Although the impeachment investigation is just getting started I think that Mr.Leonhardt’s questions are appropriate. This is especially so because, unlike Richard Nixon, Donald Trump experiences no shame, has no investment in or understanding of the law or the Constitution and is extremely unlikely to acquiesce to resigning as did Nixon. Even if Republicans vote to convict in the Senate my guess is that he will not leave the WH. What will you do then, Republicans?
The bottom line, however, is that democracies rise and fall or are maintained by people of goodwill and understanding in all elected positions, no matter their political affiliation. At the moment it appears that the Republicans in the Senate only have goodwill for their party and are perfectly happy to jettison democracy in order to maintain political power.
Republicans have made a fetish out of law and order, and moral behavior and ethical choices in all their campaigning. What they and their supporters will be tested on now if whether they really believe their own talk — that you cannot maintain both simultaneously in the face of a corrupt leader: if they choose to support their Party’s incompetent leader, they are simultaneously abandoning their own oaths of office and their democracy. It is not possible to maintain both.
5
The Republican party is in name only 'Republican'. In reality it is the Party of Trump. For those of us who were Republican, before Bush and Cheney led us into a false flag war in Iraq and cause the Global Financial Meltdown, we who were fiscal conservatives, we no longer have a Republican party to represent us.
We have no power to stop the economic slavery of future generations nor the power to demand for a Separation of Corporation and State. Citizens United was the final nail in the coffin for the wonderful experiment that was the United States of America. What is left is an oligarchy-bought and controlled institution of corruption.
4
Thank you for this.
Many of us have been saying it for quite awhile, but perhaps as a clear choice between honor and disgrace is recognized and called for, especially from within the ranks of a nearly completely compromised party, the GOP can begin to mitigate the damage done daily by the monster they continue to enable, by helping to remove him from office.
4
54% of America is better than tRump. The other 46% elected him.
4
Congressional Republicans fear reprisal from their constituents if the cross Trump. A significant majority of Republicans see Trump as their hero because they believe he might be the last hope for a White majority country. It's clear they'll give up anything to that end. I have no sympathy for Republican politicians because they have fed and nurtured this monster for the past forty years. As the saying goes, the chickens have come home to roost. And to answer your question, it's plain to see that America is not better than this.
4
As ironic as it sounds, I agree that Mike Pence may have to be the hero of this story. Unfortunately, he does not appear to be a "leader of men" type. He seems more like the white furry pet cat sitting in the lap of the evil genius type.
7
Mr. Leonhardt - do you really think any Republican Senator will heed the advice of some holier-than-thou liberal columnist? They know a vote to remove Donald Trump from office will guarantee the election of a Democrat for President in 2020. This is a vote for open borders, destruction of the economy (Green New Deal), reparations, and a huge tax increase on the middle class.
2
They're locked into a mob mentality, pun intended.
4
The GOP sold its soul to the devils (Trump, TEA Party, Corporations, White Nationalist. Evangelicals) for the power and SCOTUS seats. The time to pay the piper will soon be upon you.
2
Leonhardt begins his plea with, "To the Republican members of the United States Senate:"
Precisely what is it that Leonhardt does not understand about a cult?
Or is he simply writing in this case because he enjoys preaching to the converted?
3
Wasted words.
You are appealing to conscience and patriotism.
Republicans have neither.
5
Republican Senators have shown themselves to be corrupt, self-dealing, dishonest, vindictive, cowardly traitors who care for NOTHING and NO ONE but themselves. They don't care about democracy, the Constitution, or the sacred oaths they took upon taking office. They sure don't care about any of us - we're just the little fleas who pay all the bills while they pass bills for their billionaire buddies who are also, as a by product, destroying our planet.
1
Bravo!
5
Well, two thoughts:
(1) Thank you, Mr. Leonhardt. That was powerful and incisive.
Like a skillful prosecuting attorney, you CONFRONT them with their own fine words. You fling their pledges and promises (as it were) back in their crimson faces. "Did you MEAN it?" you intone. "How sincere WERE you? How sincere ARE you? Um--hello? HELLO?"
(2) I'm sorry, Mr. Leonhardt. You address these senators as if they were so many pit bulls or Dobermans or German shepherds.
I think them all a bunch of POODLES. And SPANIELS. And LAPDOGS.
I still remember my African-American friend of some years ago. Who, when I mentioned the duty of any politician NOW AND THEN to put the interests of his country above his own career--
--laughed me to scorn. As if (one fine day) I had bidden the sun to rise in the WEST instead of the EAST.
No, Mr. Leonhardt. These POODLES--these SPANIELS and LAPDOGS--they'll be frisking at Mr. Trump's feet till kingdom come. Years of pitiful subservience cannot be undone so fast as all that. When your habitual posture is CRINGE or CROUCH--
--you're unlikely to go leaping for the jugular.
Let's turn this POUND--
--back into a legislative body--
--peopled by men and women.
-
1
To be precise, the Democrats have shown themselves to be better than Trump, but the Republicans haven't done so yet and the prognosis is not looking good. GOP members will get their last chance when the impeachment bill makes it to the Senate.
3
Why on earth did you not include the text from Lindsey Graham’s speech from the floor about “cleansing the office and restoring honor to office” during the Clinton impeachment hearings? Even for a politician of his level of shamelessness, the hypocrisy is staggering, given what he’s saying now in defense of Trump.
10
David Leonhardt:
The questions you ask are excellent. Let's hope the people they are addressed to can take them to heart.
6
I think the main problem is the Republican National Cmte. which tells all Republican politicians at the federal and state levels that they either tow the neocon line and do not fight it, or the RNC will not fund their next campaign. Hence the only Republicans who publicly speak the truth and act in good conscience are those leaving politics with nothing to lose. As long as this cult like mentality continues, this country will continue to suffer thru the Trumps, Bush/Cheneys, and other incompetent corrupt politicians who only represent themselves and not the American voters.
2
It is terrific, Mr. Leonhardt that you are taking on the role of conscience for the Republican Senate and the Republican party, when you are primarily parroting the positions of the Democratic party.
The frenzy of reporting, opinion, and analysis that we have been treated since the leaked report of an embedded Intelligence Community asset inside the White House has been interesting.
But the march in lockstep of Democrats in the House and their sympathetic and sympatico media sycophants has added little to our understanding while flaming further the partisan divide.
The idea that the President asked President Zelensky for 'dirt' on the Bidens is an idea born primarily in the virtuoso performance by Adam Schiff, who used 'President Trump's words' (wait, lies about his words) from the podium of his committee. His words seem to have set the type for numerous media articles.
The incuriosity of the media about the Bidens' roles in Ukraine and conflicts of interest the Biden campaign saw in them speaks volumes. So does the lack of focus on Crowdstrike and why that might be of interest to our national security.
Reports that no reputable media sources have found any whiff of impropriety in the actions of the Bidens make light of key articles, including a detailed article in The New Yorker, published a few weeks before Trump's phone call with Zelensky.
Mr. Leonhardt, I know you would dearly want these Republican Senators to think as you do. I want them to think for themselves.
@rcrigazio Let's say that the Bidens are terrible, corrupt people (I bet a lot of people on the left would be inclined to believe this!).
Why not leave the investigation to the... authorities? Why does the President need to get personally involved? And withhold an entire military aid package on this basis? None of that makes sense if the concern here is just general policing of bad behavior.
Nothing the Bidens are accused of rises to the level of "let's halt a congressionally appropriated package of US support". No, that only makes sense once you realize the political benefit to Trump -- personally -- was huge. It was worth it to him. Not to the United States. To him.
Whatever Biden did or did not do does not excuse this. It's a distraction. I don't know why I'm writing this comment, because frankly I have lost all faith in anyone who still supports this President approaching any of these issues with enough good faith to come clean and admit he did wrong. Because he did major wrong here. And he is IN OFFICE right now, not Biden.
18
@rcrigazio In the rough, minimal, transcript released by the White House, Donald Trump asked Zelensky to work with Trump's personal lawyer and the Attorney General to investigate the Bidens. This is after Trump asked Zelensky to find the Clinton server, which Trump believes to be in Ukraine. He asked these things "as a favor," after emphasizing that the US does good things for Ukraine. Both the insistence on the generosity of the US and the request for a favor came a couple of days after Trump withheld hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid to Ukraine. This isn't about Schiff's paraphrase.
10
@JKR Exactly. And, why should Zelensky be working with Trump's personal lawyer?
2
The fable of the Scorpion and the Frog is what comes to mind upon reading Mr. Leonhardt's entreaty to Republican Senators.
The moral of the story is that, like the scorpion, vicious people simply cannot help hurting others, even when it is against their interests. In defending Trump -- or at least pointing out that the Pretender-in-Chief has no clothes -- it seems as if the entire GOP has been infected with this dark and venomous morality.
There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
3
Common to most monarchs is the personality disorder known as narcissism, a behavioral disorder which cannot be toggled on and off; our aspiring monarch exhibits a most virulent clinical case of this disorder, and by now we've had a clear view of its profound negative effects on our democracy. May research uncover a way forward that circumvents the achievement of such persons to high office!
4
Of course America is better than this. That's not the issue.
What you don't seem to realize with your eloquent plea is, it has fallen on deaf ears.
The Republicans in Congress ARE NOT better than this. Their behavior over the past few years (and before) has shown us exactly who they are.
They cannot be reasoned with. They have sold their souls for political capital. Now the foolishness of their choices is coming back to them with consequences.
Your piece here is an exercise in futility.
6
Republicans, the Time Has Come to grab the House.
We can't get the agenda through in the next four years without the House.
This impeachment inquiry is our wake-up call. It's time to get the House, the Senate, and the White House.
1
Dude, America elected Donald Trump. There's not much we can really claim we're "better than" these days.
5
All these excellent reasons won't be heeded so long as Senator believe that their political future is tied to continuing to support DJT.
Can you show that continuing to support a lawless and corrupt president will damage and ruin their political career? If so, you might get somewhere.
1
America is better than Donald Trump. Republicans and their party arent.
3
The time has come??? The time came long long ago.
2
I'm afraid their time has come and gone. They all fear being primaried and losing their power. That's all they care about, not the idea of America, not its exceptionalism, just power.
3
Thank you for this. I've been reading your columns for awhile; this your best one. So prophetic, exactly what our country needs right now. Keep it up!
2
Well said.
My best friend, a 65-year old retired high school teacher here in California, is and always has been a registered Republican and generally has a conservative world view. Yet he is no less appalled by Trump and his enablers than I am, a progressive Democrat. And he hasn't voted for a Republican since 2008. Despite our policy differences we have lots of respectful, enlightening discussions about the state of the world, now and in the future. I would trust him with my life without hesitation.
I want to think that there are many more conservatives like my friend out there. It's time for those people - and not just Senate Republicans - to step forward and say out loud how disgusted they are with Trump and the Republican party - and that the Republicans stopped representing their interests a long time ago.
6
The facts are these senators are not beholden to their constituents, their country, or their morality. They are beholden to the people and institutions that put them into power:
1) the think tanks that figured out the words and ideas to say that will generate the support needed to win political seats;
2) the wealthy who own the media outlets that disseminate these words and ideas;
3) the wealthy who funded these think tanks;
4) the Republican Party apparatus which defend and project and fund the structure which gives them legitimacy and elect-ability;
5) the wealthy who fund the Republican Party;
These people do what they do for themselves exclusively. Any notion that they hold these positions for their constituents is naive and ignorant. All one needs to do is look at the legislation passed and supported and see that it benefits the wealthy far more than it benefits average Americans. Or it benefits them directly (as in supporting legislation backed by the NRA). They will not go against Trump because if they are held responsible for losing the power they currently hold their lives are over - they will no longer wield power or be important or have access to the riches offered them and their families.
Our system is broken and it just takes watching them furiously spin all manner of lies and deceptions to legitimize Trump and make his obvious offenses seem normal. We need to proceed with this truth and know that what is real is real - the spin is just spin.
1
I have a question for all Republican senators: why do you hold office?
That is not a rhetorical question.
You didn't endure campaigning and the endless media scrutiny that goes with it for fun. You didn't take public office because you thought it was a path to riches, though it often is. There are easier ways to have fun and to become rich.
No, you took office because you thought you could make a difference. (You may have many other reasons but we'll assume they're secondary.) Even if your long-term plan is to become president, you want to become president because you think you can make a difference. You think you can make the country better.
Does Donald Trump comport with your foundational reason for holding office?
Trump is _useful_ to you insofar as he makes it possible to enact your favored policies -- but at this point, his utility is limited to wielding the pen that signs legislation. Even Trump's judicial nominees are more trouble than they're worth. A President Pence would be just as useful and infinitely less troublesome.
But that's literally practical politics. Go back to your foundational reason for holding office.
Was it to enable Trump's gross corruption, bottomless narcissism, authoritarianism, racism, misogyny, and contempt for law?
We're waiting for your answer.
5
I will never understand these smart, successful men and women — the GOP senators and representatives — cowering under their desks, afraid that (T)Rump will call them a bad name if they stand up to him. Will he have them executed? No. Then why worry? They’re probably all millionaires already, so it’s not like they need to work in public service to make ends meet. I’m guessing that rather than stand up to (T)Rump, some GOP congresspeople have chosen not to seek re-election instead of speaking out. But that’s not the same as telling Americans (T)Rump is wrong for this job.
3
You can't tell Trump anything. Let the wheels turn and all the evidence be heard.
3
Most Americans believe that they can do whatever they wish because the constitution gives them permission....no matter if what they do is moral or immoral, decent or indecent, or right or wrong. With this kind of total freedom the future will have no need of prisons, law enforcement agencies, nor law books. Why? Because if the law allows you to do what you want, then there is no wrong you can do.
Blessed are those who do not see yet believe. To those who believe in His name: who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1
Columns like this miss the point. Trump is only a symptom of what the Republicans have become. The vast majority of Republicans like him, approve of his policies and will vote to re-elect him. The Democrats' reluctance to impeach is a symptom of what the Democrats have become: cowed and subservient.
2
@La Rana --
I don't trust the McConnell controlled Senate's oddly unanimous resolution facilitating release of the whistle-blower complaint.
I'm concerned that McConnell, Barr, and others in the GOP fog-making business, believe they can assemble enough counter information to undermine the Ukraine-related impeachment inquiry.
Joe and Hunter Biden and the whistle-blower's C.I.A. connection foggily fit Trump's swamp and deep state narratives, plus Barr has continuing inquiries into the origins of Russiagate, DNC and Democratic operatives, former diplomats and Ukrainian contacts.
The House committees investigating Trump's other misdeeds remain important to the impeachment process and to making the complex points in the Mueller roadmap clear to the American people.
These elected officials don't respect authority: in this case, the oath of office pledged to the USA executive branch. The Oath of Office has been violated, as clearly stated in the Whistleblower's report. I took eight pages of notes on the report, and I'm not even that political, but this is important.
Why they would need further illumination I don't know. Maybe the Republican elected officials should read Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL), as they have routinely reported on Ukraine for decades. This USA government-funded news outlet's reports should solidify the truth: Trump and team are making this all up.
1
Sadly, I'm not so sure America is that much better than this. One of the most disturbing aspects of the Trumpian Era is the realization that some 30 per cent of our fellow citizens are so easily duped or or so strongly affected by racial or nationalist animus that they would vote for a man like Trump.
6
@Dave B
Indeed, it's 40%+ who support and voted for Trump.
Deplorable!
If we could just get all those Republicans in the Senate to re-read this .. "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
4
GOP members of Congress are going to watch the polls. If the national and district polls turn against Trump, they will turn against him soon. My predictions are Collins, Alexander, and Romney first: Collins because her seat is at risk, and a turn against Trump could strengthen her reelection prospects; Alexander because he has nothing to lose; and Romney because his constituents are more interested in morality than transactional politics.
5
Might'n it be more effective to prod other republicans to action? By'other', I mean current Republican governors, past republican governors, senators and representatives. Perhaps George Bush would even see the failure of the current President. I have to believe that many republicans, both officials and citizens, are nervous about the stability and morality of President trump and what it means for their party. It seems a stretch to rely on current officeholders, who fear loss of their jobs and exist in the middle of the swamp, to be the ones to call for the action needed, though I wish it weren't true. I few non-Washington Republicans speaking in favor of the honesty and integrity might be effective in breaking the speechlessness in the Senate and be a sign of sanity to all, Republicans and Democrats alike.
1
Mike Pence might not carry the personal baggage of scandal attached to Donald Trump, but his religious views are behind the appointments of religious idealogues at Health and Human Services and any number of minimally qualified judicial nominees in the GOP's efforts to impose a narrow, crabbed religious worldview on this country.
But, then, perhaps Mr. Leonhardt is comfortable with that...
2
I can't think of a greater waste of time than imploring Republican Senators to do the right thing. Lindsey Graham is nothing but a Trump Toady whose only goal is to stay in power. He doesn't are about country. He care's about Lindsey Graham. Others in the party are pretty much the same although less despicably obvious than Graham. Had Obama done anything remotely close to what Trump is doing, Mitch and company would be asking for public execution of such traitorous behavior. The election brought a thug to office. Thugs will keep him there.
7
Donald Trump sought 'dirt' on Joe Biden. In reality, he has 'dirt' on every Republican already. He rules by fear. No Republican can 'cross' him at the expense of having the 'dirt' exposed. He rules by fear. Donald Trump is caught in the middle, as Vladimir Putin also has 'dirt' on him.
4
Allow me to answer for all of the Republicans that were called out: "This is a joke, right?"
5
I don’t believe any of these cowards will stand up to tRump and do the right thing. They all should be voted out of office by their constituents for being complacent/complicit in this mess.
8
More proof that NYT opinion writers are hopelessly out of touch. These people have no respect for democracy or the rule of law. Romney and the rest would have no problem codifying rule by the 1% and the end of The Republic as long as they came out on top. You can't appeal to American values with these people. They simply don't believe in them.
4
How many Republican legislators will grasp the brass ring of redemption? A handful in the House and maybe two in the Senate, if given a vote.
That is the best that today's GOP will muster, but my bet is that such a lofty pinnacle of patriotic fortitude will not even be reached.
Yet, the GOP will nonetheless grotesquely wrap itself in the stars and stripes and call itself the "real America."
3
The Vietnam War draft dodger and the Republican Party are at the crossroads of history. GOP senators are compelled with addressing the hard cold facts that their chief executive's constantly trampling upon the Constitution, deliberately ignoring Congressional subpoenas, and openly maligning Democratic House chairmen prosecuting the impeachment inquiry to undermine and sabotage the exercise of their constitutional mandate does not bode well. Accommodating and cowering under the weight of the occupant of the West Wing, facing implied threats that will torpedo their political longevity, now is the time for action. GOP concerns on race and immigration are prominent. Placing America before party is necessary. In August 1964 Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon and Senator Ernest Gruening of Alaska-Democrats-cast the only no votes against President Lyndon Baines Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Both senators publicly condemned the president's sleight of hand machinations that conferred absolute executive authority to wage war in Vietnam without Congressional authority. Their prophetic and tragic forecasts about America's ill fated military intervention proved prescient. These senators exhibited political courage to speak truth to power. They were both right, suffering politically for their outspokenness to warn the nation of what lay ahead. They were absolutely right, their prophecy proving true. The Republicans need to standup and show that courage. No more excuses. Immediately!
4
For the political dynamics of the current debate, read the late Paul Findley's "They Dare to Speak Out". Careers can be ended, as Findley's was because he dared to speak out.
1
As a Democrat, I'm actually worried by the thought of a bait-and-switch deal between Pence and Trump. Pence is crazy enough on his own - go ask "Mother" - plus he was picked as the VP after all, to appeal to Trump's base, while looking sane enough compared to Trump, to hoodwink 48% of the voting public into his camp, strategically distributed to win the electoral college.
Trump could resign, playing the victim all the way off stage, and loudly endorse Pence, who will wash his hands of the previous administration's faults. It worked for Gore, if you look at the popular vote and I guess ignore the difference in the misdeeds committed and level of popularity, both of which are much worse for Trump.
Would 4+ years of Pence be worth getting rid of Trump now? Maybe? But going with that would allow Republicans to sweep the Trump years under the rug, while holding on to a Presidency they didn't earn the first time around. Remember, this is how we ended up with a solidified Republican majority on the SCOTUS and judiciary getting loaded up at all levels with right-wingers.
4
All Republicans, mentioned here or not, need to search their consciences to determine whether they can continue to back Trump.
America is better than this, but apparently the Republican Party, so far, is not. My own senator, Lindsey Graham, has been pushing false narrative after false narrative and has not yet stopped.
As the story fleshes out, Republicans are going to have to decide whether they can survive, even in red states, if they don't vote to impeach and to convict him of abuse of power and possibly other crimes, including obstruction of justice in the Ukraine matter. Maybe that will prod their consciences if nothing else does.
2
@Barbara Your Senator Graham, who used to have a high degree of honor, has turned into the most gutless politician I can think of (and that's saying a lot).
3
If a senior Republican came out and pressed for the impeachment he would be reviled at first but he might be the one who crashes the shaky house of cards that is Trump's GOP support. One big name, maybe Romney might be enough. If Trump is really impeached the rest will follow like poodles. I wish.
6
Republicans, sing it all together now:
All we are saying,
Is give Pence a chance.
6
It pains me to say this, but no, America is not better than this.
5
Except VP Pence is complicit in Trump’s crimes, failed to speak up & needs to resign, as well.
10
Fugettabotit, David!
The GOP has only one loyalty, and it isn't to any idea about republican democracy. It's to maintaining power which is to be exercised in the material interests of their own class; to wit, the interests of the corporate elite. Pence may also serve that same elite, but to hold power votes are needed and, at least for now, that means playing the politics of fear and loathing.
Your appeal to the better angels of the GOP's nature is touching but futile and, quite frankly, ridiculous.
2
Biden is guilty of what Trump is charged with. Trump's not going anywhere. But good luck with your pity party.
Do you have even one shred of evidence to support your claim?
2
GOP is now "Greedy Cowards"; wanting money and power; afraid Trump's base will attack them. "Cure" a greedy coward? Never going to happen.
2
Since the day Trump came down those stairs and called Mexicans rapists, Republicans of all walks of life, male and female, young and old have emboldened & enabled him. They have been complicit in all of his ugliness, his racism, his misogyny, his daily lies, because since that first day they could have repudiated him--and they have not, collectively--had the guts to. History will not be kind to the whole lot of them.
6
Thanks for pointing out how Republicans words are just empty rhetoric to win elections and keep their supporters happy.
Republicans don't lead their constituents. Rather they follow their constituents uninformed and simplistic understanding of what matters.
Republicans pander to the lowest common denominator in their base of support. Hence the mind-numbing platitudes.
Republicans are unprincipled and amoral playing the political game while undermining the health and wealth being of our democratic republic, our planet and the people who depend on both.
4
David Leonhardt unfortunately evokes the tired conservative notion that liberals don't buy American exceptionalism. As a proud progressive, I know that Trump needs to go precisely because he is a gross insult to this exceptional nation. And with so many on the right so slavishly devoted to him, doesn't it seem that it's actually conservatives who no longer accept that America is special -- and worthy of a President who actually embraces and defends the very best values of America?
4
The context of acts matters. The “no quid pro quo” defense is a failure.
1
Fear is the main weapon that Trump has against these people. They fear the base and they fear Trump because he will send his legions after them. They know that Trump can destroy any one of them with a tweet. They could be "primaried" and taken out by the Trump base in a second. Deep inside they have little respect for Trump but fear determines how they act.
Such is the Republican Party today and that is why they will never be able to get anything done. They are frozen in place with fear and the principles they speak of are only words. There is no real conviction behind them. Fear is the operative principle.
The truth is Trump has no real principles and neither does his party.
2
You make a HUGE mistake in quoting Josh Hawley (R-MO) as someone who might ever be reasonable. No, he doesn't fear Trump, he probably worships him.
Hawley is an out and out theocrat, who wishes to turn the US into a Christian Theocracy. He is sincere in his words, but his words gloss over the substance beneath them. Beware!!
3
I believe that what we have seen is who the Republicans really are, with very few exceptions. They and trump are self-serving fanatics who will destroy our future to make a buck for themselves and their donors - the corporate titans who have seriously compromised the planet, governments and ultimately rigged our consumer choices, our lives. Many of them are religious fanatics as well, no different than extremists all over the world who will impose their frightening beliefs on the rest of us but look away when atrocities, that should appall their “Christian” beliefs, further their agenda. They are the ultimate hypocrites. They have been inching their way to this moment in this country for decades and it has all come together for them with Mitch McConnell and trump. They play dirty to continue their terrible course. On good days I say “vote them all out!” On bad days I’m afraid we’re doomed like the countless birds that are gone from this world.
2
Despite all … and there is 'more all to despite' than 'any of us' could have possibly imagined 'ere the smell of trump befouled 'our' noses on a national scale … I'd bet there's a better chance that rep. jim Jordan will be cured of rabies than there is chance that the senators whose presumed 'inner righteousness' Mr. Leonhardt 'beseeches' will come to a righteous disapproval of trump, 'courtesy' of any new or re-discovered 'inner righteousness.'
1
yo, Republicans! Read up . . .
1
Gardner, Ernst, and other Republicans work for themselves. As long as they believe their political futures depend on standing by Donald Trump, they'll do so, no matter how he offends the Constitution or damages the country.
1
You are speaking to Senators who said he would "grow" into the job. These are the same Senators who had to pass sanctions on Russia without Trump's support. They have explained away, ignored or abetted behavior that should never occur in anyone who sits as a US President. These folks are not going to change without massive voter input. With luck, the trial will push Moscow Mitch into retirement.
4
In what world is Pence not involved in all of Trump's illegal activities?
Even by doing and saying nothing in opposition to what he surely knew/knows even a fraction of what has been going on, he is complicit and as guilty as the rest of the Trump regime.
9
We can only hope that the cowardice of the U.S. Senate Republicans will lead to the end of the GOP.
5
I agree. And these Republicans should know, that even should they 'stand by Trump,' he will throw them under the bus for any reason at all. The man who demands loyalty to his, yes, treasonous activities, has no loyalty to a single one of them.
Accusing Schiff of treason is a wide-angle, blatant instance of transference, made by a sociopath who knows on some level is in real danger.
6
The Republicans are not going to change. They have spent decades scheming to get to where they are today. To them, Trump is a useful idiot. They don't care that he is using the presidency to enrich himself because they are doing the same for themselves and their wealthy donors.
Unfortunately, the odds are bad that this will end well. Trump is no longer just a useful idiot, a loose cannon. He is a ticking time bomb!! He grows more desperate every hour of every day. He understands that the day he is no longer president is the day he begins a life as a criminal fugitive. Once Trump is removed from office, I wager he and his family will be on a plane to Russia or some other country where we do not have an extradition treaty.
Trump will spend the rest of his life claiming innocence and he will not stand trial for any of his crimes. He'll blame the evil Democrats, the fake media, the fake Department of Justice, and the unfair and fake 'rule of law.'
Democrats and Republicans are not sufficiently alarmed or acting with the necessary urgency. Again, Trump is mentally deranged and delusional with enormously destructive powers - he's a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.
We know the people around him have no control or choose to not exercise any restraints. I'm scared and I think everyone should be too. If you think I'm wrong, so be it, but if I'm right, God help us.
7
Republican Senators are desperate to rid themselves of DJT.
They will remove Trump (they can't stand him) if they can be convinced they will not be blamed for it by their base.
Here's how they can do it:
On the Senate trial vote re: impeachment and conviction, the US Constitution states: "And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present." [Art. 1, Sec. 3]
It doesn't say "...with two thirds majority of the members of the Senate..." or "with 67 votes."
It clearly states: "...of the Members present."
The day the vote to convict is taken, 49 Republican Senators can fail to be present.
The other 4--the lame ducks Alexander, Isaakson, Blunt, plus Romney--can be there to give the 47 Democrats a quorum to hold the vote.
The final vote to convict: 47-4. (Or 47-0, with 4 abstentions.)
Their failure to act for him is not the same as an overt act, or vote, against him, so their base will be mollified. (Also: two months from now, public opinion in favor of impeachment, and conviction, will be above 70%.)
This plan also prevents Trump from pardoning himself and others, since McConnell and the other Rep. Senators will assure him that the Dems do not have the votes to convict.
Until they do.
Even if the 20 Republican Senators running for re-election feel they need to vote for acquittal, they can.
Final vote: 47-20, with 4 abstentions.
And the Senators who thought they'd run for Pres. in 2024, can immediately declare for 2020.
5
I disagree. Let them ride this bomb all the way down, Slim Pickens style. The Republican party is a filthy, venal pox on the nation and the more it self- destructs, the greater chance we have of getting something less- terrible later. Worried about more damage to the republic? Don't, that chicken roosted already.
5
Cory Gardner will, God willing, stop serving the people of the State of Colorado soon enough. Cowards aren't fit to represent this state.
4
Here's the letter that I wrote to my utterly contemptible senator, David Perdue, today:
Senator:
What, precisely, are you waiting for? When are you going to do what you were elected for and defend the Constitution, represent your constituents and protect the nation?
This rampant criminal has lied, cheated, coerced, is a sexual abuser, a racist, a sexist and utterly disregards any consideration but his own benefit. Now he has been caught in an extraordinarily compromising conversation with the Ukrainian president seemingly demanding that he investigate Trump's political adversaries in exchange for taxpayer money.
This is unbelievable. A new low, a new level of threat to our democracy. And still you simper.
Now Trump wants Adam Schiff to be arrested for treason. The insanity, the lawlessness of this is stunning. And yet you STILL do nothing.
The Watergate era Republicans put the country before the party. You and your craven, self-interested ilk lack the integrity to follow their example.
Pete Wehner writes today that Republicans like you have blinded yourselves to Trump's horrific outrages and disastrous policies - deficit, anyone? - because you failed to stand up when he began to attack the country, saying, "the cowed stay in line like the trophies of a bully".
A cowed, cringing liar like you is incapable of being my representative. I'd hope that you would switch parties or resign but you are far too selfish to do even this much to protect the nation.
9
Seeing how members of the GOP continue to support Trump in the face of his corrupt, treasonous, vile, criminal and otherwise disgusting behavior, the bottom line is:
REPUBLICANS DON'T LOVE AMERICA!!!!!
3
I was raised in NY..so, Trump's career, or lack thereof, was in our family considered a joke...and my family are all solid Republicans. How this joke is President is still beyond me, but, come on, Republicans this man is not a close call..he is bad for this country and bad for the world. We all have our senior moments, and the Trump election was one of them, now, it's time to correct this mess of a Presidency.
4
This is terribly presumptious.
The Chief Executive has the absolute right and duty, stemming from the Constitution and US-Ukraine Treaty, to inquire about possible corruption by a former U.S. official. Therefore, it is contrary to the interests of the Country, and a major imposition on the Executive’s power, for Congress to contend that the unilateral act of the former official, in announcing a campaign for the nomination of one party for President, could render the President's conduct a crime.
Beyond that, a quick look at 52 USC 30121 raises many substantive questions:
1. Was there intent to solicit a thing of value or was the President just carrying out his duties?
2. Is a request, for a Head of State to "look into" allegations, a solicitation for something "of value" when such a request obviously contemplates a possible exoneration just as much as an indictment? Would an "exoneration result" have been something of value in an election?
3. What does "in connection with" an election mean? If the phone call occurred one day before Biden announced his candidacy, or one week before, would the request have been "in connection" with an election?
4. What does "election" mean? Does the statute apply only after the candidates are official nominees of their parties? Are all 15 Dems covered, so that any with foreign dealings is protected against investigation?
Aside from the obvious lies in the whistle-blower complaint itself, lots of legal questions remain.
@SonomaEastSide
Uh, why didn't Trump use the national security agencies of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
1
This country is starting to resemble Afghanistan more than the other way around.
2
I note that none of the shout-outs to Republican Senators did not include Mitch McConnell.
But, then, why bother?
4
Just got email back from my Senator, Mike Braun. He's sticking with the line that the impeachment is a partisan witch hunt. So be it. Find all the witches. Impeach them. Investigate them 24-7 through the election. Make sure fewer states can have Republican primaries. I don't think it will be a successful strategy for Republicans. Buh-bye, Mike. Don't let the door hit you and Susan Brooks on the way out.
4
Everyone has a breaking point and with Trump, you'll get there. We will learn a lot about Republican values as we witness each of their breaking points. The longer they grasp onto Trump's sinking ship, the more weakness in their commitment to American principals becomes manifest. Trump destroys everyone in his path because it is all about him, Donald John Trump, not America. You will be held to account for your failure to contain this rogue president, as the Constitution demands.
2
I lived through Watergate, as a young adult. The desertion by Republicans wasn't quick and wide-spread - until the evidence was no longer deniable and the public opinion polls showed how unpopular Nixon was. And, then, a critical mass was reached. Very few Republicans were willing to be seen with him, speak in favor of him, or help him avoid the inevitable. My guess is that if a half dozen or 8, 10 Republicans of some renown were to start peeling away, it wouldn't be long before 20 Republican senators would tell Trump he's on his own.
But, then, I thought - before the 2016 election - that all principled Republicans would unite to keep this moral leper out of the Oval Office. I was wrong - maybe because I was foolish enough to think there is such a thing as a "principled" Republican.
2
Republicans won't abandon Trump until he's seen to be mortally wounded in public. They can't since they allowed him to do anything as long as he didn't stop the money train.
Once Trump is mortally wounded Republicans will attempt load all the blame onto Trump. Don't believe them!
The evidence that Trump is controlled by Putin is revealed frequently but Republicans ignore it since it pays to ignore it.
I suspect that Trump will be hobbled even if he survives impeachment but Republicans won't budge until the election, and by then it may be too late for them. They'll have to go home until they burn thru all that money they've taken from selling their votes to highest bidder.
Unless the idea that money is (free) speech is removed from our society we will have little trumps in govt.
2
Pence is up to his scriptures in the Ukraine mess. What the @GOP senators fear is the exposure of the breadth and depth of corruption and attacks against Americans - especially Democratic legislators.
Exposing this will expose them. This is a political party turned turncoat. It acts entirely in bad faith against we the people.
Its members cannot be treated otherwise, because doing so allows them to continue their attacks.
Their words mean nothing. Their words are Russian-based propaganda. Their actions undermine American governmental institutions and norms. They are aiding and Abetting Trump destroying agencies from within.
They are going to be exposed as domestic enemies.
Trump is calling for violence and death against Democratic legislators, and every last Republican is going along.
3
Thank you for writing this article. I would like to add that the longer all Republican senators let this lawless, corrupt president stay in office the harder it will be remove him. Isn't apparent that he is trying to divide our country to the point of no return? The longer he stays in office the more brazen he becomes. The American people are so tired of hearing about how much you love our country, it is now time to stop talking, do your job and stand up for all of us.
Mr. Leonhardt,
Your appeal would be wonderful if it weren't so naive.
If any one of them had an ounce of convinction they would have spoken out when he got off the bus and muttered "grab em by the ..."
Since then he has given every one of them hundreds of opportunities to speak out and not one of them has uttered a word of protest.
This is not 1974. There is no Howard Baker. There is only Mitch and Lindsey and the rest of what was once the Grand Old Party.
4
"America is better than this, isn’t it?" I used to think so, but now I am not so certain. We'll see in about a year, won't we.
1
In the movie, Terminator 2, the villain cyborg has the capacity to recover from various assaults by re-forming its bullet scattered, melted metal pools back into its original (coopted) policeman through which it continues its efforts to stamp out humanity's savior. In the end though, plunged into a cauldron of molten metal, the antagonist melts away though not before "trying on" the various shapes that had previously sustained him through his onslaught. It's an amazing and compelling piece of film. This seems an apt analog of Trump whose tactics of lies, insults, distractions, and bold counterattack have served him well through decades of deceit and criminality. Strengthened by an exoskeleton of the warped (Bannon, Miller, et al) and the wacky (Giuliani), he's managed to fool and intimidate vast numbers of people. [For others (evangelicals) there is no excuse - the cauldron they bask in is full of hypocrisy.] It seems now, though, that this Ukraine fiasco will be the pot in which he melts. His counterattacks are falling flat, his insults are bald and silly, his bizarre claims of treason and civil war exposing him as profoundly desperate and fundamentally guilty. He's flailing now and though he has yet to dissipate, Americans collectively are beginning to feel relief.
5
No questions for Graham and especially Mc Connell? Shouldn't they at least be listed as Senators to whom any appeal is totally
useless?
By their actions since the election of Barack Obama as president, Republican senators have demonstrated their loyalty is not to the country, but to their party and their jobs. They have amply shown, by their own actions, that they believe America is NOT better than this fraud of a president.
2
I might have agreed three years ago, but no more. Trump's election and subsequent behavior serve as reminders that Americans far, far too often have fallen short of the nation's ideals. His racism reminds us of the unsavory aspects of our past that clearly have not diminished with time. His obsession with money and power remind us that this country was built on the backs of immigrants who did not share--at least until much later--in the wealth and power their labor provided to employers/corporations. Before Trump, we could at least pretend we had gotten past the shameful parts of our history. Now, we cannot look away.
2
Republicans in Congress fall in line behind Mr. Trump because they are just like him: craven cowards, more interested in retaining power and serving special interests than in serving the country.
If you doubt this, look at their do nothing record in Congress.
3
Thank you for making it more difficult for these folks to get cold feet and join to coup d'état.
Add to the list the many House Republicans declining to run for reelection. They have nothing to lose and much to gain by supporting impeachment. And, there have to be a couple of Republican Senators nearing the end of their career- I'm looking at you Senator Richard Shelby-who can stand up for the country and the Constitution. It is a short limo ride from Capitol to the White House. Just do it.
in my opinion the corruptes is decide it self.Otherwise the dream usd is sinking to deep of ocean.Because the global world is not to acceptting to static psygology of people and every thing.For example dream of usd ambrace to every of world.Evey person is desiring to come to usd.so when position the usd should not stop and oriantation to all of people.
thank you
Among the most shameless Republican Senators is Lindsey Graham. He should be forced to listen repeatedly to his speeches and prosecutorial arguments in favor of the impeachment of Bill Clinton and explain rationally to us which of those do not apply to Trump. He is an embarrassment to conservatives, Republicans, South Carolinians, and the memory of a man who formerly served as his friend and mentor, John McCain.
I strongly suggest Republican’s begin to think carefully about how they will ultimately be judged both by voters and history before speaking out recklessly.
I also suggest Democrats give careful consideration to the choice between impeachment and censure as they move forward. A strong case for condemnation of Trump through a bipartisan censure vote may produce a better end result for both Parties and the country and may be more easily achieved than a Two thirds Senate vote for removal.
2
As a former Tennessean whose democratic mother supported Alexander as governor, I am thoroughly disappointed in his cowardice in regard to Trump. The Republican party is dying on the Trumpian vine...
1
Mr. Leonhardt: To do what you and millions of decent, caring people want republicans to do, is something that I fear they will never do. They will never stand for what is right, what is fair, and what is just, because they have no moral compass, or if they ever had one, it is so very broken, as to be irreparable. These republicans that we have now are the most dishonorable, the most hate-and-greed driven, and the most deceitful people that have been seen in government in a very, very long time. Do not expect moral miracles from these craven and characterless empty vessels. A vile example of their entitlement, their immorality, their duplicity, and their arrogance was on full display this morning when Jake Tapper interviewed Jim Jordan. And Jordan is just one of the many gop trump cheerleaders. The misrepresentations and twistings of the truth, the outright lies, and the stupidity that theses sycophants spew is just so ourageous...it is hard to understand how anyone could listen to them, much less believe them. Sometimes, when listening to them, I feel that my eyes are going to fall out of my head, because so egregious is their deceit.
1
The GOP lost any chance of redemption when to a man (and woman) it fell in line behind a corrupt carnival barker, like lemmings jumping off a cliff. I don't want to hear any word containing "patriot" in it from ANYONE in the GOP ever again. They are traitors to everything this country stands for -- every last one of them -- with special mention to Lindsey Graham. (I'm only not mentioning Mitch McConnell because he's never had pretenses of being anything else.)
2
Nixon-->Reagan-->Quayle-->W-->Palin-->Trump. America may be better than this, but the trendline isn't good. Trump is a symptom; the 60m people who thought he was Presidential material are the problem.
1
History will not be kind to the current Republicans. Lindsay Graham and Charles Grassley, is this how you want to be remembered by your grandchildren? Enabling the most corrupt and unfit president in US history, at a huge risk to the country, all so you can get reelected??
2
Simply, is there still a GOP, or is to be all Trumpsters - and the bottomless abyss that means - all the time?
1
It's generous of you, David, to assume that Republicans want to collectively work for what's best for all Americans. They're the party that made President Drumpf possible, as history will clearly define. Let them inherent the wind.
4
At some point, don't we have to ask the obvious question?....perhaps the GOP congressional is silent/ acquiescent on Trump because they believe in the same things.
Perhaps he hasn't overtaken the party, but given voice to long suppressed hopes of how they would like to govern.
Liberals, me included, keep waiting for them to "come around" when the president obliterates another guardrail of our democracy.
Perhaps this is who they are.
4
You may want to consider that all presidents profit from the presidential office these days, if only after they step down. They have all become millionaires with consulting and speaking fees, books, business offers, you name it. These may be legal undertakings, but they are all profiting from their name and having sat in the presidential office, not very honorable or noble income sources, in my old fashioned opinion. I don't see, say, Angela Merkel, profiting from her years in office in that way. Trump is now profiting "indirectly" from his name in his hotel and real estate business (I don't envision him having many consulting or speaking offers after he steps down (unless it is from his Tea Party followers). He will go on with his hotels and other legal and other barely legal undertakings. All profit from the office as they can. This is America, where profit is the true leading motive for most every citizen, a legal and even a virtuous one too. The "serving" your country is the facade.
1
Well, the alternative until 2020, vice-president Mike Pence, does not sound very attractive either. The remedy may be worse than the disease. I don't think America will garnish too much domestic or world leadership with either of them at the helm. And he certainly will not win the election in 2020.
1
Thank you so much for personally addressing those who are more responsible than anyone else for this nightmare we are experiencing! The man in the Oval Office is neither mentally well, nor is he fully developed emotionally and cognitively. Hopefully this plea to those who are of sound mind will serve as a reminder to them to honor their oath of office and be our "wake up call"!!"
2
A caution: Before favoring Pence as a replacement to Trump, take a good look at his record as the Governor of Indiana. His legislative travesties against women and personal freedoms are well-remembered. He has not disavowed his record.
5
@Jean Chamberlin
I thought he has been implicated in this whole sordid mess. If that's the case then Madame Speaker is next in line.
That was then, this is now. Now demands that I have to look to my future or else I might be out of a job and have to work for a living. How bad is that? I have a great life, lots of perks, The money rolls in, the lobbyists love me and look after me. One word of criticism and Trump will call me out. He will shame me. Much better to go along and get along. Hey, i got a couple weeks off. Stop wasting my time.
2
What the author fails to acknowledge is that the GOP/far-right/Trump Cult see is an America that they do not like. It is too diverse, there are too many crippling regulations, there are too many taxes, too much healthcare. On and On and on goes their list of grievances.
Trump is loudly waving the flag (mega hat) for correcting the course of a liberal democratic society. Take us back to the Grand Old Days when women and blacks knew their place!!!
In their quest to return America to the good old days, they will do anything. They have abandoned democracy, morals and ethics in service to their goal.
T-shirts which say 'I would rather be Russian than vote for a democrat' are popular. They Have been living a long national nightmare not us now. They just know that they know better than the majority of citizens.
Trump has gladly accepted the role of authoritarian/oligarch/dictator for them. he is leading them to the promised land. They will follow gladly.
1
Mr. Leonhardt,
I want to believe your letter will be read and taken to heart by the senators to whom it is addressed.
I yearn to believe that "America is better than Donald Trump"
But I can believe neither premise: The facts do not support such conclusions.
If among these senators there were honor, conviction, and true belief in the Declaration of Independence; and faith in the rule of law, our system of justice, and the checks and balances of gov't laid out in the Constitution, we would not be where we are today.
As a girl, I raced home from school every day to watch the Army-McCarthy hearings. Sen. McCarthy, Joe Welch and Roy Cohn left an indelible mark on my sense of justice, honor, truth.
But never since, and certainly not after Trump became POTUS, have I heard anyone in public life reprimand a bully with a malign and crooked nature with anything like the words of Joe Welch: "Have you no decency, sir?"
Instead, I've watched the GOP work tirelessly to disenfranchise political opponents, people of color; put down ordinary people; elevate the rich. The Senate majority leader defied a president's right to nominate a Supreme Court justice; another Senator shrieked and spat at TV cameras about the "rights" of a dubious nominee to that court. POTUS #45 brags about sexual abuses; lies endlessly; insults all; is ignorant, incompetent, a racist, greedy, cruel, thuggish -- and possibly a traitor.
Still, nearly 63 million people voted for Trump!
Can THEY change?
5
You know how in Scrabble when you can’t make any decent words you just trade in your tiles? For a player who wants to win the game, this is a risk. You do the right thing in the hope of possible reward, while knowing you’ll score zero points in the current round. Sometimes you draw 7 vowels, but sometimes you get the Z, Q, and U and you put QUIZ on a two-way Triple Word. You win the game, but first, you had to be willing to go down.
3
Pence was complicit & shouldn't be elevated.
5
Pence was complicit & shouldn't be elevated.
1
Some of Trump’s lickspittle Republican defenders are crying the charge ‘hearsay’ against the courageous whistleblower. Where were these shameless water-carriers when private citizen, then presidential candidate Trump was questioning Obama’s American citizenship? Trump is an individual who has trafficked in hearsay his whole miserable life. Aren’t the debunked Biden Ukraine corruption allegations just the latest example of this? Yet the party of Lindsey Graham sees hearsay where it is not, yet turns one big blind eye to where in fact it is.
7
America of slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, strike breaking, Vietnam war, Pentagon Papers, Watergate, Joe McCarthy, Committee on Un-American Activities, anti-Semitism, assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK, and segregation in schools and armed forces, among many other things, is NOT better than Trump. Let's retire that phrase.
There is nothing new under the sun — Ecclesiastes
King Lear
Dorian Gray
Norma Desmond
Donald Trump, a fictional character come to life.
5
Great questions for Senators with one glaring omission: Lindsay Graham.
6
David Leonhardt, the call for Republican’s to turn on the human corruption tornado in the Oval Office is a call to courage and return to ethical action. For you to posit Pence as a better option - for them and for the country - is to hurl the civil rights of more than half the citizens of this country - WOMEN - directly under the bus in a way that is absolutely astonishing to me. Perhaps the NYT needs to balance the number of men and women in it’s opinion arm. Pence is a clear and present and daily threat to the lives of women in these United States.
3
@Laura. Hear, hear! And a threat to all LGBT people too! And anyone with an open mind and beating heart!
Nice try but they're cowards all. Gardener, from my home state of Colorado, needs to go. He's been an enabler and a lackey. Nothing will change. Trump's cult base won't forgive any of them if they fail to ally themselves with Trump and clearly they all now serve just one man, not all the people they should serve and not the Constitution they all swore to uphold and protect.
2
We must promise ourselves and every politician that if they do not uphold their sworn duty to protect the Constitution, then each and every one of their names will live in infamy as those who let Democracy die.
1
Should be addressed to “Republican members of the United States.”
There is no orange in patriotism.
2
Reading Mr Leonhardt’s editorial brought me to tears. His eloquent plea to GOP Senators “better angels” may fall on deaf ears as they have no desire to do anything except circle the wagons around their figurehead with the usual lies and conspiracy theories.
They don’t seem to have read the transcript of the president’s discussion with President Zelensky, they have not read the 7 page whistleblower’s letter, and they are banking on the American people being as stupid and ignorant as they firmly believe them to be. Their contempt for the law and the people is astounding.
They will be remembered for destroying our nation to enable them to reap dark money campaign rewards and for their stunning cowardice. They may not care now but history has a place for them and it won’t be kind.
3
If Trump goes and if Pence goes (which they should) , House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi will be sworn in as President according to the Constitutional succession section. That's when I open my champagne which is waiting in the fridge. I choose dark navy blue outfit and very high, very sharp and expensive high heels for her outfit. Bravo Nancy.
4
Republican politicians have neither spine nor principle. I would love for them to prove me wrong, but they are too cowardly to do so.
3
We all know of the criminal, trump. Not many knows of the criminal activities of his evangelical sidekick. Pence is an unknown and very, very scary.
3
I noticed that David omitted Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham --Sycophant 1 and Sycophant 2, to borrow a naming convention from Dr. Seuss-- from the group of Republican Senators he chose to directly address. The reason is obvious, of course. There are those who have abandoned any pretense of true patriotism for country for the giddiness of power by association with Trump.
Even if those nine senators named here were to don their pull-up drawers and approach impeachment proceedings in the spirit of their own words, the numbers are still not there to dislodge Trump. Another nine are needed to even squeak by the 2/3 majority necessary, when what we should have is near unanimity to demonstrate to Trump, his base, and to anyone in the future who attempts to duplicate Donald Trump's malfeasance that they, too, will end up in the trash.
This Seussian circus must end, and as David says, end sooner not later.
1
“ Profiles in Collaboration. “
There, fixed it for you.
3
Pence will be implicated also..Next in line to lead, a person who honors, understands and respects the Constitution, Nancy Pelosi !!
2
@AW... I hope that happens. But of course, Trum p will take credit for enabling in the 1st woman president of the US.
@AW The problem is that if Trump and Pence are impeached together, raising the specter of a Pelosi presidency, there is NO way the Senate will convict them both. I'd rather compromise and have them remove Trump alone, who is a clear and present danger at this point, than give them a reason to do nothing.
1
Come on Republicans!! This is your big chance. Speak out, step up! We are all in this together. Let’s get this guy out! Please!
As a onetime 48 yr registered Republican I call on all Republicans to follow their intelligence and patriotism and renounce this traitorous fraud named Trump. You must realize he will ultimately go down and take you and your party with him.
3
It seems clear Mr. Leonhardt that the leaders and elders of the GOP simply consider their rolls in Congress and the Senate to involves helping themselves to as much of the tax paying public's hard earned cash as the can get away with while they are in office- Nothing more,Nothing less.
Yes, and on the other side of the isle, let's hear what Sens Baldwin (WI), Casey (PA), Masto (NV), Jones (AL) and Manchin think about plum jobs for their sons in deeply corrupt countries seeking favors from the US. About the business Biden, Podesta, Brennan had in Ukraine during the Obama years.
Compared to them, Manafort seems like small potatoes. I'd like to see some evidence about what exactly Biden Jr Jr did for the gas company. If nothing, what did the Ukrainians expect of Biden?
Republicans: Not having principles has worked great for us so far so, nah, we're good with Trump.
1
Excellent column, Mr. Leonhardt.I especially liked where you wrote that you could not ever imagine Ike or Ronald Reagan endangering an ally who is threatened by Russia (Ukraine), for their own political gain. Truer words never spoken!
As Roger Cohen wrote in a recent NYT column: we have installed a "shrieking maniac" in the White House.
Ain’t gonna happen. These hypocrites are principled patriots when it’s in their narrow interest. “Situational ethics,” are dictated by the authoritarian good ol’ boys and weasels aligned with Mitch McConnel.
What outrage will ever rise to the status of abuse of power bordering on treason by Trump will any of these even acknowledge as problematic?
I support the article but I don't trust Pence. The way he fawns over Trump--is it admiration or sexual attraction?--does not build my confidence in him.
Anyone who acts against Trump with face the wrath of Trump voters whipped up to a frenzy by Trump. Trump does not care about the Republican party (unlike Nixon). He will destroy the party if it turns against him. Even in the best of all worlds, if say the Republican Senate agreed to unanimously act against Trump, those voters loyal to Trump would probably stop turning out to vote. Turning against Trump is political suicide for any Republican planning to run for re-election.
Voters put Trump in office; voters will have to kick him out.
Get real.
Republicans are not reading your column and if they were, they will never change.
The republican party has been on the wrong moral side of every issue: women's rights, civil rights, minorities...every single one.
You are wasting your breath on them.
3
It certainly seems as if Trump has no concept of right and wrong as related to our government and even life itself. Every wrong deed he has done was 'fixed' by others like Cohn, Cohen & now Guilliani. He can't conceive of anything he does as wrong because there have never been any real consequences for his actions. There are no excuses for the rest of the Republican party. They know.
1
He is not a Republican or a Democrat, which is why he's so popular.
The time has come and gone over and over again for decades. Republicans surrendered their spines a long time ago. Only a fool would count on them to do the right thing.
Yes. I am no fan of Mike Pence. But I believe that the GOP he represents contains honourable men and believing Christians, who don't like shameless immorality, public corruption and cozying up to every loathsome dictator on the planet. It once stood for better things.
Isn't it time for that GOP to come out of hiding, and rid itself of the disgusting vainglorious criminal that hangs about its neck like an albatross. A President Pence will still have the power to name judges; perhaps he won't propose drunken adolescents.
3
You assume these senators read liberal newspapers and listen to liberal calls-to-action. They don't. They go home on their two-week recesses and listen to the pig farmers and ranchers and small business owners who voted for Trump, and think this thing is a Democrat smear campaign and it'll all blow over. Which, if history is any guide, it probably will.
And this was written before Trump threatened civil war!
1
Great job! Keep up the pressure on these senators! They KNOW how unfit Trump is! They KNOW he is impeachable!
America is better than this, isn’t it?
Maybe not. According to 538, 43% of Americans still support Trump. There are 51 Republican Senators who either support Trump or are cowards.
2
Still early in the whole process, What I believe is frightening many of us is not what we already know, which is damning enough, but what we don't know. There were plenty of attack Biden signals going on over the past few weeks and the "perfect conversation" simply fit in with the rest,
But what about so many other "perfect conversations" and who else was involved?
The shameless news cyle. Stephen Miller on Fox news, GOP talking heads saying Trump is the whistleblower for heavens sake, are now convincing me that this bad cycle must end and Trump must go, We as a democratic nation must at some point stand for more than just McDonalds and pop music. Dignity and decency as a nation must be preserved and this WH has thrown both to the wind,
1
Trump plays by no rules. yet the lapdog media
is insisting that Dems play by norms and rules.
Trump is what the founders expressly feared.
There are no heroes in the GOP, Just sandwiches
2
This is what’s needed. Thanks!
Every single person living in the USA, and every single American citizen living or working abroad, should be asking himself the following simple question:
At what point are repeated norm-breaking, law-breaking, decency-violating, strong-arming, constitution-trampling, ally-stiff-arming, personal profiteering, manifest corruption, urinating-on-truth, and mind-blowingly pathetic incompetence unacceptable in a President of the United States and the many offices in said President’s Administration?
At what point?
2
Unfortunately, the Republicans no longer believe in high ideals or democracy. They are only there to enrich one part of the population while enslaving another, kill what’s left of our natural resources and to serve, completely, at the pleasure of the President.
2
So eloquent and so devoid of promise. The moment of absolute clarity around this fear business was when the constitutional sandcastle of our learned, principled, and righteous man Sasse caved at the first sign of Trump’s declaration of emergency powers in service of the border wall.
The edifice of morality in our political class is a holograph, a beautifully rendered 3D illusion.
Stop tilting at windmills NYT. Ignore this latest shiny object. Eyes on the prize. Get out the vote.
Don’t expect greatness. Just expect truth. That’ll do.
1
Since you have no specific question for Lindsey Graham are we to assume you believe him to be too far gone to listen to reason? I do.
1
Look at where we are, a respected writer in this Opinion begs a few Republican senators to help us impeach Donald J. Trump. He welcomes the alternative of Pence writing, '...he has never paid hush money to a porn star or made big campaign donations to New York Democrats.' Meanwhile, the earth is attacked by our disregard, unnecessary fossil fuel dependency, deforestation, deregulation of environmental safety protections and continuing use of pesticides. The lands are flooded and burned, the oceans are warming, the glaciers are melting, the birds are dying and we have as our president one of the world's most noted climate deniers.
1
I don't know if the following is a bellwether or a dead canary in a mine filling with methane, but... all ten of the people I know who voted for Trump have gone totally silent.
May Lindsey Graham decide to save South Carolina from another historical humiliation! Will he let the state go down the path of embarrassment or will he lead us out of this quagmire?
America is better than Donald Trump. Republicans are not.
2
Don’t hold your breath!
Republican senators are very like the Popes who have been so very very scandalized by the moral sins of the priests they have systemically enabled and covered up for to preserve their own power and position. There will be no death-bed conversion for the Republican leadership. For all of them, I hope their own vision of the afterlife is true.
1
Once again, Mr. Leonhardt has written an outstanding column,
Time will tell if Trump has "Jumped the shark".
Don’t hold your breath.
Pence???! He is implicated as well. And is he actually alive or some wax figure?
2
@Elisabeth
He is not made of wax... just mayonnaise.
Seems most of the Tump opponents are uncomfortable with the Trump style of truth... it is delivered with the bitter and incited tongue lash this snail like government so accurately deserves. We wonder: what country do the Democrats
represent... and what do the intend ?
Nice try, but they will never abandon Trump because the one issue that outweighs everything else is that Republicans see Democrats as fundamentally illegitimate. That's why McConnell would not allow Obama to appoint a Supreme Court justice. That's why they will not cooperate with the House majority now (ignoring subpoenas, etc.), and why they turn every House committee hearing into a circus. Democracy and elections do not matter. Republicans will NEVER acknowledge the legitimacy of Democrats in any capacity.
3
And these same people have the power to decide on whether the young men and women in the military go to war to defend the country along with their right to act in a cowardly fashion defending a corrupt, draft dodging president.
1
“Ben Sasse likes to say that “America is an idea” — a commitment to universal dignity over brute power.” Oh please, stop kidding yourselves! But by all means put the idea into practice.
Mafia is taking over the party.
People under authoritarians have at least the freedom of Keeping quiet.
People under Mafia does not have the freedom of Not to speak.
We saw this under Trump’s cabinet meeting. You have to praise him and show your total loyalty to him. He tried to destroy your dignity and wreck your will, until your soul is totally compromised.
Love casts out fear!
It is time to take the party back. To regain the faith, hope and love of the old Republican Party.
The future of the party and the country is at your hand.
2
I understand the impulse to try and sweet talk Republicans to step up. But reinforcing their attachment to homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia and all the rest does just that. Reinforces it.
2
I notice Lindsey Graham's name is conspicuously absent from this list. Like a few of his fellow travelers, beyond redemption, shame or hope for a change of heart. What happened to these men to bring them so tightly into the orbit of Trump? One almost has to assume that it was always there, lying dormant, waiting for the authoritarian figure they quietly dreamed of.
1
"And here’s the thing: You have a very good alternative. I don’t personally share Mike Pence’s worldview, but you do. He is a deeply conservative, anti-regulation, anti-tax, evangelical Christian. As a bonus, he has never paid hush money to a porn star or made big campaign donations to New York Democrats. Oh, and Pence has a lower disapproval rating than Trump."
His base does not want a fiscal Conservative. Pence is everything they do not want. Trump lied to his base, made up of low level workers along, who were looking for help for their economic despair. He promised them he would give them everything they needed in an economic sense. They knew Pence would be the last politician who would help them.
2
Twitter, the time has come for you too. Suspend Trump's account before more harm is done. Twitter users, suspend your own account and let Twitter know you'll be back wen DJT is off the platform. They need to enforce their rules, not create exemptions for deranged fascists who use the platform as a weapon. Sign, Share, Suspend: https://www.change.org/p/twitter-officers-suspend-or-cancel-trump-s-twitter-account
2
Nice, David. Nailed it.
I do not know of another journalist or commentator who has used the very names of the Republican senators as he asks them to speak truth to power. It is a masterful move on Leonhardt 's part, and one I suspect will be extremely effective. I certainly can write letters and join this movement of naming the perpetrators. I can envision it now: hand over heart, head cocked,eyebrows raised. Who me? Yes you, Senator Lilly Liver. You have sold out your country. I know it. You know it. The history books will name you for it. Join me.
2
These republican politicians don’t come out of thin air. Their constituents are driving the cart too. Their love of trump has been unrelenting.
1
David Leonhardt, as a patriotic American citizen, I've never been more grateful for a NYT column than I am for your column asking Republican senators, by name, to stand up to Trump.
We all know that scene from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy accidentally brings down the Wicked Witch by splashing her with water. At first, Dorothy and crew are terrified, because they assume that the witch's minions will attack them next.
But that's not what happens. The witch's minions celebrate Dorothy's conquering of a villain they secretly despised and feared.
I was in Poland in '89 and I saw this principle in action. We were going against overwhelming power. But with each brave act from us, that power grew exponentially weaker and weaker.
Trump is dead. It's just a matter of time. I can live with President Pence. I can't live with my country lost.
3
Very well stated, Mr. Leonhardt.
1
My guess is that Deep Throat always had the cause and effect, 'follow the money.' The GOP rats can't jump ship because they have financial investments tied up in keeping Trump in office, and we don't know what else. Michael Cohen told them months ago about "misplaced loyalty" and told Trump-loving Republicans, "You'll end up like me." Maybe not in jail (unfortunately), but they'll see too late. Lemmings.
2
the moment arrived b4 he was elected. instead it appealed to the GOP that embraced his selfish views. Instead of shame, they dig in deeper until they themselves face backlash. Lemmings-no that's maligning innocent animals. Clean slate is an option, but this country needs fresh candidates, not tainted by Trump's administration. For the good of the country, please voters, make the GOP redundant and look forward to canidates with solutions to climate change, health care, and restoring foreign relations with legitimate allies. Instead of conspiracies and dog whistling, get some meaningful, HONEST
work done.
1
Republicans senators: If David's logic doesn't appeal to you, then consider this. This presidency is a slow moving train wreck; it's not going to end well. History will not smile upon those of you that stay on board. You can be seen as principled heroes or partisan villains, but the time to decide is quickly expiring. All aboard?
Please stop using the term Republican and use "Trump Party" to refer to the holdouts.
The term Republican stands for a political party and philosophy that no longer has adherents.
2
Thank you, Mr. Leonhardt, for ending your article with Gerald Ford’s “long national nightmare” statement. Like Nixon, Trump has subjected our nation to a long nightmare. It’s time to wake up.
I live in Arizona in a deep "red" neighborhood in the winter, and Oregon in the summer. I forwarded this editorial to one of my Arizona Senators Martha McSally with this note:
Dear Senator McSally,
It seems that you have been left out of this editorial. I wish you had been included.
If I am not mistaken you currently occupy a seat in the Senate previously held by the esteemed John McCain. If I am not mistaken you didn't win this seat via the electoral process, but you were appointed by the governor.
I have a friend in Anthem AZ who was a POW with Senator McCain in Viet Nam. After McCain died I asked him if he attended the funeral. He said he did not, because of the way McCain voted against overturning the ACA. My friend said he was in full support of Mr Trump and "all the good he was doing." I was totally disheartened by this conversation because I not only disagreed, but I felt sad for my friend who could not honor his friendship with John McCain by attending McCain's funeral.
You and your fellow Republican Senators have achieved a lot during the past 3 years - conservative court appointees, decreased regulation, the tax cut, a strong economy, and decreased unemployment.
Here is my question for you : Are you satisfied enough with those achievements to now own up to the truth that Mr Trump is not fit for office, that he has violated the constitution, and that he is destroying many of the democratic ideals that you, John McCain, and I hold dear?
207
@maxcommish The Republicans in Congress have revealed themselves as having no loyalty to the Constitution despite the oath they swore. They are venal, greedy and self-serving. Unfortunately, because they are shape-shifting opportunists, even the complete disgrace and final infamy of Trump will not make them reform, but rather repackage themselves and ask "Trump who?" (similarly to the way they did not know Bush/Cheney after we slid into the worst recession since the Great Depression.)
41
@maxcommish McSally and other Republicans in the Senate must confront this question: Are you a Trump supporter or an American? You can't be both.
71
The Republicans’ backing of Trump is like an abusive relationship. Everyone else can see that it is only harming them but they refuse to separate themselves from him. They are too afraid and think too little of themselves and their constituents to consider opposing him. Republicans will never choose to break off from Trump, but will continue to support him until either he leaves or the party is broken.
1
This is good, but I Pence is obviously also implicated, and will -or should-go down with Trump as well, if anyone in the GOP has a shred of integrity.
2
Republicans serve the cults of Trump and McConnell and lack the fortitude and ethics to serve in the best interest of their constituents. The tax bill and systematically destroying the ACA act with nothing to replace it are stellar examples. Their eyes focused on future lobbying opportunities have rendered them blind and deaf to their oaths of office.
2
I particularly enjoyed the comment to Ernst that Trump is "willing to undermine Ukraine's military". As Leonhardt well knows, this administration has provided Ukraine with military equipment that Obama declined to provide. Trump may be shameless, but his attackers are as unbound by facts as he is.
Let me know how the Republicans you address respond, David. My cynical (if accurate) guess is that when they see Trump's support fall below a certain percentage in their individual states, they'll quickly abandon ship. Appeals to their better instincts went out the proverbial ethical window they jumped out of to support Trump.
Let's not kid ourselves. A big reason we have "The Great Divider" Donald Trump is that we have a morally and intellectually corrupt Republican party that regurgitated him from its government-hating party of NO. America is better than Trump, but it's also better than the current iteration of the party of Lincoln.
Hypocrisies about "pro life", gun proliferation as absolute right, anti-science policies galore, free markets aren't about access, racially & sexually divisive rhetoric & representation, tax cuts-produce-growth fraud, opposition to any tax increase for the nation's good, no oversight of DoD, selective morality and selective religious rights, states right are good (except when they aren't), see-no-evil about budget deficits--again, the reality of Republican corruption is overwhelming, and Trump is but the latest expression of it, its epitome.
On a basic level, this corrupt man & his party represent the worst of American values--materialism, ego-centrism, trivialization of public affairs, and manipulation. Democrats represent these cultural markers also, but not to the degree of the dissembling fraudulence of Trump and his enablers.
2
Its infuriating that the best the GOP has mustered in this situation are the words “inappropriate” and “troubling”. Profiles in courage from the GOP.
2
Since Trump cowed them in the primaries Republican leaders have been on auto pilot as they ignore and apologize for Trump's actions. For these same leaders to step up they would need to stand up to the phalanx of Trump supporters and take responsibility for their own inaction and the part they have played in the Trump fiasco. This would take statesmen within a group that has shown themselves to be cowards and toadies up to now.. If republicans should somehow do so now it might renew my faith in human nature, but somehow I am not holding my breath.
The minute that it is clear Trump is done the repubs leave him faster than rats on the sinking ship. Keep on with the heat.
As a person who witnessed the Nixon debacle, it’s hard for me to believe that the Republican Party does not stand for the principals it touts as the bedrock of our democracy unless it is made up of sanctimonious, phony, despots that have no courage.
2
This column pretends Trump is the problem and all these right wingers are cowardly victims, all of whom want to do the right thing but simply cannot. I disagree. The American conservative movement, of which these people are a part, is the problem - and has been for 55 years. Trump is merely a manifestation of it.
3
Thank you, Mr. Leonhardt! If America can survive this nightmare it will owe journalists like you a tremendous debt.
They will come around, like they did with Nixon. They will defect from Trump, like rats escaping a sinking ship. The G P is all about absolute power; staying with Trump will erode that power and end the career of career politicians.
When the dust settles, the GOP will push Pence will just pardon Trump, just like Ford pardoned Nixon.
Then, the GOP can get back to what they do best obstruct, do nothing and saw how great America is.
PS No rats were harmed with this opinion; they have more common sense than most of the politicians in Washington.
2
Fun fact. When Nixon was impeached, the democrats had a majority in both houses.
Get ready to vote this guy out. He is a criminal willing to sell out our Country for his own interests. Vote for whoever can beat him. Don’t like Biden’s age, Warren’s lectures, Bernie’s yelling, Kamala’s record as a prosecutor, or Mayor Pete’s youth? Who cares. The time has come for the voters to make the moral stand that Congress won’t.
2
Not surprising the that the party that has peddled in fear to achieve their electoral accomplishments of the past 50 years has populated the senate with a group that is nothing if not afraid. They are terrified of Trump and the damage resisting him will do to their careers. People who get elected through fear (of anything outside their conventional understanding of what is normal) are often the most fearful themselves.
Mr. Leonhardt, you're asking cowards to become heroes. And these are no "cowardly lions" that despite their nature overcome it and do the right thing. There's nothing lionly left in these cowards but hide under a table and wish it would all go away.
Whatever happens with Trump's Impeachment -
Pence should not step in - he is a worse nightmare than Trump -
The 1st Pence nightmare will begin when he wins 2020 election.
They all have to go - they all have let go of their integrity - they have chosen to serve their Almighty Trump.
They all - including Pence has to go --
The 2020 election has to be a tsunami to wash out all current local, state, federal - officials, congress peoples - who support Donald Trump - this includes - Trump and all his White House staff - and - cronies everywhere. -
3
Wasted effort, wasted ink, the Republicans are lost, and have been so for a long while. Donald Trump is the apex of the Republican party's depravity, but they've been on this road awhile. The Republicans have sold themselves to the highest bidders, whether it's the NRA or Corporate lobbyists, whoever, it's all about money and power. Now they're blatant moral cowards, and could care less about democracy, the rule of law, or national security. Their only concern is to please their moneyed masters, and the evil Donald Trump provides them that service. The Republicans will not do the right thing, and don't expect them to.
2
Why do we keep thinking that Republicans have somehow been snatched and replaced by Trump and if we only appeal to their better natures they'll see the light?
Why do we keep thinking that Trump is a Republican/Conservative aberration and not the logical conclusion of decades of Conservative planning?
Why do we keep thinking that the inspired rhetoric of people like Rubio, Sasse, Collins, and Alexander isn't simply a lie to hide their true motives?
Why do we keep thinking that Donald Trump isn't exactly what Republicans/Conservatives want to be?
We, and I mean the majority of Americans, have been beaten again and again because we expect that Republicans have the same core beliefs about American that we do, that somehow Republicans have lost their way and just need a little guidance to come back.
Republicans know now, and have always known, exactly what they're doing. Their lofty rhetoric is not for you, and it does not mean what you think. *This* is the America that Republicans want. And when Trump is gone they will do it all over again.
3
This is about the only good opinion I've seen on this subject lately.
I think for most Americans, the behavior displayed by Trump regarding this issue is really disturbing.
However, what did it take to get him elected in the first place? It required a country that had adhered to its divided beginning, but failed to recognize how the tables had been turned twice.
Once upon a time Republicans were the moral party, the ones against slavery. Then some strange twist of racism flipped the party's positions. But economics were important in that flip also.
And now the positioned flipped yet again, such that the Democratic mainstream became the slave traders, the ones who ignore their own faults because they are 'wordly'.
We've had rebellion after rebellion, and only in rare, polarizing times does the two party system make sense to most people. And at those times, when it makes sense to most people, the system is at its worst.
Polarization is not a healthy way to maintain a democratic system.
And by the way, democracy has been the only way found in human history to avoid tyranny.
Now we have a president that is acting like a dictator. Yet he's the only one willing to stand up to the slave trade of the coasts, and we all know he didn't do it because of values, he simply played the polarized system to his advantage.
Where does a rational person come down on this issue?
Avoid political motivations and do what is right.
Impeach and remove. Pence, stay strong on trade.
Brilliant! Throw their own words back at them. Do it every day until every Republican member of Congress has been called out for their egregious double standards. The future of this country hangs in the balance. Trump, his minions, and his enablers must go in 2020.
VOTE!
2
Republicans have already proven without a single doubt that they don't belong in America. They don't deserve to live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. They have proven to be the liars and the cheats that we all knew they were, even before Donald settled the dispute once and for all time. So, no Mr. Leonard, the Time is Already Gone.
2
Republican Senators want to have it both ways. They are repulsed by his behavior, yet value their senatorial seats more than their inner consciences. Using tired expressions as "inappropriate" and "troubling" is exactly why this president has abused his power and privileges. A few Senators may bark tepidly at him but dare not publicly snarl or bite him because their political prestige is more important than their personal ethics.
Republican Senators are more perturbed with the whistleblower than the president's clumsy bungling of a cover-up. Their time has come to stand up for America but, cowards as they are, their party is more important to them than their country.
4
Integrity and Courage are foreign languages to the current GOP, the veil of religion has always been their card. Good luck finding one, I will buy you a drink if you do.JMO
1
Questions that we could ask Chuck Grassley:
1. Why is Chuck Grassley not speaking out to protect the whistleblower?
2. Senator Chuck Grassley posted his essay, "We need whistleblowers for good government," to his own website so why isn't he protecting this whistleblower from Trump's attacks?
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/commentary/grassley-op-ed-we-need-whistleblowers-good-government
5
Republicans do not care of Trump broke the law.. they only care about being being in power.
3
i do hope the republican senators and former white house officials read your article mr. leonhard... how can they still support this president and look in the mirror and in the eyes of their children and grand children? what has america become under your watch senator lindsey graham & co.? and where do you think you are going? this is a dead end street... please wake up and start healing your seriously ill democracy!
2
Republicans are like the gang standing behind the bully on the playground. They aren't strong enough to run out in front of the bully and say "ENOUGH. STOP IT" . Instead they just stand behind the bully and say "Yeah" when the bully threatens the kids on the playground. They could just turn around and not say anything and walk off the playground. So when the principal comes out to see what's going on, the bully says "Me and the boys was just talking to the kids" as he turns around to see he is all alone. They could do that and make excuses for where they went like" I had to take a call" or "I left something in my locker" instead of saying they didn't like what the bully was doing. What is offensive about people like Collins and Gardner and Rubio is they don't even have the guts to do that. Instead they mull around on the playground as if they aren't really there with him until the bully says "Get over here" and they all rush to get back in position. Make no mistake, though, everyone knows how weak they are.
4
America is certainly different, but not in the way you and Senator Rubio mean. The richest country the world has ever known is the only advanced nation that does not provide universal healthcare for its citizens, has the greatest disparity between rich and poor of any industrialized society, wages war indiscriminately and with impunity simply because it can, and in so doing violates its much revered Constitution bypassing Congress to prosecute these illegal invasions, overthrows democratically elected heads of state who are perceived as threats to American economic interests, i.e., Guatemala, Chile, Iran, to name but a few.
The current occupant of the aptly named White House is the logical pit stop in the political equivalent of the Daytona 500 to fascism. An autocratic presidency was the cherished desire of the Republican party since Richard Nixon declared in 1973 that funds should be amassed to create a Republican owned and operated news outlet to offset the MSM which he loathed. Roger Ailes, who was a consultant to Nixie at the time, thought this was a swell idea, and with William Simon began the process which begat the Fox propaganda empire. The Republican party determined after Nixon's resignation, that by any means necessary, no Republican president would ever be forced from office again.
1
Where is Pence on the list of those that need to stand up?
2
Mr.Leonhardt,another great piece of writing ,every word you said is 100% true
"America is better than Donald Trump."
Really?
Then Trump is better than the Democrats.
Interesting that Wayne LaPierre, the NRA Chair meets Donald J Trump in the Oval Office following the release of attacks against Trump. So are we negotiating another gun deal to encourage the monsters again in a Mass Shooting?
One great gift this Thanksgiving would to have both unseated.
3
Begging senators to be decent: this is what it has come to.
This column is the equivalent of peach schnapps: sticky, sugary, artificial and queasiness-inducing.
A peppermint patty with that?
1
We hire a President to work for us, not to sell us out for personal gain.
4
Thank you, Mr Leonhardt.
The time has come,
The time is now,
Republicans,
will you dump trump now?
(Thanks, Dr. Seuss)
2
America is not “better than this”. America IS this, all dimensions of it...
1
Is America ‘better than this’, you ask.
As we have come to know just too well, sorry, not really. See: children in cages, befuddled babies who only knew, and now only want, their parents, if that is even possible anymore.
But can it be better? Absolutely.
I weep for my country, yet I am optimistic.
2
Yes to the GOP congressional members the time has come or you will forever have some explaining to do to your children and grandchildren. How will you explain that you defended a man who after three years in office has told over 12,000 lies, took the word of our advisories over the word of our intelligent agencies, used the office of the President to enrich himself and his family, paid off porn stars to keep quiet, called the press the enemy of the people, fought tooth and nail trying to keep our elected officials from doing their constitutional duty to perform over-site of the executive branch and finally pressured a foreign country to investigate a political rival?
1
Mr Leonhardt, this is long article that misses the point of how we got here, one of those being that Clinton (the chosen one) was a terrible candidate, and you missed that. You know that the Democrats tried to manipulate the last election early on by attempting to sabotage Bernie Sanders and using the FBI to keep the Republican candidate from being elected by the American people. The Democrats have been swinging sharply left long before Trump and it has not gone un- noticed by the country, not to mention the dismissiveness of those who don’t agree with you, now called “cancelling “.
You have presented us with the most extreme members of your party as its new leaders. The Democrats created Donald Trump and delivered him.
Now you want to impeach him thinking that other Republicans are going to help you while citing some of conservatives greatest presidents. When Democrats take some responsibility only then will the country begin to heal, but I’m not holding my breath.
2
Proof? Accusations are easy.
Do your own homework
When the Senate is being led by the likes of Mitch McConnell, I don't hold out much hope.
He is clearly answering to some other overlord.
As for the rest of them? I can't for the life of me figure out why they're all so scared of Donald Trump.
5
"I must stand with anybody that stands right; stand with him while he is right, and part with him, when he goes wrong."
Abraham Lincoln
Excerpted from a 1901 framed print likely created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.
5
You are right in blaming the party, not the man. He is in office because the party put him there and it is up to the party to remove him rather than, as they seem to be doing, supporting every appalling thing he does or says.
But do not lose sight of the fact that at the last election both parties fielded a candidate unfit for office.
1
I know, I know, but her emails!
Next.
2018 was a good start. We will find out in 2020 if not before. But if it turns out that we are not "better than this" we need look no further for the culprit than the court decisions Citizens United, McCutcheon etc that enshrined money as free speech.
3
I’m a Dino - Democrat in name only, because the GOP has gone rogue. I support impeachment of our anti-constitutional president and, if the Republicans would show some moral integrity and strength of character, I would vote for a moderate Republican for President. Moderate these days means Kasich or Romney. Otherwise, Elizabeth Warren has my vote. At least she’s smart and supports middle America.
841
@Paco although he won’t get anywhere, there is still Bill Weld.
21
@Paco - There you go, Frank. Warren for President. We should all be saying it from this point forward.
74
@Paco
I'm sorry. But Kasich and Romney are not moderates. They are deeply committed to the 0.01% and nobody else, least of all our children who stand to inherit serious global problems and intractable government debt.
Hilary Clinton was a conservative, verging toward moderate. Obama was a moderate.
You need a new spectrum to understand just how far right we've gone.
28
What should be particularly humiliating to GOP legislators are the dog-ate-my-homework caliber talking points they are being asked to spout out.
8
A noble plea, Mr Leonhardt, but one that inevitably will fall on deaf ears....
1
Mr. Leonhardt, Your reasoning is sound and true. Now try the same on all the knuckleheads that elect these Senators.
13
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
We need more of this. We also need to start interviewing current and former GOP representatives to better understand the pathological fear of being voted out of office.
Come on. Is elected office really the best job out there? Is shunning from the Trump Party of America really that devastating? Is kissing the Trump ring really such an addictive thrill? If yes, God help us.
7
We will see if the Republican Senators have any political courage or if they are as I believe political hypocrites and cowards only interested in winning elections and playing to the prejudices of their voters.
To paraphrase Yeats:
The best lack all conviction.
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
4
Pence is not a good alternative. He was part of the mess in Ukraine and had to have known what was going on. Like the Flynn mess, to say he was simply mislead defies credulity. He wears the stink of Trump on him -- that doesn't wash off. By right the successor would be Nancy Pelosi. And frankly, Pence and his inability to meet with women alone is so freakish, outdated, ODD, that he wouldn't be able to conduct business.
7
I hope you are right, but I fear that the cowardly and hypocritical Republicans are too far gone. They have forgotten their oath of office and many of their constituents have either forgotten or never learned Civics in school. Maybe they have already placed in one too many nails in the coffin of democracy.
3
We expect cowards to find strength because of the lessons in The Wizard of Oz. In reality, they rarely do.
2
Find it hard to give a pass to Pence or any of this administration's cabinet, many hands are dirty here. I doubt public shame to do the right thing will motivate these republicans; and it's silly to think that the removal of Trump will restore our government to a working bipartisan forward looking government recognizing the urgency of a changing world, the underlying corruption of money in our politics and government, and a failing country's infrastructure.
2
Nonsense.
Trump won the votes of 63 million Americans including 58% of the white voting majority made-up of 62% of white men and 54% of white women. Delivering Trump a meaningful Electoral College majority right to be President.
Votes cast in one state don't count nor matter in any other state in allocating meaningful Electoral College majority votes. The Trump base states are the former Confederate States of America and rural and mountain west
The Electoral College along with the Senate and the Supreme Court of the United States proves that America is not and never was meant to be democracy. America is a very peculiar kind of republic. A divided limited different power constitutional republic of united states.
Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Ben Cardin, Robert Menendez and Joe Manchin are Democrats who speak liberal progressive but who are really Bill Clinton and Barack Obama Reagan Republicans in practice.
Bill and Barack were both well to the partisan political right of FDR and LBJ as expected but Ike and Nixon as well.
5
No, American is not better than Donald Trump. America IS Donald Trump, else he would not have won the election.
Henceforth, if those who elected him are allowed to remain in power, in charge of our very lives, there is no such than as America. What the nation has become and is destined to remain is a corporation run by thugs, criminals, and grifters.
8
The upcoming election should be a no-brainer. Yet, the candidates continue to push the far left agenda - freebies for all. I am completely disappointed with DC. No one to vote for, no one to pull the government together and compromise.
Still hard to believe that Trump even got the candidacy, much less Presidency. He wasn't even a Republican. Yet, from day 1, obstruction on both sides has been appalling. And the circus continues.
1
I’ve spoken to five Republicans friends this week and not a one has shown one iota of interest.
Frankly, they are so tired of the Democrats crying wolf for three years that a phone call about Biden’s conflict of interest is a non-issue.
They expect that the Democrats will not move any legislation for the people and keep moving the goal posts on investigation after investigation.
I am beginning to think Pelosi has made a huge mistake without conferring with the Republicans.
6
@Charlie It is the Democratic House majority that has sent to the Senate a cascade of bills addressing problems vexing millions of Americans.
It is the Republican Majority Leader of the do-nothing Senate who refuses to allow them to be considered by that body.
Democrats have managed to both investigate and legislate. That's what adults do.
294
@Charlie
I guess you don't remember how Republicans investigated Bill Clinton for everything, everyday. Back then, they had nothing on him, but that didn't stop them.
Today, I think Democrats have Trump dead to rights and it will just get worse from here. As in Watergate, the drip, drip, drip of information eventually gets out. I think there is a lot there to sink Trump.
13
@ :
"Crying wolf"? Events will transpire to show that the wolf is real and has teeth.
6
"You have a very good alternative. I don’t personally share Mike Pence’s worldview...."
What would be worse for America?
A. Trump's early resignation, a'la Richard Nixon, where Pence would still have adequate time to impose his own form of sharia law, or,
B. An impeachment process where hearings continue for many months to come where the US would be protected from becoming the real life incarnation of Gilead under Pence?
1
This talk of patriotism is too lofty. All we should ask Republicans if they believe our laws apply to Donald Trump. We can't make America great again unless we make crime illegal again.
6
Good article - hopefully our friends in the Republican Party will read it -
Time to protect our country from this morally bankrupt president
3
David,
Read Wehner's op-ed today. The Trump-washed Republicans are no longer capable of moral autonomy. Next time you plan on writing a naively-hopeful piece like this, consider yielding time to Mr. Wehner.
Richard Lasser
Bainbridge Island WA
3
America is better than this, isn’t it?
Well, at least the 60+% who don’t support Trump are.
2
"America is better than this, isn’t it?"
America is, the Republican Party isn't.
4
I’d be interested in knowing what you would say to Senators McConnell and Graham?
2
These pols will remain silent in the face of wrong. At their core, they are rotten. Each one of them.
1
Spread this around everyone this is what we need to share
Our Republican Senator is Rob Portman. Our House Repesentative is Steve Stivers, a Brigadier General in the Ohio National Guard who served in the Iraq-Afghanistan Wars. Representative Stivers also led the RNCCC in 2018, unsuccessfully. I often respond to their Facebook posts and a few times we have exchanged letters about common concerns sharing our different hopes and convictions. A common thread both politicians have done on Facebook is to share what they are doing for Ohio and not cheering for 45. By not cheering for 45, they also are silent in criticizing 45. To date, Nothing from their reading regarding the Mueller Report (they told me they read it), the memorandum, nor the complaint, has been shared on Facebook. I have received invitations to participate in a telephone Townhalls from Representative Stivers at inconvenient hours. I have participated in these Townhall Calls and found them unsatisfactory. The closest they came to criticizing 45 derived from their expressed discomfort about the Federal Policy of kidnapping children from migrant families at the Southern Border. Both men have children. It is as if they are in the Garden of Eden and doing what needs to be done under the mantra, "Do Not Talk To The Snake!".
At this point, the support that Trump receives from the GOP Senators must mean:
A. That they truly support his policies and behavior.
-OR-
B. They are so delusional that they think Trump is all powerful and they are too cowardly to act.
Are they so stupid as to not realize that their support is politically detrimental? No. So I believe their support is a principled stand in agreement w/ DJT.
God help us
1
America is not better than this. When you vote criminals into office, this is what you get. Lesson over.
5
Would a President Pence pardon Trump?
1
This pathetic appeal to the consciences of the unconscionable is naive in the extreme. The answer to your question is, no America is not "better" than this. This IS what America has always been.
1
John
Can’t agree that this line of questioning is “pathetic.” It is a sincere attempt to poke the consciences of these Republican senators. Yes, we all have consciences; yes, we all need repeated pokes.
Are you so exemplary, so different?
@Greg Obviously, we are all different, Greg. I expressed an opinion with which you disagree. I'm hardly exemplary insofar as I have joined the ranks of many fellow American expats. I sailed for a distant shore well before the current White House infestation. This decision was dictated by my conscience.
@Greg To correct the wording of my reply, Greg, please substitute "only" exemplary for "hardly", although I suspect that you think "hardly" was the right word.
Mr. Leonhardt mentions Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey as an occasional critic of Mr. Trump. Bear in mind that, again and again, Mr. Toomey has $hown only one kind of moral compa$$. Talk is cheap, and Toomey is for sale.
Well, stern yet kind words from D.L. to these Republican Senators which can be summarized thusly;
Stop acting like cowards, do your duty, and help eject this malevolent retrograde from the White House!
There.
1
Trump on Lindsey Graham in 2016: “He’s one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever seen,”
I think Trump was right! I can't believe how Graham defends this guy now. Same with Ted Cruz, who Trump personally embarrassed on the national stage. These people are pale imitations of actual leaders.
1
The investigation should be expanded to include David Perdue, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, and Mike Pence. The Russian rot is deep.
2
David we Democrats have been subjected to over the last six months in particular "advice" columns from conservative pundits busy telling us what we must do and not do to win the 2020 election. Now comes the onslaught of liberal pundits telling Republicans what they must do or not do about the trump impeachment. This unfortunately is a power struggle. It is not necessarily about doing what is right for our nation and our democracy. Rather than advising Republicans what they need to do let us all support and advise those Democrats that have come forward because they believe in right and wrong. Let us focus on nominating the best man or woman as our president.
1
A foot note: Pence may be involved up to his eye balls in this whole mess. He has acted as an envoy to Ukraine for Trump. What were his orders?
4
You say that many senators are "...repulsed by this president and yet afraid that any criticism of him will end your careers." The oath of office the senators and representatives took is to the Country and to the Constitution, not to their careers. The vast majority, if not all senators are wealthy. If this ends their careers, they will not lose their homes, they will not be on food stamps, they will go on to have lucrative speaking or book careers. People of lesser means, including, presumably, the whistleblower, risk their careers every day to do the right thing. Elected office is and never was meant to be a "career" but rather an honorable service to the greater good. If these senators and representatives are unwilling to uphold their oath of office to the Country and the Constitution then they should resign or voters should end their "careers".
6
I appreciate the sentiment of this editorial, though I doubt those it is addressed to will heed it.
Then there's my still more cynical side that wishes I could write well enough to get paid to scream into the abyss.
3
Amen, Mr. Leonhardt.
It is time (indeed, long past time) for thoughtful Republicans to separate their party's interests from the President's. Not only should they approach the pending impeachment process with conscientious objectivity, but more of them should consider providing or supporting alternatives for the party's presidential nomination next year.
Your article reminds readers that some prominent Republicans initially remained loyal to President Nixon, before realizing that he had gone too far. And Donald Trump is not a third of the man that Richard Nixon was. So what are you waiting for?
Perfection. This calling out of names is exactly what is needed. It should be done relentlessly.
2
Great writing, on a level with your column last week.
You might want to add to your list Georgia Senator Johnny Isaakson, who is stepping down this term due to health reasons. This man has served honorably, though I do not share his ideology. I sent the Senator a message urging him to stand up for the rule of law, the honor of the country, and his own legacy, and to denounce Trump.
4
“Can you for a moment imagine the icons of your party, like Ronald Reagan or Dwight Eisenhower, risking the security of a country threatened by Russia, for the sake of smearing a political rival?”
What about the Iran-Contra fiasco? It was widely accepted that the republicans worked behind the curtains to delay the release of the hostages and make Carter look bad (worse).
4
For those of us who do not live in the United States and who are not US citizens this move to impeach your president may help to answer a question we have had for some time now. Is America the country of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, or has it now become the country of Trump, Barr, and McConnell? Many of our foreign policy decisions will depend upon your answer.
15
Their careers as 'statesmen' ended when they pledged loyalty to Trump.
What will they have post Trump? Certainly not a career as a 'statesman'. Maybe they all hope for a slot on Fox.
5
Well done! If word count had not constrained this essay's length, you could have added:
Rob Portman (Ohio)
Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
James Lankford (Oklahoma)
Mike Lee (Utah)
Rand Paul (Kentucky)
Rick Scott (Florida)
Tim Scott (South Carolina)
Martha McSally (Arizona)
and even John Cornyn (Texas) and Ron Johnson (Wisconsin).
ALL OF THEM know that Trump's actions are a betrayal of the Constitution and his oath of office. Their silence is continual confirmation that they choose party over country and power over principle. With cowards like this, no wonder the GOP base thinks Trump is the "real deal".
8
I am hopeful that Trump will lose supporters as the impeachment investigation progresses. I expect that this may happen for two reasons. The investigation will uncover a wide range of actions that will be increasingly difficult to defend, and as Trump feels increasingly threatened he will become more and more unhinged. Trump will appear to be both impeachable and insane, and some of his defenders will come to realize that sticking up for him is just not worth the effort or the cost.
2
One last question should be posed to Senators seeking re-election: Senator, do you REALLY want to seek re-election based upon the fact that you DEFENDED Donald Trump? Really?
8
I'm surprised you didn't call out Charles Grassley (R-IA), author and protector of the Whistleblower Act, who can't seem to utter any repudiation of President Trump's vicious attacks on this whistleblower, who has done everything by the book.
9
Re: The subtext of your fine column.
What what one finds on the bottom of their shoe, after a walk in the park is better than a donnie trump!
2
It is important to single out VP Pence. Pence is pure bred conservative that Republican Senators can rely on to represent their own political views. Democrats, on the other hand, need to avoid lumping Pence in with the corrupt and dishonest Trump disaster. Only if the nation collectively feels comfortable with handing power to Pence after impeachment, will we be rid of the Trump mess.
How extraordinarily tragic that an article like this must be published. Senators who are afraid to lose their jobs!! I thought it was natural that being in politics was to serve the nation not to serve oneself! Fortunately journalists are still writing to remind them of their duty since the voters don't seem to be doing it.
4
Please. you give Toomey too much credit. He does not think that trump had done anything worthy of impeachment.
To paraphrase Winston Churchill's statement about his OWN political party leading up to World War II. The Republican Party has chosen between self-immolation and condoning almost unimaginable corruption and indecency. That have chosen condoning. They will have self-immolation. The Blue Tidal Wave will come.
2
The problem is Republicans created, nurtured and enable this nightmare. They wouldn't dare act against Trump for fear of Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter and the rest of the factless and reckless demagogues who bore the conduit from which Trump emerged. And let's not forget about their precious NRA support. If they dare vote against Trump their A+ grade might fall to an A-, perhaps lower even. Any Republican who dares act against Trump's best interest literally has to retire from congress and the lifestyle reserved for go along to get along Republicans, or face a primary opponent that will be fueled with all the support money they now lack. Basically any Republican who decides to act in the best interest of country over party will have to grow a conscience, to heck with the ramifications. I doubt they know the recipe.
4
The Republicans are all about principles until they have to stand on one.
8
A very moving op-ed piece. Not only will each and every Republican who fails to denounce the trump have to live with their own conscience, they also have to live with the knowledge that they will be remembered by generations to come - their children, their grandchildren - as having done nothing to help end this assault on our democracy. What a shameful legacy that would be.
4
America is better than this, isn’t it ?
Magic Eight Ball says : Answer Unsure. Ask Again Later.
We shall find the real answer, in 2020.
2
Great article. When the time comes these Republicans will deny that they ever supported Trump....and were just being patriotic.
As Polonius observed , sometime with candied words we sugar o’er the devil himself.
2
12k lies.
I had always believed starting impeachment inquiries and presenting DT's litany of lies should have been enough to convict in the Senate.
Does honour mean anything to Republicans?
3
I completely agree with the contents of the column. The Republican Party is better than Trump. Those Republicans who worked the talk show circuit this weekend appeared like fools. They can't possibly believe the nonsense they were spewing. Trump is guilty of trying to use a foreign government to tamper with our national elections, and should not be impeached but convicted of it and removed from office.
1
No, America is no better than what it is. In democracy, the leaders are people’s choice. It is not Trump alone, the whole Republican Party is in support of Trump. America lost its old time family values, lost moral and work ethics. Now a days, everything is o.k. Every body does it. People are less educated. If we gain weight, we buy bigger belt instead of loosing weight. No, we are no better than this.
1
Your list of questions is awfully good. I have another - just two words long - why him?
He's bad at policy. He has no political views that aren't better expressed and better understood by dozens of others who wouldn't destroy institutions.
Why him? Why die on this hill? Why not someone who makes you proud? Why him?
5
Republicans need to face the criminal facts, for sure. But proposing Pence as a viable alternative is nonsense. He’s a complicit sycophant with a boatload of damage. Lapsed Republicans are the ones who need to step up and endorse a Democrat publicly, not the so-called conservatives you address who likely will lose their seats once impeachment hits the fan. The GOP keeps criticizing Pelosi and Dems first for moving too slowly, now for overstepping. Let’s remember, the Republican Party in all its dysfunction brought us Trump in the first place. Look to Moscow Mitch and Lyin’ Paul Ryan for the do-nothing and take-the-cash-and-prizes groundwork. Corrupt to the core.
3
And upon deaf ears, David Leonhardt's eloquent call to patriotism fell.
1
There’s no doubt the Democrats will ram through a party-line impeachment vote even though their case is no better than the Russia conspiracy hoax that preceded it. There’s also no doubt the GOP Senators will tell them to stuff it.
1
Dear Mr. Leonhardt, what an eloquent column. Please, can you find some words to help the poor Senator from South Carolina? Every time I see Lyndsay Graham sell out our country to the Pro Russian Trump camp I feel nothing but disgust. How did this Quisling get to be a lawyer? What did Trump promise him to make him abandon the principles that he used to speak about so eloquently in days when John McCain was still alive? I hope when the soon to be disgraced Trump leaves Washington he will take Senator Graham with him.
3
What a well laid-out case, and I liked the addressing of specific Senators. Well done!
Let's hope it has some effect.
3
Alright, now please write the Democrat version of this, in which you direct your thoughts to Speaker Pelosi, Congressman Schiff, et al and ask them to support President Pence once this is over.
1
We ARE better; and to each of you I would also add: You can be the straw that breaks Trumpism's back. Will you be the first? That's who history will remember. McCarthyism imploded after one man stood up to a bully.
2
Thank you, David -- a noble attempt here. But this is laughable to the Republicans. They have been complete tribalists, not representatives of the people, for over a decade now.
1
Republicans the time has come and it now to stand by the president from your party who stood by the Republican agenda and values. If all the lefties are banking on the Republicans to do the bidding of the partisan socialist Democrats they are barking up the wrong tree in this extreme partisan circus. Right now the Republicans are impotent to prevent congressional impeachment because the Democrats have a majority and it is their way of the highway but senate does not have to approve it and it is unlikely to. Republicans should know history that the party whose president is impeached does not retain the white house. That is wnat happened after Nixon it was Carter (Ford does not count he just was president to complete Nixon's term) and after Clinton it was Bush because Gore could not even win his home state of Tennessee. America is better today than ever before is because of Donald Trump. There is no telling who would follow Trump it could be some one worse and definitely an unknown devil just like Bush was after Clinton was impeached.
2
To the many good quotes I see in this article and from the commenters, I will add one more, from Thomas Paine, the famous Revolutionary War pamphleteer.
“These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."
Most of us learned this during an American History class as children. I hope Republicans in the US Senate did, too.
4
Well said. Soon it will be crunch time for republican senators. We know that murderous dictator Putin owns Trump, Moscow Mitch, and the NRA. It's really quite simple. Every republican senator can choose to be a hero or a traitor to our democracy. Let's hope they make the right choice.
5
The problem is, Republican Senators are scared to stick their necks out. Trump has completely hijacked their party and his supporters - though only a minority - are, allegedly, ready to pounce on and destroy anyone who steps out of line. It’s a party ruled by fear.
The one good thing is that Trump’s supporters ARE very much a minority. The polls show that many voted for him reluctantly and they aren’t likely to stand behind him if things go south. So, the threat of swift retribution from hordes of angry Trump supporters may very well be a complete illusion. The tough part is going to be convincing Republicans that the emperor has no clothes.
3
America may be better than this but Republicans aren't. They are amoral, self-serving hacks who wrap themselves in the flag but haven't an inkling as to what authentic patriotism is or requires of them in this time of national crisis. Leonardt might as well appeal to the conscience of a mob hit-man or a child pornographer. A Republican, by definition, is someone without principles, conscience, integrity, or patriotism. This is a noble and a beautiful attempt, Mr. Leonhardt, but you can't get blood from a stone.
1
Sadly, here are the answers:
Rubio: "Those things only apply to members of the Democratic Party."
Sasse: "I'm trying to make money off my book; don't ask me about defending the president."
Ernst: "Look, I'm trying to survive politically so I'll do anything it takes."
Hawley: "Absolutely. Like Joni and all others, I'm trying to survive politically. I'll do anything that takes."
Collins: "Donald Trump!"
Gardner: "Donald Trump!"
Alexander: "I"m outta here soon so...who cares. About anything."
2
Cohen had a cautionary word for the republicans when he testifies before Congress. In essence he said, “Look at me. I’m what you become when you front for Trump.” It seems to have fallen on deaf ears. One wonders what he thinks in his prison cell at night.
2
You'd hope that this country is better than trump. Sometimes I wonder.
1
Trump is a fun house mirror reflection of the US.
Distorted and scary looking, sure. But not entirely inaccurate. Much of the US is greedy, bigoted and have a too high of an opinion of themselves, for example.
2
Would you please do a follow up to this after the Republicans you mentioned take to the plate? That would be fantastic. Cheers!
1
I just hope that enough Republican representatives read this column. For those who do: at this point, silence is cowardice. If you think the President did nothing wrong, then stand up and explain why, and do a better job than the appalling flailing we've seen so far from the Trump apologists. If not, then stand up and condemn Trump's actions. You're afraid that you might lose your job? Worst case, it will be a whole lot easier to find another one when people know that you stayed true to your own convictions despite the risks.
4
Mr.Leonhardt,
You have put this so simply and directly to people who could end this cancer on our government. After reading this find it hard to believe that those people you wrote to and about will do nothing to end this misery. Thank you so much.....
1
Isn’t Pence also implicated?
2
The political double-talk Leonhardt describes comes as no surprise. Sadly, if we've learned anything from Trump it's that words don't matter.
Some Americans are better than Trump but many are not.
1
Ah, but Pence is caught up in the Ukraine mess as well, and if he were somehow to be simultaneously impeached with Trump, we all know who is next in line for the presidency.
The simple thought of "President Pelosi" would have every right-wingers head explode simultaneously.
1
Senator Susan Collins claims to have modeled herself after one of her political heroes, the late Senator Margaret Chase Smith, a fellow Mainer who famously stood up to the corrupt bullying of Senator Joe McCarthy.
I grew up in Senator Collins’ district. Though I never cast a vote for her, I respected her immensely and was proud to be represented by her, even when I disagreed with her policy decisions.
But since the arrival of Trump, every trace of the great Margaret Chase Smith has disappeared from Senator Collins’ public persona. She MUST know in her heart that Trumpism, like McCarthyism, is a moral and ethical catastrophe for our country, but she has refused to take a stand and do what’s right.
Senator Chase Smith would be appalled at her cowardice, and a great many constituents definitely are. I hope Senator Collins chooses to fulfill her duty and her destiny to stand on the right side of history and support the impeachment inquiry.
550
@Cat Anderson
I'm from Mass., but follow and know Maine and NH a little bit. If Collins voted for removal from office, I think she'd win a landslide in her next election. If she doesn't, she'll lose her seat. Just my opinion, of course. And I'm betting she toes the Rep. line.
64
@Cat Anderson
You are absolutely correct. Senator Collins should spend more time acting on behalf of people who would never vote for her. Getting reelected is overrated.
20
@David Dolan
I am also betting that she will in the end fall in line with the rest of her morally disabled colleagues in the GOP -- but not until she has gone through weeks, if not months, of public hand wringing, dramatic interviews, and public statements, as though she is truly struggling with her conscience. Then, in the end, we won't know whether she voted in private for Trump; we will know that she voted to put Brett Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court for life; and we will also see, I am sure, that she won't vote to impeach Trump -- that is, if Mitch McConnell even calls for a trial in the Senate.
The late, great Senator Margaret Chase Smith is only one of many Republicans of the past who must be turning in their graves at what "Republican" has come to mean.
87
"Well, your moment has arrived."
Mr Leonhardt, your gesture to Republicans, at this moment, is very generous, and admirable as such. But I would suggest that it's generous to a fault. The moment for moderate Republicans with a genuine commitment to shared American principles to stand up against Donald Trump arrived a long time ago. In fact, it has arrived since then over and over again.
Perhaps one or more of the individuals you call out will, in fact, step up now, and speak the simple truth: that Trump is a profoundly corrupt and profoundly unfit President who has betrayed his office and deserves to be removed. I'm not optimistic, but if they do, good for them. But Trump has done enormous damage to his office, to our government, to our country. These people still need to answer for having had the power to stop that, or at least to resist it, and having chosen not to.
517
@TMSquared And how many Republicans are Russian owned? These people aren't scared Trump will tweet something bad. They are scared of much worse consequences and a much worse extortionist.
19
@TMSquared...well said. That moment has arrived..... has LONG since passed. Helsinki comes to mind or Charlottesville or the Mueller Report or....an infinite other lies and conspiracy theories. Seriously America stop looking at the Republicans as to having some kind of "waking up" realization. It's not going to happen.
25
These Senators mentioned here in this article, a bunch of grown men and a woman feeling helpless? Give me a break. Feeling helpless is when you are facing a layoff from your job, knowing how difficult it will be to pay the bills let alone putting food on your table. I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone of these these Senators. They all took the oath to uphold and defend the United States of America. And if it means to go with their conscious and not party loyalty and speak up on their concerns with last week's whistleblower's complaint. Then they are not helpless but finally they might be finding their courage.
479
@Martha White
They have no moral courage, or a conscience. These Republicans have sold their souls, and don't care about consequences. If you're a true christian, you worry about consequences, and care about others, there are none left in the Republican party.
37
@Martha White A bunch of grown men and a woman feeling helpless? With lifetime pensions, healthcare and transitions into private life with higher than average salaries, the only thing their feeling helpless about is their possible loss of power and prestige. Helping the American people is much lower on their list.
34
@Martha White
"Feeling helpless is when you are facing a layoff from your job, knowing how difficult it will be to pay the bills let alone putting food on your table."
Election cycles are endless and the wolfpack cannibalism of politics make a 'layoff' omnipresent; Not to mention the stream of unpopular ideas that make facing the public distasteful.
How shameful it would be if the legislators listed in this article could not dine comfortably in such lavish circumstances at the country club or make rent on their million dollar homes?!
13
Thank you. Beautiful piece. Most Republican senators would feel a sense of relief if Trump were gone. I don’t know why they don’t act. After all, they’ve reaped all they are going to get from Trump. Two Supreme Court justices, appellate and district court judges, tax break for corporations, etc. Nothing positive will happen on legislative front now, so why stick with him? Trump and his White House are incompetent and dangerous. Republicans would be happier with Mike Pence. I don’t understand their fealty to this administration.
1
Unfortunately the thing is that, for example, for someone like Senator Rubio, who has presidential aspirations himself, he has already shown us what kind of President he would be. By standing up for President Trump he has shown us that he agrees this type of behavior is appropriate and right for a President to exercise. Or perhaps merely that he lacks the moral fiber and strength to protect our democracy. Either way there is no redeeming his actions/lack of actions. (something similar could be said for all of the examples in this editorial).
1
As one of the many residents of the state of Colorado, I can tell you first hand that Senator Gardner has indicated through his continued unwillingness to hold any pre-announced public town halls in Denver, his unwillingness to take questions during the few online town halls he has participated in, and his staff appears to have even stopped answering telephones at his offices during business hours - demonstrating a consistent unwillingness to listen to the very people he should be representing. I would not count on his conscience catching up to him anytime soon - he seems to have sold his integrity for some short term political gain. I pray I am wrong.
625
@Gracie if Gardener is not accepting constituent calls, he simply has to go!
43
@Gracie
Senator Gardner is very beholden to the Fracking gas/oil industry as well as Trump. A double whammy on our environment.
21
@Gracie-Gardener has proved he is a coward with no integrity. Thank goodness we have J Hickenlooper running!
24
I (at age 77) often think of my parents, both strong conservatives with big hearts. I'm glad they are not around to see the disintegration of the GOP they loved. They would despair. Both were born before WWI, so they saw a lot of suffering and insanity at home and around the world. But somehow they maintained a social conscience and wise perspective on their place in the whole scheme of things. And, in particular, they were always able to see beyond their own self-interest. Kindness pervaded their actions.
Did we disagree politically? Sure did, but listening and respect was always there.
They would be appalled. Today's GOP, is not 'grand' at all; they are a very long way from my parents Republican Party.
792
Well said. The Republican Party at one point was one you were able to disagree with on certain economic, foreign policy and social issues. But they were not the enablers of treasonous, immoral, unethical and corrupt leaders. The Republicans of the past with standards are rolling over in their graves. Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Reagan , Ford and the Bush’s would/are appalled by these sorry excuses for leaders and as human beings.
93
@BB
Reagan? Standards? The man who sold arms to Iran so he could pay for a war against Nicaragua that was expressly forbidden by Congress?
87
@Yank in Oz
My father passed away last December at 99 years of age. He was a life-long Republican, but one of his last acts was to vote Democratic in the mid-terms. His reasoning was "This political party no longer represents the United States." Miss you, Dad.
115
Bravo Mr. Leonhardt:
This needed to be said. But I think we all underestimate the degree to which this president is supported by Republicans more than willing to overlook anything he does . The party long ago gave up any pretense of values in favor of a political nihilism of power first last and always and at any price.
This president serves their purpose of protecting the rich and privileged, maintaining a bankrupt ossified philosophic liberalism and supporting a form of capitalism that is only serving to make Hobbes' "war of all against all" a reality.
I say to them: if this is not true, demonstrate it now.
651
I agree completely with this.
But one thing concerns me, in Watergate the Republicans were super slow about coming around to this. And this was before they had their very own Propaganda channel in Fox Pravda.
Beware the Murdochs, they remind me of the Alien movies, but in semi-human form.
1
To all Republicans: I left your political party; and why;
you betrayed the Party of Lincoln ; you betrayed our founding
fathers' ethos; you betrayed the ideals of republicanism.
and now I hope to see a true renaissance;
You have a chance to restore the ideals set forth by Abraham
Lincoln. ...or you can go down in history as those who ruined
these ideas and ideals.
Go the way of Mitch McConnell; or Abraham Lincoln.
and now is the time to be counted; and YOU WILL BE Counted...
3
Don’t neglect the many statements of governmental purity espoused by Mitch McConnell when Democrats were in office. His moral compass may not be strong- but his words were at the time.
1
Mr. Leonhardt, your piece is thoughtful and on point with the facts. The difficulty is that modern Republicans don't really seem to be persuaded by factual information. They have repeated big lies so often (on the economy, taxes, social programs, lack of interference in the 2016 elections by Russia and immigration to name a few), they actually believe them. I suppose anything is possible, but I'm not betting that reason is going to convince anyone on that side of the aisle to abandon the Dear Leader.
4
Unfortunately the strategy used by the Republican Party, thus far, has been delay, defend with talking points, delay. Repeat. Their calculus that this aberration of a President is good for their constituents, the party, and the country is wrong. History will reflect poorly on their timid and leaderless response to the moral crisis this President has created. America and our democracy will survive because we are better than this. The Republican Party may not be so fortunate.
4
The issue isn't whether the Republican pols you're addressing want to break with Trump—many do and have privately expressed as much—it's the idea of ceding power to Dems that troubles them. Unfortunately, for many on the the right, it's a simple calculation; Democrats running the country represents more of an existential threat than the current malignant narcissist in chief wreaking havoc for another 4 years. In a functioning democracy, both sides are able to swallow the bitter pill of the losing occasionally, knowing that the pendulum will eventually swing back. To most in the GOP who see politics as a zero sum game, the power sharing idea has been unconscionable for some time.
4
Having been fired twice during my career, I can vouch for the fact that such events can be liberating. Each time, I eventually found myself in a better situation. So Republicans, being voted out of office for supporting the impeachment enquiry and /or openly opposing Donald Trump's reelection may, in the long run, prove beneficial. And then, of course, there will be the freedom from the necessity, which must be increasingly difficult in your private moments, to find new ways to defend the indefensible. Don't you want to be free of this?
10
There may be an alternate route to a 2/3 vote...
if handful of republicans jumped ship and declared themselves as Independent, or in another multiverse, joined the Democratic Party, they could shift control of the Senate to the Democrats, leaving the remaining Republicans to ponder their future.
Can you pick four candidates from Mr. Leonhardt's list?
6
Yes, America is better than Donald Trump. Far better.
Republicans aren’t. They’ve proven it every day since the day he got the nomination, and actually long before.
11
I hate to think that our fate lies in the hands of these individuals' character. It makes me more pessimistic than I already was.
8
Great article! How I wish the named Republicans (and more) dig deep in their souls and "speak the truth even if their voice shakes."
12
What is before us now is the prospect that the initiative started by Paul Ryan, who is now on the Board of FOX and is counseling the Murdoch's on how to uncouple the network from President Trump, is that suddenly the GOP congressional caucus will see an escape path in the good riddance of President Trump.
They will see that the nonsense coming form Lindsey Graham and Steven Miller is just that and that Donald Trump is an existential threat to the sustainability of the Republican Party.
You can think of candidates like Nikki Haley, the senator from Utah Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan himself as primary candidates come next year who would blow Trump off of the stage at the convention.
That is what is going to happen.
2
"I know that many of you now feel helpless — repulsed by this president and yet afraid that any criticism of him will end your careers."
It's actually not even as hard as that. Criticism of this narcissistic, deeply dishonest president will likely end your ability to win renomination in the short term. But you will probably make a lot more money in the private sector. And when this long national nightmare finally comes to an end, if you again desire to seek public office, you will be one of those who the voters will recognize as having bravely stood up and spoke truth to power. You will be greatly admired not only by GOP voters, but by the general electorate as well.
But far more importantly, you will have done the right thing. Everyone, including all of you (well except maybe Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton) know what the judgment of history is going to be about Donald Trump. You can look your children and grandchildren in the eye and say that you opposed that which was wrong and which put our very republic at risk.
Ultimately, isn't that so much better than winning reelection?
178
@pczisny
You assume that the republican's have a conscience? That's an awfully big assumption.
17
@Margo Channing
It's more like hoping than assuming--and pointing out the flaws in their assumptions.
4
@pczisny
"You can look your children and grandchildren in the eye and say that you opposed that which was wrong and which put our very republic at risk.
"Ultimately, isn't that so much better than winning reelection?"
To you, me and 300-odd million people with a moral compass that doesn't spin like a propeller, yes.
To a bit more than 200 Republican Representatives and Senators who sold their souls and checked their consciences at the door, no.
10
What makes you think the New GOP believes in the value of democracy? Believes in the US Constitution? The laws of the USA? I no longer think that is true. I now think the New GOP does not support equal and fair elections, that all people are created equal, that democracy is the best political system. They appear to support an oligarchy, "White makes Right," and the "Lie, Cheat, Steal" president. It is not cowardice. It is a different set of priorities.
6
I do not understand why the republican senators have never understood that by simply moving as one they could have Trump on a short leash instead of them being on his leash. If they all went in and said ‘you do this if you want us to vote your way’. Do it once to prove the point. Then he will be as much under the Republicans’ control as he is under Putin’s.
149
That's because he is mostly doing exactly what they want him to do! It's a game of good cop /bad (and crazy) cop -- except that both "cops" are pushing an agenda of corruption under a veneer of other, pseudo-moral issues.
They LOVE it that he's a hot mess and can take the heat for them while implementing their policy agenda -- enriching the rich, further impoverishing the middle class and poor, further rigging the game even more tightly for those who are already winning -- Republicans' rich donors who want an isolationist, deregulated America where the markets are free for the rich and locked down against the middle class and poor, with the whole agenda riding on the backs of anti-abortion activists.
They just say "oh, he's so crazy, but look at that Supreme Court!" and "I like his policies, even if his tweets are tacky" etc etc etc ad nauseum, while laughing all the way to their self-dealing, lobbyist-padded bank accounts -- just like him!
26
@Anonymously You're kidding, right? Who went to Russia on July 4th? At least 7 Republicans are under extortion by Russia.
13
@Anonymously.
What you’re saying would be quite reasonable working with a normal thinking politician in the WH, but we’ve all learned by now that Donald “Roy Cohn” Trump is a Narcissist that can NEVER admit a mistake and will ALWAYS punch back 10 times harder. He is emotionally incapable of doing otherwise.
8
America is better than Donald Trump but the Republican senators who are poised to exonerate him will be culpable of aiding the enemy. Make no mistake, Donald Trump places his self-serving interests above the interests of our nation and will do whatever it takes to get his way. Trump considers Putin a friend while the rest of the nation (including congressional Republicans) know he's the enemy. After all, Trump sided with Putin over our intelligence officials. Befriending our enemy makes that person our enemy.
5
The current members of the Republcan Party are irredeemable.
They are little Trumps. They will never vote to convict him of 'high crimes and misdemeanors'. The evidence is in Trump's own words that he endangered the safety of an ally for political gain.
3
The Republicans are actually sending a message that they prefer Autocracy and Kleptocracy to any form of Democracy. The myth of less government has been exposed.
9
Very good. We've been waiting for Republicans to show some love of country and perhaps now they will. Doubt it, but just maybe...
3
@OrchardWriting
Jeff Flake was asked about how many repubs if they were able to vote in private would go the dems way..........the answer was roughly 36, unfortunately they have to make their votes public so the number drops to 0. Party over people 100% of the time.
America is better than Trump but congressional republicans are not. Just watch them.
2
A laudable outreach, appealing to our better nature. What’s lost in all of the discussion and debate about this latest revelation is the Ukrainian people. These unfortunate souls have suffered under the thumb of dictators, autocrats and more recently, kleptocrats, for most of ancient and modern history. Their democracy is as fragile as an egg and they crave something better. We’re not the largest democracy in the world (that award goes to India) but as the most powerful democracy, we’re supposed to be a paragon of freedom and democracy. To all those good people in a faraway land, I’d like the Ukrainian people to imagine that we’re better than what they’ve seen us from in recent times.
2
Logical thinking and ethics always take a back seat to survival. Why are you wasting ink with appeals to "leaders" whose only act of leadership has been getting into the lifeboat before everyone else?
120
The exodus will begin soon. Already there is an internal mutiny within the Whitehouse. Those brave ones went to someone who had integrity and big enough heft within the administration to tell the Ukraine story. That person, will testify soon as will the mutineers. So will the former Ambassador to the Ukraine who has nothing to lose if he tells the truth and will not abide by WH orders to invoke executive privilege. Pence, Giuliani, Pompeo, Mulvaney, WH Counsel and any others who were complicit in the coverup will be toast after the details of the appalling, venal truth comes in - that the President tried to subvert another election and they were part of it. Get ready for the first woman president.
144
Yep, Nancy Pelosi is waiting in the wings.
1
@Anam Cara. I certainly pray that they are toast because if they are not our democracy will be.
2
There is no doubt in my mind that Republicans will fail to abandon Trump. There is no doubt in my mind that the Republicans will become extinct after 2020.
2
To any republican: if the republicans fail to address one of their own when they commit high crimes and misdemeanors, how can I and my fellow democrats ever be able to hold one our own accountable for high crimes and misdemeanors.
1
History is watching.
If you do the right thing, your name will be in the history books for saving our government at its time of crisis.
If you continue to hide in the shadows, what will you tell your grandchildren?
It is time to do the right thing.
11
Yes, "America is better than this"!
However, are the Republican senators better than this or are they complicit?
Do they love their country or are they drunk on power and beholden to Donald Trump?
We will soon find out.
5
In search of 20 Republican senators....which brings to mind the Genesis 18 story where Abraham negotiates with God and receives a pledge from God that He will not destroy a wicked city if 10 righteous can be found there. Alas, 10 could not be found, let alone 20.
5
For those of us on active duty, you can only imagine how demoralizing this Ukraine story is. To think that men & women in the armed forces put their lives on the line, but answer to a president who has no clue what duty and loyalty are all about, is truly disconcerting.
I recall a firefight in Afghanistan where we were running out of munitions. What a gut wrenching, desperate feeling we experienced till help arrived. It's beyond the pale to learn that the president deliberately withheld funding for weapons in Ukraine so he can get political dirt on Biden. This is so "over the line" I cannot begin to express my outrage.
For the first time in my life, I will not vote republican.
590
Thank you so much for what you are doing for our country, the sacrifices you and your family are making. I have one additional ask of you. Please express these sentiments on Twitter, Facebook, and all of the other media platforms you can access so the American people can absorb what the Presidents sordid actions really mean. Your comment really needs to go viral. Thank you again!
96
@Mike Alexander Thank you for your service to our country. Thank you for posting your message.
Our political leaders have to find their integrity and their bravery to get this destructive man out of power.
42
@Army Sgt Thank you, for your service to this country, and for keeping both me and my family safe. I am forever indebted to you, good sir!
35
Well said. It is time for some Profiles in Courage,
4
It will take something truly compelling to rouse these bought-and-paid-for sheep.
Perhaps some of them will figure out that destruction of their party and continued degradation of the country is not worth loyalty to the worst con-artist ever to rise above the office of dog-catcher. Maybe a few brave souls will emerge and inspire others.
But don't count on it.
5
Speaking of Senator Collins, she holds the senate seat once held by Margaret Chase Smith. Seventy years ago Smith spoke in opposition to Joseph McCarthy a fellow Republican senator and, like Mr. Trump, a vile demagogue. Speaking on the senate floor, she declared, , “I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny--Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.” She finished her speech with a “Declaration of Conscience,” co-signed by six other Republican senators, that included these words: “It is high time that we stopped thinking politically as Republicans and Democrats about elections and started thinking patriotically as Americans…”
It was a proud day for Maine. One newspaper commented, “This cool breeze of honesty from Maine can blow the whole miasma out of the nation’s soul,” and another observed, “By one act of political courage, [Smith has] justified a lifetime in politics.”
"Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear" pretty much sums up Mr. Trump's approach to political "leadership." Today we desperately need a new declaration of conscience from the Republican Party. It would be most fitting for Senator Collins to author it. It would thrill her supporters, gain her new ones, and make all Mainers proud. And other Republican senators should follow the same example.
10
@Michael P. Bacon
Collins will not do the right thing, you can count on that. She didn't with SCOTUS vote. Not sure why so many embrace this woman.
If the Republicans in the House and Senate vote in a block to protect Trump, it will be recognized as an endorsement of Trump the man and his policies, tactics and world view. If admirable men like Mitt Romney don't step up and denounce this president, the Republican party will be known as the party of racism, demagoguery and corruption for a generation. American needs a functioning Republican party that stands for the rule of law. We should be able to agree on something as basic as that.
1
The republican lawmakers will NOT make the first move here. Republican MEDIA needs to be the first. It's clear that the lawmakers follow the media's lead.
4
This article assumes a Republican Party still exists, but the meaning of being a “Republican” has been wholly supplanted by those that bow to Trump and only Trump. The Republican Party remains only in name. Could anyone tether the name of “Honest Abe” to it ever again? No. Those who were in the party of Lincoln left and are not part of Trump's party.
4
I wrote my senators this morning, reminding them that turning a blind eye to the president's corruption would only encourage it at all levels. I hope all of you with Republican senators have written or will write them to let them know that decency matters.
8
@David Koppelman I have, but all it seems to do is put me on their mailing list for newsletters.
First they came for the immigrants, but I was not an immigrant and didn't speak out.
Then they came for the children, but I was not a child and didn't speak out.
Then they came for the poor and hungry, but I was neither poor nor hungry and didn't speak out.
Then they came for voters of color, but I was not a person of color and didn't speak out.
Then they came for the whistle-blowers and Whitehouse aides, but I was neither of those and didn't speak out.
Then they came for the Senators, but there were none left to speak for me.
11
What is truly weird about this era is that the formerly respectable Republican Party went from a mildly right-of-center political organization with a sort-of rational view of the world in the 1950s to a collection of raging, criminally-insane partisan warriors now. They are not just criminals; rather, they seem to have gone fully round the bend into pure, shared psychosis. They do everything they can to enable and protect a man who is trying to create an alternative universe for himself in which, not surprisingly, he and his paranoid fantasies are the very center of truth. At the end of all this, which will hopefully be soon, some kind people are going to have to take the Republican Party to a veterinarian and have it mercifully put to sleep. It has gone beyond redemption.
11
Mr. Leonhardt is correct in pointing out the Republican members of the Senate past comments showing the level of hypocrisy that affects them now. However, it is not their fault alone.
Those who support Trump now, notably his base and the so called right-wing, do not do so because they believe that he is innocent of any charges against him. On the contrary, they could care less whether Trump lies, distorts the truth or is corrupt. They follow him because they feel he will make fundamental changes in the country's pillars that have guided this nation since its inception and will fight to keep him in office at almost any price. And that is what the Republican senators must deal with.
And because Donald Trump is essentially morally and ethically bankrupt and will do almost anything to save himself including tearing down this country in that attempt, the evidence supporting the impeachment must be so overwhelming and irrefutable, that Senate Republicans will have no choice but to support the impeachment in a convincing fashion.
The goal of the House Democrats must be to limit their focus to the one issue that is easily understood by all citizens and that is the Ukrainian debacle. Too, they must keep their heads down and filter out all of the noise that will be coming from Trump, his minions and supporters. Let Speaker Pelosi run interference for the committees as she is more than capable of handling the coming wave of deceits, distractions and lies.
2
While I appreciate the intent behind this piece, pleading for Republican senators to remember what it felt like to have a spine and a conscience will do nothing. They will defend Trump until it is fully evident that his ship is sinking, and it's time to scurry off before they drown with him.
5
You left out Rob Portman, perhaps the most disappointingly silent Republican Senator of all.
5
We’ll, unless things change, America is NOT better than this.
4
I wouldn't hold your breath waiting on a streak of courage from Lamar. The only time I see him on the news, he's running for the elevator to dodge a reporter's question. It'd be nice if he could muster up one righteous act on his way out the door because with Marsha Blackburn and an equally extremist Republican certain to fill Alexander's seat, it might be the last time Tennessee is ever on the right side of history again.
2
They are not profiles in courage. They have hitched their wagon to Trump’s wagon and he is taking them for a wild ride, sooner or later off a cliff.
2
I cannot believe anyone would think the Republicans would have even the slightest thought to put country first. They all are owned completely by the rich donors. They are criminals. They only serve the donors for bribes. The only right thing important to them is the right wing propaganda and lies that keep bringing in the bribes.
You have to beg their donors to get them to do the right thing and stand up for Democracy. So write an opinion piece to Big Pharma and insurance companies and gas and oil and so on and beg them to pay off our politicians to vote for impeachment. But I am afraid it will be only when the donors decide they will make more money with Trump gone, that the Republican water boys will suddenly stand up for democracy and the constitution.
3
Well stated David. How about it Republicans, country or party? Time to step up.
5
"The president of the United States is betraying his oath of office in the most fundamental way, by using the presidency for personal gain at the country’s expense. "
This is it in a nutshell. The Republicans and right wing media can try and deny and spin it any way they want, but they cannot refute this simple truth: Trump is a traitor, serving himself over his country (and over those who continue to cover for him).
The Republicans may cower, and elect to sit on their hands, enabling Trump to survive impeachment without conviction, but they will pay steep price, not just next year in the elections, but for years to come, as they will become branded with their cowardice and their own betrayal of their duty and the American people.
It will be interesting to see how many, if any, can marshal their honor and courage to do the right thing. My guess is far less than 20 Senators.
3
Senator Lindsey Graham, your hero and friend, John McCain is surely rolling over in his grave at what Donald Trump is doing to our country. Indeed, he went to that grave with deep suspicion of and animus toward a man you now, inexplicably, embrace. Senator, is this the way you honor your friend's memory and the institutions for which he worked so hard and suffered so greatly to protect?
10
Very nicely said...heartfelt and sincere. But I have to wonder, do any republican senators even read this fine newspaper?
1
Sorry, David, it will be pure political calculation. There is not a statesman.left in the party. The last one died in Arizona.
6
After all that's happened in the last three years to think Republican senators will suddenly have an attack of patriotism is ludicrous. We all know impeachment is dead on arrival in a senate controlled by McConnell and the Trumpettes.
The real question is whether or not their constituents will ever see Don the Con and Republicans for what they are and vote them out. The fact that its in question is a sad commentary on our country.
2
I agree that Republican Senators are the only ones who can, and should, dismiss Donald Trump from office. In my opinion, he was impeachable and dismissible the day he took office, with a track record of lying, self-aggrandizement over all other considerations: he is not capable of representing any interest other than his personal interests — to be "great", to be revered, to have kingly and dictatorial power (like those leaders he admires: Putin, Jong-un, etc.). He's an arrested adolescent, admiring the unsophisticated, the vulgar, the obvious, the simple.
And like a mafia don, loyalty to him — not the country, or to anything beyond himself — is tantamount. Who knows what he wants his legacy to be. But I don't want to see it fulfilled.
3
America is better than Donald Trump but is the Republican party? I have my doubts.
1
It will be truly fascinating to see which Republicans have character. We are already witnessing the cowardice and hypocrisy of Jim Jordan, Bill Barr, Kevin McCarthy and Lindsey Graham. And we are seeing that a few Republicans like Romney and Amodei have courage and love our country. Trump knows that it is bad news when your best defense is that your own confession isn't true.
The Democrats have proven themselves to be nothing more than a bunch of spoiled little children. Their initial idea of "Resist" was utterly and completely designed to subvert the democratic election of 2016 - to disable the choice of the voters. To wreck the democratic outcome that they didn't like. It is profound and contemptuous arrogance on their part and it is leading this nation into chaos.
The simple fact is Trump's haters were calling for his impeachment within hours and days of his election. Prior to his Presidency - and prior to his even being legally able to commit an impeachable offense. The fix was in from the beginning.
Trump has since been treated more unjustly and with more hatred than could possibly be imagined. The corrupt machinations leading to the Special Counsel. The continued investigations searching for something, anything, to pin on him. The lies that are being told and the twist of almost every word... It is simply terrible and it has distracted the nation beyond reason.
Nancy Pelosi is the leader of a dull eyed lynch mob. Plain and simple.
2
Josh Hawley won't be up to the call of our Nation in crisis with this horrific Republican President. Please note how weak Hawley is in light of the decline of one of America's fastest regressing states, Missouri. We are the darling of the NRA with a AAA rating and womens' right are heading into dystopia territory. We are generating the new civil rights fights from the Christian's as well with court battles stemming from "religious freedom" issues brought to us by( Christian) companies not wanting to follow American law. Are you reading this Mr. Hawley? We have no faith in you here.
It has been evident for some time that Trump is a total narcissist who seeks adulation all the time in all things. He is also a sociopath who has no regard for collateral damage as he pursues self glorification. He projects complete sincerity and conviction when he plays the victim and most of his followers believe him. This is augmented by the cynical and amoral bloviators on talk radio and nighttime Fox. Therefore, it is not possible to overstate the courage that it would take for GOP senators to take a principled stand for impeachment.
And here’s the thing: You have a very good alternative. I don’t personally share Mike Pence’s worldview, but you do. He is a deeply conservative, anti-regulation, anti-tax, evangelical Christian
Really? This is better than Trump? Think again! This is Trump without a subcampus, a mere reflex notion of being a sentient human being. No! Knock the whole bunch of them out, now and forever. On my grave will I back pence over trump. they are equally dangerous in each their separate way.
If we are going to do this we need to be strategic, accurate, and as generous to the whole of our citizenry as possible. That is as much not trump as it is not pence.
Take out the whole lot, each as cowardly obsequious as each other. Not one of them can be allowed to stand!
1
Lindsey Graham is right, this is a setup.
Adam Schiff couldn’t be happier.
Trump is a sideshow; an increasingly disruptive and dangerous one, but more of an ugly outward manifestation than the problem itself.
The Republican Party accepted this guy in the beginning, although most of these Senators openly did not, so the obvious push doesn't seem to me to be simply fear of losing the "base" voters. It looks more like "the party line."
My question has always been, "Why is that?" Does Putin have something on the GOP party as a whole? Did Russia, via the NRA or whomever, give so much money to them that they are forced to let Trump's blatant pro-Russia behavior go unchecked? (I don't want to use the word "treason" here, tho his actions often seem borderline to me.)
Or is it just that a vocal and influential percentage of Republicans do not simply represent "conservatism," but religious fanaticism?
Anyone who remembers Bill Moyers essay, "Welcome to Doomsday", March 24, 2005, might recall that there is a sizable percentage of what now constitutes Republican voters that believe the End of the World is coming, along with Armageddon, and that the natural world (which, for some reason, is doomed, just like humanity) will be destroyed.
Do we wonder why the Republicans seem so determined to roll back any advances made on caring for the environment, denying science or even common sense? It's because they actually want the environment destroyed, believing, "When the last tree is felled, Jesus will return in Glory," and the Rapture will have come.
1
"When a person shows you who they are, believe them." - Maya Angelou
While Trump is surely, the worst of the worst, the incredible decline of the Republican Party began a generation ago.
They've disenfranchised millions of Democratic leaning voters through voter suppression tactics bankrolled by the Koch brothers' legislative arm, ALEC.
They've relentlessly attacked the free press and Democratic
Party and created a propaganda network of fake news, led by Rupert Murdoch and Fox "News" where their MO is to lie to their viewers constantly - Repubicans are good and Democrats are bad, bad, bad. If Trump has told 13,000 lies in three years, Fox News probably has told twenty or thirty thousand lies in just the past ten years.
I could go on and on - supporting wealth over labor, focusing any and all tax cuts to the very wealthy, decimating our environmentalprotection safeguards, allowing our infrastructure to crumble and deregulating rules and regulation that benefits the middle class and poor - but it is useless.
We've had to put up with the most corrupt and lawless president because that's the kind of president the RNC, Congressional Republicans, their super rich backers and their brainwashed voters are fine with as long as they get their judges and hold their power. Trump was inevitable because they decided to put party over country decades ago.
They have shown us who they are and protecting the Constitution and the rule of law are not priorities. Impeachment is out.
2
Trump has been a fraud since the very beginning. And now he has finally been found out in convincing fashion. Send him packing now, promise him some sort of soft landing in return for resigning, let Pence take over, apologize profusely to the country for allowing Trump to become president, and try to win again with Pence or someone other reasonably normal person. Everyone, Democrats and Republicans, independents, liberals and conservatives, and even (when they admit it) Trump's "base" want Trump out of office and quickly.
GOP senators are afraid of their -voters-, not Donald Trump. GOP voters have picked their champion, their epistemic prison, and their horribly immoral tribal zealotry. Trump as an individual is an obstacle and annoyance to the GOP. Trump as representative of the single largest voting bloc in GOP primary elections: that's the Trump they dare not challenge. So to move them from their defensive crouch will require something very different than shaming. It will require showing them that their own futures are -more certainly- ruined by sticking with Trump than by defying him. Which in turn would require incontrovertible proof of a transgression so heinous that it could not be spun, excused, what-abouted, or accepted for more judges. Do we have that? "Almost" is my guess. The exact threshold for Senate conviction may depend on who the leading Democratic presidential candidate is at the time. If it's Warren, GOP voters - and therefore, pols - are more likely to stay tribal, stay threatened, and defend through obfuscation. And 2020 is then a toss up.
1
Eventually even the most stalwart rat will leave a sinking ship. And this ship is popping leaks like a Jiffy pop on a hot stove and shaking just as hard as well.
All of those GOP senators are Cult of Trump enablers. They are not going to leave the cult. Most likely they are only going to get worse, if worse is possible.
1
If you are a Republican Senator, you have so long caved in craven fear of Trump and supported the unsupportable at every opportunity. The possibility, even the idea, of doing otherwise is not only politically terrifying, but also personally debilitating. How can you possibly explain your conduct in the past and explain your conduct in the present without disclosing that you have no moral compass, not essential value system? For each such Senator, protection of ego even more than office is central to your efforts.
1
Pence is not a good alternative to Trump. He is as bad as Trump, just not quite as vulgar. By the time the impeachment inquiry is done and after all the wrangling, it will be just about time for the next election (thank God). They both have to go, one way or another.
1
Having once been a republican, I can understand the hope that Mr. Leonhardt has, but it is just a dream. These Republicans have been complicit with trumps lies, his attacks on the FBI, CIA, his deficit-busting, his horrible treatment of children at the border. This little phone call thing won't even phase them.
1
Just as my enjoyment of Christmas is tempered by commercialism-spawned cynicism, so too my enjoyment of this piece is tempered by reality-based cynicism.
It is myth to believe that "public servants" became such to serve the public. All but one in the GOP and many in the Dem Party are there to serve and protect their monied class.
To think that any of these millionaire tools of Wall Street – or in some cases of Sadovnicheskaya Street – are going to pick the Constitution over capital gains is mere folly.
Christmas may again one day become a day about love and giving. The GOP about serving the country? No chance.
1
Republicans went into politics to serve a higher purpose? Guess it sort of depends on your definition of higher purpose.
Apparently, the higher purpose is to behave as sycophants for the deranged grifter in the White House. After all, who among the Republican legislators wouldn't like to ride trump's coattails given that inexplicable 90%+ approval rating he has from Republicans?
I hope the cost of sticking it to the liberals is worth the price of losing election integrity and perhaps fatally wounding the entire democratic process. I guess it works for them as long as they win re-election.
Bloods thicker than water but it aint thicker than money. So don't expect anything to happen.
Actually, America is the greatest country in human civilization and the Democrats would dispute this claim. As Cuomo has often said, America has never been "even" great. Neither Democratic Socialist nor Republicans are the reason America is the greatest humanitarian country. It is because of the people and not their elected representatives who seek only self interest in their quest for power over the people.
@JLC
The greatest "humanitarian" country that refuses to take refugees from natural disasters, the greatest "humanitarian" country that uses for-profit prisons to incarcerate people for non-violent crimes while corporate executives who steal the futures of millions of people go free. The greatest "humanitarian" country which cages babies and young children for their parents' actions.
The USA is many wonderful things, but our infant mortality statistics speak to a health care system which does not work for everyone. Our homeless population with many mentally ill people speaks to a country that closes its eyes to people who don't fit in to civil society and often makes daily living a crime for them.
The Democratic party platform addresses the needs of people working towards a more just and equal society. The Republican platform is built on fear that appropriating taxpayer resources to help the "least" among us achieve food and shelter security somehow "takes away" from those who search (and often find) for every way not to pay taxes to support "the greatest country".
Yes! This is the time to question and demand Senators uphold the values of the US and our Constitution, which are being shredded by this Presidency. Potentially losing a re-election is a small price to pay for Making America Better Than This.
3
I would not be so sure that Pence will be available if Trump goes under.
Just a note of caution.
6
@Paul McGlasson
I hope you're right. If Trump's presidency is illegitimate because of Russian interference, so is Pence's vice-presidency. Pence should not ascend into the White House.
2
I think even less of Pence than I do of Trump. He is a committed theocrat who sees the first amendment as an obstacle that must be neutralized.
@Paul McGlasson
Madame President (Pelosi) that is, and yes Pence has been implicated.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for republicans to stand up for what’s right.
7
Interesting that Pat Toomey finds his president's behavior inappropriate, considering that he along with forty-five other senators signed Tom Cotton's letter to the Iranian Government attempting to undercut then President Obama's efforts at limiting the Iranian nuclear efforts. Now that was, at least, inappropriate.
Both, I submit, are much more.
3
Appealing to the conscience of 'good' Republicans.
But is there any 'there' there.
I fear that ship sailed decades ago.
2
Profiles in Courage. I think not! Profiles in cowardice would be a more appropriate summation of the Republican Senate and House members. These members should consider how history will judge them in the years to come. Consider the damage they have wrought upon this country. Anyone with an ounce of sense can see they will not come out of this era of Trump with any aspect of their reputation intact. They might save themselves if they act and the time for that is...……... now!
2
Mr. Leonhardt - Why do you assume that Pence would succeed Trump? Pence has his own questions to answer about his role in the Ukraine episode. Offering him as a consolation prize seriously undermines the persuasiveness of your argument to Republicans, who no doubt are verklempt about the prospect of effectively voting for President Pelosi.
3
Pence, being for the time being a “very good alternative” for the GOP, will not be for long. Trump already tried to implicate Pence in the Ukrainian scandal this week, when he asked why no one is asking Pence about his own calls with the Ukrainian president. Trump will make sure Pence goes down with him if he’s impeached, thus assuring his own political survival. He knows full well no GOP senator will vote to oust him if it means a Nancy Pelosi presidency. Not in a million years.
1
"America is better than this, isn’t it?" Is it or isn't it?
Banking on the GOP Senators to save the principles of the US is not real. And we all know that.
Let's recall Watergate. How many GOP in the House voted for all three articles of the Nixon impeachment? It was exactly ONE. How many GOP Senators would have voted for conviction? No they were spared because Goldwater went to the WH and told Nixon they do not have the numbers to sustain Nixon. Was that a true statement or just a nice one that succeeded in getting Nixon to resign? That we will never know. Who among the current Senators will go tell Putin's Hump the same thing?
Just look at probably your (not mine) best Hope, Romney, the original never-Trumper on whom so many have placed their hope when he entered the Senate. What did he do, or say? A sorryful and pitiful "troubling"! Is it more pitiful than his eating crow - or frog legs - by Trump when the post of Sec of State was dangled in front of him?
The Party of Lincoln survives in name only.
5
David Leonhardt's pointed questions to Republican senators are properly pointed but the problem is deeper. David mentions that they support Trump for one reason: to sustain their careers. Although they do so legally, they are no better morally than Trump. Public service means putting the common good before one's own. Morally speaking that is at least a misdemeanor.
7
I vividly recall how conservatives literally took to the street corners of my town to defend George Bush and the Iraq war. Every weekend groups of 10 to 20 people would come out with signs to catch the attention of passing cars. They did it despite the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, despite the false pretenses that were offered by the administration for the war and despite the woefully premature victory lap taken by Bush on the USS Lincoln. And despite the rising US body count coming back from Iraq.
That's how conservatives think. They take indefensible positions rooted in conspiracy theories (e.g, fluoridation of water, there are 100 communists in the State Department, Iraq had a connection with 9/11) and then feel deeply compelled to defend these mistakes. In time, however, most conservative theories fail as public policy (look at Kansas' doomed experiment in trickle down economics) and fade into the dust bin of history to be forgotten.
Someday conservatives will give up on Trump the way they eventually gave up on Bush and so many marginal ideas. The trouble here is that Trump is basically a destroyer. What will be left of the country after the Trump era of conservative voodoo.
5
"We" are indeed better than Donald Trump. But we are an addled, unconcerned bunch who allow our government to meddle and intervene in the affairs of other nations, and finance civil wars and ethnic rivalries around the world.
In light of Trump's Ukrainian shake-down, why haven't the media and our politicians shown curiosity and concern about the hundreds of millions of dollars in aid the US is giving the Ukrainian nationalist government in Kiev?
Why are "we" aiding Ukraine? Will our aid money improve the lives of people who have suffered deprivation from years of inept and corrupt Ukrainian governments? Or, more likely, are we giving money and arms to support the cruel, relentless ethnic conflict in Eastern Ukraine that has become a proxy war between the US and Russia?
Caring people ought to find out why Congress allocated money for the nationalistic Ukrainian government, as well as why the money was used to promote foreign interference in out electoral process.
1
If America were better than Donald Trump, he would not have been elected. The blame belongs to the electorate and the18th century Electoral College.
8
We all need this dowse of inspired idealism tempered by rationalism as we re-build this republic. A cynic might appeal to the base instincts of Trump’s party leaders which seek power on his fall, but no one will ignore public opinion as it turns against Trump.
Why would republicans turn their back on a republican president who is working in an extremely hostile media environment where columnists are constantly saying how unfit he is, when that republican president is appointing judges that republicans believe will be more fair, wages are rising for the first time in a long time, attempts are being made to curb or stop illegal immigration, we’ve avoided war with Iran despite provocations that might have made another president pull the trigger, and that republican president has an 85% or more approval rating with republican voters?
I remember when republicans were driven nuts during Bill Clinton’s presidency. They thought he was the Antichrist. Now, Democrats are acting the same way the republicans did then. Trump is unorthodox. He isn’t good with social graces. He’s a philanderer. Yet, when it counts for republicans, he delivers.
2
@Joseph Schmidt Mr. Schmidt, the media is not in the business of "hostility" as a way of life. As best they can (and they do!) they root out facts, what actually is happening, and print same. They identify news that is not completely verified but report the non-verification. Donald Trump and his followers are hostile to facts and to truth - yes, facts are verifiable, "deep-state" be damned. No amount of slightly better wages and"no wars" (hardly due to Trump himself, for sure) makes me want to be represented by such an indefensible man. Period. He is embarrassing and incompetent, pure and simple.
It would be nice to believe that these senators would speak up for the values they purport to believe in. But the fact that there are no Republican voices loudly condemning a call to execute those who have brought to light the president's abuse of power says all you need to know about the morally bankrupt Republican leadership.
10
Well said. I hope these Senators will read it. They didn't read the Mueller Report or the Whistleblower Complaint. Maybe, you should've put it in a tweet.
9
There are retiring senators. One suspects that they are leaving because they are disillusioned with their party. Could they please say so now?
12
What a timely, pointed column. When Ben Sasse first came on the scene I thought he was a politician worth watching. He was obviously intelligent, well spoken and seemingly of good character. I listened closely to his interviews and even considered reading his book. I am not a Republican. What a complete disappointment he has been. If he were to now show the courage of his supposed convictions it might begin to restore my faith in our government.
11
Unfortunately no one is calling out the Republicans for their traitorous behavior. and even worse, I do not think that their are interviews going well. Many reporters, even the best are not light enough on their feet or understand basic law well enough themselves to respond to the tiresome (and incorrect to the point of lying) talking points; so the back and forth jabs amount to the same catch phrases "hearsay" (which as a matter of multiple points of how the evidence matches they are incorrect about) and then they continue to sneak in the term hearsay even after they are told they're dead wrong). "I know the difference between a whistleblower and a deep state operative, this is a 'deep state operative'" (Trump term). "I don't know how you can ask your questions while not acknowledging the president's efforts to 'rid them of corruption,' (twisting facts, obfuscation of the actual words that Trump uttered).
We are going to lose the war of public opinion when we get caught up in their rhetoric. when we don't say simply put in 2 or 3 word sentences: it's not just about the trivia of "gaining dirt on someone:"
It affects this country's ability to have a *fair election", (2 words) and how he "covertly" went about this "leaking classified information" (3 words) affects our *national security (2 words). Then there's the *cover-up (2 words), *multiple lies (2 words)
and *hidden evidence (2 words) by our AG of the United States.
Democrats, reporters: repeat these over and over.
9
Could not have said this better. America as a nation, a people of which a vast majority are better than the president. A vast majority have better character than this president. It is time my party, the party of Lincoln, stood up for morality, character, and as cheesy as it sounds goodness.
Mr. Lindsey Graham, I did not know that John McCain was your soul and when that great man died, your virtue did too. Republicans, now is the time for country over party, for doing the right thing even if it means your job.
13
Now will these senators read this excellent piece? I surely hope so.
7
Maybe the fundamental problem is simpler, yet more troubling than any convoluted analysis of why Trump is not held to account by his courtiers.
Post the Second World War, Congress was populated by people with actual integrity and love for our country. They had experienced the horrors of war, and still held to the values of the early 20th Century.
Since then there's been a steady erosion of those values and motivations, to the point now where statesmen/women have been supplanted by populist politicians, whose allegiance is only to themselves. The ability to get elected and stay elected is paramount.
4
@Frank The reason why we prospered after WWII was the Pax Roosevelt. He started with mending of the Depression and got the country united to do that and then he joined with the allies and got America united to fight the war. This bringing together of the country lasted through the fall of the Berlin Wall. But the erosion of our cohesion also began by the efforts of Nixon's hitman and folks like Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes who created the daily feed for the right wing conspiracy industry. Need proof? Tune into FOX between 8 and 10 PM weekly.
2
It's not ok to offer up Pence as some sort of compromise. For one thing, he should be investigated as well. Your own editorial board says so. Even Trump says Pence was in conversation with the Ukraine. And although it’s hard to imagine somebody worse than Trump, Pence is right up there. We would still have concentration camps for refugees, and who knows what kind of Gilead world he would start building.
I wish everyone has now learned that compromise doesn’t work with Republicans. And although the reality is this is now a partisan process, we should treat is as a legislative process. Full investigation, hearings, and see what unfolds before making any deals. I want Trump out of office, but we should also keep inn mind that impeachment is about holding our elected officials accountable, and upholding the principle that no one is above the law.
27
Thank you, Mr Leonhardt, for eloquently stating the obvious hypocrisy that the Republican congress - especially the senate - has been living.
There are a number of long-time Republican senators that I respected for their commitment to ideals and country, even when I disagreed with their position on specific topics. Most of them have either resigned from politics (without a fight, typically) or have become slavish lackeys. I find myself wanting for an explanation, especially for those who stepped away from politics. What are these people truly afraid of? Or is this simply the evolution of politics=sports mentality that Gingrich et al started?
12
BRAVO! David Leonhardt, I always appreciate reading your column, but THIS was bar none, exquisite! Now, if each one of these people would honestly take to heart what you’ve said in the way it was meant, as sort of a check on one’s conscience and not as a personal affront; if they use these wise words to their advantage, all of America can benefit!
The Republicans are going to yield an immense amount of persuasion over the president and how he acts and reacts in these coming days, weeks and months.
16
That’s what we call “representative democracy”—where elected officials represent their constituents and and vote for the things their constituents want, irrespective of whether it will help them, personally, win re-election. It’s one of the fundamental ideas that form the basis of our government.
13
Thank you. Glaringly missing is trump apologist Lyndsey Graham who's spine was removed in the last three years who no longer fights for the people of SC, nor puts country first, and the chief obstructionist in the Senate - Moscow Mitch McConnell. Both have now manipulated the Senate to protect trump. McConnell has singular power to kill any and all legislation as he has continued to do for the last 6+ years, from SCOTUS nominees, election integrity legislation, anti-corruption legislation, and more.
It is time these same Senators targeted in the letter, and others that are not, to apply pressure on these trump protectors who will be on the wrong side of the equation in the coming months. For the sake of our constitutional republic, our democratic values, and the Constitution, we must put our country, the ideals, laws and mores of the United States first. trump spits at those. It is time.
20
Courage. Such a simple word. Our country is waiting to see whom among the GOP will display it and not hide behind a "silent vote" to impeach. Remember the spirit of John McCain, a man of real courage under the most extreme circumstances.
19
Let's be clear about the current strategy of the Democratic Party and their associated media: This is their last opportunity, their Ardennes Counteroffensive, as time is quickly running out. Mr. Trump has appointed two Supreme Court Justices with Amy Barrett patiently waiting in the wings. And this is the flaw in their plan because even if they could rid themselves of Mr. Trump, with Mike Pence, Amy Barrett is a lock.
4
@Mark - An excellent point and I agree with you. I just wish that you hadn't used the German Ardennes attack as your metaphor because historically speaking, that particular strategy had no real chance of success.
2
I was with you, hoping for some backbone from some Senators until you got to Susan Collins. Look at her voting record. Look at her support for Cavanaugh. She is never, NEVER, EVER going to step away from what is convenient and what she is told to vote for by McConnell. There is not an independent bone in her body. She stands for just one woman, Susan Collins. The good people of Maine will have to vote her sorry self out, and I am going to help them find out about alternatives before the next election.
35
Mr. Leonhardt has assembled a nice list of Republicans who could initiate a Midnight Visit like the one Nixon received before he resigned.
No need to tell the public. Just do it. Midnight Visit. It is time.
23
@Karen DeVito
The flaw in this plan is that this president is not able to understand reason. He will resist any logical advice. Nixon was intelligent and educated. He understood. His own self protection kicked in. Would Trump exhibit any such wisdom? He typically spins out of control in response to every setback. When has he ever behaved in a statesmanlike manner? Insanity is his fallback position.
1
This is an extraordinary call to action, the like of which I have not seen in longer than I can remember. For those in positions of leadership it speaks directly, personally and eloquently to mind, heart and soul. The narrative offers the lessons of history where people of courage chose the path of personal integrity over blind loyalty to person or party. For those called to stand now with integrity, how will history record this moment and how will you choose to be remembered?
14
Thank you, Mr. Leonhardt!
Every day, Trump represents a more serious threat to our country. And now, his gangster-like threats to the lives of people who have spoken to the Whistle-Blower should remove all doubts as to his unfitness for Office.
Getting Trump out of there should be a bi-partisan endeavor!
14
If none of the Republicans this article is reaching out to decide that they stand for country over party; I would ask that they at least take those American flag pins off of their lapels. That is an insult to this nation.
18
As Carl Bernstein said so well, "The real heroes of Watergate were the Republicans who stood up to Nixon." Where is the Barry Goldwater whom will tell President Trump that this is enough and he has to go?
13
@AACNY: If you remember the Watergate, the Republicans did exactly what you wrote. And when they got it ("the smoking gun") they acted.
If Trump is impeached, I don't see Pence as Republican's savior. His contrived adoring eyes toward Trump show his transparent hypocrisy. His over-the-top religiosity will be turn-off to the electorate. He lacks mass appeal and (R)'s would not be further ahead with him in office and running.
If I were a Republican strategist , I'd work to see that Mitt Romney was nominated as their presidential candidate. Even though a bit stiff, Romney would heal the badly damaged Republican brand and attract independents.
-Just a Midwestern liberal's analysis.
10
Don't worry about Trump. If you want to truly effect a change in milieu from that quarter strike out at the big money who funds him. Pull back the rock under which they hide and expose them and their actions.
Hold big money accountable for the damage you think they are doing to the country. If you notice, right now big money is being fairly quiet about all of this.
It's because they know a hornet's nest is being stirred...and they think staying quiet minimizes the likelihood of them becoming target 1. Well they can try to stay quiet, but let's hold their feet to the fire shall we?
You do that, and you nail the current POTUS, along with the so called Republican Party. Big Money has reaped the benefits of all they set in motion over the past few years. It's time they reap some costs, too.
John~
American Net'Zen
10
Substitute Obama and Hillary's names into this mess and the republicans would be launching multiple investigations. The fact that they haven't tells you all that you need to know about that bankrupt party. Their time is up and it couldn't come faster.
9
@stan Either one of them would have been long gone, at the start of the whole Russia thing, or if not that, for any of the other criminal and immoral things that are just another days in the life of Don the Con. (If Obam was promoting policies and diplomatic travel that personally enriched him, or Hillary had family serving in official positions, using multiple and secret accounts, meeting with Russians on her property.
This was a deeply moving and wise column. I just hope these men and women are able to rise above themselves and take a principled stand for the good of the United States. Senators, I haven't given up all hope yet - please call upon your inner sense of right and wrong to help make America a better place, no matter the personal cost you fear may have to pay.
9
@MHA
I should have written "the personal cost you fear you may have to pay."
Nice try. Solid, logical arguments, but totally irrelevant to the calculus that will determine the behavior of Congressional Republicans. IF and when there is any change in their unqualified support for the criminal in the White House it will be because the polls report that American voters are ready to turn their backs on this shameless episode in American politics.
12
David, your last line is what this is all about. It is a question not just for Republican senators, it is a question for every American. Split your quid pro quo's any way you like, we all know what Trump was saying. Now, do we want a better America than Donald Trump, or don't we?
10
Amen. Let this be a call to arms. Let's all stand together to defeat this monstrosity that mocks our history, our sacrifices, our ideals.
7
I know this goes against the feelings of many but, I bet that character demonstrated on both sides of the aisle will win the day here.
It may not happen as quickly as many would like (self included), but it will happen.
3
Perhaps these opportunists DON’T think America is better than this. Perhaps they merely believe that being in the Senate is a better job than they could otherwise have. I look forward to being proved wrong. More than that, I pray that I am proved wrong.
6
Nice but...all of this assumes that the Republican party of Eisenhower and Reagan is what we are dealing with today. Not so, I'm afraid. Patriotism seems to have disappeared from the GOP. Sanity seems to have disappeared from DC. I don't know where this takes us. But this week our president suggested that a whistleblower should be executed. That should have tipped you off as to what kind of people are in charge. No Howard Baker here.
11
Well, Mr. Leonhardt, I hope your well worded appeal has some effect on our sorely compromised Republican "law makers." Up to this point, they have shown little inclination to act as though they care for the people they represent or their country.
What makes you think you can shame them into being leaders?
7
Since when is doing something obviously right an act of courage? Quite an indictment on the lack of Republican backbone.
7
Leonhardt has captured the issue which is the key to deciding the fate of our rogue POTUS. The parallels to Nixon & Watergate are striking, up to a point.
Nixon was forced out only when it became abundantly clear that he had lost the support of most of his own party. This depended on the ability of many Republicans to put the good of the country ahead of the political survival of a Republican POTUS.
Alas, today's Republicans lack the integrity & courage shown by Republicans in the early 1970's. Barry Goldwater put country ahead of party; he will be remembered as a statesman because of that. McConnell, Graham, & their band of fellow Trump lackeys invariably put party ahead of country, so they will go down in history as traitors who were complicit in enabling the shredding of the Constitution & the rule of law.
Leonhardt asks "America is better than this, isn't it?" Unfortunately, today's Republican party is not.
8
What I find remarkable is how Americans can still invoke phrases like "American exceptionalism" and "City on a hill" with a straight face. It took while for the world to understand that when candidate Trump said Make American Great Again, he simply did not care what the rest of the world thinks. He was talking only to Americans.
Impeach Donald Trump or don't. Its fascinating theatre. But if you honestly believe Republican senators will make the smallest compromise to their personal ambitions for the good of the country, you have been living in a different USA than the one the rest of the world watches.
Here is what will happen. Trump will make irresponsible assertions. Fox will repeat them. Biden won't resign for the good of the Democratic party. A few decent Republicans like Romney will forget the abuse they suffer from liberals and take a principled stand. The rest won't. The House will impeach because they are Democrats. The Senate will not ratify because they are Republicans. An election will be held that Trump may win because his selfishness and bigotry appeals to so many Americans. Americans will keep teaching their kids how America is the greatest country ever and always will be. The rest of us will keep watching for entertainment's sake while hoping China or whoever assumes world leadership produces statesmen like America once did.
5
I am so disturbed by what the Republican Party has become. And I am equally disturbed that I know people who still label themselves Republican. I can only hope they pay little attention to politics and will some day get informed and come to their senses. But I’m losing hope for them. How far must they go in enabling this national shame before they think to themselves, “I’ve gone too far.”?
9
I would simply ask Senate Republicans this: "Is power more important to you than democracy?"
10
@kjb
The answer is a resounding 'yes.'
These GOP Senators and others will support Trump's removal from Office only and, only if the polls indicate that they will keep their seats by doing so.
Otherwise, these Senators will never honor what they said because in their minds their job is not about the country. Their job is getting re-elected.
There is hope because public opinion is changing and Trump is helping by publicly obstructing justice. His latest is demanding to meet the whistle-blower and threatening him or her with great consequences. In which dictionary this is not obstruction? The one I can think of would be in Trump's, if he has one.
5
America is deeply troubled when we need idealism to convince Senators objective reality exists. President Trump committed an impeachable offense. He needs to be impeached, tried and convicted. Unless there's some unknown extenuating evidence, that's what the law demands.
Your careers, no matter how important they are to you personally, are not worth sacrificing the dignity of our nation permanently. You better believe acquittal will come back to haunt you. What really troubles me is acquittal will come back to haunt me too. Me and every other future generation in the US. It's not a matter of "if" but "when."
Trump's conviction should be unanimous. Get on it.
9
As a Colorado resident, Cory Gardner refuses to address the HUGE elephant in the room (appropriate symbol for the GOP, given today’s political climate) that is Donal Trump. His social media is filled with photo ops and award ceremonies, while his constituents are still waiting to hear whether he actually has the spine to stand up to this president. I’m not holding my breath.
9
It seems that Trump's [pending] impeachment will be a Christmas present to the nation. If so, the primaries some months later will be an issue only for those that continue to blindly support Trump.
The greater problem might be defending Moscow Mitch's deep sixing all the legislation the House has passed since February, or explaining to their constituents why they voted for Trump's nomination to a second term.
The primaries usually weed out the potential losers and are harrowing in the extreme. [John McCain could tell you about South Carolina] and do not attract many voters but the real showdown for republicans will be the general election.
A little soul searching will go a long way.
4
I think we - and the GOP - misunderstand the reasoning behind why many Americans voted for Trump; yes, some were callously ‘sticking it to the man’ and love nothing better than a good brawl, but many voted for him because they were tired of career politicians and thought a businessman might do a better job. Those same people are now appalled at the damage he’s done and are vowing quietly to vote him out. Impeachment was a tool provided to us for times like now. We need to use it to the fullest extent. If he is impeached, so be it. If he’s still around next November, let the voters speak. I think his “base” is much smaller than many believe, and I don’t believe Trump will be re-elected. I think now would be a good time for certain Senators and evangelical leaders to start putting some distance between Trump and themselves, although for a few of them it’s too late.
4
The Republican Senate and the Trump base have compromised themselves beyond repentance or redemption. They are lost. We must accept this. Self-delusion is not a virtue. Credulity is not faith. The only question now is 2020 and beyond that who might emerge to write the history of this moment in the moral and political life of America.
7
Mr. Leonhardt--
This is precisely the kind of rational, lucid, fact-based appeal to the patriotism of all in Congress that we need. Thank you.
17
Jeff Flake has said that there are 35 Republican senators who would vote for removal if allowed to vote by secret ballot, but who would vote against removal otherwise.
If you're a Republican who supports Trump, those are 35 senators who are looking to betray the president you support.
If you're a Republican who wants Trump removed, those are 35 senators who will live up to their constitutional duty only when it's convenient, and when it won't cost them anything to do so.
In either case, those are 35 senators who need to be sent back to private life.
26
Mitch McConnell will stalemate any effort for secret vote! Need to counter him. Where is McClain when we need him?
Oh Republican Senators - think of the lucrative speaking and consulting careers you can have if you’re voted out of office for - gasp - doing. The . Right. Thing. Lots and lots of mileage there - financially to be sure, but also psychically. Think what it will be like to sleep at night.
17
Marcia Formica: I think the tide is turning and Republican Senators up for election in 2020 may be at greater risk for NOT doing the right thing. They need to hear from their constituents.
7
The 30% that support him still will not run in mass to the polls to vote for him next Nov.
30% of the 30% will stay home. Quietly.
8
Trump is going to win in a landslide in 2020 because he is addressing, head-on, issues the American people care about and that the Democratic Party avoids. Add to that voters who aren’t all that left-leaning to begin with who will never vote for Socialism in America or very late-term abortions, both main Democratic Party platforms. I used to think the pendulum effect of self-correction was dead in these modern times because fake news and lying politicians made it difficult to understand what was really what. No matter... every time a Democrat opens his mouth, I KNOW intrinsically he or she does not speak for me. An individual American’s natural knowing is all he is left with these days, and a blind man could see the cabals of bad actors and scheme after scheme trying to take down this president who was elected in a free and fair election. These acts should mean something to all of us. Kabuki theater, where nothing appears as it really is, is being played out in plain sight. Elizabeth Warren built her reputation on RAILING AGAINST the very things Biden did for his son, and yet she and her supporters don’t have a word to say about this corruption, a good indicator of how she’d be in office (which she won’t be because Americans don’t elect hypocrites). This is only one small example of how The Deep State is running the ultimate Kabuki on all of us. Trump is trying to unmask those who would harm America.Those in power behind the scenes don’t want to be unmasked.
1
@John@
There is no substance to your statement. It seems like you will allow corruption as long as it's wearing the right jersey. Unfortunately, this is not sports; parties are not cohesive groups and you will never be invited to the celebration. If you dislike corruption, you should be against all corruption and help mold both parties in the fashion you desire. Also, the deep state does not exist and is used as a trap for people who don't know what they don't know. It's a joke to academics; feed for the masses.
@John@ Trump is addressing all the issues Americans care about head on? And what would those be, John? Health care? Pharmaceutical costs? Background checks for guns? Infrastructure? Income inequality? climate change and global warming? Those are the things the vast majority of Americans care about. And for each one of them he has done nothing, absolutely nothing. And think about it, John. If you had chosen one of the other Republican candidates in 2015 and 16, we wouldn't be spending all all our time dealing with Trump's behavior. Kind of like trying to do house chores and disciplining a child at the same time. You could have had everything you have gotten and a whole lot more if you had chosen a candidate more fitting for the office.
Dear Republicans. While appeal to your better nature will surely have some impact. Appeal to your continued career in the Senate is probably more motivating. The American people strongly disapprove of this President and now a majority favor impeachment inquiry. His illegal political activities coupled with his disastrous domestic and foreign policy will be an albatross around the neck of the Republican ticket in 2020 more so than it was in 2018. You will not win back the House and you will lose the Presidency and the Senate if you do not act now. Moreover, your party will forever be known as seeking power over justice.
22
I'd like to think we are better than Trump, but then I remember he received 60 million votes from Americans. That reality will not change regardless of what happens to him, and it will be a challenge for the next President to manage the implications of so many who share Trumps mindset and beliefs.
19
Trump's Dad saw all of these character flaws and behavioral aberrations in his son. What was his reaction to Donald's non-stop grade school behavioral issues? He sent Donald away to a military school to try to teach him to live within conventional norms.
It obviously didn't work and we are all dealing with the consequences. Now it's Nancy Pelosi's job to deal with what his Dad couldn't. All of us, Republicans and Democrats, owe her our support. The alternative is to sink further into Donald's abyss of chaos.
51
Too little, too late. The Dems should focus on winning the elections. The impeachment game, no matter how well founded plays directly into Trump’s base for which he’s a martyr fighting the Deep (obviously democratic) State. A whole 30% of your nation will still vote for him no matter what. Just make sure the rest of the 70% can vote and their ballot is not split like last time.
7
@Bogdan
That deep state hogwash is for those who want to sing along, but dot't know the lyrics.
I have read several opinions today about the lack of fortitude among Republican politicians. It is interesting that these Republicans are afraid of the wrath of their voters which causes them to not say in public what they might express in private. The real question is what has happened to the Republican Party and its voters.
The Republican Party has been appealing to bigots and racists for decades. The southern Democrats who were racist moved en masse to the Republican Party after the Civil Rights Act. Those appeals were more subtle in the age of Reagan and Bush, but they were there nonetheless.
Now the chickens have come home to roost. The Republican leadership has been captured by Trump and his supporters. There is only one thing for a Republican with a conscience to do at this time—vote for the Democrats. When the Republican Party has been thoroughly rejected, then it will be time for a rebirth.
60
Lovely sentiments. Well-stated. But ultimately useless.
Trump transformed the Republican Party into a cult totally dependent upon him.
We have experience, all bad, with cults like this. Think Manson and Jim Jones.
The problem is that the members of the cult identify with the cult leader. Trump is at their deepest core. Michael Cohen described the process graphically.
Accordingly, it is nonsense to try to talk to these people. Instead, their party must be removed from office wholesale. Then hope that a responsible conservative political party, based on values rather than personality, arises from the wreckage.
24
Mr. Briggs- with all due respect, does a final conclusion that something is “useless” mean that the very pursuit of an action seeking truth and clarity is likewise useless? It may very well be accurate that the end result is as you say. That is very likely given the power of human frailty and the innate drive for self preservation. Senate Republicans will not admit misguided fealty for that will mean admitting a mistake - no easy task for humans, but especially true for politicians. In the end, do you not wish a mirror for someone, anyone, who has not seen their true face?
7
Once primaries are over, what do Republican Senators from solid red states have to fear from voting Trump out?
It’s too late to have a Trump-affiliated primary challenger. And their solid conservative voters will not switch to a Democrat. Their seats are safe. And with Trump out of office, how can he punish them?
They can tell their voters they will get the same policies - immigration, taxes, etc. - without the baggage. And the tweets. It’s defensible to their voters.
Senators ceded much of their authority to the Trump White House. By putting Pence in place, they will return more
power to themselves.
Republican Senators know that - behind closed doors - they hate Trump. In the long run, he is bad for the Republican brand. This is a way to get rid of him.
5
@Jlasf
I don’t know about solid red states. But in purple swing state Ohio, Senator Portman will remain supported no matter how he votes, because he is the national leader fighting opioid addiction and working for health of the Great Lakes.
Portman has criticized some Trump behaviors. I would like him to put honor ahead of all, and vote according to the evidence.
Jim Johnson: He is only in office because of extreme gerrymandering, with slivers of his district carved here and there. In any semblance of a normally drawn district, he would never have had a chance to win election.
5
The sad part of all this is that all of these Republicans you are calling out know that their party's best hope in 2020 is still an incumbent Trump. (And what does THAT say about the state of the party?)
So not only would they be ending their own political careers with Trump relentlessly bashing them, they would be effectively ending their party's stronghold on policymaking and (especially) court appointments. That's why the odds are low that you'll see them crack in their support.
Party before country.
It's the (new) American way.
11
It’s the Republican way, not the American way.
"America is better than this, isn’t it?"
I'm glad this is framed as a question, rather than fact. It's pretty hard to define American greatness when you examine all the ways Donald Trump has damanged the values and core of this nation, including turning the Republican party into a cult of frightened toadies.
I doubt the Republicans cited by David Leonhardt here will read his column today. And that's because Donald Trump has made self interest a guiding principle of governance--convincing every official that protecting the GOP is more important than protecting the country.
Only time will tell if America is "better than that." In the meantime, all citizens need to stay informed, question what we hear, check our news sources, and fight to defend truth over Trump's alternative reality.
35
Mr. Leonhardt, I once thought that the United States was better than what it has become under Trump. I honestly believed that we were a special nation and setting an example for the world to follow. I believed that strongly enough to server four years in the US military.
But I have watched first Trump and then congressional Republicans prove over and over again that I was wrong. The US has shown itself to be a degraded nation and the Republican party has fallen in line behind a deeply corrupt president. They are more interested in retaining their wealth and power than standing up for the Constitution, no matter how many of them carry a copy in their pockets.
When the history of how democracy failed in the US is written Trump will be the principal actor but the real failures will be the Republican congress which failed to step up when they were most needed.
31
Greed can take many forms.
With Trump, it is old-fashion, money-grubbing greed and the greedy need for public approbation.
For others it is the acquisition of power and greedily the clinging to it.
It will be interesting to see which is the greater motivator -- greed or principles.
Sen. Collins' days in office may be numbered. Will she go out on a high note or a Trump note?
11
This column makes all the sense in the world. With a few exceptions most Republican politicians probably agree, however a job in Congress today is extremely lucrative and for many an unending career, so preserving that job is their primary motivation. No longer are these positions “public service.” They exist to enrich the officeholder. So I am not optimistic that many Republicans will flip unless their constituents demand it. Having read and heard the right-wing media’s obfuscation regarding Trump’s crimes, I don’t see that happening.
11
Re: the possibility of Pence replacing an impeached Trump, when all is said and done, it will turn out that Pence was one of those who were encouraging Ukrainian politicians and the like to seek dirt on the Bidens. In a world of any probity, Pence would also be impeached and removed from office.
27
@DocDave 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished! Pence would bring a world of hurt to the US in the short time he would occupy the White House. Women's rights, the environment, foreign policy - he stands with Trump on all of these issues, and would zealously continue Trump's policies. But at least we wouldn't have the tweets.
I must say I look at Mike Pence from a different point of view. All of the things Leonhardt said about Pence is true to one degree or the other. Still, it seems to me they are superseded by the fact that Pence was very much willing to abandon every principle he espoused in order to save his political career by attaching himself wholeheartedly to Trump.
It was pretty simple and straightforward what Mike did in 2016... his political prospects, even in very conservative Indiana, were unraveling, as he was a very unpopular governor scrambling to be re-elected. Trump came along and threw Mike a lifeline, which Mike accepted, knowing that he would have to say and do things against his (and especially his wife’s) so-called principles. Mike jumped onboard.
Making Mike seem to be a palatable alternative to Trump is the same as saying bronchitis is preferable to pneumonia... it is, but it is still not a good thing.
I’m a lifelong Hoosier, and I’ve witnessed the rise of Pence over the years. Let’s not fool ourselves about who he is.
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@The Nattering Nabob:
My Dad is a native Hoosier, and although there are but a handful of family and folks he grew up with left, almost to a person these people despised Pence. They were glad he got elected to the House as he was then mostly gone. Pence along with a few others took a union and working person state with humble religious views and turned it into a place of disrespect towards education, a weak safety net for those in need, and worked hard to create mechanisms that resemble "Christain" Sharia Law.
11
@The Nattering Nabob
In the matter of conspiracy to commit election fraud in 2016:
Pence knew.
2
oh, Snap! Thank you David Leonhardt for calling out the many Republican Senators who have been too timid to stand up to the personal standard they set for themselves. This current investigation into Trump's actions remains partisan only if the Republicans want it to be so. The charge of a partisan process is the only defense that they Republicans can raise in support of their defense of Trump as there is neither Constitutional nor moral support for his actions. Time to stand up and be counted by your country Republicans.
8
If the senate refuses to convene a trial, can the democrats expect a senate majority in 2020?
While I would be very happy with a full democratic majority in both houses and the executive, I would be even more pleased with a strong bipartisan condemnation (impeachment and removal from office) of Mr. Trump.
14
@Open-minded Scientist. If the Senate refuses to convene a trial, or if it does and does not convict in spite of overwhelming evidence, it will have a lot of explaining to do. How convincing can their explanation be? Democrats and Independents are already outraged by Trump's behaviour: how far will this outrage be compounded by the Senate's inaction? Far enough to drive them to the polls in unprecedented numbers?
10
I would like to all every GOP member in every state a simple question. What if President Obama or a President Hillary Clinton did the things trump has done and now stood accused of the same actions trump now does, what would you all say and what would demand? I ask for you all to treat trump the same.
18
What I find reprehensible is the contempt that, across the board, Republican senators exhibit for their constituencies. They don’t respect their efforts to understand despite being swamped with with misinformation, their trust in their own very real experience, their desire to do what’s right, their belief and pride in their country and its history, and their need for honest dignity and its recognition. The failure of Republican senators is—literally—a failure of their humanity.
12
I'm sorry, but this talk of Republican senators putting party over country is just wrong. What they are really doing is putting their job security over party, country, ethics, religion...everything. All the power, all the glory, all the perks, its really too much to give up, for anything. If they thought their wonderful position was in jeopardy, they would turn in an instant. Hey voters, its really up to you.
48
@dAvid W Spot on!
Your questions of each Senator are thought provoking... but I do not see Pence as the GOP standard bearer if Trump is impeached. His politics will not play well nationally even though "he is a deeply conservative, anti-regulation, anti-tax, evangelical Christian". Nor it the fact that he never slept with porno stars, never donated to Democrats and has better approval ratings than the POTUS is no reason for the GOP to use HIM as the face of their party. My hunch is that should Trump be impeached or go so far off the rails that the party can no longer support him they will turn to another "deeply conservative, anti-regulation, anti-tax" individual with high moral convictions and national recognition: Mitt Romney.
10
@WFGERSEN You can already see the anti-Pence ad campaigns with tape of one of his several suck up statements at a cabinet meeting tell ing all what an honor it was to serve his master Donald Trump.
Here we go again. This is a primer for NYT columnists:
Donors, donors, donors. Got it yet?
Political campaigns at the Senate level require millions of dollars. As a member of a particular party, one is supported by organizations like think tanks and single issue advocates. As a result, Senator Alexander is no Howard Baker. Senators sell influence. They largely only meet with big donors, and rather than work full time for we the people, they spend precious hours each week engaged in "phone time" with the 1%. Bucking donors means unaffordable campaigns and enemies that will undermine your character.
In this age of calculation and polling, statesmen have left. Rather than appealling to an audience of pretend statesmen, you might try this:
Go after their donors. Point out the dark money. Tell their constituents why their Senators don't represent them, and why they really support Trump. Don't build them up as something they cannot be, but make it obvious why they are the enemies of every citizens' voice. You can start with their fear of the NRA and the continuing slaughter of the innocent.
Because your column will not make a dent in the culture of money and influence they are immersed in and that defines their existence
.
Like you, I hope for democracy and individuals who lead with their values and listen to voters.
Unlike you, I accept the sordid reality of their day-to-day behavior which requires compliance and assent to hold office. Because that culture still endures.
35
@Tom
Oh, and Dem House members endorsing (not voting for, mind you) an impeachment inquiry are not doing so with a thought towards donors?
Be real
Unfortunately the Republicans are caught in the same psychological trap that other hostages are. The Stockholm Syndrome very appropriately sums up where they are and why there is little hope for them:
A hostage's development of positive feelings towards the captor.
No previous relationship between hostage and captor.
A refusal by hostages to cooperate with police forces and other government authorities.
A hostage's belief in the humanity of the captor because they cease to perceive the captor as a threat when the victim holds the same values as the aggressor.
America is better than this, but asking the hostages to help is not going to work.
9
@Insider
I believe they are caught in the money trap, greed has taken over. At 85, my years have shown that this is the worst time I have experienced. Our COUNTRY has lost it's direction.
20
For the House to not act would set a precedent, that Trump's seeking election help from a foreign power is OK. So, Trump will be impeached, but the Republican dominated Senate likely won't vote to convict (or "repeal and replace" him), as this column notes. After the House hearings and a Senate trial, all senators should be held to account for their vote on whether Trump's actions were or were not acceptable, so that their constituents (and history) can judge them (and vote for or against the 20-some Republicans trying to get re-elected in the Senate).
10
@KenP McConnell will not allow a Senate trial.
A good start in this process would be for former Republican Members of the House and Senate, en masse, to publicly break with Trump. It might provide cover for current Members to find their backbones, rekindle their patriotism, recover their sense of right and wrong, and stand up for the Constitution they profess to revere.
58
There was a time when both Democrats and Republicans both believed in the health and prosperity of our country although they had different ideas about how to ensure this. But now the Republican leadership has no moral-- only one goal: to stay in power. It is not thinking about the future of our children, the future of our country. Trump has to go and so does Mitch McConnell.
27
@Jodi Frank Just two days ago, Trump essentially put out a hit on "spies" . He's not only completely unhinged, he's a dangerous thug at the helm of the United States of America. This is a scary business. Yes, #MoscowMitch must go, but every one of Trump's enablers, must too. When I say "go", I mean to jail.
The primary reason Republicans will support Trump at the expense of their personal integrity is the knowledge that without Trump's rabid base, they will be a minority party for the foreseeable future.
11
they already are a minority party
they can't win without the electoral college, or allies in fla. putting their fingers on the scale or gerrymandering. i'm tired of my vote and my views being discounted bc i don't live in rural areas. repubs have never cared about how they get and keep power. they whip up the poor with mysogonistic, racist policies wrapped in christianity but their real love is the rich
I fail to see how Trump differentiates in substance from any of them.
The time has indeed come for Republicans to put the country ahead of any personality. The calculus for Senate Republicans seems to be their own electability in the event of an impeachment backlash from Trump’s “rabid supporters.” I don’t know the numbers per se, but in my informal poll of my republican friends the accelerating sentiment appears to be.....”the time has come...”
We need to convince the real GOP power brokers that their world can continue without Trump. However these people, Hannity, Limbaugh, and Coulter, et. al. are just too far gone for redemption.
33
@EW
I couldn't agree more heartily. But please don't give protective cover under the blanket of "et al" to the sneering, hate-spewing, pitiless and equally irredeemable Ingraham, Pirro, Carlson, Giuliani.
I've left out names here as well -- please fill them in. They belong on a perpetual wall of shame.
14
Dear Select Members of the Senate,
Are you a Senator from an area of this country where a yes vote for impeachment (in the event of a trial in the Senate) could imperil your reelection chances? Are you worried about the wrath that will provoke from the President, his supporters and FOX News? Are you a Senator (privately or in the company of select individuals) who finds yourself gnashing your teeth about the current state of the presidency?
It's true that you might be able to politically survive the upcoming events by laying low. There are people saying a no vote in the Senate is inevitable. That may be so. It would end the process but it won't resolve the problem. How far down the President's rabbit hole are you? If you can still see the light of day, a life line for this country may be thrown your way soon. I urge you to take a hold of it and convince enough of your similarly minded colleagues to do the same. You may not get a second chance.
Ask yourself. Is it worth the risk to let this president continue in his position? You know he is never going to change and it will only get worse. That is in the historical record now. How will you go down in history?
39
DAVID LEONHARDT Is right to call out those Senators who lack the courage to denounce Trump; those who lack the backbone and intestinal fortitude to stand up to the tyrant who has attacked the bedrock foundations upon which our Republic is built, will show themselves to lack the courage to stand up and be counted; To defeat Trump's brutality and lawlessness, along with his shamelessness and degradation of standing as a force for good in the world are consigning themselves to being ejected from their jobs by the voters. I don't know where the figures of 90% approval rating of Trump's job performance comes from. But without corroboration, the person making the statement, joining Trump in his high crimes and misdemeanors, along with his Pandora's box of crimes. The choice is clear, logical, powerful and correct: The must continue not to defend Trump and join in his impeachment in the House, as well as the Trial in the Senate, gettling rid of others including Giuliani, Pence, Pompeo, and others. History will look upon those of us who saw, challenged and ended Trump's evil, while helping to repair the destruction he has wrought, as the alternative to Trump's lawlessness is building coallitions of millions in the US understand the gravity is Trump's crimes along with those of Pence.
7
They will cave when they think they will be worse off if they don’t. I wish ethics or the public interest had anything to do with their decision making. If either could matter, they would not have caved when Trump first ran.
32
Senators, if for nothing else, do it for selfish reasons... so that ten years from now, you can look back on the choices you made with pride rather than shame. This impeachment will be in the history books as will your role in this whole sorry mess.
26
Don’t count on it. Long before Trump, the Republican Party sacrificed principle to winning by any means necessary.
23
It is obvious that all of the members of Congress who are Republicans are only interested in tax cuts and more money for the rich of our country, despite driving up the deficit which they complain about all the time when a Democratic President is in office, and they are willing to be complicit in Trump's horrible behavior, racism, anti-social behavior, bad economic policies, and destruction of our environment. They now are complicit in his apparent bartering of military aid to other countries if these countries investigate (dig "dirt") his political opponents. If this last behavior goes unchecked, it will set a new low standard for the Presidency. U.S. Marines like rolling in dirt, not being sold for it. The Republicans in office, and the Republican Party, in toto, aids and abets Trump and they will be held liable for his "high crimes and misdemeanors" in the future.
12
'America is better than this, isn’t it?'
Sadly,that proposition is arguable at this point in time.
Wish it wasn't so, but.....
13
Dear Mr. Leonhart,
While your appeal to these senators is reasonable and righteous, it is heartbreakingly naïve. I receive email from Senator Marc Rubio’s office, and the understanding of current events that his office seeks to convey to me is so detached from reality, such an act of channeling Fox News, that your reasonableness and your righteousness, your plea, will be dismissed as an alien rant from the Left.
You seek integrity from these senators. You ask them to live up to their words, to forsake hypocrisy. Nearly 90% of Republicans support Trump, an indication that they don’t hear reason, they don’t receive righteousness, and hypocrisy is a concept born in the foreign lecture halls of academe with no connection to them.
20
Putin & Co. played a long game and realized that their revenge against the Fall of the Berlin Wall would entail the destruction of the Western Alliance. To do so, they shopped for traitors, which included the Trump Family, the Brexit crowd, and the Le Pens. The GOP found this gravy train to what they perceived as permanent power and money over fellow Americans irresistable.
26
Although Democrats may believe Republicans love Trump, they mistake partisanship for it. Many Republicans are bluffing, gleefully. The adore seeing progressives upset, even if queasy too.
Most of us are firmly in our bubbles, including me. Where I live my liberal opinions aren't even liberal.
But I happen to have a yen for playing baseball, and for some reason 50+ men's hardball attracts Republicans. I don't talk politics, just listen. They literally say they like Trump, but he may be too corrupt to stay President, in which case they're happy with Pence.
My concern isn't about Republicans. They'll abandon Trump once he's a total loser. Does anyone believe he's the little pig who built his house out of bricks? Trump's a straw man. How many huffs and puffs will it take to blow this administration down?
My concern is with Democrats. Their candidates self-selected based on Trump as opponent. It's why Biden ran. Progressives rose because Trump is weak & polarizing. Impeachment defines Steyer. What happens if Trump is removed or so damaged a mainstream Republican opponent takes over?
DP Moynihan predicted the USSR's collapse in 1985, and tried to get the US to think through a post-cold war world. Analyze NATO expansion, Russian capitalism, etc., before events took over. No one listened, and we ended up responding to events, rather than strategically using them.
It's time to think through an election without Trump.
12
David, let me offer a different argument.
Republicans, do you really want to go down in history as standing with Trump?
Is this really what you went into politics to accomplish?
Democrats and Republicans should be arguing about the proper size and role of government, not groveling in the gutter hoping to hang on to life by bear-hugging a pariah.
The best hope that the Republican Party has to have a future is to cut bait on Trump ASAP.. You know what he is, and you're better than him. We're all better than him.
Reach out to the Murdochs and let them know that this is the time to pull the plug on their support for this train wreck of a human being and President.
You know that he going down in 2020 regardless; your best chance of holding your own in that election, and the mid-term election after that, is to walk as far away from him and his enablers as quickly possible, and let them take the hit. He deserves it. He's had it coming for a long time.
You simply have to walk away. He's not your friend, and he'd cut your throat, both politically and I strongly suspect literally, in a NY minute if he thought it would improve his odds of escaping the debacle that he has created.
Trump and Rudy apparently believe that they're characters in a Mafia movie - and if that's so, you have double-cross them before they double-cross you. I know that this is a cliche, but this is business, the business that you chose to be in, it's not personal. It's the smart move.
18
A inspiring opinion piece : a cry from the heart AND head.
Thank you ,Mr.Leonhardt
8
Plain, reasoned language is at least worth a shot. Sadly, the GOP seems to use a dictionary that provides definitions unique to itself and its self-serving interests. That, coupled with its demonstrated boorish habits of not listening to any arguments other than its own and loudly talking over anyone who attempts to engage in civil discussion, suggest that your words will fall on deaf ears. That's both a pity and a tragedy.
4
Republicans won't even give the people who voted for them what they want, like gun control, infrastructure, or health care. They are in politics for one reason: money. While in office they do the bidding of the fossil fuel industry, the banks, the NRA and anyone else without a conscience but with a fat checkbook. Out of office, they go to work for the same people. There isn't a spine among them. You can bet however, that the second Trump is out of office, for whatever reason, it will be "Donald Trump? Never heard of him."
9
The appeal to Republicans is fine, but some non-Republicans remember that St. Reagan should have been sent to jail for breaking the law in multiple ways, after being impeached and convicted -- removed from the Presidency -- for sabotaging American policy by selling arms to Iran and then using the money illegally to undermine a nearby government.
11
@Thomas Zaslavsky glad you brought this up. Another impeachment that should have been.
1
Alas, I share the deep fears that we have overestimated the American political system, the fears shown by the question mark at the end of this piece. How did we get to the point that America's fate came to be in the hands of the worst of the worst such as lickspittles Graham and Moscow Mitch? That most Republicans support Trump is dismal commentary on a segment of the America's people, but the rest of us must realize that, except for the fraudulent voting and gerrymandering, the GOP is already out of power. The only good outcome if Republican Senators betray their own oaths of office is that they will bring about the end of the Republican party in the next couple of election cycles. Though many of the Founders despised each other, most assumed the opposition was the "loyal" opposition; if the GOP Senate doesn't vote to impeach Trump, they will be forever remembered as disloyal, traitorous, treasonous.
9
It’s too late for the republicans who have jumped on the Trump train. That train has left the station and it is picking up speed...right into a big, beautiful wall.
We, the people, will have quite a mess to clean up.
12