Do you think a single Republican Senator or Congressman will condemn or hold Trump accountable for his latest crime?
As Trump accurately stated in 2016:
“I have the most loyal people, did you ever see that? I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn’t lose voters”
That’s not hyperbole, it’s the nightmare we now live in.
Trump will not stop. His crimes will not stop, they will only get bigger and more brazen. He will destroy our democracy.
There is no the Big One. Stop looking for one. Republicans have accepted Trump being Putin’s puppet, Trump taking Putin’s help to interfere in our election (not rising to a provable criminal conspiracy), Trump bragging about sexual assault, credibly accused of multiple sexual assaults including rape, paying off porn stars and Playboy models, repeated, brazen violation of Construction’s foreign and domestic emoluments clauses, open and rampant corruption, open nepotism. So, Trump withheld US aid to Ukraine to get Ukrainian President to damage Trump’s political opponent? So what? Again, Trump can shoot someone and Republicans will say so what?
Indeed, Trump’s power is to take every brazen crime and become stronger, not weaker. Roy Cohn, mob, autocrat/dictator tactics.
So what if Democrats impeach him. Senate won’t remove him. Trump will use being impeached as being unfairly victimized, and ultimately as badge of strength - getting away with it again.
Vote Democratic in 2020. It’s the only way to end this nightmare.
159
Wake up America, criminals belong in prison not the White House.
145
"Dear Planet Earth. We the citizens of the United States need your help. We are in the clutches of an evil person, and desperately need your assistance in helping us gather information which will help us impeach him. Please send us any and all information which you have about Donald Trump. Thank you from the citizens of the USA."
75
Instead of “paying off pornstar” which doesn’t do anything but glamorize trump, the reference should read “sneaking into a hotel room for sex and conversation with another woman, while his own wife, the mother is at home with their 2 month old son, wondering what he meant the day before it happened when he said to her “trust me Melania, I’m going to make our marriage great again”
58
If only...if only he would just go too far. Then we could dump him. Dump a Trump. Nice ring!
23
Impeach, slowly, one day at a time. Drip drip drip. Keep exposing a little corruption here, more lies there, some illegal enrichments and you've got a mountain of stinking, disgusting mess surrounding Trump in one year just before we vote. Pelosi knows what she's doing.
32
For Pete’s sake, the only reason Trump is protected is about 15 Republicans in the senate. If they cared about our democracy we would be well along in his for real impeachment. No one seems to say anything about this as they lambaste Pelosi. I guess the Repubs as usual get a free ride avoiding any responsibility for this horrible and unprecedented horror show. Why isn’t the media asking and getting on the record each Republican in the senate asking them what they think? Too busy harassing the Democrats and Pelosi to get after the real villains? Disgusting
84
At this moment, it looks as if there is nothing the president of our country can do that goes too far, that is obviously illegal, that besmirches the office and the sworn oath to protect these United States of American against enemies, foreign and domestic.
What keeps him in the spotlight is the NEWS and the constant need to depict him as the leader (however objectionable) of our nation. He’s getting away with it because the spotlight is on him and his base cannot fathom that his actions are crooked and will eventually turn against them. The weak cherish strength ... and this constant flurry of chaotic activity is equivalent to popularity and celebrity ... and then strength, no matter WHAT he does.
IF ONLY the news could back off covering his every tweet and stupid statement and action. Where is it written that everything a president does has to be a headline???
Personally, I am really sick of this.
37
just like it was with fred sanford the big one is never coming for (t)Rump. at this point there is nothing he can do that will bring the democrats to the impeachment table, and of course nothing in this world short of (t)Rump ordering a nuclear strike on iowa (because calif. would be acceptable to them) would get the republicans to remove him from office.
9
The people are indifferent and the Democrats spineless. Sam-oh, same-oh.
6
Further signs of Trump derangement syndrome. Hillary managed to be a crook without any help from Trump. If Biden and his son did nothing wrong in Ukraine, then they have nothing to worry about. There is no indication that Trump engaged in any quid pro quo. In other words, this is just one more attempt by the MSM to take Trump down. Fail!
8
Remember slick Willy. He was impeached and not removed from office for lying about being a sexual predator.
What makes you think they remove Trump for being honest?
5
This is mostly a NYC story. And NYC should clean up this mess.
The Chris Cuomo-Rudy Giuliani sparring match was not one of the shining moments for either. Babbling Rudy accomplished what he wanted: momentarily distracting the news media (NYT) by dredging up Biden’s son. Chris Cuomo got played by Rudy but he did manage to make Rudy look insane. Tie decision.
Trump, of course, looks like a parody of Alec Baldwin and acts like Fredo, ingratiating himself to Putin, while going against the family, in this case the USA.
Let’s hope the lady from Baltimore decides that doing the right thing for the country (impeachment) is, in fact, good politics.
Would NYC consider help in cleaning up its problem from Baltimore?
5
Here we go again with allegedly disgruntled and unnamed 'sources', grinding their ax over something they might of heard. If it's so critical and important, share it in the light of day. Love of country or love of self?
Meanwhile, we have known for years of Hunter Biden's too-cozy relationships abroad while Dad was Veep. How exactly does somebody with zero energy industry experience land a plum $600,000 per year job with a Ukranian energy company? And what of Joe Biden getting a top prosecutor sacked in Ukraine because he was holding American foreign aid hostage? The video of Joe bragging about that is all over youtube. The media is just now discovering that one?
The media didn't care much about the Biden's foreign business adventurism - until now. They have unwittingly brought it into focus. So tell us Maureen - will your next column be about how the Bidens have gone too far for a very long time?
10
Nothing the Democrats are doing or will do will ‘bring down’ Trump. His business & private-life biography are replete with instances in which he self-destructed and there’s no reason to doubt that this lifetime of behaviour will change. Let Trump be Trump and he’ll destroy himself again.
9
No. Racketeering is not the Big One.
There is only one thing that can bring Mr.Trump down.
If he Stops Being a Racist.
He stops ,,, he's toast.
7
"Has he finally gone too far?"
Right, because throwing children in cages was no big whoop,
42
There is no big one. Not for the orange one. Not while millions of Americans are in his thrall and the Trumpican Party, aka the former Grand Old Party, are all party and no country. Ironic, since they have always been such flag wavers.
6
President Trump is invincible and we are very fortunate to have him as our President during this era in our history. He is very adept at dismantling Congress and many other institutions that are also corrupt and criminal.
The Democrats in the House, as well as those in the Senate are just a bunch of hypocritical time wasters. The Democrats running for President are another group of incompetent time and money wasters.
We need President Trump in Office for another four years in order to finish the job he has started to clear out and clean up Washington, D. C. and the United States Government as a whole. Congress is a stinking cesspool of filth and rot. America would and will fare far better under a one man government and that is the path that President Trump is pursuing. Under President Trump things get done in America and the bad guys are exposed and put away in prison.
9
"Finally?" By the time by the time his tusch hit the seat in the Oval Office he had told more lies than we could keep track of. THEN he installed his daughter and son-in-law into the White House. "Finally" was reached a very long time ago.
15
Has Biden and his son gone too far?
11
This Presidential criminal who sleeps in our House, the People’s House, still has yet to “shoot some one on 5th Avenue” to establish the ultimate proof of his claimed bottomless support. Of course even after that morbid event, Republicans will claim that their Don was completely justified somehow in doing so. For them at least, there is no “too far”. I’m not joking a bit about this scenario, nor should you.
12
The only crooked mile Pres. Donald Trump with his pocketbook wide open for the American people. You have to look back at President's life and his dealings they were all corrupt payoffs in back rooms insurance fraud, business fraud and bankruptcies. Maybe he paid off the mayor of New York City Rudy Giulians.
Pres. Donald Trump one of his many campaign promise to clean the swamp in Washington but as you look back his cabinet and Donald have made a ocean to still the American people's money.
Whatever happened to the a inaugural money still there $30 million unaccountable but it went to the trumps kids.
How about Pres. Donald Trump warchest $250 million how much will he pocket. If you think about this who's pay the attorneys for Donald the American people it's in the millions.
There's only one person that coulds stopped Pres. Donald Trump house leader Nancy Pelosi have let this President get away with murder in the courts and in the public eye. What would historians say about this moment that Nancy Pelosi failed to do her job in the Constitution that makes it very clear what she should do impeach Pres. Donald Trump.
2
“Buy this Book — great for the kids!”
This was this column's shocker. To think he may have finally read a book, albeit grade school level!
13
As I said elsewhere, the killer statement isn't actually about Trump being Trump, i.e. not presidential, but an upstart New York real-estate would-be mogul doing a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours...". It is this "... former vice president and his son, who had ties to a Ukrainian oligarch".
Forget Biden's age, forget his past (and current?) ambiguity about race and women's rights. Forget the vagueness of any policy-ideas he may have. If Hunter Biden really "has ties to a Ukrainian oligarch", and no-one disputes this, it is over. Goodbye moral high ground. Goodbye "look at the Trump clan conniving with the Russki's". And as this oligarch's company, Burisma, is in gas exploitation, goodbye environmental credibility, too...
Even if nothing untoward happened and absolutely every last thing young Biden did or didn't do was the very example of probity and responsible business sense, he is toast, and so is his dad. Fox News and the ogre army that Donald the Magnificent has on speed-dial will eviscerate him. Why, the other Democratic Presidential Hopefuls will wipe the floor with him, and, ironically, pay a price for doing just that.
And if the Congressional Democrats fluff this investigation, as they seem bent on doing, better gird your loins and take your vitamins. Get ready for (at least) four more years of Trump...
3
Nope. this isn't the Big one. The Democrats are pols just like the Republican pols. The most important goal is to get re-elected. Don't raise waves. Our congress is peopled by gutless pols!
5
Yes, Maureen this is the big one, its simple the con man has finally done it. Crazy Corey, madman Rudi who has just lost his soul and the crooked master in charge.
Well if he doesnt produce the transcript he will be impeached that is what the people want and that's why we elect people to fulfill the will of the people. Trump has poll numbers that demonstrate that the people have had enough of his insanity
People have died to defend democracy not hide from going to Viet Nam. We will not let them have died in vain. Trump is a cancer that needs to be cut out of our lives.
4
Alas......
We are probably Never going ot see impeachment proceedings.
Why?
Because Speaker Pelosi can ==>count<==.
It would take 20 GOP senators to vote for the good of their country (and their planet) to remove Trump.
And 20 GOP senators with that much integrity?
Simply: Do. Not. Exist.
That said - the House does have a couple of jail cells in their basement.... maybe we need the House sergeant-at-arms to toss some of these intelligence officials into said jail cell until they cough up the whistleblower complaint?
7
What Trump did is grounds for impeachment, but Joe Biden sure looks bad.
3
"In an interview with NPR, she said she hadn’t changed her mind on impeachment, but she does think Congress should pass new laws so future presidents can be indicted."
How about you protect U.S. and the Constitution NOW N. Pelosi?
Who are you working for? The Republicans? The President? Certainly not the people. Impeach him. Stop protecting him. Yah, I said it.
4
"Get" has many meanings, but what it doesn't seem to mean is affecting Trump's core in the Electoral-vote-rich states which put him in office.
His cult appears immune to any and all evidence of his vile and seemingly obvious felonious behavior. He continues to micturate on the Constitution, our Federal and Civil codes, and the Oval Office, and the cult cheers El Presidente.
To wit: If you said something bad about Jim Jones, you'd better leave Jonestown fast.
1
I believe that Trump thinks of the Democrats, "what a bunch of fools." He is running circles around them. Yes, they have their committees but if witnesses won't talk, have no fear of consequences, the committees might just as well go out for coffee. What's accomplished? Trump is breaking his oath of office regularly, contemptuously, while Democrats stand by feebly making shallow and safe critiques. There's no passion, no urgency, no muscle. Worst of all, no action.
5
It certainly should knock Beiden out of the race. His family certainly profited during his time as VP. How fortunate for them that Obama put him in charge of policy for the Ukraine AND China. And now he has the gall to deny his involvement when we have the 2018 video of him bragging about getting rid of the prosecutor. You liberals are so focused on a leak of presidential phone calls that you can’t see the forest.
5
I keep thinking about this John Oliver bit, where he screams, “WE GOT HIM,” punches a big red button that launches fireworks and tumblers and basketball playera and cheerleaders, the crowd goes wild, confetti drops from the sky....and after about fifteen seconds, the joint goes silent, and he says, “Well actually....”
I suspect we’re just gonna have to vote this dangerous, greedy clown out of office. I hope my cynical suspicion that all the chest-thumping “leftists,” and young “progressives,” and hispanics and others are spending more time polishing up their excuses amd yelling at Obama than getting registered and planning to vote is completely wrong.
4
Again nothing will happen. When the next dictionary is written, a picture of the Democrats will be next to the word feckless as an example of that word.
2
It depends. If you're a traitor who thinks that your party should maintain power at any costs, regardless of how unpatriotic those actions are, then no, he has not. If you're an American, then yes.
6
trump will up end everything the founding fathers had put in place because he can. If it suits his purposes, he will do it. Five more years of this and our democracy, teetering now, will be a heap of rubble.. The House needs to at least acknowledge this and start impeachment proceeedings.
2
Nancy Pelosi favors the do nothing approach on many things besides keeping criminal Trump in the White House.
The do nothing approach is exactly why Nancy Pelosi should not be the Speaker of the House.
2
I am sure there is nothing illegal to the phone call President Trump made to the Ukraine political leader. He would never compromise his presidency for a call that was controversial and illegal. He knows he can win against Joseph Biden without breaking any law. All you have to do is listen to the Biden gaffes to know he is a loser. He is responsible for his losing the presidential race.
3
He knows that he will get away with anything and everything. Whoever can put the brakes on him will not. He feels invincible and all powerful. The acts and scandals he is involved in will bring down anyone but him. This man is truly a menace to this country and looks all but unstoppable. I have lost all hope. I will vote but unfortunately he has all but cinched the next presidential election.
The democrats are too spineless and always have been.
1
Yes he has. But so has the DNC, allowing Biden to be appointed without considering the implications of his Ukrainian connections. I suggest, that Pelosi instead of getting paralyzed through analysis needs to understand the need of the democratic base. The democrats have foisted Biden, who promises to be seriously tainted and quite senile as the front runner. They need to rethink their equation. Pelosi Van Winkle needs to wake from her deep slumber and rouse the base. She needs to start impeachment procedures even if they do not go anywhere. It is always about what the journey uncovers, the end result is so unimportant.
4
Trump's assertion that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and no one would care is turning out to be more true than anyone could have imagined. That is only the case, of course, because of the complicit and cowardly Republican Party which he has completely and totally bent to his will. Whether Speaker Pelosi is either a genius or committing political malpractice I have no idea, but the only permanent solution is voting Trump and the rest of the Republican crew out next year. Four more years of this nonsense is more than I can bear.
4
Sadly far too many are not following the news, from any source. Many that do follow the news, only hear from extremely partisan sources, no Uncle Walter for them. Far too many tuned out about the time of Billy Bush and Stormy Daniels, fell for the rhetoric that Hillary was a godless hack intent of doing harm to the great USA. Their vote was for what they perceived as the lesser of two evils either that or God spoke to them from some verse in Isaiah demanding that they vote for Trump. I am amazed at the ignorance of some college educated professionals. Mueller, Junior, Jared, Ivanka, Tiffany, Kavannaugh, Khashoggi, Putin, North Korea, the disassembling of rules and regulations simply because they were put in place by a man he detests or maybe threatens his wealth. The scandal du jour, the abandoning of traditional relationships to instead be best buddies with our adversaries.....the things that get us riled up.... they have never heard of. And they are mad at me because "we need our president to succeed" even if they are separating families at the border with no plan to put them back together. Well I need our president to have a moral compass. And if he has none, then I demand that those around him demand behavior that governs without hateful, incendiary rhetoric.
2
We no longer live in a rule-of-law country; we live in a rule-of-law country for you and me, but it doesn't extend to the person whose very position of power could end the Founders' experiment with democracy if that position were filled by an intellectually and emotionally insecure gangster.
I've written it about a half-dozen times in the last six months, but it bears repeating again and again until this menace is removed from office: Donald Trump's approach to the presidency can be summed up as "Stop me if you can." He's a 3-year-old testing the limits of how far he can push his parents before getting spanked.
Republicans apparently won't administer the spanking, and Democrats apparently can't. Like it or not, it is apparently up to us--ordinary American citizens--to end this tawdry episode in our history by sending Mr. Trump to his room without dinner in November 2020.
7
As far as I know the only true statement of consequence that Trump ever made was that he could shoot someone of Fifth Avenue and he wouldn't lose any votes. After the Access Hollywood tape, the collusion with Russia, the payoffs to prostitutes, the obstruction of justice, the diversion of funds for a useless border wall, the separation of families, the refusal to honor legitimate subpoenas and the attempted bribery of foreign leaders what could be worse? What has happened to the once honorable Republican party? What is wrong with the people who still support Trump? Is this how the United States we knew dies?
6
I believe the plan is to continue investigations and sending Trump grifters and cronies to jail, and then file officially for impeachment after labor day 2020. After Agent Orange loses, he can live out his days as a single man, drinking orange soda and playing poker with Madoff and Manafort.
3
the photo looks like my father did...at age 91.
3
I'd like to see the venom you liberally applied in columns regarding the Clintons applied to Trump and his enabling GOP — after his mountainous lies, defilement of our Constitution and easy embrace of despots, a more heightened tone is warranted. This isn't just about House Democrats.
11
I remember your years of printing snark against Hillary and Obama. Your snark here directed against the Democrats in the House is not really appreciated at this moment in history.
If there is a line between good and evil in the world- Trump shows himself pretty clearly to be on the dark side in his words, tweets and actions on almost a daily basis. The contest is on,
pick a side Ms. Dowd. You write for a major paper. Help us defeat this man and his enablers.
14
Please stop talking up Pelosi. She has no courage at all. What on earth is she going on about indictment for? The Congress has a remedy right in its hands! It’s called impeachment. But she is too much a coward to use it. Pathetic.
Second point: why does the Times report about trump as though he has any clear ideas or views? Any sane person listening to his press conferences can hear how insanely incoherent the guy is. Yet, the next day we get stories somehow clearly presenting an idea. Please stop. Present his words and ask readers to come up with explanations.
7
The Democrats are not thinking very clearly now, and neither is Ms. Dowd.
Key right now is removing Barr via impeachment proceedings for violating his oath to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution. He is running a criminal conspiracy for his crime boss, Trump instead.
Barr is also guilty of multiple violations of D.O.J. procedure, and is directly responsible for obstructing justice and failure to comply with the explicit language of the Whistle Blower Law. There is no 'wiggle' to "shall."
Impeaching Barr will pull his corrupt, pudgy little fingers from pulling strings in DOJ and it will free up those capable people still populating the FBI and U.S. Attorneys offices that Congress has their backs. It will also unblock the door to unlocking the process of Contempt of Congress, which is supposed to be enforced via the AG.
The latest pretext for the TREASON committed by Trump in attempting to extort Ukraine is laughable. Rudy G. knows the law. You don't warp our foreign policy and compromise our national security if you suspect there's been a violation of the "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act." You prosecute through your own DOJ. Why didn't Barr so advise Trump? Maybe because the true corruption- Trump's would come screaming out! Remember Ivanka's adventure in Baku and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard laundering money through the Trumps while they were on the Sanctions list with the help of the Mamoulians? The real FPCA criminal is - once again- the Trump family.
4
Fear is gripping the Speaker - IF you can't defend the Constitution, which you constantly say you swore an oath to defend, ----------------THEN STEP ASIDE and let someone who will fill your chair.
3
Pelosi wants facts but she can’t get the facts without filing articles of impeachment. She needs to make a move. Can’t wait for her to leave Congress. She’s useless.
2
The only beneficiary here is Elisabeth Warren, as this story will hurt Biden. People who like/vote for Trump couldn't care less, which we all should know by know!
3
It's good to know that Trump read a book.
1
Since Pelosi won’t pull the trigger, get back to me when The NY Times Editorial Board calls for Trump to be impeached. Until then, apparently nothing is enough.
6
As long as the Republican Senate continues to aid and abet Trump and his criminal family enterprise, he will always be the true enemy of the people and democracy.
4
No. It's racketeering is not the Big One.
There is only one thing that can bring Mr.Trump down.
If he Stops Being a Racist.
He stops ,,, then he's toast.
2
That there were enough people who voted for a mobster who is only moved by porn and money is the depressing and frightening aspect of this period in our history.
9
At this point, I am as sickened by Nancy Pelosi's craven moral cowardice as I am by Trump's criminal behaviour.
4
Your Crooked Man nursery rhyme reference works perfectly.It goes on to say that he found a crooked six pence against a crooked stile-that would be information he bribes another country for and the crooked stile is subverting campaign laws.The jingle ends- and they all lived together in a little crooked house! Trump and his lawless minions have indeed constructed an administration which is crooked and they all live in it and know the crooked rules.
4
Everyone who thinks "judgement day" is coming on November 6, 2020 should ask themselves if the Dems are "up to it" or will he win again? Now is the time to impeach this criminal. The Dems appear not to be "up to it." Pelosi is a disgrace!
3
I'm not going to play Charlie Brown and Lucy and the football. This is not the big one. Nothing is going to bring this guy down except possibly the 2020 election. I still hold out some hope that we can defeat him, though I'm gearing up for Lucy to pull that ball away.
4
I believe this story is good news for Trump. Those who dislike him are not surprised, and to his fans, this is the Donald Trump they love, who will do or say anything to get what he wants.
Hunter Biden needs to show us his tax returns. Seriously what was he paid and what did he do for it?
Joe Biden needs to explain his intent in firing the prosecutor.
2
Repubs will support Trump always, nothing he can do will stop this. Vote him and the repubs out is the only choice. No "Big One' will happen with a Repub Senate and a conservative SC and a Defense team at the justice.
2
There is no BIG ONE in the cards so long as the Dems act like Dems.
Trump's getting away with as much as he can and he'll keep pushing in "unchartered" territory because there are no Dems with any street fighter smarts to thwart him.
3
As long as these events can easily be twisted into the deepstate conspiracy theory, there is little chance that we have the "goods" on him that might remove him from office.
Still I favor the process. Formal house censure should ensue as well as following through on all ongoing investigations.
Going through the motions with conviction and power will keep the focus, meanwhile we show the people what they need in great leader like Liz Warren. She's our ticket. If she wins the nomination and chooses Julian Castro as her VP, we will landslide the Dems into office across the board.
Moreover, if the press would stop tidying up DJT's verbally incoherent mish-mash we could more easily see his mental state for what it is; that of a madman.
5
I am waiting with baited breath for Trump to finally emulate Icarus and fly too close to the sun. I remain stumped by the fact that it’s taking so long.
5
Trump has no internal set of principles which define his boundaries. Whatever ability to practice enlightened self interest or to bear conscience for his actions he might have had once are gone. His adherence to the life philosophy of his father and of Roy Cohn has made him the pure nihilist.
He challenges the leaders of both major parties to choose between the fang and claw dictates of the craft of power and the needs of liberal political philosophy upon which our liberal democracy is based. The Republicans appear to support him unconditionally with a stunning refusal to believe true facts if he calls them fake. The Democrats let him choose the subjects of the national conversation, mostly Trump’s outrageousness. Worse, they both advocate for reactions that will not work and reluctance to hold Trump’s administration responsible for defying it’s authority.
So far, Trump is proving them to be both unwilling to take the risks needed to preserve our ideal system of government. Worse, they cannot make him be a reasonable leader.
2
What troubles me so much is that laws that exist are ignored, seemingly toothless. How can that be? Why is it allowed? Why are the American people losing their “right” to know? Passing new laws may be worthwhile, but the inability of Congress to obtain information it requests is what needs to be fixed ASAP. How can Trump be allowed to abuse us say in and day out. There is much blame to go around.
4
With all the focus on trump, is there anything that Rudy G has done that he could be prosecuted for? Is it not treasonous to work with a foreign government to undermine a presidential election? One would think there is something illegal in his actions. Oh, and it’s so nice to watch Rudy not hold to the Cory L ethic of not having to be truthful with the media. Only took him a few seconds to tell the truth after the lie to Cuomo.
4
What I am learning from this is that the American political system is broken. That one party could hold such power is wrong. That the Republicans can sit by and let their president abuse all norms of how a president acts is wrong. There is essentially one person in charge and his political party stands beside him no matter what. This is not democracy. A tyrant rules and they let him. Never thought I would see such a thing happening in America.
11
Apparently the House of Representatives does not really have a jail cell in the basement. I think they should have one built and start using it.
10
This one won't be The One either. (I'll be happy to be proved wrong.)
1
The banks, and those in positions of power in New York city, let him run roughshod over them for decades, and were reluctant to call him out publicly, mostly I believe, because of the popularity of, 'The Apprentice." I personally was over him 28 years ago, because of my reluctance to confer on anyone who handled borrowed money poorly, and didn't pay their bills, any sign of character. Then, when you publicly treat his first wife, an intelligent, decent person the way he did, that shows, that he has always only been, a selfish, needy, infantile person, who has made his way by bankruptcy, family status, bullying, and threatening with lawsuits. Sadly, when the upper echelon didn't call him out, but instead included him in their inner circle, namely, the Clintons, etc., that happened over a decade ago, what does that say about the conscience of society as a whole?! Not much!
7
Whether the President and Rudi’s extortion of the Ukraine Government is the “Big One” or not depends on whether Speaker Pelosi and the House Democrats are willing to hold the President accountable on violations of U.S. laws. (Extortion, Conspiracy to Commit Extortion, Involving a Foreign Government in a US Election)
To do so, they need to put every Member of the House on record with a vote to begin Impeachment Hearings. Let the voters know where every Member stands in the 2020 elections.
Then, they need to be willing to impose large fines on witnesses who refuse to testify and make clear that Congress will never waive those fines, allow the President to do so, or allow others to pay.
Finally, the Judiciary Committee needs to lead all questioning of witnesses with professional prosecutors. This is not about TV time for politicians. It is about removing the President for High Crimes against the nation.
8
McConnell would agree to Trump's impeachment if McConnell could be named President.
That's how bad things are.
4
In this Machiavellian chess game our country is stuck in, we won't know when Trump has gone too far until it's too much for senate Republicans. But I don't think it will ever be too far for because as soon as they break with Trump they are toast politically. The question I want to know the answer to is this: what does Trump have on congressional Republicans that they remain so despicably silent? Yes, he threatens to 'primary' them. But surely that's not his only weapon. Years in the future, I would not be surprised to find that he used blackmail and other Mafia-like tools of leverage to achieve that congressional voting block.
3
The Democrats are in a terrible position and as a result, instead of fixing their policy to attract voters such as those in industrial states that voted Trump into office, they seek to bring down the messenger, Trump.
Beginning with Bill Clinton, the Democrats abandoned the working class that had the full support of FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ. Indeed, Truman never attended college and LBJ attended a state teachers college, not an elite Ivy League university.
But now the Democrats depend on elite billionaire classes to fund their campaigns. Almost all of H. Clinton's money came from campaign contributions of larger donors.
Almost all of Trump's donations come from donations of $200 or less, classified as small donations. Unlike Democrats, he is not beholden to the billionaire elites.
Trump is pro-worker and anti-globalist. Democrats are beholden to their billionaire globalist donor class.
Since Bill Clinton the Democrats have supported globalist policy of sending American jobs to China (WTO) and Mexico (NAFTA) with the result of destruction of American working class jobs.
Those interested can read about "The Elephant Curve."
https://harvardpress.typepad.com/hup_publicity/2016/06/branko-milanovic-elephant-chart-brexit.html
The only way the Democrats can win is to change policy that is anti-globalist and supporting American workers, but if they do that then they will lack funding to win campaigns.
And that is the Democrat's Dilemma.
1
The committee should have held Lewandowski in contempt of Congress, arrested and jailed him on the spot. Dems, use the power you have, to the fullest.
10
“what the founding fathers could not imagine: a president blatantly abusing the Constitution he has sworn to protect.”
What they could not foresee was a president blatantly surrounded by millions of free, well educated, successful American Citizens who do not love their country enough, nor appreciate it’s gifts.
6
Forget impeachment. To really get at Trump, make more noise about how ill he is. Anyone suggesting dementia is absolutely correct.
One of the most distressing features of the advanced stages of Alzheimer's is confabulation. Individuals with Alzheimer's first lose their short term memory. Without short term memory, they can no longer act rationally in the present or envisage the consequences of their words and actions. You have to have a working short term memory to understand the present or the future - or where you are and why. If you can't place yourself in space and time with reasonably correct memories, you are compelled to cobble a narrative together from scraps of old memories and what is immediately around you.
Trump confabulates. He doesn't just lie. He genuinely cannot tell the truth because he doesn't remember the truth. However, his basic personality remains intact - a shallow man with deep, deep insecurities and an overwhelming need to prove himself. His words, actions and relationships are all about protecting his version of himself as his world shrinks because his mind can't hold onto it. This makes him uniquely vulnerable to influencers, who are the real threat to America.
It actually is no good for Trump and certainly no good for the US to have a man as president who is so ill. His imperious babbling is a symptom of immeasurable stress and fear. He should either be removed by Article 25 or hospitalised, not allowed to remain in the Oval Office.
7
I wanted so much to believe in Pelosi's wisdom and experience but at this point she's mired in conclusions that have no verifiable basis.
The House has the votes to place an impeachment inditement at the feet of the Senate. That's a fact and it is a Constitutional duty.
She still asserts that it won't be effective if the Senate doesn't remove him from office and that having it stall there would:
1) Increase Trumps base (it hasn't, apparently America has a finite number of white supremacists)
2) Turn off purple democrats (there is no evidence to support this, browse any newspaper and read the comments, the chorus has become so loud it seems incredible Pelosi still can't hear it)
She also argues that impeachment is a distraction, that we need to concentrate our energy on 2020. We can do both. Voters are energized and the only good thing about Trump supporters now is that they are overconfident.
One thing her 2020 strategy overlooks is the tragedy of Trump and his pathetic offspring obtaining (and selling) future intelligence briefings after he leaves office. Forget his unsecured iPhone and imagine that for a moment.
And please Mr. Nadler, grow some chest hair and put your Sergeant at Arms on speed dial so your hearings don't disintegrate into last week's embarrassment. A few days in jail will do all of these clowns some good.
4
"Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable."
- G.K. Chesterton
5
FOLLOW THE MONEY.
It seems to me that the press is continually asking the wrong question.
It is my opinion that everything Trump and his family of morally corrupt grifters are doing is setting up their present and future finances by using the office of president to gain access to global resources.
All this other behavior is only a diversion from the hard fact that NOTHING is done by this family that actually benefits the American people who elected him.
Their only interest is money.
Who got the multi million dollar contract to build the wall...that Mexico is NOT paying for?
FOLLOW THE MONEY
9
Trump is the result of worrying about those emails over and over and over again in the press.
5
On the question of whether "this is enough", I defer to the enablers in WH (Bill Barr) and Senate's Leadership.
If they want more it will surely come.
2
Trump's voters elected him because he drives infuriates the left in the same way the Fox News and AM does. There was no other reason that he was elected.
And boy is it working.
1
Biden is the leading presidential candidate for the Democrats, so he is fair game. If you have been watching, "America's Mayor" and Trump's attorney Rudy has been yelling about this matter for a while and nobody cared. Now that is all everybody is talking about, maybe somebody in the press will do their jobs and investigate it.
1
Alas, there IS no "big one". The only way there could ever BE a "big one" is if the spineless and immoral Republicans in the Senate suddenly found their lost souls. There could only be a "big one" if the mindless minions that support Trump pressured their elected officials to put an end to the defilement of our country. Anyone checked Trump's latest poll numbers among racists (i.e. Republicans)? So no, this is not going to drive anyone from office. In fact, I'm not entirely sure that the 2020 election is going to, either. From what I'm seeing in this country, I believe that if the American people are given the chance to do the WRONG thing, the odds are that they will go for it. Sorry but there's no other way to explain what's happening in this country today, ladies and gentlemen.
3
The divisiveness that Trump has created hits good people even here in rural Georgia.
At 71 I can’t mow my lawn anymore, so a state worker for the Dept of Corrections who is black relayed this story. After getting off work he went to buy groceries at a discount store where Mexican workers can find their native foods.
While shopping he noticed that a group of Mexican men were avoiding him...he saw terror in their eyes. Then he looked down at his uniform and realized that they were afraid of HIM! He simply left the store. He felt awful. People were afraid of him because they thought he was ICE.
This is a good man who has suffered in a mostly white county of knowing he will never go up in rank, working at the lowest level of watching prisoners work on road gangs. Every week he has at least one of his charges die from “huffing” wasp spray--the new cheap high that stops all nerve impulses...thus stopping breathing, then the guy dies.
He thought he had hardened himself, but now thanks to Trump’s acolytes he is seen as a villain to the Mexicans in this community. He now changes clothes after work before going anywhere.
He sadly told me “I voted for Hillary. Why couldn’t everyone see how horrible this man is?”
I had no answer.
7
Impeaching Trump won't remove him from office. Bill Clinton was impeached and continued to preside
Removal can only be achieved by voting him out.
3
This to shall pass. The Dems will whimp out and Trump will be further emboldened and continue his reign of corruption.
What the Dems risk is that independents and those Republicans repulsed by Trump will just not come out and vote for the Dem nominee. They will see the Dems as weak and ineffectual and stay home on Election Day.
I am absolutely disgusted with Pelosi and the feckless Dems for not doing their job and IMPEACHING this sorry excuse for a president, let alone a human being.
The Dems are indeed dithering while Rome burns. I will always vote Democratic, but Pelosi is turning off many of her own voters by refusing to hold tRump accountable.
What’s the Constitution for if not impeachment of someone as blatantly unfit and corrupt as this?
19
Unlike the Mueller investigation of collusion, this time Trump's finger and voiceprints should be all over the evidence. No more attempted bank shots off the uncooperative likes of Paul Manafort, Konstantin Kilimnik, Roger Stone, or Julian Assange.
And the evidence has already been collected in the form of a detailed whistleblower complaint, probably assembled with help of a sophisticated former intelligence official who is now his lawyer. The evidence is also known to others in our government, providing other witnesses. But it's also known to the Ukrainian leadership and maybe the Russians, leaving Trump open to extortion by either of them.
Reportedly, there was also an inappropriate promise made, which might just be Trump's guarantee of an official act in return for dirt on the Biden family. Or maybe Trump promised Putin he'd have a free hand to annex the Donbass if Zelensky crosses him.
Either threats or promises to Ukraine in return for Trump's personal gain would be illegal and impeachable. And the Ukrainians should know they'd be far safer under a Democratic president. They just have play rope-a-dope with our current dope of a president until our next inauguration day.
I wonder what Trump would do if he knew leading Democrats were also meeting privately with Zelensky next week...
5
Dems need to use subpoena power to compel testimony to disclose the whistleblower's claims and factual support (transcript of Trump phone calls).
Use contemporary of Congress powers.
Get real. Put people in jail.
12
Pelosi needs to get off her high horse and take a long look at what's actually going on. He and his people are stonewalling, refusing to follow rules and laws set up specifically for these types of illegal actions. He gets on the offensive and the Dems collapse like a house of cards!
There is NO WAY to get to him without starting impeachment. For her to say "If" about his current problem over Ukraine is silly. There are so many already proven illegal things he's done and corrupted practices he's engaged in. Why has no one countered his Hunter Biden attack with attacks on the multitude of corruptive practices he, Eric, Donald Jr. and Ivanka and Jared are guilty of? The Democrats have suffered some sort of lobotomy over the past 20 years. They make me SICK. Not one more penny for the party or any candidate from me.
3
Whether you can impeach the man or not doesn't matter. Trying, is what matters. Crooks sometimes go free but at the least they should always be brought to trial.
13
The future counterparts of today’s supporters and defenders of Trump will acknowledge how awful he was. Today’s supporters are emotionally attached to Trump. Love is blind. His flagrant flaws will be very apparent to all in the future.
3
All his misdoings that the GOP have back will play against them when another party does it.
4
A few moments ago I read Maureen Dowd's column about the possibility that Trump's latest escapade with the Ukraine might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. In other words, it "might be he big one."
When I hear that something "might be the big one," I am reminded of Redd Fox's classical line in Sanford & Son. At the moment that something really big and upsetting was going down he would clutch his chest and proclaim, "this might be the big one." It never was.
Previously I have written to the New York Times excoriating you for your utter failure to have followed the nefarious career of Donald Trump when he was operating with impunity in your own back yard. You also seem to have dropped the ball where his father is concerned.
I have tried to figure out this lapse on the part of the New York Times. Frankly I'm stumped. Much of what you write about Trump is essentially softball reporting. You have failed completely to identify fraud and the fact that he is a fraud.
I
11
Talk about disrespect to Grendel here.
2
Is this the same party that voted to impeach Clinton?
6
If absolute power corrupts absolutely, what do you get when an already absolutely corrupt individual gets absolute power? A dictatorship, which it appears more and more is what we have now in the USA.
The courts, the Senate, a neutered House, a fearful FBI, an AG acting as personal Mafia style lawyer for the boss, watchdogs watching their own backs. And now whistle blowers will choke-up, and fade into the shadows. And the crazies will call it freedom as they stock up on ammo.
The only ones happy about our situation are the talk radio wackos and... Vladimir Putin. Every move Trump makes is advantageous to Putin, certainly this Ukrainian mess Trump has created makes Putin a very happy man. Its almost enough to make you think Putin has something on the POTUS.
4
Maureen,
Do you still think your attacks on Hillary during that election were a good idea? How do you feel about cozying up to Trump during that time? Inquiring minds want to know.
10
Why is the NYT throwing Biden under the bus now? Let’s face it...Warren and Sanders are hardly dealing with a full deck.
Giving away the store and destroying our life savings and our neat eggs are not good strategies either!
In the world of "might could" journalism, this whimpy insight doesn't get far enough to polish the shoes of real Trump accusations. Phone calls to a Ukrainian President is what presidents do. Just different. Where were you when Obama tried to placate the mad bombers of Iran with pallets of cash?
If the phone tap of a President reveals he's hounding the President of Spain to buy one of his golf courses, you might could have something. Otherwise, how bout them judges he got approved Friday when no one was looking?
1
How will we ever get the stench out of the white house after he's gone? All surfaces will have to be sprayed with an oxidizing agent wearing full PPE gear and evacuated for days.
6
President trump and his sidekick Rudy Giuliani has no moral compass are two old men lie so easily and frequently , it is mind bogling.
Yet, obviously they sleep well at night without any remorse and goes on day after with new way to betray fellow Citizens.
Trump`s end will not be good, even he is re elected for next four years.
4
This will not be "the one," as long as we have a corrupt Republican Senate, who are willing to enable the patholological liar in chief. It will have to come from the ballot box and the Democrats have to rally around whoever gets the nod.
5
this is getting old!
2
if biden's son broke the law or acted improperly, why is it wrong to ask our ally to investigate it, whether trump benefits or not???? what a dumb double standard.
if a dem president did this to candidate trump, no one would say boo.
this cannot be compared to asking this from an adversary, like russia, which is disgraceful but not illegal either.
Trump shooting Stormy Daniels on Fifth Avenue would still not be the "One".
The only "One" left in American politics is sexually molesting children (viz Catholic Church and Jeffrey Epstein).
And that seems to be the one vice Trump is not prone to.
1
John Gotti would be proud. At least he was finally convicted. Just remember the best way to convict DT is via the ballot box.
1
Big. And bigly.
Get. Him. Out. Now.
5
So glad you were able to bring a lot of Nancy Pelosi into this opinion piece. It would not have been a Dowd opinion without it.
1
Stop wasting time on Trump.
3
When people don’t play by rules they should be arrested .
The Democrats must start enforcing existing laws by any means necessary . That means Sgt At Arms start doing your job
1
Note to Speaker Pelosi:
Will you please stop investing your principal energies in fecklessly rationalizing your failure to support, much less lead – as the responsibilities of your office actually demand – a campaign to impeach this breathtakingly amoral, corrupt, lawless, disloyal, reckless and questionably “elected” president and redirect those energies into just such an effort without further cynical, unconscionable and unforgivable delay?
Denying your responsibility to do all in your power as speaker to hold him to account and relying instead on an electorate that put him in office in the first place to do what you have not the courage to do so yourself will: a] abet his stonewalling, stymying much further discovery of his manifest high crimes and misdemeanors with little chance of adjudication allowing them to come out in time; b] thus prevent building a popular and legislative consensus for removing him from office; and c] if anything, make the disaster of his “reelection” not just the real possibility that it is now but far more of a probability, as his “base” is energized by his avoiding impeachment and the larger population fatally disheartened by it.
2
In retrospect, the day Trump was sworn in as president, he had gone too far. A worst charlatan and nihilist does not exist.
3
Polls indicate Biden would beat Trump handily, Warren hardly so.
Millions of voters want to vote against Trump but would have difficulty with Warren as president.
Too radical and too inexperienced.
That is why Trump regards Biden as his chief formidable adversary in 2020 and why Trump is out to undermine Biden.
Biden is by far the Democrats' strongest candidate to oppose Trump.
Mr. Trump will be re-elected because the Democratic Party has no leadership with a spine. The time to fight is now. Who among the Democrats has the courage to punch back when punched? Certainly not Rep. Swalwell and not Rep. Pelosi. They seem to relish bring slapped around.
2
Well it's not murder in Times Square-but one can only hope that what he has done is beyond the Pale.
2
Name ONE instance where Trump has "blatantly abused the Constitution." Just one.
And it was only Biden's son who Trump pushed President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate. And the Ukraine Foreign Minister has stated that there was no pressure to do anything. So Ms. Dowd and the rest of the Wile E. Coyote TDS universe will again be foiled by Trump (Roadrunner). "Cause "where's the beef?" Ms. Dowd's next headline: "Many Heads To Explode With The Upcoming Trump Re-Election." And no, Michele ain't getting in!
1
If the 40% that is Trump's base vote in 2020, he will be re-elected. The 60% who oppose Trump will to a great extent stay home. With leaders like Pelosi, 70-year-olds like the front-runners, young Americans just won't be motivated to bother themselves. Democrats are inept cowards, with Pelosi coward #1. Is there a Democrat available to run who can inspire a 70% turnout? If not, four more years of the Swamp-Creature-in-Chief.
1
Not the Big One.
By not releasing the transcripts from the July phone call to Ukraine, Trump is following in Nixon's footsteps of not releasing the Watergate tapes.
It is wonderfully delicious that this story was broken by the Wall St Journal which is a partner w Fox News.
3
Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it.
Mostly because this newspaper, in an attempt to be "fair and balanced", would give equal weight -- or probably more weight -- to Rudy Giuliani's insistence that a President is absolutely allowed to do that and until Congress passes a law that specifically says a President may not murder any man, woman, or child that he wants to murder, the NY Times cannot really condemn the murder because it just doesn't know which side is right.
That is how this newspaper reports every Trump scandal. Give prominence to outright lies and mischaracterizations by Republicans and give those outright lies equal weight to the facts. The reporters "just don't know" whether their favorite sources in the Trump administration are telling the truth and they are desperate to keep those leaks, so they report every leak as if it were true.
I contrast this with the NY Times writing blaring headlines nonstop when Clinton was accused of the "crime" of having an "affair" that did not include sexual intercourse because the President did not want to "go all the way". The NY Times had no problem condemning the actions. This newspaper did not write that it is just as likely if not more likely there was no crime and it would be a huge folly for the Republicans to impeach.
4
Let him walk the Green Mile.
2
I am a bit surprised that there has not been more discussion and comment--by democratic politicians or others-- about the striking similarity of Wikileaks and Mr Trump's requests for dirt on Hillary Clinton and now his requests to the Ukrainian president to bring out dirt on Biden's son.
3
"Donald The Dove"
Clearly, Trump is an illegitimate president and the last place where he belongs is in our White House...After all, he openly solicited the assistance of Putin to help him to STEAL the presidency of the USA. This is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS. The only place where Trump has a legitimate place in our system of governance is BEHIND BARS! … The only outcome that he has legitimately earned is impeachment. The man has been a dark stain on our national identity...such a foul, foul creature who abides by no principles whatsoever.
8
He's not crooked Donald. He's Conman Don.
1
The Congress is impotent! What are they waiting for???
2
So folks, are we doormats? Certainly feels that way. Who has the bigger foot REAL LAW or Mad-Donny-Boy & White-Fang-Rudy? Remember "WHA?" The Judiciary Chairman cannot remain Gene-Gene-Dancing-Machine. Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Schiff & Mr. Nadler have to clear this plate & rid us of this heaping mess of self serving tyranny. They are more than capable and we need to remind them our nation's fate depends on them. No wimping Mueller act please. The time is now!
1
I guess we need to wait until he shoots some random person on fifth avenue to find out if anything is too far.
2
The idea that a guy who says the second amendment people can take care of his political opponent and brags about grabbing women by the genitals has “finally” gone too far is a pretty sad statement this country. Whatever the actual legitimacy of the 2016 election with the Putin/GOP hybrid driving the candidate forward, it still took dozens of millions of American citizens to actively vote for this monster. Sickening.
5
Pelosi has been a great speaker but this is not her finest hour. Trump is thumbing his nose at the House, his behviour has long crossed the threshold for impeachment and yet Democrats cannot get their act together, It is becoming embarrassing, the system is failing not because the mechanism to deal with Trump does not exist but because the only entity that can use it is AWOL.
1
I'm harsh on Republicans, but I'm becoming equally disgusted by the cowardice of Democratic leadership which is becoming just as culpable in this debacle. No president, Democratic or Republican, should ever -- ever -- betray the honor of holding that office. More than representing every American, they represent the nation itself. They reflect how the world sees us. How it trusts and respects us. And when you lower that office into a platform to attack your fellow citizens, settle vendettas, or line your pockets, you're not a president at all -- you're just a cheap, emotionally stunted, petty demagogue.
Throughout his life Trump has never been held to account. He's never had to pay for his sins as a con artist, as a money launderer, or selling out his nation to serve as a Russian asset. And with the Democrats watching passively, he becomes more emboldened with each crime. By allowing him and his neo-fascist cult to extort nations for his political advantage, ignore subpoenas, literally line his pockets with cash from the military, and actively corrupt the Supreme Court, Department of Justice, Congress, and other branches of government, representatives like Pelosi and Schumer should step aside. They have no business representing the people if they are not doing the people's business. With his crimes now being conducted in the open, political calculations are no longer an option. They have to impeach Trump for high crimes. They have no choice. It is their constitutional duty.
7
All true Maureen - unless Biden Jr. and Sr. have used their influence for $$$$$$. In that case the table turns. Unfortunately I wouldn’t be that surprised.
2
Democrats have the backbone of a sloth in a hurricane. They yell and make threats but do nothing.
While I find Trump to absolute worst president in the history of the United States, I cannot force myself to vote for a Democrat that just babbles and does nothing. Therefore I am looking to buy or build my own island where I will be President and Supreme Leader.
1
If this isn't the Big One, shame on Congress! Boycott Trump!
1
Democrats always look ineffective, if not inept, because they always take a knife to a gunfight. Trump and his allies are presenting us the dirtiest political fight we can ever remember, while Democrats (and Ms. Pelosi) wonder if impeachment proceedings would offend anyone! Come on, people! If you're going to fight and win against these gangsters, you have to take your tommy guns with you.
3
You know what an ear worm is? It's when you get a song stuck in your head and you can't stop thinking about it. Drive you crazy, right? Well, here we go again. Freak out, freak out, freak out, and then wait two weeks. Like gun control legislation, this will drive people crazy then fade away until Trump does something illegal - again.
Democrats need to grab this one and never let go.
Hopefully - if the whistleblower's complaint won't be sent to Congress - the whistleblower will go to Congress or come forward publicly and tell what they know.
Democrats must vow to protect the whistleblower from retaliation by Trump and his government at all costs.
Trump has apparently tried to bully a foreign power into doing his personal political business while withholding foreign aid Congress is sending to the foreign country.
Nixon was vile but I can't imagine him doing anything this stupid.
William Barr needs to be impeached - enough with his Roy Cohn antics.
Trump must be impeached or forced to resign immediately.
Lastly - Nancy Pelosi. If she won't agree to move forward to impeachment immediately, she isn't fit to be Speaker. For everybody who's been waiting for the smoking gun against Trump - this is it. If Pelosi can't see this, she's completely lose her marbles. She needs to quit protecting her speakership and work for the American people.
1) Felony extortion.
2) Felony conspiracy with Giuliani to commit extortion.
3) Felony conspiracy with Giuliani to violate campaign finance laws.
The way this is going - obstruction of justice is probably in there too.
Democrats do your job.
Pelosi - if you can't get behind this, RESIGN
4
It's a witch hunt whenever he does something that should clearly be investigated. But, it's not a witch hunt on his part when he tries to dig up, or more usually manufacture, dirt on his critics. Enough of this sociopath already . The only solution is to defeat all Republicans as they have no backbones and enable this dangerous coward.
3
Just look at the youth all over the World who are speaking out for the climate change that is happening so fast that they are concerned what kind of future they are going to have ?
And here an America we have a crooked old man trump who could no care less and is a climate change denier and trying to set the Country on fire for his greed and lies and stupidity of course.
I say to youth if you are not eligible to vote convince your parents, grandparents to vote this liar of a President out of the office.
Make him a one time president to set us free.
6
The funniest part of this piece is the headline: the idea of Trump walking a mile is ludicrous.
2
Is Mike Pence really any better? He's a pious, pompous ignorant religious zealot... He will do everything a trumps doing, just better articulated. This is what people are wanting instead? I feel maybe Pelosi is more worried about that silent political landmine. I have not thought this before, but maybe she is onto something holding off. What's the saying, if you cut off one hydra snake head, two grow back in its place..
3
Nancy Pelosi is worthless. She should start worrying less about offending the Undecideds, and worry more about offending the Democratic base. Her negligence is criminal. She’s aiding and abetting Trump.
3
Bigger than putting kids inside cages? Maybe inside the beltway.
2
Let's be clear - in a critical international crisis zone, POTUS threw American national interest under the bus to browbeat the Ukranian government to manufacture dirt he could use for reelection. This cavalier disregard for American interests to serve his own should horrify any patriotic human.
4
Don't want to be a tinfoil hat conspiracist - but maybe Pelosi's emails were hacked by the Russians, too.
Russian hacker: "Hold my vodka."
The USA, a country I am very fond of, sadly seems a hair's breadth from autocratic theocracy…hope I'm wrong.
If this isn’t the big one, nothing will be. Congress is effectively enabling Trump. Disgusting...
2
No one should have tolerated trump from the moment he demeaned Kaepernick. No one should have tolerated trump from the moment he called the Free Press the enemy of the people.
No one should have tolerated trump the moment he sided with Putin or Kim or MBS. No one should have tolerated trump the moment he started speaking like a two year old demeaning his opponents. Meeting with Putin without an interpreter, having an interpreter tear up his notes, refusing to obey subpoenas, refusing to release tax returns. isn't all of this enough to say no sir, I do not want anymore of this charade of a president. Impeach this worthless "man" and for goodness sake, republican Senators, convict the bum!
3
Most mature nations have suffered from despotic leaders in the course of history. England had Henry the VIII, Italy had Mussolini, Germany Hitler, Spain Franco, Russia has been stuck in despot leader land for years. Zimbabwe just got rid of mugabee. So we have trump. I think we were all caught napping on this one. Except those in the back rooms who have been trying for the white whale for years now. Along came mass media weaponized instant communications. Wearable on your wrist if you like. Take a deep breath, exhale. Trump was and is destined to destroy himself and WILL be gone in a year and a half. We have just had our own despotic moment. Now let’s get busy and try to limit the damages and prepare our children for global climate devastation and the challenges ahead. Trump has been and always will be a game show host. Moby Don.
1
"Russia, if you are listening......" "Ukraine, if you have some dirt...." And "I can probably remove some sanctions, or maybe sign off on some military assistance..." Hey, nothing wrong with any of this. There was no actual collusion. There were no bribes. And I won the election.
1
Liberals salivate over every small perceived slighting. They miss the big picture. As long as the economy is humming, he’ll win another 4 years. How delusional can 1 group of educated people be?
1
@George
Thankfully there are millions who care more about just themselves and their own pockets. And those are NOT the Christian Right.
2
Can we see Trump's tax returns now?
2
Biden's son actually did get paid millions of corrupt $, and Daddy is on film bragging that he got the prosecutor fired who was investigating this crime. This is right out of "Rules for Radicals". Go on the offensive by accusing the other side of what you have actually done, or are doing. The dutiful propaganda press will continue to push the false narrative rather than look into the actual crimes committed, and many of you commenting here have obviously swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker.
2
Not sure what the point of this opinion piece is exactly.
Dowd summarizes what we know, what we don't know and, depending upon our partisan predilections, what we infer, interspersed with her usual (and appreciated) pithy asides.
She concludes by wondering if this is or isn't the "big one".
Well, so do we.
The key to whether he has gone to far this time, Maureen, is to ask your brother who apparently voted for him. If this is too much even for Trump voters we might have a chance. But my bet is that FOX media has dug into the heart and gut of these voters and they now believe that Trump is the victim, rather than the nation he is supposed to serve.
By Monday we’ll all be on to the next Trump outrage, perhaps in Saudi Arabia where apparently the Saudis were unable to operate the equipment they bought from us to defend their own oil wealth. Trump voters need to recall that the guys who knocked off 3,000 Americans on 9/11 were all Saudis, angry at the Americans who were on their sacred soil. We are about to repeat that stupidity.
2
trump and his sidekick Rudy Giuliani has no moral compass are two old men lie so easily and frequently , it is mind bogling.
Yet, obviously they sleep well at night without any remorse and go on day after with new way to betray fellow Citizens.
Trump`s end will not be good, even he is re elected for next four years.
1
Oh, you think he went too far this time? Give me a break.
You know, he is the Teflon Man, so I doubt anyone will really even blink at this one. VOTE him out!!
1
I’ve watched this conman trump in NYC since 1980. If you live in this city you know exactly who this guy is.
Morally bankrupt and corrupt. Drink on this own ego and his ability to con people into feeding him attention, and while your looking at his right hand, trump is raping and pillaging for his own personal finances with his left.
A classic NY con game. Three card Monty anyone?
Vote my friends, time for a change—
2
Trump is vile and corrupt but he is not a Russian agent. At least the Muller report confirmed this and liberals who try to sell the Clinton manufactured conspiracy theory are deluding themselves and making Trump the conman stronger. this is called "how to lose an election".
I believe that what is reported about Trump, Biden and Ukraine is probably true and confirms Trump's cluelessness ...and the desire of the intel services to get him. Brennan is scared that his role in the Russiagate conspiracy theory will become public.
Trump the lout wanted the Ukrainian president to intervene. This is bad but the NED and Victoria Nuland interfering in Ukrainian affairs was also terrible. The US routinely meddles in the affairs of other countries, Israel bugs the Trump WH (read Politico), in the world of espionnage they are only unsavory guys. The NSA bugs everyone's phone including Ms Merkel's. So yes what Trump has tried to do is ugly (but mostly dumb) but it is not unusual. To get rid of Trump Dems must choose a good candidate (not the clueless Biden).
I can't stand Trump and I would vote for any functioning adult including JB in 2020. But....why did Hunter Biden have a lobbying business in the Ukraine? It stinks when Trump does this kinda thing with his family and it stinks when Dems do it too.
2
Hillary Clinton was a lousy candidate. And people didn’t know who he was.
He will get some shocking number of the voters, maybe even 47 percent.
But this guy is on his way out, unless the Democrats drop the ball.
The leadership of this country is as feckless and spineless on the crimes of trump as it is on the deadly parboiling of the planet. Imagine the damage that trump will do between Nov. 3, 2020, and the end of his Oval Office desecration on Jan. 21, 2021.
I can't wait for unending disasters from climate change to eclipse all of this political showmanship. Mama nature is preparing a reality show for us that will make any "big one" seem a total farce. We desperately need a priority check and it will be the one for the ages. Our children will scream bloody murder!
1
“ Trump is literally acting like an international mobster “. Trump IS an international mobster, with his own Crime Family. Where do you think the Cash propping up his many failed “ Businesses “ comes from ? Trump International Properties is a Money Laundry, funneling ill-gotten Foreign Cash into “luxury” Condos, with huge fees, commissions, and “ gifts “ flowing directly to the Trumps. Like sewage to the treatment plant, like MAGA fans to Loyalty rallies, like Trump cast-Offs to FOX News.
SAD.
2
Trump and his crooked soldiers have been turning our system of government into a mafia. He is so devious, so malignant and twisted he will absolutely do whatever he can to rob us of our democracy. He has the government in a hammerlock. The measly Republican senators won’t stand for justice and the House wasn’t even able to reign in Corey the brat. I was alarmed to read how he is going to withhold North Carolina’s and Duke’s funding because he doesn’t like how they teach Islam. That’s just one example of how he is taking over the fabric of our lives. This is precisely how dictators work. Trump is a tyrant and will stop at nothing. He will try every trick in the book to steal the 2020 election. Impeachment, if we ever get there, is the morally right thing to do but it won’t mean much in the short term because Trump will still be in the White House throwing around chaos left and right. As much as I’d like to think this Ukraine issue is “the One”, I sadly think things will get worse as Trump gets sicker. God only knows what we’re in for. I wouldn’t put anything passed Trump and his consigliere. As has been said before, Caligula comes to mind. Trump is waging daily insanity.
2
The sad fact is the Republicans look away as Trump debases the Constitution and shreds democratic institutions for fear they will be primaried and the Democrats refuse to exercise their Constitutional responsibilities and impeach Trump because they are afraid of loosing the House. Cowards all. Willing to sacrifice principles for power. But ultimately, we the people are responsible for the sorry state of our Union. We put these small, pathetic people in office.
1
Umm, he went too far a long time ago...
2
At the core of this problem and issue, to the demise of accountable government and the truth. is the utter partisan nature of what should be Congressional oversight of the executive branch. Not only do the people of this nation have a right to know that truth, but their elected representatives, despite being in differing parties, should find it their duty and obligation to provide it. Unabridged.
3
As a life-long Democrat I am disheartened, if not outright appalled, by Pelosi's political calculations. Do we stand for the rule of law as enshrined in our Constitution or don't we? If we do, then we should impeach, full stop.
4
We have seen a large variety of cases where Republicans have scoffed at the foundational checks and balances of our constitution. I am surprised that anyone is still asking whether anything is “too far”. Asked and answered. Republicans and their voters want power above all else, and in the world view, “too far” does not exist. I suspect this comes from an extremist Christian worldview in which no check, barrier, or requirement of law can be accepted as a legitimate restraint on the “word of god.” Against this kind of implacable opponent, democracy will face a significant struggle to survive.
4
First, let's get Trump out of office. Based on our current inept Congress, it looks like that will have to happen at the polls, but that is not where this horror story should end.
Our next move should be to vote out ALL members of both parties in Congress who sat on their hands and failed to act with courage, integrity, and principles when faced with such an abhorrent president. Political calculation over core values, yields more of the same. Specifically, an erosion of norms and the potential for another Trump's character to emerge in our future.
Thanks to the GOP AND Pelosi, it will be far easier for this next tyrant to do far worse than Trump has done. They would enter the field further down the eroded lines of our democracy to a place where both parties turned their heads.
If we look back in history, the leaders who brought us from dark places didn't act out of political calculation, they acting from as place a courage and THAT is what inspired others to follow. Pelosi's and other non-impeachment democratic leadership has failed on this front in a major way.
They have traded courage and integrity for political calculation and that is the tool of someone who is incapable of inspiring and shouldn't be at the helm when our world is facing such foes as Trump and Putin.
6
March 23 2033: Mr. Trump has died today, at the ripe old age of 86 years, after a brief hospital stay for an undisclosed illness. This was the third month of his fifth term in office as President of the United States of America. His vice president, Mr. Stephen Miller will now assume the role of President.
On June 14, 2026, Mr. Trump signed into law the Presidential Permanency bill, passed unanimously by the all-Republican House and Senate. One effect of that law is that presidential elections are now eliminated.
25 December 2028, Mr. Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to Matthew Hale. The next day, Mr. Hale was appointed Secretary of the Department of the Interior, to the loud cheering of Republicans everywhere.
30 January 2029, Mr. Trump appointed David Duke his Secretary of the Department of State.
Does anyone seriously look at the above text and consider it too implausible to be the topping-off text for an obituary appearing for Mr. Trump in the New York Times? The way things are currently going, it looks more plausible by the minute. Democracy can really die in the United States.
3
I do. Because it’s defeatist nonsense.
2
as a longtime physical therapist, I see things literally. I really am profoundly disappointed that we have a president who literally cannot walk 4 blocks much less Any Mile; he has to be driven. Everything he believes and practices is 180 degrees from the truth. Even if I had a 3rd grade education ( like my beloved grandfather), I would understand the need to combat global warming, to treat people with basic humane practices and that exercise is healthy.
12
Congratulations to Ms. Dowd for carefully spelling out the current alleged offenses of President Trump. We are seeing
clearly here all of the machinations that Mr. Trump evidently has conducted at will, which only show how much he feels he is completely and safely untouchable and above the law.
Add in all of the content and conclusions of the Mueller Report, and we can see a clear mandate that, added to this latest presidential behavior is, indeed, as Ms. Dowd puts it: "The Big One."
Impeachment inquiries already being conducted by the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee (and I believe a few other committees as well) can, and hopefully will, show irrefutable evidence that this president has not only violated the U.S. Constitution, but that he is a security risk to this nation.
Should it be that impeachment proceedings follow the inquiries, and that evidence brings to bear clear violations of the law on the part of this president, the Senate will have a very difficult time showing why they should not indict Mr. Trump--regardless of the Republican dominance in that body.
History shows that politics is not necessarily estranged from justice--especially when the political object at hand looks to be doing a free fall away from popular support in a democracy.
5
I become so exasperated with Pelosi's stance, that up to a point
is reasonable, that impeachment will not only rally Trump's
base and with the ongoing turmoil and criminality that will invariably be revealed in the coming year, it will summarily
decimate the Republicans chances for re-election in the 2020.
But what good is that approach, if Trump is allowed to so
unscrupulously further his capacities to obstruct, 'everything',
that no fair election can be allowed to happen. And, as has
been pointed out, we can put nothing past Trump's spectrum
of 'tricks', to accomplish that.....
Whatever legal draconian methods that can stop him, must be
deployed, NOW.
6
Mr. Mueller, as a man who devoted his life to guarding and delivering justice, you would know that not punishing a criminal in spite of overwhelming evidence encourages him to repeat the crime. You let go a hardened criminal based on a thinnest of obscure technicality from a DOJ memo, and the criminal is repeating the crime. Using ones judgement requires weighing pros and cons, not using an algorithm of literal interpretations; otherwise we would use a computer to be a judge. Sadly, without engaging in pros and cons of the Russia investigation you stopped being a pro and went with the con, and we are seeing the same crime repeated. US have lost big time.
18
I was absolutely convinced that the results of the Mueller report would be trump's undoing. I also thought the long, long list of other infractions, outrageous behaviors, admissions of guilt, moral degradations, not to mention the choices of his staff and cabinet members, would have appalled so many Americans, including republicans, that he would be gone by now.
I am no longer holding my breath. I have like-minded friends who have taken a break from political news because sustaining this level of open-jawed chaos has taken its toll.
I feel like those research dogs who have received so many electrical shocks in their cages that they just give up. How can this possibly go on?
I once had a French boyfriend who used to refer to a few select people who "were born under a lucky star" who could just keep avoiding the natural cause and effect results the rest of us have to endure. How can this possibly go on?
No, I am not convinced this latest travesty will move the dial. I still have a sliver of hope that I am wrong, but it is just a sliver.
24
If sugar or salt are poured into heated water and stirred, it goes into solution and continues to do so until it reaches a maximum amount of saturation, which usually is a bit higher than the saturation limit. Then crystals begin to form and settle to the bottom of the container. Trump has no good set of limits. He will go too far, but he will not know what that is until he sees it happening.
13
Pinksoda, your comment brings to mind a favorite quote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that has.” - Margaret Mead
Be well, keep hope alive in your heart, and please vote!
1
I suspect Trump is seriously worried about this, not because of the Democrats (it is after all officially the McConnell/Trump administration once the Senator pre-declared innocence for the defendant in any trial he would preside over).
Trump is probably worried about Putin. Vlad wants the Ukraine and doesn't really care whether he gets a Trump Tower in Moscow.
7
Issue subpoenas. There are certainly plenty of judges who would sign them based on plain evidence. Then, when Lewandowski or Barr or Trump or whoever refuses to respond, send in men with guns and badges. That's what would happen if you or I ignored a subpoena. "But the Secret Service wouldn't allow that." Then have an armed standoff on live television and the press can explain why.
8
Us middle-of-the-roaders don’t trust the two-party system to be anything but (hyper-) partisan. Why should we?
For Americans who aren’t themselves (hyper-) partisan, it’s one set of crooks fighting another: both equally willing to play dirty (but not equally good at it), and both equally bent on serving their own interests.
Neither party is seen as being anywhere near clean enough to be chiefly interested in the country as a whole, much less common folk.
So, until we get somebody who isn’t playing the two-party “game,” the chief rule of which is “Party First!,” none of us middle-of-the-roaders is likely to get too outraged about one sets of crooks’ crookednesses, and the crookednesses will continue.
Thus the country will continue to be run by one self-serving mob of mobsters, or another.
Societies do fall apart. Example: 21st-century USA.
6
False equivalency. Just because the Republicans are rotten to the core doesn’t mean the Democrats are the same because they’re not perfect. That’s lazy thinking.
3
Well ,that’s fine but for now, two parties is what we have! Please join us, Democrats in voting the Republican president out of office! We need every vote!
1
The problem with Pelosi's strategy isn't so much that she is unwilling to impeach at this point as she is unwilling to use her "pulpit" to persuade the American people that it needs to be done. She stays relatively silent while Rome burns, and uses the excuse that she doesn't have the votes, but she does absolutely nothing to try to get them. All the while Trump is blabbering away nonsensically and keeping his so-called base riled up. There's no one amongst the Democrats who is trying to persuade the American public that we need to take action. Us citizens are left frustrated, voiceless and hanging in the wind.
22
Barr and Trump scotched that with a cheap but effective trick, convince the public to accept their story before contradictory facts could belie their spinning.
5
“If the president has done what has been alleged, then he is stepping into a dangerous minefield with serious repercussions for his administration and our democracy,” she said.
It’s hard to believe at this point.
1
Yeah, that’s what Trump et al are good at...presumption of innocence, and listening to differing views.
I can’t quite figure it out. Do you guys honestly think that a thing is true just because you say it is?
1
I hope all of the protesters are correct. Trump may already have damaging proof that Biden, Clinton, and Obama we’re engaged in wrongdoing before the last Presidential election. But it’s just not like Trump to hold back information that damages those who oppose him. If he does have such information however, it explains his nonchalant attitude to claims that he did something wrong by asking if Biden and Obama killed off an investigation by a foreign government to help out Hillary.
1
"She said everyone had now seen what the founding fathers could not imagine: a president blatantly abusing the Constitution he has sworn to protect." The founding fathers both imagined and anticipated exactly this, and they provided a remedy; impeachment. What they couldn't imagine was that Congress would stand by and let it happen; ignoring their own oaths of office as well.
22
I immigrated to this country not than 25 years ago happily because I believed in its rule of law. I wholeheartedly believed that in the US no one was above the law. Now feel betrayed and heartbroken to discover it isn't true. Most of all I feel disgusted by Pelosi and other democrats who prefer the calculus of the possible over fighting for core principles that made America. Indeed, "there is a time when silence is betrayal." I don't care if impeachment cannot pass the Senate. If you truly believe no one is above the law, act like it, shout it out. I am disgusted that Pelosi only wants to possibly change things for future presidents, I am disgusted that democrats allowed a torturer to lead the CIA, I am disgusted that Obama rolled over and allowed his Supreme Court appointee to be denied (he should have personally stormed congress and called on people to demonstrate against that blatant steal). Sometimes, unequivocal signaling is more important than achieving---kudos to Beto for getting that right with automatic weapons. Shame on Pelosi & co for being the party of rolling over and sacrificing the rule of law for electability.
27
Just remember, congressional Republicans: when the house of cards falls, you may end up on the bottom. The weight of history crushing you.
18
The teflon don dodges every corrupt deed that gets found out. Every day the list grows longer. It was jaw dropping that our military is sending planes to a dying Scottish airport to get refueled, wasting millions of dollars. Where is the outrage from republicans who are supposed to be so wary of wasting our tax dollars? On top of that, the crews were sent to his hotel, at great expense, so that trump's floundering business can make him some bucks.
Now we have evidence that trump is using his power to get dirt on political opponents while holding up money to help Ukraine fight off the Russians. Putin's puppet really does not want to help Ukraine. How many times has trump loudly defended his buddy Putin, while republicans keep quiet?
It is beyond the point of impeaching him. He needs to go to jail for his crimes. And the republicans?? Should all be voted out.
18
If this latest abuse of power does not warrant impeachment what does? Pelosi is flat out wrong here. Though I understand her political hesitation, if anyone thinks that Democrats who won in red districts won because Republicans suddenly cared about democratic policies, they are deluded.
Impeach mow, let’s expose the corruption and obstruction and let the senate republicans go on record that they don’t care.
16
One would think that some transgression by Trump would be over the tipping point for most Americans, maybe even most Republicans. How far can Trump go without the serious consequence of impeachment or resignation? Trump has rewritten the mores of conduct that has always applied to a president. Do the new mores mean that anyone who holds the office can disparage his opponents and commit the daily outrageous conduct that we observe in disgust, or even in horror?
The Republicans back him no matter what in a futile effort to preserve their power. But in doing so, they have ironically insured that they will go down with Trump, as surely as he will go down himself. The bitterness between the parties is playing out for all to see: the Democrats hatred of all things Trump and the Republicans defense of everything Trump is damaging the country. The only question is whether the country can survive the actions of its two principal parties?
10
There are countless articles and comments written in elegant language and with insightful perspectives about the poor, self serving, dishonest and perhaps illegal manner in which Trump presides over the US. The reality is that from the day he was elected, Trump was never concerned about governing. His entire focus has been on campaigning for the next election. He paid his donors in advance for their support for his re-election with an enormous tax break. That was brilliant politics. They are now repaying that favor by donating in large amounts. The negative things people say and write about Trump may be true. He may have run a fraudulent university, he may have fudged his taxes, mismanaged his charitable trust, impropriety paid for an escort, misled big banks, or been discourtrous to ladies, etc. Despite all of this he has not been convicted of a punishable crime, and probably never will. What people may forget is that first, he is an actor. He also is self absorbed and concerned only about his image. He may not be a great actor and he may behave badly, but he is not stupid.
8
Of course this won’t bring him down and the next one will be even worse and it won’t either. With the tentative house dems unwilling to impeach knowing that the senate won’t convict and with the courts stacked to protect him, trump can do pretty much anything he wants. That’s why it’s so important to do everything possible to elect Democrats up and down the ballot in 2020 and beyond. The whole Republican Party has become so corrupt they all must go. Otherwise our and the country’s future are in grave peril.
8
Trump has slithered his way around the law his entire life. It is uncanny how he has always come away unscathed. Is it really realistic to think that there will be a big One to bring him down and finally break his amazing track record, at least before 2020.
7
Considering that the whistleblower has no direct access to the conversation it lacks merit. Besides it’s purely a Biden scandal...he had his unqualified son sitting as a director on that energy board for millions of dollars in kickbacks and even boasted about his arranged firing of the prosecutor who was investigating. Bye, bye Biden!
5
@AACNY
The quid pro Quo is there based on trump being president of the most powerful nation. Incidentally the whistleblowers complaint involved a “promise”, and is reported to be based on multiple actions, not a single phone call.
If requesting a foreign nation to dig up dirt on a political opponent for personal gain, not the nations best interest is ok with you, I’m sure you would have been fine with it if say, Obama did it, right?
5
Not one shred of proof of wrongdoing by Biden or his son. Politifact gives it a half true at best, in the sense that yes, Biden’s son did have the job at a Ukrainian oil company while Biden was VP. Funds to Ukraine were cut as leverage to getting the prosecutor fired, the reason being he wasn’t doing his job, ie investigating corruption. The dots have never been connected- most likely another Benghazi/email scandal/whitewater non-event. Whereas, it does appear the president did pressure the leader of a foreign nation to come up with the goods on a political rival or suffer the withholding of funds. Nice try, but this is looking more and more like its on Trump.
2
@AACNY Except there were eight calls and simultaneous unexplained withholding of $250 million in Congressionally approved military aid the same week. is your hero so bad at campaigning he has to resort to conspiracy to get reelected?
1
This inhabitant goes too far at least once a day. Just his tweets alone can get blood boiling by millions. He has absolutely no respect for anyone. He can’t even let the dead Rest In Peace! This thing with the Ukraine, is just a repeat of what happened with Russia. It’s interference in our elections, period! He called out to Russia to find Hillary’s emails, and now he’s calling out to the Ukraine to get something on the Biden’s, of course something no one knows about. Why? It’s fear. It’s fear of someone else possibly beating him out of something he wants. Remember, this guy has ALWAYS gotten what he wants, ever since he was a child. So matter what it takes, or who it hurts, all that matters to him is HIM! We all know how he feels about anyone outside his box. His box includes him and him alone. Not even his wife or kids. BTW, where IS Barron. He hasn’t been seen since coming off AF1 after one of their first vacations back in 2017. Just what kind of first family is this anyway?
7
The crimes of this "president" are so blatantly obvious, it is a disgrace impeachment has not begun.
12
@MaryleeYes. It is a National Disgrace. Borne by us all.
Enough!
Just subpoena the transcripts and be prepared to level a charge of Contempt of Congress.
It's time to start playing hardball with this sleaze.
12
It will be this generation's shameful legacy that not only was such a grotesque travesty of a president elected, but that he was allowed to humiliate the United States so long. Watching clips of Trump speaking at rallies tonight, I was flushed with embarrassment at the thought of what Washington, Adams or Jefferson would think of a nation that put such a contemptible buffoon in its highest office.
9
The "big one" will not come as a dramatic, media reported event as should be obvious by now - there is no event tawdry, unethical or apparently criminal enough to make Trump blink or back off from his fake news mantra. The big event is in November, 2020. Pelosi has it absolutely right, if the Democratic members of the Judicial committee can be made to look stupid by a punk like Lewandowski, they should just stop trying. They need to hire some lawyers to do their questioning for them because they are clearly incapable of doing it themselves.
4
As we all sit back and tolerate the actions of a dictator, we all suffer the consequences of inaction. The bar for 'normal' behavior has been set and reset lower and lower. If any other president, no, any other person, has done any one of the multiple discretions that Trump has violated, prison would be imminent. Why not for Trump? Why not imprison this crook? Why must the electorate endure another minute of this fake president? Congress has the power to take action. Let's get it done!
4
Shooting someone on 5th Avenue would not be “too far” for his slavering supporters.
So is this? No, not to them.
7
@Sailor SamHis supporters like it, and you just go along to get along.
I am having a harder and harder time seeing the difference.
Keep wishing Maureen. Trump will get away with this just like everything else. Why wouldn't he???? Nothing happens to him when he does so why not do it. And Putin is laughing all the way to the bank.
3
If the voters empower you to work to eradicate obvious public acts of corruption and treason, and your response is that you are committed to looking into the charges, why should the voters give you more power?
2
"Trump is literally acting like an international mobster. Roy Cohn would be so proud." The is a correct statement if you eliminate the words "literally acting like." But nothing matters to Trump's base unless and until Trump marries a Black man in the Rose Garden, starts appointing liberal Democrats to his cabinet, and says it's time to ban assault rifles. It does not matter to his supporters what he says or does; he only way to beat Trump is to register voters and have them all show up and vote.
3
Republican resistance and Democratic ineptitude and cowardice will save Trump. The Founders would be ashamed of how their brave experiment in representative died.
3
Nancy Pelosi is corrupting the moral standing of the Democratic Party in a time of a national and constitutional crisis perpetrate by a criminal President. Shame on her and the Democratic party.
4
@umberto dindo
...and what are you going to do about it?
1
A U.S. of A. Triumvirate of Grendel, his mother AND the dragon would be preferable to trump, or any Triumvirate including trump.
So … as it appears the House Democrats can do nothing else with their powers -- Could they just please 'impeach' Ms. Pelosi 'from' the 'Speakership'?
3
Is this not Trump's version: Paul Manafort is in jail for getting big bucks for providing secret support to a Ukrainian politician. Hunter and Joe Biden did the same thing. The fake news is covering their tracks for them. So. I had to get the Ukrainians to disclose it and they didn't. I called then eight times and nothing happened. Sad.
Straight arrow legal beagle Bob Mueller and cadre were no match for these thugs, what makes anyone think these congressional pussycats will be any more successful? These thugs hate the people Buffoon pretends to hate and will prevail as long as Democrats keep running people wanting to decriminalize illegal entry and abolish private health insurance. The best check on these Republicans was big city Democratic machines which liberals gutted with purist patronage crusades. Anyone who thinks there will be some irresistible groundswell of moral disgust at Buffoon ‘s extortion of the Ukraine president is a naive as the Warren/Bernie supporters prattling about “revolution.”
2
You are understating the fact that Barr is protecting Trump and he is more like a crooked accomplice. Our Founders never imagined such perfidy.
7
Trump walking any kind of mile would be newsworthy.
7
If it turns out that he "only" asked a foreign power to get dirt on Joe Biden, then it would "only" be a case for impeachment and removal from office.
But if it turns out that he offered a foreign power American foreign aid in exchange for dirt on Joe Biden, then it would be a case of treason.
8
Oh Maureen (my G'town neighbor), you are too savvy to really believe that this latest Trump peccadillo will be the "Big One" which brings him down. Because Trump's backside is protected against impeachment by a Republican Senate majority who care more about their electoral longevity than the defense of the nation and its democratic (small d) institutions which they swore to defend. They are careerists, plain and simple, many of whom want to be wheeled out of the Senate on a gurney at the age of 101 like Strom Thurmond. I used to think term limits were a bad idea. But when you have a corrupt and selfish political class, term limits (for both Republicans and Democrats) begin to make more sense.
3
When Trump asked almost rhetorically, where is my Roy Cohn, I think the Teflon Don really meant where is my Bruce Cutler. IMO I think he found him in the person of Rudolph Giuliani, who has demonstrated that just like mob lawyers he used to try to restrain, will bend the truth into a pretzel to keep a public menace breathing free air.
2
It is not the Big One. Why? Because Trump is not so much the cause of the rot as the smell. The rot is caused by a combination of a deeply ignorant populace, a business culture with no scruples, a medieval religious mindset, and a failed political system. The differences with British Constitutional Monarchy are striking, as are the similarities to the Weimar Republic.
4
No.. this isn't the Big One..
--- The problem with this being an easy & clear slam dunk on Trump... Is that while Joe Biden's son was working for the Ukrainians, Joe stepped in to influence some inner Ukrainian politics.. --That action by Joe..muddies the water just enough for Trump to swim through without getting caught..
....And, unless it can be shown that Trump clearly was promising aid to Ukraine..in exchange for an investigation of Biden... then this will not make it to the Big One..
1
Most Americans with any decency would of thought Trump's meeting in Our Oval office with Russians,no American reporters,would cook this duck. No,He and Republicans march on.
3
Even the NE Patriots knew when to cut ties with bad egg. The Republicans - nah.
5
Take off the -ed to describe what kind of mile Trump walks, and you've got exactly what he is: a "crook."
1
With the GOP Senate majority, consisting of a bunch of Trump lackeys led by an arrogant sycophant like McConnell, you have a situation where Trump can go unpunished for just about anything. Throw in weak-kneed House Dems and you have a perfect atmosphere for Trumps excesses. He and his thuggish associates have defied the House's constitutional right of oversight-- with contempt.
How a real estate shyster, completely unfit for the office of the Presidency, can control the governing body of the U.S. of America, is beyond my comprehension.
Of course it isn’t the big one. The GOP have given up on the Constitution and democracy. With that, the America that I love has died. Clearly, nothing the treasonous traitor or his oligarch-supporting enablers do matters.
2020 is the 1984 that Orwell wrote about 1949.
3
There is no “Big One” coming. Trump is literally above the law. If Mueller proved anything he proved our system of laws does not apply to Trump.
Until 12:01 PM January 20, 2021.
"...what the founding fathers could not imagine: a president blatantly abusing the Constitution he has sworn to protect."
I suspect the Founders did imagine a corrupt president. So they put the president in an ejector seat for the House to use in case of emergency.
But the Founders couldn't imagine a recumbent Congress that failed to check the crook in the White House.
2
Gee, it looks like Nancy is in the mood to fire off a strongly worded letter to someone...
Keep issuing those acerbic statements, Nancy. That will get their attention.
5
Time for Congress to grow a spine. Just hope it is not too late.
1
"Giuliani spit out some truth, that he asked the Ukrainians to look into the Bidens. Later he tweeted: “A President telling a Pres-elect of a well known corrupt country he better investigate corruption that affects US is doing his job.”
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
1
"Around the same time that Trump escaped the noose after Robert Mueller’s tepid testimony, sliding away from charges that he colluded with a foreign country to interfere in our election, he began arm-twisting another foreign country to interfere in our election."
Wow, that really gets to the point, and this column gets to the current nervous zeitgeist that grips all but the MAGA crowd.
Trump's current attempt to use a foreign leader in domestic politics demonstrates that the previous charges hinted at by the special prosecutor were true as well. Further, Trump seems to be saying, if I can get away with this with my pal Vlad, what are we wasting time for? Get the Ukrainian prez on the phone!
How times have changed. Nixon was brought down because he wanted people to think that he was basically a righteous guy, albeit one who wasn't above a kick to the crotch when the referee wasn't looking. Nixon actually resigned rather than face the likely humiliation of being forced out.
Behold now what happens when the President only cares about what his sycophants think (You're the greatest ever!) and not a squat about what the rest of the country thinks, or for that matter, the rest of the world. God help us.
2
As well-meaning and concerned as they may be, it's not up to partisan politicians such Nadler and Pelosi to put a stop to the despotism this Trump individual is threatening U.S. democracy with.
It's up to all American voters of good conscience to put a stop to it.
As for Republican politicians, shame on them all for their partisan gutlessness... they're beyond redemption, nor do they deserve any.
1
I used to go along with Pelosi -- no impeachment. But, I am just getting sick of that guy (Trump). I wish she would just let the horses out of the stalls. Impeach and let the chips fall where they may. At least the Supreme Court cannot rule it unconstitutional. Although perhaps they will find a way.
Ugh. I am re-reading the Handmaid's Tale, one of only two books I felt compelled to read twice (the other is Animal Farm). We are there. (Oh Joy (Serena)).
1
There is no "big one." As Stalin said of the Pope, Congress has no divisions, and Trump knows it. For him the presidency isn't a tool or even a weapon, but cover. Even if he loses by 20 states and 12 million votes, he'll cry foul and hunker down. It would be a sad day for this country if the guys in BDUs have to deal with this schmo, but we better prepare ourselves anyway.
Trump plays a game intended to bolster his ego. How much can I defy the rules and get away with it? So far, he has won his game. But, in the end, the bad guys lose. Roy Cohn was disbarred.
Democrats need to banish their timidity and start issuing serious contempt citations. I was hoping for an explosion on the order of Senator Graham's at the Kavanaugh hearing to be directed toward Lewandowski. The contempt and disrespect leveled at the Democrats and their committees by the various members of the current administration may be due in large measure to them knowing they won't suffer any consequences. Lord let the Democrats throw caution to the wind and start banging on some tables!
As for the Republicans, as long as they quake in their boots when they think they may be "primaried" demonstrating that they live in fear of losing their office above losing the meaning of the Constitution, looking to them to get woked is a fool's hope. They will never abandon Trump. No, I fear it is all on the backs of the Democrats and few independents in Congress to truly join this battle and fight for what is left of the soul of this country. UP ELIZABETH WARREN!!!
1
From SNL to John Oliver to Stephen Colbert to Bill Maher the running - albeit for too, too long now - joke has been that, despite all the pompous posturing, the U.S. president is indeed above the law.
Just comedians? Nope. That was also the unwritten title of the Muller Report. How far above the law? 448 pages worth.
Law after law written in oddly plain-spoken terms for laws, with words like "shall" thrown in for good measure, are ignored on what feels like a daily basis.
Still, nobody gets it.
There is but one remedy: impeachment. Oh, but we can't do that. What about our majority in Congress? What about the Senate that will never convict?
It's all a bit like those reflexive counterarguments to measures aimed at avoiding the end of human life on earth. "They're coming for our hamburgers!" Or, worse, "What about jobs?"
The only jobs that will be left on a fried planet will be hunting and gathering, and there will be no government we can recognize if there is no law.
Gag the speaker and impeach this guy. Stop freaking waiting for something else to happen. It already has...a thousand times!
5
I am so, so impressed that Nancy Pelosi is saying very stern things about Donald Trump's obvious misconduct. It won't be long before she actually sends a very strongly worded tweet. And, as a climax to her new-found backbone, she'll no doubt - Gasp! - write a very stern op-ed.
But get behind impeachment? For the most obviously criminal president in history, someone who single-handedly is bringing fascism to a state near you? Nah, not our Nancy.
2
This man consorts with our enemies. What else is there to say.
2
To call Trump and his minions cancer and not his enablers, the GOP, you are deceiving the American people and festering the problem. Trump is ONLY the symptom of the GOP cancer and getting rid of him is putting a bandaid on this mortal disease.
The GOP cancer is plutocracy who is responsible for global warming, inequity, corruption, poverty, conflict, etc . The people of california chemotherapied this cancer, hopefully the rest of the nation will eventually follow, or else this cancer will not only destroy America but the entire globe!
2
We can only hope .....
Trump revers Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson had the Cherokee nation give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to be forcibly removed to an area in present-day Oklahoma.
Is that why Trump revers him?
I am ready to have an "Impeach Now" protest movement.
3
President Trump could sell Alaska back to Russia and it still wouldn't be the big one.
1
Pelosi is a fool. Playing political games when the very fabric of our country is being shredded to bits. The criminal sitting as president should have been brought up under articles of impeachment 8 months ago. Pelosi started in Maryland as the daughter of a politician. Went to Los Angeles on the tailcoat of another politician and found an opening in San Francisco and slithered right on up the coast. She has done nothing for San Francisco. She has watched the galloping ghost of history ride right past her, playing political games. Someone that is close to her, please tell her to do her job before it's too late.
1
Anyone else see a pattern here?
What will it take for you to understand your country is being hijacked?
The real question is how far has trump pushed the USA into his banana republic regime.
1
“Questions have emerged,” eh? Love the use in a news story of the passive voice. Makes it kind of hard for the reader to know the stuff they used to teach in Journalism 101–who, what, where, when, etc. 21st Century journalism is as committed to using the passive voice to create uncorroborated innuendo and suspicion as mid-20th Century journalism was to tracking down a story using real investigation. This story, like the Russian collusion story and others, is a big fuzzy dandelion that the facts will soon blow into nothingness. 5 or 10 years from now, there will be a lot of apologizing.
2
His observation during the campaign that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and nothing would happen seems to be true.
1
In the progressive world, anti-Trump allegations are convictions. As for the Ukraine, online dispatches from the New York Times and The Guardian of Feb. 20 and 21, 2014 from Kiev show that paramilitary rightist extremists broke a truce, surprised off-guard police and set in motion a process that drove an elected president, Viktor Yanukovych , from East Ukraine, from office. The German and Polish (Radek Sikorski, husband of career-Russia-critic Anne Applebaum) Foreign Ministers were in Kiev negotiating with the government on behalf of the governmental opposition just before the elected government fell. The EU's foreign policy chief, Lady Catherine Ashton, had already encouraged opposition demonstrators in the Maidan, as did the State Department’s Victoria Nuland and the then German foreign minister. (Some of the strongest opposition to the elected Government came from the city of Lviv, a part of Poland (Lwów) before Hitler and Stalin partitioned Poland in 1939. Earlier, Lviv was called Lemberg when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.) Who funded and trained the paramilitary rightists? Joao Soares, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Ukraine’s 2010 presidential election, won narrowly by Yanukovych, was an "impressive display of democracy" and called on politicians to honor the outcome. The "annexation" of pro-Russia Crimea occurred only after the putsch in Kiev in 2014.
I salivate at the thought of the moments post -Trump, when Republicans near and far realize what the American people are about to do to them for sitting on their hands and allowing Donald J. Trump to do what he has done. I cherish the thought. Let the proverbial chipfall where they may, and it is TIME to organize the reckoning. Rise, vote.
The real story being hidden by “Trump distraction syndrome”, is this corrupt lawless president is still doing behind the scenes bidding for our nemesis Russia, like for instance attempting to withhold the congressional pre-approved $250 million military aid package hostage that the Ukraine would use to defend their country against their aggressive neighbor, and by also trying to get Russia re-admitted into the G-7, Why? He sides against our own Intel community in favor of Putin. He releases classified info to Russians in of all places, The Oval Office. As President he can declassified any top secret intel. He has done nothing to insure that they or anybody else stop interfering in our so called free elections. Nothing else compares to what seems like is his number one goal:
To secretly protect Russia’s interest instead of our own. That’s the real story here.
It’s insanity for a duly elected
United States President, never mind if he has crossed the line a millionth time to be ousted! “Trump distraction syndrome”
I compare it to the conniving fox in charge of guarding the hen house. We are all being conned by “Don the Con”.
Once you understand this concept, than you will see the dangerous predicament we all as a country find ourselves in.
I think your sub-head question should be "Has he finally gone too far for Republicans?", and the answer is "No".
There seems to be no "too far" for Republicans.
Ever since he smartly chose a New York City real estate baron inheritance daddy Donald Trump has been parading, prancing, preening and pretending to be successful and wise in business, life and love.
Donald Trump didn't win 63 million votes including 58% of the white voting majority in 2016 by covert stealthy subtle means.
Every American knew who Donald Trump was and was not and voted accordingly.
4
The media can indict trump more easily than this Senate ever will.
They can stop using the honorific of "President", when referring to corrupt mobster trump. Remove his title. He's shown us he does not deserve it.
Make it clear: we do not consider him our President. He has been removed!
4
@IN Agreed. The Democrats are indicted daily in the court of public opinion by the media’s willingness to repeat the oft used refrain “but the Democrats...” The Republicans utter the public indictment, media brings the tar and feathers. The Republicans skate free for far, far more illegality and corruption with public evidence while the Democrats suffer the consequences regardless of guilt or innocence.
Time for media to stop with false equivalencies and start focusing on who is at the corruption on a far grander, more internationally damaging scale: the Republican Party and its dictator-in-chief. BOTH parties should be held accountable to the law and our constitution. Right now only the Democrats are. Time to stop misusing public indictments and start using true legal ones.
These comments reflect the pathetic circumstances we have elected and do not answer writer Dowd's question.
"Has he really gone too far?"
The answer, I think, is no. He's always been what he is and will
be.
We all can fill in what is left unwritten here.
So, of course he colluded with Russia.
3
Few things came out the last 4 years , one is that we were believing that we were living under a constitution written by peoples with a vision , peoples who knew how fragile humain being can be given a little bit of power ,they knew that guardrail has to be put in place, they knew that power has to be divided between 2 chambers and the White House , then came trump with his style that us New Yorker knew to well, the con artist who was only running for president to promote his brand of real estate , steaks , ties made in China , golf course and the famous university ,he told us who he was, that he could shoot someone on 5 th ave , would ban Muslims and ,he made up story on president Obama citizenship and no one believe who he was , this man is not only crazy and dangerous for America , he is dangerous for humanity , he showed us that everything we believed in was absolutely a big farce , Justice was an idea that doesn't really mean much if you decide not to follow it , subpoenas is also a joke and you don't have to appear If you don't feel like to, answearing questions under oath ,another big joke, disrespecting members of the commitee ,also fine, the framers were not prepared for a con artist or a cult leader taking over the White House , we were also under the impression that the swearing they all go through to protect the constitution actually meant something, now we know that we believed in an ideal, the philosophy of Alexis De Tocqueville Couldn't be exported after all.
Not since Nixon have we seen such a crook in the White House. Oh sure, there have been presidents we disagree with but not the slick crooks of Nixon and trump.
1
What a teaser op-ed Ms. Dowd has written.
Trump has committed numerous "Big One'' offenses, too many for me to count. This is a problem, to be sure, but the real ''Big One'' offense rests with Republicans in Congress who have chosen to allow him to trash their Constitutional powers and confirm the most unqualified team of Executive Branch managers in our country's history.
1
This isn’t the “big one”.
Neither would it be if trump’s taxes revealed all of trump’s debts were paid off by the Kremlin, with Putin’s signature on each document...
There is no “big one”.
For decades we have been gradually fortifying the position of president to create some sort of omnipotent entity that is above the law, and all the while empowering corporations, wealthy individuals and deep pocketed special interest groups to pick the candidates that best serve their interests.
This will be just like all the other momentary big stories and just fade away when in few days some other outrageous incident or act captures everyone’s attention.
The republicans will breathe a sigh of relief because attention was refocused and they can remain focused on their job of bringing this country closer to a complete plutocracy.
The democrats will breath a sigh of relief because attention was refocused and they can go back to fighting amongst themselves over who’ll do nothing the loudest.
This is what you get when you have a government of individuals not dedicated to the people they are supposed to serve, where each one is more concerned with their own careers over the wellbeing of the nation.
The door was unlocked in 1976 by Buckley v. Valeo and eventually thrown wide open by Citizens United, we no longer have a government, but a random collection of people employed by various entities which paid to get them into office.
5
If Trump’s dealings with the Ukraine were so innocent and ethical, as he claimed, why have he and his staff tried so desperately to keep them secret? How would revealing them have jeopardized national security? Now that the alleged facts are becoming known, is the USA any less secure? Those who would doubt 45’s honor and integrity already have plenty of reasons.
In the fervor of calling impeachment, the Democrats should not forget there is the other half of the country which had descended to the level of Donald Trump who had remade it out his own shadow.
Constitution provides a clear path to remove a president through an impeachment process, but in a divided country, it is difficult to get 50% of the voters to agree on an issue, let alone 2/3 of both house and senate to agree upon impeachment. The Democrats can pursue through a criminal indictment by challenging the written guideline of Justice Department through the court. The chances of prevailing in the Supreme Court are slim given the makeup of the court. Thanks to the constitution- the living bible we all pledge to,
For now, Democrats are stuck with Trump for his term and they need to concentrate on how to remove him through next election with the right message not just to the left but to the country as a whole for the purpose of governing.
1
Those of us who understand science are aware of receptor downregulation, the phenomenon by which repeated stimulation leads to increasing loss of sensitivity to the stimulus. That is what is happening with Trump and his assault on Democracy, the truth, and the Law. Every infraction has less, not more impact on Americans. It is therefore unlikely that this episode will be "The One". Democrats have already shown the futility of going after every "sin" in the hope that one will stick. They have also failed to connect with voters by describing Trump's behavior as UnPresidential. The time has come for someone to beat him at his own game. Call him on his lies and deeds without letting him off the hook or giving him the respect one would typically give a President. Using all means available to obtain his tax returns and to have evidence of his business" success" and "wealth" made public. Too often questions are asked of him that allow him to deflect, go off-topic or lie without an instant comeback. Too often challenges are limited to legal means that are unlikely to yield results any time soon, if ever. Upregulation of American's "receptors" requires much more than Democrats have been able or willing to do so far. He is thin skinned and impulsive. Time to use the martial arts as a model by using his own energy to bring him down. Baiting and exposing him will ultimately lead to self-destruct.
7
And to think Bill Clinton was Impeached because he lied about getting a 'head' job.
Andrew Johnson was impeached for 'violating something called the Tenure of Office Act which stated the President couldn't terminate a cabinet member without Senate consent.
Now we have a president who is walking all over our Constitution like it meant nothing.
Other presidents have at least honored that piece of paper whether they agreed with it or not.
Such efforts on their part allowed for stability in our union.
Trump, on the other hand, is doing all he can to undermine what was once considered a sacred document.
But in retrospect, during the debates with Hillary Clinton, Trump said that if there are laws and rules that he didn't agree with, he would challenge it.
In his case, he is working to destroy it.
In much the same way as an episode of the Twilight Zone called The Old Man in the Cave ended, I wonder if this is our fate.
The parallel is remarkable.
5
"Has he finally gone too far?"
Certainly he has. Over and over and over and over. Not that it matters at all to the Republicans or to Trump's oh-so-gullible base.
9
the Democratic Party is proving, again, that it is currently a party of failure. For the second time in so many years, Obama election being the first, this party has been handed the reins of power in response to the Republican abuse and corruption. And for the second time it fecklessly fails to act. Obama chose to focus on health care, letting Wall Street cover up it's looting campaigns and, in fact, crank up the looting. He treated Occupy Wall Street like a nuisance to be sneered at and ultimately suppressed. Donald Trump in the oval office is the result. With every iteration of Republican (mis)rule the corruption gets more brazen and more menacing. So the Democratic Party got handed some power back and it is using it for ... exactly nothing. Just like before.
Both the UK and the US are on exactly the same path. Organized looting through financialization of the economy, deepening corruption and lawlessness, followed by the eruption of public anger which, as most revolutions do, brings to power radicals, either from the left or from the right, in some ways it does not really matter.
Argentina and/or Brazil beacons for the rest of this century. Violent swings between extreme left and extreme right, embedded corruption that steadily gets worse, with an occasional military coup in between. Not only can it happen here, I think it is basically inevitable.
5
No, it's never been about Trump however flawed his character and his temperament to be our president.
The grievances of our fellow citizens who elected him to office remain unaddressed and there is no returning back to "how things were" until that is addressed by politicians from either party.
4
Trump is a traitor, and he belongs in jail, but that isn't the issue. It isn't what's wrong with Trump, it's what's wrong with us, giving a twisted monster like him the nuclear codes. We might be rid of Trump one day, one way or another, but what we really need to be rid of is whatever made it possible for him to be elected and then stay in office so long after he proved himself totally unworthy.
15
Trump is a criminal. He is being betted by almost all of the GOP members of Congress. America is currently in the hands of the most corrupt politicians to ever have emerged in the USA.
11
". . . this sleazy business guy sitting in the Oval Office playing a tinpot dictator in a tinfoil hat . . . "
Still, that description, albeit accurate and precise, is still overly generous and kind. He neither deserves nor is entitled to anything less than being removed from office - permanently.
5
It's all been big enough for me.
It's good that Pelosi as Third in line for the Presidency that she will never get there. Because she is big enough to lead the House, heretofore, but not the Country.
We are living a nightmare day after day after day, and Pelosi issues polished statements. Actions speak louder than words,
Madame Speaker. You may very well be the last Speaker of the House with even a semblance of authority.
2
"We the people?" How about "we the Electoral College?" Three million more PEOPLE voted for HRC over DJT. Even if the "blue wall" was resurrected and the democratic nominee manages to win back the 36 electoral college votes (Pa, Mi & Wi), Trump still wins the bare requisite 270 electoral college votes to win a second term. Despite the fact that an even greater popular vote may be in the Dem's favor.
Any one other of Trump state's electoral college votes flipping to the Dems would be required to make this Trumpster fire a one-termer. FLORIDA, the nation is watching you. It won't matter one bit if the Dems have a 10 million vote majority. "We the people" indeed.
6
Is there a "too far" with this President, given his hold over the Justice Department and both parties' preference for political advantage over national interest? Just possibly incontrovertible evidence of a felony so heinous as to be beyond most people's imaginations (far worse than mere murder on Fifth Avenue) could spur Congress to meaningful action, but I wouldn't bet on it. They seem as attached to Trump as the NRA is to the gun industry (before December 2014 many of us might have thought that the mass shooting of elementary school children would be the "too far"), and as dismissive of what the Constitution requires.
4
I cannot but start what has become a nightmare:
The probability of Donald Trump declaring Marshall Law because he has not been able to "Make America Great Again," as he envisions it.
He has constitutional power over the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, the CIA, the FBI, the State Department, our numerous security agencies, and the National Guards. He also has support of the police departments across the nation and it seems to be also the police departments across the nation.
Imagine him calling a secret meeting after midnight at Camp David to announce his decision with no discussions and keeping anyone daring to oppose him in control until the announcement is made and silencing public opposition as other dictators have throughout the history. If there were and international football team of current dictators, without a doubt he would be the Quarterback.
Aside for this scenario, is a major problem with our nation. Wheres we try to find causes leading to impeachment, our emphasis seems to be on violations of our Constitution domestically acting as if no nation beyond our borders exist ignoring the fact that his foreign policy adversely affects the world including the United States on a continuous bases.
3
This latest Trump scandal should give Speaker Pelosi pause.
She believes that the move for Impeachment will jeopardize her moderate members re-election chances.
The irony is that her pause carries a bigger risk since Trump's endless outreach for foreign assistance not only could enhance his re-election, but doom these same moderate members.
If we equate foreign assistance/meddling in our elections with another form of campaign donations then the danger becomes clear. Do nothing about Ukraine and you imperil the current Democratic majority in the House.
We need a robust Impeachment inquiry not only to blow by the stonewalling of Barr, McGahn, and others, but to send a message to any wavering foreign governments that assisting Trump is unacceptable.
In 1972, Nixon was re-elected in a landslide. A year later, as the Watergate scandal grew, most voters still didn't grasped it. As the Impeachment hearings began, public opinion shifted as people learned the full scale of the scandal.
The same lessons apply almost fifty years later. Use the Ukraine incident as the impetus for a robust Impeachment inquiry. This is the best way to insure that Trump is not only held accountable, but that our elections on all levels are protected from foreign influence.
2
Trump told George Stephanopolous that he would willingly accept dirt on an opponent proffered by a foreign country to curry his favor. His base and the Republicans in Congress had no problem with that. Do you think they would have a problem with Trump requesting that dirt from a country, even at the same time he is holding up a foreign aid package to the country. I don't. Face it, there is no big one for them.
4
For Trump to characterize his phone conversation with the President of Ukraine as "perfectly fine and routine" underscores the problem with the bully-in-chief. What we have witnessed over 2 and a half years is a president who does not know what is appropriate. He continues to upend norms and ignore the checks and balances built into the government through our Constitution. This is the travesty. That Trump is allowed to continue to trample on the Constitution.
5
Every day that Trump is in office, he tarnishes the reputation and destroys the principles of "his party." Every craven Republican Senator or Representative afraid to speak the truth--sometimes aggressively touting the lies, misdirection, and crazy conspiracy theories--not only diminishes the party but also our country. The only question is whether we will continue our slide into unprincipled, narcissistic authoritarian rule, or whether there remain "a few good men" (or women) who will try to save our Democracy and the things that have made us a great country.
1
Put aside for the moment what Trump said to the president of Ukraine and focus on what we know about the actions of Giuliani, a personal attorney for Trump with no government position, i.e., that the State Department arranged a meeting for Giuliani with a high Ukraine official for the purpose of pressing Ukraine to investigate a family member of a political opponent of Trump. Once again we have to ask “what if.” What if Obama had used the State Department for political purposes?
3
I keep thinking that Pelosi must have a strategy, but after the Lewandowski spectacle, if she does....... it is failing.
Senator Berke should have been the first questioner, of Lewandowski, and set the tone.
And if Nadler can't do any better, give him a whistle and a stop sign and post him in front of the building.
Big one? I'm going to have a big one if the D's can't do any better.
2
“Is this the big one?” frames this story as a political question.
But it is a legal one.
1
Guess what, Maureen. No one cares about this stuff outside of political junkies. I live in a pro-Republican suburb and here's why, despite far-off scandals, they will continue to vote for him or any Republican: (1) My taxes are too high while "those people" get free stuff; (2) "My 401K is doing great;" (3) Abortion; (4) "Socialism" although it's likely few could accurately define that term. There are other reasons also, but until Democrats get their act together and address kitchen table issues in no-nonsense terms, I predict that folks will continue to pull the R lever no matter who the candidate is. Or stay home out of disgust for both parties.
4
Could it be that there were phone calls in a contiguous series, calls to the Ukrainian president and to Putin? It would please Putin to have an even weaker Ukraine no, by the withholding of aid to Ukraine? That would definitely freak out an intelligence guy.
1
Has he finally gone too far? Nope. All part of the gas-lighting of Pelosi, congress, and the American people - including his deluded "base". Oh, and he will NOT leave office next year, whether he loses the popular vote or not - what's congress going to do, subpoena him? Ooh, scary (NOT).
3
Nothing will happen. They all lie in the white house as well as the Republicans. The Republicans believe Trump is the greatest president in the history of this country because he is the corrupt person they wanted. Together they are destroying what the USA represents and it's not good. I see no hope.
Simply put, if someone does not stop him, nobody will and he will win a second term beating a hapless Democratic party lost in the haze of it all...
2
Many of us have noticed Trump picks people like himself. If they turn out not to be, they quickly leave, or are jettisoned by the grand liar of all. The public remains divided; one part loves his audacity while the other cannot believe he's here, strutting his stuff endlessly. In the meanwhile, the Senate does nothing because they love power too much to declare he's a disease; the House keeps trying to impeach him and ignores the work they should be doing. It's a mess. When will this Man, who gets crazier by the week, leave our country and join the dictators of the world where he will fit very nicely?
2
Just wake me when Trump and McConnell are dead. That is when our nightmare will change course, at least. Though it will not end until the Republicans are all gone.
2
Yes, Maureen. "There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile." And his name is "Crooked" Donald Trump, the master of projecting his corruption, sins, and criminality onto others. The Southern District of New York has labeled him "crooked" as "Indivisual-1" an unindicted co-conspirator in a felony he ordered his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to commit for which he's now serving jail time. Now, we have another "One" proving the "fake-news" hoax of "No Collusion! No Obstruction!" where Trump himself has been caught by a whistle-blower attempting to collude [aka conspire] with "loony" Rudy to get "dirt" from a foreign entity [aka Ukraine] on Joe and Hunter Biden to help corrupt the 2020 election. If the Dems don't bite on this "One," they may as well forget about a clean election since the rigging clearly underway will accelerate. Trump who already has a built-in 5-7 percent advantage due to Voter ID laws, purging of minorities from the voting rolls, and gerrymandering will squeak by to a second Electoral College "win" and finish what's left of our Constitutional democracy.
@Paul Wortman I bet you liked watching the "Twilight Zone" too?
It is as simple as this. Trump is a criminal his jury is the Senate and it will not convict. If you indict and Trump is found " Not Guilty" he is exonerated and everything is a witch hunt and the dems are picking on me along with the deep state. Just keep investigating and expose each corruption.
1
So far, the President has avoided impeachment and criminal prosecution will have to wait until he is out of office. Jon Gotti’s ability to prolong the inevitable was impressive. Trump has given the monicker “Teflon Don” new meaning.
2
But who or what will stop him?
According to "The Fire and the Fury" - a book by Michael Wolf -
this President is not only profoundly un-informed (about almost everything) and lacks any political experience -
He is also virtually illiterate!!
I am an Australian. My government is tied to America's apron-strings.
If you get involved in a military conflict we are also dragged into it - and many Australian military personnel will die.
We are very worried that such an ignorant man has been elected to this powerful position.
3
Lets get this straight.
Hunter Biden, not a petroleum engineer, with no experience in the energy field, has made a fortune being on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
When a Ukrainian prosecutor began a case against him, VP Joe Biden demanded the prosecutor be removed and held back a billion dollars of US aid for the Ukraine until he was.
Donald Trump asks the Ukrainian president to look into the matter.
And Donald Trump is the criminal here?
Welcome to Thunder-dome.
4
There is no such thing as "too far" when Nancy Pelosi refuses to act.
1
Would people, the mainstream fact-based media, pundits and especially Democrats in Congress please stop using the title "president" when referring to Donald Trump. Applying that title to him insults all prior holders of that office. Don't pretend that you are simply showing respect for the office, not the child-man.
Trump is no president, he is the occupier of the White House. Thus, "Occupier Trump" and "the White House occupier."
3
I've a question. Let's say Trump loses the election in 2020. Now, he still remains in office until January 2021, right?
Is it possible that during this three month period, Trump could resign, leaving us with a President Pence who could then issue, up until 11:59 am Inauguration Day, a blanket pardon to Trump for any crimes at all? Think I am nuts...or maybe just too into the treasonous mind of Trump?
1
It is time to replace Nadler. He is very ineffectual as head of the House Judiciary Committee and his proceedings last week made him a laughingstock by Lewandowski and his neener-neener antics. Show some guts, Democrats, against the Trump cult and get something done before you hand our country off to this atrocious oaf for another four years.
3
There is no “big one”. His support is rooted in his supporter’s desire to go back to the 50’s when everybody knew their place (white supremacy), you could support a family with little education, and they were respected and not looked down upon because of their conservative values. That bond is very personal and will not be broken by the fake news media making some charge that doesn’t directly effect them.
Unfortunately, that is where we are at. The only way to end this nightmare is to out vote them in 2020.
You would think that when Donald Trump was accused of being a Russian tool and a two-year investigation then completely cleared him of any such wrongdoing, his enemies would settle down.
But no. It's on to something else. The man surely did something. We just have to find out what.
A lot of people don't like Donald Trump's policies. A lot of people don't like his style. A lot of people don't like both. But that's okay. You don't have to like a president. You can always vote against him.
But to constantly call for impeachment is something else. To impeach a president you need evidence. And to use the powers of Congress not to investigate a crime, but to look for one, is an abuse of those powers. A shameful abuse.
It's Jerry Nadler who has gone too far. And Adam Schiff. And the cheerleaders who support them. They are a disgrace.
3
Grendel is the right metaphor for Trump--terrorizing all now if we could only find a Beowulf. This will not be it without the whistleblower coming forward and being of a certain prominence. And even then I give it 50-50 for having any impact. The president has shown that the powers of the president are absolute as Stephen Miller once said. God help us all.
trump has learned that the only risk he faces is crossing a line that would cause Republicans to abandon him. He does not fear impeachment because he knows it would rally Republicans to his defense. He does not fear abusing his office to win re-election because he knows Republicans are with him in an uphill fight to win re-election themselves. The question is: what is the breaking point for Republicans? Does it exist? If they allow him to extinguish the rule of law, they should understand that trump will be free to come after them next. Every Republican at every level must be voted out of office. Every. Single. One.
1
Perhaps our emotions are obscuring our ability to see the landscape as Pelosi does. The success of hearings held by the democrats will not improve in their favor simply by entering the impeachment process and they should expect those hearings to be a crazier circus than the recent Lewandowski testimony, a divisive mess . Pelosi is astute in waiting for an undeniable impeachable event with a respected, reliable and unwavering witness before discussing impeachment. This Ukraine matter may or may not be that event. Atkinson's letter confirming the credibility and urgent concern of the allegation strongly suggests that the whistleblower is very high ranking individual. If the event and the whistleblower prove to be the right circumstances then Pelosi would proceed with a winning hand, but to proceed without a winning hand on the doorsteps of the election would be dangerous. While it is hard to remain calm with one disgraceful event after another, we must do so and remain focused on the objective - a new president in 2020.
1
If Trump attempted to bribe a foreign country in order to meddle in the US election, then Congressional Republicans should take action against the president.
When will the country's interests take precedence over their (perceived) self interests?
1
He is a long way past too far.
And he continues to wreak havoc every day.
But this is old news. Must we wait for the ultimate disaster?
4
Most countries have laws against international mobsters. Our country has no such laws. Trump has apparently done nothing illegal!
And he will keep doing horrid things and this last one will also not be illegal. Many have said that the problems we see with Trump have not been seen before to this extend because most presidents voluntarily stay within certain bounds. Even the US Constitution has holes in it in the sense of not defining "high crimes and misdemeanors."
Trump will sale on to re-election and try to find a way for a 3rd term.The Democrats don't understand and are trying to put up Biden, a real give-away to Trump. Because they just love to think that a moderate dem "standard bearer" will be able to pull it off. Remember Hillary Clinton? She offered working people nothing and did not offer anything like medicare for all, or tuition cost solutions or essentially any assistance to the average person.
We are losing big time with this guy and these parties.
1
What if we indpendents and centrist democrats start a movement to pledge our vote to a moderate Republican presidential candidate if the Republicans support impeachment.
I just want him gone.
2
In order to “win” these elections, is we need to get back Congress. With McConnell in control of it, we would still be fighting a losing battle. SCOTUS has to start proving their loyalty to the country, and not to the current guy in the WH. The same with AG Barr. Between all of them allowing trump to do what he’s doing, it wouldn’t matter whether it was him or another GOP president. As much as I hate to say it, I think we were better off with Sessions. There doesn’t appear to be any republicans that want to go up against trump. The big question is, WHY! What does he hold over their heads? They really seems to be afraid of him. Sort of like the minions under Putin.
You would be handing him four more years on a silver platter.
I have tried to understand Speaker Pelosi's resistance to undertaking a formal impeachment inquiry; as things continue to unfold I do not see the political argument that this should be left to the voters. How can they judge without evidence that an inquiry would generate? Pelosi wants to leave the voters uninformed about Trump's behavior and trust they will decide in Democrat's favor based on the appeal of House candidates. On a district by district basis that has some credence, but in the larger perspective of the Senate and the Presidential vote it is not enough. Even more reps in the House does not turn the Senate, not does it turnover the Presidency. At some point the issue is the country.
3
Problem is, everything gets stopped at the senate doors. McConnell would never permit anything to happen to trump. Trump is his ticket to staying in power.
1
Democrats need to quickly and assertively move to impeach, and Republicans need to put country before party and self (i.e., fulfill their Constitutional duties). But that's kind of like asking the person who stole your unlocked bicycle to help you recover it; the Republicans are in on the crime(s) and have no interest in justice. So it's up to patriotic Americans (real patriots, not Trump-brand patriots) to unify behind the Democrats, no matter who the nominee is, and vote straight Democrat. I don't think it's exaggerating to say November 2020 could be our last chance to vote in a "democratic" election; if Trump and the GOP are rewarded with four more years, America may be well on its way to authoritarianism by 2024. Trump MUST be removed from office, as must EVERY single sitting Republican who has abided and enabled this criminal enterprise.
3
Great comment. The democratic party is unable to learn how Trump propaganda machine works. He repeats the same lies thousand times and that becomes the truth to his followers. On the other hand, all truths are on the democrat side. Trump and his cronies are involved in corrupt activities on a daily basis. Alas, the party cannot provide coherent message and publicize daily criminal activities by the Trump machine The leaders are all busy promoting utopian ideas to win the primary. Alas, most people in general election won’t care for most of them. They are giving a free pass to Trump everyday. Trump knows well about the weakness of the democrats. For the same, he crosses every boundary daily. It is a travesty to see what happened to the party. There is not a single maverick leader in the party who is pragmatic, articulate and play fire against fire telling the truth to us,the people.
3
I have two words for you to get this Constitutional nightmare logjam flowing: Hong Kong. A sustained on the ground campaign at the Capitol and White House will force change. I do not advocate violence, but I do advocate peaceful protest and pressure involving perhaps a million people. It can be done, and will take away the one thing that Trump cannot live without: constant media attention.
Take our government and democracy back!
7
@Dooda The protesters in Hong Kong don't have guns. What you see on the news everyday are peaceful protests. What you won't see on the news is a protest movement able to turn back the PLA.
People with guns don't choose non-violence. And, if they lose, it takes longer to defeat them. Don't believe me? Who has won the Israeli-Palestinian war?
The central task regarding Trump is for all of us to own Trump. Let us begin with the fact that personal freedom as practiced by this country, not necessarily as practiced by politics, has never been greater. The next step is then to realize that personal freedom turned inward, such that, true collective action would be limited to tribe, family, and friends. This is what needs to change now. Through the ballot box we need collectively to Dump Trump. Stop with the outrage with Trump. This is just what he wants, and he laughs, LAUGHS!, with all the press reporting the outrage. Truth has a funny way of showing up, though, where there are only lies. Progressives, BTW, have the same theory of truth, post William James Variety of Religious Experience, that Trump has. If you do not understand this, you are not seeing the social science, (I use this term 'science' with a liberal attitude about it's applicability, that in truth is not justified), as practiced in the Progressive Academic world. Look up Foucault and his influence in higher education. To Trump and Progressives, truth is what we say it is to meet our needs as we define them. We need to electorally rid ourselves from the menace that is Trump and the Progressives who think like him. Whether it be conservative or liberal, we need a moderate to help us heal. Let there be a town-hall with Warren and just Trump's base; let us see how she can win over at least some to win. Then let Biden do same. My money is on Biden, or Amy K
2
There is no "too far." There is no "big one." The Republicans, especially those in the Senate, will continue to support Trump, not only out of fear of the base if they do not, but also out of fear for the loss of power from here to eternity. Progressively since Nixon's "Southern strategy" through the presidency of Barack Obama, The GOP has shifted from adherence to core policies--lower taxes (for all), free trade, less regulation, strong defense--to policies, mostly race-, gender-, and religion-based, to sustain a white, male, Christian America. Impending minority status of that group requires anti-democratic, authoritarian means to maintain power. Topple Trump and you topple to GOP, and Republicans know it. (Hey, let's do it!)
6
I think someone has made it clear to Mr. Trump that he can do whatever he wants and no one can stop him. The only way to do that is impeachment and impeachment is as likely as Moscow Mitch joining the Democratic Party.
5
It is important to remember than the President vanquished not only the Democrats but at least 20 other confirmed, professional and experienced Republican (candidates) in 2016. So, it was political business 'as usual' or an ALTERNATIVE CANDIDATE who would manage the USA. The standards set moved with the election. (No politician could endure or attempt what the President is attempting.) All this gives the Republicans adequate cover to impose what they will (judges, roll-backs, tax reductions) with impunity!!
3
Wishful thinking Maureen. I don't think the current republican leaders are going to support the impeachment of Trump. Some of them may condemn him privately but afraid to say anything against him publicly. So, forget about getting republican support and concentrate on winning the 2020 elections.
6
Every time I read something that says "has Trump gone too far this time?" invariably, nothing concrete is done about it and he moves on to the next outrageous, immoral or (possibly) illegal thing. The Republicans and Trump's lawyer are very good at protecting him by using the line that whatever he did can't be proven to be technically illegal. Apparently morality and ethics don't matter anymore, so he remains free and clear of any accountability. Little wonder people are discouraged.
9
How can anyone rationally believe that the 2020 elections will be conducted fairly and securely? It has been determined as fact that there was serious meddling in our 2016 elections, yet not a single step has been taken to rectify that situation.
So many are holding onto the premise that Trump will surely be defeated in the forthcoming election, willfully forgetting past election irregularities and meddling and not considering this administration's trashing of the laws, our Constitution, and expected precedent. We surely know that he and his minions care not what irreparable destruction and suffering they cause in their quest for power and more wealth, in fact, they seem to gleefully welcome it all.
In spite of my actively supporting Democratic candidates for many years, I find the possibility of election shenanigans and outside interference throwing the 2020 election much more likely than not. It is foolhardy for Pelosi/other party leaders to eschew impeachment, banking solely upon a defeat of Trump at the polls. In addition to gambling foolhardily without studying the odds, Nancy et al are disenfranchising countless voters who are increasingly frustrated by their inaction.
6
Isn’t it interesting that the rule of law means nothing if there isn’t political will.
16
Lexington. Concord. Courage. Justice.
Will any of us stand tall and confront the threat of tyranny before it's too late?
4
Joseph Stalin said that the loss of one life is a trajedy, but a million is only a statistic. Donald Trump knows this about lies and corrupt practice. Do it out in the open, often, and people will permit just about anything because ethical reality has been suspended. Its the Shock and Awe doctrine, this time shredding truth and morality simultaneously so as to render the public either delighted or too stunned to stop the onslaught.
6
No chance. Republicans in the Senate will NEVER vote for removal. His base will never desert him and will take retribution on any Republican senator who does. Even if there was a tape that surfaced wherein he actually conspired with a foreign leader to influence the 2020 election the Republicans would not be moved. So, the question becomes, if in fact the House obtains the complaint and there actually is something compelling therein, whether or not to impeach knowing there is no chance of removal? Only if the House Majority leadership is confident that their impeachment managers can use the Senate trial to present enough credible evidence to conclusively convince the swing voters that Trump must go. Otherwise, impeachment is pointless.
2
@Robert When you can't beat him your only choice is to impeach him.
He's been walking through a minefield from day one, but the mines are all duds. Until one of them finally detonates, the destruction of the country continue.
Nancy Pelosi has been a good party leader for a long time, but the situation has changed. Her pragmatic caution is fine for non-emergency situations, but this is an emergency. Impeachent will almost certainly not result in conviction in the Senate, but it will bring so much incriminating evidence to light that only die-hard kool-aid drinkers will be able to deny the President's criminality and disloyalty.
4
If the President is blatantly abusing the Constitution, the Speaker of the House has a sworn duty to impeach the President. That’s why impeachment exists. That’s the oath Pelosi swore to uphold.
Talk about Jedi mind tricks. Pelosi is saying two things at once. Needless to say, she’s only helping Trump.
2
It is not about his "behavior" - it is his ACTIONS that matter. His behavior is abhorrent. but when this president acts and breaks laws, it is time to take appropriate legal action.
4
After Speaker Pelosi decides not to impeach, President Trump will declare, “Even the crooked Dems said I was innocent.” This will be a major campaign mantra.
5
No, this is not the big one.
"All in all it's just another brick in the wall."
And before you know it,
"You're just another brick in the wall."
It becomes us.
We're there now.
Trump has his wall
And we have ours
The children of the world are gathering to save our planet.
Shush little children
We have grownup things to do
We have walls to build
And walls to tear down.
The children are not so easily distracted by our busy work
They see us for what we are
"Just another brick in the wall."
3
Asking for help alone is sleazy but only impeachable if you analogize it to asking for help from Russia. (I do but that’s another matter.
Threatening Ukraine as a quid pro quo to dig up dirt on Biden and son is another matter. So far we only have the first half of the story: asking for help. We are still waiting for news establishing direct evidence of a threat (what we’ve seen so far smells but it isn’t enough yet to say reasonable belief, let alone more likely than not, and nowhere near enough to be conclusive. We need to stay tuned for the next of a thousand shoes to fall.
When it could have made a difference, the Democrats did nothing. No impeachment, no censure, no speaking out with one voice, nothing! Now Trump feels comfortable trying to buy a foreign leader with taxpayer money. And the Republican Party is comfortable supporting him. If our democracy is going to be saved, it will only be done in 2020 at the polls. And a plague on both their houses!
1
Republicans can listen to trump (in Helsinki) tell the world he believes Putin over his own intelligence community and not give it a second thought. It’s beyond naive to think that they would be moved in the slightest by the whistleblower’s claim.
4
The appeasements of Pelosi are going down in history as the most failed political strategy of all time.
4
And if he did so what? His job as a chief executive is to root out corruption and drain the swamp.
Threatening foreign leaders who criminally conspired with our elites is his job too.
Trump should hunt down the” whistler blower” and charge him or her.
This is a cold civil war, cold war but no prisoners taken and no surrender war. If the left thinks that the dossier and Russia hoax gets a pass but this is incident is not, they are in for yet another brutal setback. Republicans are united. This is total war so no more pretenses please.
2
Trump has no plans to ever leave the White House. He keeps dropping hints and each day destroys a little more of our democracy.
4
One man cannot be this corrupt without and army of corruption behind him and that is the beauty of the Republican strategy of, pursue the corrupt Untouchable immune from prosecution while they put a torch to consumer protections, environmental protections, financial protections, health and safety protections, and line their pockets with natural resources from public lands and huge government contracts for doing nothing. If Trump is finally held accountable for any of his corruption, he will be a martyr and the corrupt Republican army will thrive in his honor.
2
There is only one reason the democrats can't get to trump and it is the republican party. As long as they hold the senate and choose to protect him, there's no way the democrats can get him. He feels invincible because he knows the republicans are terrified of him.
The trump family is a crime family and he is now running the government like a crime boss. The reason the democrats couldn't touch Lewandowski is because he never answered anything. He evaded and threw up smoke screens and sounded like a capo protecting his boss. Everyone who works for trump has taken some sort of loyalty pledge to him.
2
The Republicans went after Bill Clinton for, well, lying about an encounter with an intern.
The Republicans went after the Clintons for Whitewater, travelgate, filegate and other issues.
And there something to see, but, what the Clintons did pales in comparison to what our Dear Supreme Leader, the Republican enablers and the weak kneed Speaker of the House is inflicting on the executive office and our governmental institutions.
Trump is taking full advantage of the lack of backlash for his imbecilic decisions, his legally-questionable actions and his gleeful lining of his, and his family's pockets, at our expense (remember Jimmy Carter was investigated over his ownership of, gasp, a peanut farm).
Given the latest antics of the despotic emperor, perhaps the majority in the House needs to either abdicate their oversight role, as demonstrated by the Republican-majority in the Senate and let Trump run further amok, or, take action.
The lack of action only emboldens Trump. And Trump takes what has been given him, free rein, as a gift.
3
Trump, with the help of spineless Republicans, has normalized corruption. That will be the legacy of Trumpism. Now, the only way to fix it is to amend the Constitution and the only was to do that is to get rid of enough Republicans.
2
So funny when these stories are written and published right after the whole narrative falls apart.
Maureen, your key phrase is, "But maybe this time." Probably not. Corey Lewandowski spent a few hours giving Congress the finger and they went back to their caves whimpering.
"Big one" represents two things: Democratic prayers and Republican joke and one particular aspect of that joke is Pelosi's refusal to start the Trump impeachment process.
Trump has driven the rule of law to its knees and participating in the incoherent charge is babbler Giuliani.
I am beyond disgusted. Where are the Democrats when you need them? Where are honorable Republicans?
7
Every time this monster is permitted to commit his next heinous and criminal act without consequences, he pushes the envelope that much harder and farther the next time. There is no bottom.
Consequently, It pains me deeply to have to say this, but at this point house speaker Nancy Pelosi is complicit in the ongoing destruction of the US political system by this maniac.
He needs real consequences and he needs them now. Nancy has the power to push this forward and refuses to do it.
The Democratic party needs to take this to people as they did with the ACA in order to minimize the losses (and agreed there will be some), but this is much bigger than that.
The reality is that this is about the end of life under the US constitution with a Bill of Rights. If nothing is done, there will be no fair elections in 2020, and this maniac will be "installed" as President once again. Megalomania , autocracy and tyranny will reign.
7
Way past a crooked mile - and he walked too far when he thought himself fit - when he is nothing but a fraudster. Worse than that their are complicit individuals who did not blow the horn on the crooked mile walker. IT was way obvious. and now it is way past time for too late.
1
@kdw correction there are complicit individuals galore and perhaps even Maureen Dowd!
Give Crooked Trump a second term and just imagine how infinitely empowered the likes of Maguire, Barr, Ross, Mnuchin and, yes, even Loony Giuliani, will become, all Henchmen-In-Waiting. The laws they've so far scorned with breathtaking impunity will no longer exist. Kiss democracy goodbye and throw out the welcome mat to an autocracy that will endure for generations.
3
The political theater this past few years has been compelling to watch. From the moment that the shock of when the election was won and the "fat" lady refused to come out and sing, only to utter the words "resistance", following with a period of hand wringing confusion.
Then a decision was made by the so called "Deep State" to topple Trump whatever the cost to American institutions like this paper and the FBI.
J Edgar Hoover tainted his institution but somehow others brought it's credibility back, this paper is going to have a much harder time getting theirs back.
Dowd shows us she understands what's going on in her writing, they keep looking for that one big thing that will bring Trump down and get his supporters to abandon him.
But they fail to understand they want him to do just what he is doing, take a wrecking ball to the snobbish elites and the systems they have grown rich from on the backs of us peasants out here in the fly over hinterland.
Goodwin from the NY Post understands it too, let's just hope that Mother Times can recoup some of it cred when this thing is finally over.
History has a way of proving whether you were on the right or wrong side of it.
Boy.
These readers sure want a quick high.
No. There are no 218 Democratic votes to even start an impeachment inquiry.
1
Is this the big one? No...but maybe someday, something IRREFUTABLE AND UNQUESTIONABLY IRONCLAD will come along. In the meantime he's outsmarted us all, particularly the media who focuses on every pore...anointing him 'story of the day', every day. He's masterful! And he sells newspapers.
3
@cas Probably because there's no "there" there.
The Don is Teflon supersized. Nothing sticks.
The whistleblower would be better off trusting a journalist and leak it. After all this is how Deep Throat operated and it worked
Certainly Congress is not going to get the answers.
4
Trump can never go too far.
He could shoot someone on Fifth Ave and still get votes, according to his own judgement.
His base adores him.
And he is on track to be re-elected thanks to the incompetence of the Dems who offer as front runners an elderly man who cannot speak without gaffes, a proud Socialist (Bernie) who waves his hands while he speaks and a proud 70 year old Socialist who calls herself a capitalist ( Warren) but welcomed the endorsement of the Working families party which Bernie called his perfect Democratic Socialist party.
Expect 4 more years of Trump thanks to these incompetents.
2
I am totally disgusted with Democratic leadership, and I agree with Elizabeth Warren that Pelosi's leadership of the House Democratic Caucus amounts to nothing less than complicity in his blatant violations of the rule of law and venal self-dealing that are the very definition of what the founders had in mind for high crimes and misdemeanors. What will she and the toothless Dems do after the Trumpian Reichstag fire? Wring their hands and point to 2024? God forbid that they should take a political risk and do the thing that they swore to do in their oath of office, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
1
Sad, isn’t it? We’ve learned that with all of the right factors in place, such as an ethnically compromised Senate and White House staff, a president can get away with just about anything.
This won’t bring him down. The presidency is a fragile office that can easily be manipulated by one con man and his protectors.
4
@MH
Whoops! Meant to say ETHICALLY compromised Senate and White House staff.
He will never go far enough off the rails to upset his flock. They will find one reason or another to stand up for him. Even if Trump were to have orgies in the White House, I am confident his Christian followers would find a passage not only allowing it but probably establishing that it is God's intention. Heaven forbid, though if Biden wears a tie that would clash with his suit. Trump's followers know to attack early and often those they oppose.
1
So many big ones that the Democrats are now looking as complicit as the Republicans. What will it take to end this madness?
2
Reading column and comments leaves me weary and woozy.
Mr. Trump and the republican myth of destroying government in favor of private wealth and rule by cynical defiance have created a tone of superiority and belligerence over inept democrats that feels just awful to those of us independent.
Is this a time to duck heads and hide away as charlatan and connivers smirk their way through one jaw-dropping malfeasance after another?
Or, have we arrived at NO!
When that NO! awakens, when decent and fed-up people everywhere finally realize the time to end this foolish presidential and republican chicanery, there will appear and arise an antidote, a resistance fraught with dignity and peace, compassion long-missing justice, and there will be a turning to the dormant dream of America — liberty and justice for all.
3
Trump is the only world leader I have ever heard of who repeatedly refers to his “beautiful” conversations with other world leaders.
I am 80 years old and have been involved involved in tens of thousands of conversations over the course of my life.
Some of them have been interesting and entertaining. A few of them have been illuminating. Some of them have been boring and futile. Some of them have been lengthy. Many of them have been brief and stupid. Their content has ranged all over the lot from “Have a nice day,” to “I didn’t know I was speeding, officer,” but few if any of them could properly be described as “beautiful.”
So if his Trump's conversations with the leader of Ukraine were so beautiful why is he refusing to share them with the American people?
I’m guessing that what he really means by beautiful is “I’m going to blackmail these guys into coming up with some great dirt on Biden by holding up the help they need to defend themselves from Putin.”
6
When I was young we worried about respect for the law because so many smoked illegal weed. Nowadays our respect for the law is threatened by a president, AG and others who arrogantly ignore the law. The corruption is clearly top down these days.
I want to see those who refuse to follow legal procedure prosecuted and jailed as appropriate. If it was done for the neighbor with a little dope in the car, it is surely appropriate for these clowns.
1
Stop the nonsense and find a viable candidate who can win in 2020.
@Kevin You mean a President Betty can't win the prize with all her giveaways?
Pelosi. Pelosi. Listen to me. Impeach the guy now, because he's gonna rig the election otherwise. Don't assume we will have control of things all the way through January 2021.
"Crooked Donald thinks he can create a crooked Joe narrative just like he created a Crooked Hillary one."
While Democrats have the opposite idea.
Pictures and stories about the Boogeyman on the other side are used to change the subject, not to get anything done.
Voters notice that what they want to get done is entirely avoided in all this.
2
Yet: no "smoking gun," Tmp'll survive. His base will ignore it, as Helsinki & all other evils.
He owns the GOP/senate, an acquiescent group of cowardly fools doing his bidding. A dangerous threat as the supposed protector of democracy, he commits crimes, orders obedience-tyranny.
Maureen isn't helping by saying that the democrats came of foolish in the judiciary hearing with Cory Lewandowski. Reverse the parties and she would be blaming the democrats if it were they behaving as flagrantly disrespectful and Lewandowski. This attachment to the republicans being the patriarch is a big part of our problem with giving Trump the boot. The press needs to change their narrative.
It really is kind of humorous that Trump thinks after all of his scandals and lying and norm-breaking that ANY dirt on Biden or any other candidate means anything.
3
That picture of Donald Trump is reminiscent of a middle schooler "socially promoted" to high school - now in algebra class; KNOWING he doesn't even know his multiplication-tables. Out of his depth, yet still believing he con everyone into believing he's "smart." Trump; the unrepentant Failure.
1
Is anyone else sick, oh so sick of Nancy Pelosi? She of the fingers akimbo hand-wave as if it adds legitimacy to her cowardly argument that impeachment is not warranted?
I was her great supporter. I believed her to be on the side of "we the people" and justice. But now, I'm starting to wonder, what is she parsing? Whose side is she on? What more is she offering as evidence not to impeach than "her opinion"? She cites the mood of the country. How convenient without data to back it up.
If what Trump has done does not rise to the level of high crimes and (not to mention) misdemeanors, then what for the love of God has?
Anyone who believes that Corey Lewandowski’s performance made anyone other than Corey Lewandowksi look bad during his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee is applying a different standard to politics than most fair-minded observers. If an arrogant, truculent, proudly uncooperative witness is perceived as being the “winner” under sworn testimony, then we’re all doomed.
1
Stop attacking Trump. Whatever he does is ok with his base and with his supporters in Congress. You STILL don't grasp this? You STILL think they will see the light. if it gets bright enough? Childish, self-righeous fantasy.
Don't blame Trump for being evil. Blame the Democrats for being inept, disorganized amateurs, each as eager for personal attention as the man they hope will someday somehow disappear. Demonstrating, day after day, week after week, that ii is THEY who will get Trump re-elected.
I will only be satisfied when I se Trump spend the rest of his post-presidency in prison for high crimes and treason -- for the remainder of his time on this planet. Even Nixon would not have stooped this low.
1
@gemli
As long as the American people are clueless enough to perpetuate the myth that Trump was elected by the American people...
I don’t know how that sentence ends. But I do know that until Americans really internalise the falsity of the claim, you are doomed to an ever escalating series of reckless, self-absorbed leaders. Just look at our last few.
2
Trump is awful, but loyal Republicans will defend him to the end because they all do stuff like this to protect their power, and if they stopped, they would disappear. Trump is worse in his artlessness and level of corruption, but his awfulness is not new.
Democrats aren't perfect, but at least they are (most of them) sincerely trying to make a better country with healthier, happier, safer people.
2
Well, he's a bridge too far from us mere minions! And he can do what he likes as absolute power corrupts as he is the President of the United States of America.
There used to be a TV programme in the 1950/60's called, 'The Untouchables'. Can't imagine seeing that sort of TV programme today!
1
This particular corruption is really rich considering the profits trump and his spawn have made while and because he is president
The Republican game plan is simple --- it is Party Over Country.
2
Does anything matter?
We'll see, America. We'll see.
3
I can't tell which is more spineless: the Constitution or the House Democrats. Maybe it's both.
1
This Nation can no longer endure another second, minute, hour or day of this President.
3
Checks and balances? Nation of laws? Really, more of an incipient banana republic.
1
As Ronald Regan used to say “well, there you go again” Maureen. Shall we once again go down the road of calumny based upon supposition without fact? Since the bust of the Russia investigation and Robert Muller the new flavor of the month is the whistle blower report, you have already asserted that Trump is guilty of treason and worse, so why not add this one? Has anyone stopped to consider why perception of the news media is so low? Maybe because reportage is being replaced by simple advocacy (on both the right and left) and we just can’t wait to pick up the torches and pitchforks to go after our political opponents under the banner of “truth”. Have we gone back to the days of “you supply the pictures and I’ll supply the war”? Or you supply the allegation and I’ll supply the indictment?
1
There is no Big One, never was, never will be. Too many Democrats starting, with Nance Pelosi, are gutless wonders. So Trump gets away with murder - or just about everything but that it seems. Pelosi better pray really hard that Trump loses the election. There's no guarantee that NOT impeaching him will cause him to lose. Like I said, they are a largely gutless group and Trump sees it.
The Big One?
More like a mere bagatelle.
I’m a conservative Democrat and I love the way Mr. Trump is smashing china. No pun intended. 
2
Trimp would probably explain the seeming contradiction like this: "Joe Biden expends so much energy on being crooked, it makes him sleepy".
2
The GOP continue to whistle Dixie and pretend that everything is okay. As Senator Ben Sasse said a week or two ago, why is everyone so obsessed with politics? Why not just go to your kid’s Little League game and focus on that? Okay, Ben, Todd, and the rest of you silent pretenders and enablers.
Now you’re advising the rest of America to do what you yourselves do: shut up and keep a low profile. Ignore everything Trump says and does. What’s it going to take, America, to get you off of your duff to protest?
1
Anyone believing that Trump will leave the WH after 2020 if he loses the election, is VERY naive. Besides acting like he is above the law at every turn, the Dems have not landed one glove on him despite all their hearings etc. And Trump controls the Justice dept and the Supremes so forget them as checks on his behaviour. And Pelosi as House leader is as weak as they come.
In fact Trump would be a fool to leave given he is probably facing many criminal charges as a private citizen.
NYT and the rest of us should figure out how to make the best out of the next 8-12 years of Trump in the WH.
Lets be honest with ourselves, we have become a banana republic.
1
“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.”
― Anatole France
1
For those of you more worried about a President Pence than a (so-called) President Trump, consider this. The Constitution provides for the possibility of removing the entire Cabinet if the President is convicted of treason. Isn’t it treasonous to use taxpayer’s money—OUR money—for personal gain? Sure seems like it to me. Bring it on.
2
“If the president has done what has been alleged, then he is stepping into a dangerous minefield with serious repercussions for his administration and our democracy." Like what?
"So, is this the big one? We don't know because..."
We're still trying to figure out if he finally has gone too far. Now, just who is "we?" The press? Not much help there. Responsible journalism and quips. Congress? The Judiciary Committee? That would be more like an embarrassment. Nancy Pelosi? Well, she wants to make it a crime if a president commits a crime. But, we're not too sure about that. (Maybe everybody forgot about Nixon.)
Of course from where I sit - in Mexico - I can't speak with too much moral authority. But the USA is not Mexico. You guys up there are supposed to have your act together.
Maybe the problem is that Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton couldn't foresee that - what? 350 years later - you were going to have a gangster running your country because the Russians wanted him to lift sanctions, and the fossil-fuel crowd wanted to "Drill Baby Drill!" and the good ol' boy Republican's want times to keep on being good for them, and the true-believers want to believe.
The part I don't understand, is where the Democrats come into this deal...
No maybe we need to wait til kaiser trump shoots someone on 5th ave. Maybe that’ll move the needle, but I’m doubtful. US is in full banana republic era now.
The truest thing Trump has ever said is that, paraphrasing here, he could kill someone on 5th ave and get away with it. Is this Biden deal the big one? Nah, the Teflon Don is untouchable. The only sure thing is that in the US one can only be President for two terms. The rest of this stuff is just noise.
Even if Trump turned out to be a Russian Agent, the weak democrats would do nothing. They should have indicted him long time ago. The republicans know how to destroy a candidate. Remember how they for ever and repeatedly went after Hillary Clinton for the e-mails and the Bengasi. Nothing criminal was proven but the repeat accusations and the willingness of the media to report it, made it for them, because people finally do not know if the accusations were true. When it came to defend the Obama Care the democrats went silent. The democrats are too weak and do not deserve to win the upcoming election.
If Trump had shot the 22 Walmart shoppers in El Paso himself, his GOP support would have sagged slightly for a few weeks before recovering. Half his supporters would think it was fake news.
Latest scandal? No effect.
2
Trump’s white base will not care at all about this. Therefore, no GOP Senator will be able to afford to care about it. Trump is not going to be impeached.
Pelosi warned Trump that he is stepping into a dangerous minefield? No wonder he tweeted about the Foxy kid's book. By now he knows that the House Dems will never find the political courage to impeach him. If they won't go after him for Russia, the feckless Dems are not surely going after him over Ukraine!
1
So tired of "has he finally gone too far?" That happened long ago.
So tired of "when will anyone stop him?" Only if the Senate becomes Democrat-controlled along with the house.
Sadly, there is no "too far" to go to. Subpoenas are ignored, testimonies are blocked, accusations are lost in the vortex of the courts, critics are mocked and discredited. Only an election can get rid of this awful man, this awful president.
And despite the clamor for impeachment, it's but a pipe dream. Too many people don't realize that impeachment is not the same as removal. And the Senate would never remove him, so what's the point? Indeed, impeachment proceedings would likely further energize his supporters.
642
@Steve
If one co-branch of our government believes impeachment is appropriate, why should it accede to the other co-branch that will not impeach not because the president is innocent of committing impeachable offenses but solely due to a desire to retain power? Pelosi has really got this wrong. A failure to impeach, after an investigation and public hearings provide overwhelming evidence of impeachable offenses might fire up Trump's hardcore supporters, but it will also fire up the rest of the country to see such a public display of political corruption and enabling of blatant misbehavior. And it would likely mean a Senate with the Dems in the majority after the next election.
A do nothing approach that Pelosi favors is a prescription for business as usual, with no shaming of Senate Republicans from a refusal to impeach and another GOP majority after the next election. But it's asking too much of Dems and especially Pelosi to risk their recently acquired power in the House on an impeachment strategy. It's safer to put up with Trump and another Senate controlled by the GOP by not rocking the boat with an impeachment proceeding. The Dems deserve the disgraces in the White House and Senate.
78
Wrong. His supporters could not possibly be energized any further.
This no impeachment position is a terrible miscalculation on Pelosi’s part. As usual, the Democrats are awful at messaging. Pelosi thinks the general public pays attention to the machinations of DC. She and the Dems have to make the case, day after day, on TV for impeachment. Start the proceedings, get the tax returns, lay out the evidence, put people in handcuffs who ignore subpoenas.
If this president is not impeachable, no one is. Sho the American people what he has done, and expose the Republicans for the enabling crooked party they are. The electorate will get it... finally.
If Trump wins re-election, there’s no stopping him. We could be looking at “President for long life”. This is the gamble Pelosi is knowingly taking.
139
@Steve
Great points. But I wonder what makes you think impeachement would necessarily energize his opponents. I think impeachement really hurt Bill Clinton in the eyes of his supporters. Likewise, the Mueller investigation, though it failed depose Trump, did not energize his supporters. I think in some ways it exhausted them a little. It's tiring to defend your guy when he's under attack. That's why Trump constantly attacks people all the time.
Trumps strategy (from Roger Stone) is "always attack, never defend." We should use that against him and attack him incessantly. That includes impeachement.
80
As a young school teacher, I learned a valuable lesson, the first chore is to get control of the classroom. Jerry Nadler has never learned that lesson. He has allowed recalcitrant Republicans to disrupt every hearing he has held and then allowed a contemptuous Lewandowski to make a mockery of the latest proceedings. No Republican Chairman would have been so docile. My lesson learned was to do whatever is necessary to get in charge (I saw numerous teachers fail because they couldn't). If it required Capitol police to remove an interruptive Doug Collins, Jim Jordan, Louie Gohmert, Or James Sensenbrenner I would have it done. I would have had the committee to immediately vote to hold Lewandowski in contempt and had the police take him into custody. If you can't get control don't hold the hearing. All of the above would probably violate some House rules but I would deal with that later.
10
Point well made. A representative government is a joke when members make a mockery of Congress' responsibilities and the child in the executive branch mocks Congress' Constitutional role and the separation of powers.
When Republicans are in charge, they take charge. Hearings are inquisitions. I recall Rep. Darrell Issa turning off the mic of Democrat Elijah Cummings.
The big question these days seems to be whether Democrats are as powerless to stop Trump as they seem. Are they or are they choosing to appear so by refusing to impeach?
If they are choosing to appear so for fear of backlash in the next election it would seem they have conceded defeat already and Trump will skate to another win. There is no one to stand in his way which is disgraceful.
11
The Big One will be when the Republican Party decides to stand up and fight for the country and its constitution. For now, it's siding with its billionaire masters. A littler big one might occur when the House Democrats go ahead and launch the impeachment investigation for real. Politically perilous that may be, but it's necessary to get facts on the record for all to see regardless of the politics.
12
Simple answer is sadly, No. For his die hard followers he can’t go far enough and for the rest of us he’s gone far enough long ago. Sadly, it seems the Democrats are about to give the guy a chance to win again by infighting and arguing instead of uniting. Not a promising outlook.
10
@Joe B. Agreed. Nixon`s support by The-Never-Vote-Dem tribe et al plateaued at 25% for the last 6 months of his time in the WH in spite of Nixon`s voice on the WH tapes. He resigned only to avoid impeachment.
Trump has the advantage over Nixon that he can lie to the Tribe and they are even more imperious to it.
My comment is not by the column specifically, but it is about my impression of NYC political environment during the administration of former "beloved" mayor, William O'Dwyer, by David Samuels in the October issue of Smithsonian. Samuels traces the tangle web of relation between local government, organized crime, and the complicity and abating of the NYC Democratic Machine of that era.
Today, NYC is sinking into the mud because the effects of time and climate change. At the national governmental level, Washington continues it long sink into the "mud", not necessarily because of natural forces, but because of its own tangled web of government, money, and complicity of both parties.
There is no "too far" as far as Trump is concerned. He can go just as far as he wants to. Republicans keep out of his way and Democrats fluster and bluster, but cannot stop him, and Trump keeps going and going. Unless the voters stop him, which is somewhat doubtful, he'll be around a long while yet. We haven't begun to see how far Trump can go.
10
I wonder if anyone can answer a question for me. If the democratic candidate is unable to win next year either through a complete and total landslide or even just enough to squeeze thru the electoral college will we still have a country? I’m skeptical at best
13
@JD
No we won't, but let's do all we can in the meantime to prevent that from happening.
2
This isn’t the big one. We keep thinking the current big one is, but there’s always a bigger one to come.
21
Simple equation: we need to get rid of Trump before he gets rid of us. Keep in mind that whatever needs to be done will receive a pardon from the next Democrat President and probably a Congressional Medal of Honor for saving the nation. The other side of the equation would be unbearable.
24
The lesson House Democrats seem never to learn is that each one of these fights actually helps Trump. It is the other, more mundane, risks, the trade war, the economy tanking, that threaten him, not a series of amateur theatricals in a House hearing room.
8
If you are a sane and caring US citizen/resident, you are more and more appalled every day at the outright high crimes, misdemeanors and treason of the Lisr in Chief. And Maureen who thought Trump was sooo amusing, the Dems have not yet given up on getting Trump as you say. They have gone to court to enforce various subpoenas against elected officials and Trump campaign officials. Courts are slow and then we have the two SCt justices appointed by Trump. Yes, Nadler should have stopped the hearing and had the committee vote on contempt for Lewandawoski immediately. The Dems need to take IMMEDIATE action as they can to show that the rule of law still survives and is what protects our democracy. Your cute columns often undermine that very concept.
17
Much has been said, much written, in the press and media, slicing and dicing a thoroughly corrupt man that sits in the Oval Office. More frightening then the man, are the jubilant, cheering faces that stand behind during his rallies. Regardless the words, the lies, the unprocessed flow of disjointed thought, Christian men, women and children gather to cheer their chosen messiah. trump will depart the presidential scene sooner or later, causing turmoil along the way in his departure by stoking this Christian support to rebel. Time to study the large segment of citizen that voted for and now give support to a corrupt narcissist.
5
No one likes Trump. He is obnoxious, shady, over the top, inconsistent. Dowd, and all The Times' writers decry his presence. But they all overlook one thing: he is better than the alternatives presented by the loyal opposition. You want to get rid of him? Nominate someone who can attract voters from the middle of the political spectrum. Someone besides progressives who promise a chicken in every pot but no solution to how you pay, except vague references to someone else but you. Phooey.
8
@Kent Kraus Have to laugh. Trump promised (1) to bring back coal, (2) to bring back millions of outdated factory jobs, (3) to make Mexico pay for a wall across our southern border, (4) to deliver "great" healthcare that would cover everyone at lower cost, (5) to rebuild our roads, airports and infrastructure, (6) to use his amazing negotiating skills to make great deals with China, and (7) to stop North Korea and Iran from being bad actors, unlike his "stupid" and "weak" predecessors. He told us only he could do it. He offered no plans, budget or details. You bought all of it. He's done none of it. Phooey.
1
@Kent Kraus Kent, there are moderates among the Democrats. Get out and campaign for them, then.
1
It won't be big. Bigly. And he won't be impeached, and if he were, he wouldn't be convicted. And his 42% will stick by him, they always have. The true Big One is election night in 2020, assuming, rashly, that it will be a fair election, uninterferred with, with ballots honestly counted.
2
But, but, Hillary's emails!! Still waiting, Ms. Dowd, for you to acknowledge your failure to see the danger in Trump when it was abundantly clear to many others. During the 2016 campaign you falsely equated Trump's utter disregard for democratic institutions -- indeed, democracy period -- with the various foibles of the Clintons. They are not and never were in the same ballpark. You seemed charmed by Trump even as you mocked his sleaziness, painting him mainly as a comic figure, a relic who was all bark and no bite rather than the dangerous, unethical and quite possibly unstable man that he is. Many journalists have published the equivalent of a mea culpa, why not you?
18
@Emily P Exactly. Well said.
1
@Emily P Thank you Emily. I have been waiting for Mo's apology too. Snarking all the Dems rather than the real sharks like McConnell and Ryan. Mo got this completely wrong. Look at the danger our country is in right now. Mo's lack of journalistic instincts are embarrassing.
2
Forgive my misinterpretation, but by 'The Big One' I was hoping for a minute that DJT had a long episode of sudden ventricular fibrillation, causing a fatal lack of oxygen to the brain for a period of 10+ minutes without anyone finding him... Perhaps it might happen in the middle of his 4 hours sleep a night, or while eating all those fast food burgers while on Executive Time with Fox blaring on the TeeVee. Alas, it's another opportunity for me to keep calling Ms. Pelosi daily, saying 'can you impeach him yet?'
6
@Sharon
If that happens the 2nd worst POTUS , Pence, is waiting in the wings to make you adopt his evangelicalisms.
So that's it. It's official now. The whole Mueller/Collusion thing is completely dead and it's time to move on to yet another "worst abuse of power ever" pipe-dream.
This just serves to show the utter lack of confidence democrats have in their ability to find a candidate who can beat Trump.
How sad.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
4
Don't hold your breath.
1
"Trump Walks a Crooked Mile
Has he finally gone too far?"
Ask Nancy Pelosi.
1
He threatens our safety and national security. That's why he should be impeached and imprisoned.
5
Has Trumpet finally gone too far? Yes, of course......maybe four years ago he went too far on his megalomanic ambitions, and the world hasn't been the same since.
Time to recover our sanity and depose the Trumpet into oblivion and a short piece in future history books: "The period of American history from Jan, 2017-Jan, 2021, is best forgotten and buried so that it never again rears its ugly Medusa head. Fortunately, America recovered from the multiple attacks on it from within the highest levels of 'government' mismanagement during that four-year period"
3
Reopen the House jail and start using it.
8
Indeed, the American people should find out why Biden's son was paid $180,000 a month for something he knew nothing about, while his father was negotiating with Ukraine.
Lucky Democrats. Had the story dragged a bit longer, Biden would have been hit AFTER he became the DNC candidate...
Either that, or the Democrats should decree that any of their candidates can get, while they are in office, for their foundation or children, up to $2 billion from the foreigners they deal with. Scot free. (Hunter Biden got a hedge fund worth $1.5 billion from the Chinese, while accompanying his father on official VP business there.)
2
Biden takes down Trump. Slight nuance to the headline we all imagined is that it’s Hunter Biden!
I’m not sure what Pelosi’s end game is, but she is acting like an ally to Trump. Maybe she wants to delay impeachment proceedings until months before the election, but I’m not buying. She may be just as corrupt as the Trump cabal. Throw Lewandowski in jail, grow a spine.
3
Along the lines of Greta Thunberg’s focus, people in power and charge need to act—enough of basically useless official reports and pundits and palaver. It seems to me the only persons trying to do something about our ridiculously corrupt executive administration are countless members of the press. Keep it up, Ms. Dowd & co.
Unnamed source. Another whistle blower that is unidentified. More salacious allegations with as yet zero basis in fact. Pretty much the ‘smear Trump way’ the past three years.
Meanwhile - exactly how did Hunter Biden land a $600,000 / year energy job in the Ukraine with zero energy experience? Maybe Democrats should ask better questions.
3
do citizens take to the streets, throughout this nation, in protest? are we angry enough or tired of 45 enough? would we have to deal with the armed crazies that are some of 45s base? every action 45 has committed - giving secret codes in the Office, breaking with our allies, embracing Putin, Duterte, Kim, bin Salman - is all “ the one”. can we do this? or are we complacent? we cannot fight against the police or military that 45 could call, since they have weapons we do not. but protest, daily, everywhere possible. and be ready to accept jail time?
3
You think dangling $250 million with Ukraine for Biden dirt is a lot?
The nuclear codes have already been given to Putin for his Dark Arts support in 2020.
Who needs collusion when you can go straight to Quid Pro Quo?
It’s not that Trump really wants to be President, it’s that he can’t not be President — as he will be immediately indicted and imprisoned the second he leaves office.
Pence won’t be able to sign the Pardon papers fast enough.
Then, impeach Kavanaugh.
2
After reading through many of the comments I can’t help but fear for the future of the Democratic Party. If liberals are placing their faith in the likes of Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler, Schiff, and the Squad, to “show you the way” you’re doomed.
1
Since Speaker Pelosi lack the courage to impeach the President, she should resign and allow AOC to lead House Democrats,
3
Nancy Pelosi is staking everything on Trump being defeated next year, ignoring the fact that he wasn't elected legitimately in 2016. Why would anyone think this coming election isn't going to be tainted, as well? The Republicans are all in. The Democrats are weak and feckless and dithering. Nancy Pelosi is making the case for generational change. She needs to go. Her leadership is pointless.
6
The "Big One" that will finally hold Trump accountable will never come because with the Republicans controlling one its chambers and pledging allegiance to Trump rather than to the Constitution and the country, the US Congress stopped being a co-equal branch of the government.
The math is really simple: a Congress divided along party line, with one of the parties toeing the executive branch's line, disrupts the system of checks and balances that the Founding Fathers thought they'd created in favor of the executive.
Why not go to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and ask him? Then if Trump wants to dispute that, have him disprove it with the recorded call.
1
The only people trying their best to defend Trump on this one are the hacks on talk radio and right wing fanboy websites. It's telling that most of the professional politicians are keeping their distance. They might be starting to see the benefit of getting rid of this buffoon who is taking down their party lie by lie. This might be yuge!
1
Why can’t the media get it?
Get it. Say it. Repeat it.
Trump is a raging case of extreme pathological narcissism!
He’s an almost comic text book case - made worse by the incredible confluence of circumstances, at the level of a perfect storm.
Wealth.
Decades of never being told No!
Decades of getting away with the consequences of his narcissist behavior, especially his abuse of others.
An army of minions, including capable lawyers, to aid and abet his every whim.
Add to it the power of the Presidency, and his utter inability to understand the role, or rise to it, his extraordinary breadth and depth of ignorance, complete lack of attention span, and his functional illiteracy - and you have an absolute wreck of an unfit adult - let alone an unfit President!
The problem isn’t Trump: not anymore. We were dumb enough to elect him... but that doesn’t even begin to excuse keeping him!
Intelligent, capable adults have chosen to throw over their oaths, their morality, simple decency, and even basic responsibility to the country, in favor of personal convenience and Trump’s support of their re-election. Greed, self-interest - or craven timidity - has stilled the voices, and halted the actions of many, on both sides of the aisle.
Make no mistake: Trump is gone as soon as those in the Cabinet or the Congress stand up and say ENOUGH! Nothing can stand against the honest exercise of our already established Constitutional powers!
Nothing - but a lack of will...
4
The media have been asking "Has he finally gone too far" since January 20, 2017.
3
“One” isn’t going to “bring Trump down”. It’ll take some action beyond slow clapping from your buddy Nancy to do so. Maybe you could ask her some time at one of those work I g class parties at your mansion why she thinks voters will vote Trump out over his blatant criminality and corruption when the most powerful Democrat in the country clearly signals she thinks it’s not bad enough to act upon?
If there is "nothing there" in the transcripts of the phone call, then why don't they just release them? That simple.
Oh, right, because chaos every day is a great detraction from the reality show host's REAL problem, which is his bromance with Russia.
p.s. If the tax forms are "nothing special" ... why not release them?
1
Oh yes, this is definitely the big one because if Joseph Maguire doesn’t hand that information over to Congress within two weeks then the democrats in Congress...are going to like...maybe, I mean really, like...really be, kind of, like very mad...
We can count on that.
2
I wouldn’t get my hopes up. After the Billy Bush bus bonanza, after Stormy Daniels and other ladies, after diverting money for military schools to a wall yet to be built, and so much more: The Donald is still standing and Tweeting.
1
Has he finally gone too far?
That ship sailed a long time ago.
3
Is this The Big One? No. Far from it. In order for Trump to be impeached, Republicans have to be on board. For that to happen, their voters have to demand it. Which they won't. This barely warrants a raised eyebrow from the Republican base. They don't care if Trump asked a Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden's sons. They probably think it's a good idea. Nice try, but not this time.
No. There is no such thing as too far for Trump, best as I can tell. He said early on that he could murder someone in broad daylight on Fifth Ave. and not lose one of his supporters...and a poll showed that to actually be true. So long as his depraved cult-like base stays with him through even murder, Republicans who know this guy is bad news for this country will never hold him accountable. Their precious power and seats are more important to them than is this country. Btw, if the candidate I was supporting said at one point that he/she knew that I, as a supporter, was so depraved and had such a cult-like blind worship for him/her that he /she could even murder someone and not lose my support, that would be a wakeup call about that person for me. I'd be isolated, offended, outraged, and that person would no longer be my choice. But not Trump supporters! 'Nuff said about them. Deplorable? Yup.
1
Where is our collective outrage? Anyone?!
3
Right on the nose, as usual. And very thought-provoking comments. (Thank goodness for Times readers.) BUT, ALSO: could some reporters not use this occasion to remind us about
the agony of Ukraine, Putin's war, the numbers of dead? Let us
not forget the Ukranian people (or the impossible position of its new Prime Minister) even as we await "the big one."
When Weary and Tired of Trump
youtube.com/results?search_query=jfk+civil+rights+speech+1963
There was a better time
It CAN happen again--VOTE!
Except there was no quid pro quo with Trump. There was quid pro quo when Biden strongarmed the Ukrainian President to fire the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the oil/gas company where his son Hunter sat in the board. He threatened to withhold a $1B payment to Ukraine.
It’s also on videotape. Yet, the media is uncurious about Biden’s corruption.
2
The people that voted for him are still going to support him. They would support him if declared that Melania had broken his trust and had her beheaded on the front lawn of the Capital.
Why? you ask.
Because they don't care what he does as long as he and McConnell let them keep their assault weapons just in case there is a zombie uprising. Really. They don't care about anything else other than that. If any body else from any party or even a lone wolf promised to let them also own grenades and rocket launcher then they vote Trump out of the white house.
What I am trying to convey is Trump is the Henry VIII of our time for this country.
1
One can wish, dream, hope, pray...
A “GoFundMe” collection for the whistleblower! A few million dollars should get this person to come into the open. Should collect a billion or so in the first day.
1
Let's all take a moment to thank this event's sponsors: Bolton, Coats, Rosenstein, Nielson, Mattis, Kelly, Tillerson and McMaster are sustaining members. Big thank you! Without your continued silence and diligence in covering for your blood brother this might never have been possible. And lastly, we must thank our founding member, big applause for Mr Comey, folks!
1
Has he gone too far? Not for his base.
I was at a wedding anniversary celebration today in NJ and sat next to two older white males who are the solid base of the Republican party.
Among the topics mentioned in 3 hours was the deep state, Biden's gaffes, The NY Times and its erroneous report about Kavanaugh, Snopes being a liberal organization and, therefore, how can it be fair in its rating, how the Dems hate McConnell more than Trump. Not one word about the whistle-blower or Ukraine.
He is their Teflon Don standing tall against fake news. They could never be part of the party of the other.
2
The subheading reads, "Has he finally gone too far?"
For millions of us, that bridge was crossed way back in 2015 or 2016.
3
Impeach Pelosi. If Trump is not held accountable for his actions, then she will be responsible for the fascism that surely will follow if Trump is re-elected.
Trump trumped the USA when he was elected President. Looks like you're stuck with him until the next election. We have general elections for PM every three years in NZ.
1
Ms. Dowd, Trump only took advantage of the 2-decade crooked-Hillary campaign by the GOP. He was the first to say it outright, but that's all.
Ms. Dowd, your interview with Patti Smith was spectacular. Do more of that ilk.
2
With House and Senate leaders like Pelosi and McConnell, respectively, Trump could still shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it. This extortion-as-foreign-policy is normal in Giuliani's truth-isn't-truth dystopia.
Americans have to face it: By sheer crookery, the fascists won and are helter-skelter dividing up what's left of the USA's public trust spoils. Trump 2020? Don't think it can't happen. It already has.
2
Apparently you[Maureen Dowd]and everyone else didn't stick around for the entire Judiciary Committee's go at Corey Lewandowski.You should have but understand why anyone would have had enough of "Gump's"[the resemblance is notable] arrogance,lying under oath, contempt of congress to pull the plug after some 6 hours of this horrid trump toadie.You missed the best part.
Enter one Mr. Barry Berke,lawyer,who should be hired full time for any and all congressional hearings.He came armed with video, quotes from Gump's book "Let Trump be Trump",quotes from the Mueller Report.You could see and feel Mr. Lewandowski coming apart.First he admits to lying to the media as a matter of course, that he only tells the truth under oath,yet another lie, that he never read the Mueller Report...then admits that the report is correct.SNAP.Small wonder that after Corey's opening statement[why is this allowed at a hearing?] and Trump's praise of it, we have heard nary a word from trump about Lewandowski's later testimony.This 1 minute of pure gold should be running continuously on all networks and Barry Berke should be in charge of mining it in the future.
4
I am amused by the naïveté of the majority of the commentators on this article.
They all keep saying that it's time to vote him out in 2020!
What makes anyone think that he will actually step down even if he loses the election?
6
@Paul
If he doesn't step down, the last nail on the coffin called Democracy will be pounded in, leading in increased violence/ shootings this time American against American or civil war, coupled with a major economic downfall. These events will be the perfect scenario for Trump to declare military rule with the support of the Supreme Court.
So, yes we may be all naive but the only other option is to stay home and let evil win.
3
The impeachment path still seems wrong to me. With the current Senate, he would survive an impeachment trial, and emerge even stronger. Impeachment would give substance his complaint about being "the most harassed President ever". And it would help get him re-elected, which I fear is already a strong possibility.
To quote a line from The Hunger Games, "I'm with the Mockingjay [Pelosi] on this one." Concentrate on the 2020 election. And for Pete's sake stop responding to every outrageous, immoral move he makes. Accentuate the positives in the various plans the Democrats are proposing. Talk about what we will achieve, not Trump's latest norm-breaker.
His base elected him to break norms. That's what they expect. That's what they cheer him on for. When democratic (small "d") forces castigate him for breaking norms, his base feels even more strongly that they're right, and that Trump is right.
4
There are disturbing echoes of dark past episodes for Democracy, in the way Corey Lewandowski felt entitled to disrespect the members of the committee he confronted.
Maureen Dowd emphasizes Democrats multiple failures to bring president Trump to accountability ,as well as their deep internal divisions about impeachment.
Combining the cynical posture of this administration's uncivil servants with a divided political opposition, explains why the president not only has easily escaped accountability ,but why he stands to do well in the upcoming election. Divide et impera!
3
I supported giving the Speaker's Gavel to Nancy Pelosi, but like many Democrats, I am tired of her seeming to act as an obstacle to the Impeachment of President Donald Trump. The Trump-Guiliani attempt to use $250 million in US Military aid to coerce the Ukrainian President into investigating the Bidens shows that dithering on holding him accountable for his high crimes and misdemeanors, only enables him to commit more high crimes and misdemeanors. The House won't vote impeachment unless the minority of the Democratic Caucus that has not yet voiced support is brought along. But Leader Pelosi could say she supports the Judiciary Committee in holding hearings and drafting articles of impeachment to see if they get the support of the House.
A House vote to impeach would lead to a trial in the Senate with Chief Justice Roberts presiding. The House Prosecutors would be able to call and question witnesses and subpoena documents from the executive branch. Witnesses who made claims of absolute immunity from answering questions because of orders from President Trump, would have that claim ruled on by the Chief Justice, who would either dismiss the immunity claim or forever be exposed as a partisan allowing the Republican President a King's powers. It is unlikely that enough Republican Senators will vote to convict. But if the House Prosecutors do a persuasive job, Republican Senators who vote to acquit will be hurt with independent and moderate voters in upcoming elections.
4
The claim is that Trump sought to have a foreign government target a political opponent, and the Left is in a screaming outrage about it.
Hillary and the DNC sought the cooperation of a foreign government and actually did employ a foreign national and former member of a foreign intelligence service, Christopher Steele, in an effort to smear a political opponent, and the Left is fine with it.
3
Sought the cooperation of a foreign government? No. They hired a private investigator. End of story.
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While I dream of a Big One, I'm afraid that's just D.C. bubble talk. The only Big One that will take Trump out is a Democratic victory in November 2020. We're stuck with him until then.
Meanwhile, the press seems to wring its hands about things that now seem so quaint --- Biden's stumbling and rambling speech patterns and his referrals to record players; Warren's so-called extremism; Sanders' sore throat.
The survival of our democratic republic is at stake. Trump is the existential threat. Every word that is written that doesn't focus on that is nothing more than an effort to keep columnist employed.
7
Having pondered for quite some time why such a sizable segment of the country still supports Trump, the answer appears to be that they are jealous of his apparent ability to get away with criminal activity. That is the moral failure of our country currently. May these citizens come to their senses soon - especially since it is doing them and our country great harm. We will have to 'pay the piper.'
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@Jules Papp
They won't wake up until their world is in ruins, just like Germany in 1945.
They are not values voters, they are vengeance voters, and they will happily destroy themselves in order to "own the libs".
They wanted chaos, and Trump is giving it to them. Sadly, the majority that didn't vote for him will be swept up in the deluge of destruction.
It is time for an amicable (or adversarial) divorce from the regions of the country populated by small minded, bigoted voters who brought this despicable administration to power.
Maureen,
To paraphrase President Trump, he could detonate a ten kiloton nuclear device in the middle of Fifth Avenue in New York City without losing a single supporter. This is the Big One? Not so much.
4
I must be missing something !
As much as I despise Trump and 'America's Mayor' the real story this week is why did Joe Biden's son make millions in the Ukraine ?
If one thinks the inept fools that staged the Cory Show this week are going to grab this news and use it to rid us of the scourge of the GOP they are mistaken.
Pelosi is right, 2020 move them all out - and not with an establishment hack like Biden.
Warren = hope, work for her and vote for her.
3
Trump declares this as a "partisan hack job" (just like all the other things he's done: Russian interference in the election of 2016, failure to secure our election systems now, lying, lying and more lying!). I, like so many others, would like to see the Dems for once stand up to the bully in the school yard and counter-punch him in such a way that they realize that they are stronger than they think. If nothing else expose the truth of this amoral and corrupt horror show so that the American people can see that what they bargained for is not, and never has been, what they got. When will we wake up and realize that we're circling the drain faster and faster everyday he's in office...he's got to go along with all the rest of the GOP who have enabled him.
5
What is even more sickening about this is Biden the victim is being held to account by the media. Trump has “Swift-boated” Biden & his family even if it is not true. He will have his cult following chanting “Lock him up”. He forgets we know “Joe” and we LIKE him. Biden has been around a long time & we know he is committed to public service. He respects the rule of law, he is respected by the nation & internationally. Biden is human & caring.
All I can say to the media don’t take the bait - stay on the story - go after the perpetrators. Don’t move on when he gaslights you. Nothing should distract from what Trump & Giuliani have done to our country. He will do anything to win. He is vicious and has no morals or ethics. If he can do this to Joe Biden just imagine what he will do to anyone else. All I can say is be afraid very afraid!
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Ms. Dowd's seeming contempt for Democratic legislators put in the position of having to deal with Trump loyalists certainly comes to the fore in this column. Referring to Eric Swalwell as a "failed presidential candidate", is such a nasty way to refer to a young and promising Democratic member of Congress.
Mr. Lewandowski's incredibly rude behavior reveals his class, and his pathetic loyalty to Trump. Clearly Lewandowski lacks ethical standards as well as manners, just like his master, Trump.
How nice it would be for Ms. Dowd to utilize her sharp knife--er, pen--to present a strong case for all Americans to vote with their conscience because we all need Trump to be gone.
5
Impeach him and he wins in the Senate just in time for his base to take vindication to the polls and the "never trumpers" to slink into night in despair and exhaustion after the effort. 14 months to go during which nullification and death by a thousand cuts can seal his fate and send him back to Queens. Be patient and do the hard work for a dem POTUS and Senate.
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@Upstater If President Trump is impeached by the House, he is tried in the Senate with Chief Justice Roberts presiding and House prosecutors making the case for conviction, and removal from office. In many House Committee Investigations, President Trump has stonewalled, refusing to turn over documents, instructing witnesses not to appear or not to answer questions. With the Chief Justice presiding, an Impeachment Trial will proceed like any other trial, the Prosecution will present its case, the Defense will present its case, each side will present closing arguments to the Senate acting as Jury, the Chief Justice will charge the Senate/Jury to Deliberate and Vote. I don't think the Chief Justice will allow the Jury to vote on a verdict before a trial. As the Prosecution prepares its case it will seek to subpoena documents, including many the Administration has resisted turning over to the House. The Defense may seek to quash the subpoenas but the Chief Justice rules which subpoenas survive and which fall. Similarly, if the defense objects to the prosecution calling a witness, the Chief Justice decides if the witness appears. If the defense objects to a question or line of questioning, the Chief Justice sustains or overrules. We can hope most bogus privileges will be overruled, witnesses will answer questions and the truth will be told. If the House Prosecutors make a convincing case, Republican Senators who vote to acquit will pay a political price with swing voters.
1
The Democrats have try their best to keep the House and that means no impeachment. The best way this Ukraine matter works out best for Democrats is to let Biden get out of the race. First why is Beau Biden in a Ukraine Board in the first place. Because J. Biden is his father. Would he be in that Board at all if not for his father. No. And wasn't Biden there telling the Ukrainians they have to clean up their corruption more or less the same as Trump now? Basically-Yes. Biden presents the same problem Hillary presented. Got out of government-cashed in- then ran for Pres. In Hillary it was the Goldman Sachs 250k speeches. With Biden it was all this stuff. You cash in after you are President. So Biden gets out, but he stays in the limelight fighting and suing Trump and doing everything to get in the mud with Trump. But as a private citizen. Get everyone real excited. Then the Dems run a clean intelligent Dem. Say Amy Klobuchar. Who runs credibly on issues and decimates the corruption, vileness and immorality of Trump. That's how the Dems win. Warren has too may "plans" and deep down everyone knows the don't really work, and they are not going anywhere. Biden, as a private citizen fights Trump. Amy cleans Trump's clock.
Blocking of the whistleblower's "urgent concern," as determined by the IG, from getting to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees far surpasses all of Trump's other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Pelosi needs to wake up and smell the coffee. She is enabling Trump...she has done nothing to stop him.
There should be a vote on actual Articles of Impeachment immediately. It would at the very least smoke out into the public spotlight all of the Members of the House who don't believe in their oaths, the rule of law and the Constitution.
If it passed the House, the Trial in the Senate would smoke out the Senators who don't believe in their oaths, the rule of law and the Constitution also. It might also just get this crooked occupant of the Oval Office out on the street. What a God-sent that would be.
Impeachment has to be a priority for Pelosi and the entire House...let's get going. Let's vote on specific Articles NOW.
1
Trump doesn’t walk. He rides - a golf cart, a limo, an escalator or elevator, an aircraft. I’d be willing to bet he hasn’t taken a walk, other than to the restroom and back, since he was in his 20s.
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@chambolle—
He does relish those photo-ops walking up or down the Air Force One stairs but a real walk—never!
1
Of course there is something that can bring Trump down.
He comes out for Medicare for All and Repubs would have his head on a pike before you can say "What the?"
1
His base doesn't care. Lather, rinse, repeat.
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Am I the only one who has the feeling that the main reason some Democrats make such noise about this issue is that they want to protect Biden? And that there are some very real issues hidden here that could endanger his campaign?
There was a lot of speculation that the "golden showers" could make Trump blackmailable. But what if Burisma could make Biden blackmailable?
@Wim Roffel I feel strongly about this issue because it represents Trumps continued abuse of power. At this point I prefer Elizabeth Warren, but would support any of the leading Democratic candidates over Trump.
“Teflon Trump:” If he could shoot someone in broad daylight and his “base” would stand by him, this abuse of power won’t touch him.
2
Trump is facing ruin and likely jail time if he is no longer in office. He will do ANYTHING to remain in power. He has concluded that he can take ANY action and break ANY law without fear of consequence. He is just getting started. He does not care how obvious his machinations become. He will make sure the Russians (or whoever) get into the voting registration databases and start making targeted deletions. He has already seen that a state AG can win a governorship by throwing thousand of black voters off the rolls and get away with it. There will be voter suppression like the "world has never seen before." And it looks like the Dems will do nothing to stop him. If they fail to impeach they will lose the election by a landslide. No one will be motivated to vote for a party that has no spine and will not fight.
2
I am so appalled by the prevailing view in the US that this is just another affront by Trump that he will skate on. The ennui is breathtaking. Where is the public outrage? The masses in the streets protesting the heinous and illegal behavior of a president who has casually taken on the mantle of a true autocrat?
People wake up. Trump gets more protests when he shows up in London. Get off your duffs and demand accountability. He is sure to win again against this collective shrug by an apathetic electorate who can only show outrage in editorial comments.
The US is doomed.
5
Do nice guys generally finish last? Is there something about the moral sense, or even the feigning of it, that entails passivity and precious scruples? The Democrats are being infuriating in their judicious and deliberative ways. To many of us, their name is cowardice.
2
The Democrats are not being cowards they are being smart. Don’t pick a fight that you can’t win and they will not win if they try to impeach. The unAmerican Republicans who are sticking to Trump like glue will never find their moral conscience and vote to impeach. Pelosi has her eye on the long game and she is right.
1
Trump always goes too far but not to the people who support him. It would take something truly monumental for the tide to turn. Think of the most outlandish thing and that would be it. For example, Trump has Biden at the Oval Office for coffee. With TV cameras rolling, he pulls out a knife and kills Biden. Or he shoots up drugs while on air. It would have to be something so obvious that no one could deny it. That’s how blind his supporters are.
3
Mueller’s inability to testify with any conviction about the crimes committed by trump will go down in history as cowardly and disservice to this country. For all the talk of Mueller’s integrity, look at where his efforts have left us - a criminal in the Oval Office continuing to break laws and drag this country into the sewer. Leaving the job of policing this mess to the unruly Democrats in the House and the spineless Republicans in the Senate completes this recipe for disaster.
Mueller had the country listening intently to him and he blew the opportunity to rid this country of trump. Thanks for nothing Mueller.
3
With a President like that, who needs enemies.
5
Pelosi has been telegraphing for months that she has no interest in pursuing impeachment. Did she think Trump wouldn't notice?
Did she think he wouldn't take her reticence as permission to push the limits of presidential power even further than he already has?
Contrary to his assurances, Trump has no idea what is and is not "appropriate." He has no principles, no conscience. He believes he has done nothing wrong by threatening to withhold Congressionally mandated aid to a country if that country doesn't help him destroy a political opponent.
I'm tired of people screaming that he can't do this. He will continue to abuse the presidency as long as the co-equal branch of government on Capitol Hill is full of cowards--on BOTH sides of the aisle. Lewandowski should be in a makeshift jail in the basement of the Capitol at this very moment. He made Nadler & Co. look weak and foolish, like they were wearing "kick me" signs. Embarrassing. Demoralizing. The Dems are useless.
And no one needs to "leak" that, Nancy. It's flashing in neon lights to anyone who is paying even a modicum of attention.
4
If Obama had done anything even approaching what Trump has done, the hypocritical Republican trolls in Congress would be screaming bloody murder. Their hyperventilation would be audible in L.A. and their fake righteous indignation would be comically trumpeted from every Fox propaganda outlet, each right wing nut web site and, of course, the floors of Congress.
However, Trump's obvious invitation to a foreign government to manipulate the U.S. election (whatever the quid pro quo may have been) has so far gotten nothing more than a big yawn from the self-righteous Republican robots. Their silence says it all.
Fundamentally, the Republicans have disqualified themselves for consideration as a legitimate political party and have devolved into a bunch of puppets, spouting nothing but lies and doing nothing to prevent an obviously treasonous and unhinged president from getting his way.
1
Keeping it simple Congress no longer Represents. Shame on them in their complicity. Shame on them for watching this horrible example of a Pres. Take more away from this country every day and doing nothing but spout empty words. Shame on them for looking the other way Regarding Wm Barr chipping away at the Justice Department. My words are no doubt pointless As Congress too now demonstrates one of trump’s personality characteristics...no shame.
1
"Crooked Donald thinks he can create a crooked Joe narrative just like he created a Crooked Hillary one. Which is it, Donald: Crooked or Sleepy?"
One of trump's most brazen and shameless tendencies is to project his own shortcomings onto others. I found it particularly aggravating when he labeled Hillary crooked and repeatedly led his rally crowds in "chants of lock her up." He who was fined 25 million dollars for running a fraudulent university.
How very fitting if this sordid episode is what brings him down and it is he who is locked up. I'm hoping for poetic justice.
1
This game ain't over till the fat lady sings. Sitting in for the fat lady will be our Statue of Liberty when that time arrives.
Trump's repeated 'crimes', each individually liable for impeachment, have become the 'drip drip drip' routine, hence, being 'normalized' by a tired-out public, preferring to look the other way...than to tackle this corrupt politician head on. Our situation is similar to the frog that, if placed in boiling water, jumps out and saves himself; but, if placed in warm water that is slowly brought to a boil, the frog is unable to sense the danger until it's too late. Such is people's sense of outrage, by now brought to just a sigh. If we go on being complacent, this vulgar bully in-chief shall take us to the slaughterhouse,,,by our noses. And deservedly so...unless we decide to wake up...and nail him!
1
And it just proves again and again that Trump can get away with anything.
But why? My theory is that the Democratic platform and the Democratic presidential candidates are so ridiculous, that Trump’s supporters are sticking with him anyway.
When you see Bernie Sanders waving his arms and promising to pay for everybody’s wish list, including illegal aliens, a lot of people say, okay, we know Trump is nuts, but he’s not as cracked as Sanders.
1
Brava as always, Maureen. You're my favorite writer.
Maureen, you are taking the wrong perspective on this. It is not "One Thing that will bring down Trump". It is the aggregate, the whole, the entire time span of his deceit, his incompetence, and his corruption.
Take two steps back and look at the entire span of his administration - from the fumbling attempt by Jared to setup a 'back channel' communication with the Russians, to Michael Flynn, to EPA disassembler Scott Pruitt, to 'can't deport them if we can't count them' Wilber Scott. Look at how the Saudis, our soon-to-be wartime allies, booked dozens of rooms in Trump's hotels. Look at how Trump loves them "because they buy $40-million, $50-million apartments" from him. Corrupt, through and through, and filling his cabinet and his administration with a greedy, grubbing, kleptocracy of cronies.
Now take another step back, and look at the entire long, corrupt, deceit-filled life of Trump. From tax fraud perpetrated by his father, through the settlement for discriminatory apartment rental racism, to his first failing attempts to be a business tycoon, bailed out by Daddy, suing his partners and suppliers. Look at Trump's serial bankruptcies - in the *casino* business. Look at payoffs to adultery partners, look at allegations of sexual assault - and him *bragging* about it!
A life-long, continuing, ongoing criminal: corrupt, lying, cheating, defrauding, self-centered and crooked. There is plenty to impeach Trump on, no need for a "Big One" to get him... there's dozens.
1
To paraphrase the popular song: "Oops, he did it again..."
2
I’m ready to work even harder than I have been, because I love this country. I’ve lived in Saudi Arabia, so I have lived within a society where the government is running the same game that the GOP is running here: Corruption of human decency justified by belief. The people of Saudi Arabia have NO influence on what the government does. That is what the GOP wants. Trump and his GOP is making America into a kingdom.
Our FOUNDING is being undone before our eyes.
5
The problem is not that the Democrats can’t get Trump, it’s that they won’t, because their leaders in Congress have been shirking their constitutional duty
5
Ms. Dowd, I have been a fan for years, but I take issue with your emphasis on Trump. Despite losing the popular vote to Clinton, he received over 60 MILLION (60,000,000) votes. The issue seems to be what is wrong with the American people. Deal with that!
4
Don’t get your hopes up. Never underestimate the structural incompetence of the Democrats, and the cautious imbecility of Pelosi.
5
Nancy please stop being a clever politician for a moment and defend our constitution. It will be a pyrrhic victory indeed for you to preside over the ruble of what was once a thriving democracy.
1
He went too far a long time ago.
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He’s gone too far a long time ago.
2
“FINALLY”, Maureen? You’re joking, right? That train left the station months ago. The entire GOP and 35% of Americans have somehow lost their minds.
6