And the people who don't care should be cast out.
1
Well well. We know the dems don't like Trump. Despise him actually and many of them have become deranged by their hatred. However, the Ukraine "scandal" is nothing. There is no criminal or treasonous act and it is difficult to make the case that he asked about Biden because he wanted dirt on Biden for 2020. The unfortunate truth is, for dems, Biden's actions in Ukraine, including his son Hunter being on the board of a Ukrainian company making money for nothing (and the chicks for free) are suspicious. It would be one thing if Trump said -- look Zel, it's possible some of my dem opponents had corrupt dealings in Ukraine, here's a list (Poc, sleepy, the Bern, Kammie, and Little Peter). Have your guys poke around, see if any of them had any dealings. Get me some dirt, and I'll be your $$$ BFF.
But Trump didn't say anything close to that, although the way the dems are representing what happened, that's what some will start to believe. What Trump said was in the context of Zelensky discussing corruption in the Ukraine. And that was a topic Zel initiated.
And the bigger fact is that the dems have been pushing impeachment since the day Trump was legally elected president. That undermines any specific so-called impeachable offense they come up with now or in the future. And the Russian collusion narrative further undermines the credibility of dems.
Hate on Trump all you want. Being the object of hatred isn't an impeachable offense.
7
"Ethically dubious"? Stop sugarcoating - there is nothing this president does or says that can be trusted. He lies, he fantasizes, he bullies, he is incoherent & inconsistent, he has the moral backbone of a jellyfish. He simply can not be trusted - by anyone.
2
Exactly. When large swathes of the electorate are morally bankrupt, don’t expect them to remove a morally bankrupt president.
1
It certainly will be because we have a single political party and a cult!
1
Giuliani, Pompeo and Barr: “The three stooges”
1
But will it be easier than impeaching Clinton?
You forgot to mention there is Fox TV today.
2
The reason impeachment won't work this time is because Dems no longer enjoy a near-total Media monopoly as they did during the Nixon years. Furthermore, their Media has completely lost credibility with American conservatives so, no matter how loudly they scream, no one on the right is listening anymore.
3
Technically Richard Nixon wasn't impeached. Nixon resigned as Congress was drawing up impeachment charges.
5
It can't be overstated just how much damage Watergate did to the image of the presidency and of the attitude of Americans towards politics in general. The presidency used to be treated with a degree of deference if not reverence. A president was expected to be a statesman and a gentleman, to the point where people (including Republicans) were truly shocked and appalled when the Nixon tapes came out. Cynicism has since reigned to the point where Trump's supporters don't care about their candidate's character as long as he "makes our enemies mad" ("getting things done" isn't even a factor here, unlike other demagogues like Huey Long).
3
"Unlike the electorate in 1974, voters today have always known that the president is ethically dubious, and many don’t care."
60 million apparently don't care according to recent polling. That's a whole lot more than "many". Now a very large minority of our citizens are apparently ethically challenged also.
Doesn't bode well for the future of "land of the free".
164
@cherrylog754
More people than we'd like to believe are receptive to the promises and compromises of a strongman-style leader.
7
@cherrylog754, and the money the RNC is taking in makes me wonder how many wealthy are kooks and/or ethically bankrupt are still backing the Trump undermining of the Constitution and the rampant corruption. It can't be more clear that Mr. Trump is handing the country over to an adversary in exchange for help in winning in 2020 and because he's greedy.
3
@cherrylog754 In 1872 a majority of people were against emancipation. I wouldn't say an "ethically challenged" electorate is a necessarily a new thing.
3
"The president’s critics today have a greater challenge: to persuade enough voters that the real Mr. Trump — whom we already know — is a criminal worth removing from office."
While Ms. Olmsted has a point, she is ignoring an important fact: Democrats know that they cannot impeach Mr. Trump. They know Senate Republicans will block their impeachment effort. Never-the-less, they are starting the impeachment process. The question that was not addressed is, why?
The answer is actually very simple. Democrats intend to show to those who thought that "the real-Trump" will be replaced by "the presidential Trump" once he stepped into the oval office that: 1) that change in Trump's personality never happened; and, 2) how corrupt and vile "the real Trump" actually is.
Those analyzing the 2016 election statistics agree on one thing: Trump got elected because some independent voters, and some republicans, who previously voted for Mr. Obama, decided to vote for him. And it is no secret that many of them believed that Mr. Trump, once in the White House, will change and behave the way the President of the United States should.
So, even if Democrats' impeachment effort goes no where, by showing "the real Trump" to the US public, they could get back much of the independent and Obama republican votes they lost in 2016. And, as we saw in that election, in a tight race those votes could in fact make the difference between winning and losing the White House.
3
"Impeaching Trump Will Be Harder Than Impeaching Nixon"
Well, Duh. There was real evidence of serious crimes with Nixon. For Trump, there just hearsay about what's probably not a crime at all.
6
Impeachment isn't a popularity contest and neither is picking and choosing what part of the Constitution to ignore. You really do not get America, beyond popularity ratings.
2
If things continue as such (polarizing partisan politics from both sides and incitement to violence), I see dire days in store for this country and nation! Days bloodier and even more horrendous than what I witnessed as a teenager in Syria!
May God protect America and its people during these troubling times!
2
@Matt: Being impeached is equivalent to a criminal law indictment. If the subsequent trial finds you not guilty, of course you may continue in office.
Some voters may not care. I believe a an overwhelming majority will
@Portola
I hope so, but my opinion of humanity has been pretty low of late.
1
I have no hope of Trump ever being found guilty of any crime. He is the most seasoned criminal politician that there ever was and is. Please read David Cay Johnston's book "The Making of Trump." Your eyes will open to who he is and how incredibly capable he is of avoiding consequence for his crimes.
He is a genius when it comes to illegal, unethical and criminal acts. The only thing that would help get him is if all of the Senate Republicans would turn against him. And we know that would NEVER happen.
1
So what you are saying is that conservatives, as a group, have lost their moral compass?
2
Unlike today’s paper “republicans”, there were real Republicans in 1974. That’s the difference...
3
Nixon was never impeached.
@KR
A distinction without a difference, since Nixon resigned after he was advised by Republican leaders of both houses of Congress that their nose count showed that he didn't have nearly the votes needed to survive.
2
@KR
And your point is?
You understand that to be impeached, one has to hold office, and Nixon jumped ship before he could be oficially impeached because he knew he was doomed.
Regardless of whether or not the Senate votes to impeach, it is critical for the house to gather and show evidence of corruption to the American people. Then if the Senate acquits, they own it. As far as Biden, it was inappropriate for Hunter Biden to accept the position at the Ukrainian gas company but, and this is important, not illegal. There is no evidence that his dad did anything untoward in his dealings in fact that Prosecutor was fired for not Prosecuting enough corruption.
So back to Hunter Biden's position at the Gas Company. Is that less ethical than the President having the VP stay at one of his properties? Less ethical than Ivanka, who unlike Hunter, is making money internationally with her business even though she has a position in the executive branch? Less ethical than Mar A Largo and the blatant violations of the emoluments clause? Seems a bit hypocritical to me to hold Hunter Biden to account but not the Trump children.
139
The Trumps have no shame.
Of course they are benefiting from their father in the White House. The Trump boys are running all over the world as ‘sons of the US President’ making ‘deals’. The Kushner are doing the same. The President is pushing his properties.
They have no shame.
9
Biden doesnt "hack it" Warren or Bernie do...Biden running will get tRumpf put in again
1
@rupert
Maybe, but at this point I would vote for a dead armadillo with halitosis before I would pull the lever for Trump. The Democrats could nominate a turnip and I would campaign for it.
4
But you need to ask WHY Trump supporters don’t care about his misdeeds.
They are mostly white conservative evangelicals, who believe that Trump is God’s ordained Warrior to fight for Christians in the final battles of the end time.
They WANT him to fight hard, even to fight dirty, as long as he is fighting for them, which they utterly believe he is.
It is a strange paradox, but true nonetheless: Trump may use every UNCHRISTIAN means at his disposal, as long as he is fighting for CHRISTIANS.
That is the evangelical view.
It is NOT, I should add, the mainstream Christian view, which rests upon the word of the gospel: by your fruits you shall know them.
199
@Paul McGlasson
I know people that have voted for Trump, some are even family members and I can say unequivalently they are not conservative evangelicals.
They hated Clinton so much that they voted for Trump, a few will never vote for him again, but others think he's doing a good job.
While Trump has a strong evangelical following there are not enough to bring him over the top. It's the working class white men and educated women that need to renounce Trump and I don't see that yet.
Hopefully the impeachment process will enlighten them. Not sure it will.
47
@Paul McGlasson. What did it take to make that lady in the Panhandle feel betrayed by Trump? “He is hurting the wrong people.” I suppose we should accept votes in northern Florida wherever we can find them.
3
@VMG.
Your observations pretty much parallel my own. There are people in this country who believe rightly or wrongly that their lifestyles are under attack. They see in Trump a champion who is fighting on their behalf.
Some but not all are Evangelical Christians. Many see a threat in rising levels of immigration and in the global economy. Many fear that we are about to descend into chaos and are determined to protect themselves by any means necessary.
These are not totally baseless fears. The global economy has been brutal toward working class Americans of all races but downsizing and outsourcing particularly enraged white workers who grew up believing that their lives would better.
Trump promised them something different.
Some of my Trump supporting friends are now disillusioned and will not vote for him under any circumstnces even if they may not be able to bring themselves to vote for a Democrat.
Others are still with him and even more passionately than before. They love that he is bringing the fight to the other side with a bare knuckled machismo that most can only experience vicariously.
"I just love the way he speaks" gushed one Trump supporter, a disabled veteran. "He doesn't back down."
People who want to evict Trump from the White House would do well to listen to his supporters and stop lumping them all into one deplorable basket.
5
Impeaching this president will not be difficult; however, a conviction by the senate will be
You know, when you publish an article entitled "Impeaching Trump Will Be Harder Than Impeaching Nixon," I am generally expecting to see a recent poll that indicates less support for impeaching Trump, or a more complicated impeachment process, or more barriers in the Senate -- some sort of hard data on which such an opinion is based. What we have here is a historical survey of Watergate, plus a single tacked-on sentence at the end: "The president’s critics today have a greater challenge: to persuade enough voters that the real Mr. Trump — whom we already know — is a criminal worth removing from office." So the entire crux of the article is a self-evident statement, something that anyone who reads the paper daily already knows. I have a better idea for an article: write us, instead, a list of similarities between the events of Watergate and the events of today. As you know, there are more than a few.
The president's critics have to persuade enough voters that the processes of our democracy -- rule of law, separation of powers -- are worth being preserved. The problem is that they have been abused so that they do not work very well and often lead at best to gridlock.
Voters face the choice of living with them, throwing them out, or repairing them. Those who have been abusing them prefer throwing them out to repairing them, since throwing them out would leave most mechanisms of abuse functioning pretty much as before. Overpriced and unneeded weapons would continue to be profitably produced in a system of patronage, for example.
Repairing our democratic processes so that they work more the way they pretend to work would be the radical choice, since it would bring about much more autonomy in government and also a larger, more activist public sector and limitations on the privacy of private sector dealings.
Moderates are reluctant to disrupt the current functioning of the system because such disruptions might bring about various system failures, and might be taken over by immoderate people they do not trust.
@sdavidc9 the immoderates are already in charge!
The Dems have the votes in the House to impeach where only a simple majority is required.
Conviction in the Senate requires a 2/3 vote or 67 votes; 20 GOP senators must join 47 Dems.
With Nixon the Senate was Democratic and only about 10 GOP votes were needed.
There were with Nixon liberal GOP senators like Javits, Case Hatfield.
Even Goldwater [a reactionary] had principles.
That breed of GOP senator has vanished.
Conviction in the Senate will be very difficult unless more damaging information comes out.
Impeachment has always been a political act more than a legal one, and by virtue of this, Pelosi is gravely mistaken thinking Americans will take the high road on this matter. Many Americans voted for Trump because he isn't a crooked politician. The fact he's a crooked businessman is irrelevant to his supporters, nor the fact that Trump exalts his ignorance and disdain for the rule of law. One could argue that this was ultimately Nixon's legacy, bestowing a culture of cynicism to America.
I strongly suspect attempts at impeaching Trump will fail, and this will further embolden figures such as Orban and Putin around the world; after all, it will signal that the American Republic doesn't care about the rule of law. On account of this, why should any other world leader do otherwise?
3
Impeaching Trump will take 218 votes. Removing him from office is a different story. If the author means, 'removing him' when she claims it will difficult to impeach him. She is correct. But, make no mistake about it. President Donald J. Trump will be impeached by the House of Representatives. Speaker Pelosi would not have moved forward without at least 220 votes to impeach already.
3
We will see how the voting goes for those democrats who are on shaky ground in their districts. Probably safer to abstain from voting or vote no knowing that the president will not be removed from office.
1
Today’s Democrats are already way ahead of their 1970s counterparts in the polls. A large plurality, and near majority already supports impeachment. Back then, it was a tiny percentage that grew as the proceedings went on. Any growth at all in current support for impeachment will force even Republicans to reconsider the wisdom of defending Trump.
1
"voters today have always known that the president is ethically dubious, and many don’t care. "
This is true, well-said, and I share that attitude. He is pretty far from being a model for anything but he said the right things in 2016, won fair and square, and seems to be doing what he said he would do, in his own clumsy and hodgepodge way but I will take it any day vs. his supremely smart, smooth, toothless, and do-nothing predecessor.
And hold no hope for your impeachment case. It is a political cauldron which will collapse in the Senate and will fuel DT's re-election march. It should not take a genius to realize that.
1
@ss
Doing what he said ?
1) Take no donations ? Nope
2) Lock her up ? Nope
3) Build the wall ? Nope
4) Eliminate the national debt ? Nope
5) Stop the carnage ? Nope
6) 5% growth ? Nope
7) Reduce the trade deficit ? Nope
8) Stop Iran & North Korea's nuclear programs ? Quite the opposite
Who are you trying to fool here ? It's not working
The Democrats have been acting like attack dogs going after President Trump from the first day he was surprisingly elected. They are still upset that he beat Hillary Clinton and have not stopped talking about removing him. They have tried to remove him before to no avail. All the Democrats talk about is impeachment while doing nothing in congress for the people. What alternative will they have to offer voters. Very little. They are the losers and President Trump will remain in office and be reelected. The Republicans will also gain significantly in 2020.
14
@KMW -- It is the behavior of the President that is the issue, not the Dem "attack dogs." Sure, the GOP went after Clinton, but he lied under oath and was impeached. It all comes out eventually. Too bad you are chained to a sinking ship.
13
@KMW Elected Democrats (without Russian help) passed over 200 bills that are being held up by Moscow Mitch so that the clan can claim that the Democrats do nothing.
18
You conveniently forget that the Republicans had control of both the House and the Senate for the first two years of the Trump administration. If no law was passed that would benefit the little people, Paul, Mitch and Donald are to blame. Anything the Democrats wished to do was stonewalled.
Even though the Democrats have now regained control of the House, the Republican controlled Senate still stonewalls any legislation that passes the House.
10
From the outline here I see little difference between the Nixon cover up and that of trump. The only difference as pointed out is that trump has no shame and all of the hubris of Nixon and would not fear a trial by the Senate and would never resign. In the end if the Republicans can muster the decency to convict him, trump wilt have to be removed by force from the Oval Office. It won't be pretty.
2
On the other hand, Nixon was infinitely smarter than Trump. And he had competent, knowledgeable advisers. Trump has Giuliani who succeeds in further incriminating his own client every time he opens his mouth. Giuliani is doing the work of the House Democrats for them.
2
I thought Nixon resigned.
3
Completely agree that Trump will never be impeached by revelations of his deceit.
But that doesn't means he's magically invulnerable! It just means the "secret" he's keeping is different from Nixon's.
What WILL unravel Trump? Could be something of small legal or constitutional consequence that paints a technicolor portrait of him as cowardly, insecure, or (worst of all) uncertain and out of control. People love him IN SPITE OF HIS AWFULNESS for his strength, because it gives them a way to beat up on people they don't like. And like all bullies and tin-pot dictators, he can't survive any perception of weakness.
1
@American Abroad Impeachment takes a majority vote in the House of Representatives. Trump will be impeached. Trump is unlikely to be removed from office by a vote of at least 67 US Senators.
@Gianni St Angelo,
You might be right. And I totally share your jaundiced view of Senate Republicans. All I can say is that I HOPE we’re both wrong.
We all know who the real Trump is. The problem is the lengths we have to take to punish or correct him. I'm . getting on in years so I remember that when I was a bad boy I got a spanking. It wasn't a beating...it was a slap on the rear end. Simple and to the point.
Trump was always Reggie Rich and was probably never punished.
Actually in one way it is simpler. There is a Statute that expressly states it is illegal to “solicit anything of value” for a campaign from a foreign government .
1. Biden was the leading Democrat in July
2. So it was clearly of value to find dirt on Biden
3. And Trump clearly solicited Ukraine government help to do so.
Quid pro quo is a cherry on the top of the Sundae.
Let’s add Stormygate as another clear election crime, and one where his co-conspirator pleaded guilty.
And re: Ukraine use of Giuliani and particularly his connection with State department is illegal
as Trump’s personal attorney under the Logan act.
And the failure to forward the “whistleblower” complaint as per that Statute is also undeniable.
The complaints that (a) it’s all second and third hand stuff is totally irrelevant. This is an initial complaint to be fleshed out by the committees . Just like an initial police canvas in a crime investigation is going to have second hand info.
And (b) the whistleblower is probably a Democrat irrelevant because it was examined by a Trump-appointed Inspector General and OKed.
Impeachment is easy in my view, conviction on the other hand....
There is a significant trajectory that runs from Nixon through Trump and the element that connects the two eras is Roger Stone.
Stone, is a self described Nixon campaign dirty trickster. Stone was instrumental in attempting to restore Nixon’s image. He orchestrated dinners, lunch’s and other meetings with prominent leaders and politicians, etc. to that effect.
Stone has been Trump’s closest and longest political consultant. It has been Stone and other corrupt players who have chafed under the restraints that were put on the Presidency.
It is Stone, that really believes and has probably filled Trump’s head with the notion, “that if the President does it, it isn’t illegal.”
A reminder, in case anyone is confused by the headline of this article. Nixon was never impeached. The full House of Representatives did not vote on the articles of impeachment that the committee passed; Nixon resigned before the full House could vote.
There are probably plenty GOP senators who have had enough of this nightmare presidency and will vote to convict. Pence will ascend the throne to applause and expressions of goodwill. He might even win reelection if he challenges the Democrats to change the asylum laws and end the invasion from the south.
It's not just Trump that we're tired of dealing with. There is also the deaths of tens of thousands of our citizens every year from opiates and meth brought up from the south. Let's learn a lesson from history. Let's learn a lesson from the invasion from the north in the mid 1770's when the British and Hessians descended from Canada and laid waste to the countryside.
History repeats itself.
1
The article is spot on, and this is different with Trump. The framers envisioned quite a bit of bad behavior with many safeguards but never could they have foreseen the impact I’d add from recent technology. The power of the vote could never been imagined to be subverted through cyber tampering, information distortion, and micro-targeted advertising. It’s vote cheating and suppression at lightspeed taking away the ultimate power of the people. It is not clear that the constitutional safeguards will prevail over this kind of criminal tampering and technology which is truly runaway, uncontrolled, unregulated and not fiduciaries of the public good and trust. Rather, they are mega-corporations beholden to the market and no one but themselves. Can an old-world congress rise to the occasion and counter with meaningful updates? Possibly, though I’d wager unlikely. We do know that it will not be in time for this real time crisis.
1
"Impeaching Trump Will Be Harder Than Impeaching Nixon"
That is much wishful-thinking on Republican part. The fact is very few Republicans in Washington actually like Trump. But they are lining up behind him simply because they are afraid he let his base loose on them.
That fear will evaporate quickly, once they see him weak and vulnerable. In particular, when they see some of their colleagues, who happen to have a spine, start to put distance between themselves and him. Then, overnight, the few rain drops turn into a deluge, washing away Trump's house-of-cards.
2
@Eddie B.
Also, when primary season is over and they have to face the whole electorate, it is a whole new ballgame.
Isn't this a paradox of reasoning? that is, Olmstead claiming that, because the criminal nature of Trump is on full display that it will take more to impeach him than it did to threaten the impeachment of Nixon, who was more duplicitous. I'm stunned by a fellow academic's ability to torque logic this way. But perhaps she recognizes how benighted the public has become, how self-delusioned about this madman, this corrupt narcissist who acts in plain sight. The Anderson fairy tale has it right: everyone sees the nakedness of the Emperor, but no one will admit to what their own eyes tell them.
2
Sorry but in the end the truth prevails no matter how someone tries to manipulate it or cover it up.
1
What a sad state of affairs when “voters today have always known that the president is ethically dubious, and many don’t care.” Sad.
1
This column is an effort to compare an apple to an orange. It is always difficult to impeach a President. I point out the obvious: though a columnist has to meet deadlines and file a piece this one is wide of the mark. Nixon was never impeached.
The second big thing is as far as we know there are no tapes. The tapes swayed the Republicans that NIxon was a crook. Here we all know Trump is a crook and he was elected with substantial information he was a crook. The people have spoken.
However Trump is truly dangerous. So was Nixon, who prolonged the war costing American lives. Trump favors armed insurrections against his enemies, the hated immigrants. He has called what is going on a coup and has labeled the press as the enemy of the people. He is irrational and very dangerous.
It will take at least 20 Republican Senators to throw him out and then the question is will he leave or surround himself with the palace guard.
These are dangerous times, as if you didn't already know that.
@Harry Schaffner
Nixon was never impeached, but that is a distinction without a difference. He resigned, precisely because a delegation of Republican leaders led by Barry Goldwater told him that the nose counts in both the House and Senate clearly gave him no chance, and that included a lot of Republicans who had turned against him.
1
Actually it could take zero Republican Senators voting to convict to find Trump guilty! Huh?
It requires a guilty vote of two thirds of the Senators PRESENT to convict according to the Constitution!
So if the Senator from East Dakota rounds up his friends in the Senate for a fact-finding trip to a Costa Rican resort city, and only 23 Republican Senators are present....
Lets see if the pro-impeachment polls keep creeping up. There will then come a tipping point when Republicans start to feel staying with this President is more dangerous than ditching him. And see if Fox News ever so gingerly sidles away from Trump, because if Murdoch goes against him, he’s toast.
Not saying any of the above will happen but if they do then Trump is in bad trouble!
1
Yes it will be harder this time, since there’s no crime this time...
1
@JW
Impeachment is not a criminal prosecution. A statutory offense is neither necessary nor sufficient to support articles of impeachment.
Bill Clinton was impeached but remained in office. What does that say about partisan politics, then and now?
1
A crucial distinction is that the disinformation environment is so much different and more potent today. I doubt Nixon would have been told by Barry Goldwater that he was doomed to lose in the Senate had the Republicans had Fox News and the social media and internet environment back then.
I genuinely fear for the future of liberal democracy given how effective the tools of disinformation and gaslighting are now. If it is indeed true that many elected Republicans abhor Trump in private yet don't challenge him in public, then it is because they live in fear of their gaslit primary base because that base determines their political future. The overwhelming majority of elected Republicans care only about their own narrow self interest, and feel no obligation to honor their oaths of office.
Depending on modern Republicans to put the future of the republic first is doomed to failure. The only thing that will coincidentally align them with the Constitution is if and when Republicans determine that it is in their own selfish interest to dump Trump. Good luck with that given how gaslit their primary voting base is. Pathetic.
26
@StarMan
The real problem is that so many people have such weak intellect, which allows these media platforms to be so effective. I guess humanity just is not rational and intelligent enough yet to have a truly stable, civil society.
2
The author makes an often overlooked point--most of those voting for Trump knew who, and what, they were getting. They voted for him because of who he was, not in spite of it.
2
We are in a different time than we were in 1974. The fact that Nixon needed to preserve the appearance of honesty to remain viable, but Trump does not, is a sad commentary on the state of the nation.
We have now become a desperate electorate that needs to win at all costs. This is the stuff of declining nations and banana republics. No healthy political system can leave such a political criminal like Trump with a fraction of the power he has.
Democrats have the unenviable task of pressing impeachment in the face of Republican opposition accompanied by yawning apathy among the middle of the political spectrum. So far, much of the public looks at this as a political fight in Washington that has little to do with them.
They are wrong in the long run. If this behavior is not resoundingly punished by the voters, it will just get worse. No election in the future will proceed without the incumbent making war on his/her political opponents using all of the tools of office including the DOJ. It’s now or never to stop this.
3
What's going on in America now with the Trump Presidency makes Nixon/Watergate look like the work of a gang of juvenile delinquents. This country faces a domestic crisis without historical precedence. There may be some historical analogies that apply that match the severity of the challenge but the specifics of the situation are unique to the here and now. How best to proceed with the unique complexities presented is baffling Congressional leaders, seasoned professionals of the political world.
1
I can't claim to understand, let alone advise, on Presidential matters, but my father taught me about bullies. I was bullied as an elementary student when my father insisted that I confront the bully. It was amazing how quickly the bully backed down when confronted with the reality that I was willing and ready to fight. After many decades, I have seen the same dynamic replayed over and over again; bullies fold when they are forced to back up their words. Trump is careful to "negotiate" with tyrants because he knows they may call his bluff. He is cautious with North Korea and Iran, yet, he is entirely reckless with Mexico and Denmark. Picking on easy targets is a classic pattern of a bully. The question is; who is willing to get bloodied on our side? So far, I like Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris. The House did the right thing beginning the impeachment process, but I hope they are not too timid. The bully will not see our point of view. I still remember walking over to the bully's home with my fists clenched and fear permeating my soul. As I stood in his back yard waiting for him to come out and fight, I saw a scared little boy peering out the window. He didn't intend to fight me; he never did. It was all an illusion.
I really hope the author is wrong. Because is she is right, then we are well on the road to tyranny under King Donald I.
1
The author is mistaken in believing that opinion in the matter of impeachment is frozen. Just in the last week, polls have shown very marked changes in the opinions of people as to whether Donald Trump should be investigated; and whether he should be impeached. Some polls found majorities on both questions.
Like Watergate, Ukraine-gate is a rapidly evolving, blossoming scandal whose end point is very difficult to predict at this point.
Many are horrified by Trump’s actions. The narrative of wrongdoing is clear. The many trial lawyers in the House are going to bring that story into the living rooms of America. Trump’s panic is justified.
3
Ethically dubious? That is way too mild. He is more than ethically dubious. The facts will be out soon. Then if the Republicans decide that we are no longer a nation of laws, at least we'll know who's responsible for the destruction of our Republic.
3
Any Column comparing "Michigan Man Of The Year" to Richard Nixon does a terrible disservice to both men, because it elevates Nixon's crimes and belittles Donald Trumps. Nixon's crimes look like high school high jinks compared to Donald Trumps "activity." Remember that there is credibly evidence that Donald Trump has been conspiring with foreign governments for his own personal benefit AGAINST the best interest of our country. This is a national security issue and a staggering difference between "The Chosen One" and some "quaint" criminal brake-in and cover up. The debate that should be taking place in America now is this: Is Donald Trump the greatest criminal that America has ever produced or is he the first president too have committed treason? A good case can be made for both and that is what we should be discussing.
2
"To be sure, Mr. Trump is no stranger to cover-ups. He hides his tax returns and refuses to discuss his businesses. "
Perhaps it will be harder to impeach Trump than Nixon because comments like the one above show there is not really a case for impeaching Trump.
There is no law that says a presidential candidate or president is required to disclose their tax returns or businesses. Refusing to do so is not a cover-up.
If this is the kind of evidence that Democrats will use to impeach Trump, here come 4 more years.
2
I have looked into the composition of the Senate during the Watergate epoch, and I found a remarkable difference with today's Senate. Most senators had served. They had seen action in WWII or in Korea.
That meant that they had been part of something greater and had experienced the value of loyalty and the pain of sacrifice. They knew that what Nixon had done was a betrayal of what the USA stood for. Nixon was wise to resign, because even his own party would not protect him.
This has changed. This is in fact a significant change. Too many people in politics either see it as a job that conveys power well beyond what they could achieve with their skills or as a stepping stone to something more lucrative. These people cannot be relied on to act against Trump. He is too much like them.
6
It's up to voters ?
I thought the House votes on it
As for Nixon, it's a good thing they still play "Sweet Home Alabama", otherwise people would actually believe your take on Watergate
Yes impeachment will fail in the senate however Trump is being politically damaged and his over the top reactions by hundreds of manic tweets. Trump will lose in 2020 and face prosecution by the SDNY as Mueller said Trump can be charged when out of office.
1
There will be no impeaching Trump. It's all just a show.
Meanwhile...transportation, infrastructure, gun, immigration, trade legislation waits for Schiff, Nadler and Pelosi to deign do their work. As it ever was.
2
Trump has changed how politicians relate to their supporters.They expect him to "bend the truth" as a conservative acquaintance of mine recently told me.They admire him for it.It is seen as a necessary tactic in order to take on the "political swamp" he is supposed to be fighting.He is their David vs the Goliath of big government.Republican senators will stick with him as long as they perceive that Trump's bold lying and obfuscation is working with their voters.The situation could change if more whistleblowers come forward and Trump's political cronies start to desert him.They may come to the conclusion that even though they love him,supporting him is not worth the effort.So what if he's gone,"Moscow Mitch" will still make sure our government is dysfunctional.
1
I'm waiting for one of Trump's staffers, knowing the ship is going down, to record one of his profane, saliva-flecked tantrums and offer it for sale to the highest bidder. Ought to make a lucrative life jacket. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if John Bolton, who had access to all kinds of spy gear, has already got the video and is just biding his time.
2
You don't think that cynicism has a shelf life? I do.
1
Too bad Biden didnt keep a check on his kid, getting 50k a month is food for the right wing, hey Warren and or Biden or this country will bust!
2
The graft and cronyism is unbelievable...I hope they have to pay it back!
@rupert
His son is an adult. I don't know how old you are, but when I was Hunter Biden's age, I would have been deeply offended by the suggestion that my parents could control me at that age.
1
Trump will resign. According to him the world The world will suffer?
Pence will be his dictator. He will forgive the federal crimes as Trump would.
The attorney general of New York city will handle the rest.
Other differences:
1. Republicans senators are less patriotic and more partisan; and
2. Nixon had some shame when caught lying - Trump just continues lying and blames his accusers.
But far, far more critical for the survival of our democracy. We could have survived another couple of years of Nixon's shenanigans. Trump, on the other hand, is turning America into ancient Rome, with his kleptocrat buddies in power and himself as emperor, sitting on his throne giving thumbs up or down on everything. All hail Orange Julius Caesar!!!
You don't have to convince me. I believe Donald Trump is a criminal, and nothing short of impeachment would satisfy me. Let justice be done.
1
Of course, it will be tougher to impeach Trump - Nixon was a Quaker, not a FakerOf course, it will be tougher to impeach Trump - Nixon was a Quaker, not a Faker
The whistleblower hasn't even stepped forward... This is typical of the hysterical unprepared Dems who want him out but don't have the evidence or the smarts or the killer instinct to do the job. That's how difficult it will be.Where is Sam Ervin and Pete Rodino when you need them.
4
@marrtyy Whistleblowers are not supposed to step forward and are protected by law. That's the whole point.
3
Abuse of power cannot be judged on a sliding scale, and it doesn't matter how repugnant Trump may have already been known to be... if the behavior meets the standard for abuse of an office of public trust, remove them, whoever they are.
Picture Nixon’s situation with social media.....
It's harder because he has no consciencous of shame.Only sane people can experience shame.
It’s just a matter of time
BINGO!!!
The game that Trump is playing isn't Chess - but checkers game (Funniest thing is some Trump-ites say he plays 3D chess)
Stop and think - how dumb are professional politicians that a loud mouth NY game show host got to be president? And America preferred a loud mouth NY game show host to Clinton, Bush Jr, Cruz, et al.
That he even has a chance at wining says more about the Democratic leadership.
It might also help if Democrats start speaking to the unjustified fears of the Trump loyalists. There are many true Christian people that are Democrats. There are many white people that are patriotic that are Democrats. We don’t hate people who believe in God, we also believe in God. We also want liberty and moral standards.
No one “likes” abortion! There are ways to work together on this. But it is not an easy issue and not addressed clearly in the Holy Scriptures. Hearts must change, not laws. And no one is legally forced to have an abortion.
We all want the unethical wealthy held accountable.
Christ admonished the wealthy more than any other group except hypocrites.
We all want equal opportunity for all people. God so love “ the world” that “ WHOSOEVER “...
We want immigration to be fair and generous and humane towards our neighbors in peril but we also know it’s not right now: comprehensive reform!
“ when you do this to the least of these, you do it as unto me...” “ who is my neighbor?” “When did we see you in need...?”
Jesus did not resist paying taxes but overturned the tables of the money changers in the Temple!
Jesus probably didn’t know ANY white people in his day, unless you count the Romans responsible for his execution; and he ended up forgiving THEM.
The three greatest institutions keeping poor whites out of poverty today are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid: all built on federal social insurance
models.
2
@Matt what is this supposed to mean? Not all Americans are Christians. We don’t want to live in a theocracy and the main reason for our opposition to Trump is precisely his support for the theocratic Christian agenda. If you are telling us that Democrats share the same agenda, why should we support them rather than Trump? At least he cut my taxes.
What a ridiculous headline. I'm writing this before I even read the piece, but, come on New York Times. The headlines in the paper are growing more awful with each passing edition.
Congratulations, another NYTimes column that states the obvious, but can’t state the fact that Trump is a liar and a racist.
1
My party of choice is again doing its best to commit political suicide. This impeachment thing is a total waste of time and a flagrant abandonment of really serious issues. Obviously, trump will never be impeached. Not with a republican majority in the Senate. We will be rid of trump, and possibly gain a majority in the Senate after the 2020 election. This can be accomplished by simply concentrating on the innumerable evils of the current administration. Here are a few.
1. National debt.
2. The environment.
3. Tax policy (read income inequity
4. Foreign policy (another total disaster)
5. Infrastructure (neglected)
I could go on and on but this is not the place to do so. However, the Democrats could distinguish themselves right now by addressing some of our immediate problems and ignoring impeachment.
17
@Pete Kantor
None of the issues you consider important will be addressed until both Donald Trump AND Mitch McConnell are removed from office. Impeachment offers the best opportunity of achieving that goal. Once Senate Republicans vote not to convict---as they surely will, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of presidential wrong-doing---Democratic Senate candidates will sweep the 2020 election, including, perhaps, Mitch McConnell's seat.
9
@Pete Kantor Sorry, but I simply cannot take seriously any argument that Democrats can only find power by ignoring everything Trump is doing. Trump is _the_ issue. Democrats would ignore him at their peril. There is no way to motivate the Democratic base by whistling past the graveyard.
4
@Pete Kantor,
While I agree with the supreme importance of focusing on the five points that you raised, there is a problem with your approach.
You say that we could be rid of Trump in 2020 if only we focus our energy on the election and those issues, but with Trump looking to foreign nations to help him win in 2020, and with Mitch McConnell refusing to pass robust legislation to secure our elections, we cannot be sure that we will have a free and fair election (or that, whatever the circumstances, if Trump loses that he will leave office peacefully). It is risky (and, I believe, naiive) to just try and "settle this at the ballot box", however many of us wish that we just could.
I think that the Democrats in Congress have their job (passing legislation, when McConnell deigns to allow it; and dealing with impeachment proceedings - which are fueled by the will to uphold the rule of law, without which our nation will collapse into authoritarianism).
And I think that we voters across the spectrum who want to rid our country of Trump have our job: to not become too distracted by - or reliant on - impeachment and instead to step up and do everything in our power to get out the vote: registering voters, canvassing, discussing the pressing issues that you mention, donating to strong candidates.
I think that this two-pronged approach will be our best bet to win the chance to tackle the most crucial issues of our time - and be rid of Trump and, hopefully, McConnell.
7
Watergate, and its aftermath, changed the ethics of Washington politicians. Not only did Nixon deserve impeachment; he did not deserve Ford pardoning him. Ford's pardon effectively said that politicians can get away with anything, if they don't get caught. This has been the mantra of political "don't ask; don't tell". Few politicians were forced out because they were obvious in their flaunting ethics and "rule of law".
Today, we now assume all politicians are corrupt. There is no surprise why Congress has lower approval ratings than Trump. Their approval ratings, have been in the teens, for a number of years.
Trump, will be impeached, there is no question about it. There is more evidence to come, that will make impeachment more justified. The question comes on what happens in the Senate. Will the GOP, supposed defenders of the Constitution, actually defend it, by convicting Trump, or will they stay in lockstep with Trump?
A number of GOP Senators are up fro re0election, in 2020. there is now a majority of people, in this country supporting impeachment. That number is apt to climb. If the Senate do not convict Trump, it will be seen the same as Ford pardoning Nixon. The GOP will pay dearly at the ballot box. They will set the stage to be a minority party for years to come, despite their efforts to suppress voting.
3
@Nick Metrowsky
Dear Nick,
I agree with most of your analysis with one caveat. The House must make a crystal clear case against Trump, which should not be too hard; but they must also bring case forward in a somber, measured and dignified manner. If there is an appearance of Democratic gloating it will turn voters off, bigly.
Agree - total disregard for the law - politicians whose only goal is money and power.
My emoji for such behavior is Lindsey Graham. But don't underestimate the Millennials and the Social Networking.
This time around is a different theater with totally different characters and actors.
1
We all waited for two years for Mueller to report on the Russian interference in the 2016 election. In his congressional hearing, Mueller confirmed that interference as systematic and ongoing, welcomed by Trump and his campaign.
Trump admitted to George Stephanopoulos that he doesn't consider foreign influence to be improper, even while he was railroading Ukraine to do just that.
And after all that, Donald wasn't charged -- a fluke of Justice Department policy.
But by then, Donald had captured or dismantled the federal watchdog agencies that could curtail his lawlessness.
Now, Donald is unleashed. His AG and Secretary of State are knowing participants in a criminal conspiracy.
That's easy enough for voters to understand.
2
"Unlike the electorate in 1974, voters today have always known that the president is ethically dubious." Was the author of this article alive in 1974? I was, and the reality was quite different.
3
Nixon lost to JFK in 1960 by 100,000 votes nationwide. Many Democrats rose from their graves on election day and voted early and often.
Humphrey lost to Nixon by 500, 000 votes nationwide in 1968. Fewer Democrats rose from their graves and they didn't vote as often.
Everyone knew how normal and human their elected leaders were in the past.
Denial is not only an African river. After his assassination opinion surveys showed voters who claimed to have voted for JFK to have skyrocketed.
3
Monmouth University poll states " 6 out of 10 Americans believe that Biden was mentioned in the transcript released by The White House. The other 40% believe it was UNLIKELY that Biden was mentioned in the transcript. Like I have always said. For an intelligent democracy to function, it needs intelligent people to vote. And herein lies the roots of the whole issue. Not just for our democracy but for any democracy.
6
Great insights here. One can add that the break-in itself was based on an absurdity -- that the Mc Govern campaign had some magic formula that could somehow alter the consciousness of the electorate, which was set to give Nixon a big winning margin.
The other factor here is that Democrats -- my party -- have horribly over-invested their time and energy in trying to reverse the results of an election we could have won with just a little more intelligent effort. No careful learning a lesson. No listening to the voters, even. No analytical post-mortems.
No, it's all about the perceived evil president and the perceived evil embedded in those who voted for him.
That may be how you de-elect a president, but it is not how you win over the public or the electorate. We need a positive message that gives Americans
1
However, the one things that's very similar now as it was then is that today's Republicans (including Republican voters) are incredibly hypocritical in the same manner as John Mitchell was:
They proclaim themselves to stand up for Law and Order, but in actuality are perfectly fine with letting themselves and other Republicans break the law as long as it means that they'll keep on "winning."
8
A few points. In Watergate there was an actual crime and Nixon directed the coverup.
With the Ukraine conversation, there is no clear evidence that Trump was extorting Zelensky. It was a congratulatory phone call, Zelensky brought him corruption in the prior Ukraine admin. Trump mentioned Biden in response and there is no question that Biden's activities in Ukraine (and possibly China) are suspicious. Further, Trump offered no quid pro quo, didn't indicate when he needed the investigation finished and he didn't have follow up calls. Trump wasn't operating in secrecy, there were plenty of people who were on the call.
Further, the left and dems have been openly advocating getting Trump out of office since he was elected, either through impeachment or the 25th amendment. So, this is just an excuse to do what they want -- overturn the results of the 2016 election. That's hugely different from Watergate.
7
@Ralphie
Wrong. Even in the rough version of the call, which has been heavily edited from the full half hour version and no doubt for Trump's benefit, there is clear evidence Trump was linking the military aid with asking Ukraine to investigate Biden. When Zelensky brings up the military aid, Trump answers asks for a "favor" and inserts the word "though" to link it to the previous comment. He also states that the U.S. has been very good to Ukraine and it hasn't been reciprocal, which further links helping Ukraine with Ukraine doing something in return. There were also other calls and meetings Giuliani had with Ukrainian officials.
Trump also changed his story regarding why the military aid was held up because his initial explanation was too close to the truth. Since when has U.S. military aid to a foreign country ever been contingent on what other countries contribute? He certainly wouldn't use that as an argument to hold up U.S. aid to Israel. It's not like the U.S. would just be giving the Ukrainians cash. The U.S. government would be buying weapons such as the Javelins from U.S. manufacturers and providing them to Ukraine, which benefits U.S. weapons manufacturers. When did a Republican president ever oppose an arms sale to a foreign government that was paid for by U.S. taxpayers?
If Trump ends up being removed, it will not be "overturning" the election and installing Hillary Clinton. Trump is not above the law.
3
@Ralphie A few points... Trump introduced the idea of investigating Biden (check the transcript - it starts when Trump says "I would like you to do us a favor though..."). Regarding operating in secrecy, as soon as the call was complete, aides acted to hide it in a server reserved for top-secret communications. As for the quid pro quo, you don't really need to spell it out, the action of withholding the aid awarded to Ukraine by Congress speaks far louder than any words. Finally, I can't speak for "the left and dems" but Trump has committed offences that would have easily gotten any other President impeached. So calling for impeachment is more about trying to use our system of checks and balances to rein in a Chief Executive intent on abusing his powers. So yeah, exactly like Watergate.
16
@Ralphie @Ralphie Respectfully disagree. Committing crimes in public does not make the guilty party suddenly innocent. This is an example of Trump knowingly acting with impunity since he knows he can get away with anything so long as he has his Republican base’s support. He famously said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose his supporters. Regarding, your second point, some, not all a Democrat’s have rightfully called out Trump’s immoral acts since day one. We have freedom of speech in this country, so criticizing the President is not a crime. It’s his own fault for he has been unhinged since before the election. Notice that no formal impeachment inquiry was opened during Trump’s first 2 years in office. Republicans also discussed impeaching Barack Obama, but is Republican double standard being applied here? Republicans should be allowed to do things and discuss things that Democrats shouldn’t?
1
Supporters, voters, the public doesn't get to decide (is not capable of even understanding) what high crimes and misdemeanors are and whether someone should be removed. Congress and the Senate decide. Nixon was not impeached or removed, although he would have been tried and convicted-- he resigned before becoming the first POTUS to ever be convicted. Yes, the public was against Nixon, but more to the point, his own GOP told him the jig was up. Today's GOP doesn't have a spine, at least not yet.
It wasn't the burglary that brought down Nixon, but rather his implication in its cover up. It may not be the phone call that brings down Trump, but rather the context--withholding of funds, the attempt to cover up the phone call, intimidation of witnesses, obstruction, and possibly perjury.
We shall see!
6
@Jorge He was in fact impeached. The House of Representatives conducts impeachment hearings and votes on articles of impeachment. Then the Senate debates and decides whether the impeached President will be convicted of "high crimes and misdemeanors." He was not convicted in the Senate because he resigned after a Senatorial delegation led by Barry Goldwater informed him that he would be convicted.
1
@Jorge
Senators who are accountable to their voters decide whether or not an impeached president should be removed from office. If you believe that GOP Senators will vote against the nearly unanimous desires of their voters, I've got a bridge for sale.
The smart play would have been for the House to open an investigation into the Ukraine call and attempt to persuade rather than bully and shame Trump supporters into turning against the President. Instead even Republicans like myself who support neither the president nor the Democrats have been fed a steady diet of righteous indignation on par with the Spanish Inquisition for the last 3 years.
1
The other main differences are that Nixon did not have his very own Pravda/propaganda communications infrastructure as Trump does with Fox News, Breitbart, One News Network, etc. etc., and, there are apparently many fewer Republicans alive today who possess the moral fiber and the love of country over party. Perhaps some will come out of the woodwork as we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg with this chaotic, corrupt and incompetent presidency, and maybe has more is revealed the will find their spines...but currently, brave and moral Republicans are few and far between and they are busy running interference for this amoral president.
35
Day after day the op-ed columnists speculate about impeachment. They don't have any better insights than anyone else. No one knows how it will play out. These things have a dynamic of their own which is no more predictable than the outcome of next year's Superbowl. Having lived through Watergate, things just got worse and worse for Nixon with the daily revelations and media drumbeat. Very few people thought he'd be leaving office at the outset of the process.
17
"Unlike the electorate in 1974, voters today have always known that the president is ethically dubious, and many don’t care."
"Dubious?"
6
@Chris H. "Downright corrupt" would be more accurate.
2
trump's supporters love his recklessness and will always support him. What the country has to decide is, do they want a dictatorship because that is obviously where trump is going. He doesn't care at all about the country or the people, just himself.
The republicans are showing us that they are ok with a dictatorship and are willing to be the jesters in his court. They willingly lie and humiliate themselves to protect him .
8
Nixon wasn't impeached. So there's that sticky wicket.
3
@Austin -- Yes, first the impeachment inquiry (in process for Trump), Articles of Impeachment (brought against Nixon), then the trial. He quit before the trial. Let's hope the same happens with Trump.
3
@Jorge - Articles of Impeachment against Nixon were approved by the Judiciary Committee, but were never voted on by the full House prior to his resignation. So he actually quit before formally being impeached.
Very true. Trump's supporters do not care what he does or says, as long as they get what they want AND he makes liberals mad. They love that.
What to do about a country that elected such a man. That is the big question. I do not have an answer.
11
“Liberals” need to deeply consider that the meritocratic way of life, that enables about ten percent of society to live very well, has left untold legions out in the cold, living on $10 per hour, and student loans.
Maybe lecturing won’t work- and actual socioeconomic rebalancing is in order- my entire adult life, has been lived under this neoliberal cloud of,
“If you were really any good at all, as a human being, you would be enjoying the meritocratic rewards I enjoy, loser!”, this makes people feel bad-
Trump sticks it to those who sneer at the lower orders.
I think they like feeling respected and spoken too- let’s try that on the liberal side?
Sanders or Warren have it all right on economic matters- but culturally?
There has to be a democratic candidate who will say we do not live in a “White Supremacy”, this is not the third Reich and most of us don’t like discussing our deeply flawed “whiteness” all day long while we hustle for rent.
2
For readers of the NYT and other sane news sources, Trump has already been unmasked. But if you get your news from conservative media, he is fully cloaked in a religious, All American Everyman, rags to riches success story that is his shining suit of armor. Democrats are just jealous.
2
@EW "Rags?" Like a million from his father (when a million was really something) was "rags?" I doubt any Democrats are jealous of the lout.
@EW Rags to riches!!! That's a good one. The traitor was born rich and lost billions. That's actually the opposite of rags to riches... But those are facts, so they mean nothing to the cult members.
1
@Harvey Green
The "small loan of $1 million" is a lie, just like everything out of Trump's mouth. He received more than $413 million in today's dollars from his father, much of which was fraudulent tax dodges, and was a millionaire before he was even potty-trained.
There is no Walter Cronkite today. No “And that's the way it is.” When Cronkite said that it was a story, it was. An era when the overwhelming majority of Americans got their news from CBS, NBC and ABC evening news broadcasts. When in the fall of 1972, a 14-minute segment on Watergate by Cronkite made it a national story. When mainstream journalists were trusted. When Cronkite was “the most trusted man in America.”
Roger Ailes believed that it was the “liberal bias” of the mainstream media (focusing on Nixon’s dirty tricks, but covering up JFK’s dirty tricks, for example) that ultimately killed the Nixon Presidency. So Ailes transformed Fox News into a powerful alternate narrative to TV mainstream media. Ailes helped to destroy the trust in mainstream media. Of course, as the media chased profits over news, infotainment over real news, it also destroyed trust in the media. So did the rise of right-wing talk radio. The rise of vicious attacks and conspiracy theories on Breitbart and even more unhinged InfoWars. Facebook as primary news source. Trump owning Twitter. A hyper-partisan and divided society where agreeing on basic facts is no longer possible. Fox News was specifically designed to save a Republican President from impeachment and removal or resignation.
5
@MC Yesterday I listened in on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show (not by choice bc I was in a rental car, not my car with my usual radio stations) and a hateful woman called in who embodies the Republican Trump followers. She said she was going to demand from her US Senator and Congressman that they “do the same thing to the next Democratic President” meaning impeachment, or else she would not vote for them again. Their plan is to impeach anyone Democratic out of pure revenge, not for the merits of the potential crimes and misdemeanors committed. This is absurd. Who is going to be able to govern if every President is going to get impeached out of revenge politics? I never imagined I’d see our country going down this way. Trump deserves impeachment for his crimes. The Republican base will never accept the facts of this case. One solution I see is to get rid of the 2-Party system. If we had more choices to choose from, the divide between Republicans and a Democrats might not be quite as entrenched.
3
Apparently, conservatives never learn. Nixon resigned due to a cover-up of seeking dirt on his political rivals! Mueller report and the Ukraine phone call focused on Trump's seeking to get dirt on political rivals. Good grief!
4
More speculation. Bring facts the next time.
4
It would be easier to take down a bureaucrat than a con-man. The first one knows where he's going; the other doesn't care.
3
Richard Nixon closed our nation’s internment camps, created the EPA, and remains the only president to have ever graduated from a community college. After Nixon attended a Bohemian Grove meeting, his description of the political/social elite was so obscene that it can’t be quoted here.
Donald Trump was born with a silver (platinum?) spoon in his mouth, and has never had to work for anything in his life. The two men couldn’t be more dissimilar, beyond both being crooks.
6
Dr. Olmsted is correct. But hers is just the usual lone voice in the NYTimes. A lone voice to show "balance."
Because the NYTimes is doing its part by publishing article after column after editorial letting everyone know that Trump MUST be impeached.
A willing media will certainly help "inform" the citizenry that impeachment is necessary and easy.
1
Nixon wasn't impeached.
3
Trump's "lies are indiscriminate rather than strategic," and Trump's supporters are okay with that.
I don't know how I am ever going to be able to forgive forty percent of the country for this. How could they not care?
They're allegedly so concerned about tax dollars. But we are paying for Trump's staff to deal with his demands for cost estimates of alligator and snake moats.
He held aid important for our national security hostage because he is running a shadow foreign policy based on tin-foil-hat conspiracy theories.
That Trump is unfit, corrupt, and deranged is so obvious. Alligator-filled moats? Seriously? Snake cost estimates? This is their idea of responsible government? Are you kidding me?
If we have to prove Trump's worse than Nixon: DONE. No one had to explain to Nixon that it isn't legal to shoot people in the leg. Breaking into an office--who even cares, compared to holding $391 million in aid hostage in exchange for "favors"? Did Nixon have his AG and personal lawyer globe trotting in the pursuit of a shadow foreign policy based on crazy town conspiracy theories? No?
What are the Trump supporters even thinking?
9
Just the headline causes pause....Nixon committed a criminal act, accessory after the fact of a burglary. So far, other than being loud braggard, its alot harder to explain to anyone exactly the crimes the president committed. But let's not let facts stop a good story.
6
@concerned citizen 1
Pretty clear he asked for a favor and was making it clear funding was withheld as leverage to investigate his political opponent.
Then he suggested the whistleblower who legally followed the rules should be treated as a spy inferring execution. This is blatantly illegal.
@concerned citizen 1
The mere act of using the office of the Presidency in order to ask for a personal/political favor of a foreign government IS a blatant and dangerous abuse of power— one that risks the security of every US citizen and many of their allies. The quid pro quo was obvious, if not explicit, but even without that you‘d have solid grounds for impeachment.
Oh, for the good old days when Republicans has some sense of propriety and ethics. They kept the bad stuff behind closed doors and paraded their clean hands in public.
And, they were ashamed when their hands were found to be dirty.
Now ….
2
Instead of congressional patriots like Senators Barry Goldwater and Howard Baker during the Watergate scandal, today's Republican party is composed of craven sycophants like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, punctuated by the mendacious rants of intellectual lightweights like congressman Jim Jordan.The lack of integrity and rank display of cowardice, in the face of Donald Trump's political thuggery and malignant narcissism,leaves an indelible stain on the Republican party.
5
Most of the actual criminal activity....breaking and entering......not actually a "high crime and misdemeanor".....was done at the direction of CREEP and the RNC....led by....yes..........GHW Bush...CIA Director.
Nixon, as a republican, did his part to protect his White House from the Witch Hunt that followed his popular Re-election and his announcement that a Peace Treaty was signed ending the Vietnam War.
Retribution from all sides, for Nixon was a very, very effective President.....He ENDED the Vietnam War. Ended it.
And Watergate was his punishment.
An Objective history lesson would reveal that most of us are easily manipulated fools for believing everything we read in the papers.
Dr. Omsted does nothing more than repeat verbatim ... a Fairy Tale.
@Wherever Hugo -- Nixon started the EPA and went to China, bravo. Nixon directed the Watergate cover up. He resigned because he knew he'd be convicted and removed. Those are facts, objective history, not a fairy tale.
1
That there’s no true outrage toward Pompeo and Barr over their disingenuous support and globe hopping for Trump means the voters have already normalized the political disaster facing us. Let’s remember how we got here, please. Nineteen intelligence agencies agreed that since 2015 Russian agents contrived to influence if not steal the next presidential election. Saboteurs of democracy filled the Internet with hundreds of thousands of propaganda products designed to foment race and religious hated to aid Trump’s election. Members of Trump’s campaign met repeatedly with Russian agents involved in the sabotage. That is what caused the investigation of Russian meddling and led to the Mueller report. And now Trump enablers including the Attorney General and the Secretary of State agree to find out if the Clinton campaign is the true culprit, if CrowdStrike faked its findings of Russian access to the Trump campaign and if Mueller and others are the real criminals here. So calling the impeachment a coup is yet another Trump projection, one that prepares us for his refusal to leave office if he is found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors or if he loses election next year— the other coup of his imagination. He has spent a life lying about his wealth, brains and successes, and has only grown as President into an even greater and more dangerous liar, dragging millions into his dark dirty spider hole.
6
Time for Pelosi to put her Democrats on record. Otherwise she must accept responsibility for putting her finger on the scales during an election.
Time to say good-bye to Senator Doug Jones of Alabama.
2
Trump's alleged wrong doing is not so obvious. Asking Ukraine's Zelensky to contact our Attorney General to look into a quid pro quo situation, where Hunter Biden, the sitting vice president's son, got a very lucrative employment opportunity while Ukraine got a billion dollars from the USA is not wrong. In fact, Obama's AG and FBI should have looked into this up to 8 years ago. But when your AG is Loretta Lynch and your FBI director is Comey, both of whom let Hillary off the hook, what do you expect?
9
I'm sorry, but your central thesis stinks - the American public who first elected and then abandoned Richard Nixon had always known about his sleazy ways. Remember "Tricky Dick"? That moniker had been around since the 1950s. The Checkers Speech? The Secret Plan to end the Vietnam war? It's mostly the same situation today. All the House has to do is present the facts in a coherent, logical and simple way and the Trump supporters will gradually strip themselves away from him - just as Nixon supporters did - or isolate themselves in their own kind of purgatory.
3
Are you serious?!? Why and how do you think Tricky Dick became the president's national nickname? A huge number of Americans DID know that Nixon was a bad actor and those Americans fought bitterly against those who refused to acknowledge Nixon's dark side.
The very paranoid, thin skinned Nixon mined that division to gain political advantage and then stirred up even more grievances to get himself re-elected. In the end his supporter succumbed to the evidence. Although that is less likely to happen now, you don't know how things will play out anymore than the rest of us do.
3
I said it once and I’ll say it a thousand times. All that matters to his core supporters is white supremacy. As long as Trump keeps fulfilling that promise, he can do anything. Truly.
Trump knows this better than anybody. That’s why he’s so cocky. That’s why he so confident. Despite his lack of knowledge of history and willful ignorance, he knows that.
2
It's not about public support. It's about congress. Stop acting as if the idiotic opinions of the illiterate 40% somehow trumps congressional responsibility to the constitution and the law.
2
Heroes of Watergate
Hogan, Butler, Baker, and Richardson did not initially believe the Watergate accusations.
How Republican Patriots Saved America During Watergate(HuffPost 2016)
2
Sounds like Hillary learned from Nixon. Too bad Mr. Nixon didn’t have bleachbit. I guess he could have just taken a hammer to them like Hillary did but he probably thought no one would fall for it.
3
The fact that voters have to be "persuaded" that Trump is a criminal says it all. This is what happens when Republicans dumb down secondary education, when Fox "News" is the only news many people can access for free on their TVs, and when the internet provides free access to garbage parading as real news.
4
Remind Republicans of those arms sales to Ukraine Trump seemed barely interested in sewing up.....
....that will get them in impeachment mode.
2
" ...voters today have always known that the president is ethically dubious, and many don’t care." Not only not care, but approve whole-heartedly because it makes him look "strong", which makes them feel safe. Pathetic subset of humanity.
3
How true. More than hate or love, what kills is our indifference. But, if Trump is re-elected, we shall need, in all seriousness, have our heads examined. And live with the awful consequences of a mafia running the government, and our lives. And if so, we would fully deserve it. And this would confirm our suspicions...that stupidity remains in ample supply.
2
Also, Nixon didn’t have Fox “News” propagandists twisting many susceptible little minds.
2
Joe Biden, the CLINTONS with their international foundation...and many other Presidents, except probably Jimmy Carter, played international subterfuge games or personal gains games while in the WH.
I don't care.
4
Kathryn, you're not supposed to point this kind of thing out in the NYT. Keep to the party line - 'this is worse than Nixon!'.
4
The stilted writing by this college professor leads me to conclude that Kathryn Olmsted wasnt even born yet when the Watergate Hearings took place.
Nixon was an expert manipulator of public opinion??
Wow.
1
Wow! That is a revelation!
Of course it will be. Our constitution makes it almost impossible to impeach when the president’s party controls the senate. Leaving it to the decency of human beings like Howard Baker is not only naive but like driving in a Ferrari in the autobahn without seatbelts. You can pray or think mother luck is in your side but that is really dumb.
2
If you are drawing a parallel between the soap opera of the Watergate Hearings and the current Conspiracy to Oust the President.....you are completely misinterpreting the Modern Era.........
1
The headline is incorrect - the correct headline is:
Impeaching Trump will be Impossible - Trump Did Nothing Illegal
3
The real headline: "Donny is so bad, he makes Tricky look good." - C
2
The fools who do not care deserve the gate that will befall this country. Many of us will taken the opportunity simply to emigrate...Canada if they will have us, or better yet, Norway or Sweden, Portugal or Spain, even France!
@Scott
Outside of Canada, unless you can promise cash or have a very special skill very few of these countries you listed will let you come on in, unless you can prove a family connection.
Work for a company there yes, but becoming a citizen is very difficult.
You will have to settle for a lesser country.
1
Not only do 40% of voters not care that Trump is "ethically dubious," they revel in it. They're the 40% of amoral Americans who are themselves as much "outlaws" as they can get away with being. Being a "strong" "outlaw" is the very essence of Trump's appeal to his essentially Boomer base, the "ME Generation" which has always felt superior to dull, decent, honorable "conformists"--the generation which delighted in Dennis Hopper's giving the finger to the rednecks, and to Jack Nicholson's shoving everything off the table as he tells a waitress forced to enforce the "rules" that she should "hold the chicken salad between your legs." This terrible generation, thankfully, is on its way out, to be replaced by much more decent and progressive Millennials, not to mention Greta Thunberg's generation behind them. Good riddance. It's interesting that Trump's 40% base is about the same percentage of the populace that elected Hitler because he, too, was an amoral, despicable, hateful moral "outlaw" and "strong" man.
1
Nixon fought to conceal his knowledge of and involvement of a petty, stupid criminal act against his political enemies. Trump is intent on justifying his courting of foreign nations to conspire with him to defeat a perceived political opponent. Big difference. Oh, and Clinton WAS impeached for lying to Congress about an illicit sex act with an intern.
Nixon was a lying crook, but he wasn't crazy. Trump is a lying crook and clinically crazy as well. That's why he will be difficult to escort from the white house to the big house.
2
Here again we have a "reporter" who doesn't have a clue what impeachment means.
Impeaching is a piece of cake.
Senate conviction is unlikely but will, forever, reveal the true traitorous coconspiraters.
Professor Olmstead is wide of the mark. Richard Nixon did not suddenly become "Tricky Dick" because the WH tapes stripped him of his "image as a statesman." A huge swath of the American public loathed him from his earliest days in politics, when he defeated his 1950 opponent for the US Senate, Congresswoman Helen Gehagan Douglas, by labeling her, "pink down to her panties." No different from Nixon, a wide swatch of the American people know Trump for what he is and that will not make impeaching him more difficult--that is going to happen. What will be well-nigh impossible is convicting him--unless Senate Republicans develop a conscience, so scratch that option. The only way Trump will be convicted is if those same Republicans feel the unbearable weight of an American public that decides that they want Trump gone. Given all that Trump has gotten away with, that has seemed impossible until now, when each passing day has brought news of unsurpassed lawlessness--and a public grown increasingly alarmed for the future of the Republic.
1
We are supposed to be a nation of laws. Just because the people who elected Trump knew who he was doesn't mean he should be allowed to get away with corruption and ethics violations in the execution of his duties as POTUS.
It's not about who he is. It's about what he does.
4
What makes this different than Watergate is the danger that Trump will use the investigation as a pretext for a putsch. That is, he will accuse investigators of organizing a coup and he will arrest them, effectively ending constitutional democracy in America.
48
@Jack Craypo
He has already started the process with the "coup" language. As quoted in The Independent (UK) this morning:
“As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!”
And then there is his labeling Adam Schiff's committee investigation as "treason" with a call for Schiff to be tried.
And so it goes.....
8
@Jack Craypo Trump might want to arrest members of Congress, but he'd find very few actual lawmen willing to do such a thing for him. It's important not to think that Trump has as much power as he thinks he has, or as much as he wants to have.
3
@Jack Craypo
You've been watching "7 days in May" too many times.
"The Democrats in Congress need to persuade Republicans and the public in general that the Ukraine scandal is more than just another example of Mr. Trump being himself."
I am not for or against Trump but this line of thinking is wrong. Democrats need to prove that he broke the law, nothing less but also nothing more. People must be judged based on the law not based on themselves. All the problems the author of this piece is fighting come from the dangerous and unhealthy standards he is trying to set.
This piece illustrates the fact that nowadays, people forget that media cycles and the mob do not make laws. This piece illustrates how much people now expect justice to be rendered based on trends and feelings. Justice rendered by polling or social media is the biggest danger faced by our societies.
4
@RB
Bill Clinton broke the law when he lied under oath about having an affair. Were the majority of Americans, including me, wrong to believe that he should have been censured but not impeached for that?
1
I disagree with Ms. Olmstead, the author of this piece. In 2016, much of the electorate was so disgusted that the Democrats ran Hillary Clinton that it stayed home, voted third-party, or voted for Trump to "shake up the system". That won't happen to the same extent in 2020.
Trump's election has also completely energized the Democratic Left. Pollster Stanley Greenberg predicts an unprecedented "Blue Tsunami" that will get Trump out of the White House, put a Democratic majority in the Senate, and keep the House blue. Impeachment will help that happen.
2
I am very confident President Trump will not and can not be forced from office. This is not Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney, that grovels for forgiveness.
I voted for him because he is not a "push over". If the Democrats want to pick a fight with him, that's on them. I doubt the President will do anything to make their job any easier. There certainly has been no evidence that he would capitulate, based on his prior actions. If the Democrat's A Team is Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler and Waters, this won't end well for the Democrats.
18
@Mike
If not being a "push over" means doing anything, including trashing the law and the Constitution, then what, exactly, are his supporters fighting for?
19
@Mike He is leaving the WH one way or the other Jan 20 2021 or sooner. We will not become a dictatorship thats a fact.
11
All big tough autocrats are “fighters.” Depends on what you are fighting for, and in Trumps case it’s always himself and his bank account. His comment on shooting someone on 5th Avenue should give supporters like you pause: it’s the most cynical attack on YOU imaginable, Trump is saying you are so blindly loyal and lacking in morals that he could murder someone in the most public place and even that wouldn’t shake your support. How can you continue to back such a despicable man, a man who is laughing at all of you?
34
"Nixon’s troubles began when the director of security for his re-election campaign and four other men were arrested ..."
Unlike then, one doesn't have to go through a litany of others - this one starts and ends directly with Trump.
"Nixon’s opponents needed to produce evidence that revealed the real Nixon." Unlike then, the real Trump has been on full display and is well documented.
"Nixon tried mightily to keep his conversations with his co-conspirators secret." Unlike then - Trump's co-conspirators are giving interviews to every other camera and microphone in earshot.
"His lies are indiscriminate rather than strategic. As a result, there could be a higher bar for his political opponents to clear. " I don't think American's know when a lie is a lie no matter how many times its repeated.
1
In the fairy tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes,"the crowd turns on the monarch once a small boy exposes the obvious truth that the ruler's new clothes are simply an illusion. Until then, the adults were too frightened of royal displeasure to credit what their eyes told them.
A revised version for our more troubled times would have to include a different ending. In this telling, the emperor and the crowd would laugh at the small boy for his naivete in believing that the monarch's nakedness mattered. In the original story the emperor's humiliation stems from the people's expectation that he will project an image of dignity and maturity. In the revised version, the cynical crowd expects nothing of their lord and master except that he will provide them with bread and circuses, or at least the promise of those bribes.
Welcome to the age of Trump.
5
The real difference is that there were Republicans in Congress who were genuinely interested in "what the President new and when did he know it." They did not try to excuse behavior they new was unethical and/or illegal. I watched the Senate Watergate hearings both in person and on television, and Senators Baker and Weicker wanted to hear the truth; Senator Gurney not as much, but he was outvoted.
2
@jfdenver Alternatively, they made a calculation that Nixon would hurt their long term political standing and cutting him loose was good for THEM..... the country? eh? Of course the drama needs a hero.... so Howard Baker works as a valiant hero
Impeachment is going to be at least as easy as with Nixon. His extortion of Zelensky is obvious in the rough transcript trump released, and incidents of ignoring subpoenas and aids and bureaucrats refusing to testify before Congress make obstruction of justice quite clear. The harder part will be if trump is impeached, he will not resign, and the likelihood that the GOP senate will remove him from office is in question.
1
Once the original recordings are heard from the secret server, all will be made clear. Plain and simple. "Summaries" of these conversations as published by the White House will no longer cut it. Forget about everything else and wasting time and stone walling. Just demand the original recordings of these calls.
2
John Mitchell served 19 months in prison for participating in the Nixon cover-up. Barr maybe should rethink his $30.000 dollar Christmas party scheduled at the Trump Hotel and apply that to future legal fees. His first cover-up was the Muellar report. At present he is traveling internationally to investigate conspiracy theories and dismissing offences Trump, Pompeo and company have clearly committed. All evidence confirmed in the whistle blower complaint. He has stifled and rederred the House powerless in their investigation of obstruction of Justice regarding the Muellar report. In essence he makes John Mitchell look like a choir boy. Too bad his wife isn't like Margaret Mitchell.
1
@rhdelp You mean Martha Mitchell, rhdelp. Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind and was never married to John Mitchell.
1
Democrats have got to get on with it. Bring it all out in the trial in the Senate. Everyone will see. The Republicans can spin all they want but the facts are the facts. We have an outlaw administration. Republicans I know are appalled.
3
Exacty. The people who voted for Trump knew who they were voting for, and who they were voting against.
Imagine that.
2
Unlike now, in 1974 there were some Republicans who put country before party.
3
@Roy
Unlike now, in 1974 Nixon actually did something illegal.
You may hate the man with every cell in your body, but Trump has done nothing illegal.
Biden, on the other hand, told the Ukraine president to fire Victor Shokin or else he was withholding $1 Billion. (Victor Shokin was the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma Holdings, the corrupt Ukraine gas company that was paying Hunter Biden $600,000 a year to do nothing but be VP Joe Biden's son.)
1
Trump's disregard for ethics and morals makes Nixon look like an amateur. I was born during the Truman presidency, and I'm old enough to remember Eisenhower, and I can state categorically that no president in my lifetime has deserved impeachment as much as Trump.
Impeachment will not be easy, because Trump has gathered a---there's no other word for it--cult of unquestioning followers. Some of them may even react violently. But impeachment is the RIGHT thing to do.
Since I am old enough to recall the Nixon years, I know that Nixon won in a landslide in 1972. Yet by the time Nixon resigned, it was hard to find anyone who would admit to voting for him.
Nothing will change the minds of the starry-eyed Trump worshippers, but impeachment proceedings that reveal all his misconduct, not just the Ukraine scheme, will change the minds of those who are undecided.
2
Perhaps we're all just jaded by obvious self-dealing by politicians and their families.
Hillary Clinton's granting approval for the sale of US Uranium ore mines to a Russian concern coincided with lucrative speaking engagements for her husband, paid for by banks connected to the Russian company.
Hunter Biden accepted a $50K monthly fee to serve on the board of a Ukranian energy company despite having no value except for his daddy being Vice President.
GOP politicians likewise cash-in when they can including a revolving door between industry and the government that regulate it.
Trump's shenanigans are a symptom of greater rot at the top.
8
If the public does not agree that Trump is a criminal worth removing from office then we deserve everything we get. Which may well be the end of the great American experiment.
The blame lies not only in Trump, not only in the 40% of the electorate that seems to support him, but also on the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which ensured that big business had no barrier to buying politicians to do their will.
3
The most important contributor to the difficulty of impeachment and removal is the existence of a right-wing propaganda machine consisting of Fox News and talk radio and supplemented by a politicized evangelical movement. These are powerful forces which were not present in the time of Nixon. And they already have assured the election to office of ruthless, amoral puppets of the president (and indirectly of Putin). We are indeed in trouble.
2
@ R. Gilbert: Your comment was absolutely correct, except for the last sentence. This time around, we've got our own media, just like your side has had for 60 years.
Nixon was also ethically challenged and it was known in his time. There were just more people who understood the issues having fresh memories of past wars. Today’s hothouse flower republicans are spoiled by their corporate overlords as is our “leader”
The idea that Nixon was a widely-respected statesman only exposed by the release of the tapes is a bit much. A *lot* of people had reasons to doubt Nixon. “Tricky Dick” was coined over two decades before the Watergate scandal. A contemporary Mad Magazine article that detailed the myriad differences between “liberals, conservatives, leftists, reactionaries, right-wing militants and New Left radicals” found one connective strand: they all distrusted Nixon. And despite this widespread distrust, Nixon had defenders until the very end.
I don’t know anyone significant who thinks impeachment will be anything but messy and difficult, especially with the loyalties on both sides. That is no reason to throw your hands up and abdicate your responsibilities.
2
Oh really? Maybe the ethically dubious people occupy the OTHER party just as much, and their ethics is just as questionable, if not worse.
4
"The president’s critics today have a greater challenge: to persuade enough voters that the real Mr. Trump — whom we already know — is a criminal worth removing from office."
This voter is persuaded.
1
"The murder of Jamal Khashoggi warned us all. Perhaps the greatest danger the Arab world faces today is that there will be no one left to shout, write or sing that the king is naked in a region plagued by too many kings."
The above is a quote from another NY Times editorial today by Farea al-Muslimi. And while Trump's morally repugnant support for Prince Mohammed is known to the World- the irony is that the chilling effects of both leaders may be similar.
Today, we take for granted the courageous investigative news coverage of Trump and cronies. Even some on the Left seek to so much identify the Press with corporate interests- they blind themselves to the great work that is done by true journalists every day. As for the Right- they welcome media consolidation and its embrace of right wing demagogues.
Yet we are at risk of losing the 4th estate. Why? In part because of a jaded and morally callous public. In part because of the decline of print media. And there is the diffusion of histronics and lies that permeates social media. The disinformation put forward by our own government. Trump's constant drum beat of thew Big Lie- along with complicit Republicans and others.
So, Farea al-Muslimi's op ed is probably even more applicable to the United States than the Middle East. For in the United States journalists are being targeted as never before. Yet we have the increasingly thin veneer of democracy. In the Arab world there is no veneer- nothing to hide the fall.
I agree. This has done of the makings of the Nixon impeachment with a 410 to 4 vote. It’s clearly a Clinton impeachment disaster.
Unfortunately, Pelosi wants her finger on the scales during an election year. Maybe she can do a better job than Obama and Comey did?
1
You have to be pretty native to believe that there is no “real” Trump behind the pseudo-fascist that Trump plays on TV & Twitter. The difference between 1974 & today is not a difference between a Nixon who pretended to live up to standards and a Trump who openly flouts them; the difference is a completely different set of standards. Mr. Trump adopted the crazy right-wing crank persona from right-wing media, where it has been well-established & exerting political power for decades. It is a relatively recent mask for him, and one that he consciously uses to infuriate his opponents and excite his base. In other words, he uses it in exactly the same way that, say, Rush Limbaugh uses it: to prevent intelligent discussion or democracy. Be assured that there is a “real” Trump behind the mask, a Trump who is as contemptuous of his voters as he is of the women he grabs, and one day it may be revealed.
2
You forget the lack luster treatment of Ukraine by the pacifistic EU and Obama in this equation....the militarization and weaponization against Russia has been wholly conducted by Trump and Poland. The Ukraine is not a member of NATO and any support is “very good” over very little from the previous administration.
No wonder Russia wants Trump impeached. The Democrats have aligned themselves with Putin.
3
Remember nearly 80% of the Republican Senators still didn't believe Nixon had done anything wrong until 2 years after Nixon had left office.
Also, remember Republicans adored Spiro Agnew despite proof he was an embezzler and a crook.
Remember, Republicans do not care about the law, ethics or morality. There has been no time in their past where they have espoused these qualities.
And many of them hide behind false prophets of Christianity. (Although they are diametrically opposed to all of Christ's teachings.)
2
The Democrats need to do exactly what those who opposed Nixon did. Find proof of criminality by Trump. Not parodies or non traditional behavior. Proof of criminality.
2
@Gailmd
And so far, there has been no proof of criminality. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.
1
@Gailmd
It needs to be clear concise proof of easily explainable blatant criminality. Not a process crime or something on par with using your party's candidate's unverified opposition research to launch an investigation into the opposing party's candidate.
1
The difference today is that his supporters and the Republicans don't care that he lied and committed crimes. They, in fact, seem to relish the idea that he gets away with this dangerous behavior. There's a moral and sociological difference between 1974 America and 2019 America, and I fear that trump, as he himself said, could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Ave. and no one would care.
1
@Stephanie
Dozens of people get "shot in the middle of 5th Avenue" in Chicago every weekend - and nobody cares.
1
Trump is going to be impeached on way or another, there is no other choice. Yes some of the electorate is beyond redemption but there are not enough of them to elect a dog catcher without help from others.
1
Take my word for this, back in 1974 most of us knew exactly how ethically dubious Richard Nixon was.
4
“The president’s critics today have a greater challenge: to persuade enough voters that the real Mr. Trump — whom we already know — is a criminal worth removing from office.“
I’m convinced.
Lock them up.
1
Same as the comparison between the actual tapes and the transcripts released by Nixon, why not compare the raw-conversation Trump-Zelenskyy tape buried in the special secret computer with the transcript released by the White House?
If there are discrepancies, then there is a cover up.
Shouldn’t that be a simple start and end to this story!
The thrust of this article is that it will be harder to impeach Trump because he's a far worse human being than Nixon.
Wait, what?
2
Our 45th president is a criminal worthy of impeachment and removal from office, just as president Nixon was in 1973. Today, we ask if the Democratic Congressmen and leaders, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Elijah Cummings will walk the walk and talk the talk of Jim Baker, Leon Jaworski and Archibald Cox during Watergate, and accomplish this impeachment and removal of Donald Trump from our presidency?
All President Trump's people ignore his amorality, racism and nationalistic ethos today. Demagoguery reigns. Hasn't Trump gone too far -- his "perfect" conversation with Zelensky (President of Ukraine) to find dirt on his Democratic Party challenger for 2020, VP Joe Biden -- in exchange for Javelin missiles and defending Ukraine from Russia? We wait. American democracy hasn't rested its case against our 45th president.
Winning in ‘16 as he did doesn’t make him a criminal. The real issue is the Day 1 attempt by Dems/media (one in the same) to bring down a duly elected POTUS. As facts are now being revealed, this effort started before he was elected. The best thing y’all could do is not to nominate a candidate that isn’t capable of winning general election, that would be ‘criminal’. Quit being a victim of the EC system, Americans don’t like whiners.
2
Yes, this impeachment will be harder to endure because Trump and his lickspittle Senate have gradually eroded the standards of ethical and legal behavior to the point some folks don't even know if Trump has broken any laws with his "perfect" phone call. But the real danger is that Trump will order the arrest of a Congressperson and be supported by Barr. Does anyone doubt Trump will do anything (!) to keep the presidency? He wants a Civil War and, unless some Republicans get on board the impeachment train soon, he may be able to bring it about. The Nixon impeachment hearings were ultimately good for America; the Trump impeachment hearings may never actually come to pass as our country's legal system turns out to be armed yahoos with MAGA hats riding around in the backs of pickups. Trump did drain the swamp so he could see who was the worst of the worst; then he appointed them to be his team.
Nixon also didn't have Fox, AM radio or Sinclair blaring at the masses 24/7.
1
@W
But the dems sure had control of the news, albeit only for a couple hours a day.
1
Well, not quite. As a friend of the family told us in summer 72, before Nixon's landslide victory, "of course he's a crook, but they'll never get him". This was a widely shared conviction, at least amongst those who followed politics. Not so different from a common attitude towards Trump today. The rapid change in public opinion over the course of 1973-74, as Nixon began to lose pieces of his coverup, underlines how important cracks in the aura of invincibility can be in the evolution of citizens' attitudes.
1
"Unlike the electorate in 1974, voters today have always known that the president is ethically dubious"
There are some important points the author is not considering. What was Nixon's reputation? Well, for one, his nickname was "Tricky Dick". The notion that Nixon was not seen as "ethically dubious" is just not accurate.
The second point is that Nixon had much greater support - he had to fall a lot farther than Trump. Nixon had just come from a landslide victory over George McGovern in 1972. Trump, by comparison, just squeaked by in 2016 with an electoral college victory but a 3 million vote deficit. His job approval and favorability ratings have been underwater for most of his presidency.
The popular tide is already turning here. The one thing Trump has going for him is his willingness to lie along with his success in finding sycophants who will join him in constructing an alternate reality for the public through an increasingly skeptical media. The lying (i.e., propaganda) has created false alternative narratives (the Hunter Biden story, the Cloudstrike conspiracy theory, etc.) that an inordinate number of people believe - but they are still lies and will be dismantled for all but the most ardent Trump supporters if the media do their job.
I'm not saying impeachment will be easy - Trump will fight like a cornered animal. The likelihood that the Republicans in the senate will turn on Trump remains low. But this must be done for the sake of the country.
60
@voreason
Absolutely, he was absolutely thought of as ethically dubious. He was, unlike Trump, an intelligent and polished man. Nixon was very popular. He had temporarily overcome his image as "Tricky Dick" to get elected. I remember media commentary at the time that described his supporters as willing to defend him even if he physically attacked someone on television.
2
This story missed one very big difference between 1974 and today. Today, this new impeachment inquiry is on the heels of a two year investigation sought by Democrats to impeach Trump of collusion with Russia that never happened. The 60 million deplorables that voted for Trump are starting to get the impression their vote for president doesn't count. The general election is only 13 months away. The House should just sanction him and move on. Try actually winning an election.
6
Nixon was never impeached by the House.
He chose to resign when it was clear that the House would so vote that way. And that, consequently, several conservative Republican Senators (eg. Barry Goldwater) then informed him they would then vote to convict ensuring that a two-thirds majority of the Senate could be achieved.
1
“The Democrats in Congress need to persuade Republicans and the public in general that the Ukraine scandal is more than just another example of Mr. Trump being himself.”
Ahem, Trump being himself covers a panoply activities that make him eligible for impeachment.
1
@DENOTE REDMOND
Name one single crime he has been proven to have committed.
Mueller could not - and neither can you!
2
There were several reasons why Nixon was impeachable. It wasn't just the Watergate cover-up. The Democrats had a campaign war room, at the Watergate, that was investigating Nixon's campaign practices.
At the time industrialists contributed to both parties. Some were partisan. Some had a practice of funding both sides. Nixon's campaign was threatening the industrialists with loss of government contracts if they contributed to the Democrats.
Nixon governed a very different America in a very different era, which didn’t celebrate outrageous behaviour and grapple with today’s multilayered problems.
The country was still ruled by a bipartisan establishment that agreed on the essentials of domestic and foreign policy, and Nixon bowed to their views. Today the GOP is a party of moral bankcruptcy, and it sees in Trump as their saviour. For this reason Senate Republicans will not drop him unless they will benefit by doing so.
Until the Watergate scandal really became critical in early 1973, Nixon’s presidency went very differently from the way Trump’s has so far. He was also a different person from Trump. When he lost to Kennedy by few than 120,000 popular votes in 1960, he chose not to contest the results, despite Republicans’ claim about alleged irregularities in Illinois and Texas. He was praised for the dignity and unselfishness with which he handled defeat.
Today, Nixon is viewed much more favourably than Trump, who manipulates public opinion online. Technology enables him to reach average citizens by spewing dangerous lies, sowing discord and dividing the country.
Realising that his rule-and-divide strategy works in his favour, he has destroyed the presidential office, that is supposed to convey authority and dignity.
Trump may try to retain power by whatever means, but history will not be kind to him. But Americans must prevent him from winning another term.
4
During the Watergate hearings, Nixon thought he was safe because at the beginning the Republican Senators were opposed. As more of the enemies lists were revealed, as more of the lying was uncovered, as more of the plotting by Nixon himself in the Oval Office was disclosed, even Republicans turned on Nixon. It is not inconceivable that Trump's unethical behavior will lead to a successful trial in the Senate and removal from office (or like Nixon, a quick Trump resignation).
If Nixon had had a propaganda machine like FOX News at his disposal, I wonder if the outcome would have been the same. Nixon's problem was that ultimately he couldn't control the narrative; diligent, honest journalism won the day. Will that prove the case with the Trump impeachment?
8
The practical reality is (as it should be) that the President's own party removes him. The Republicans removed Nixon -- the only true "impeachment" ever, although it was not called that. The Republicans can remove Trump today. The question is whether/what it will take.
1
After a hopeful portrait of America was painted in 2008, a very grim picture emerged a mere eight years later. I fear that your impeachment analysis is correct. At this point our only potential savior is our other fear; that the country is actually run by business (with a little help from laws) not by politics. Of course there is the problem of who controls the nuclear arms. Save us!
3
Getting facts right. Nixon was never impeached, he resigned before the House was able to take a vote. Also, this entire process from reporting the Watergate break in to Nixon resigning was over two years, including an overwhelming re-election for Nixon. It was only the tapes that did Nixon in - before that he had more vigorous and enthusiastic defense than what this current president has going. There is massive corruption in this administration, the biggest bombshell has only been a little over a week in exposure - and has already implicated both the State and Justice departments - this is moving much more rapidly than Watergate. Let the House take its time in getting the information carefully, not only with the Ukraine scandal, but with emoluments, the mess reported in the Mueller report, his involvement in paying off women for silence, his obstruction of Congress, etc. and let the public absorb this. His approval ratings have already sunk into the mid-30s, a disaster for a president running for re-election.
4
@Bill Agreed. The job of the House is to make the record that the Senate Republicans need to tell Trump to go, just as in 1973-74.
2
Agree with authors. The role of "lying" is important to consider in the American political psyche. Lying is allowed in politics; I was part of a campaign in Colorado in 1976 to create a bottle deposit and recycling system like in OR and VT. We felt the opponents were lying in their political ads and took them to court under the CO Fair Campaign Act, but that Act was ruled unconstitutional via First Amendment.
But what was Clinton impeached for? A count of "perjury" related to Lewinsky, I think. So a politician can lie all they want, except under oath not to. Nixon was caught lying about official activities in the government. Trump lies all the time. When is it illegal to do so, and when will the public decide it is too much? Hard to say.
1
There are several factors that make the potential impeachment of Trump so much more difficult than Nixon:
- Nixon resigned before impeachment; Trump will have to be physically removed from the WH kicking and screaming. He will either be in handcuffs or a straightjacket.
-There was no Fox News back then and people generally had all the same information sources- newspapers and network television- who were careful about reporting facts and not lies
-Nixon was racist but not overtly. His supporters didn't necessarily vote for him out of racism and hate. They didn't feel aggrieved because they felt life has treated them poorly and they didn't need scapegoats to blame instead of taking responsibility for how their lives have turned out.
Trump supporters need others to blame for their misery.
-The GOP had more guts, more patriotism and some morality. It took a while- but they finally came around to turn the tide against Nixon. They put country before party.
Now, the GOP leadership has Moscow Mitch and his sidekick Lynsay Graham. Nothing matters to today's GOP except greed and power.
7
It all will come down to the Supreme Court if a patriotic member(s) of Trump's staff doesn't come forward. The Supremes did not side with Nixon the last time, based on current evidence, there is no assumption they will not allow Congress access to important records in their impeachment inquiry.
1
@Bill trump believes he owns 5 votes on the court and he may be right.
1
@Bill If that is the case, we are doomed as a Country. So much for blind justice.
One's true character is what shines forth in the dark - therefore, one need never fear being "discovered" if one always behaves in a way that one would never be ashamed of others discovering. It's a shame that most politicians (or even the average person, for that matter) never behave this way. But I believe the course of recent events should show the President's supporters what his true character is - if they haven't figured it out by now - which in my opinion, they should have. Is this bad behavior what we should receive/expect from the President of the United States of America? Aren't we better than this? I would hope so.
1
Unfortunately, the writer--a history professor who knows better--conflates impeachment with conviction and removal from office. There's more than adequate support in the public and the House of Representatives to impeach Mr. Trump. Conviction, however, will depend on Senate Republicans getting a strong enough message from their voters that Mr. Trump must leave. Not a likely event!
4
I know who President Trump is..bad and good.
And also the critics, who have been at his heels, including this paper since day one. To choose, I'd stay with the President.
4
Sad reality: if a president is ever going to be impeached, you need both arms of Congress to be of the party opposite to that of the president. The House and Senate always vote on party lines.
Many people forget - Richard Nixon was impeached in that very rare set of circumstances. If the Senate or House were Republican during Watergate, he'd have remained president...
I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't sell the Republicans short. Take heart in that, other than the usual loudmouths, they're saying very little. What HAS been said has been surprising to me. McConnell stating that there has to be a trial, knowing that with a trial there is going to be evidence and witnesses. Grassley is defending the whistleblower, all but saying Trump is breaking Federal law and to shut his trap. They also know that the witnesses we ALREADY know about (Volker, Yovanovitch) are going to be hard to undermine no matter what they say, pro or con.
Plus, expect the wind to change abruptly this afternoon after the State Department's IG's "urgent" visit to speak with multiple Congressional committees, House AND Senate.
4
Like some of the other posters here, I well remember the Watergate Era.
To cite what I see as being a fundamental difference between Nixon and Trump: For all his many flaws (and there were many!), and his demonstrable obstructions of justice, Nixon still retained a base-line understanding of the Constitution and a base-line respect for the institutions of government, however much he tested both. Prior to becoming President, after all, he had been a member of the US House and Senate and a Vice President.
Trump, on the other hand, has no such understanding or respect. He views the Presidency as his personal fiefdom, with which he can do as he pleases--not unlike a mob boss.
Anyone who questions his doings--no matter if the are well-regarded members of Congress (House or Senate) is an avowed enemy who must be dealt with accordingly, hence his disgustingly irresponsible accusations of treason, and talk of civil war.
I support the impeachment proceedings as I see no other alternative to Trump's behavior at this point. But given his warped mentality, I fear for where it all might lead.
6
It is one thing to study and write about historical events;
it is entirely different to have lived during them.
The "impeachment" of Richard Nixon, which never actually occurred because Nixon resigned, was far more difficult to reveal and explain to the public than Trump's manifold manifest misdeeds.
The vast majority of Republicans and many "independents" believed that the Watergate break-in was nothing more than a "dirty trick" of the sort routinely committed by politicians of both parties. They routinely pointed to LBJ, who had been a notorious scofflaw and hardball politician.
Even after Nixon resigned, many - perhaps most - Republicans felt that he had been unfairly mistreated by the media and hypocritically abused by the Democrats.
In contrast, an actual "impeachment" of Trump is easy. However, conviction of Trump will be nearly impossible.
During the Nixon era, there still were some Republican senators who were principled statesmen loyal to the American Constitution. Today, it will be difficult to find a single Republican senator who does not put personal interest above party, and party above country.
Almost all of today's Republicans are moral reprobates who are disloyal to America. That is THE crucial difference.
6
@Been There
To this I would add that on the day Nixon resigned he still had a 25% approval rating. While that is the lowest level a US President has ever reached since such surveys have been taken, it still indicates that a US President can resign in disgrace, and in the face of overwhelming evidence of his wrong-doing, and still have the support of one-quarter of the American people.
Recalling this, makes Trump's approval ratings not all that surprising.
1
"But in the case of the Ukraine phone call, where there is documentation that he asked a foreign leader to interfere in an American election, he insists he has no regrets". Although the article claims that Trump asked a foreign leader to interfere in an American election, there is nowhere in the transcript that trump asking such thing. What Trump asked is to find facts about Biden's dealings in Ukraine. There may or may not be corruption and nepotism behind Biden's action, but asking to investigate is interference in American election is a stretch. Democrats are agitating to establish this as an interference may be because this is what they did by creating Russian collusion hoax and using Ukrainian connection. They appear to intimidate Trump and Barr not to investigate by creating this mask of foreign intervention by using Trump's phone call. Not going to work, but it will destroy Biden's candidacy.
8
I believe the majority of Americans already favor Trump's removal. Yes, the playbook is different now. And of course the Senate Republicans intend to torpedo the impeachment trial if it comes to that. That will remain true until and unless the level of outrage in the general public rises to the point where many of their seats are endangered. That's why the House committees need to build their cases methodically, and transparently with as much information made available to the public as possible. It is clear from recent revelations that there are still some in government who put the nation first. If, as seems likely, more information becomes available corroborating what is already known, and especially if new information demonstrates illicit cooperation on the part of Pompeo and Barr to extort political information at the expense of our long term national interests, and cover up the conspiracy, eventually the Republicans will have no choice but to vote to impeach.
3
If there's enough evidence, I think that establishment Republicans can be brought around to the idea that impeachment may provide them with an opportunity to cut the cancer that is the current president out of their party.
If they're smart, they'll be able to do so in a way that connects the dots sufficiently to allow enough of his supporters to see that he is actually getting in the way of pushing their agenda. The fact that he's done virtually none of the things he said he would do should help in that effort.
7
The American electorate should, and will, decide this issue in 2020. Big problem for the impeachers is flimsy evidence coupled with a telegraphed intention to impeach dating back to the 2016 election. The hardcore progressives are on board, but then again they have always been on board. Most others see this as the naked political ploy that it is.
10
@dksmo
1. The evidence is not flimsy. The whistleblower gave 'deep thought' to presenting crimes and at least 3 layered coverups of those crimes.
2. Many Americans clearly saw Trump as a seriously unsuitable candidate from decades ago. The naked wannabe Emperour was clearly naked.
3. It's gone beyond politics. It is the constitutional crisis many feared was inevitable. It's very simple— laws were broken and covered up. More people around Trump will be sent to prison. We have laws and they apply to all of US, no matter which political party.
"Mr. Trump doesn’t wear a mask".
At least with Trump what you see on the outside is what is on the inside. Hillary's outside and inside have never even had a cup of coffee together. This could also be said for 99.99% of all politicians
14
@Tom "At least with Trump what you see on the outside is what is on the inside." That may be to his credit, but how does it excuse unethical and possibly criminal behavior. Brazen wrongdoing is still wrongdoing.
17
Unfortunately, Biden has much more in common with Clinton. 50 years of taxpayer income and hardly anything accomplished worth running on...he doesn’t even know why he is running and neither do we.
All we know he is the “electable” one amongst a bunch of socialists.
3
@Tom
This is a valid point. We should demand sincerity in the public sphere or we will tend to elect sociopaths. Anyone can do issue polling then regurgitate policies that play well in a sound bite, this does not mean they are actually wise policies or that you have learned anything about them personally.
The solution to this problem, however, is not to elect overt and unapologetic sociopaths. Someone constrained by keeping up a deception has at least that constraint.
The guy who robs your house with a mask on is less dangerous than the one who shows up without one. The latter is signalling that he intends to kill any witnesses.
2
Your point is well taken that Trump and Nixon are very different, although they both suffer from paranoia. Nixon, for the most part carried on a coherent domestic and foreign policy. Trump has exhibited aberrant behavior from the beginning of his term. His supporters elected him because he was different - he had all the answers and denigrated anyone who opposed him. His bravado impressed some but has morphed into lawlessness and fewer citizens can tolerate the chaos, confusion and out-and-out sham of the pretense that he is a leader who follows the law.
8
"Mr. Trump doesn’t wear a mask. He’s proud to flout the norms of presidential behavior, possibly even to the point of extorting foreign leaders."
Calculated or not, Trump is banking on having so normalized outrageousness that the audience the House needs to reach--his supporters--will be impossible to convince.
Unfortunately this is how tyrants gain, and maintain power, based on books about authoritarianism I've read in the past 3 years.
When Trump first took office, I was convinced any "normal" person could see through his lies. How naive I was. Trump has ginned up the passion of his supporters to intimidate Republicans from checking his abuses of power.
The difference between Watergate and now is stark: we get our news in siloes, rendering everything--even lifestyle choices--into support for red or blue. There is no consensus on truth , no Walter Cronkite, no agreement on what's right and wrong.
Despite his general ignorance of history, Trump has skillfully exploited polarization turning societal grievances to his own advantage.
16
@ChristineMcM
Dear ChristineMcM,
You are right. We tune into the news that most aligns with our perceptions of morality and reality. Also, as you mentioned there is no longer a "general consensus" of what is right and wrong.
We all have our "own" truth. The undoing of what is objectively true or false has morphed into what we subjectively believe.
A nation with this sort of ethos at its core is doomed to decline. We are angry about someone else's corruption but can justify our own all day long.
Self-righteous foolishness rules the day.
1
The crimes in plain sight, the absence of shame, make it all the more important to proceed with impeachment. In the absence of accountability, this becomes a new normal.
But it has always disturbed me that he shows no shame, has no desire to hide the wrongdoing. It’s significant that it is the people around him who are aware enough of social norms to try to hide evidence of his behavior.
This is is why I think the 25th amendment is relevant. He lives in a delusion, one facilitated by the sycophants around him. But it’s those same sycophants who would have to turn on him.
So impeachment it is.
8
I am tired of Trump's being taken to task for not making his and his wife's tax returns public.
Even though presidential candidates routinely release copies of their tax returns, (although Romney only released some of his 2010 tax return in order to avoid embarrassing revelations), there is no law requiring their release. If we want to make sure that presidential candidates release tax returns pass a law which requires it. Otherwise, shut up!
13
@MIKEinNYC
That could be a defensible stance, but he ran on a promise to release them and never did.
That is a big difference. If he had announced that he was not releasing them during the campaign, he might have lost.
6
@MIKEinNYC
Counting on you, Mike, to echo that statement when a Dem is Pres.
Oh, wait...you'll demand to know "what are they hiding?!"
And thanks for the "shut up!" conclusion. The mind and mouth of a true-blue Trumpian at work.
@MIKEinNYC I'm more interested candidates present a birth certificate, to ensure they are "natural born". You have to have a job to have a tax return.
Situational ethics and anything goes as long as it benefits or pleases me. You don't have to look very far to see this in abundance today.
This casual acceptance of Trump's cancerous conduct by a substantial segment of the population does not bode well for the republic.
8
Situational ethics and anything goes as long as it benefits or pleases me. You don't have to look very far to see this in abundance today.
This casual acceptance of Trump's cancerous conduct by a substantial segment of the population does not bode well for the republic.
It's apparent at this point that roughly 40% of the country is perfectly fine with the President behaving like a mob boss, provided he belongs to their party.
I read an article in the WSJ today about the impeachment inquiry, and the article and the comments contained no acknowledgement at all that Trump had done anything the least bit wrong. This despite it now being public knowledge that Trump has done worse than Nixon.
4
Trump enjoys unwavering approval from a kind of rabid base that Nixon never had, and it's a base that wields an intimidating cudgel that paralyzes Republicans in Congress from standing up to a man they all know is a threat to our constitutional democracy. Republican senators will have the chance to do what's right. Will they choose integrity over cowardice?
5
.Your points are well taken. America elected a wealthy and corrupt television star with a history of sordid affairs and very questionable business dealings. Voters knew Trump's character before he was elected. It did not matter because he was White, anti-minority, professed Christian values, rejected environmental concerns as nonsense and promised to throw Muslims and Latinos out of the country. He was elected and began acting on his promises. His actions in the Ukraine are less damaging to the nation and democracy than dozens of other actions he has taken. His lack of integrity certainly doesn't matter to his core. Secondly, he has fired every cabinet member and significant appointee with a shred of character surrounding himself with sycophants willing to go down with his ship.
We are not living in a Nixonian era, a time when morality and conduct meant more to voters than hatred. Much of what we see is a reaction to the election of a Black president, an even many Whites believed to be an impossibility. As long as a candidate shares their racial animosity, no level of corruption or evil will be a concern.
11
I well remember the Nixon impeachment hearings. The big difference between then and now is the fanaticism of the rightwingers that support the neurotic, destructive D.J. Trump.
Of course Nixon had is supporters, but they were not the gun totting, confederate flag waving racist/terrorists we have today openly flaunting their contempt of rule by law and the constitution. What happens in the USA in the next 2 years will shape the rest of our history for better of worse depending on how Democrats handle this distortion of reality, and whether the republicans in congress fold or stand up to Trump.
4
Actually, the 1950's, 60's and 70's electorate always knew Richard Nixon had a poor moral compass, a false sense of victimhood, and a penchant for personally attacking perceived enemies. He was Trump-lite.
1
@AG
Agreed.
He promised a "secret peace plan" to end the Vietnam war if elected, and ran on a "law and order" platform.
His supporters were less blind, dumb, and devoted that DJT's, but from a branch of the same tree.
I've listened to some Evangelicals go on about President Trump.
When they talk about his infidelities and his lying they say "Who among us hasn't sinned should cast the first stone."
Then they turn around and talk about Trump keeping his promises about Judges, Tax breaks, etc... and say "This is one of the most moral men ever in the Presidency, he keeps his word."
And when you point out the dealings with Russia, the contempt he has for the sanctity of his office, they will either bring up some sort of "Drain the swamp" or "Democrats are liars who are exaggerating" all the while being proud of a President who is willing to stick it to the enemy.
I should point out that Russia, Iran, and North Korea are seen as far less of an existential threat than Democrats, Liberalism, and Socialism. And in their minds, anything is fair, if it keeps this threat at bay.
7
@Dundeemundee
And those same Evangelicals screamed bloody murder over Bill Clinton's peccadillos.
Situational moral beliefs at work.
No Evangelical DJT supporter will ever have even an iota of credibility. They have sold their souls, if they ever had one.
This is a fascinating take on the current issue. Indeed, the public and most congressmen have accepted Trump as corrupt and horrible. Every horrific thing he does has lost shock value. The entire office of the presidency has been eroded and Republicans don't care as long as we have tax breaks and fight socialized medicine. The Republican stance on the Ukraine debacle is the same as always: yes, Trump is Trump, but have you seen the economy?
3
The tide is turning. I recall that Nixon's supporters opposed impeachment until the very last minute but when they broke they broke bigly. The same is beginning to happen with Trump. Don't pay attention to clowns like Kevin McCarthy, Devon Nunes and Jim Jordan. Watch McConnell, Grassley and other Republican senators now silently squirming.
5
Of course, Trump has committed no high crime or misdemeanor. Yes, he is boorish, secretive, unethical, and walks the fine line between legal and illegal. But in the end, the facts are too ambiguous and his crimes the kind of things that rarely result in convictions. The right way to get rid of him is by vote. In the end, this is a vendetta by those who find his policies an anathema.
4
@Kent Kraus
Can’t get rid of him by vote unless there is a fair election. Also, if it were just his policies, why impeach and be stuck with Pence? It is his obstruction of justice, declaring of false emergencies, abusing his office for personal and political gain that meet the standards for impeachment.
1
It is not that many fervent Trump supporters know he is ethically dubious, but do not care. The truth is far more sinister. His crimes, sins and failings are actually what they like about him. He Is just like them.
4
In 1974 I was naïve. I saw Nixon's involvement in the Watergate incident and the attempted cover-up as unquestionable grounds for impeachment. I assumed the Democrats where honest and more honorable. What I learned since is that Watergate was somewhat business as usual and the Democrats are no better. It has become clear that Woodward and Bernstein are just political hacks with an agenda. If we drove every corrupt politician from office, there would no one left. Google, "picture of Clintons at Trumps wedding". The results tell it all. When Trump says, Washington is a swamp, he knows because he is a swamp monster. At least he never tried to hide who he was. Forty years ago, Chuck Schumer ran as a reformer, he never left office since. The Democratic reformers are like Castro, dictators for life.
2
Public opinion should not be a determining factor in an impeachment process. Popular presidents are as likely to be corrupt as unpopular presidents, and it's Congress's constitutional duty to recognize and call out the corruption. Removing a thoroughly corrupt president may be more difficult when the corruption has spread to the Senate, the State Department, the Treasury and the Justice Department, and the levers of government don't work as they were designed to. This is where we find ourselves now, with the Attorney General busying himself with an "investigation" into the intelligence community because their conclusions about the 2016 election don't please the president. This rot is central to this administration. Anyone not infected with it has been purged. That's the challenge to the impeachment of this president, not public opinion.
3
45% of Americans adore Trump. 35% of Americans are indifferent to his flouting of the law. Only 20% of Americans, at most, want Trump impeached. It does remind me of Germany January 1945, in the sense that there are always people willing to follow a charismatic leader right to the bitter end. And Trump's rabid base see Trump as a Savior-figure defending them from liberal elites. And in a fight, the guy willing to fight dirty always wins.
1
While true, this editorial misses the point: it’s not that the electorate was surprised by Nixon’s corruption, it’s that Nixon didn’t have an industry that minted money defending his vile behavior.
My young friends and I played chicken with traffic once - a foolish case of the youthful delusion of invinceability. After a couple of close calls, we let go of our curious flirtation with death and decided that life had some redeeming qualities we'd like to be around for. Trump has gotten away with our youthful delusion for a long time only because of money and power. Check that with multiple and prima facia Articles of Impeachment and Trump will finally get the grilling he deserves.
1
For all his faults, Trump is looking out for the country. Let’s say he is like a father who has faults but is a good provider, loves his children and those children turn out just fine.
2
RE: "voters today have always known that the president is ethically dubious, and many don’t care." This shows how much things have changed.
In another comparison to Nixon, he said the American "people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."
Trump says the "American people don't care whether or not their [Republican] President is a crook. But anyway, I'm not a crook. Well, maybe a little bit of a crook. OK, I am really really big crook. The biggest. The best. So what? What are you going to do about it. The people love me."
3
So why are people today in our country less concerned with immorality, criminality, and plain deceit than they were in 1973-74? Moral decline religious people might say, but religious people are often, as now, among the most hypocritical and immoral, aka evangelicals. Selfishness? when have they not been selfish. Ill informed, I think perhaps this is part of the reason. Education in American history, in civics, and in other social questions (and I don't mean racism and all that stuff, I don't mean learning about black cowboys and black radicals) has been dismal over the last two generations. College students cannot read textbooks which were used successfully for years mid century when I was in school. I think education is the key; those to blame are racial hustlers and their influence over teacher education, teachers, and schools of all sorts. Can we fix this? Not certain at all.
Is it "enough for impeachment" that Trump asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden "in exchange for 'very good' treatment?" Like much press coverage of the many cases for impeaching Trump, this editorial avoids spelling out the alleged wrongdoing. Asking Ukraine for information on a presidential candidate does not equate to inappropriate "interference" in our election. It is simply obtaining information that Ukraine is in a position to have, as the matter regards Ukraine itself. Unlike the allegations of collusion with Russia, nobody is alleging that Trump asked Ukraine to break any laws. It is the manner in which he asked for information that may be problematic.
2
Thank you for the concise explanation of Watergate. I lived through that.
I hope every Civics and Government class in the US high schools and colleges is covering the extraordinary events happening now. I know my kids took these classes, not sure what is taught elsewhere.
These are simple questions to ask the classes, to explain why investigating any official is important:
Do you want your elected official to be able to break laws put in place to make sure they are governing with your interests at heart?
Do you want to make sure that there is a process in place to do that investigation?
Our founding fathers, and many states, put that in place with the Constitution they wrote. Wouldn't you want the alleged acts investigated? Or, would you rather the official is allowed to continue to perform those acts until the next election?
These are also simple questions to ask the news-watching public who perhaps are not in tune with what this all actually means. It's not a partisan punishment.........it's an investigation to ensure that elected officials abide by the goodwill they are elected to pursue.
3
If the economy was bad, if interest rates were high, if the stock market was going down, if unemployment was going up, then, the Democrats would have something real to run against. About a conversation with another world (?) leader, who cares?
6
@Iris --
The manufacturing sector is in a recession.
Interest rates are being kept artificially low because that is in the president's personal interest.
We'll see what happens with unemployment, but many of the jobs that have been "created" are not good ones.
There's plenty to run against. It's just that some people refuse to see it.
4
@Iris
law abiding citizens
The implication of this column is that the people of the United States do not want a president who obeys the law, but rather a king like Louis the 14th who said I am the state.
5
@Paco
Deep down, more people than we'd like to believe are ignorant, frightened of everything, and receptive to the strongman's message.
Trump is in many ways more difficult than Nixon. Our Congress is also a lot less malleable than in 1974. However, there is one important distinction between Trump and Nixon. Nixon was investigated AFTER re-election. Archibald Cox wasn't appointed until 1973. Unless I'm missing something, Trump will likely face the formal impeachment process during his re-election campaign.
Imagine if Bob Woodward had broken the Deep Throat story in June of 1971 instead of June of 1972. Furthermore, imagine the public had known about Nixon's sabotage of the Vietnam peace talks walking into the 1972 election. I very much doubt Nixon would have won a second term. Not at sixty percent anyway.
Trump somewhat combines both circumstances. However, he's more like Vietnam than Watergate. We didn't find out about that until decades later. Even if we can't convince the public removal is appropriate, Trump is still going to polls with a monkey on his back.
He was unpopular to begin with. There's no chance of a legislative victory in the next year. A war isn't going to untie the country. Election tampering is more scrutinized than ever. Acquittal will not exonerate him. The economy might collapse in the next year. Where does that leave Trump?
I'm guessing the answer is out on the curb. I very much doubt Trump will emerge stronger for this illness. I very much doubt he will survive at all.
6
Straight to God’s ear...
1
The optimist in me says that even Republicans will impeach once all the details come out.
They will be in untenable grounds for defending Trump. We’re still in the very early stages and already Trump’s people are pointing fingers at each other. The coming days will be characterized by more recriminations and further exposes.
The pessimist in me says that truth doesn’t matter. In the end, everyone does what they perceive will help them get re-elected.
For Republicans, there has to be a convergence between truth and re-election prospects to get rid of Trump.
So far, those conditions are not there. But who knows what will happen in a few weeks or months.
5
Duh?
Two problems with impeachment. 1. The Democrats have been screaming to impeach him since day one. It seems a little, well, like a solution in search of a problem. 2. Version 2.0 was oversold as an obstructed quid pro quo. It isn’t.
8
@Buster Dee "like a solution in search of a problem..."
My friend, if you don't see a HUGE problem with the President of the United States asking a foreign government to dig up dirt on a political opponent then you really have drunk the kool aid.
1
After a year of Trump you started to see comments in the media saying that G.W. Bush wasn't so bad after all. Now we see that Trump is even making Nixon look reasonable.
Will miracles never cease.
15
I think the difficulty is to find Republicans in Congress that haven't tied their own political success/demise to that of Trump, that no one will put country over party and self interests.
7
America's greatness ends when Americans reject the Rule of Law.
One can see the erosion now.
14
To be clear, the GOP'ers nominated the Republican President even after he famously proclaimed as a candidate:
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters."
This Republican President is GOPers' avatar, and it's almost impossible to imagine what he would have to do for 20 GOP'er Senators to join all Dem Senators in convicting Mayhem 45* on Articles of Impeachment.
And it should not be forgotten that never in U.S. history has the Senate convicted a POTUS on impeachment articles sent over from the House.
One may hope that things would be different if a sitting POTUS acted in a manner which would put the nation's security at risk.
7
It will be harder, if not impossible, because of the total corruption of the Republican Party; it still holds the power in the Senate.
23
It does seem to be the case that Mr. Trump doesn’t mask his true, corrupt self — and perhaps this makes an impeachment case against him harder to “win” (where a win is presumably removal from office). But even making the argument — in an official capacity, at long last — is significant. It’s a sign that regardless of potential political risk and against the howls of the president’s enablers, there is still a premium placed on right and wrong, and that corruption cannot be tolerated. Victory in this instance would seem to be more a matter of standing up to a corrupt bully, rather than unmasking one.
7
One of the biggest problems is that democrats are doing it one year away from an election so it will be very easy to make the case that it is a personal vendetta that wasted tax payers money. And it's hard to argue that point since so many have been calling for Trump's impeachment over a variety of things and feeling justified in doing so. The democrats have been attacking Trump non-stop for three solid years - not just Trump but his entire family. I am a democrat who did everything I could to block Trump's election. His win is on us. He told us who he was before he got elected. The best way to get rid of him is to vote him out.
11
hope can it be personal? The whistle blower complaint was investigated by the IG, then moved on to the Trump appointed Director of the Intelligence Services and both found the complaint to be extremely credible and worrisome. if the actions are confirmed and many are already by the words of Trump and the manuscript of the call than this Adminstration is trying to coherse a foreign nation depending on US aid to dig up dirt in a debunked Biden Investigation to favor the President in the 2020 election. At the least that is blatant abuse of Presidential Powers and depending on whether you think this was a quid pro quo or not this also violates campaign finance regulations, and puts National Security at risk! Explain the personal angle in all of this!
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@hartmut yes I understand the case. I have been following it as closely as you have. But I've also been following for three years the ways the boy has cried wolf and in a sense exhausted the public. There are people who believe that doing this matters more than anything else because it means we are standing up for our republic. And the rule of law. I am not one of those people. I don't have that much faith in our system overall. What I care about is climate change. And the Supreme Court. So to me, getting him out is the number one priority, as blocking his election in the first place was. Get him on this - it will make democrats feel as though they've accomplished something finally. But if he wins again in 2020 we're in a lot of trouble, a lot more trouble than we are in now.
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This is precisely why a vote to impeach and a trial in the Senate is so important to me: this veteran wants to know if my fellow Americans still believe in a government of laws, not of men.
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@EdM yes but if the trial vindicates Trump, then what?
1
Yes, impeachment will fail.
Our fellow citizens who voted for Trump have made a Faustian bargain with him in desperation since the broader economic forces shaping the world have upended their way of life.
The inequities due to the 2008 Great Recessions still remain: The elites (across the business and evangelical world) have their bargain and that's about it.
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Dr. Olmsted your opinion piece is spot-on and lines up nicely with my observation that Congress is a place where lawyers and others, with pliable morals and ethics, go to serve themselves, their party and wealthy patrons.
After watching Congress since a criminal president declared "I' m not a crook" Congress has slowly devolved in the place where white-collar criminals gather to pass laws to help themselves, corporations, and the 1% grow richer and stay out of jail. For example, serving in the Senate appears to be a good career change for a white-collar criminal who defrauded Medicare out of $300 million. A career change made possible because of loopholes and conviction barriers Congress placed into laws to help keep white-collar criminals out of jail.
There are a number of reasons many Americans no longer care if a person they voted for shows disdain for the law, engages unethical behavior, works with foreign governments to influence election outcomes, a criminal justice system that favors the wealthy and connected is just one of them. Therefore, I agree that impeaching Trump will be much harder than impeaching Nixon because many Americans have become numb to the immoral, unethical, and often criminal behavior of politicians and their appointees.
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"Tricky Dick" Nixon was known for that long before he was President.
He lost to Kennedy in 1960 because he looked exactly like that. He looked exactly like the dishonest used car salesman that he was.
I'm sure, because I remember. My mother pointed those things out to my father and us kids over the dinner table, before the 1960 election.
It was the first election I remember, and I was fascinated by those discussions, and by my Mom holding her ground on that in what was then the moderate Republican state of George Romney and the UAW actually providing good jobs and pay raises.
Things have changed. One thing that hasn't changed is the open and obvious nature of the Republican.
But where is John Kennedy? It ain't Joe Biden.
Kennedy defeated LBJ in the Democratic primaries, but then brought on board the big dreams of domestic reform that LBJ pushed, and LBJ himself as his VP. Kennedy did that with dreams of his own.
He stood on the steps of the student union I used a few years later, and called for us to go to the Moon, "because it is hard." He tried to push a civil rights bill, that LBJ finally got, in part as a way to honor Kennedy. Nobody could vote against it then.
We have our Kennedy. It is somewhere among Warren and Sanders and Mayor Pete. You could put Kennedy's words in a speech by any of them, and the words would fit. Kamala Harris, Joe Biden? Not so much. Moderate you know, mustn't dream too much, just promise voter blocs.
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@Mark Thomason Are you referring to Teddy?
As bad as Trump's malfeasance in office and abuse of power are, the real threat posed by his presidency is the public's seeming indifference to his conduct.
The Founders were a skeptical lot, recognizing that politicians could not always be counted on to answer to the better angels of their nature. So they constructed a system of constitutional checks and balances that they hoped would prevent unscrupulous governors from destroying the American republic.
The ultimate check in the system, however, was to be the public at large. Public officials were understood to be trustees of the people, who could send the rascals packing at election time if they abused their trust. But for this ultimate check to work, the people had to possess sufficient "civic virtue."
Civic virtue is a term of art from republican political theory. It is something like patriotism or love of country. But it is never blind patriotism or unthinking loyalty to a party or a cause. Rather, it expresses a commitment to the principles of republican government.
That commitment is sorely lacking in today's Republican party, as evidenced by the party leadership's slavish obeisance to Donald Trump (no matter what he says or does) and the outright enthusiasm shown by the base for Trump's increasingly authoritarian reign.
If the public is to play its part in the system of checks and balances we must retain our capacity for outrage, which is a sign that our civic virtue has not been extinguished.
20
The world was different then.
The west was in a period of mostly post war peace and relative prosperity, fueled by a desire for progress and decency after horrors of two world wars earlier in the century.
Although not naive to the idea of public officials committing serious transgressions, the public would have no tolerance for a president who cheated and then lied about it.
Besides, there was already social unrest and resentment over the Vietnam War, with anger aimed at the administration, and Watergate became a straw that broke the camels back.
2
It seems to me that a Trump may be correct that most Americans would not condemn him for accepting information on an opponent from any source, but he is wrong that anywhere near a majority will give him a pass on withholding funds unless he gets their help in providing ammunition against an opponent. Trump has benefited from very low expectations but this time it appears he has gone too far and I’d be surprised if he lasted his full term of office as even Republicans won’t go down with him
5
Impeachment should be vey difficult. It’s impact on the republic is devastating and Congress has to ensure that it acts in the interest of the public good and democratic values and principles.
Getting public support should be very hard. Congress has to have a solid, air right case. Congress should also educate on cause and effect: how it impacts the public’s daily lives. For instance, a clear reminder that working families have not recovered from the 2008 Great Recession and won’t, notwithstanding low unemployment full of contract jobs without security or benefits of any kind, is key. It has to be about dollar and cents, not just political philosophy. The tax cuts have done nothing to help struggling families. They can’t be expected to sacrifice their kids to fight Netanyahu’s wars. The public will support impeachment if, as noted, it’s presented as a bread and butter issue.
4
It’s worth remembering that Republican senators met with Nixon and told him that they would vote to convict him. Imagine that. Republicans putting country before party.
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@Kb It's also worth remembering that Nixon had a lot more friends on Capitol Hill than Trump has. DC Republicans fear Trump's influence on the party base, but none of them actually like the guy.
With Nixon there was proof from his own voice recordings. With Trump, some imagination will be needed to construct a case against him. The latest I heard was that someone heard someone say that they had heard someone else say that Trump was acting inappropriately by being concerned that politicians in the US were accepting favors from a foreign government.
9
@Richard Wright wait til they have to testify in Congressional hearings. All of them. And how their stories add up then. You can play all you want with the spin right now - it's just in the "media," which Mr. Lewandowski helpfully pointed out does not oblige interviewees to tell the truth. Faced with jail time for lying, methinks Trump's people are going to crack.
1
There is the OFFICIAL transcript of the conversation between Trump (our President) pressuring the President of Ukraine to find dirt on a potential political opponent. It matches exactly what the brave whistle-blower reported.
@Richard Wright What you just stated is a lie, although you've learned well from the Trump administration how to try and fog up a clear issue.
A whistleblower that had both first-hand knowledge, and who was told other information through channels he was authorized to receive them from and whre such information was corroborated, and deemed credible and urgent by an independent investigator general, reported that Trump abused the powers of his offices for personal political gain. Such abuse included extortion.
This was confirmed by the rough transcript of the call, and how will be further verified by other liars like Pompeo who were on the call but would not admit to it.
And already, we've learned Trump asked other foreign leaders to help dig up dirt to help him.
Nice try.
The analysis here is satisfactory but misses the primary difference between the Nixon impeachment inquiry and this one. The main difference is that the republican Senators of that era were primarily honorable and moral men who were at heart believers in our republican form of government.
The present republican senators are dishonorable, ethically challenged hollow humans who are at heart authoritarians in much the same way that their president is.
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@kirk
Eh. I'd agree with the second part regarding Senators such as Goldwater and Howard Baker, and would extend that to Nixon as well. He took the presidency seriously, had a (more or less) coherent vision of governance, and most importantly understood and cared about institutions and ideas larger than himself.
Obviously none of this is true of Trump, who seems barely to understand what's happening and would probably rather end the country than feel like a "loser." The Republicans of the Senate are certainly smarter and might have more of a conscience. But they're held in place on the line of battle by the Fox/Breitbart/talk radio hatertainment complex like Red Army conscripts afraid of getting shot by the commissars.
3
@kirk
Dittos!
@kirk Perfect comment. Unfortunately the Republicans are the real problem.
2
The irony now is that even though Trump’s wrongdoings may be harder to prove in the Senate than were Nixon’s, Trump’s crimes are so extensive and their effects so widespread that anything Nixon did just pales in comparison.
It is possible, perhaps likely, that Trump’s false belief in his own immunity from accountability will propel him forward with self incriminating gaffes to the point where he convicts himself.
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Also his mistaken belief that the courts will save him.The courts,of course,have nothing to do with impeachment.
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@YesIKnowtheMuffinMan
All the GOP Senators have to do is choose "Not Guilty".
Proof is irrelevant, and probably useless for conviction.
As for influencing the public, that remains to be seen.
To be fair, Nixon’s back channel message to the North Vietnamese in 1968 that they could get a better deal with him than with Humphrey did, allegedly, prolong the war and cost American lives. That Trump has caused great harm to person’s actual bodies is true, but not in a wartime situation such as we had in Vietnam.
I think it’s critical to keep the pressure on him with impeachment proceedings. And to do everything possible to peel his staff and cabinet members away as they are reminded of their own jeopardy. Everyone knows the people around him always pay the price.
His poll numbers are sinking, not only because of clear evidence of wrongdoing but because of the craziness of his response, which only his most zealous supporters will rally around. The more pressure he feels the more bizarre he will appear. It’s a good backup election weapon even if impeachment doesn’t succeed. Of course it’s risky too, but there’s no choice. He can’t be allowed to destroy the country.
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People seem to forget that Nixon was not actually impeached. He resigned before there was a full impeached and there's no way to know if the Senate would have convicted him anyway. Nixon had a lot of problems, but he did respect the office of the president enough not to want to experience the full impeachment process, so he resigned.
Trump has no respect for the office of the president so he will never resign. His ego will never allow him to accept any blame. He must be removed from office as he will say or do anything to remain in power.
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@VMG
The positive here, of course, is that Trump will have no problem bringing the GOP down with him.
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@Howard Kessler
The GOP will not go down with Trump. He may even get more votes once certain people know that he is above the law.
1
@VMG Nixon was told to go by his fellow Republicans, that he indeed would be impeached and they would vote against him. Nixon unlike Trump respected the party and country.
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I guess by Impeachment you mean the Senate voting Trump out of office. The clearest scenario is that the House will vote to impeach and then it will proceed to the Senate. Hearings will have to be held and the Citizens will focus much like the Brett Kavanaugh hearing. At a minimum the vote will be close to a majority. However, all it will take is a few purple state and not up for election Republicans to reach a majority. If war breaks out or the economy continues it’s slowing the choice to impeach becomes more likely. China, Russia, Iran, N Korea and the Saudis can alter the outcome of the vote and certainly 2020.
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@Daniel Salazar
Unfortunately for the Senate to convict the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote, not a simple majority.
@Daniel Salazar 2/3 are needed to convict 67 senators meaning 20 Republicans would have to vote to convict.
@Daniel Salazar 2/3 are needed to convict 67 senators meaning 20 Republicans would have to vote to convict.
Many of the voters are ethically dubious, as well. Keep the pressure on this guy and behaviour will matter more than ethics. An election is coming for a party stuck in a minority trap. More than the president will feel the pressure.
21
For once I agree with trump.
His conversation was indeed "perfect" - that is if it leads to his removal from office, they are magnificent.
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@Plennie Wingo
But will you agree with Zelenskiy, who yesterday claimed no pressure from Trump:
https://www.providencejournal.com/ZZ/news/20191001/ukraines-leader-trump-didnt-use-us-military-aid-as-lever
Very difficult for the impeachment inquiry to claim extortion when the alleged victim of the extortion says there was no such thing.
The impeachment of DJT just got a whole lot harder ... unless of course Adam Schiff, et al, find a way to "convince" Zelenskiy -- aka "pressure" him -- to change his tune.
Big loser in the whistleblower's accusation is Biden, who must now find a way to airbrush the appearance of abuse regarding his son Hunter's appointment to the board of Burisma Gas.
VP Biden appears to have abused his authority by landing a plum job for Hunter, who served from 2014 until April 2019, when he resigned -- presumably to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest once he father Joe threw his hat into the ring.
The whistleblower might have been trying to hurt Trump but Zelenskiy's denial greatly complicates the alleged extortion.
Big winners are all the other Democratic candidates who will try hard to do nothing while their leading man -- Biden -- fends off public scrutiny of easy to read allegations of nepotism.
PS: The Zelenskiy denial has not yet made its way into the NYT. A fair -- or shameful -- omission by the "paper of record"?
2
@Gluscabi
Even if it did fall short of "extortion", there was no legitimate reason to bring up the Bidens at all. It was still using the machinery of government to do opposition research in support of Trump's reelection campaign.
1
The Ukraine was corrupt for years and years. Finally, the Ukrainian voters had enough, elected a President with no prior government involvement, and the Government is cleaning house and investigating its own past history of corruption.
In that context, a suggestion that the Biden hiring not be overlooked in that comprehensive overall internal Ukrainian investigation is hardly an impeachable offense.
Democrats always assert that Trump will be subject to prosecution after he leaves office. To do so will require the collection of evidence, some of which may exist in foreign records. Under the assertions of the impeachment crowd, seeking that evidence would be the use of foreign governments to get damaging information on political opponents.
Or can Trump avoid such investigation by always running for some future office after he leaves this one?
6
GOP members of Congress have long shown their commitment to appeasement of Trump. His voting base celebrates his lawless use of the presidency as a blunt weapon. I fear that only an election will unseat him and even that may have to be enforced.
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@RM I might be able to agree that Trump was justified in asking for an investigation of the Bidens, if any other examples of corruption had been mentioned. That was not the case. The only allusions to corruption involved a political enemy.
Don't forget that Trump also asked for Zelensky to investigate that DNC server. That not only involved political opponents, but it was an obvious effort to cast doubt on the findings in the Mueller report that the Russians meddled in the US election.
Trump also talked about the former ambassador to Ukraine. It's circumstantial evidence that she was an advocate for pushing back against corruption when she was recalled. We don't know a lot about that, but Trump told Zelensky that bad things were going to happen to her. Does that sound like something a president of the US should say?
It's one thing to investigate evidence that exists in foreign records. It seems quite different for Trump and his personal attorney to be flailing around trying to get some dirt, and circumstantial evidence suggests that's what they were trying to do, on political opponents.
Those who say that Trump used Giuliani because he doesn't trust the "Deep State" are trying to distract from the evidence that already exists. An impeachment inquiry may clarify that evidence.
12
@RM: The only office Trump would consider running for would be Emperor for life. Anything else would be demeaning for him.
The House may vote to impeach, but the Senate will not unless Trump's popularity begins to wane. For that to happen, you're asking a large segment of our population to give up their racist views, realize that Trump's policies have done almost nothing for them now, and that his vaunted "tax cut" will bankrupt this nation or make our children's lives one of working to pay off government debt.
What you can expect is his re-election in 2020, a Pence-like lackey running for President in 2024 with Trump as his vice president and the lackey's resignation a day after inauguration.
15
@Sledge Trump is aging out. Pence is nothing more than a Bush Minion...waiting in the shadows for Trump to keel over.........then the Dark Side takes over again.
Trump would be wise to dump Pence in 2020 and pick a better VP.
Jesse Ventura perhaps.
1
The Schlesinger protocols were also in place to prevent the President from launching nukes. Unfortunately, in this case there are no Cabinet Officials up to the challenge.
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@Tabula Rasa, I hear you but I think that if the Joint Cheifs have something similar in place we wouldn't - and given current circumstances shouldn't - know about it. I hope they do.
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@carol goldstein I hope as well!