detailed enough, that you can understand how the people who are wrong might have thought they were right at the time but that's not the case here. These people defending Trump are wrong, they know they are wrong and they know nothing will change that. They are smart enough to know that this con man is a danger to our national security, our national identity and our nation itself, so what excuse will they proffer when this is over? The documentary also covers many of the early deaths due to drug and alcohol abuse and, as you watch, you say to yourself "How long did they think they could keep up that reckless behavior before they had to pay the piper? That kind of drunken denial is what is on display with the Republicans and it doesn't comfort me at all to know that it may mean the end of that once great party. They should keep in mind that Standing by your man didn't work out for Tammy Wynette either.
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@Rick Gage and
I don't believe that any of these people care about how history views them. They're wealthy and privileged, and until the day they die they will continue to be wealthy and privileged. That's really all any of these people want.
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Might there be some correlation between bad ties, bad hair and bad leadership?
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A beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful and deeply meaningful article. When people break the law, and do it repeatedly and blatantly, they must answer for their actions. Whether or not the justice will be served is irrelevant, as the author argues eloquently, for letting the criminal acts go unpunished even after they are made public, means the end of democracy.
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From here in Hove, a brilliant piece. We have learnt, amidst much pain, to live from day to day's turmoil. Our patience exposes a corrupt Government, one which lolls lengthwise on the Commons benches.
It is always refreshing to have your perspective from 3000 miles across the Atlantic.
Keep at it!
Much appreciated.
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Ultimately this will hurt Biden. There's no way it can't, which is a shame. That goes double if Trump isn't convicted which seems unlikely with the GOP controlling the Senate. I think it's fair to ask (1) How did Hunter Biden get a position on the board of Ukraine's largest private gas company, Burisma? He was reportedly paid up to $50,000 a month. (2)What was his expertise? (3)The question of a possible conflict of interest — with Hunter Biden profiting in a country where his father was actively working with the government is also a fair question. That will be brought up and investigated whether Biden wants it or not. (4) In March 2016, Biden told the country's leaders that they had to get rid of the Ukranian prosecutor Viktor Shokin (who was overseeing an a bungling criminal investigation into Burisma) if they wanted $1 billion in U.S. aid. The optics on this also look terrible. This too will have to be thoroughly investigated. Whether he wants to or not Biden will have to answer a lot of questions on this issue in the comings months. There's no evidence that he did anything wrong. There's no evidence that Hunter did anything wrong. But Biden still will have to explain this. It's going to be very, very, awkward. To some voters, his answers will not make any sense & there will be lingering suspicions. For those sitting on the fence looking for a reason not to vote for Biden, this is it. All of this will benefit Sen. Warren as she is surging in the polls.
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@Bill Brown -- If one or more Bidens committed criminal offences, they should be investigated, but through proper legal channels.
This has nothing to do with the Bidens. It has to do with illegal and unconstitutional acts on the part of the president of the United States. Those aren't mitigated by anything else, just as illegal break-ins of the Watergate Apartments did not mitigate Nixon's crimes.
In the legal scheme of things, this is as big a deal as it gets. This president's behaviour is unjustifiable by any standard, and a threat to the democracy of a very large, powerful nation. And that was his intent.
The president swore, before the world, to uphold the law. He has not.
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@Bill Brown If this is about the Bidens, why did Trump wait for an investigation until Joe Biden was the front-runner in the campaign, until Joe Biden was ahead of Trump in the polls? If there was ever anything there, Trump would have asked for an investigation two years ago. It meant nothing to Trump until it looked like Mr. Biden might beat him in the election.
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Perhaps the law will save Great Britain from the likes of Boris Johnson, but we have yet to see whether the law will save the U.S. from Donald Trump.
Nancy Pelosi's statement yesterday is nothing more than a shot across the bow. Impeachment proceedings will begin. But left unanswered still are many legal questions this House will face. And they will need to get their answers from the Supreme Court.
Of course Trump will continue to refuse to comply with House subpoenas and he will direct his toadies to continue to do so as well. This leaves the House with no other alternative but to turn to the Supreme Court. This court that has already kowtowed to Trump with its contortionist views of "executive power" and "executive privilege" - permitting his Muslim Ban and his ridiculous Wall stunt. This court is poised to give him another pass with House subpoenas.
What this means is that Trump may once again scream "witch hunt" but now he would have a Supreme Court ruling on his side. This may be the reason, by the way, why Mr. Mueller did not proceed to force the question before the Supreme Court - he knew the court would likely side with Trump, once again echoing his "witch hunt" theme.
Now, this Supreme Court is far from infallible. But most Americans don't believe they are. Most don't understand the ramifications of the five toadies who will permit Trump to do literally anything, up to and including breaking the law. Anyone willing to bet against me?
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@Henry Hurt, if that is the case, than the court will lose all legitmacy and so will the rule of law. It would result in a civil war. I don't think they want that, but I could be wrong.
2
The false equation of Trump and Johnson is really sad to see, mainly on the basis of bad hair. Johnson was an excellent mayor of London (remember those great Olympics?) and is something of an intellectual, having just finished writing a book about Shakespeare. As far as Parliament goes, I fail to see a single thing that Parliament has contributed to the Brexit dealings: all they did was say no, no, no to May's deals, they voted against a new referendum, they said that there can be no no deal Brexit, and that the PM must seek further delay. For what purpose? To keep them occupied with not doing their other work? After all, there are 650 of them, and they agree on almost nothing.
No treaty can ever be negotiated by a parliament and originally the deal was to be made between governments. Parliament insisted on voting on it and Cameron gave in. So there is nothing but a gigantic impasse. At least while they were out, Johnson got in a few meetings with the EU (something Parliament was suspicious he wouldn't try for).
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@JFMACC
I prefer to trust reports from Europe that all the 'negotiations' so far undertaken by Johnson and his government have been a sham and prosecuted in bad faith from day 1.
Predictably, nothing positive has been generated by these meetings - except perhaps, an illuminating moment when Johnson rather publicly appeared to acknowledge how absurdly simplistic and infantile the 'solutions' offered by the UK government to knotty problems like the Irish border question actually were.
No, of course Parliament hasn't been able to offer any progress on Brexit. That's because nobody can agree what Brexit should be - or how it is to be done. That's David Cameron's fault, not the British Parliament's. Trying to resolve a fiendishly complex issue like withdrawing from the EU after 44 years close integration, rendered down to two lines on a ballot paper, was absurd in the extreme - as was the facility by which proponents of Brexit promised the electorate a multitude of different Brexits, many of them actually impossible.
It's a mess. But not one caused by the legislature. Parliament is seeking to minimise the harm caused by this rash and poorly defined decision. If that means cancelling Brexit, so be it.
1
@JFMACC I suggest you read about about Jonnson’s history before genuflecting before him. He made his bones writing lies about the EU. Since then he and the truth have had a fleeting relationship.
Looking at this from abroad, it is difficult to realize how Britain is still run according to social standing and where one went to school which explains its downfall to a medium size power at best.
Worst though is to witness the rampant corruption that is the norm in Washington. Trump is everything this article says he is plus, but is Biden any better? The fact remains that his son was given a job in Ukraine because of who he is and got huge financial rewards for doing it.
Who cares about the winner of this election: a devil you know ... but at least we know the incumbent.
12
@Georges
I agreed with you until your last sentence.....but the incumbent rises to a level of criminality and complete disregard for any decent ideals or beliefs that could lead society or benefit this country. Biden, although his son was clearly trading on his father's contacts and reputation, is not a great candidate but is presumably not as corrupt. Though not a supporter of Biden for President, many view him as less corrupt and representing more dignity for the office of President. Can we do better? Yes. Could it become worse? Yes, continue the status quo and further embolden the right wing, nationalistic, anti-immigrant, anti-anybody who isn't fabulously wealthy already - strata of politicians running this country - exemplified by Trump et al.
11
@Georges.... I must add that even if Britain is still run acc to social standing and where one went to school---they've had health care for all, regardless of income, since 1948. In 2019 we still are fighting about it. That's a big deal.
In many ways, America is the country with more class stratification today than modern Europe, with our economic inequality and lack of political influence by average citizens.
The American wealthy elites who call the shots in our politics are just not called dukes and earls.
3
@Georges: Yes, Biden -- though not my choice -- would be significantly better despite being a troubling candidate in many ways, such as his archaic views on racism and sexism, and his allegiance to corporations.
The difference between a Biden admin and a Trump admin would be day and night: action on climate change; less-unfair taxation; the eradication of DJT's assault on lightbulbs, car emissions, national parks, clean-air standards, and clean-water standards; improved healthcare initiatives; programs to address poverty; and the appointment of reasonable, non-agenda-driven judges at all levels.
Not at *all* "the devil you know vs the on you don't" -- there is zero comparison between even a centrist Dem and any member of the dirty-tricksters, extremist GOP, and it's profoundly not OK for anyone to pretend that a Biden admin wouldn't be immeasurably better.
1
It's much too early for schadenfreude. As Roger Cohen notes, "He has trashed the press, judges, the Federal Reserve, members of Congress — anyone or anything that stood up to him. He has set up operations at the White House as a shambolic exercise in terror. His cabinet fawns, as Saddam Hussein’s once did, scrambling to find loftier expressions of adulation that might delay execution.
And yet, there are many who will believe right up until their hero is pulled from his cave, their enemy is heading for the hills, and they are winning the glorious fight. They have too much invested in their version of the truth to give up.
To those who say truth has no versions, I say we used to live in that world. Now in the double-think world of our time, truth has been reduced to a commodity, stripped of its essence and bent to the needs of whatever side you take.
I simply cannot share Cohen's glee, "To see them together in New York, the two charlatans, after all their nationalist-revival shenanigans, encountering the quiet force of the law was an exquisite thing. I am not sure I have ever experienced Schadenfreude in purer form."
I think we've been here before after which nothing changed. I would love to see the dictator toppled, but we haven't seen anything yet. This is the fight Trump has been waiting for. I'm not celebrating anything yet.
s
21
@Memi von Gaza
Re truth as a commodity,
Mitt Romney: "Later, at The Atlantic Magazine’s annual talk fest, he explained why he thought his party was sticking to the talking points. “I think it’s very natural for people to look at circumstances and see them in the light that’s most amenable to their maintaining power,” he said, “and doing things to preserve that power.”
I'd go easy on the Schadenfreude: Trump says he welcomes impeachment and Johnson's standing in the polls strengthens the more he takes on the rest of the establishment.
5
Thank you for writing this: "The law is not malleable or optional."
For too long we've been treating our every reaction to Trump as though we were in some sort of political chess match with him, playing the odds and trying to second guess what his base would say or do before we made a move, forgetting that the law doesn't care about our election chances... or his. It simply must be followed.
37
What is continually lost in each analysis of Trump is that what should be the focus in dealing with him is WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID.
He said "Mexico will pay for the wall," let's just start with that lie.
Do not analyze what he said, call the thing the thing.
23
While Trump's misconduct has been much greater than that of Johnson, I fear that he'll still get away with it. Why? Because I can't imagine "Justices" Gorsuch and Kavanaugh recusing themselves from the many court cases around Trump that are sure to come.
From where I sit, the United Kingdom's Supreme Court has a good deal more integrity than our own.
72
@Vesuviano So sad and so true...
@Vesuviano, Really? You think they want to be ruled for the next decade by a madman? I doubt it.
In all probability, the Senate will not convict. But if the evidence of betrryal continues to mount, and the winds become strong, and Trumps' poll numbers dive, Republican senators, as they did to Nixon, might very well convince Trump that his time is up.
35
@Taz thank you! I agree that this could happen. Maybe we wouldn’t get the likes of Lindsay Graham but how about Romney, Murkowski, Collins? I could see them concluding, in the end, that it was time to finally stand with truth, justice and honesty.
5
@Taz: Even if all GOP pols banded together to urge DJT to resign, he wouldn't -- as a malignant narcissist, he believes that he's always protected from consequences and that no one / nothing can topple him (as Mr. Cohen noted, DJT has never been subjected to any limits or higher authority).
I believe that the House will impeach him; the Senate won't convict him; and he'll behave in an increasingly erratic way until the end of his term (including roiling his base, with more violence to come) -- but he won't be re-elected, and the country will gradually recover, though 2021 and possible 2022 will be very difficult years (rancor, violence, little getting done legislatively).
“ I fought the Law, and the Law won “. Eventually.
Brothers in boorishness, delusion, and narcissism.
70
Mr.Cohen is absolutely right. I don't care! Not in the sense that Nixon's apologists didn't care,or in the manner of trump's deplorables don't care. But in the way that people,who care about the rule of law,and ethical behavior, I don't care how "divisive" this will be portrayed by Moscow Mitch, and his milquetoast colleagues. To paraphrase a brave Swedish girl, this is so much more important than money, and their thin economic concerns.
200
I share the fear of many, that impeachment will further divide the country. And that impeachment will not lead to conviction. And that impeachment will lead to Trump's reelection. We are all afraid of what is going to happen next. But Trump must be impeached, irrespective of the outcome, as he has confessed to using his office to encourage a foreign government to interfere with the American democratic process. Trump has done the Presidential equivalent of shooting someone on Fifth Avenue, and Congress must hold him accountable. Now we get to see who puts country over party.
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@Richard Lee I'm not a fan of AOC as I don't like Democrats who declare war on other Dems, but I applaud what she said today in an NPR interview. I believe this action will electrify the base. Some Independents may be put off, but as a former Independent, I know I paid attention to the truth. I hope the truth will set us free.
23
@Richard Lee Too much fear and not enough courage is exactly what enables dictators to take power and hold it.
54
"...the Republican-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to vote to convict him..."
As the Watergate Impeachment process unfolded the Republicans in the Senate were opposed to removing Nixon. But as the days wore on, and more evidence against the President became known, the Republicans moved toward Impeachment, and Nixon resigned.
We are just now beginning that process with this President, and as time moves along, more findings may come to light, and then those Republican Senators may just see things differently than they do today.
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@cherrylog754
Republicans were different then, though. Republicans nowadays are RINOs for sure. They are traitors calling themselves Republicans...
All of these recitals of Trump's awfulness are well and good, and I agree with them, but Trump's unhinged malignant narcissism, compulsive lying, cruelty, and incompetence didn't stop his 2016 victory. Why do we believe it will stop his 2020 victory?
We need to pivot to calling the Republican elected officials enabling Trump on the carpet. Lindsay Graham should be subjected to unceasing questions of incredulity as to why blatant abuses of power are nothingburgers? How could holding up hundreds of millions of dollars in relief money before the call not be a de facto quid pro quo? What about the lying during the call? What about the additional evidence of Emoluments Clause violations (Presdient Zelenskyy assuring Trump he had stayed at Trump Tower)?
The Republicans enabling Trump need to answer for this. Are they really that completely shameless that they are happy to keep defending him?
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@Ann
Don't hold your breath for Graham to develop a spine and do the right thing. He won't out himself!
@Ann um, yes, they are
Thanks to his legions of well-paid lawyers and their scorched-earth tactics, Trump the Destroyer has never been held fully accountable. I join Mr. Cohen in hoping that, finally, American laws will be upheld and Don the Con's perpetual corruption might come to an end. I'm optimistic for the first time since November 2016.
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@Eddie Mulholland, absolutely. All his life, Trump has been protected by money and its power to corrupt and threaten. When he said of his sex crimes, "When you're a star, they let you," he really meant when you're a man with a stable of lawyers ready to sue anyone who accuses you, they are afraid to complain. And he was smart enough to attack women when there were no witnesses, so there was a real risk for them of being bankrupted by lawyers and/or found to have "defamed" Trump and then to pay him, their assaulter, for the rest of their lives for "wronging" him. But he has gone beyond that now. And there are witnesses to these crimes, and evidence, and there are lawyers enough to counter his. If he is held accountable for the crimes and misdemeanors he has committed as president, it will be the first time he has been held to account. And high time, oh yes. High time.
@Eddie Mulholland Think again! Remove your rose colored glasses.
Trump's main problem is, and always has been, that he thinks everything is about him. He even opened his speech to the UN General Assembly yesterday, and his press conference with Ukraine's leader today, by boasting about great employment figures in the United States which of course he attributes to himself. It is not surprising that Trump would believe that the power of the U.S. government is at his personal disposal. So Trump's excuse is that he is a narcissist. What's the excuse of Senate and other Republicans who keep letting Trump take a sledgehammer to the Presidency and the Constitution?
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@Jay Orchard
"What's the excuse of Senate and other Republicans who keep letting Trump take a sledgehammer to the Presidency and the Constitution?"
The basic answer is that Republicans have no excuse, but have begun to realize that their end is near. Demographics in the US are changing rapidly, with non-white citizens expected to outnumber white citizens in the next 8 years or so. Add to that the economic flight of middle-class Americans from blue states to red states and the nearing die-off of older white Americans from the Greatest Generation, and it's easy to see that, and why, the Republican leadership is desperate. They don't want to get permanently sidelined like their fellow Republicans in California. As it becomes more and more difficult for them to win elections fair and square, they feel that they have no choice but to resort to undemocratic tactics, such as voter suppression, gerrymandering - and kowtowing to a President whom they might personally despise, but who seems to be their only lifeline.
Whatever the outcome of Trump's impeachment, and impeached he will be, and however the 2020 election turns out, I, for one, take solace from the fact - and I reassure my teenage children - that, in the next 4-8 years, the show will finally be over for the Republican party. There just won't be enough Republican voters around anymore to stem the blue tide.
8
@Jay Orchard
I am watching his news conference and I can't believe anyone can talk so much - he's unbearable, all about himself, boasting and bragging, lying, almost stream of consciousness, nonsensical, me, me, me, rambling on and on and on. This man is not mentally well. He is both paranoid and delusional. He is also a meglomaniac. He really needs to be stopped.
2
If only we had an independent Senate. Or snap elections here in the US.
31
Well said.
There comes a time when, whatever the political calculus, a stand must be taken in defense of democracy and the rule of law. Otherwise those concepts cease to have meaning.
The President attempting to use his vast powers to enlist foreign aid in smearing dirt on his potential opponent is one of those times. Those who say “wait for the ballot box in 2020” miss the fact that a Trump is actively trying to rig said election in his own favor. If that behavior is allowed to stand, we’ll never have a free election again.
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@David
Precisely, we have no idea beyond Putin who trump has asked the same of to derail his political opponent. My guess is that this is not the only smoking gun.
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