I still want to see the Democrats follow through. They’ve let America down in the last year as often as Trump has humiliated us.
119
@strangerq Nonsense. Please enumerate the bad things Trump as done compared to the bad things the Democrats have done. It's easy to make a blanket statement as you did. Now let's see you back it up, please. If you don't, you're just talking through your hat.
I understood that according to released “rough transcript” of the call with Ukraine's leader Trump repeatedly prodded him to work with the U.S. Attorney General William Barr and lawyer Rudy Giuliani to investigate Joe Biden.
AG Barr should recuse himself.
3
It’s critical to emphasize one statement from this column:
"Pressuring Ukraine ...retroactively makes all the other accusations credible.”
Do Americans widely appreciate how voluminous the other accusations have been? The 24/7 news cycle quickly substitutes some new story for one of Trump’s daily lies.
Beyond David Leonhardt’s “man in 40 sentences” (Sept. 23), which was excellent, other sources (like the Washington Post) have summed up Trump’s lies to itemize over 5,000. That’s not counting all of the accusations related to 2016, emoluments, dictatorial behavior toward minorities, threatening national security with adversaries, etc.
Trump is a man who has corrupted the Office of Presidency far, far into the political intent of the Framer’s intended notion of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” which too often gets associated with crime, rather than with betrayal of public trust and propagandistic misuse of office.
Trump brings a mafia mentality to government. He has insulted the world’s leading example of constitutional government, destroyed U.S. ability to advance collaborative leadership, and given dictators elsewhere license to annihilate human rights—as well as to subject truth in journalism to brownshirt tactics.
1
I hope that the fecklessness of Trump's presidency and his pawns will expose the GOP for what it really is, and drown it in the bathtub.
How is it that the Ukraine and Russia have become proxies for the 2020 Presidential election here?
When Trump asks Zelensky to investigate Biden because ‘lots of people want answers’ - does Trump mean Putin is one of those people?
Wow! What if....breathtaking. And plausible.
Who else, according to Trump’s own words, wanted those answers?
Further, it’s been well reported that Trump holds a grudge against Ukraine b/c he believes they helped Dems against him in 2016.
Was he actually extorting to obtain Ukrainian cooperation for the 2020 cycle and withheld monies to indicate the friction Ukraine could expect if they did not cooperate?
This is only the beginning. The only time I have seen spite like this was Obama not favoring Hillary proxies once Obama was elected. But he didn’t involve foreign leaders at least!
2
Biden is out of this race. Add him to your list of losers.
Biden's son had no business being hired by Ukrainian gas company. The only reason you get a job like that is because your dad is vice president.
Biden should have called the oil company and shut down that appointment. That he didn't shows very bad judgment.
Trump is one thing. But Biden's appointment makes me nauseous. I've had enough of this insider stuff.
2
The first time we bought a TV was during the Watergate hearings. A little black and white portable that allowed us to hear first hand what had transpired and who was implicated.
It was riveting and unsettling and profoundly informative.
The reason why public opinion changed about Nixon needing to be impeached was right there on the screen for all to hear and see.
Those who are trying to frame this as an echo of what happened during
Clinton’s term are throwing up a
smokescreen. This is like
Nixon on steroids.
The house has attempted to pass legislation that would improve the lives of Americans and safeguard us against overreach of the President but Mitch McConnell has stonewalled.
We can continue to do that work while
revealing the corruption of this current executive branch.
Our system is working.
2
"You come at a king you best not miss" O. Little
4
In a dictionary, look up "Hoisted with his own petard." Donald Trump's picture is newly there. {In the background, but unseen, are Mike Pence and Rudy Giuliani.}
There are 2 documentary films that everybody must see: (1) Raise Hell, which is the life of Molly Ivins, and (2) Where's My Roy Cohn, which the life of Roy Cohn.
Molly Ivins, with her sharp eye and quick wit took down many an abusive politician. It's a shame she died in 2007. We need someone like her now more than ever.
Roy Cohn was, the lawyer to the McCarthy witch hunt hearings and taught DJT how to sidestep the law and to be ruthless and vicious. Although he was a closeted gay man he persecuted gays who worked in the government and other high offices.
The Roy Cohn shows the depth of the corruption and immorality. The Molly Ivins film shows how we can defeat the people like DJT, Moscow Mitch and others who wallow in the muck.
5
You're getting ahead of yourself. . . .
Add to the potential Loser list: the head of DNI Joseph Maguire and William Barr.
2
Thank you for bringing up the topic of "false equivalence" in media coverage of all previous Trump scandals. It is exactly because of that that I cancelled my Times subscription this morning. If the publisher finally sees fit to abandon this practice, I may change my mind. I certainly hope do.
1
The media, including if not especially the NYT continues its failure to tell the truth about the Ukraine and why Purina interfered with our election. As Putin says every time he discusses the Ukraine, he blames Obama that for the first time since Catherine the Great 250 years ago the Ukraine is free from Russian domination. That is Putin blames Obama for the worst defeat in Russian history, the end of Russian domination of the Ukraine.
So Trump, Putin's American president if not puppet, was trying to get the new president of the Ukraine, who according to the Ukraine's former dominator is only president of the Ukraine instead of a Putin puppet because of Obama, to redo an already completed investigation of Obama's VP's son for the purpose, make that requirement, of a different result in exchange for already congressional appropriated aid to resist Putin's attempts to reverse Obama and reestablish Russian domination over the Ukraine.
The only way this makes sense is that in addition to blackmailing Ukraine's president, Trump was also making promises on behalf of Putin himself. That is as facts come to light, look for Trump relaying Putin's promices toward the Ukraine in return for the Ukraine helping Putin's American president remain in office over the VP of the American president Putin blames for the biggest defeat in Russian history, the Ukraine being free of Russian domination and the current president of the Ukraine being president instead of a Putin puppet.
2
If I had a dime for every time a journalist proclaimed that now, finally, this is the thing that will bring down Trump...
3
Possibly the WORST aspect of this whole Trumpian betrayal of good faith is the fact that , by not allowing the military aid, it give Putin the means to annex Ukraine.
I see Putin's slowly reassembling the Soviet Union. This is never focused on in the American media by anyone.
Trump even gave him Syria!
This man in the Oval is the biggest threat to America I have ever seen.
The others who were impeached absolutely pale in comparison to his crimes.
We need some new laws, quickly
2
The Department of “Justice” is also culpable here, as is the entire Republican Party, as is all of Trump’s cabinet members and appointees, as are Trump’s chosen Supreme Court appointments.
This entire regime is founded upon complete corruption, self-dealing, betrayal of the country and the Constitution. They are all criminals, and traitors, and are to be dealt with as such.
Nothing they have done is legitimate; none of the executive decisions, none of the bills passed, none of the daily government decisions that have been made the past three years, none of the judicial appointments, none of the extreme gerrymandering and Voter Suppression efforts.
It’s all been one, big Scam. It is time for it to die, and for all those aiding and abetting it to be jailed. Preferably in the concentration camp cages that were used to imprison women and children, fleeing for their lives on arduous and dangerous journeys, only to be met with this Wall of Evil as their final destination.
This is not America; this is Pure, Unadulterated Evil.
3
The “winners” of the latest Donald Trump scandal are the American people.
The “losers” of the latest Donald Trump scandal are the American people.
2
Comeuppance is due. Long overdue. And we must not count our chicks in the basket, just yet.
Because El trumpo is a dodgy slimy character, able to squeeze through the thinnest of snake holes.
We need investigations. Lots of them. Because these facts are undeniable...
1) trump and the GOPs are hiding many things.
2) trump is a criminal at heart.
3) We need to rapidly flush out the mobster -- hopefully straight into a life-sentence imprisonment for his multiple acts of treason.
Who's on board?
4
Re the “savvy” journalistic analysts (losers) who took a wrong turn, making investigation of Biden and his son eqivalent to what Trump had done...
I saw Republican congressmen John Kennedy—the one who crucified an inept judge appointee—repeat the same equivalence! The man knows better, he’s not dumb. But there he went, following the Fox and Trump line together with the “savvy” journalisic analysts.
It was a sad spectacle that Kennedy made of himself but Chuck Todd properly showed him up!
2
LOSERS
1. Trump - well we knew he was a crook
2. Biden family - the veil is lifting
From Politico
For months, Biden has sidestepped questions about his son’s business dealings
The controversy can be traced back to March 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in Eastern Ukraine, setting off an international crisis. As the administration’s point-man on Ukraine, Biden led the U.S. response.
That April, Biden’s son, Hunter, was appointed to the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company, despite lacking substantive experience working in Ukraine or the energy sector. He received compensation that was reportedly as high as $50,000 a month.
At the time, Burisma was seeking to build inroads to U.S. Democrats as it faced investigative scrutiny. The same month Hunter Biden joined Burisma, the U.K. government froze bank accounts that allegedly belonged to its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, as part of a money laundering investigation.
Two years later, Joe Biden successfully pressured the Ukrainian government to remove its prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, who was unpopular with Western leaders, threatening to withhold loan guarantees if it did not. At the time, Shokin's office had open probes of Burisma and Zlochevsky.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/21/trump-ukraine-biden-1507051
WINNER
1. Pelosi - she finally bit the bullet
4
No. I do NOT feel sorry for Republicans. Not the first one of them. I hope this ensnares them all, the whole bunch of the liars.
3
Add the Department of Coverups -- ahem, I mean Justice -- to the list of losers.
1
The biggest winner so far is Senator Warren.
The biggest loser Joe Biden.
I wonder who the whistle blower is. Could it possibly be John Bolton?
If it's Tuesday, this must be Bedlam........
and it's just Tuesday
Other winners
- Liz Warren
Other losers:
- Joe Biden
- Democrats in 2020 Presidential race with Warren as their candidate
- Democrats in 2020 congressional races, with Warren at the top of the ticket
"There has been abundant evidence all along that Trump’s team colluded with Russia in 2016." Not according to the Mueller Report, which found insufficient evidence of such collusion. Yet Mr. Krugman lectures others on telling "the truth."
13
@R.P. Insufficient evidence to convict, does not mean there was not ample evidence of crime. The collusion was there for us to see, just as it is now.
312
@R.P.
The Mueller Sport explicitly stated that there was no legally ACTIONABLE evidence by HIS OFFICE, not that there was no collusion or coordination. Indeed, the report document, in meticulous detail, an extraordinary abundance of evidence. Only a reading filtered through a strictly partisan filter would come to any other conclusion.
316
@R.P.Trump rewrote his son's report describing meeting with the Russians. He denied, denigrated or downplayed the Intelligence Department's documentation of Russian meddling with the 2016 election. That we do know. And we know of Trump's economic interests in Moscow. He accepted Putin's false word on what he knew to be true. He fired and appointed staff who would be critical or accepting. His failure to comply with Congress is a clear indication he has much from which to hide. A combined cover-up is not vindication. Open the books and let responsible legislators do their jobs.
187
Trump can ignore all this. Mitch will look after him. Unless, of course, the bilious billionaire marionette masters decide Trump’s strings are too tangled and Pence needs a month or two as interim President to get his name out there for 2020.
2
I would suggest a third category: both winning and losing. And I nominate the United States for that category. The US wins because the constitutional process of checks and balances is being exercised and a would-be autocrat is being brought to account. The US loses because a person who should never have been president has forced the country into a divisive process that will deflect attention from the real social, economic, and foreign issues that should be the focus of government.
112
@William
Re the “savvy” journalistic analysts (losers) who took a wrong turn, making investigation of Biden and his son eqivalent to what Trump had done...
I saw Republican congressmen John Kennedy—the one who crucified an inept judge appointee—repeat the same equivalence! The man knows better, he’s not dumb. But there he went, following the Fox and Trump line together with the “savvy” journalisic analysts.
It was a sad spectacle that Kennedy made of himself but Chuck Todd properly showed him up!
3
@William
I disagree. The only thing America, including republicans, need right now is to be awake to what we have allowed over the last 40 years to shape the nation into the 1%ers v the 99%ers and how this has skewed just about everything about the goodness of America.
Trump is the pustule on the head of so, so much skullduggery against American citizens for far too long.
And now, here we are, being skinned everyday
3
@William: You don't read! If you were up on issue of INFLUENCE PEDDLING, you would have read findings of Peter Schweitzer, who has made a career of investigating corrupt practices of the Biden family. far more egregious than anything Trump could have done to justify the criticism of him:Estimated that 98 percent of articles published are anti Trump."Chapeau(Hats off)to that 2 percent. Schweitzer's investigative journalism produced astonishing finding that no sooner had Biden become v.p that his son was named to the board of an energy company in the Ukraine, CHARISMA, and "autant qu'on sache,"Hunter had no background in the field of energy production.And do not think that Hunter speaks Ukranian. Were media not so biased against Trump, it would have waxed indignant against such influence peddling by Biden, v.p. at the time.Taught ENGLISH at Brandeis High, special progress classes, and inculcated into the students necessity of backing up sweeping generalizations,ad hominem attacks with specifics. What is your proof that Trump is an autocrat.?Do you think that we would have such a ROBUST economy, be energy independent were it not for our vox populi?In VICTOR HANSON's "The case for Trump, he delineates, explains in detail the incestuous relationship between the liberal media and the Democratic Party. Very informative, and ABH suggests you read his book as well as those of other conservative writers like Buchanan, Coulter to broaden ur horizons.
I would Humbly suggest there ought to be a fourth winner: Nancy Pelosi. She has kept a steady eye and a steady hand on the house, and has held off on starting an impeachment inquiry until the house was ready for it. Swing district members are on board, and the charge is clear and straight forward. Her management of the scandal will contribute to her image as a savvy, deliberate leader who keeps her party unified and focused during fractious times.
150
@Gordon I'm seriously glad she didn't retire like she'd planned. Let's hope it's enough.
5
@Gordon I respectfully disagree. There has been ample evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors for almost three years, and Speaker Pelosi has dragged her feet, not on principle, but out of fear of backlash from the Republican base (i.e., "deplorables") who were never going to support Democrats, anyway. Pelosi has shown more concern for the party than for the country, until Trump finally went too far too publicly.
3
@Gordon So leading from behind is winning. What a joke. That's not leadership. That's being forced to act by overwhelming pressure. She's not a leader. Steady anything, whatever.
"It now looks as if he tried to pressure said foreign regime by withholding crucial military aid, which makes it worse." As some commentators have pointed out, Mr. Trump did not have to explicitly threaten to hold back the funds. When the POTUS makes demands - repeatedly - on a small country that wishes to stay in the USA's favor, the threat is implicit and real.
288
@Steve Kennedy
Outright bribery. For his personal reelection, with our taxpayer dollars, and an outcome negative for a critical partner.
15
@Steve Kennedy
Along with this impeachment inquiry, Rudy Giuliant should be investigated, and disbarred, by the American Bar Association for his activity with Trump in this "high crime" among endless misdemeanors. Lawyers have been the targets of jokes, and spurious descriptions for generations.
But Trump's team of lawyers, working 24/7, to create a firewall around him, should be considered for disbarment as well. Like Michael Cohen, they are not simply providing legal representation and counsel as is a right to all Americans. They are creating that firewall through endless lies to protect the most corrupt president in our nation's history.
28
@David Ohman As a retired attorney, I am constantly astonished that lawyers would work for Trump at all - seems like a sure fire way to lose any reputation you previously had for being a straight shooter.
17
Let's not overlook the all-important whistleblower. Only time will tell if he/she loses personally. I fear he/she has put himself/herself at great risk for reporting a credible impropriety by the President. What we can say is he/she is a true patriot.
547
"They" are a patriot.
7
One of the finest patriots in decades.
6
If I were them I would be very careful about walking out anyplace with a tall building & a clear line of sight.
5
Trump's argument that "Why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt?" goes completely against asking the same country to help find out evidence of alleged corruption by Biden & son.
Trump is not exactly strong on consistency. But my concern is whether Trump's complete disarray of statements are reflecting his confused and perhaps slightly demented mind or whether he is some sort of Machiavelli using a purposeful tactic to discombobulate his audience?
Getting Trump out of office would certainly be a huge win in terms of recovering some sanity back into the country's conversation, that is if he can be made to get off the radio waves, cable TV and Twitter afterwards.
1
@Fly on the wall
Let's hope the SDNY gets him into that orange jumpsuit so he can't become a commentator of Fox Nooz...or worse, his own radio show
1
Andrew Johnson was impeached because he reversed himself from supporting Reconstruction to thwarting it and going over the the Slavers in the South. Thwarted the will of Congress. Betrayed the Northern cause of crushing the Southern slave aristocracy.
Bill Clinton was impeached because he was too successful and Republicans found an excuse in his sexual improprieties. They were exposed as hypocrites, as his major accusers (Henry Hyde, Newt Gingrich) had to admit they committed the same infidelities.
Trump will be impeached because he offends Democrats and half the country by continuing to be Tony Soprano, indifferent to the law. The only law is what he can get away with.
But half the country sees him as strong and honest about his aims. Extorting a dictator? Who cares? Obstructing an FBI investigation. Who cares? If he sent in burglars, his base would shrug it off.
Hopefully, the Dems will get it done by New Year and the Senate will exonerate him and then the Dems can name a candidate by May.
1
Trump is a careless, sloppy, ill-prepared, and even a stupid man in the political arena. I have seen many folks come from the private sector into government service and either don't care or have no interest in understanding that government service has rules and ethics requirements which are different from the private sector.
However for the Dems and the media to act outraged and hysterical over a politician using his/her influence for political gain is either naive or more likely or just pure politics. Anyone who has managed a political campaign knows that anything goes. A very sloppy White House didn't do a good job covering its tracks, but lets not be so sanctimonious and claim that the Repoublic is about to collapse. The nation has survived a lot more challenges than Mr. Trump.
Interesting in that the price for getting rid of Trump may also be the losing of Biden, the Never-Trumpers & the Third Way's GOP-light candidate, the way the Me-Too movement clipped Al Franken. Biden's son presence in Ukraine becomes questionable. This could clear the board for Warren or Sanders versus Pence.
1
@Tim Kane
OK by me....
The great loser so far is Joe Biden. With all the attention focused on his son, he is basically out of the race.
The great winner is Trump. How many people in the swing states will vote for Warren's radical agenda?
5
Many seem to be behaving as though impeachment and removal had already occurred! Reminds me of some of the Pollyanna-istic hopes about the Mueller report, before the entirely predictable outcome. Mueller is a Republican, folks! And so, I’m afraid to point out, is Mitch McConnell.
I only hope the evidence against Trump is clear and damning. Otherwise, I expect McConnell to announce as soon as he possibly can that the Senate will not be entertaining a trial of Trump. The same guy who ignored his constitutional responsibility to advise on, and consent to, Obama’s role to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court will have no problem refusing to exercise his constitutional duty to try a sitting president upon impeachment.
1
I would add to the winners list: Elizabeth Warren. This scandal takes down her two main rivals- Trump and Biden. Yes, I know what Trump did was much more serious and likely impeachable. But, the Hunter Biden issue is at the very least unseemly. Does anyone think for a moment this troubled son would have gotten paid $50,000 per month for “consulting” work had his dad not been VP and intimately involved with the Ukrainian government? Why exactly did he choose the Ukraine to ply his “skills”? The fact that his dad not recuse himself from all dealings with Ukraine is indefensible. Not too different from his pushing through bank friendly legislation as a senator when his son was first a MBNA employee then later an MBNA lobbyist.
Warren has little love for Biden. Her antipathy dates back to when Senator Biden supported the horrific bank industry supported 2005 bankruptcy bill. Warren doesn’t need to lift a finger- this will all take care of itself. Trump May well go down, but he will take Biden’s election chances with him.
4
Politics has not been based on facts, data, or mounting evidence for quite awhile. It has been all about the money, the media, and the narrative, and which political party controls it, and which political party does not.
The GOP played this game very well, largely by employing the basic principles of advertising and then shifting to outright propaganda to dominate the message, the medium, and American minds. The overwhelmed Democrats let the GOP steal their lunch money.
Trump played the schoolyard bully, amassing a rap sheet of presidential abuses of power, intimidating the opposition, and drawing cheers from the weaklings who attached themselves to him, while the Democrats were the bewildered kids stating the obvious fact that "This is not right, this is wrong" to little avail.
How much is too much, when is enough enough, many Americans kept asking about Trump's out-of-control presidency.
Nancy Pelosi kept saying not yet, not now, Americans don't want to go through impeachment—thereby emboldening the arrogant Trump and the enabling GOP even more. Out came the Mueller Report, but Pelosi said not yet. We chafed.
But the seasoned Nancy bided her time. Trump inevitably went too far, and a whistle-blower noted the abuses that included Trump's attempt to goad a foreign leader into finding dirt on Joe Biden's son.
Trump is the bank robber who decided to rob one bank too many, and Nancy Pelosi, who knows timing is everything, said "Now!" A new narrative is launched
4
The rule of law is not self-enforcing, rather it must be enforced by the women and men elected to govern. Impeachment is the only option to ending abuse of power, treason, destruction of democracy, and subversion of the rule of law.
Tuesday was a good day for the rule of law and the hope for a better tomorrow.
2
Democrats are gleeful, they'll take any stick offered them with which to hit Mr. Trump, so this Ukraine thing looks like a godsend to them--but why do they need it? Because their vast, something-free-for-everybody political program is not really flying, so a rip-roaring scandal and a made-for TV impeachment trial is the best bet they've got. And, that's all well and good in the early days of the campaign, but when crunch-time comes, you know, the last week or two before the election, people take a good hard look at what each party has on offer. On the Democrat side it's blatant vote-buying; something free for every identifiable minority group--I don't see people actually going for that, even if Mr. Trump isn't exactly a saint--but we already knew that.
1
The least qualified, most ignorant president ever is elected, and is given the legistlative branch by the voters as well. He wants to be king...let's just face it. Everything follows the original sin of giving the reigns to Donald J. Trump. It was vicious, vindictive, stupid and immoral.
He has strong-armed his party with 14,000,000 voters who chose him in the primaries. All other Republicans must get in line. 4% of the country in population essentially chose a disaster-in-chief, who is not accountable to the Senate, nor the other 320,000,000 people who live here.
Much-vaunted democracy is currently taking it on the chin.
2
Why does everyone think there are transcripts of Trump's phone calls?
1
If all goes well the biggest winner will be the constitution and the biggest loser the reputation of the Trump family.
1
I'd Ross Douthat's oped today on whether or not Trump actually want's to be impeached to the analysis of winners and losers. I think Trump and his base just enjoy this charade.
Sorry GOP - it's your baby.
2
To borrow an old line about journalists:
Your job is not to report that one side says it's raining and the other side says it's not, it's to open the window and look.
4
No Paul I do not feel sorry for Republicans. I guess I lack your empathy. Oh well. I’ll just have to learn to live with myself.
No president had ever been removed from office through impeachment. Highly unlikely one will be here. And it's far from clear who will benefit from the House's inquiry. In fact an impeachment trial may be the lifeline Trump needs to be re-elected. It is woefully premature to assess winners and losers.
16
@Keir Shakespeare
While it s true that no president has ever been removed from office through impeachment, it is also true that no prior president has ever been as blatantly corrupt and incompetent as Trump. This official impeachment inquiry will not only amplify his misdeeds and reveal others (especially via the enhanced subpoena power that this official designation confers) but it will ensure that Trump's misdeeds - old and new - continue to dominate the news cycle for the remainder of his presidency. It is unlikely that rehashing Trump's old sins and digging up new ones (e.g., based on Trump's tax returns?) will win him any sympathy, much less any new voters. No, the impeachment process will not help Mr. Trump win in 2020.
Also, as Paul Krugman indicates, even if there are ultimately too few votes to convict in the Senate, it will be gratifying to watch Republican senators squirm and tap dance as they cast votes that will forever brand them as sycophantic supporters of this ridiculously incompetent and corrupt president. And oh by the way, you can bet that a failure to convict in the Senate will so enrage the ever-growing numbers of anti-Trump voters that they will hit the voting booths in 2020 like a Tsunami.
In short: there is no "downside" to this impeachment process for the Democrats.
5
Thank you, Dr. Krugman. But this is not just about Republicans and Trump. This has been brewing since the fall of the twin towers, 9/11. Somehow over time, we all have glossed over what other notable Republicans have done. Iraq. In spite of what Republicans and Fox News and pundits championed, had nothing to do with attacks on US.
14 of the terrorists were Saudi Arabians funded by two royal princes. The insistence on a preemptive strike on the sovereign nation of Iraq should raise worldwide concerns on genocide. 300,000 of them killed in almost 20 years. Something most Republicans said - it was the intelligence that did it. How about the lack of it! The intelligence that was fabricated through Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, rung out by the Joint Iraqi Task Force, after the loss of 5,000 Americans, 40,000 injured, $3+T (yes, trillion) expended. And the decimation of a sovereign nation. Why do we even have the Hague International Court? For other nations? Bring those who are responsible for this effort to justice! I choose to differ with some former US presidents who believe US presidents should not be held accountable for actions conducted during war.
21
George Washington warned about "foreign entanglements" but that may now be unrealistic and impractical in our increasingly compact and interdependent global world where corporations have also come to hold great influence.
3
@R. Anderson
From my readings in European history, I would say that having spies and influencers in the courts of other nations was as much a security measure then as satellites with cameras now. These then are the foundation for the phrase about foreign entanglements.
1
Well Congress is starting impeachment proceedings and the Senate unanimously passed a resolution for the President to turn over the phone call transcript and the whistleblower report. Seems like the straw that broke the camel’s back has landed. Republicans have retired in droves from the House are sensing a 2020 wave. I can imagine a few Senators facing re-election voting to impeach, Cory Gardner and Susan Collins. I can also see some like Mitt Romney who will also vote to impeach. Will Trump resign with an amnesty deal allowing a Pence-Romney ticket?I doubt it. My guess is He will drag his party to crashing defeat unable to now make any deal with China, Iran and N Korea who will all continue the pressure assuring a slow economy and turbulence abroad.
8
If Trump or his impeachment leads to opposition research on Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, I agree that it justifies the House impeaching Trump.
However the effort will be merely a tempest in a tea cup. Mitch McConnell and Senate Repubicans will insure that Trump will never be removed from office as required by the Constitution: by a vote of 2/3. This "Barr" is too high to be meaningful which is why it has never resulted in removal of a US President from office by the Senate!
It appears that 2/3 of the Senate is unlikely ever to agree to remove any president no matter how egregious.
Our Constitution has serious shortcomings which have become all too obvious during the Trump Administration. The US Constitution assumes that most elected representatives and senators, whatever their political persuasions, will primarily act in the best interests of the people of the United States.
That is not the case. Most of our elected political representatives act in their own interests which is why they have very good universal healthcare but we can't afford it for the non-elected folks.
23
@BSmith
2/3 of the Senate would have voted to remove Richard Nixon. A delegation of REPUBLICANS went to the White House to inform and assure him of that. That is why Nixon resigned. He was told that he could leave the White House "with honor" or leave in shame, but he would surely have to leave.
He resigned.
5
@JB
Nixon did not resign despite all the evidence against him until a delegation of Republicans met with him and said that he would be removed right away unless he resigned. He resigned the next day.
He didn't resign until Congress got the tapes, not just the transcripts of Nixon's conversations.
1
Quite likely this will finally tank the US economy.
3
I wonder why Republicans who disapprove of Trump are not disturbed by the cancellation of Republican primaries in several states? Might they not want to consider another candidate for president?
48
@P Payne -- The definition of a tyrant is someone who will not allow himself to be voted out of office.
3
The president and his allies in congress put a lot of faith in the veracity of the transcript to be released by the White House, convinced that it will say nothing about putting pressure on Ukraine's president. Trump's ready posture to release it makes me suspicious as to the accuracy of the 'transcript'. Based on his past lies, I wouldn't put it past Trump's puppets that the "transcript" delivered to Congress is thoroughly laundered, or that in fact it may be some other call Trump had with Zelensky. Who is there to vouch for its accuracy? his private counsel AG Barr, or perhaps Stephen Miller? The same can be said about the whistleblowers report. Any conflicting evidence by him/her would be dismissed as not having being privy to the conversation or due to faulty memory. Even if the whistleblower gets to be interviewed by congress, I bet it will only be heard in a pre-filtered version approved and enforced by the White House. The sad thing is that many of our citizens have come to the unheard conclusion that the whole Trump administration is thoroughly corrupted and distrusted, as is are the Republicans in Congress through their blind and uncritical support of the corrupter-in-chief. The office of the presidency has been irreversibly damaged and debased, perhaps forever.
36
Trump's ready posture to release it makes me suspicious as to the accuracy of the 'transcript'.
Yes, shades of Barr's handling of the Mueller report release.
37
@Rudy Ludeke
I agree; Trump will present a useless pile of paper. But now the actual 'whistle blower' has requested a meeting with the democrats. In addition; there are more than one phone call and all of them must be heard. Either way, impeach or not, he's done; a month, 6 months, it's not important. What matters is he is not re elected and the existing fed, state, local charges against him will make his life no fun.
20
@Rudy Ludeke The testimony of the actual whistleblower is necessary. It’s the ONLY way we’ll learn the truth.
I’m wondering I’d the whistleblower might be Dan Coats?
10
Paul,
Your analysis is logical, rational and sound. However, the very elevation of this man to the office of the presidency is ample proof that our media systems and electoral vetting process are anything but logical, rational or sound.
Therefore, an argument that rational and ethics based arguments will win the day is like a bet against both the media system and our electoral judgment. In the long run, both will revert to a much needed correction.
However in the short term, animal instincts will continue to roil sensible judgments. Or to paraphrase one of your favorite economists, JM Keynes "The electorate can stay irrational longer than our institutions can stay relevant"
27
I was in D.C. during the Clinton years. Mr. Starr's report referred to "impeachable" offenses, by that nomenclature, many times. Mr. Mueller's report never uses that term. Looking backwards at what happened after these reports issued, I sure do marvel at the power of a single word.
21
The Clinton impeachment, to which some people are making comparisons, is not the correct comparison. Clinton was impeached for lying in a civil case that had nothing to do with his job as president. It was pushed by the GOP for political gain and not because Clinton was threat to national security, the rule of law or indeed democracy itself. Clinton respected the rule of law, which Trump does not.
The appropriate comparison is with Nixon who was heavily involved with obstruction of justice of the Watergate break in. In fact, the case(s) against Trump is far more serious and far reaching than anything Nixon did, based on what we already know: Trump like Nixon is a criminal president who would be convicted of multiple crimes if it were not for the DOJ policy against prosecution of a sitting president. The (heavily redacted) Mueller report makes that crystal clear. Clinton's transgressions involved civil matters and other "crimes" such as lying to the American people, which Trump does almost every day of the week!
It's important here to recall that the public did not support Nixon's impeachment until the facts were laid out before them during the Watergate impeachment hearings and were later confirmed by the White House tapes. I have no doubt that a close look at Trump's tax returns would reveal even more criminality, which is why he's trying to block their disclosure to the Congress.
106
@Doug Rife -- Excellent comment. Clinton's impeachment was truly "trumped" up. Those charges would never have raised an eyebrow if it had been a republican president. But now we see just how much tolerance for abuse the right wing has - if it's their own guy.
42
@Doug Rife, and even then, I would rather have Nixon in office than Trump. That is really sad. He at least respected our alliances and was well schooled in foreign policy, but his personality, much like Trump's was his downfall.
4
@Doug Rife
Exactly. The equivalence between Mr Bling and Clinton does not hold up. The Republicans lost big after the Clinton impeachment because people saw it as an out of control partisan, pardon the expression, witch hunt, which didn't really effect Clinton's ability to run the Executive Branch successfully. On the other hand, Nixon tried to rig the election, which was clearly contrary to our founding principles, and now we have Mr Bling trying to rig his second election.
My advice to the House investigators is to heed the words of Deep Throat: Follow the money. It worked once and will work again. And don't accept any claims that there is only an unverifiable transcript. There must be a recording. Find it.
5
All of this will matter little to the Trump base, who will vote for him if he's committed murder and residing in a federal penitentiary.
It's hard to see how it could redound to his benefit politically, but it may harm him less than one might think.
12
This may play out well if transcripts show that Trump tried to bribe Ukrainian gov officials (America's friends)by threatening to withhold military aid. But it may not play so well if the bribing move is not shown and/or if dirt on Biden's son does come out. If Trump was out to smear him with false allegations, the American public (probably most Republicans) would not accept that. But if it happens that he was requesting evidence for actual dirty business and possible corruption then he will be given a pass, especially by Republicans and Biden's reputation by association with his son would suffer, even if he himself is clean. That is a very plausible scenario.
7
@tdb. Those supposed “crimes” that Trump/Pounce want “investigated” have been flying around in GOP circles and I don’t the FOX Fantasy Network for YEARS. They’ve been investigated - for real! - by people who know what to look for.
They are fantasy - they are ridiculous, and they are 100% made up and untrue.
The Senate would conduct a trial, assuming Trump is impeached. There will not be a trial, at least, not until 2021. Very likely, there will never be a trial.
Democrats need to be careful. Bill Clinton was impeached for truly illicit behavior that sullied the Presidency. Nixon resigned before the House vote. I’m not suggesting that Trump is guiltless but he was allegedly pressuring Ukraine over what appears to be some very obvious influence-buying via
Hunter Biden to the tube of $50,000 per month. While his motive was wrong (pressuring Joe Biden’s campaign), the seriousness of the apparent influence-peddling by the Biden’s is too big to ignore. Not to mention that Joe Biden is on video bragging about getting a Ukrainian prosecutor fired - not a good look.
In short, the Democrats are casting some very big stones from a house with a lot of glass windows. Moreover, they continue to diminish impeachment’s gravity. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
4
@Once From Rome
There is NO Hunter/Joe Biden scandal. NONE. In fact, just the opposite happened. The US and the EU pressed Ukraine to dismiss the previous AG because he WAS/DID not pursue corruption by companies including the oil company Hunter worked for. These are knowable facts. https://www.factcheck.org/2019/09/trump-twists-facts-on-biden-and-ukraine/
1
@Once From Rome, Clinton didn't behave well, but his behavior pales in comparison to our current man in the White House. And you are repeating the Limbaugh trope.
1
@Once From Rome
I am so tired of people who impugn reputations with probabilistic nonsense. There is this thing called a Google machine. You can search on Hunter and Joe Biden and find a multitude of data that Hunter was found to be innocent of any wrongdoing. There is even a timeline analysis that shows Hunter joined the board AFTER the prosecutor was removed. By the way read a little history while you are at it. Clinton was impeached not for anything related to his presidency. He was impeached because he lied under oath in a civil matter.
4
I'm afraid you'll have to add to the list of losers the 10 Democratic Senators up for re-election in Trump states.
And as Dr. Krugman states, based on the sycophantic behavior towards Trump so far most if not all of the Republican Senators will vote to acquit. And the only victory the Democrats will have in the end is that these Senators will forever have a documented history of voting for party over the Republic because this one isn't even close. These Senators will have to be left for future generations to disdain.
11
GOP Senators are starting to see the writing on the wall. They have been happy to keep their heads down and go along with the Trump wild ride, but now they can see history is being made and they are vain enough to not want to be on the wrong side of history. We will see some of the GOP cross over. And when that happens, Trump is done, whether he admits it or not. President Pence will then need to scramble to put together his 2020 campaign apparatus while he pardons Trump, Manafort, Flynn et al. But not Cohen, they see him as a traitor to the cause.
12
@Gone Coastal. Being from Indiana, I can only with that VP Pounce will go down with Trump.
In a way this is a gift to Republicans. It is unlikely that Trump will have any success with either China or Iran. North Korea is already an abject failure. There is a better than even chance there will be a down turn in the economy and the 2020 election would serve as a highlight for how ugly and unfit Trump is to be President. By supporting Trump, Republicans have thus far traveled well down the path of no return. Now an opportunity to change course presents itself. They still have plenty of time to find someone beside Trump to run in 2020. A decent candidate might well save them from what otherwise looks like a coming disaster.
3
@W.A. Spitzer
But several states have cancelled Republican primaries. Trump is the presumed candidate. What then?
9
I believe that women are the winners of these scandals. Those women are represented by Nancy Pelosi of the U.S. House and Lady Hale of the U.K. Supreme Court.
28
Trump was behaving like he has always done - bullying, threatening, bribing. This time he was doing it to smear Biden's son and improve his election prospects, helped by the egregious Giuliani. Leopards can't change their spots, neither can Trump become an honest, decent man or competent president.
31
This should be a slam dunk if the invertibrate Republicans in the House and Senate could finally acknowledge their responsiblity to the country, instead of to Trump.
But we have seen time and again, Trump's sycophants in both chambers shouting and badgering in their committee activities. They all dodge and weave, stonewall, and obfuscate as did Hope Hicks and Cory Lewandowski. We can fully expect every WH witness to do the same. Taking an oath to tell the truth to a committee will mean nothing to them.
13
@David Ohman While I wholeheartedly agree with the spirit of your comment, I must ask you to refrain from from using the term 'invertibrate Republicans'. While it is a wonderful turn of phrase, it is also an insult to good, honest mollusks everywhere.
I am sick, sick, sick of all of this. This impeachment thing that has gone on ever since Trump took office. Different reasons, but the same goal. I'm a lifelong Democrat, have never once voted for a Republican, but for me, and literally everyone I talk to, we are all sick of Trump and also all the super "woke" Democrats. Five bucks says that Trumps slips out of this latest and goes on to win in 2020!! I am 77 years old and can't remember an election that wasn't "the most important election of our lifetime." Now? I sort of sit back and watch the next play on the chessboard. And, I hate to tell you, but Trump's a good player. What's more, he thoroughly enjoys the game!
14
@Bette Andresen. I disagree. The mid-term election of 2018 was just a preview of the trouncing the entire GOP will be decimated by next year.
5
Good players don't need to cheat and lie.
@Lyn Pearson I don't mean good in a moral sense. I mean it as knowing how to win. And our current political system contains very little that is good in the moral sense. Large political contributions to buy votes, which is exactly what it is about? Where is the moral sense in that? Congress is hardly filled with morally good folks! Bernie? Yes! Tulsi Gabbard? Yes! Name another. Elizabeth Warren would not endorse Bernie in 2016. She did what was expedient for her. T'is the way the game is played.
1
To use a word I have learned recently...I am "conflicted" about Trumps possible impeachment. Yeah he should be thrown out for his actions in Ukraine. On the other hand, I am saddened that we will "get" him similar to how we "got" Capone...on a really lesser charge. No one had the courage to go after him, thru the Republican defense shield, for promoting the poisoning of the environment with Methane, Coal waste, Hog waste etc., alienating most of our allies, ignoring climate change which is no longer "approaching" but HERE now, creating a racist national attitude, demeaning the poor and indefensible, trying to build a comical wall, and yes in general being an obnoxious. Oh well, whatever works.
16
@rnrnry
"Yeah he should be thrown out for his actions in Ukraine..." Does the public even know what his actions were "in Ukraine"?
Talk about putting the cart in front of the horse.
Let's wait for some facts for a change, please!!!
“There has been abundant evidence all along that Trump’s team colluded with Russia in 2016”
It seems Professor K has unearthed evidence that eluded Mueller and his team
5
@Robt Little, no no, it’s all there in the Mueller report. Stopping short of proving criminal conspiracy, there is plenty of evidence of encouraging, cooperating with, benefiting from, and failure to protect American elections from foreign interference. You should read it.
@Robt Little "Colluded" isn't a legal term. Mueller found that the Russians worked to get Trump elected and that Trump and his campaign accepted, indeed, solicited, Russian help. Maybe you should read the report.
@Robt Little
From the report:
The “investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”
We are all losers. Just imagine a new politician taking Trump's playbook and all our exposed holes in the checks and balances. A politician who is mentally agile, socially adept, a hard worker, intelligent....and just as amoral. Right now we may be saved by Trump's unfitness and inability to fill his office. (Think of the sharpie and the map.)
We should be worried for what comes after. And it will take years to restore the trust in our government, much less repair the damages globally and nationally.
20
I hope a stenographer with no political bend will record verbatim the meeting between Trump and the newly Ukraine president set for Wed
11
It is too late to save the USA from unrestrained tyranny and corruption?
6
We will see Republicans begin to distance themselves from this lunatic administration. Subtly. But Americans must hold the enablers to account. McConnell, Graham, Blunt and the rest. They hitched their wagons to Trump, and they must pay electorally.
19
The Biggest Loser is Joe Biden. The winners are Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Personally, I’m okay with either one of those two. It’s been 20 years since America has had a president who knows what they’re doing. Biden would continue that streak. His son Hunter is alive and until last April remained a director of the crooked Ukrainian energy company. He works for a private equity company that invests in international deals — arranged by good political connections. The firm’s godfather is Teresa Heinz. It’s major domo is John Kerry. How else did Hunter get the board seat except as a bribe to make his dad happy. The New York Times itself said in 2014 that installing him on that board was corrupt. Other investments Hunter’s firm has made include a company that provides facial recognition software to the Chinese government. Independent analysis still rates Ukraine as one of the most corrupt governments in the world (130 out of 180). The Democrats are “La la la . . .” on the subject now. But Bernie and Warren are unlikely to let it slide, if they’re close.
8
@Cape Cod don’t go on and on if you are not willing to look at Trump profiting from being president at his properties, Ivana getting 35 Chinese trademarks after a meeting with the head of China Or all the dirty Russian money flowing freely in and out of the Trump Organization. Pleeease, Hunter Biden probably did get the board position because his name is Biden but that’s not a crime and I hope you’re not too naive to know it’s done everyday in business. Hunter himself was never found to have done anything wrong except that it looked bad. Looking bad is not evidence of a crime.
Mr. Krugman,
Please read Douthat’s opinion piece from earlier today. Or, read Mr. Yoo’s piece.
I think Trump is conning his way to reelection by getting the Democrats to start the impeachment process that few Americans want. The Trumpster will get the Democrats running amok in his running amok wake. Then, who will look the fool?
“Wake” in the Irish sense of the word may be quite apropos for describing America’s morally bankrupt politics of which Trump is simply a new and ghastly iteration. Remember McCarthy and Cohn, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, etc., etc.
Washington is not a swamp, it is a sewer to which moral values go to rot, decay, putrefy.
Hey, how’s the economy?
7
>> You can almost feel sorry for Republicans
Strange, I didn’t, not in the least, TBH.
8
They made their bed now it’s time to lie in it.
Questions:
Is there an audio tape of the conversations ?
If not, how do we know whether the transcripts might
have been edited ?
Does the Whistleblower have a copy of the "original transcripts" ?
How does this differ from what FDR did in World War II ?
Poland was handed over to the Soviets,
Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary,
lost their independence...
FDR lied about keeping American out of World War II
and conspired with Churchill to bring America closer and
closer to War.
Impeach Trump if he is guilty, but don't act if he,
and he alone, is guilty of misusing political power.
3
I have read many, many comments. A lot of postulating but not many truths.
What matters most about an impeachment inquiry is the "turning of the political tide". Think football.
Schiff and Pelosi are finally in their stride and they are likely to "rush" past the Republican militia including Mitch. They will win the American sentiment and their common sense "court of law".
Vote Democrat in 2020!
23
Paul, As you should know from experimental economics, rich scenarios make people over-estimate their probability. Yours is rich. But the likelihood of this precise outcome is pretty low. Why? Try triangulating. I can think of numerous outcomes that are at least equally likely. Which should discount your estimates to a certain degree. But add to that this well studied phenomenon: scenario thinking causes people to be overconfident in the comprehensiveness of their thinking. But we lack the cognitive ability to develop anything more than a fraction of the possible outcomes when dealing with complexity like this. And we are often surprised when judgments go wrong by "who could have imagined that outcome" events.
Too close to home in this situation to recognize this? Try thinking about Bush and Iraq - a good example of the phenomenon.
Then ask yourself: would you be willing to take a straight-up bet on your prediction. After pondering that, get back to me if you still hold on to this prediction. Because I'd be happy too take that wager.
2
@Dred
Well put ... sadly, Mr. Krugman hasn't seen the transcript of the "phone call," apparently the "whistleblower" didn't even have direct knowledge of the call the president made and for some reason, it's OK to just push a narrative and act irresponsibly as a collective group of journalists and opinion writers. This is very sad. Mr. Krugman is a great example of what happens when someone is so consumed with their hatred for the president that common sense doesn't enter the equation.
Mitchell & Dred, you do realize that Krugman made no factual predictions about the phone call in question beyond what Trump already admitted to. That is Trump already admitted to pressuring the president of a foreign nation to start a new investigation into the son of his top political rival when the Ukraine had already completed said investigation finding no wrong doing because Trump wanted a different result.
That is what Trump has already admitted, he was using the power of the presidency to enlist a foreign government intervene against the president's political opponent. The majority of Americans get that a sitting president using the power of his office to enlist, even if it was not explicitly blackmail, a foreign power to meddle on his behalf in an American election is an impeachable offense.
What kind of world do you need to imagine that it would be anything but negative for Trump and his party that Trump has admitted to comitting an impeacable offense? At a minimum a world where this was not bad Trump and the Republican Party would require an America that does not have a democracy.
There are winners outside of our country as well. Namely, Vladimir Putin. If Trump had gotten away with holding back funds to fight Russian aggression, it would have put Putin in a very favorable position with Crimea, and with Ukranian separatists. Putin could have won Ukraine, and defeated Biden, one contender who is on to him. Trump did not get away with it and Putin still wins, by proving to people like Trump how superior Putin's form of government is to democracy.
13
If Trump resigns, or by some miracle is removed from office, the biggest winners will be 1) the American people and 2) the rest of humanity.
75
Scaramucci haas predicted he will resign.
@K. Anderson Actually, the biggest winners will be #Women
Meanwhile, trump's popularity is on a sharp increase. Talk about impeachment, like talk about Clinton's impeachment, is only adding to trump's support over an issue that his supporters can not and will not understand. All they see is a beleaguer president and a weakened nation under attack from within.
3
@Hydra According to 538, Trump's approval rating is 43.1% and the the disapproval rate is 53%. His approval rate has gone up slightly in the last 10 days, but it would be difficult to win reelection based on his popularity alone.
6
Trump’s approval ration stands at 42 percent and disapproval at 54 percent. There has been no recent increase in his popularity.
5
@Hydra
"Trump's popularity is on a sharp increase." Any evidence you can supply?
Are his "supporters" really as naive (or stupid) as they are said to be?
7
In my own inexpert opinion, In order to stay more viable, the Republican party needed to move leftward a bit. Things like voter exclusion schemes indicate to me that they're having trouble. That would strand the most fervent of their base. I dunno - maybe they could try to elect Steve Bannon. The slightly more left Republican party would then pretty much have an even shot in elections - without cheating. The good ol' days would be restored, where a Republican senator would meet with a Democrat senator and hash out a deal then shake hands and have another drink.
That said, regardless of whether the Billion Dollar Loser gets fired, or elected for a second term, the USA is fragile. The best thing to do would be to get the foreman of the auto plant back to doing something besides tossing a sign in the air to advertise someone's restaurant.
3
We're lucky that the transcripts might be produced.
In a binary political system, most logical arguments are moot.
Think once, twice, three times a lady... No a man... No, I just woke up from a nightmare.
Anyway, I caution those willing to be to harsh. The presidency is harsh enough for anyone to bear. For Trump, well, he's still a human.
Money doesn't get people far. Identity and influence is what he bears.
Let's not be the country of barons (sorry for your son's name, Don), but let us be the coutry that pities baron wannabees.
No matter the outcome here, I believe very strongly that Trump did good things with Chinese trade. This should be the subject of much future conversation. I know I'm right. Trump did the proper bidding of the people.
Tell that to the soybean farmers. Those markets are gone and won’t be coming back.
We could have done something about China without shooting ourselves in the foot at the same time.
4
@Dave
"For Trump, well, he's still a human".
I'd need to see some genetic evidence that he was ever human to believe that he is still human.
No, no, no, no, no, Paul. I can NOT almost feel sorry for Republicans. "They chose to put themselves in this position."
34
Do you really think anyone wins or loses here? Do you think any of this will fundamentally change anything? I would like to think so, but all that will happen will be a hardening of positions people already hold.
This is certainly a serious situation, but is it that much more serious than any of the numerous past and continuing scandals which have plagued this presidency? There are 40% of the electorate who will support Trump regardless of what happens, and a move to impeach now will only sharpen their resolve. Trump could invite Putin into the Oval Office to have a televised brainstorming session on how the two of them could work to undermine the US political system to ensure Trump stays in power. His base would applaud the move because they see Democrats as a threat to our democracy, not the man who has shown a willingness to circumvent the law to bend our institutions to his will.
No matter what evidence comes out, the conclusion is already written. The House votes to impeach. The Senate does not. Voters decide in 2020, with Democrats patting themselves on the back for sticking to the rules, and Republicans furious because they see "elites" and "socialists" trying to manufacture a coup to overthrow their dear leader.
12
For the entirety of 2017 and 2018, and 3/4 of 2019, the checks and balances devised by the founding fathers to protect our republic have failed at every turn. Trump blatantly lies and every GOP senator, without a single exception, supports his lies lending them undeserved credibility with his base, thus gaslighting the American people. The appointment of Brett Kavanaugh with no actual oversight or vetting to the Supreme Court tainted the US Judicial Branch for generations to come and lent a devastating blow to the courts' legitimacy and supposedly "apolitical" place in our government. When Robert Mueller reported to the US Congress on national television that Trump had certainly obstructed justice, the GOP once again declined to take any action whatsoever. When Trump usurped the role of The House of Representatives to approve funding for his Racist Wall-Shaped Monument of Intolerance, there was absolutely no consequence. When all-age concentration camps were created specifically for non-whites, not a single GOP representative spoke out.
A Presidency with this track record, supported by a morally bankrupt, anti-American GOP is the precise reason that the impeachment process exists. With this nation's questionable voting practices, and an electoral college that repeatedly defies the will of the American electorate, impeachment may truly be the last hope of saving our republic from the fascism of the GOP.
60
Well said! I don't know how they sleep -- they are Hollow Men, for sure.
3
@P. McGee Eloquent words my friend.
3 other winners:
1. Congressional Oath of Office.
Seems enough Democrats are now taking their oath seriously even with the knowledge that not a single Republican Senator will.
2. James Madison.
James Madison successfully argued, while leading the creation of the Constitution, that an election every four years did not provide enough of a check on a president who was incapacitated or abusing the power of the office. He contended that “loss of capacity, or corruption . . . might be fatal to the republic” if the president could not be removed until the next election. Pretty obvious, right?
3. Constitution Article 2 Section 4
"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
A single sentence. No subordinate clause stating "donors and polls should be consulted first" or "only if there is no political risk".
44
@LT
I fully agree with your last paragraph. It seems that we vote because we need and want "leaders", and what we get is mostly weathervanes.
8
But do we need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing?
1
@ktscrivienne
Only if we are fresh out of sharpies.
By curious coincidence, I was in Kiev the day the news broke that Trump had tried to blackmail Zelensky and here in London on the day that Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was unanimously ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.
In Kiev, I talked with informed Ukrainians about their perspective of events. Many are Zelensky supporters appalled by the atrocious ploy Trump had inflicted on their man, proud of his resistance. Most believe that the real reason that Trump had denied military aid is less about Biden, more that he is conspiring with Russia to weaken Ukraine, and that escalation of the simmering war is now imminent. They believe Putin will strike hard in order to distract pressure on Trump, and that Trump will respond by sending promised but withheld aid to kill Russian soldiers. Putin, they believe, is quite prepared to sacrifice his own men, merely “volunteers,” to bolster a private alliance with the American dictator, and that Trump will feed a war, regardless of the cost, to save himself by exploiting the inviolability of a war president previously strategically employed by Dubya. The consensus is that these are dangerous times for world peace.
In Britain, conservative lawlessness emulates that of Trump. BoJo’s utter failure to convince anyone of anything indicates that the right wing international coup is failing. His, and Trump’s, intransigence in the face of the law shows that both men need to be removed expeditiously because of the dangers they manifest.
69
@Marcus Brant @nytimes please follow up on this analysis. We need serious discussion of these serious matters. We need to inform Americans who will now start to pay attention.
1
I think a hand full of Republicans in the Senate will vote to convict Trump, if given the chance. Their last chance to do the right thing. They know what he is.
14
Does anyone seriously believe the transcript of the phone call has not been edited?
I sure don't. Trump believes he is invincible and it would not be at all surprising if he had his minions "massaging" the transcript before releasing it.
26
When Trump said the call was “perfect”, he meant that he thought that he had sufficiently veiled his pressure to allow him to blow smoke densely enough to confuse the electorate. Wait and see.
3
@PaulB67 check for Sharpie texts.
Sometimes I think the whole thing is a setup to hurt Biden and the Democrats. Hope not. Trump may not read any briefings but he is brilliant at viciously manipulating. Brilliant at hurting people.
Hope I am wrong about his plan, and things are actually as they seem.
13
@Jk...The Democrats have several other candidates besides Biden. The Republicans are stuck with Trump.
1
Adam Schiff: The Emperor has no clothes!
For once, America shouldn't turn its head. As much as we want to.
6
I write to voice my objection to Prof. K twice referring to the freely elected government of President Zelensky as a "regime." It is inaccurate and unnecessarily provocative.
10
@Taz
You might want to re-check your lexicon. While one sense of the term has negative (authoritarian) connotations, the more general sense does not. In that way, it's similar to "cult" (q.v.).
This latest scandal is about something a whistleblower raised. Right now, we don't know what that was.
There is blood in the water and the sharks have arrived.
Or is it bait?
5
@JGW We do know what it was. Trump already told us what it was. Trump thinks what he did was okay and we've known this for a long time because there was an interview with Trump months ago where he though it would be stupid for a candidate not to use damaging information about an opponent.
What we don't know is whether there are other such incidences, since it's reputed that there were multiple complaints or multiple items of complaint.
4
@Martin Brooks Greetings. I am very sympathetic. I want Trump to go away, too. But, I worry we may have taken the bait. "Trump told us..." whatever random thought came out of his mouth. We just don't know what the truth is right now. Legally, a president has wide latitude. Impeachment is a political, indeterministic process.
I read the Mueller Report...Seems like an open and shut case to me but does anyone still remember it? Or what it says (as opposed to what Barr says it says).
It's a poor analogy, I know, but "you can only cry wolf so many times." Where are the tigers and lions when we need them?
1
"You can almost feel sorry for Republicans"
Yes, our hearts are bleeding. Especially for the ilk like The Right Honorable Senator Susan Margaret Collins (R, Maine). She's gong to have two choices. Convict or not. Two only. No more of the reeking, disingenuous equivocation and foot shuffling on the reelection trail at local waffle houses. For once over the past fifteen years, she' going to have to take a stand.
Believe me. She will stand in Maine District 2, i.e., Northern Trumpistan. She'll stand with her crowd, Donald's base. And be destroyed in the general election, swamped by a tidal wave of disgust now forming in educated, diversified, and liberal southern Maine.
37
Does anyone know if removed from office is he barred from being re-elected?
5
@Stephen: Uh-oh, another loophole? If it's a loophole that would allow him to run again after impeachment, he'll find it!
2
It would be very surprising that Biden's son got high level access to Ukraine politicians and was able to participate in important dealings without Biden help (and administrative resources of USA government under Obama). The potential corruption, nepotism and conflict of interest needs to be investigated. Failure to do so, amounts to cover up and obstruction of justice. However investigation needs to be done in US by our intelligence agencies - not by Ukraine or any other foreign country. If this is how our government operates, why do we want it to be more involved in our ... lets say healthcare. I have absolutely no confidence, the government will do "the right thing". They completely lost all the credibility. We need a new third party - both democrats and republicans thoroughly discredited themselves.
5
Have you seen how private business is run? It’s not any better, mostly it’s worse.
@Smilodon Private businesses are much more efficient. I get much better service from my bank - than I get from TSA, DMV or IRS. Federal and state governments are inept, dysfunctional and incompetent (i.e. NYC subway, NJ path, etc)
If you pull the right thread-precarious weaving will unravel.
5
It would be comforting to think that all along we have been smarter than Trump and his enabling Republicans.
That we managed to lay the groundwork for this impeachment inquiry long ago, by allowing Trump to violate emoluments, not release his tax returns, work to take away health insurance from tens of millions of Americans, collude with Russia, lock up children in cages, withdraw us from the Paris Accord, the TPP and the Iran deal, take money from the Pentagon to build a worthless and destructive wall, harass the Fed Chair, denigrate Puerto Ricans and all people of color, set the stage for war and environmental calamity and on and on.
But we know in our hearts that is not the case. We were not so wise. We let things spiral out of control. Now we need to accept our share of responsibility for what has happened. And we need to realize that it could have gone on far longer than it already has.
Whatever comes from this inquiry -- and I sincerely hope that Trump goes down and goes down hard, taking his GOP cronies with him into the abyss -- we need to face the difficult reality that many of the weaknesses inherent in our system of government have been rawly exposed.
It will be a trying journey striving to patch it all up. But we should take some respite in knowing that doing so represents a silver lining to the sordid disaster that has been the Trump presidency.
7
I'm just a politics obsessive citizen, but it seems to me that if before this particular scandal unfolded the Republican party completely support this monster not much will change with them now.
Maybe if he's caught on camera murdering a little old lady because she's slowing him down in his effort to enter Trump plaza a few relatively daring souls in the GOP leadership will express some dismay, but when the Trump cultists who are their grass roots start calling it all fake news and a liberal conspiracy, they will probably get back in line.
Gee, what's a Republican politician supposed to do- giving up one's career won't solve the Trump problem- his cult controls most primary outcomes.
And there is clearly no tragedy of greater consequence for these people than getting primaried.
4
Talk about wishful thinking. Trump has been trying to goad the Democrats into making this masochistic action for some time now. Now he’s got them, dead to right.
1
Was it necessary to refer to the government of a friendly nation as a "regime"?
4
Trump is the world’s most famous celebrity, and in the average person’s mind any celebrity is more important than a politician.
The Democrats must offer them a replacement if they want to overcome Trump. They must start planning the theatrical aspect- no more Mr Boring and Mr Weak.
Trump will (does) lie 10 times a day, his ‘opponent’ must counter immediately with facts that negate his screen time. It must be one-on-one, so he doesn’t generate sympathy - just contempt for himself.
And the press must start doing its job, reporting the battle instead of publicising the crook.
8
This is yet another opportunity for Trump to capture a hapless, clueless media, a replay of the Hillary email "fake scandal". Really, how dumb is the media? We are already hearing the drumbeat of the Republican talking points, that "we need to see the Biden transcripts" or the salary of Hunter Biden without countering with actual facts, or asking, in reply, how Donald Jr. pays the rent. The new Trump narrative become a war drumbeat that legitimate media will play over and over until any Trump transgressions will be completely forgotten. No need to dig up thirty year old photos from middle school when a candidate might have worn a tasteless costume! Let the media do the work for Mr. Trump! I have yet to hear a television reporter correct a Republican Senator or Representative when they compare the honorable Mr. Biden, his years of service, with Mr. Trump's antics. Some things are just not equivalent. I certainly hope that Mr. Biden fights back with all his might against these blatant lies, because legitimate media will fail him again and again. Just listen, is that Fox News writing new and fantastic propaganda for a captive public?
5
Remember they gets lots of votes because of their corruption and disloyalty to American principles. They and those that vote for them just change the narrative that corruption and disloyalty to American principles are in fact patriotic in any means is justified to their end.
1
It's despicable that Trump would so callously pressure a foreign leader to destroy a political rival. It's also disgusting that Hunter Biden would compromise his own father's political future for his personal financial gain. Can this country produce a political leadership, Republican or Democrat, who won't sell themselves for personal or family financial gain?
When the next president is elected, will it become routine to open investigative files for financial misdealing not just for the president, but also for a spouse and children? Or is this something that has been going for decades and only now we are just acknowledging it?
4
I’d like to see some actual evidence before I believe Trump about Biden. Trump lies so often about virtually everything. I can’t trust a word he says.
> The narrative of Trump as betrayer of America ...
Unfortunately, like with everything else awful about Trump, you and I already knew this about him. His supporters on the other hand... They are not going to buy any of it. They don't see him trying to blackmail a small country into digging up dirt on a political opponent as an abuse that compromises our national security. On the contrary, their understanding of "national security" is keeping the U.S. safe from being destroyed by liberals; so whatever Trump does to keep the Democrats from winning the next presidency is a good thing in their book.
5
Time to take the gloves off, Dems. You are in control of this and you make the rules. Enough with the high road, we are in crisis. If any witness disrespects the process and refuses to answer questions in contempt of congress, have the Sergeant at Arms jail him until he’s ready to provide truthful and complete answers or else pay $10,000 per day. No show at the hearing? Same treatment. Not fair? Against the law? Tell it to the judge. In this fight Might is Right, it’s all these thugs understand.
19
No need to feel sorry for the Republicans, none at all.
7
I did not have to read the column to know who Dr. Krugman would declare winners (Democrats and their allies) and losers (Republicans). I think you are wrong. As a Never Trump Republican, I have never feared impeaching Trump, but I have rejected doing so based on a ridiculous conspiracy theory that he conspired with Putin to steal the election. If the Democrats have the goods on Trump, I say go for it (despite Adam Schiff playing Ahab pursuing the Great White Whale). I think you have it wrong on winners and losers. First, if we can get an honest accounting of all the shennanigans in both the Obama and Trump Administrations, our country would win. Maybe that can be accomplished in an impeachment trial. Second, Adam Schiff is still a loser, because he is the least credible invidual to be pursuing this matter. Remember he still claims that he has concrete, non-circumstantial evidence that Trump conspired with the Russians (evidence he apparently withheld from Robert Mueller). Third, a trial would be a good thing for Senate Republicans. Unlike the hysterics in the House, the Senate Republicans can proceed methodically, perhaps even in cooperation with the Senate Democrats. I can already count four potential Republican votes against Trump if the evidence is strong enough--Romney, Toomey, Collins, and Murkowski.
1
The base really does have the perfect name, doesn't it? If anyone has ever been base...
2
Who are you going to believe on collusion? Krugman or Mueller?
Just let it go, Paul.
2
Dr. K., are there perhaps 2 more winners ?
1) The rule of law
2) Nancy Pelosi's place in history as Speaker of the House - this week's latest episode of restraint, combined with her previous role of saving the economy when she did as Secretary Paulson pleaded on one knee in the Capitol in the fall of 2008.....without a single Republican vote in the House.
btw: The fiasco of 45* is the result of a long Republican portrait in spinelessness, highlighted by Tom Delay's little black book of 'pay to play', tax cutting during war-time, Palin's spot as potential Veep, the failure of Republicans to vote with Pelosi in 2008 to save the economy, and now the daily capitulations to fear of rage Tweet bullying from Extremely Stable Genius 45*.
9
As a Forensic Evaluator Trumps grandiose sociopathic response to losing polls downturn economy and failure of racism to build his base resulted in this crime the day after Mueller testified and he saw his impunity rewarded.
Samenow’s research on the criminal mind shows they have grandiosity responses following a period of depression and a zero state. They then ignore consequences and strike.
Trump is the first president to be a bona fide criminal. Good luck. This may set him off to start a war or worse.
3
OK, Republicans will not vote to impeach. HOWEVER...
I would like to see the entire long list of Trump's bad actions—for example, his Helsinki performance, his 11,000 lies, his detailed obstructions of justice, his invitations to people to break laws (saying he'd pardon them)—ALL OF IT—laid out in a long list.
And then let Repubs go through the humiliation of voting against every single one of that enormous load.
Make them do it. Make them own ALL OF THIS.
26
The Dems are playing right into Trump's hands and their hatred for him has blinded them so and will easily give him the election.
The Senate will not impeach Trump! The Dems don't have the votes. Trump will broadcast this endlessly during the election cycle and that he has been persecuted since day one and been found innocent every time.
Speeding down the road may feel exhilarating but it's a whole new world of pain when you hit that brick wall at the end of the road.
The Dems are fools. Win at the ballot box. It's the only way to avoid 4 more years of this daily insanity.
2
@Norville T. Johnson Trump will also enhance his
"populist" image with his base while amplifying how the Democratic candidate is an elitist who places his unqualified son in a position of undeserved prominence. The Democratic party needs to find a candidate without a questionable record like this.
2
Getting the Senate to vote to impeach isn’t really the point. An impeachment proceeding will bring all the shenanigans out into the open where everyone can see them. A lot of stuff that would have stayed hidden will now come out and voters will have their say on it.
Kinda like placing an unqualified daughter and son-in-law in positions of undeserved prominence?
Transcripts from Trump mean nothing. He will adjust the conversations to his liking. The original phone call should be listened to.
The whistleblowers report should be made public so that the American Public will have a full understanding of the complaint themselves, not rely on an interpretation by the DOJ or the State Department. In other words not interpreted by Barr or Pompeo.
I want the information straight from the horses mouth.
7
Hmmm. No one thinks Joe Biden loses in that a new spotlight is shined on his son's activities in Ukraine and the conflict of interest that it raised?
Show's that Paul is a blind partisan....
1
Biden may lose. But there are other candidates and this will help them
Good on ya Paul... “Diplomacy depends on the use of both sticks and carrots. Trump gets the sticks part, but the carrots part doesn’t work because nobody trusts him to honor his promises.”
1
The news of the last few days has been a 16 year olds propped up by the media for her age and views given to her by her parents. She will be long forgotten as impeachment fever takes over every media outlet. A victim of the whistleblower whose ultimate target was Biden. He is done. Mission accomplished by the partisan hack.
1
Once upon a time I worked for an agency that did training to avert sexual harassment at work. One man I supervised, who had not had any previous complaints known to me, with a week after the training ended, blatantly harassed a woman, in part on easily tracked emails. The content was sexual, bullying and a total inversion of the training; as if he had followed a checklist of each behavior to avoid.
So goes Trump.
But, while Schiff has shown leadership, and some reporters in multiple media organizations deserve praise, we are really all losers.
Trump has gone out of his way to make himself look guilty. The man simply cannot control his mouth-a bad thing in a President
At first, the rumors were that the whistle blower's complaint was about a promise Trump made to some unknown world leader. We now know that it wasn't the president of Ukraine.
Reuters is reporting that Trump stated today (Tuesday, Sept. 24) "that he would continue to withhold money for Ukraine that he ordered frozen."
Think about it. Who benefits from the withholding of military assistance for Ukraine? Hint: his initials are V.P.
1
Sorry, Paul -- The Trump presidency has made us all losers; there are no "winners" here.
2
Vladimir Putin won pretty big.
There is a whiff of the end of a corrupt era.
1
Difference between Watergate and Kiev is? Both were illegal dirt gathering on political opponents. Add extortion and foreign country to the later and it is worse than Watergate.
2
It looks like Nancy is beginning the impeachment proceedings. It looks like she was waiting for just the right offense.
1
Wrong @Rax. What you said is misleading.
Nancy is beginning the impeachment INQUIRY.
She will Not begin any proceedings yet.
I don't get the part about investigating Hunter Biden being a cowardly dodge by the media to avoid getting at the truth about Trump.
Like it or not, the facts of the Biden case is pretty shocking.
According to "savvy" journalistic analyst, James Risen, in the NYT in 2015, Joe Biden had a serious of meetings in Kiev with Ukraine's leaders about (in part) cracking down on corruption and the power of its oligarchs.
Risen wrote: "But the credibility of the vice president’s anticorruption message may have been undermined by the association of his son, Hunter Biden, with one of Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies, Burisma Holdings," run by an oligarch.
Hunter Biden had joined the Burisma board in 2014.
The UK dropped an investigation of Burisma after the Ukrainian prosecutor refused to share key documents with the Brits. The prosecutor was the target of a stinging attack by the American ambassador to Ukraine, who called out Burisma’s owner by name. The ambassador went on to call for an investigation into “the misconduct” of the prosecutor.
Hunter Biden served on Burisma's board and was reportedly paid $50,000 a month. He left the board last year. Nice work....
Like it or not, Krugman is going to hear more about the Bidens. And if Democrats take Krugman's tone, and pooh -pooh the story, they are going to provide Senate Republicans -- and the party's base -- with the perfect cover needed to portray an impeachment as yet another political hit job by Trump's opponents.
8
@Ian Maitland The American voters will and must decide if they think the Bidens did something they should not. What matters here is that Trump asked a leader of a country with a ton of corruption problems to look into a particular one with a US citizen who happens to be a future political opponent. Talking about the Bidens in Trump impeachment context is detracting from the core issue here: Trump's impeachable offenses. And isn't it paradoxial that the likely most corrupt President in the history of the US tries to teach a leader of another country how to combat corruption?
1
@Pete
Even if you were technically correct (and I don't think you are), do you think that public opinion is going to go for impeachment if the Democrats sweep the Hunter Biden scandal under the rug?
No, the two are indissolubly wedded until death does them part.
Even if all that is true, that’s doesn’t make what Trump did any less of a crime.
It looks like Biden will probably be collateral damage. That Trump the master criminal will raise enough suspicion of crime... we saw this movie before, in 2016.
But Uncle Joe can tell his grandchildren, this happened to save the Republic.
1
Journalists guilty of false equivalence were on a fool's errand. They thought they could appease those who claim all media is liberal (never mind their favorite propaganda machine's popularity) and biased against Trump and Republicans. Despite their attempts at appeasement they are still attacked by Trump and his supporters. So, thanks for nothing folks.
11
I don't know-- is Putin really Trump's favorite dictator? I mean, sure, he's dreamy and all, but Trump and Kim Jong Un are in LOVE...
3
An irony of this Trump era is that Trump opponents can't win. Trump opponents can't win because Trump and his supporters don't care what critics do, or what Trump critics don't do.
Trump is a liar, over 12,000 and counting, to such a degree that he lies about lying. His supporters don't care. They don't care about lying because they don't care about those 12,000 documented False and misleading statements.
Wouldn't you love to be a teenager in the household of Trump supporters? Just about no criticism of your behavior can ever have merit. If parents support Trump, well, they certainly can't offer legitimate criticism of anyone else.
But short of Ukraine releasing a recording that enabled us to hear how Trump said what Trump said critics are put in the position of Trump twisting his conversation into whatever he wishes his supporters to believe. And if they will allow him to be "Chosen" then they'll allow anything he boasts to be truth.
1
'We don’t have all the facts about what exactly Trump and company did to set off the whistle-blower, but ....'
But you can't stop spreading rumors, inventing stories and pandering to the left.
sell out.
Trump First! Always.
What has to now be clear to any fair minded person is that the one and ONLY thing Trump cares about is himself. The Nation is a very, very distant second, third or fourth thought. The American President is entrusted with responsibility to preserve peace, humanity and human dignity. The current unfit occupant of the Office is a disgrace and represents a clear and ever present danger.
4
I love you Paul Krugman.
Also, reading those who are undecided or voting no, what deal with the devil have you made?
Trump was impeachable before he was president!!. Unbelievable
I would encourage republicans to see this as an opportuity to purge their party of this disgrace. Republicans will benefit in the long term, as will the nation.
3
"Hard-working reporters" versus "'Savvy' journalistic analysis"?
Reporters are winners and pundits are losers?
Gee...to me they look like twins separated at birth.
Pundits may have spread the fiction there's some method to Trump's madness (there isn't). But it was reporters -- hard-working or not -- who did greater damage by reporting
Trump's effect instead of Trump's actual factual craziness.
Reporters made him normal and fascinating (literally -- note the root "fasci" shared with "fascist"). Last week an Irish Times writer covering Trump for the first time when he inspected the Great Wall in Texas was astonished at Trump's patter of inchoate gibberish while touting his beautiful wall.
Over the course of the press opportunity, she heard not one clearly expressed thought but when she read the accounts filed by other "hard-working" reporters who've covered Trump from the start, he sounded coherent and conversant. Perhaps they're hard working because it's not easy making Trump sound coherent.
Pundits attributed great historical forces in play with Trump's macho tycoon worldview and his bold stroke political strategy and reporters dutifully -- aided and abetted by editors who added clickbait headlines -- served up all the verisimilitude necessary to imagine Trump as the Man on Horseback. That he straddled the steed backwards whipped by horsetail was a detail unreported.
Making Trump both media and message is shabby journalism.
15
I agree, especially about the false equivalence part. You make the clear positive case for moving on this one - which make all Trump's priors clear. Given how far Trump goes - further each time he isn't held to account (See Ukraine call, days after the Barr-ing of the Mueller report) - the Dems may also have figured out that it's time to fight fire with fire - that is, to defeat high crimes and bribery by using their constitutional power. If not, would we have Barr investigating Biden for corruption in a New York second?
Last thought: Trump has TWO sons who use their father's name to reap not just chump change - a few hundred thousand - but cushy $$$billions from Oligarchs. Who's calling out who?
7
Trump’s worst enemy right now may well be Trump. If the substance of the whistle blower’s complaint isn’t absolutely and finally damning, he might survive. But given his nature, he is almost certain to retaliate against his opponents. And since he has no grasp of Constitutional principles, and seems not even to grasp the concept of the rule of law, he is likely to retaliate in ways that underline just how unfit for office he is. Nixon might have held onto office if he had not erased those tapes. Trump will very likely do something equally and astonishingly rash, and self-destructive.
2
The biggest winner is America.
The winners: Elizabeth Warren - gets to benefit from the Hunter Biden story, but doesn't have to get in the middle of it. The Democrats, CNN/MSNBC (they can replay all of those impeachment specials), the Squad, the Green New Deal, washed up Hollywood actors/actresses, illegal immigrants, China, Iran, Brennan, Clapper and Comey (they get off without scrutiny).
The losers: taxpaying Americans, people who work or want jobs, people with savings, the Constitution/2nd Amendment, free speech, fetuses, Americans interested in cleaning up the swamp, those that question the establishment elites. Oh, and Hillary Clinton - she still won't be President. So I guess it was all worth it!
3
Donald Trump is The Republican President and the leader of The Republican Party. A Democratic majority in the House may pass Articles of Impeachment and forward them to the Senate. How long will this process take?
During Watergate, Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. The early hearings were held by the Senate. The House opened a formal impeachment inquiry in May 1974, almost two years after burglars were arrested in the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee June 17, 1972.
Given that legal proceedings may be required to wrest the whistleblower complaint from the Trump administration, the process will likely take months rather than weeks and require a decision by the Supreme Court. Since the current term of the Supreme Court ends on June 30, 2020, perhaps the earliest date for the House to pass Articles would be in July or August 2020.
IMO the House will not act rapidly.
2
@OldBoatMan:
You are assuming Inquiry means beginning the impeachment vote. It does not.
The Inquiry is required, because that is where we investigate (more thoroughly than Mueller did, because his investigated was very limited - as the Justice Dept limited him). The House's investigations can and will look into every area of trump's malfeasance. That alone can take at least a year or more.
I say no rush. We need to get closer to the Nov 2020 vote, to release the facts about this criminal.
1
Almost feel sorry for the Republicans? Yes, actually. The ones who are twisting in their graves, men like Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
It would have taken any of them about ten seconds to figure out what Trump is all about. And another ten seconds to make sure they never have anything to do with that man.
We even had one in the Bay Area, Pete McCloskey, who was also a fervent environmentalist. Those kinds of people have long since been primaried and discredited in today's Republican Party. It's all about the money, as Greta pointed out yesterday. Cash won't help them when they are disgraced, and have to live with the horrors of global warming. Especially since they enabled it, in Congress and the Executive branch.
13
I hope someone knowledgeable can answer this question for me: Is there a way for McConnell to deep-six an impeachment passed by the House so that Republican senators won't have to vote and expose their true natures? If there is, I fully expect that is what McConnell will do.
21
@Leading Edge Boomer Here is a comment I wrote in June.
What makes you think McConnell would schedule a trial in a timely manner if at all? Senate Impeachment Rules, Rule IV states: "When the President of the United States or the Vice President of the United States, upon whom the powers and duties of the Office of President shall have devolved, shall be impeached, the Chief Justice of the United States shall preside; and in a case requiring the said Chief Justice to preside notice shall be given to him by the Presiding Officer of the Senate of the time and place fixed for the consider- ation of the articles of impeachment, as aforesaid, with a request to attend; ..." Mitch McConnell is the person who sets the date for the trial. If the House voted Articles of Impeachment, Mitch McConnell could consistent with the Rules set the trial for a date during the lame duck session. Or, as in the Merrick Garland nomination, could proclaim that he will let the voters decide.
3
As the power of office of President increased so did the dangers presented by a corrupt President, such as Donald Trump. Only the separation of powers will protect our democracy from an irretrievably steep slide into a hybrid form of authoritarian rule headed by a for too powerful president. Impeachment is a power given to Congress to hold Presidents accountable. Donald Trump may have legions of supporters, but that is no reason for Congress to abdicate its responsibilities.
22
If it gets to a Senate vote - a big if - I have serious doubts that GOP Senators will pay any price at all. Don't forget that 90%+ of the GOP thinks Trump is doing a great job. Those folks are also inclined to believe in Trump's victimhood, to disbelieve anything coming out of the government, to believe whatever Trump says, to believe in conspiracy stories... what they will not believe is any evidence presented even if it is in the form of signed documents.
Right-wing media will help all this disbelief, conspiracy mongering, and Trump's image as the most put upon, victimized president ever. The GOP Senators will not suffer unless they happen to be in a swing state - even then it's not clear.
20
@Anne-Marie Hislop
Unfortunately, I don't think the GOP Senators will pay any price.
But it is important to hold this terrible president responsible for his actions.
2
@Anne-Marie Hislop:
During Nixon, the worst outcome was not Nixon's resignation. It was that in the next election, nearly EVERY Senator who stayed in Nixon's camp was defeated and labeled a traitor.
Today, it does not matter what Senators believe about trump. It only matters what the voting pulic believes about each senator.... and the public will remove them from office if they stick with criminal comrade trump.
It is critical that reporting continues to emphasize that there is a whole whistleblower report, not just a transcript of 1 phone call. The intelligence committees must receive the whole report. If Trump releases a transcript of a phone call, no matter what it contains, the press must always state that it is only once piece of evidence. Likewise, the source and chain of custody of any transcript must be investigated, as needed.
78
I remember being incredulous that Trump was the nominee in 2015. Bad reality TV. And then the Obama birther thing... Then I remembered the 2011 Washington Coorespondants. Obama was brilliant that evening and was also taking down Osama Ben Laden. Top secret. Then Obama rightly so about 12 minutes in cleared up the birther issue. Brilliantly. Trump who was gracious up to that point left. His grudge that evening carries on to his audience to this day. Fast forward 2016 second debate. Game over. Stalking a woman.Remember back in the day thinking that the first woman president would be Elizabeth Dole a Republican. That is when we could all agreed to disagree. And have a civilized conversation. And Elizabeth Dole was highly qualified. Final note as a mother and grandmother, my children and grandchildren are all contributing to make this planet a better place. But like many, college educated, no debt, put ourselves through school, the disappearing middle class.
25
The fact that he asked to have his specific rival investigated instead of the so called incident or corruption overall, sinks any explanation or call transcript he comes up with.
79
The decision to investigate is of course crucial. But the even more important decision will be about what to investigate. The focus should reach beyond Ukraine, to the many other instances in which Trump has abused his office to gut our democracy and national security and to serve his own corrupt interests. That in turn means getting hold of his tax returns and other financial records, as well as eliciting testimony from relevant officials and experts.
23
PK: "The two great media sins of 2016 were false equivalence and the substitution of speculation about how things would “play” for description of what was actually going on." Bingo! The news media made themselves vulnerable to Trump's maliciously fake "Fake News" and America has suffered because of it. They still need to get their acts together, but may the rise to the moment. PK's analysis is spot on on all points.
63
we must never, ever hesitate to defend, uphold, and enforce the rule of law. Yesterday, Great Britain's Supreme Court completed the necessary process to reaffirm the rule of law prevails in the United Kingdom. Today the House of Representatives has started the necessary process to reaffirm the rule of law prevails in the USA.
140
@Allan Slipher Right. But it also may mean the defeat of the Democrats in 2020, with the Republican base immensely riled up and mobilised.
1
You don’t think any of this will motivate democratic voters? Really?
1
Among the winners listed:
"3. Hard-working reporters: We don’t have all the facts about what exactly Trump and company did to set off the whistle-blower..."
I guess, to me, this is a real concern.
Trump's biggest shtick is painting the media as fake news. It is the most dangerous as well as the most powerful thing he and the GOP use to retain power - and they know this.
No no one thinks Trump is a savvy genius, or even a stable one, but some in his camp, are very capable of manipulation.
So, I certainly worry when we go out on a limb without all the facts. Sure, laws were broken that do warrant impeachment, with regards to withholding the whistle-blower complaint, but what if the complaint itself is not all that we have imagined it to be, what if we have been duped?
It will be this that the Trump administration will use to hit us over the head with regardless of the fact that the charges for withholding the complaint itself are valid.
I simply feel very uneasy about this.
29
I have the same sinking feeling. This whole this could have been scripted by McConnell. Hopefully there’s a ‘there’ there.
1
@Meg
One would hope that at least some of the contents of the whistle-blower's complaint are already known to Pelosi. The stakes are too important for having taken a decision to start impeachment proceedings without having some strong facts to base it on. Pelosi is not the kind of person to gamble.
3
You should be weary about this latest and greatest announcement of yet another allegation by Democrats in Congress since they’ve been throwing bricks against rubber walls.
1
Trump's request itself was an impeachable offense, likely the very thing the Founders had in mind when they conceived of impeachment.
But even if Trump did not explicitly tie the withholding of aid to his demand (that Ukraine investigate Joe Biden), it is important to realize that the withholding of aid was, to the Ukrainians, at the center of every official contact with the US.
At that time, as now, the Ukraine was desperate for US aid to help in the fight against the hostile belligerent to the East.
Any conversation with the US President would, in the mind of the Ukrainian leader, be about one thing only, and any request by the President would be seen through that lens.
If Trump knew this, it is grounds for impeachment. If Trump did not know this, it is proof that he is unsuitable for the Presidency.
Impeachment will be bad, politically, for the Democratic party. But at this point it is a constitutional imperative.
65
@R.S.
The request by Trump has been implied and there is a lot of circumstantial evidence to lend one to make that conclusion, but no one knows for sure if it occurred. The impeachment inquiry is on blocking the whistle-blower. So, that is what makes me nervous. Were we set up?
7
@Meg
That's a very reasonable concern. However, it was the Inspector General who determined that the whistleblower's report was a matter of "urgent concern," which is the legal tripwire requiring that it be shared with appropriate members of Congress. If it turns out to have been a nothing-burger, then at minimum, the IG would face legal consequences for abuse of office in abetting a setup, and the investigation would switch to discover who had put him up to it. I prefer to believe, without evidence pointing elsewhere, that the IG did his job properly and that the whistleblower has raised a most serious issue.
21
@Meg Implied, Meg??? Trump and Giuliani have BOTH acknowledged the requests.
1
This is just the first day of realizing what is inevitable. As I do, an impeachment will separate the wheat from the chaff in the winds of change. An impeachment and possible trial in the Senate is far reaching beyond just Trump. If the Congressional Republicans honestly obey the requirements of our Constitution, they may continue to remain in our democracy. If they decline to serve justice, they will fall along with Trump because of their choice and support of him. All those who seek absolute power are always absolutely vanquished. What that means is that history demands we impeach Trump for his actions, not his character, or democracy fades into military rule as they wait in the shadows plotting. I prefer serving justice in the matter of one mans actions to preserve our democracy. I believe even the Congressional Republicans would agree apart from the echo chamber they have been relegated to.
47
I love your sentiment, but it is, unfortunately wrong. I will not provide you with a long history lesson regarding the too many to easily count absolute power villains in history, but I will give you one recent name to ponder: Joseph Stalin.
2
Ukraine had part of its territory annexed by Russia. It relies on the US to prevent more being lost. So, alienating the president of America might be disastrous for them. On the other hand, the cost of announcing an investigation of Hunter Biden, is tiny. Nothing is stopping them from announcing an investigation, doing no investigating and closing when or if Joe Biden is nominated.
9
@SAO nothing but conscience or integrity.
1
They are between a rock and a hard place, Ukraine will do what it has to in order to keep from being taken over by Russia.
I am not one for conspiracies but this one I think is mine and a few others and bears broadcasting.
Volodomyr Zelensky has been in the public eye since he was 17. His biography screams courage, integrity, genius and honesty. He has fought for freedom and democracy his whole adult life and he is no ordinary tv actor he is the director, producer and creator of his tv personna.
In May he took over from an Oligarch who is Russia's leading supplier of confections, Petro Poroshenko. It has been a blast watching the farce on America's media but with everyone getting bored and falling asleep the introduction of Zelensky a man whose character is beyond reproach it seems Superman Trump has met his Kryptonite. So much for the cliffhanger. I am anxious for the Saturday matinee.
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Mr. Krugman. I think we are being kind to Trump in describing his attempts to obtain "dirt" on Biden. As the Trump administration knows, the claim against Biden is false. Thus, when Trump and Guliani pressured Ukraine to produce "dirt" on Biden, what they are actually pressuring Ukraine to do is to manufacture false evidence against Biden for Trump to use. This makes sense. If the Trump administration actually believed Biden did something wrong, they could have the FBI investigate this. But since they know it is false, the only way they can get the answer they want is to go to Ukraine and withhold the military spending. Unlike the FBI, Ukraine knows what Trump expects them to do and this is exactly why Trump engaged Ukraine and not the FBI.
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@WRS. Excellent point.
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@WRS
Excellent! You nailed it.
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@WRS I don't think Trump and the FBI are on speaking terms. ;-)
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The Dems need to focus on the primary impeachable offense - the undermining of our democracy. Whether or not Trump's alleged bribes worked or not, his intent was to gain support from a foreign government to attack a political opponent. How he planned to do it is a sidebar. During the inquiry the Dems may add other offenses like the obstruction outlined in the Mueller report, the charges from the SDNY of the un-indicted co-conspirator, the emoluments violations, etc. But they need emphasize that Trump is a clear and present danger to our democracy, to the rule of law, and to a civilized society. By the way, isn't Greta Thunberg fantastic. A ray of sunshine. Peace.
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Democrat diehards forced Pelosi's hand, but I hope she will keep the impeachment proceedings focused and not too flamboyant. Because Democrats have a massive job ahead of them: Defeat Trump at the ballot box, and decisively.
That is the only path to justice.
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@Brian Prioleau A decisive election victory may be the only path to recovery of the America we thought we lived in, but it is not a path to justice – not unless every crook in this criminal administration ends up behind bars.
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Not long before all of the Republicans that have supported him will claim that they were opposed to him all along. Sigh.
Do you know if McConnell and the GOP don’t convict their failure to act has the potential to cost them the Senate.
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@Rich Don't count your chickens. You have only seen the propaganda machine in low gear. Just wait and see what pops out of the woodwork now. This might only embolden the R's to throw caution to the wind and use any dirty trick they can muster to win in 2020.
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Thank you, Paul, especially for your brave comments about the media. Far too little has been written about their fawning over this crude man. I’ve always felt they played their part, along with Russia, in elevating his cheap theatrics. You, on the other hand, had his dirty number from the beginning. After being burned by the media, and the disinterested Republicans, I’m far from opening champagne, but have no choice to watch as this develops and pray. Don’t ever back down in your ability to tell the truth about this ongoing American tragedy.
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@ElleJ We are truly blessed to have Paul Krugman.
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Elegant!!
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There is one question Republicans will have to answer now will determine the future of their party and the nation. Do I drink the Kool-Aid and hope for the best or try to save myself and the country by abandoning a criminal. If this was a Summer Blockbuster, a courageous, muscled Mitch McConnell would stand in the well and shame his fellow Republicans into risking their careers to save the nation. But it is Fall, time for serious films that end badly, so...
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@DO5
The film you describe would be 'based on a true story.'
I don't see Moscow Mitch being the villain-turn-hero.
Lindsay Graham maybe. Or Susan Collins?
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@Allan
None of them. They are all puppets of the donor class.
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@Allan no way; they've both lost all credibility
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I was eager to see if Joe Biden would be listed among the winners here, because I think he could be. There was already enough speculation in the media about Hunter Biden's conduct to cast a shadow on his father's campaign. But the incumbent, not being one to read a lot, seems to have missed it. instead he overplayed his hand and forced Speaker Pelosi to finally weigh in for impeachment. Not an artful deal, in my opinion.
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@Woman Uptown I had the opposite worry.... that Biden would/could easily be a loser here. Just bringing up his son's cushy=sounding $600k a year position (for which he has no clear and unique qualifications), creates a problem. It seems probable that Joe Sixpack's kid wasn't going to get that kind of deal, as Joe Jr has been sadly injudicious in his choice of parents...
I dunno, maybe the details are better than first blush, but this does not seem to be what I'd like to see as a Biden issue. "My kids are well paid for their connections".
I'm a moderate, and Biden's the only moderate left with a shot, so I'm not loving this.
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I wouldn't be so quick to tab Trump as one of the losers. According to fivethirtyeight.com's weighted average of all polls, Trump's approval number on September 10 was 41%. Since then it's climbed almost every day. It now stands at 43.2% At the same time, his disapproval numbers have declined. Is this evidence of a base that's growing and becoming more energized as the Democrats increasingly move toward impeachment? Perhaps Nancy Pelosi knew what she was talking about when she made the case against impeachment.
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@Jack
Nixon polled higher when the Impeachment investigation started.
@Jack
That 43% of this country thinks the man is a competent president boggles the imagination. HIs supporters wouldn't tolerate this level of incompetence in the coach of their favorite professional or college athletic team. They'd be screaming for his head.
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None of this matters. McConnell will not prosecute the Impeachment request. He will not. He will cite partisan bias and since there is a sliver of wiggle room in Constitutional law that allows him the interpret his duties, he will not try this case. He will not. And that is where we are ladies and gentleman.
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@Lake Monster: It matters very much for the the House to proceed with impeachment, even knowing that the Senate won't oust him:
1. If the House votes to impeach, then DJT will know that he can no longer break laws with impunity. He has another 16 months in office, during which he could do a massive amount of additional damage -- but he'll do less if he has been sanctioned by the House.
2. Sanctioning him sends a clear message to future presidents that no one is above the law.
3. Sanctioning a president who breaks the law is Congress's sworn Constitutional duty; if the don't uphold that duty, they're harming democratic governance in this nation.
4. Every GOP senator's vote will be on the record -- no slithering away from their longtime reckless enabling of the disaster in the Oval Office.
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@Lake Monster
Partisan bias is not a legislative process or action. It looks like an interesting post-doc project for a Pol Sci grad, but doesn't impact the process of impeachment. The House holds a vote for articles of impeachment, then the Senate (and McConnell) hold a trial.
That Senate trial will certainly be subjected to whatever political pressure McConnell can bring to bear, but he can't just "nuh-uh" it.
The impact of impeachment will be the public scrutiny that Congress will bring to bear on the Trump, and the authorization of the various Committees to finally compel recalcitrant members of the WH and Trump himself to show them the evidence.
That will have a lot of impact on voters in 2020.
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@Lake Monster
Partisan bias is not a legislative process or action. It looks like an interesting post-doc project for a Pol Sci grad, but doesn't impact the process of impeachment. The House holds a vote for articles of impeachment, then the Senate (and McConnell) hold a trial.
That Senate trial will certainly be subjected to whatever political pressure McConnell can bring to bear, but he can't just "nuh-uh" it.
The impact of impeachment will be the public scrutiny that Congress will bring to bear on the Trump, and the authorization of the various Committees to finally compel recalcitrant members of the WH and Trump himself to show them the evidence.
That will have a lot of impact on voters in 2020
Unlike the Mueller process, this one landed with a bang and is now gathering speed. I have always assumed that the Republicans, especially in the Senate, would stand squarely with Trump until the moment he threatened, in Mel Brooks's words, their "phony-baloney jobs."
That moment may have arrived. In which case, Pence and the Cabinet will be mobilized to remove Trump under the 25th Amendment. And then no one will come to his aid as he is summarily charged, denied bail, and tucked away without his smart phone.
Then the rewriting of history will begin. Hannity and Carlson will be shocked, shocked! at the shenanigans they never suspected were going on.
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@Matthew Hughes
Well Matt, we all have dreams; the same dreams. Yet this won’t stick either. VOTE.
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@Matthew Hughes Anthony Scaramucci the Mooch predicted something like this on Bill Maher recently- that Trump's support was crumbling with Republican politicians who know that at some point, they will be tainted by his pushing it just too far
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I commend anyone who quotes Mel Brooks. I can see the paddles in the Senate offices as we speak.
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