WOW ! Charles, you are *ALWAYS cogent and incisive, but for this column I must *personally commend you ! As a bit
of an amateur writer myself, it is a *vanishingly rare occasion when I find myself at a loss to *perfectly express my feelings in
the absolutely *accurate words. Today you impeccably performed that service *FOR me :
From your article : "Trump must be held accountable not only because his corruption dictates it, but also because we must demonstrate that accountability is possible."
I have been trying in vain to encapsulate that *same concept for over a *month now ! Thank you so much ! And, since it is said that "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery", I hereby extend full warning that I *will be *STEALING that from you !
I was *blocked on that very formulation - you *knocked it out of the PARK ! YES !
Trump himself is clearly and sufficiently mentally challenged that we have [sadly] come to *expect the "bubbling off at the gums" that, for POTUS, passes off as intelligible speech.
When his Chief of Staff does the same thing *without the courtesy of being *demonstrably in need of the nice men in
the Rubber Truck, it reminds us that we *can still be shocked
at this "dog and pony show".
And then for Mulvaney to insult the Global Intelligence by attempting to *walk that back ? To tell us that we did NOT
see and hear what we have visual and auditory RECORD of seeing and hearing ?
Yeah ... "you can't fool all the people all of the time".
10
Get sent to prison Over It!
9
The graves of Republicans who support Trump should all read "Coward" for the betrayal of their responsibility and their country.
10
Dear Mr. Blow, many thanks for your thoughts. You are consistently one of the bravest and thoughtful writers at the Times.
7
Let’s assume it’s so simple and straightforward that we can get over it. Then why the walk back Mick? I’d like to see you get over this with your boss. From what I understand he doesn’t forgive. A
6
can somebody ask Mick Mulvaney a follow-up question ..... in light of the fact that the Trump White House uses Pentagon money appropriated by Congress for military support of allies, for political purposes ---- can somebody ask Mulvaney if they do the same thing basically with all the other functions of government they have authority over ...... such as, for example: patents and trademarks, securities issues, banking issues, environmental issues (I remember when The Don was having some kind of problem with the Alaskan Congress people - he threatened to pollute one of Alaska's most sensitive environmental areas - dirty slob that he is. they're a bunch of gangsters, basically ? sure looks that way.
5
I don't think it's quite true to say that Trump's strategy is to "conduct your corruption in plain sight." After all, his staff did try to bury both the official record of the Ukraine call and the whistleblower complaint about it.
I think what we find with Trump and his henchman is a genuine inability to tell right from wrong. In their world, corruption is a given, and you're just a sucker if you're following the law and doing what the constitution requires rather than lining your own pockets.
When a scandal breaks, there's the familiar pattern of denying the facts and blaming the media for reporting fake news, and then admitting to doing the thing they denied, while claiming there's nothing wrong with doing the thing they initially denied doing.
It's brazen, all right, but it's not the same thing as being transparent.
6
Mulvaney may be unusually arrogant, but get over it is just another version of the popular "Let's move on." But the distractions, the dodges, are just as bad. Move on to the smootly handled decision on Syria? Or change the subject to the G7 country club fiasco? Maybe we should focus on what Rudy's up to. The list of things to get over, never ends.
7
No, Mick Mulvaney (Acting as Chief of Staff) .....
YOU get over it and take this sham of an Administration with you back to Palookaville from whence you came.
Reckless, lawless and shameful behavior is not something you get over, especially when it's done repeatedly....
8
We'll get over it when Trump and the darkness he inhabits are gone.
We'll get over it when all the Republicans who signed up for a cruise on Trump's ship of fools sink into the back pages of history.
We'll get over it when corruption as usual no longer is business as usual.
We'll get over it when elections are no longer acts of self-harm and politics isn't a game of revenge.
We'll get over it when Wall Street is no longer at the intersection of cynical indifference and voracious greed.
We'll get over it when evangelical isn't synonymous with hypocrisy and freedom of religion equals freedom from religion.
We'll get over it when Blacks are no longer target practice for killer cops.
We'll get over it when the poor aren't as powerless and the rich aren't as powerful.
We'll get over it when corporations see nations and not just markets, citizens not just consumers and put public interest ahead of special interest.
We'll get over it when fake news isn't made by a fake president.
We'll get over it when Americans vote for something they care about and not against everything they hate.
We'll get over it when it's really over.
91
Those three words "get over it," are quickly gelling into an ominous mantra for the GOP, a historical byline to what is increasingly manifested as a disasterous chapter in US politics.
I don't believe there will be a getting over this anytime soon, if ever.
5
Nationalist populism seems like an evil thing to us believers in liberal democracy who are dismayed at seeing it under attack. But the rightward lurch taking place here and across Europe right now is a threat to our hopes. The resemblance to Europe of the 1930s get stronger as fascism grows.
The Guardian has an article today on the myths that we believe:
Myth 1: ‘Rightwing populism will fail in government’
Myth 2: ‘High(er) turnout hurts rightwing populists’
Myth 3: ‘Rightwing populist parties moderate in government’
Myth 4: ‘Voters are put off by radical politics’
Says the author, Cas Mudde:
All of this should give liberal democrats pause. Consider what we’re seeing: rightwing populists’ open attacks on liberal democracy do not deter their supporters, particularly in highly polarized societies.
"Trump is a stress test on our system and constitutional government and we dare not fail."
Thank you! For some, holding Trump accountable for his actions is just this simple. But for just as many this is also about who we are as Americans, and as a society that teaches our children and each other the difference between right and wrong and how no one is above the laws to which we, as a nation agree to be held. Having watched Mitch McConnell and other Republican self-servers hang silently in the wings for 3 years while Trump has disregarded our laws, and boldly waved the middle finger at all notions of diplomacy and civility, I along with a majority of the country are awaiting the response from our elected officials. Is it, or is it not the case in our country that the wealthy and privileged must adhere to the same laws and rules of decorum as all … or are the rules actually different for them? This is why we must impeach this president - if not remove him from office altogether. If we don't, how do we proceed as Americans? How do we reconcile what we expect of our children, and each other when we were too weak to hold the criminal in the White House accountable? And that includes The Trump Family who have ruthlessly and shamelessly attempted to profit by their current occupation of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! To not address their wrong doing would be to forever diminish what it means to be a nation of laws under which we are supposedly all equal. Now is the time!
2
Please continue speaking truth to power. I will mary with you if and when necessary.
Thank you
Alison
Time to Wake Up, America!!! This country will not return to normalcy until our young citizens become motivated to get involved. They are most certainly NOT MOTIVATED to support the group of septuagenarians that is currently vying for the Democratic nomination, with the possible exception of Elizabeth Warren. Sorry, Demos; unless you can round up the Under 40 Generation and get them to the polls to support a Democrat, you are looking at 4 more years of Trump. Biden and Bernie and the rest of them are just the same old people to those under 40; they want someone who sees the world as they do, not a bunch of Vietnam-era leftovers. Until the Demos "get it" or a third major party can be formed (why not?), you will be stuck with old, conservative Republicans in the White House, and denying the right to vote to a huge (and growing) number of young people, a growing younger generation that is getting mad and is not going to "take it" much longer...
Because I don't agree with much of the Republican political agenda, especially nowadays, I would not have been happy if a Republican presidential candidate other than Trump had won the 2016 election, but I felt that most Republican candidates were honest and good people; I could have lived with it and hoped for the best. But I believed that Trump was a corrupt individual long before 2016, and long before I even thought of him as a political candidate. He is just so obviously not an honest and good person, that it I cannot understand why people voted for him. Us "liberals" are not mad because we have a Republican president. We are mad because we have a self-centered, corrupt president who is destroying this country!
3
I totally agree with Mr. Blow. A benchmark needs to be set. And the Ukraine affair is just a piece of a much bigger concern: in fundamental ways this President has violated his oath of office. He has not “faithfully executed the laws” including—but not limited to—the undermining of congressional mandated agencies and inciting violence against people living in the United States. He is acting like the monarch our founders feared.
It’s a shame the mainstream Democratic pols, the New York Times(my wife and I subscribe to the print edition), and entrenched elites of all sorts put so
much of their firepower in the Russian collusion narrative. Groupthink and Russia-bashing became the soup de jour. And this continues in their “framing” of the Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders campaigns.
More than a shade of McCarthyism here. This acts as a drag on this most necessary impeachment process, and also vitiates discussion about income inequality and our inefficient, for-profit healthcare system.
87
@Joseph Dibello If you think what happened in Ukraine isn’t related to Trump working at Putin’s behest, you have a surprise coming.
There are reasons we still haven’t seen Trumps tax returns.
The whole shoddy show runs off Russian money.
17
Dear Mr. Blow:
There is nothing to just "get over," other than media distortions of President Trump's Ukraine discussion.
No, Mulvaney did not admit that Trump was pursuing a quid pro quo with Ukraine "investigating Trump’s political opponents in the United States."
If there was any linkage -- and the Mulvaney admission was at best murky -- it was that Trump wanted Ukraine's commitment to cooperate in an official investigation by his attorney general, not dig up dirt for his campaign.
It was Joe Biden who bragged about threatening to withhold $1 billion if Ukraine did not fire its top prosecutor.
That was a quid pro quo, Mr. Blow.
14
@Jorge "Murky" is the best description of what Mulvaney admitted to. Yes, there were two investigation "asks" to Ukraine under the general heading of "corruption," one above-board by the Attorney General and another under the radar by Guiliani et al including the Bidens and god knows what else. But both investigations have as their goal discrediting Democrats, one referring back to the 2016 election and the other forward to the 2020 election. In both cases, investigations were apparently not for America's interests but for Trump's personal and political interests. That's the issue.
82
@Jorge -
I've been an attorney, in litigation, for over 30 years.
Mulvaney's statement, on TV, was not murky. If stated
as part of an extortion prosecution, it would amount to a confession.
As would the phone call "transcript" released by the WH.
Also, remember that the crime of using or soliciting foreign influence in our elections does not require bribery (ie: quid pro quo).
91
I am no lawyer, but the crimes disclosed in the report of President Trump’s Ukraine phone call and Mulvaney’s subsequent statements do not sound to me like bribery, but extortion. If I want to bribe you, I will sidle up confidentially and offer you something you may want but we’re not expecting, in exchange for something I want but don’t expect to get unless I offer to pay for it. In the Ukraine case, it seems there was funding for military assistance already appropriated and in the pipeline, the Ukrainians knew about it and were expecting to receive it, and Trump held it up and demanded they do something extra for him, though, in order to get it. I’d call that extortion. Actually, I wouldn’t stop there, but this is a family newspaper.
35
"And, Republicans and independents need to know that holding Trump accountable is not a sour grapes pursuit to relitigate 2016, or born out of maddening personal hatred of the man himself."
Mr. Blow, thank you for saying this. Every time I hear someone say that the current rancor is just an effort to overturn 2016, I want to scream.
Nope. Nope. Not true. Nope.
And Trump says to his adoring fans, "They want to make your vote not count!"
Ridiculous, fabricated claims. What makes me maddest is that he is trying to put words in my mouth, which infuriates and disgusts me. I want him gone. But I don't want Hilary anymore. I don't want to hang on a pathetic turn of events that elected him. I want it over, and I want to start fresh.
13
No, you did not get over it.
She lost, he's your president.
Since you cannot get over that, then simply learn to deal with it.
2
Charles, all great men are complicated John Kennedy ,Roosevelt,Ghandi and every Rev King.Trump is like the the rest of us doesn't fall into a clear category of good or evil.We need to recognize all the good he does you make it sound black and white.Hillary lost and as I get to benefit of hind site I realize what a blessing it was.
You and the other HRC accolades should get over it get someone to oppose Trump who has a chance to win.Election is only 13 months away.
Many people vote on policies not on personalities.To run on the platform that he is a racist divider will not fly.How about find a democrat who belives in that most cops are good people,borders should be secure, people who want to come here legally or illegally should not get welfare, we need strong economy and less regulation, energy independence is goods strong military keeps the peace and affirmative action is a form of racism that hurts it's recipient.
2
If The Constitution, and any of our other laws can be violated, again and again, by the person holding the highest office in our nation, and aided in his crimes by others who hold very high national offices, what do we have? What is left? The shredding of our Constitution, and of our checks and balances, with a deceitful, sycophantic bloviator telling us to: "just get over it," certainly bears no resemblance to Democracy, but rather to Fascism. Either we have laws and rules, or we don't. There is no in between. (Of course we are all aware that those with position, privilege, power, and money have long enjoyed either evading the law, or "in between.") And republicans believing that our laws and rules are not applicable to them is an outrage to the rest of us. Additionally, republican politicians believing that they, and their very wealthy donors, are entitled to the best health care, the best life, the biggest tax cuts, and everything else that taxpayer money can buy them, and that no one else is entitled to the same, (including the majority of taxpayers whose money these politicians feed off!!!!!) is not only an outrage to the rest of us, but it is blatantly, shockingly elitist, repulsive, and corrupt. And they have no shame---only entitlement. No matter what evolves with impeachment, voters in 2020 should get rid of this cabal of crooks, and tell THEM to "just get over it!"
6
Now Trump's claiming he could use Doral for the G-7 claiming "phony emoluments clause" (said the fake POTUS). Trump never claimed when his Doral property was 'picked' to be the 2020 G-7 meeting site, that it would be at no charge. No. Once the uproar started regarding his Constitutional violation of the Emoluments Clause, only then he claimed it would be at no cost.
Empty offer and switch. The Trump legacy.
Impeach now.
2
It is funny to see that people like Mr. Blow and the NYT editorial board don't really understand how democracy works, there is a certain hallowed thing that our constitution should always take a second seat too.
It rarely does, but boy, when it does, is it beautiful.
1
Mick's 300 day stint as acting chief of staff ends on October 29, 2019. He's already under the bus.
1
Trump and his criminal cohort, who all present a clear and present danger to our democracy, have banked on Americans just 'getting over' the litany of felonies and crises perpetrated by this band of thugs since January 20, 2017. From the Mueller Report and Charlottesville to Ukraine and the abandonment of the Kurds, the juggernaut of criminal activity has proceeded unabated. So, no, we should never 'get over' any of this. The day we do is the day we should shred the Constitution, dismantle every building and monument in Washington, and close up shop.
6
Nothing makes me laugh like Mr. GOP smart guy saying "get over it". I've snipped that treasure and made it my system "you've got mail" alert.
3
Bravo, Mr. Blow! I could not agree with you more strongly.
"Get over it" is the same phrase that the late Antonin Scalia, justice of the Supreme Court, used to tell off America in regard to the botched election that put G.W. Bush in the White House, with the eager assistance of the Court on which he sat. I will never "get over" having a presidential election decided without full completing the court or consideration of how voter's intentions were disregarded. Neither should anyone get over an open proclamation that the government of the United States is available as a foreign policy prop for a president's re-election.
Trump has surrounded himself with useful idiots, people who have no restraint in proclaiming his and their corruption. These people aren't even smart enough to hide their corrupt ways. This is Alice in Blunderland stuff. "The media has distorted my remarks by reporting exactly what I said!"
As for Republicans voting to remove the Trumpster from office, don't count it out entirely. When they see the imminent death of their political party, and their terms in office, staring them in the face anything can happen.
5
Please finish the impeachment soon enough to allow some reasonable Republicans to rise up and offer something, anything better than "horribly corrupt, ignorant, incompetent, etc. vs leftist zealot" as a choice next November. Please.
“We do that all the time with foreign policy.” Mulvaney said.
That's absolutely true and a pretty good defense.
America intimidates and pressures weaker nations all the time. Trump is in hot water because he got caught by a CIA asset intelligence "whistleblower" injecting his selfish political interests into the usual imperial arm-twisting.
Instead, this Ukraine business is just a continuation of Russiagate, a theme the CIA-Democrats simply can't let go of.
They're afraid of impeaching him for things he's done which are truly impeachable (Yeme e.g.), so they latch onto yet another non-starter. They are their own worst enemies. When this circus ends in a big flop, like the Mueller investigation, who will the Democrats blame for losing a second time to Trump in 2020?
Russians? Ukrainians? Tulsi Gabbard? Jill Stein?
Democrats could easily win landslide elections.
All they have to do is to promise to end the wars, end illegal immigration, bring back the good jobs, provide health insurance, promise to get big money out of politics, and promise to cancel student loan debt and pay for it by the money saved from yanking the military from the Middle East.
But Democrats are trying to convince us that dropping 30,000 bombs on Arabs who were never a danger to us is not a crime but asking that corrupt Biden be looked into is a crime.
You should know that you're being played when Brennan, Michael Hayden, Michael Morell, James Clapper, Chuck Hagel, and John Bolton are on your team.
1
Trump Voters
Np complaints here, ease into the season
Of pols spewing pablum, Trump calls it treason;
I’ll buy what’s for sale if the sale price is right
As long as the yardstick will measure half-bright;
Shout louder, El Bruto, as loud as he can,
Can outshout the Dems, woman or man –
Treason (I like it), catnip for Yahoos
Whose life’s ambition’s is a Jack Daniels cruise
Where Islands are shattered, and hotels are shuttered
Where Locals blame Trump, El Bruto, they muttered;
They’ll come in from the hills, all their relations
Vote for the Donald, have incest relations.
Mulvaney's snotty edict to "Get over it!" is the most arrogant, pugnacious thing ever uttered in the White House Press Briefing Room. It's abhorrent on myriad levels, from his haughty insolence to his repugnant smirk. Mr. Blow is absolutely right: We should NEVER 'get over it' — particularly with this group of rapacious criminals. We're paying this guy's salary? We should demand that he give back every cent he's received from the government. He's almost as awful as Trump. Almost, but not quite.
9
Who is more bitter here? The losers of dumb system rooted in slavery, or the victors of the Electoral College's nullification of cast votes?
1
At this point, I just read Blow to get annoyed. There are so many real things to be concerned about, but Blow seems to have no perspective. At a time when foreign policy is falling apart, he decides to focus on interpreting murky rhetoric. It's indicative of Blow's utter hatred for Trump, which he has had since day one. It prevents him from finding the important issues, as he is equally outraged by everything that happens.
1
Dear Republicans: There will always, always be opposition to your lies, corruption, amorality and your bad policies. There's nothing you can do about it. Get over it.
6
Earth to Charles Blow. Foreign policy and particularly foreign aid are designed to be applied with influence. All trade and military alliances operate by that principle. Apparently, Mr. Blow lives under a rock and only reads bedtime fairy tales. Listen to Joe Biden’s public pronouncement regarding Ukrainian aid withheld while serving as Vice President. Unlike Welfare, there are strings attached; you must give to get.
2
Yes Trump and his crooked family and cronies must be held to account.
And the Republican party must be held to account for nominating, supporting, financing, and electing a treasonous psychopath to the highest office in the land.
4
No, we won't just get over it!! Noted, Mulvaney can't flip his flop like some of Trump's comrades. If this latest announcement wasn't so repugnant it would be almost humorous. Leading his presser with the location for the G-7 was a publicity stunt plain and simple. There isn't a moran stupid enough to float the G-7 Trump property as tenable, not even Trump.
1
your problem is that most people ( 63 M last election) liked what trump does.....you do not....they win.....
are you shocked that so many people are ignorant, amoral, ill-informed, and just do not care about YOUR standards of integrity, honesty and decency.
get over that.....5 more years to go.....
3
Republicans defending our traitorous president only want their own fiefdom and dacha in the United Stakes.
Dear Mr. Blow,
I find it amazing that those who don't agree with your opinions are "totally craven and devoid of morality." Aren't you proud of yourself?
1
Hey Nicko: When you're indicted for conspiring to solicit a foreign power for political gain, violating your oath of office as Dir. of OMB, and then lying about it, and you're picking bugs off of your new orange suit, just GET OVER IT!
1
With respect to the Ukraine affair, I believe that the law in question speaks of a foreign government's influence in a US "election." The law could come into play if, at the time of Trump's communications with Ukraine, Joe Biden was the nominee of the Democrat party in the 2020 presidential election. But there is not yet a nominee of the Democrat party. Indeed it may well turn out that Biden has no relevance at all to the actual 2020 presidential election, which will be primarily between the nominees of the Democrat and Republican parties. Until those two people are nominated, the "2020 presidential election" is really only an idea, not an actuality. How could a foreign government influence something that doesn't exist yet?
2
Have we reached the point where the Congress needs to press on with articles of impeachment? A yes answer signifies for the first time someone holds Trump accountable. A yes answers forces full disclosure of the facts bearing on the issue during a trial in the Senate. A strong case places the fine white light on Republican Senators voting to condone might prove toxic for voters. A risk some might not be willing to bear. But, unlike the Clinton impeachment Democrats should not fear backlash for acting to restrain Trump when the GOP failed to first hold their own man accountable. Their silence brought this day.
2
Thank you!
There are things we get over, and things we don't. We get over being a subservient, oppressed colony of the British crown. We could even have gotten over slavery, if we'd really set about undoing it after emancipation, as some of the better actors had intended.
We don't get over things that were uniquely horrible and relatively recent. For example, the Tulsa race riots were uniquely horrible: most civilizations have had slavery, but most have not allowed the dominant tribe to suddenly attack and murder, from ground and air, a weaker tribe just because the latter were enjoying some success. That was almost a hundred years ago, and so it's again in our minds.
And we don't let a current President treat the country as his personal piggy bank and enforcer when it's happening in the here and now. It's much less horrific than a race riot, but it's not a hundred years ago, either, and they're related (on an admittedly abstract level) at least by this: use malign, violent (by withholding critical military assistance when Ukraine is under violent attack) and impermissible means to harm those who might challenge me by permissible means.
2
I love the concluding paragraphs the late Elijah Cummings' quote: “When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked: In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?”
For the GOP and other fence-sitters, this is not time for partisanship. Foul propagandists contend that Congress's oversight of all branches of government is "treasonous". Malarkey! It's every legislator's sworn duty.
With the myriad of troubling acts emerging so rapidly from this administration, Congress's giving Trump a pass would be shirking Congress's duty and would be precedent-setting in the worst of ways.
Dear Republican, impeachment now is not a "coup" nor is it "treason". It's a dutiful Constitutional process that must be done soon to prevent future abuses of executive power and to derail the administration's ever spiraling accumulation of conflicts of interest (from cabinet members using military aircraft to chauffeur their significant others to watch a solar eclipse, to secretaries profiting from insider information, to the POTUS's in plain sight encouragements of emoluments).
Republicans must take a steely look at their Constitutional obligations and begin acting as grownups toward the Executive Branch (and especially toward its most petulant actor - Donald Trump).
2
Trump the poltroon MO is to:
1.commit the crime,
2.cover it up,
3. when found out, claim he didn't do it,
4. then admit he did it and
5. finally say, it's not a crime.
Wash, rinse, and repeat.
With all the iterations of explanation, it becomes tiring to keep up with the truth.
1
"...holding Trump accountable is not a sour grapes pursuit to relitigate 2016, or born out of maddening personal hatred of the man himself."
When the Democrats, who until two weeks ago were demanding a close to our era of "Endless War", turn on Trump for actually disengaging US troops it becomes more likely that they really are just sour-graping the 2016 election over a maddening personal hatred. Trump is a monster, but he is a monster of the Democrats own creation. By that I mean: only the Democrats can save this republic, because only the Democrats can wreck it. The structure of the federal government was actually intended to keep it OUT of the everyday life of Americans. Beginning with the Social Security Act of 1935 and continuing through Medicare of 1965 to myriad programs today, the federal government is like a good tool that is being misused. Any mechanic can tell you what will happen to a screwdriver if you use it as a chisel. But Democrats don't listen to mechanics, do they?
When the Democratic Party abandons and then rolls back their program of putting the people in chains (velvet chains, but chains nonetheless) then Trump will go up in a puff of smoke, leaving only his empty ill-fitting suit and overlength tie in a pile on the floor. Just one quotation is all it takes, "Ask not what your country can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your country." Name me a single Democratic politician who would dare to utter that phrase in public.
3
The largest irony of all will be when Rep. Pelosi is President after Pence and his boss are impeached and convicted by the Senate.
3
I agree that with Mr. Blow that impeachment can bring the country together. It certainly makes those of us disgusted by Trump feel better. Like a disobedient child, Trump needs be to reined in and constantly reminded of the boundaries. This process is doing that.
1
Thank you Mr. Blow for your voice of reason and integrity and for knowing more about our rule of law and U.S. constitution than most of our republican officials, who seem to think Trump is emperor of America, and that they are his minions to do as he decrees by fiat, as opposed to public servants paid by US to complete OUR business. I will never 'get over' this monstrous corrupt, constitution-crushing chaos either. And as a person who feels harassed, frightened, hurt, and deeply offended in the awful climate of hate and chaos which these politicians have created for us, I also can't forgive. Vote them out!
Well, I hope we never “get over it.” Because if we do we just might get another president like Trump.
1
If politics is local, I wonder if these same Trump sycophants tolerate corruption in their own city and state government? If so, who are these people? Pro criminal behaviorists?
Or does racism in the US run so deep that all other nefarious presidential behavior a bothersome but tolerable side-issue for these Trump supporters.
Donald Trump, by any possible definition, is a bully. And experience shows that bullies, when confronted, either win outright or break down completely. In this case, an outright win is becoming very improbable. Draw your own conclusions.
Now Trump's claiming he could use Doral for the G-7 claiming "phony emoluments clause" said the phony POTUS. Trump never claimed when his Doral property was 'picked' to be the 2020 G-7 meeting site, that it would be at no charge. No. Once the uproar started regarding his Constitutional violation of the Emoluments Clause, only then he claimed it would be at no cost.
Empty offer and switch. The Trump legacy.
Impeach now.
Impeachment means accusation, not conviction.
It is a no brainer, for anyone with half a conscience and a modicum of historical knowledge, to realize that whatever Bill Clinton deserved to be accused of, Donald Trump deserves it ten times as much if not more.
There is not much doubt left that the House will impeach.
The time for even discussing that is fading already.
When and how are more open, but even there the outlines are already taking shape.
The key remaining questions are:
What further evidence remains to be uncovered?
Will Congressional Democrats bungle the uncovering?
If and when Congressional Republicans begin diving off the sinking ship they've been rearranging deck chairs on, which lifeboats will they swim towards?
4
"As the late Elijah Cummings put it:
“When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked: In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?”
Keeping our democracy intact requires respecting election results, the 2016 presidential election for example. Regrettably, our Progressive friends continuously fail to accept President Trump's election victory. Hilary and Bill Clinton are the true masters of using politics for self-enrichment. The Biden family is no slouch at this art. Trump pales by comparison.
1
Mr. Blow and others including myself wanted Trump Impeached by The House before the Ukraine incident. And although I am willing to forgive Pelosi and other House members for their long-standing dereliction of duty in that regard. Let the public not forget, that without that Ukraine Whistleblower’s willingness to step forward; ‘political’ expediency and hyperbole would have made the exercise of a constitutionally mandated imperative to chastise Public Official’s for their violations an ongoing and shameful disregard of Governmental character. That whistleblower showed courage & trust in the law. Thus testifying to upholding Justice and not in some vague belief that others must share his or her sentiments thus making Justice operate by coincidence or a whim rather than on facts. Hope Congress members come to realize that making laws and enforcing laws are both their fundamental duties. The USA is a Republic and democracy is merely a process of arriving at judgements.
2
Just think what the security at Doral would have cost, like exterminating bedbugs, cleaning mildew, planting strategic shrubs, construction of security barriers disguised as bars, redoing unsafe tile, adding mother-in-law facilities for security personnel.
I probably missed something but it's a big place. A good business exec never stops those money wheels in his head turning from the moment he gets up and I hear Dollar Don gets up early.
I know some Kurds who could use new digs, if they count, that is.
1
I think I think that I am even more distressed than I am at the Congressional Republicans trump sycophancy by how 'much' of "America" will not see (the 'Maga Hats') or understand (too many others) that a president's effort to 'trade' Congressionally-appropriated 'foreign aid' -- or anything else, and whether or not 'his' or 'hers' to trade -- to a 'foreigner,' in return for political dirt ('real' or to-be-fabricated) is wrong
('Constitutionally' and otherwise) -- let alone 'impeachable,' (which it is) pursuant to Article 1 of The Constitution of The United States of America.
1
“When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked: In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?”
Hopefully we'll be able to answer "We told Trump to get over it just after we told him to tell his story walking".
Amidst the brazenness of President Trump's 'phone call as detailed in the transcript, the subsequent jaw dropping south lawn comments re: China, and Mulvaney's attempts to backpedal, I can't help thinking that the saddest part of all this is the knowledge..subliminal or otherwise..that the acting WH chief of staff's secondary comment is almost certainly always true: that ''There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy"
1
@DL: This is one area where disinformation is for sale to highest bidders.
2
Sorry, but I'm pretty much over it. Thought in August that this would really be something to impeach Trump with - a whistle blower that caught the President in a treasonous moment. However, I know longer believe that; I believe that this is more of the same from the House and bitter Progressives.
Sick of the impeachment talk now, and the fact that this is totally a partisan stunt at the expense, not rescue, of the country. Everyone has been complaining that Trump is in bed with Russia and it was Russia that got him elected.
"Mulvaney told journalists … that the aid was withheld in part until Ukraine investigated an unsubstantiated theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was responsible for hacking Democratic Party emails in 2016 — a theory that would show that Mr. Trump was elected without Russian help.”
This is no quid pro quo. This is not about helping Trump win in 2020. And the money went to Ukraine anyway. For this you think impeachment is valid? More about resistance movement than seeking truth. The Dems won't be credible on this until they at least bring it for a vote and stop muffling their opposition. Opposition that enables the checks and balances we have in government.
2
@Ma.... "This is no quid pro quo."......Even if you were to take Mulvaney's multiple revised comment on its face, it is still a quid pro quo to hold up military assistance in exchange for cooperation. It is a quid pro quo, no matter if the request were legitimate - which it is not.
4
@Ma: I think Biden has already been taken down as mortally as Hillary was by James Comey's stunt with Anthony Weiner's computer the week before the 2016 election.
What in heck does he have to do before you admit that he’s committing crimes—blow Joe Biden’s head off on national TV? I just can’t understand y’all. It’s as if you watch a lead weight fall and insist that isn’t proof of the existence of gravity because Trump says it isn’t.
Look, we didn’t try to impeach Bush for beating Gore, even though he lost the popular vote. We shrugged and went on. That was despite the shady stuff Bush did, like Iraq.
This has nothing to do with Hillary losing. It’s about Trump being a crook and selling this country out every day. Using his hotels to launder bribes. Admitting on camera that he fired Comey to kill the Russia investigation. That in itself was impeachable. And you Conservatives have no problem with this!
I just do NOT understand y’all at all. It baffles me.
2
To tell the truth is something that all parents teach their children to do.
If you're a member of the Trump administration, however, actually telling the truth is a "disastrous mistake".
5
The level of corruption truly is astonishing. And how it's been normalized boggles the mind. I'm disgusted.
6
I believe Bill Maher has offered the best solution for getting Trump out: Bribe him to leave. Mr. Maher has offered $1 million to mr. trump if he would resign. Mr. Maher assured trump that there would many, many more celebrities and wealthy people that would add to the bribe offer, making it quite appealing.
Think about it. Isn't that talking trump's language? And as silly as it may seem, I believe Mr. Maher was going for more than a laugh. And what if every voter who was appalled by this buffoon and his motley crew contributed a dollar to a real fund-me site, not the one to which Mr. Maher jokingly referred? It just might be enough. Impeachment by Bribe!
One can dream. But it's worth a try.
Sure, you may be thinking he'll just make a comeback in 2020 or 2024. But not if the SDNY courts get to him once he's a civilian.
4
Mr. Blow: you may have a point. Trump actions are very transparent for the world to see vs. the Clintonian model of setting up a charitable foundation that collects high dollar donations (tax deductible BTW) and then has Ms Clinton putting her thumb on the scale at the Dept of State .. no linkage there .. nothing to see. Not to mention the foundation covers the costs of travel for the family and for a time paid Chelsea a salary.
3
The fact that Trump is still in office and printing up "get over it" t-shirts should tell you all you need to know. We owe The President a lot. He is showing us just how deplorable The Deplorables are. They should note, though, that to POTUS, they, too, are Kurds.
4
"This is far bigger than all that. Trump is a stress test on our system and constitutional government and we dare not fail."
The press is included in that stress test too, of course, and the press needs to ramp up the outrage even more. Some people are advocating taking things to the streets, as the women did successfully in 2016. At this point EVERYTHING must be thrown at the rotten Trump regime - they deserve no mercy.
4
If the US cannot decide the 2020 presidential election by direct popular vote, its present "democracy" is as fake as a $3 bill.
3
"To the contrary, I believe that it will bring the country together. A majority of Americans will recognize and rally around a common set of facts, a common truth, and reject Trump’s attempt to bend reality."
Mr. Blow, by "majority," I'm assuming you're excluding Trump's fervently xenopobic, hateful, racist base. But let's not forget that it was those voters who helped penetrate the Blue Wall and tip the electoral college in Trump's favor.
As disgusting as Trump and his base may be, it can happen again in 2020.
1
Mulvaney did not say that.
He spoke for a whole paragraph, and by pulling sentence fragments out of context, it was made to appear to say something he never said.
I'm not surprised to see it done. I'm a bit surprised to see Charles Blow do it. He ought to know better.
He's also got plenty of ammo without doing this sort of deception.
3
"Trump’s strategy is simple: Be brazen. Conduct your corruption in plain sight. And, it follows a simple logic: If it were wrong, I would be ashamed of it and attempt to conceal it. The fact that I haven’t attempted to shroud it is proof of its virtue."
The flaw in that approach is that you have to be seen as capable of shame for it to be effective. After watching Trump from the announcement of his candidacy, one thread running through every pronouncement, every tweet, is that the man is completely, pathologically incapable of shame. For Trump, happiness is never having to admit that you have no idea what you're doing but even if he did, it's always someone else's fault.
2
Lost in the cacophony of Trump’s corruption, is what will America do to never allow this type of tyranny to ever happen again? First, the constitution must be updated on several fronts to reflect the realities of the 21st century.
1) Update the minimum requirements on a stated and national level that allow anyone to be able a candidate for the highest office should simply have the highest qualifications. (at least 4 hears of house and senate experience or a governorship, and /or service to the American people, 4 star general, etc., never ever allow someone w/o a service background, or obvious and dubious character defects to be considered. (bankruptcies, endless litigation, and involvement with despicable scams and scandals which would disqualify anyone for about 99% of any job in America. Character does matter.
2) Clarify the high “crimes and misdemeanors” definitions. Mandate that the House and Senate must having hearings, a trial, and take a vote if any of these mandates are violated by taking it out of the political realm.
3) While we are at it, clarify the widely misinterpreted, misunderstood, and misapplied Second Amendment. It was simply written at a different time for different purposes.
4) Expand equality and rights for all, which should not be subject to an ideological make-up of the Supreme court or any other court.
5) Clarify, clarify, and clarify.
5
Much better off to get rid of the Electoral College and elect the president by popular vote, rather than how white and rural your districts can be made.
1
@Ken
And augment the supreme court?
I never realized how much autonomy and power the President, a single individual, has. We must surely learn that this president has stressed the constitution and our country beyond breaking point. The nation must seriously consider how to prevent a future rogue president from dismantling our country.
Up for discussion should be:
Elimination of the electoral college to ensure one person = one vote;
Constitutional amendments that better define a code of ethics for the sitting president and more rigorously identify criteria for impeachment; and
Reconfiguration of the Supreme Court as proposed by Yale and endorsed by candidate Pete Buttigieg. (Term limitation and expansion of the court with the additional seats unanimously selected by the sitting members is a great idea.)
14
Thank you for mentioning the great Elijah Cummings, whose fealty to his oath of office stands in towering contrast to President Trump.
But at least Mr. Trump has profound ignorance of the constitution, and so is incapable of understanding fully.
Trump's scurrying pack of minions -- including William Barr, Mick Mulvaney, Mike Pence, and Mike Pompeo -- among many, cannot make the same claim.
They squirm and can't quite seem to make normal eye contact when questioned about recent events, exhibiting uncomfortable "tells" as they betray the truth.
But Secretary Pompeo's aggressiveness and haughty condescension towards reporters has been particularly frightening. Does he think that we are stupid enough to think he is telling the truth when he grits his teeth, thrusts his jaw impossibly forward, and trots out his pious victim routine?
This guy is flat out violating his oath of office - and he has done so ever since he acted like he had no knowledge of Trump's phone call when he mislead Martha Raddatz and all of us: "So you just gave me a report about a I.C. whistleblower complaint, none of which I've seen..."
Secretary Pompeo, if "all enemies foreign and domestic" isn't sufficiently clear, than how about your West Point honor code oath?
"A cadet will not lie, cheat, steel, or tolerate those who do" - with the lie part being interpreted to include "quibbling or evasive statements or the use of technicalities."
Confession, Mr. Pompeo, is a bedrock Christian sacrament.
16
Trump may be pleading insanity: In criminal prosecution, the "insanity" defense is often rejected because the perpetrator acted to hide the crime (e.g., ran, destroyed evidence, lied). By putting it out in the open, he's arguing that even if his behavior was wrong, he didn't know it and shouldn't be held accountable. Very clever but, hopefully, it won't work.
2
I am a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel. I served 26 years under six elected presidents. All these gentlemen had faults. We all do. But Mr. Trump is literally a walking, talking liar; a man so corrupt and bigoted he should be removed from office at this very moment.
28
There is not that much time left in President Trump’s term. If we started reciting the various criminal, underhanded, inept, plain dumb, mean, racist, dangerous, and diminishing things he done and said while in office, do you think that recitation could be completed before January, 2021?
Make no mistake: Mulvaney's 'get over it' comment was nothing more than the assertion, an autocrat's assertion BTW, that 'we're in power; you're just going to have to accept whatever we do.'
I.e. 'if the president does it, it's not illegal.'
Just like that stupid (and unconstitutional) Justice Department policy that kept Trump from being indicted. The logical consequence of that policy is that the president has absolute authority.
9
The Ds inability to get over it is going to cause the SC to be locked right for decades, since RBG and Thomas will be replaced by Trump post re-election, plus Breyer & Sotomeyor don’t look like they are aging well - especially the diabetic ‘wise latina’
3
Mulvaney's comment shouldn't have been surprising given that he freely admits that his constituents had to pay a premium (ie: bribe) for his representation when he was in congress. I'm sure he thinks that's how the system is supposed to work and others should just 'get over it'. We can do that and put it behind us best by removing people like Mulvaney and Trump from public office.
4
Unfortunately a healthy percentage of Republicans remain solidly behind Trump, no matter what he says or does. They are willing to suspend logic and ignore the obvious. To them, up is down, black is white, and Trump is a persecuted victim. The GOP’s cyber war on the truth is inflicting serious harm on our country. It is vicious and unprincipled and apparently very effective. Until Democrats start fighting back, the battle for hearts and minds will be lost.
7
Don’t be so pessimistic. While it’s true that Trump’s base accounts for about a third of voters (and shrinking), and that those voters will never stop supporting him no matter what he says or does, remember they also believe on faith a lot of other things at odds with provable reality, such as that angels walk among us, that the US government is an occupying enemy set on disarming them so they can be further abused, that the dead rise, that evolution is a myth propagated by Satan himself, and more. They are lost to argument and suasion, and no amount of Democratic advertising spending will change their attitudes, which have been part of the American scene since at least the 19th Century (see: The Paranoid Style in American Politics). Be optimistic: all other voters outnumber Trump’s base 2:1. Therein lies salvation and the preservation of our republic, if we can hold onto it.
1
@GK.... My favorite black is white and up is down, was Trump standing before a campaign audience miming a handicapped reporter; and no matter that it was captured on camera, his supporters will swear he wasn't really miming a handicapped person. I am sorry, but they truly are deplorable...and unAmerican to boot.
1
What's crazy is that its a given thst our Senate will allow Trump to stay in office, while most of the World knows him to be an unqualified and dishonest President. The Senators need to do some serious soul-searching and we citizens need to do our own soul searching, pay attention to Our Congress, and vote.
Meanwhile, Trump should thank his lucky stars that Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader.
Good ole extremely powerful Mitch is doing all he can to ensure that the Senate will not impeach Trump, while paying lip service to ethics concerns. I hope Kentucky is seeing the light.
4
Everything about our foreign policy is corrupt. Big companies bribe Congress to buy their weapons and to give those weapons as aide to other nations. Those nation, to get those weapons, pay off our politicians or allow our businesses to loot their countries. Trump is being impeached for one reason: he is a Republican and the Democrats have a majority in the House. If he is removed from office it will be because of one thing: he pulled troops out of an undeclared war. Money rul s our foreign policy- not laws, customs, 'values', or even the interests of the people of the United States.
The left, in this country, would sacrifice a million of our children (not theirs, of course) and all the wealth of the nation, to stick it to Trump.
1
Thank you Mr. Blow for repeatedly speaking up for us out here in the Hinterlands. As I watched the replay of Mr. Mulvaney's press conference, I literally had to do a double take. His little verbal dance back and forth to try and justify his boss' misdeeds looked as if it could be the final nail in the impeachment column. How many of these performances by Trump and his supporters will it take for Republicans to get the message? Trump has made his bed and the final question will be is it large enough to handle all of those whose misdeeds by denial put them into the same classification of bad people as the President? To his supporters: It's the kind of "business as usual" that cannot be tolerated.
1
Trump has clearly broken his oath of office, in effect lying under oath. That alone is enough to impeach and convict.
5
Having spent time in Ukraine, and really appreciating the razor's edge they walk towards democracy, the intensity of powers arrayed against that evolution from within and without, I'd like to take a minute to give a shout-out to all the un-named, un-heralded Ukrainian functionaries at various levels pressured by Trump's corruption, by Giuliani and Barr, and stood their ground, said no, we're trying to chose a new path here, we're trying, against all historical/Soviet odds, to re-invigorate and honor this notion called the "truth." Horrific and deeply shameful that the U.S. is on the wrong side of Ukraine's efforts. Shame on the Republicans. Shame.
5
If trump and his cohorts get away with defying all the subpoenas. which will now be decided in the courts, our grand experiment of democracy is over. These republicans that claim to support the constitution need to read it. 9 of the first 10 amendments deal with protecting us, the people, from tyrants. I keep hearing about they cannot speak out because they will be lose primaries to his base. I hope secretly they are thinking "we have to get rid of this guy I can't have my morals be compromised by this lunatic. I can't have this threat hanging over my head any longer."
3
Of all the outrageous things that have been spewed by Trump and his White House cronies, Mulvaney's "get over it" comment is among the most insulting thing said to the American public. As if there were no consequences, no accountability, no regard for laws. Read: we will do whatever we want.
But, clearly not: Trump acquiesced on the G7 summit at his Doral Corral. So, it looks like Mulvaney needs to get over that.
4
Trump's, and now Mulvaney's, version of "Who you gonna believe, me or your lyin' eyes?" works on many, including nearly all GOP members of Congress.
4
"Get it over!"
Impeach and convict.
9
Listening to Mulvany try to walk back his statements is maddening....Reminded me of a Kelly-Anne or Sean Spicer (remember him?!) ....... Vote Democrats in. We can do better than this.
3
"Get over it!"
Yes I say this to the republicans and #45 and his administration:
1. Get over it: Hilary's emails
2. Get over it: Benghazi
3. Get over it: Deep State (doesn't exist)
4. Get over it: All those debunked conspiracy theories
5. Get over it: Whistle blowers are not traitors
15
Trump, you lost the 2016 presidential election popular vote.
Mulvaney, the South lost the Civil War.
Both of you, get over it!
7
Impeachment: "Get on with it!"
6
Hey, Mick Mulvaney, Mikey Mouse time is over. The United States of America deserves more than an ‘Acting’ Chief of Staff. Time for someone to help restore credibility to the White House.
2
Part of the problem is that
Evangelical Christians are anarchists.
They want people to just get over:
- climate change = it is just JC coming back.
- poverty = shows you are not virtuous
- just accept JC and I can stop bugging you.
It all fits the pattern.
7
Yet another insightful article by Mr. Blow. You give us faith. You mentioned Trum_ism (I have no letter between o and q on my com_uter, sorry about that). At any rate, this trum_ism has been mentioned way too much. I worries me (though I have much more worries about this situation) to think that this term to describe the followers of this monster; I'd hate for my grandchildren to have this term be a normal issue; it gives 45 more of what he wants: immortality for being immoral.
We are not going to get over it, we are going to get over YOU,and by you I mean all of you corrupt, incompetent, arrogant, ignorant and impulsive improvising criminals.
There has never been an administration so riddled with corruption, nepotism and resignations as this one. Trump makes Nixon look like a Boy Scout.
2
This is your best reticle to date, Mr. Blow. In crystal clear prose, you tell it like it is. Thank you, and bless you. May your words be heard and heeded in all the hallowed halls.
1
We've heard this 'get over it' line before from right-wing hacks like Mulvaney. A n ultra-right-wing Supreme Court judge, Antonin Scalia, used it to excuse the politics of his Republican friends. But then, we will always have liars and incompetents in our midst, many of whom, like mealymouthed Mick currently reside in the White House, though not for much longer I sincerely hope.
1
Mr. Putin says..."Ukraine, not Russia, was responsible
for hacking Democratic Party emails in 2016,"
Yeah, right mr. trump?
3
There are a few Republicans still in Congress that voted for Mr. Clinton to be impeached but are saying there's nothing to see here with Trump--Lindsey Graham comes to mind as the most notable one.
We all need to look them in the eyes, remind them of their votes on Bill Clinton's impeachment, point out their current stance that Trump is just fine, and ask them why it's OK to break the law if you're a Republican.
2
Real patriots don't just get over it. Neither do they just move on. And they don't cut and run either. Republicans don't do patriotism any more, apparently. Maybe theirs was always just a convenient display. It's more than hugging a flag or wearing a lapel pin or being sure to say, "God bless America" at the end of a speech. At the end of the day, patriotism is about a quaint, old-fashioned word: honor. Personal and national. When our leaders and citizen voters forfeit their honor in exchange for temporary political or ideological victories, America becomes a country unworthy of any kind of sacrifice and the common good always requires sacrifice..Where are "the few good men and women" among Republicans? Where are the honorable patriots?
7
@abigail49 - - - - Where are the honorable patriots? They all appear to be in the Republican Party or are Libertarians.
Anyone listening to progressive Democrats the last couple of years already knows these people are relentlessly trained to despise the United States and its Constitutoin - especially the Bill of Rights.
@L osservatore Fellow citizen, I beg to disagree. I would not vilify an entire class of people so hastily. I believe you have fallen sway to the demogoguery that began with the professional liar, Mr. Newton Gingrich and his Tea Party henchmen. They practically patented the new brand of hostility politics you are puppeting, that those of another view point are unpatriotic.
Truth be told, there are many Democrats, indeed, a majority of out citizens and electorate. Many have served honorably in the Armed Forces. Many have taken brave stances to draw attention to the injustices perpetuated upon our fellow citizens, empowered by the Rights of Free Speech, Assembly, a Free Press, and the Right to Petition. We are a Republic of men (using that term herein to refer to any number of genders), and we are imperfect. These rights, these exercized rights, are what keep power in line.
If you mistake these exercizes for the despising of the Republic and its Constitution, it is my opinion that you have missed the point.
1
@L osservatore Any criticism or dissent with the goal of correcting injustice and expanding rights is patriotic. You don't expect better of and work peacefully to make better a country or a person you "despise." It's those who accept injustice, corruption, lies and abuse of power who hate what America represents.
Trump supporters "got over it" long ago, back at groping or pornstar hush money payoffs. They have been given a selfish hard right minority political agenda on a silver platter. Once they tasted the sweet irony of their no-compromise "America how WE want it" agenda there was no going back
They got over America's integrity,unity,ethics,morals, and the law even as they fully embraced Trump and his handout.
Mulvaney talked like a snide criminal saying "get over it" when caught red-handed. Now it's time for Trump supporters to get over when Trump is impeached. No matter WHO the next President is, they need integrity, couth, and competence, traits the all brass,lies, and stink Trump lacks.
6
Trump’s corruption and probable treason are not to be “gotten over,” nor are those things in the collaborating GOP.
4
If Mulvaney ends up in prison, he’s going to need something appropriate to wear. I recommend a T-shirt that says, “I’m trying to Get Over it”.
3
Trump and his defenders know that, no matter how egregious his crimes, all his core supporters need is the thinnest shred of a cover story to pretend he did nothing wrong. It doesn't matter if it's ridiculous, a contradiction of what they said in the previous breath, or demonstrably a lie. Their attitude is "Who are you gonna believe? Me, or your lying eyes and ears?"
They remind me of the Communists of the 50's, twisting themselves into pretzels trying to excuse the rampant crimes of Joseph Stalin.
1
The sum total of Trumpf’s actions are just merely showcased by the “quid pro quo” issue. It is not the only hook.
“Watch what they do not what they say”, is Rachel Maddow’s important contribution to our conversation. Emoluments abound. What about the reported statement by Zelensky that he stayed in a Trumpf hotel... ha ha ha.”
What if your child says, “if I say I didn’t cheat on the final exam, I did copy a friend’s quiz.” It’s still cheating.
Ivanka on camera with the Cabinet. Another emolument in public view.
Wake up America!!
3
Trump is exhibit A of the sleaze that has been part of America camouflaged under “business as usual”. We get it but we say Enough! No more. We don’t want to flaunt American Sleaze the world over.
2
If it wasn't for the stupidity of the idea of Ukraine being the big player of criminal hacking, buying ads on Facebook, interfering in the 2016 election, etc., rather than Russia, this administration, and the Republican members in Congress, wouldn't know where to run to hide from what is happening by the few, actually, former intelligent people who are coming forward who were employed by this administration, and spilling the truth. Truth goes a long way to the majority of people in this country, and they aren't going to just pretend it doesn't matter, unlike those Republicans, except for a scant few. who are obviously brain dead.
3
In the real world the expression “Sunlight is the best disinfectant” is an unambiguous phrase. In Trump’s alternative universe, “sunlight” on his corruption and lies means; “there is nothing wrong with what I did or said.” And by the way, “don’t believe the media, your own mind, plus your lying eyes and ears.”
3
King George taxing you? Get over it!
It didn't work then and it won't work now.
1
Mulvaney can "get over it", even additional criticism for something that they've decided not to do.
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that President Donald Trump was "honestly surprised at the level of pushback" on plans to host next year's G-7 summit at his Doral resort in Miami...
Trump backed down in the wake of the criticism and declared the event would not be held at his resort "based on both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/4047431002
Translation of Reality Presidency's retraction:
Donald Trump very reluctantly stopped driving his self-serving plan. Mulvaney prostrates himself with ridiculous explanation when they couldn't admit to the plan's illegality, even as his boss claims it was due to personal prosecution by his enemies.
From start to finish, this administion's conduct is best characterized as juvenile delinquency, including the non-stop grousing that is sure to follow Trump's reversal.
1
Mr. Blow. Thank you.
What is ironical is that Mr. Mulvaney knew very well, what he said was the truth. It was there inside him. On his head. In his conscience. But, unawares to him, Nature beat him, and it was too late to stop.
And then, he says "Get Over It". He even said - we do this all the time. A further reiteration to all what we see in the daily news.
2
The great and lamented Michael Kinsley used to call these kinds of blurts "gaffes" -- defined as occasions when a politician or government figure "accidentally told the truth."
1
Imagining myself a U.S. soldier today somewhere in the Middle East or a young person in this country who is now contemplating military service, I have a hard time imagining any of them heartened by the prospect of being shuffled around like a pawn on a chessboard by a know-nothing ignoramus like Trump.
4
Mulvaney wearing a mid-blue suit. So informal and unprofessional. Obama was criticized for his taupe suit. Worst scandal of his presidency.
I miss those days.
2
How someone who knows no unity within himself, or know no unity within life can be a leader of people? Humans with decency and common sense truly hope that Trump as well as his enablers and Evangelical consorts who joined him in this terrible, degrading and destructive experimentation will eventually realize with horror the depth of their ignorance and when this happens one can only hope that they will be humbled and retreat into silence to absorb the concequences and the human cost of their unexamined vanity!
1
Drain the swamp indeed - vote the Trump administration, and all its corruption enablers, out of office!
3
When the great Yogi Berra said "I didn't say what I said" its humorous. When Trumps toady Mick Mulvaney says it in so many words trying to back track on admitting Constitutional violations its tragic.
5
When he made the statement that he could shoot and kill someone on 5th avenue with no consequences that should have been the end of him. It's time to lock this insane criminal away where he can't hurt anyone and can do no more damage to our country and our world.
1
After Trump is removed by any means necessary we must have a true tribunal to prosecute and punish those who were complicit. That this abortion of government may ever happen again here must be permanently neutered.
2
It's tough to get over it when Trump continues to commit new offenses every day.
3
"And now that Mulvaney has made the disastrous mistake of actually telling the truth, some Republicans are even signaling that they are open to at least entertaining a vote to impeach the president."
Oh...ooh...some Republicans may ENTERTAIN the idea of doing their job. Mind you, only ENTERTAIN the idea.
Let's be honest, Republican men and women in Congress ARE totally craven and devoid of morality. The only reason some may ENTERTAIN the idea of holding Trump accountable (actually doing their job) is to hold onto their job by attempting to show America that they, one or two, are not as craven and amoral as the rest of the Republican Party actually is.
Those Republicans who will not even ENTERTAIN the idea of doing their job are from states where the electorate put them in office specifically to NOT do their job. And that is following the slime...right back to the origin of craven and amoral Republicans - a craven and amoral electorate which elects the most craven and amoral person they can find among themselves.
2
Mulvaney, doing his level best to impress the Big Guy, made his statement in the form of a demand that Americans "get over it".
I saw the statement as more of a desperate plea...as in "Why won't you people just get over it, and stop calling us out on our blatant corruption and malfeasance?".
Not gonna happen, Mick.
2
It's great that Mr. Blow has come out forthrightly against political influence in foreign policy.
Sadly, I'm old enough to recall the bad old days, when, for example, President Obama told Russia's President to tell Putin go to easy on demands for nuclear disarmament until after Obama's election, when he would have more "flexibility" and be able to help Putin. Or when Obama and Hillary took down Libya, to help Hillary's credibility when she was preparing to run for President. Or when President Clinton bombed several targets in an effort to take the heat off himself when he was being impeached. Like you, Mr. Blow, I won't "just get over" those scandals, even if they were committed by Democrats.
2
@Ulysses
Brave Ulysses, little did you know that when you were tied to the mast, or the TV screen, and your shipmates stopped up their ears, or turned off the boob tube, and you heard the siren song, that it would twist your mind and your thoughts long after passing those deadly shoals. You believe those venomously sweet notes still, do you?
The men you have chosen to steer the ship of state, their sad state of bone spur madness, they would have steered straight for Σκύλλα, Χάρυβδις, and the Κύκλωπες, wouldn't they?
Mr. Blow, you have sounded the alarm in perfect pitch for the last three years. I only wish GOP politicians had decent hearing. Or is it our political process that turns all its players into idiots?
At Camp David this past week there were some GOPers who didn’t see any problem with Trump’s G7/Doral gambit. Where are their heads? Where are their souls? Where is their idea of the government and nation they serve?
The framers of the Constitution were disdained political parties. But they were unable to institute sufficient protections against them. Now there is slim government leverage left. After Trump, we will see the devastation, but the real damage has been there for decades.
Is decent people’s outrage enough to solve a system that can so easily lose its own identity, and deny that’s what it has done?
Our country is run by a self serving manic narcissist, Get Over It!
Every election year thousands lose the ability to vote, Get Over It!
We pay Cadillac prices for our health care yet we drive a Yugo, Get Over It!
Our Democratic Republic is being sold down the river to enrich a few, Get Over It!
Well I don't want to get over it!
I want to see a person with ethics running our country for everyone's benefit not just one!
I want to see more people registered to vote in every election not fewer!
I want to see high speed bullet train health care for every man' woman and child!
I want to see not for sale signs all over our government and the rich paying their dues to provide a flourishing civilized nation for all and for all to see and look up to!
So to all the Mulvany types, were not laying down and rolling over for your corruption, so Get Over It!
2
Oil? They have oil in that area of Syria? We leave and the Iranians, Russians get it? 2 billion barrels. ? Why I did not know thus. Send the troops back right now, My oil donors will cut me off. This is a National Emergency!!
Yes! And Thank You.
Never in the history of the US has this country been tested by such an ignorant, vile, dishonest, con man such as Trump. The constitutional safeguards are in place to put checks and balances on his clearly criminal behavior, but the cowards in the Senate will never act.
But to fail to act now because he won't be removed by the Vichy Senate or because it might hurt Democrats in the 2020 elections is rank cowardice. Right is right and wrong is wrong, even in this perverted age of Trump and his endless lies.
I am at least encouraged by one of our political parties knowing and following their constitutional duty, even in the face of uncertain outcomes. If the US fails to stand up to the monster in the White House then democracy in this country is truly lost.
1
Will Mulvaney stay on? Ordinarily, after a revealing "gaffe" like that, the answer would be no, but he IS the bottom of the barrel. Who's left? You need at least one neuron to qualify as a thinking creature, and Mulvaney is clutching on to his like a lifeline.
2
Remember last June when Trump almost went ballistic about Mick Mulvaney coughing in the Oval Office during an interview?The fact that Mulvaney was not fired last week after validating Trump’s “quid pro quo” on Ukraine followed by his pathetic attempts afterwards to say he was “misconstrued,” leads me to believe that Trump is becoming worried he may find it more and more difficult to replace mealy-mouthed toadies to lie for him.
And as for Mr. Mulvaney holding up a finger to America with his “Get over it” statement about Trump’s misdeeds - No Mr. Mulvaney, the majority of Americans will not “get over it” today, tomorrow or most especially at the ballot box in November 2020.
2
Saturday breakfast at a local eatery waiting for table a man standing beside us was wearing a red t-shirt that read in bold white letters “GET OVER IT!” I asked him, “get over what?” Knowing full well what it meant. His reply was, “Every sorrow, I guess. Some lady downtown was handing out free T-shirt’s. Pretty good quality, don’t you think? She might be out there today if you want one”.
1
Nice ending C B.
1
There will be more veils lifted in the future resulting in Trump's approval rating staying rock solid at 45%. Face almost half this country loves a liar.
More outrageous than Mulvany's urging us to "Get over it," is his assertion that, "It happens all the time." But even more outrageous is the fact that no journalist thought to ask him to cite past examples. Who was Mulvany alluding to: Obama? W? Who?
The hypocrisy just will not stop.
I can think of all manner of examples where both Republicans and Democrats participate in this so-called quid-pro-quo.
But the left and the MSM do not care. Their desperation to smear this president goes far and away from what the truth is.
It is disgusting. Along the way, what is best for this country has been set in the trash bin.
It is Trump, and the NYT has made clear honesty is quite secondary to his destruction.
Guess what? It is not going to work..
1
@Bryan
Please do indeed, cite those examples. Oh, and please, cite a bit of evidence. Supporting facts. Documents.
As much fun as it is to take Mulvaney’s quid pro quo as a pronouncement of undoubtable truth, Trump (has he a brain) could just say, as he usually does for Giuliani, that Mulvaney is just off his oats.
The reasons for getting rid of Trump are legion, and we don’t have to jump upon every silly thing as if it is a smoking gun. What we have to do is turn off Fox, Spencer media, manipulated Google searches, inflammatory YouTube videos, Trump tweets, and on, and on.
End the brainwashing.
1
Same ol same from right wing republicans.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RjaB3cxH-XE
That little matter was a decision that put Bush in office that explicitly declared it was not precedent.
But for that no three trillion on pointless Iraq war that made Iran more powerful. No ISIS. No Kurd sell out.
So Mulvaney only quotes from his cult leaders.
Forget it Mr. Blow. Forget about trying to appeal to the Republicans' sense of shame or honor, or even the belief that would not lie to their children. They are biologically incapable of any of those things. Democrats should do this all on their own, and let the enemies of decency stew in their own moral rot.
Another failing of America under Donald J. Trump. And we’re told to get over it.
Well, in a way you can’t blame Mulvaney for saying that. After all, haven’t we “gotten over” all the other horrors Trump’s created?
Trump’s got his world by the tail, a private two hour sitting with Vladimir Putin, falling in love with Kim, sending Mike Pompeo to cheer the Saudi leader after the murder of Khashoggi, best friend dealing with Erdogan, appointing cabinet members that he throws under the bus or that just corrupt themselves? We’ve gotten over all that stuff so why not more?
Problem with the White House? “Get over it!” Gee, isn’t that what dysfunctional abusers say?
1
Mulvaney’s “ Get Over It” news conference was a loud and clear declaration of the Administration that they intend to run a rogue set of policies which match their goals but do not comport with any articles of the Constitution.We, as Americans do not have to get over being duped by Trump as he lies, cooperates with dictators , and intimidates and insults anyone who has the temerity to question him. We do not have to get over the fact that our government is being hijacked by Trump and his sycophants!
1
Your colleague David Leonhardt suggested this morning that we will have to take to the streets to insist on impeachment by the spineless Republicans in the Senate. A good but somewhaw wordy banner for those marches might read "Don't get over it get IT ( the trump administration) over"
1
Yes. I say again, yes!
If you get to go dancing with the angels anyway, what does it matter what you did in 2019?!?
Yes, you will. And the sooner the better for everyone.
Trump supporters remind me now of Stalin apologists, the old guard who simply couldn't let go of the myth. Mind-boggling.
We have already "gotten over" the 2016 election.
What we can't "get over with" are the unconstitutional behaviors of this president and his administration.
1
I have two purely rhetorical questions to offer here:
If the Ukrainians did, in fact, proceed to investigate Joe Biden and/or Hunter Biden and/or their own alleged culpability in hacking the 2016 election- or, in any case, claimed to do so simply in order to appease Mr. Trump- and then go on to announce that they had found no evidence of wrongdoing, would Trump then contest those findings or would he insist that they "investigate" further and come up with some evidence (wink wink)?
And what exactly would it take for Trump's base to acknowledge that something is definitely amiss here and to reexamine their devotion to the Dear Leader? Some film footage showing him actually gunning someone down in the middle of Fifth Avenue (perhaps a white male child wearing a MAGA cap)? How about a tweet informing them that he's selling the state of Florida to the Seminole Indians? An insult leveled at Jesus...or at Evangelicals who consider Mr. Trump to be only the second greatest human being ever to walk the earth? If they're going to swallow his lies and dismiss his crimes, will they also be ready to haul out their guns in his defense? Wait a minute; what if he were to demand that they TURN IN their guns? I'll bet that would do it!
comment submitted 10/20 at 9:04 PM
2
Good on you, Charles Blow. Thank you for your faith in the country. I hope that it is justified.
I will not get over it. 62 million Americans voted for a man they knew was a pathological liar, a racist, a sexist, a failed businessman, a man with no governmental experience or knowledge, a man who ridiculed war heroes and the disabled. They knew who he was and they voted for him anyway. I will never forgive them.
Mick Mulvaney has a rich history of saying I didn't say or mean what I just said and 'get over it'.
You may recall that before Mulvaney entered Trumpland, he was the #1 Republican Congressman 'Freedom Caucus' deficit-hawk from South Carolina who railed against Obama's deficits that were largely caused by the Bush-Cheney Depression.
Even earlier this year, Mulvaney said this "I will always be a deficit hawk. I am today, I was yesterday, I will be tomorrow"..... as he helps Trump and the Grand Old Phonies preside over unprecedented economic expansion deficits due mostly to the Trump_GOP 0.1% Welfare Tax Cut Program.
Mulvaney also said this earlier this year about the exploding Trump-GOP deficits: "nobody cares".
The point this illustrates is there's no 'there' there with Mick Mulvaney or any craven Grand Old Phony.
They say stuff to seize Grand Old Power and then proceed to enthusiastically flush the American treasury...and eventually the entire economy, democracy, and environment....down their right-wing latrine of reptilian greed, misanthropy and ill will toward others.
Mulvaney...like Trump...like Guiliani...like all Republican grifters...are in it for the heist of the American common good.
Let's not let them escape in the getaway car.
Let's impeach the whole lot of them and lock 'em up.
The Republican bottom of the barrel knows no bottom.
It is up to us - Americans with a conscience and a sense of right and wrong - to eject these amoral scofflaws from the cockpit.
5
I think of the young lady who told Mr Trump of the taking and torture of her parents. His reply? Where are the now?
Yup just get over it.
2
Would that anyone in the republican party had taken the steps necessary to defend our democracy, the POTUS and the Constitution from racist birtherism. Oh, they all personally benefited from that hateful emotional outpouring. Well, at least they would have been in a position to call out the treason when a foreign power was invited to attack the USA! Well, no, they were already aiding and abetting because that Putin NRA money was just too easy. Then there was....oh well. We will see. It has been quite clear for many years that the deplorable, repugnant class care not a wit for their wives, daughters, sons, people of color, anyone with a moral grounding based on the golden rule. And most assuredly, care nothing for one person one vote in a society where we all are endowed with the human dignity that enshrines liberty and justice for all.
George Washington “I cannot tell a lie”
Donald Trump “I can only tell a lie”
And the Republicans, especially evangelicals, don’t say a word, cowering in their corner counting their coins.
1
Is there any way the Impeachment vote in the Senate could be a secret ballot? This would give cover for all the cowards.
I once heard someone who cheated at cards say "everyone, in their own minds, believes in some imaginary system that gives them an unfair advantage. Maybe they've prayed, or hold their pinkies in a funny position. All I do is use a system that actually works." Not surprisingly, a fair number of people hear this and fall into it's logic. That's how con artists work. They fool some of us some of the time. Trump will always fool some all of the time. But he can't fool enough to keep it up.
Mr. Blow: most reasoned so far and devoid of emotion, good read, thank you.
This man has likely sexually assaulted over 20 women, been accused of raping his own wife, objectified his own daughter, associated with a serial child rapist, cheated on multiple partners, ruined countless lives, and he did all of this before he had the power of the presidency. He doesn't meet the minimum standards for being a human being, let alone the U.S. president. Given this background, I don't understand how anyone can give him the benefit of the doubt especially when there is conclusive evidence of his crimes.
2
We won’t get over it. Just crooks Even if Mulvaney says it was for a dnc server remember Nixon tried to bug the dnc national headquarters. It’s uncanny how history repeats itself. Hope the country gets the same results
1
Such hubris. Imagine thinking it appropriate to tell an entire country whose employ you are in to "Get over it".
2
When someone says “get over it,” that usually means that they intend to continue doing whatever they were doing. In Mulvaney’s case, it was the intention of the administration to continue withholding aid until a foreign nation agrees to investigate a political opponent; to obtain a quid pro quo. His attitude implys there is nothing wrong, not just the Ukraine, but with any nation.
Dangerously, the ‘quid pro quo’ could be anything that personally benefits the president or those around him. (We still do not have a transcript of the conversation between Trump and Erdogan.)
Mulvaney’s off handed, “no big deal” attitude displays the utter disregard this administration has for ethics, rule of law and the constitution. It is ingrained into those working in the White House because it comes directly from the top, Trump himself. It is the feeling of that there are no restrictions on his behavior or those under him. It is the feeling of entitlement of a dictator.
The world is watching as each day we lose the respect for law that we have gained over the years, from the birth of the nation to 2016.
4
The trouble with a lie is that once told it's hard to remember what was said. Repeated lies will cause a slip of the tongue allowing the truth to come forward. As was witnessed the being expressed for all to hear. Syria is 45's attempt to change the narrative and keep a campaign promise to his base. It is more than unnerving for so many to support 45 and his enablers. Yes there is an impeachment inquiry and, yes, the senate will vote on the impeachment issue but will acquit 45. All at the further demise of the country. Mulvaney told the truth and it is time for the 45 enablers stand for the truth and return this country to its former prominence.
2
".. most Americans see through it and are appalled by it."
Yes, most. The ones who saw thru him from the beginning. But the ones who bet their life savings on him and sticking to him no matter what for the punitive measures they believed he would reap on their imaginary foes -- they will never see him thru the lense of reality and even if they did they certainly wouldn't be appalled by it.
2
Impeachment is essential. The last time the country was in this position (Iran-Contra - remember that?) the argument was that we couldn't afford another impeachment drama (Watergate was only 10+ years earlier) so Reagan was let off the hook. That only emboldened the bad actors (one of the original Iran-Contra culprits, Eliot Abrams, has managed to work his way back into the corridors of power). The worst actor of all now holds the Presidency. To do anything but impeach him would constitute a dereliction of duty - whatever the political consequences.
4
This really says it all for those of us who are "informed voters". Facts are facts!
1
"Trump is a stress test on our system and constitutional government and we dare not fail."
That is the issue in a nutshell. And let's not forget that, in addition to trump's depredations, Republicans are also busy undermining democratic norms with extreme gerrymandering, legislative knee-capping of Democratic governors at the state level and widespread voter suppression. It's time the majority in this country started pushing back.
11
Trump has millions of supporters who think there is nothing wrong with anything he says or does: that is the real tragedy. Trump simply ignores Congress by ignoring legitimate subpoenas and spending monies that Congress never appropriated. He destroyed the Foreign Service.He, and McConnell have packed the courts. We are living under a dictatorship. Will Junior, Ivanka or Jared run in 2024? We have only ourselves to blame.
5
"Get over it" is something someone says when they realize their gas lighting is not working, to which as this point is an admission.
Like a cheating spouse getting caught, using this phrase just makes the offended dig in more because now they know they're justified. To say "Get over it" is a fatal mistake and one of desperation and defeat. It's also dismissive and disrespectful.
This entire administration needs to be removed.
The experiment is over, it failed spectacularly.
8
There are low information voters and no information voters...Trump needs both to stay in office, solidly behind him.
6
"And, Republicans and independents need to know that holding Trump accountable is not a sour grapes pursuit to relitigate 2016, or born out of maddening personal hatred of the man himself."
This insults common intelligence and is the most lame excuse I see and hear from the GOP "tribe". It was unquestionably distributed as GOP "talking points" and doesn't even reach schoolyard intelligence.
There is no question the man is detestable and both sides of the aisle will say it, but one not in public. The 2016 election highlighted for the 2nd time in the last 5 elections the popular vote doesn't elect a POTUS, which is wrong in this democracy, at this day and age. It's ironic as the only person disputing the 2016 election it is Trump; who cannot let go he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes.
4
"And, Republicans and independents need to know that holding Trump accountable is not a sour grapes pursuit to relitigate 2016, or born out of maddening personal hatred of the man himself."
This insults common intelligence and is the most lame excuse I see and hear from the GOP "tribe". It was unquestionably distributed as GOP "talking points" and doesn't even reach schoolyard intelligence.
There is no question the man is detestable and both sides of the aisle will say it, but one not in public. The 2016 election highlighted for the 2nd time in the last 5 elections the popular vote doesn't elect a POTUS, which is wrong in this democracy, at this day and age. It's ironic as the only person disputing the 2016 election it is Trump; who cannot let go he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes.
1
In Mulvaney's stunningly prolix press briefing (the complete session is easily found on YouTube), at minute 38.07, he refers to "the transcript of the tape" of the phone call.
I wonder if this tape will surface as evidence, or remain hidden in Mr. Mulvaney's word salad.
1
Dear Reporters and Friends:
Can we agree that "walk back" is a vacuous phrase that disguises a more accurate characterization such as "retract?"
Why rely upon a political idiom when "retract" has an historically unequivocal denotation and connotation?
Best,
Peggy in NH
1
Trump's strategy, if you can call it that, boils down to what could be called the '5th avenue defense'.
"I could shoot somebody (i.e. break the law) in the middle of 5th avenue (i.e. in plain sight) and my people will still love me"
No matter that 'his people' are in the minority. What remains to be seen is how long the GOP leadership will be 'his people'.
2
Doesn't their belief that Ukrainian hacking would be preferable to Russian hacking raise questions in anyone's mind?
2
@Seabiscute
If it wasn't Russian hacking then that would at least allow him a pretext to say that the economic, banking and travel restrictions could be lifted on all Putin's billionaire oligarch buddies.
That's the real reason.
Trump has already stated out loud multiple times that he's fine with election help from any foreign entity. If ISIS came to him saying that they had the 'missing 30,000 emails' I've no doubt in my mind that Trump would find a way to give them half of Syria and 2/3 of Iraq as payment.
1
"Elections have consequences?"
So does crime, Mr. Mulvaney.
5
We aren't going to "get over it" anytime soon, Charles Blow. Not until we the people remove Donald Trump from office will we get over having a grossly unfit president of the United States holding our country hostage to the ridicule of the world.
The British Colonies in America fought England for their independence from 1607-1776.
Mahatma Gandhi led the passive resistance (and disobedience) against the British Raj in India from 1930-47.
Wrong is wrong. Our corrupt 45th president has broken our democracy. His rabid supporters and loyalists -- all the G.O.P. legislators in his pocket -- will take a lot of resistance to remove. This is the test of our Constitutional government. There are no mahatmas left in America to lead our "get over Trump" movement.
5
"Get over it" was also Scalia's response when people asked him about his (and 4 of his colleagues') shameful opinion in Bush v. Gore.
3
Elsewhere in the Times, it was reported that "Get Over It" appeared on Trump campaign websites overnight, and sold in the thousands.
Let's mot kid ourselves, there are cocky blowhards like Mick Mulvaney all over the place -- guys (mostly) who try to brush off Trump's disgraceful actions as either no big deals, or just tough guy politics. C'mon. Get over it.
What is alarming is that such a sizable part of this nation loves this stuff. Thinks it's sticking it to the libs. Thinks Trump's critics are snowflakes and aren't tough. Thinks Trump has guts and smarts and is making America great again.
Get over it, Mulvaney asserts, like the guy in the smoky golf clubhouse, or the corner pub, all puffed up and chesty with rage and resentment and not a little bit of fear.
2
The only way to not 'get over it' is to vote all republicans out of office.
3
"Trump is a stress test on our system and constitutional government." A wonderful characterization of what we are living through, Mr. Blow.
We already know Trump's cronies and avid supporters choose to be blind to his deceit and brazen disrespect for the Constitution. The real test is if any Republicans other than a precious few will finally do what is morally right instead of what is politically expedient.
1
No, we will not get over it.
We will get ON with it. Impeachment and defeat of this horrendous president.
3
@William Park Impeach for what?
And when all this is finally over, and Mr. trump is on his way to his deserved place in the dustbin of history, I hope that Charles will find himself with a Pulitzer, for his body of work.
Thank you Charles.
6
George Carlin nailed it. The real owners of this country, the wealthy corporations and billionaire class don't want educated citizens capable of critical thinking. They own the Republicans and these Republicans do their bidding. The system is rigged. You can watch this rigged system in action when the Senate Republicans, in lockstep, refuse to remove Trump from office despite overwhelming evidence of
his obstruction of justice and abuse of power.
http://americanjudas.blogspot.com/2010/09/problem-with-education-today-george.html
2
Powerful close quoting Elijah Cummings. The daily horror from this administration deserves its logical consequences, impeachment and voted out if need be. All republicans deserve no better for their acquiescence.
1
To watch Mulvaney's performance in front of the cameras last week, his arrogant bluster and his throw away comments, was to realize that hubris will be one of the factors that bring this Administration down.
If one is clever and cunning and doesn't shoot one's mouth off, hubris is still a serious weakness. But in a man like Mulvaney, who desperately needs to prove his loyalty and a competence that he does not possess, hubris is absolutely deadly. He is a serious liability and there are many others like him in the Trump White House.
1
Shooting someone is the middle of Fifth Avenue is no less illegal than shooting someone in a dark alley.
Doubters must ask what will it be like when he is gone? Do we want shadow foreign policy going on like Rudy? I mean I am sure we do so with our Intelligence but the key word there is Intelligence. Do we want deals being made with dictators and no input from our military? He is clearly amok. The chaos is more than any in my lifetime. We need law and order. Impeach ASAP.
1
Not only will we not "Get Over It," we will long remember Trump's insulting lies, Mulvaney's vile audacity, and the craven acceptance by the vast majority of Republicans. This egregious act will contribute to the final and complete downfall of the Trump administration. The ultimate schadenfreude: seeing the thousands of t-shirts with the words, "Get Over It" printed boldly on the front, gleefully created and ordered by members of "The Base," appearing in garbage dumps across America.
1
"Trump is a stress test on our system and constitutional government and we dare not fail."
Get the debrillator out now. 40% of America's heart is failing as our fellow citizens celebrate judges and economy and stock market while our reputation as a good and decent nation, as a nation of laws and "no-man-above" ideals all goes up in smoke.
1
“Get over it” means “I refuse to take responsibility”.
1
Not only will I never get over the criminal and corrupt regime of Donald Trump, I will never forgive the Republican Party for enabling it every step of the way.
2
I wonder if Senate Republicans have really considered what will happen if they acquit Trump: what depths of depravity he will sink to, day after day, asking them to come along for the ride. Bragging about sex with porn stars in the Oval Office, perhaps? Joking about the teen girls he is accused of raping? Saying he took money from Putin, but so what, everybody does it, Get Over It?
If right now, we are seeing Trump's behavior when he is afraid of being impeached, I shudder to think of his behavior if he were acquitted by the Senate, when he finally felt free to become even more open about his "true self." Do Republicans really want to see how much lower he can sink -- and how much lower they have to abase themselves to continue to please him?
Honestly, wouldn't Pence be so much less of a hassle?
2
Thank you Mr. Blow for a magnificent column. How dare Mr. Mulvaney tell us to get over it. There is no minimizing what is going on. This is our country. We care for it and cherish its values. His words cheapen everything we stand for, and what some of us have bravely fought for. From the military standpoint alone, not to mention the sell-out of our diplomacy and intelligence, this attitude of get over it, is treasonous.
2
Of course Elijah Cummings will be remembered. He had the virtue to see through Trump's glaring hypocrisy and cowardice to recognize his deep ignorance while cheating on anybody coming too close. Can't we see that, if the rest of us were to follow in his steps, the current misrule of Trump's installed mafia would be history by now?
1
Yes Charles. Get over it. Put up a better candidate next time, go to the polls, and vote that person in. It’s time for voters to start acting like adults.
Why did Mulvaney think that Americans would "get over it"? Because they've "gotten over" other abuses. How much discussion have your heard lately about how Trump shut down the country as a terror tactic to extort billions of dollars from Congress? Or how he has since robbed military budgets to make up for the money that he didn't get? They didn't even bring it up when Trump produced his military-themed rally on July 4
"Get over it"? In James Joyce's 'Ulysses' there is a chapter entitled "KMRIA" My feelings exactly. (Feel free to look it up.)
We are to 'get over' criminal conspiracy by the chief executive and all his horses and all his men? Alexander Hamilton and Washington and Lincoln are rolling in their graves. This Republic was founded on the basis of the rule of law, and the idea that any (would be) King could take that law unto himself was the whole reason the Constitution was written the way it was.
Dems: Drag this out! Saturation bombing of the media with a slow march to impeachment will make 35 Republican senators run for or against Trump instead of based on their service to constituents. It will deprive Trump of his main weapon! What is that? Saturation bombing of the media, of course.
There is No excuse for this presidency. Stop letting him make excuses. Call out every one!
1
Of all the things I might have wanted it wasn't to watch Donald Trump be impeached. But he has earned it in more ways than one. He has enlisted another country to help him win the 2020 election. He has done that through bribery. He has used the office to enrich himself and his family regardless of the consequences to the country. He has, to sum it up, engaged in conduct unbecoming to the president and then, when told it was wrong, carried it further.
These are not the actions of a disciplined person. (Perhaps they are but it's not working in our favor, meaning America as a whole.) He is not trying to open up relations with China. He is not attempting to do what FDR did before we entered WWII. Nearly every move Trump and his cronies/administration have made has enriched them and the industries they used to represent or work for or in.
Giuliani too deserves whatever he gets. He complained that he's being presumed guilty when he's entitled to the presumption of innocence. I remember how Giuliani treated people of color in NYC when they were wrongly killed by the police. In one case he released the individual's sealed juvenile record as if to say the person deserved to die.
In my opinion this entire administration, every one of them, ought to be removed. And that includes Mitch McConnell. They are serving their own best interests which is not the definition of a public servant.
10/21/2019 11:05am first submit
4
We'll get over it when Trump and the darkness he inhabits are gone. We'll get over it when all the Republicans who signed up for a cruise on Trump's ship of fools sink into the back pages of history. We'll get over it when corruption as usual no longer is business as usual. We'll get over it when elections are no longer acts of national self-harm and politics isn't a game of revenge. We'll get over it when Wall Street is no longer at the intersection of irrational exuberance and voracious greed. We'll get over it when evangelical isn't synonymous with hypocrisy. We'll get over it when Blacks are no longer target practice for killer cops. We'll get over it when the poor aren't as poor and the rich aren't as rich. We'll get over it when corporations see nations and not markets, citizens not consumers and put public interest ahead of special interest. We'll get over it when Americans vote for something they care about and not against everything they hate.
We'll get over it when it's really over.
3
Doesn't really matter what the author believes. Impeach with all the zeal you want no way doing that will "bring the country together". It is something you have been intent on doing since Nov of 2016 so go ahead and get it out of your system. No healing will occur, not even for those afflicted with TDS.
Nope not us who have to get over it, it is time for Trump to be over and out
How much I’d like to believe Mr. Blow. But let’s review here:
Access Hollywood was not the end.
Charlottesville was not the end.
Attacking a Goldstar family was not the end.
Mocking a disabled reporter was not the end.
Paying off pornstars was not the end.
Cowtowing to Putin in the Oval Office was not the end.
Clear evidence of obstruction of justice was not the end.
And we could go on.
And while impeachment is now necessary to maintain some semblance of integrity in the system, the end will only come with Trump’s defeat next year or, it pains me to say, in 2024 when he leaves office after a second term.
All of which is a longwinded way of saying the end may still be a long, long way off.
I truly hope I am wrong.
1
It doesn't matter if there is a quid pro quo. The quid is bad enough.
"Some worry that an impeachment would tear the country apart. To the contrary, I believe that it will bring the country together. A majority of Americans will recognize and rally around a common set of facts, a common truth, and reject Trump’s attempt to bend reality.
Thank you, Mr. Blow. You have stated the essential truth, which we are seeing realized more and more every day.
No will not !
Charles, it is so exhausting day in and day out watching this President trump, doing one after another misdeeds to enrich himself and sqirming to get out when in deep trouble.
How did we get here, the man is putting this Country in shambles just to enrich himself and lying constantly.
Yet , trump- goes on... and his cabinet parotting him.
1
Mr.Blow was on to Trump from the beginning.He regularly reminded his readers that Trump was a shallow amoral hapless leader who also was incapable of speaking truth. Thank you Charles for being a fearless columnist who spoke truth to power. And thank you NYT for giving Charles the space to expose the real Trump. Trump has taken some blows from others but none more effective than those from Charles.
2
What we need to "get over" is the Trump monarchy. The question of course is how? In a world of instant news and reply what is a workable strategy?
I fear that our citizenry is too lazy to do what will need to be done to rally our country. We need a #getoverit movement that mobilizes people to take to the streets. News pundits won't do it alone. Politicians won't be able to either.
But we the people have the power and the right to demonstrate.
Liars need to talk really fast to keep interviewers and us off guard. In his interview, Wallace does a fairly good job of keeping Mulvaney’s feet to the fire.
But I have never, ever seen a liar talk as fast as Mulvaney does here. I thought I was watching him in fast forward.
Mulvaney just cleaned up the mob expression...Forgetaboutit!
Trump are punching back and the democrats are learning to take a punch while still orchestrating an aggressive offense by keeping up the pressure. It what drives Trump mad. Especially if it's a woman leading the attack.
1
A column James Madison would have been proud to read. Well done Mr. Blow.
When you are as amoral as this so-called president, then anything you do is, in your view, acceptable. It doesn't matter what it is (killing a journalist, sentencing Kurds to death, selling influence in the government, trying to set up an international meeting at your property), there is no "wrong" in anything you do. We need to remove this cancer from the position it has taken.
1
Whether enough Republicans come to their senses and vote to Impeach in the House or Convict in the Senate, the vast majority from Moscow Mitch on down have shown their true ethos.
It is quite simple. They are venal, mendacious and corrupt.
All pretense to having any principles beyond these is just for show.
When Mulvaney says “Get over it, “ he’s telling us not to care. He’s saying that we must accept that laws will be broken and we’re not allowed to feel outrage and protest wrongdoing. He’s stating, right to our faces, that the Trump regime makes sure that Trump will enrich himself as President - so there!
What a snarky little man. Seems like Trump’s minions borrow the attitude of their boss - We do what we want, when we want to, and there will be no negative consequences. Get over it.
“The powers of the President to protect our country are substantial and shall not be questioned.” So said Stephen Miller, another snarky Trump mini-me. Guess what, Stephen? A LOT of questions are coming your way. You and your cohorts better start preparing some answers.
2
Listening to Mulvaney's smug "get over it" is all we need to know about this train wreck of a presidency. Trump is the ultimate scofflaw, trampling over the constitution, aided and abetted by a Republican party he hijacked that will rue the day Trump got the nomination. Hitching one's wagon to a mob boss posing as president has disaster written all over it.
Adults should stop saying "Get over it." It's so childish. Grown up politicians acting like children.
It frustrated me in 2016 when the media was afraid to call all of Trump’s lies, “lies” and it frustrates me now when the media is afraid to call a quid pro quo (Latin, which I don’t speak) what it actually is in English: a shakedown, plain and simple.
1
If this White House wasn't real it would make great comedy. Talk about mixed messages...
The moment we 'get over it' is the moment we join the complacent and complicit 'Americans' who have brought us to where we are today by dismantling then destroying our democracy through their corruption, greed and hypocrisy.
Never.
I'd like to know how we as Americans will ever get over the fact that so many of us were foolish enough to have allowed the most unPresidential Candidate.. to become President? There are far too many of us subsisting on the junk food diet of Alternative Fact Fox Food !! Too many of us seem to like things as they are. With all the Chaos and Dysfunction of the last few years...you'd think there wouldn't be any Trump support at all !! What is wrong with so many of us? What are Trump supporters supporting...Failed Policies?
1
I thank Congressman Rooney (and of course, former Republican Congressman Amash) for sticking his neck out for our democracy. The rest of Republican leaders are, apparently, cowards and willing to break their oath to keep supporting Trump in return for power (as in, quid pro quo).
Another excellent column from Mr Blow!
4
During the last three years we've seen how a relatively small group of amoral. corrupted men and women can exploit the Constitution. With lies they gathered the willfully ignorant, the greediest and the hate-mongers into a larger group and took over the government. They look more like Nazis than Americans.
A majority is fighting back. Trump and his gang are now like cornered rats. We didn't "get over it." We're not going to get over it.
4
After watching Mick Mulvaney issue his "Get over it" statement, I was wondering why no reporters challenged him.
Why no outrage or push back from those in the room?
Why no push back from Democrats after the press conference?
Charles Blow. is the first reporter who has challenged this "get over it" response from the White House to their high crimes and misdemeanors.
2
He must be a racist—-or a Russian asset, or maybe he has a Russian accent. How dare they demand consideration for millions in aid! What! Do they think we’re smart?
Mr. blow, please stop the Hate Speech. It’s time to Move On.
1
Gee, you had no problem with Obama’s unconstitutional DACA. Oh, I guess we know why.
Where do these clowns posing as civil servants get off? This is ludicrous. Our country is a joke and the laughing stock of the rest of the world.
I always knew politics were messed up but this administration has taken it to such a new low I can't see down that far.
These jokers are pathetic! They all need to go right now!
2
"Political influence in foreign policy" may be fine if it benefits the Untied States of America; not some fake, pathetic, moronic, excuse for some huge, orange, putrid, pile of orange excrement, to enrich and/or benefit himself.
2
Seriously, what is wrong with these people? Is the entire GOP composed of psychopaths and pathological liars? They are sickening, and terrifying.
2
Our President loves dictators, the uneducated, the military, porn star sex, subservient women, bullying, bragging, lying... He has the character of an aged baboon. These are facts, insulting though they may be. The irony.
2
🗽
No, Not Get Over It! But --Get Over Yourself!
1
To Mulvaney:
Trump is a coward, a liar, and a bully; you are his lap dog.
Get over it.
3
Lies? Yeah, we got Lies. Brazen, they are.
This, from the little booklet (reputedly) along trump's bedside:
“All this was inspired by the principle—which is quite true within itself—that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.
It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.
Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.”
~~Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1925
2
Why have we allowed, as a society, a large portion of our population to burden us with their ignorance and hate? It seems the answer is that we cannot control ignorance and hate. You can only legislate and teach, but both of those methods are easily ignored and rejected by those who don't wish to know the truth. We were always in danger of having a person like Trump in office. Hell, we already had right wing liars in office. This is the tipping point. Do we reject the quasi fascist Republicans, or do we endure the end of our republic? I fear we won't know the answer until we have experienced a great deal of violence: more than pipe bombs and cars driven into crowds.
1
Mark Esper/Esperanto?
You say eether and I say eyether
You say neether and I say nyther
Eether, eyether, neether, nyther
Let's call the whole thing off!
You like potato and I like potahto
You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto!
Let's call the whole thing off!
But oh! If we call the whole thing off
Then we must part
And oh! If we ever part
Then that might break my heart!
So, if you like pajamas and I like pajahmas
I'll wear pajamas and give up pajahmas
For we know we need each other
So we better call the calling off off
Let's call the whole thing off!
--- George & Ira Gershwin
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/us/politics/mark-esperanto-trump-tweet.html?searchResultPosition=2
2
Let's pay attention to what these guys are up to. Mulvaney floated the Doral/G7 Summit as a no lose gambit. If it met with stiff opposition, Trump could pull back--as he in fact did. In the meantime, Trump received millions of dollars in free publicity for his golf resort. No doubt a 100,000 vacationers worldwide will want to stay at least one night at Doral just to say they did. So the emoluments clause was violated even as Trump declared his property would NOT be used for gov't business. Clever, in a sick kind of way.
And what's the story on Moody's recent analysis that Trump won't merely win in 2020, but that his election victory will be a landslide?! Since this prediction doesn't come anywhere close to recent polling data from numerous sources, it's fair to ask if Moody's has an agenda. Is Trump paving the way for the claim that his 2020 election loss, given Moody's optimistic numbers, had to be due to "voter fraud?"
Trump is going to jail once he leaves the White House. This means he won't leave without a fight--impeachment or an election loss be damned.
1
You do not understand that wrong means nothing here. Do not underestimate the meanness of the MAGAheads. They will drag you to their hell.
2
I want to hear someone say get over it when he’s marched to the guillotine
2
Why wouldn't we get over it? People get over your horrible column weekly and for some reason the Grey Lady still prints your hate filled garbage.
Please go to The Washington Post.
Before the blatantly corrupt Ukrainian incident, I would have given a Senate conviction no more than a "snowball's chance in hell" of passing. Now, absent Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder to intuit the odds, we may speculate that the odds overall are somewhat improved. This may give the Senate a chance to actually stand for something of lasting value for the history books, instead of capitulating themselves totally to debased corruption. We shall see.
1
The only crimes committed were in Mr. blows dreams...
Acting WH CoS Mulvaney - and by extension - Trump himself, have not lowered the bar.
They have removed it.
We now (try to) live in an era with a 'president' who uses the vulgar word 'suck' (as in, FOX pollsters 'suck') on official WH tweets. As a youngster, I would've had my mouth washed out with soap for uttering such a thing.
This is the level to which we have descended.
I, for one, will never get over the use of this vulgarity by an elected [sic] official.
NOT my president
3
No, we won’t just get over it!
Trump did commit a crime.
You may put lipstick on a pig,
that pig is still a swine.
Keep telling lies. Deny what’s true.
Try spinning. Then repeat.
Wait till the truth caught up with you
and proved you are a cheat.
America’s better than you.
She beautiful and brave.
Trump tries to screw her in plain view.
We have to keep her safe!
1
Mulvaney said one thing one day and said he didn't say it the next day. This is an example of something I don't know what to call it.
If you say anything and everything often enough, nobody will believe any of it, stop trying to converse with you and you can just go about your business. The president has done it and he's still the president. And he's still doing stuff... and will keep doing stuff until everybody finally either gives up or tells him to shut the hell up. I'm not as convinced as Charles Blow, that people will put an end to it all. I'm afraid people will just get so worn down by it all and just give up.
3
Really, just who in hell does this hired liar think he is?
This, from trump’s front man, at a time when trump’s behavior is spinning so out of control. The audacity that his ‘get over it’ is now a T-shirt... That T-shirt, that thought, should be the unifying symbol for all of us who find our president and his minions so odious .
2
Damn right we won't get over it, just as we won't get over Trump until he leaves the White House. As for Mulvaney, he'll soon be an ex-acting-chief-of-staff-and-OMB-director who won't get a job as dog catcher when he leaves the cabinet clown car.
2
It would be great if the paper of record could speak to things that effect schmucks like me, like th eStrike of the third largest school system in the country, where children, teachers and parents all have a steak, and the country watches. Instead, Mr. Blow, who I agree with entirely on Trump, tends to focus on the Executive drip of bombast by the bloviated one, and the poor slobs that have to handle his incoherent message. When there is an opinion that is not directly of the AP feed, there is no chance to comment, and those that post it are usually trying to shape US domestic opinion on either a local or a foreign idea. There is. a lot going on in the world, but the Old Gray Lady, who hit what she used to be, is thinking more or circulation rates than reporting the news, which is expensive, and may alienate some sleepy readers.
Mulvaney was not only clear and unambiguous, he was proud of it. He was saying not only to the press but everyone - suck it up, we can do what we want even for our own political ends. His arrogance was breathtaking but it was what did him in -- hard to deny what he so proudly and boastfully stated as fact to everyone, not just the press.
The orange bastard in the Oval Office is ripe for an orange jumpsuit for the rest of his life.
1
It is so obvious what needs to be done, what is wrong with every damn on of those Republicans who sit with blinders?
2
We are going to screw you every way possible - just get over it.
1
“Get over it.” Is that not the line used by Antonin Scalia to explain the reality that he had screwed us out of a Presidency presided over by Albert Gore, a screwing that was made for the narrowest of immediate political interests.
Somehow broad concepts like fairness and equity were traded off to secure a Presidency for the self seeking of George Bush and Dick Cheney. The consequences were horrendous in terms of financial cost and human life. It will take decades to pay for Iraq.
Elijah Cummings is right—I am not ready to let him go—we have to stand up, our children are owed that.
Donald’s wrong doing, abuse of budgetary constraints, giving the cold shoulder to established allies, giving cover to MBS for the murder of a reporter and now the betrayal of allies who died fighting a fight that would otherwise have been ours
are all so self apparent making a formal complaint somehow feels redundant.
Honestly?—What tools do Trump and Bar have left to defend themselves with other than to accuse those who are now investigating Donald of exactly the offenses for which he is admittedly guilty. Mulvaney’s news conference raised his stature inestimable in my eyes: I did not think anyone in this administration was capable of direct, plainly stated honestly.
I will miss Congressman Cummings terribly-kind, fierce and intelligent.
I am so appalled about the actions of Trump and his minions.
I am seriously thinking about moving to Costa Rica because the country is well governed, maintained and the poisonous creatures few.
This is despite my being 80 years old and having had breast cancer 3x. The current admin obviously does not give a shit about me.
2
"Trump’s strategy is simple: Be brazen. Conduct your corruption in plain sight. And, it follows a simple logic: If it were wrong, I would be ashamed of it and attempt to conceal it. The fact that I haven’t attempted to shroud it is proof of its virtue."
Mr. Blow, you have nailed it. This is an intentional mode of operating with Trump. He believes if he does it enough, it will become normal, accepted behavior. He believes as well that he should throw as much crap out at the public so that no one can even begin to see the facts for all the mess. He is a master at distraction and I greatly fear what he may do next to turn our attention away from all the destruction he has already wrought on this nation, its Constitution, and its people.
Keep on clarifying this for all of us. Thank you for doing so.
I'll "get over" Trump when I can piss on his grave.
2
To this:
"And, Republicans and independents need to know that holding Trump accountable is not a sour grapes pursuit to relitigate 2016, or born out of maddening personal hatred of the man himself."
REPtiles always say this because this is how they think.
While DEMS were appalled by the tRump being elected we were willing to see how it went and endure. No more.
1
Imagine this scenario; here is a man who rages uncontrollably when threatened or questioned, often over minor grievances. Given that he has access to the most sensitive intelligence in the world, what might he do if he were convicted in the Senate? How might he compromise our entire nation if he is forced from office?
I have no doubts whatsoever that he would burn our nation down, give away our secrets and destroy other politicians and civilians -- just to serve that inner narcissist that roils inside him at all times.
Getting rid of him, whether by conviction in the Senate or at the polls in 2020, might not amount to President Fords "...Our long national nightmare is over," but rather, just the beginning!
3
Mulvaney's statement was not just shocking because of his statement that political quid pro quo is acceptable when asking foreign leaders to assist with a political campaign, but rather the additional quid pro DNC server comment.
This has been overlooked in the impeachment inquiry. It most likely originates from Russian disinformation that its enemy- the Ukraine is at fault for meddling in 2016 and fully accepted by Trump and his base as a means to discredit US intelligence and Mueller's findings. We now have the President, Fox News , William Barr, Rudy Giuliani and others helping Russia with that disinformation, Oversight should focus on how that disinformation campaign originated and whether Russia is involved.
Also left out of this discussion is that a Bipartisan Senate Intelligence report found as fact that Russian spies (now convicted and in US prison) at the Kremlin's request funneled money through the NRA to Republicans in 2016.
McConnell personally got millions from Russian oligarchs.
Clearly the GOP in the Senate cannot be impartial jurors if they received financial benefit and are Russian assets like Trump and his staff.
If the House does not expose all of this, the Senate trial will be a Russian directed farce.
"All roads lead to Putin" said a very brave woman while accusing Trump of being a Russian asset.
Impeach for treason now or the inquiry will go nowhere,
and say clearly like Mr. Blow did that
No, we will not get over it.
1
I never expected to side with Trump but this is indeed a witch hunt. Hunter Biden's $600K/year board seat is more of a quid pro quo with Ukraine than anything Trump has done. And being Trump's political rival doesn't excuse Biden from being investigated. Furthermore, Ukraine did not deliver any anti-Biden info to Trump and they still got their money. So where's the quid and where's the quo? And if Trump is a "Russian asset" why is he giving $400M to Ukraine in the first place?
1
True on both sides : And, in the moment of making the statement, Mulvaney proudly proclaimed: “I have news for everybody: Get over it. There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy.”
If democratic primary was not rigged in 2016 election ( as I understand) our history would have been different.
1
The interesting point to me again after reading this column is the attempt by Trump et al to pin the tail on Ukraine, not Russia, in any show or hint of malfeasance in the 2016 election. Trump's inability to let go of that speaks to his pal Putin, in addition to his own obsession with size, whether crowd or other. Trump's cabal is challenging from Manafort to Cohen to now Guillani, and that the GOP has resisted this long in questioning his many questionable actions seems in itself a treasonous matter.
1
The little boy cried "but he isn't wearing anything!" It took a while for the public to find their courage and convince themselves that what they saw was in fact reality, but eventually they did. The House of Representatives is crying out loudly "the 'emperor' has no clothes!" It's time for everyone to wake up from this trance.
2
The overwhelming evidence won’t allow the Trump Administration to whitewash the criminal misdeeds. Even some Republicans seems to be moving to where they’re unable to defend the indefensible.
2
It is really important to recall how long it took for Nixon's support to erode.
I several weeks, the pace, import, and salacious detail that have flooded from this administration should impress upon us that if the wall around Trump is crumbling now, how is that all going to look after several months more of his absurd prevarications as we witness a slew if live testimony...perhaps even that of Giuliani and Trump themselves?
We are watching a historical moment. In these times, things that in a moment seem impossible to dissolve (the GOP's corrupt embrace of Trump being the main one) will meet reality: polls; a litany of polls that show GOP members that it is break with Trump or their political demise; and once the drumbeats are fast & loud enough, they, like rats from a foundering vessel, will pour fourth pantomiming the noble speech of newly awakened activists for our constitution. I would happily accept such wolves in sheep's attire over the wanton wrecking of our norms we see unfolding hourly before us here and now.
1
One of the most striking things about reading the Zenensky call transcript is that it is clear that Zelensky actually understood the craziness that Trump was talking about. Zelensky had to have been briefed on what Trump was going to ask him. He understood the "Ask" was going to come from Trump and he was prepared on how to answer. The only way to interpret this all, is that Trump had so corrupted and sidelined the traditional mechanisms by which we pursue diplomacy, that he sees the entire beaurocracy as solely there to serve him, and his personal political goals, ahead of those of the Country. So much for America First!
1
"It's that we need to know that at least some of these Republican men and women who make our laws are not totally craven and devoid of morality." More than that, can they recognize spoken and written facts and get away from arguing about process. The investigation is being done behind closed doors to reduce unintended contamination of witness testimony that would more likely occur with open testimony. This investigation is being done like a grand jury. The complaining Republicans, do they object about this process used frequently by the DOJ? I am also concerned about truthful assessment of cause and effect. DNC servers in 2016 were hacked. 17 National Security agencies and the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Mueller Report found the Russians did the hacking. The WH claims the Ukrainians did it based on a debunked 4Chan conspiracy theory. Can they tell the difference? Is the truth the truth or is the lie the truth in Republican House and Senate thinking?
1
We speak about a Constitutional crisis; and ask what does it involve, and how serious must events be before it reaches that fearful destination. Well, it doesn't take a degree in political science to realize and understand the fact that we are in a crisis right at this moment. In fact, our democracy is in peril. Even before Mulvaney in all his infinite and bungling ignorance admitted to a quid pro quo, we had grounds. Let us not forget that Trump blatantly asked for foreign help to impugn a possible opponent during the 2020 election. That in essence is an impeachable offense. Now, Pandora's Box has been unlocked and the Guiliani's, the Pompeo's, the Barr's, ad infinitum are let loose for us all to see and watch in horror. Charles is right. This will not divide the country. Rather it will unite us in a common cause to save our nation and our democratic rights. Trump simultaneously is escalating via his heinous actions, to wit, the Syrian Kurds, while descending deeper into what I can only call madness.
1
Back from a week of walking, yoga and meditation in the Tunisian desert, I discover the new onslaught of outrages being perpetrated by this cursed administration. Plus the death of dear Elijah Cummings, which brought tears to my eyes.
I think that if it were possible, I might choose to live the physical hardships of the desert rather than the mental anguish of seeing my country go down the drain - at least the desert has beauties and serenity to offer.
The highest profile Democrats Schiff, Nadler, Schumer, Pelosi, Feinstein and the Squad are hard for most Americans to like. Out of the above the only one I can respect is Pelosi. The Watergate hearings had a cast of characters but they were respected. Is there a way to measure what is more divisive, Trump or the sum total of all of the above? You know it's a big country and their votes count too.
When I look at the Democrats vying for the nomination none of them look like they are capable of winning an election. It's mostly seventies politics dominated by seventy year olds. It's not the seventies any longer. I forget what are the issues? besides getting rid of Trump?
Does the UFO and Flat Earth crowds vote? Maybe they could tip the scales. Anyone else besides white working class people worth winning over?
1
I'm afraid that while Mr. Blow is correct in his assessment of the situation, he is being way too unrealistic about the GOP and independents.
I see the possibility of Mitch Connell holding Trump accountable at less than 1%. The GOP have solidified their complete capitulation over 3 years. Why would they change now? They have a death watch over RBG, other federal judges to install and a pliant Supreme Court ready to wipe out Roe in 2020.
And the GOP has proven themselves willing to lie, cheat and steal as necessary to keep Dear Leader as the showman.
Trump serves himself and Mitch by being the extravagant showman who draws the attention.
The press and democrats are making a mistake imo. In that phone call with the new president of Ukraine, Trump main crime was to put personal political interests above US national security. Of course, his interest was to find dirty on his political rival. But, putting the threat to US national security above “find dirty in political opponents” may attract more popular interest and support. The press and democrats rarely mention the national security threat.
Charles Blow writes, "...we need to know that at least some of these Republican men and women who make our laws are not totally craven and devoid of morality."
Sorry Charles, but you will be sorely disappointed. Yes, these Republican men and women are, in fact, totally craven and devoid of morality. Even those Republicans leaving congress have a hard time criticizing Trump directly. You can't even get Republicans to say they would impeach Trump if he was attempting to solicit a foreign government to interfere in our elections. That was THE main concern of our Founding Fathers in incorporating the impeachment process into our Constitution, yet many of the Republicans who support an impeachment inquiry won't go on record stating that is an impeachable offense.
I've given up any hope of Republicans doing the right thing. They have shown their true colors time and time again. They only care about power and getting re-elected. They couldn't care less if our entire system of government were to crumble away to dictatorship.
The Democrats in the House who loudly proclaim that Mr. Trump is violating his oath of office, yet do nothing towards impeachment are somewhat, if not more, complicit in the destruction of the American body politic. They too took an oath to uphold the Constitution, one of their duties is to impeach the President if he commits high crimes and misdemeanors, and they hav sat on their hands until very recently.
There are VERY few "Brave" Republicans. Just as sadly there were VERY few "Brave" Democrats who supported Lincoln's freeing of the slaves. Sadly politics is about partisan groupthink and not sincere people.
Why would the Republicans want to keep that big ball and chain around them? He is so unpredictable it's scary. When you think he can't get any worse he does.
"....and Trump has yet to be held accountable for any of it." And why is that?
No, we can't and won’t get over it. It’s time for mass protests to defend our democracy. Nov 3, 2019– a march the size of the first Women’s March the day after Trump’s Inauguration-let’s make it so.
Elijah Cummings coined the poetic phrase “when we are dancing with the angels.....”.
When have we heard poetic expressions Today elsewhere as we
grovel in Trump’s swamp?
Think about the comparison of expressions of the late Rep. Cummings and those of Donald Trump.
The commencement speech by Dr. Edward Teller way, way back on a hot May Day in 1960 was this and I quote exactly because I was writing them as he spoke:
“As never before in man’s history can we even imagine landing humans on the moon. Now, let us dream great dreams and think great thoughts towards that goal as well as making human life’s potential the best it can ever be”.
Those words became the guiding principle for my life.
I challenge anyone today to find even one word or one thought from Donald Trump that even registers in the same universe with
Dr. Teller’s challenge.
1
Mike Mulveny is Wall Street circa 2008. Remember how Wall Street burned the global economy to the ground, got the tax payers to bail them out and not one person went to jail for it. Good times.
1
“Trump’s strategy is simple: Be brazen. Conduct your corruption in plain sight. And, it follows a simple logic. If it were wrong, I would be ashamed of it and attempt to conceal it. The fact that I haven’t attempted to shroud it is proof of its virtue.”
Trump has always been brazenly unashamed of his actions and words. He has absolutely no moral compass. At one time I thought impeachment would hurt the country and Democratic Party. I thought it best to vote him out. I was wrong. Holding him accountable for betraying his oath to defend our Country and our Constitution is the morally and ethically correct action to take. Speaking out against Trump is morally and ethically just.
Trump represents Trump. Trump uses the presidency to enrich himself. Once the House has gathered and substantiated the evidence against Trump they should hold a vote. This is a significant time. All members of Congress regardless of party affiliation are called upon to uphold their oath to our Constitution and Country. They didn’t take an oath to only represent their party, or a particular religion, or a particular donor, or special interest group. Their oath was to We the People, and it’s about time they keep it.
As usual, you've made sense of the humble of noise to capture the essence of the issue. Thank you.
The fact that Brad Parscale is already selling tee shirts for thirty bucks that say “Get Over It” tells you exactly where we are. Truth, decency, facts are sidelined for profit. The corruption we witness in broad daylight daily can not be normalized. We see it, we call it it out, we push back. Hopefully there are 20 Republican Senators who know it’s against the law to leverage foreign policy for personal gain.
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for your unwavering, uncompromising personal stance against that anomaly of a presidency. We resolutely need to uphold universal values in that sickening swamp of moral relativism.
What a quote to keep in mind: “When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked: In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?” I would suggest devoting two hours (or more) per week to actions for democracy. Personally I favor canvassing for Democratic candidates. I used to be an Independent, I voted for Clifford Case, a liberal NJ Republican senator and, if I had lived in NY, I would have voted for Jacob Javits, but the Republican party has become anathema, sick from top to bottom (actually they keep establishing new bottoms).
And on the subject of accountability ( a word we inherited from business), the press needs to change the way it identifies the president's appointees. For example instead of "acting White House chief of staff Mike Mulvaney", I would recommend: "chief of staff Mike Mulvaney (acting)".
I think we talk about him too much. He's leaving soon. We will forget.
Is it possible that Americans' respect for the office of President is what's allowing Trump and especially his army of enablers to destroy the country? Any other Western country would be rid of such a person.
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I would suggest that the appropriate response to anyone and anything promoting the "just get over it" meme is to Just Get Rid Of It.
The general public will do little to get rid of Trump. The suggestion to "get over it" is the trumpian response to most of the public's complaints. The President is going nowhere unless he js physically dragged out of the White House. So get over it, passive Americans.
I am in total agreement with Mr. Blow. The Democrats under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi must stay the course and continue to build on the case for impeaching Donald Trump.
Each new deposition, each new witness before the House committees, each new revelation is another nail in the coffin of the Trump Presidency, with more and more of the electorate agreeing that he must be impeached.
As in Watergate, there will always be a segment of people who will support a sitting president no matter what the evidence tells us. Richard Nixon had 25% of the Republican voting block still in his corner even as he was resigning.
For me, the remedy to the damage done by the scoundrel in the Oval Office is clear: Impeach and remove him; go forward with both Federal and State charges for the crimes he has committed before and during his presidency; strip him of his Twitter feed; and never again give this man a media platform to spew his lies.
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Guess who wrote the following:
"[I]n the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods."
"It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying."
Sounds a lot like President Trump, doesn't it?
1
The GOP can side with hate or side with righteousness. It should be an easy choice.
Mulvaney slipped up and told the truth. But here is the interesting part. He is trying to claim he didn't say what we can see on the tape. The shocked reporters even read back his words, giving him a chance to to backtrack. That's when "get over it" was born. Trump tried a different tack with his pathetic Helsinki speech. Once again it's on tape. He openly stated that he believed Putin over his FBI, CIA, Justice department and now even a bi-partisan Senate report. He tried the word swap the next day but if you watch the entire tape you know he was saying I believe Putin because he denies it so "strongly." Mueller had the proof down to what building the Russians worked in but Putins KGB distortion methods fooled the stable genius. And still do.
Our Constitution matters.
The rule of law matters.
Oaths of office matter —
presidential, congressional, and all public servants.
How dare Mulvaney tell us to “get over it.”
His condescending comment is appalling and unacceptable. You forget who you work for — “The People.” It's time to put a necessary check on presidential abuses. Trump endangers our national security, puts personal business interests first, and lays waste to his oath of office. We The People deserve so much better than this. Hold him accountable — Congress, uphold your own oaths, and impeach him.
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I'm a Christian and I'm a conservative, but I'd rather live in a free democracy with a Democrat as president, than live under the whims of Republican who thinks he's king of America. No one is above the law. Country over party. One nation under God.
A little background on Mr. "Get Over It" Mulvaney gleaned from Wikipedia: "In 2010, Mulvaney ran against Democratic incumbent John M. Spratt Jr. for South Carolina's 5th congressional district. The race was highlighted by Mitt Romney's Free and Strong America PAC's 'Take Congress Back: 10 in 2010' initiative as one of the top 10 House challenger races. Mulvaney's involvement in the now-defunct Edenmoor real estate development in Lancaster County, South Carolina became a campaign issue, with Mulvaney's opponents alleging that he misled the Lancaster County council and taxpayers to provide $30 million in public funding for the real estate development and that once the public funds had been approved, Mulvaney sold his interest in the development to a third party at a $7 million profit. Mulvaney denied the allegations and said that the project's failure was due to Democratic economic policies. He defeated Spratt, who had held the seat since 1983, with 55% of the vote. Mulvaney's campaign against Spratt was aided by a 501(c)(4) organization named the Commission on Hope, Growth, and Opportunity. The group, which was established by anonymous donors and run by lobbyist Scott W. Reed, was accused by the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington of violating federal campaign finance laws and disclosing false information to the Internal Revenue Service.
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Trump's behaviour does not only merit impeachment, it makes impeachment absolutely necessary, not doing it implies acquiescence in shameless corruption at the highest levels of the Federal government. But Blow is too optimistic about it helping to unite the country. Trump supporters will remain unpersuaded regardless of the evidence of corruption and contempt for the US constitution that is already overwhelming. The corruption is out in the open and Trump lovers could not care less, on the contrary it strengthens their belief that impeachment is a conspiracy against them. Unless the Republican party is severely punished at the polls for becoming the party of Trump the slime will persist for decades after Trump is gone.
We lie, we cheat, we bribe, we refuse to put country over Trump. We sell our soul to Donald Trump. This is how we roll. "Get over it" because this is how WE Make America Great Again.
I think of the long view. What if Trump does get away with it?Wonder if the Senate Republicans, knowing full well that he has betrayed the nation and broke the law, let him walk free? Does anyone think Trump will stop there? Does anyone think, knowing that he can figuratively walk down 5th Avenue and shoot someone, that he will stop pushing the boundaries of decent behavior? Does anyone think Trump will ever be restrained or controlled? Trump is a bottomless pit of need. He will push further and further to stir controversy, rile up his base, create chaos and division throughout the country because he is pre-disposed to do so. It's in his DNA. What will be lost, however, is any sense that we are a nation that can be governed by rules, law, or and order based on our Constitution. We will, as a country, devolve into primitive tribalism where no calls for civility or obedience to the rule of law will be heeded by anyone in power. Once we have crossed the line of destroying the constitutional rule of law we can never go back.
Mulvaney admits that the emperor has no clothes. But the trump zombies continue like Polly parrot : no quid pro quo, no quid pro quo, no quid pro quo.
The public has a short memory and they sure have Trump fatigue. So yes, given time our mass will get over it. Don’t bet the nation on the intelligence of our voters. Remember, just enough Americans voted for him to give him a slavery era Electoral college win to begin with.
We need to protest in the streets to uphold our institutions and the constitution should be strengthened to fix the holes exposed by Trump. We just got lucky and Our republic survived Trump simply because he kept coming in his own way. Someone with the ruthlessness and nefariousness of Putin or Modi would have made us into mob run Russia or fake democracy India.
I'm not getting over it until impeachment is passed and indictments are issued. Not even then, actually. Maybe when hefty sentences have been served, maybe I'll get over it.
The torrent of brazen lies is far, far beyond outrageous. It's criminal.
The damage done, already, is appalling.
Trump famously said, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters." Turns out he can also shoot the Constitution in public without losing voters. OK, maybe he'd lose a vote from a republican congressman planning to retire, but that's it.
ONLY 58%!!! We have an amoral man running our country and only 58% would consider impeachment. That should scare people a lot more than Trump. We traded our ideals long ago for stuff and we have "reaped what we have sown." ….Trump! He holds a mirror up to our face and we do what we always do when we don't like what we see. We put the mirror down and we pretend we never picked it up. Yep, ONLY 58% and we don't have the courage to pick up the mirror and LOOK! Every Empire has lied to itself until it finally produces a Trump and is forced to pick up the mirror and LOOK!
Mr. Blow, you prove yourself a national treasure every time you write. Thank you and all who contributed to making you who you are, like your Mom! I think we’ll all get through this awful time so long as we have good persons such as you to remind us of our goodness and how best to return it to it’s rightful place as the center of our culture. Thank you and enjoy your day.
Republicans in Congress need to heed the words of Winston Churchill: "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
It's time to stand up.
Like his other Trumpian colleagues. Mick Mulvaney appears to have come from nowhere and be unqualified for his job. He also seems to have a problem with morality and clarifying the facts and contradiction between what he imagines about dealing with foreign nations and what actually happened in the mob boss actions of Trump during the infamous phone call.
I am so disappointed in the second rate people like Mulvaney, true not as much as the mealy mouthed Sarah who lies like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Muvaney is another "yes, man" like the others Trump has in place.
I suggest the Dem party start now to tighten its activities and communication up, to get more focused. Who is in charge there anyway?
The moral arc of the universe tends to lean toward justice.
As Kasich has noted, "Get over it" should be the last straw for fair minded Republicans. Using the Trump Projection Translator, "get over it" really mean that Trump supporters need to start preparing for the worst.
All I would ask of our Republican neighbors is to hold this President to the same ethical standards they would demand of a Democrat.
And for what it's worth, if this were Hillary, I'd have been demanding impeachment and removal for a long time now.
We are to embrace it, not get over it. This is the message the propaganda machine sends night and day.
"It’s that we need to know that at least some of these Republican men and women who make our laws are not totally craven and devoid of morality." Sounds very much like the description of an evangelical Christian (or Muslim or Jew).
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To those who are not clamoring for the removal of the President from office I say:
Good people do not support bad people.
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The "get over it" comment was perfect from another sleazy former real estate peddler. Glib, having no meaning and misplaced, it frames a leadership scheme of non existence. Mulvaney put the final rancid seasoning in a vat of putrid poison soup. Just wish Trumps followers would follow the directions, make a batch and perish. It would make getting rid of Trump easier. But alas like the zombies they are they will show up at the polls in 2020. As many responders recommend we have to show up in mass and overwhelm them.
How we respond to the threat Trump poses depends completely on how many Trump cult members turn off Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and other right wing media. I just can't see them changing the dial....
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I wish Nancy Pelosi hadn't told off Trump in that famous photo last week. In my fantasy, she lets Trump melt down. In the silence that follows she ignores Trump and looks around the table, at the VP and cabinet and national security adviser.
Then she says: "You all, each of you, know that this man is not capable of executing the office of president. Many of you have spent the last week working hard to merely mitigate his biggest mess so far. As the labile fool kept lurching around making it worse. Folks, you --- all of you around this table --- have the authority to fix this problem."
Then she says "good day" and walks out, ignoring the sputtering Trump.
If we just decide to "get over it," we'll forfeit our nation to the besiegers of truth, justice and the American way.
If we just decide to "get over it," we'll be telling Donald Trump that he was right, all alone.
If we just decide to "get over it," we'll turn our backs on the betrayal of the Kurds.
If we just decide to "get over it," we'll turn our presidency over to Vladimir Putin. Or to Kim Jong-un. Or to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
If we just decide to "get over it," we'll signal to the president that it's quite acceptable to invite foreign heads of state to America to put up at one of the president's properties. All on the American taxpayers' dime.
If we just decide to "get over it," we'll tell our children and teenagers that when they go to school, they're on their own.
"See you at supper. Or not."
If we just decide to "get over it," we'll see our federal courts become round-ups for the Right. Redress of grievances through peaceful channels will become a relic.
If we just decide to "get over it," we'll push honorable government servants into the private sector. We'll see America become prey to Trump appointees without experience or anything like patriotism.
If we just decide to "get over it," we run the risk of not ever again having a presidential election in which the loser goes quietly and graciously into the shadows.
If we just decide to "get over it," we will give our consent to unending corruption and lawlessness.
If we just decide to "get over it," we give up.
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It is hard to „Get Over“ GOP politicians remaining silent when it is the undeniable truth that Trump has proven time and again that he is unfit for office.
That Congressional power and privilege must be one powerful drug to render the lot of them speechless while our nation descends into lawlessness.
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I wish I had your faith that his base would see the facts and support impeachment. My fear is that they already drank the cool aid of tRumpism and will never see anything beyond blind loyalty no matter what.
I encountered several people like Mulvaney during my career—egotists whose proximity to power acted upon them like a drug. Toadies who wormed their way into positions of conferred authority and became brazen, vehement defenders of the order to which they owed their status and professional existence. Sometimes, when pushed, “get over it” became their mantra—shorthand for “this isn’t about facts, data, right or wrong; it’s about power and blind loyalty.” For most of them, there was a time of reckoning—often a crisis they had a hand in creating—that exposed their basic shallowness and incompetence. Usually, I’m pleased to say, their careers ended badly.
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When I think of the Trump administration and its relationship to truth I think of the old logical paradox in an updated context:
"All Trump administration officials are liars" said the Trump administration official.
This is how they keep us maximally confused.
1
Nobody should get over it. Breaking the law with a "so what" attitude, does not make right. But nothing will make the GOP in the Senate do the right thing. They are as corrupt as who they consider their boss. They do not see the separation of powers and delegated their job to the president.
You are absolutely correct Charles, the absurdity of the top echelon of government encouraging us to just get over criminal activity is as surreal as it gets. Until congress writes legislation making crime acceptable there is nothing normal about their transgressions. We aren't at fault for their criminality, they would do well to get over that.
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Edmund Burke said: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”
It is high time we, good citizens, whatever out political affiliation is, to take to the streets of our cities and demand the end of the Trump Presidency.
This is grave and as Charles says "Wrong is wrong". We must keep the argument clear and simple and forcefully rebut Trump/Republican talking points and distractions.
The ONLY relevant issue is that Trump himself and through his cronies (Giuliani, Pompeo, Barr, Pence and others) asked and pressured for foreign help (Ukraine, China) to help him cheat in the 2020 election. Remember that his goal was to look for a cover to allow him to smear a rival political opponent, Joe Biden, aruably the Dem frontrunner. And remember he doesn't need to prove anything, just make it "credible" (little Trump says IS credible) that the propaganda machine can swing into motion. To a degree it has anyway.
Additionally we must forcefully refute Republican taking point excuses. No quid pro quo is already out the window. The argument that impeachment would undo an election is just as equally absurd. Of course it would overturn an election. That is exactly its purpose as designed in the Constitution; for unpermissible BEHAVIOR. Trump's tainting of the 2020 election process means we can no longer trust that it will be fair. So this is why this is clearly this rises to the level of impeachable offenses.
We cannot allow Trump to get away with this!
Trump will be the third president to be impeached, and the most deserving. Don't like it? Get over it. He left pro-democracy Americans no choice.
The Republican Party has destroyed it's credibility as a Party that believes in constitutional checks and balances and the rule of law. Unfair? Just normal partisanship? Get over it. They made your choice.
"Value Voter" evangelicals used to demanding at least the respect of a fair hearing of your views? They lost any standing to preach morality to Americans who refused to support this most immoral of Presidents. Get over it.
Mulvaney, Pompeo , Barr, Guliani, McConnell, Graham, and the other enablers of Trump's attacks on democracy, do you believe that your reputation is the exception to the rule "Everything Trump Touches Dies"? Nope. History will never forget. The stain will never fade. Get over it.
Americans, like myself, who believed that the abomination of a Trump presidency was an impossibility have had to get over that they were wrong, that are millions of Americans ready to support Tump and applaud his outrages and attacks.
But Trump's supporters are a minority and democracy is hitting back. Angry that the majority will not roll over? Get over it.
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Mulvaney's title says it all, "Acting." Trump manipulates "bad actors," by hiring vulnerables, most of whom have more responsibilities than resources, willing to do Trump's dirty work for him. And, isn't it ironic that the Senate, dominated by Republicans with resources, is afraid of Trump? Or, are they merely just as slimey as Trump?
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Mulvaney, like the other Trump sycophants, is trying too hard to debunk the rationale for the Impeachment Inquiry but unbeknownst to him, his campaign of clumsy lies and awkward denials is increasingly taking on a comedic flavor like “Who’s on First”. On the contrary, I’m sure that Trump likes Mulvaney’s public display of “loyalty” because Trump is a big practitioner of histrionics himself.
Due to the recent congressional testimonies about Trump’s attempted “Quid Pro Quo” actions with the Ukrainian Government, it’s becoming obvious that impeachment will take place. Even Mitch McConnell acknowledged it by hosting a recent Senate luncheon seminar to prepare for the imminent impeachment proceedings. Therefore, I would like to use the same expression to Mulvaney that he used to the press: “GET OVER IT”
Mick Mulvaney will go down in history as one of the biggest stooges of the Trump era. Given a cohort of people like Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Matt Gaetes, Jim Jordan, Spicer, Bolton, Kelly, and on and on, that’s quite an accomplishment.
Trump won’t even make Mulvaney his ACTUAL chief of staff. Wow. What some kids will endure so that they can hang out with the bully at recess.
Trump will be impeached - will trump's base "Get over it" when that happens? How about when he loses the 2020 election? Will they get over that? Though trump has already telegraphed he won't leave office - what, and go to jail after he finally faces the music in a court of law? Trump and his cronies will no doubt tell us to "get over it" as he forcefully stays in office.
If he is so brazen to openly commit criminal and corrupt activities, he will have no problems openly seizing power after a loss - and he'll have the power of the presidency and government to do so for two months after he loses. That is when we will know how brazen he can truly be.
Besides, trump is already home-free to corrupt the 2020 elections with the open help of the Russians and other foreigners - who will stop him? He's still persecuting and threatening the lives of those who initiated and properly investigated his corrupt electioneering with the Russians in 2016. Who will investigate his criminality now? He's even threatened whistle blowers' lives.
Everyone else who would investigate current crimes by this president and provide counter intelligence against the Russians have been purged by the Republicans. So it's open season on the 2020 election where any corruption by the right against the left is fair game. Who will stop them? Dancing Angels? Or will we just have to tolerate Republican despotic rule indefinitely and be ordered to just get over it?
Get over what? Thought quid pro quo was “fake news”. Oh that’s right, we’ve moved to the next stage of Trump lies 101.
If Obama publicly declared that he loved Wikileaks or had his family members conduct a sit-down with Russians connected to Putin to get information on a rival or sent his personal lawyer overseas to dig up dirt on an opponent or held up arms to the Ukraine in order to dig up dirt on a potential opponent I wonder how easy it would have been for the Republican establishment and the American people to have just gotten over it. Didn’t the GOP once task an independent counsel to investigate a lie about an infidelity?
I know it's been said a lot, but one more time:
Obama wore a tan suit (in August), and Fox News had an actual week-long meltdown over it. Those were the days.
Shot on Fifth Avenue: American Democracy.
The smoking gun in Trump's hand.
1
If I was Mulvaney I would run and not walk away from the Trump white house. They lie so much they can't remember a lie from a fact. He will feel like a ton of bricks is off his shoulders. And then, off to dancing with the stars.
WhileMulvaney’s declaration in open air was stunning, it was not really a revelation. The purported “transcript “ of the telephone conversation itself released by the White House already had made crystal clear that the was a quid pro quo. Mulvaney just confirmed it.
Imagine, just for a terrifying instant, what would be happening if the Democrats hadn't won the House in 2018.
Yes we will get over this one and the next one and on and on and on and no we won’t fix this moth-eaten Constitution that allows all of this and more to come.
Quid pro quo has nothing to do with this. The mere asking for dirt on a political rival by a foreign country is the impeachable act.
1
Open misdeeds inviting impeachment is a set up for Trump's real plan of civil war he said will happen if removed from office. Iowa Rep Steve King said there are a trillion bullets ready and waiting. How else except for civil war genocide can Republican racists and white supremacists reverse inevitable loss of power from the demographics of becoming a white minority?
Trump cares only about lining his own pockets.
Everyone else in the GOP cares only about their own reelection.
None of them care a whit for the law, the Constitution underlying it or the rest of the country.
If they left was somewhat fair they could see that this is not much different then what Joe Biden said “if you don’t fire that prosecutor, you’re not getting that billion dollars”
International politics is a dirty business where nothing is done for anyone out of the goodness of one’s heart.
There is influence, deal making, coercion and quid pro quo in practically everyone dialogue.
This is the wrong hill for the Dems to die on.
The Senate will not impeach Trump. They are not gonna rock the boat as they want to hold power to get another scotus pick.
1
No, we don’t need to “get over it.” We need to get our act together, as a country, put our figurative, collective foot down, and say, in the words of the fictional Howard Beale, of the movie “Netowrk” fame, “We’re fed up, and we’re not going to take it anymore.”
Mick Mulvaney, like his boss, is in way over his head. He has amply demonstrated that he lacks the veracity, judgement and the commitment to the fundamentals of American democracy necessary to do his job. And that’s even allowing for the troubling reality that his job is to make his boss, Donald Trump, look good.
Mulvaney isn’t even doing that. He’s making things worse for his boss, for which we should be grateful, while making things worse for the country, for which we should not be.
How ironic that Mick Mulvaney is proving to be like a contestant in Trump’s television show, “Apprentice.” We all know what happens to them. It shouldn’t be long now, before Mr. Trump utters his famous words to Mick, “You’re FIRED.”
I give it until the end of the week.
I think the recent and rapid start of the decline of the oval office having the higher moral ground will historically be attributed to Bill Clinton. His bold declaration of "I did not have sex with that woman!", was perhaps the most brazen disregard for the truth from someone literally caught with his pant's down.
The leftwing fan club in here now calling for the Republicans to make a stand are pure hypocrites.
Clinton had major moral failings and was defended by his partisan side just as Trump does. Both were viciously attacked by the other side. Nobody every puts country first, it's become a cliche to say that. We are so divided as a country that that moderation is now considered a liability.
Trump is abysmal on all measurable levels but he can't be a surprise.
1
I do not CARE what the polls say. It is clear to me that this man who claims to be President and his adherents are the most corrupt administration we as a nation have ever seen. I don't CARE whether others agree, I am sick and ashamed of what the nation has become, and I grieve for our future. I know I will vote against Trump and every single person who has been a supporter. I HOPE others will in fact do the same, and I WISH that there would be enough Republicans awakened to what Trump has done to their political party and this nation to Impeach, Convict and Oust him now. In any event, I will be able to look in a mirror.
Yet again an emphasis on quid pro quo, which is not necessary for impeachment. Simply asking the Ukrainian President to investigate the Bidens was an impeachable offense. The apparent quid pro quo only makes it worse.
it saddens me to see how many Americans refuse to judge Trump with any standards. moral, spelling, intelligence, fitness.
the astounding thing is, mick loudly claimed to detest trump not that long ago. now he defends his crime, openly.
I have loathed Trump ever since the 80s. And he is the worst president in American history, and deserves to be impeached. But please, enough of the hyperventilation about a constitutional crisis. American democracy will survive even if Trump is re-elected. He's a terrible president, and a terrible person, but he's not a dictator. I am on my way soon on a three month trip to East Africa and the Persian Gulf, I plan to visit six countries - Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Dubai, and Oman, all countries where Trump would be an improvement over the existing leadership.
Trump and his administration have called the impeachment inquiry an attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election, implying that as soon as the election results were tabulated and the winner had been announced, the President has 4 years to run amuck on, over and right through the constitution. The Trump administration is going so far as suggesting that Impeachment ( a part of the constitution) was simply “sour grapes over an election lost”; and implying that the grade school rule “no backies” ( not part of the constitution but apparently alive and well in real estate circles) is a real thing. This we learned last Thursday from Mick Mulvaney who eloquently schooled us in what I imagine he learned from the legal scholar Rudolph Giuliani as the “GET OVER IT” doctrine.
Come on Republicans! Respect your country and stop overlooking the obvious. Trump has no business staying in office. Do your jobs and support America.
What is it with Republicans with "get over it"? Scalia told us to get over the Supreme Court deciding the election of George W. (And we still are suffering.) Now Mulvaney wants us to get over a crooked president.
I think they need to grow up! I know they think the laws are for the little people. Time to show them at the next election they aren't so big after all.
When Trump won the Republican nomination, most Republicans, fearful of their future, had abandonedTrump as a loser and told their troops to focus on the "down ticket" races. Now that he has won and commits outrages on a daily basis, threatening our Constitution, why stick with him? The Republican Party will survive with or without Trump and would be better off without him.
“... we need to know that at least some of these Republican men and women who make our laws are not totally craven and devoid of morality.”
Hate to break the news to you, Charles, but we’ve known the answer to that one for a long, long time, and the 2016 election was the result, not the cause. The GOP party, with only a (very) few exceptions like Rooney, is utterly devoid of morality. To bring your argument full circle, when an entire political party comes to believe that vice is now virtue, there’s no point in trying to reason with them: There is no shared reality, and trying to reason with these people has the same consequences of trying to teach a pig to sing: You waste your time and annoy the pig.
Time to vote them out. Every single one of them. And then let a responsible conservative party take its place.
The sad news is that GOP representatives (house and senate) who are supposed to watch out for the entire country and the constitution, are blatantly ignoring their responsibility and supporting Trump's malfeasance. This is yet another prime example of how ends justify the means for the GOP nowadays. Democracy in this case, is dying because one side is allowing it to die with the full knowledge of how bad it is.
4
I'd love to be able to put a recalcitrant Republican Congressperson on a stand under oath and ask her/him, "when Democrats win in 2020, would you complain if the president used his own private attorney to carry out foreign policy, rather than Secretary of State, and then used that secrecy to avoid Congressional oversight?"
Then remind the witness, "your answer will determine Democratic foreign policy permanently." We just won't have a real Secretary of State, we'll do it all in secret. Get over it." (Remember that Trump is already doing this by appointing "acting" officials and never seeking Senate confirmation, as required by law.)
We all know what the honest answer would be, but in reality we'd have to wait until we did it because we would not, in our wildest dreams, get an honest answer.
12
What is more startling is the 42% that do not support impeachment. We are a severely morally compromised country, how did we get to this point.
11
Fortunately, Mick Mulvaney's "get over it" is a sign of fear. He knows that he can't convincingly justify what Donald Trump has done, and he's afraid precisely that too many people are not getting over it. Otherwise, Mick Mulvaney would just be repeating some absurd talking point about "the server". And, could it be that when Mitch McConnell told Republicans in the Senate that there would be a real trial that he hoped would be over by the end of the year, McConnell was thinking that perhaps the 2020 election would be easier to win with Mike Pence running rather than Donald Trump?
3
Get over it?
It's Trump supporters that need to get over it .
No liberal ever talks about overturning the 2016 election.
It is always Trump and his supporters wailing about it.
Trump won the election by the Electoral College vote.
That's a fact.
Clinton won the popular vote by more than 3 million.
That is also a fact.
Impeachment is about Trump's actions since taking office.
It is about Trump's failure to uphold the Constitution and laws he swore to uphold.
It is about Trump's failure to staff our government with honest, capable people.
It is about Trump's grifting off of American taxpayers.
It is about Trump's malfeasance in office.
It is about the more than 13,000 confirmed lies Trump has told us.
The GOP fell for Trump's con. They're the ones who need to wise up and get over it.
Trump isn't in it for them. Trump is in it only for himself. America will go the way of Trump University, Trump Casinos, Trump Shuttle and the rest of Trump's failures. On his 3rd wife and cruising for a 4th, Trump can't even make a marriage work. Too self centered for anything besides himself to matter. Too ignorant, too incurious, too emotionally immature. Yeah, Trump's a real 'genius'.
We'll be making that clear in the voting booth, and meanwhile, the House investigations will keep marching forward. Pence is in it up to his eyebrows, his actions need scrutiny as well.
Vote Democratic in 2020.
Every office, every seat.
662
@D. DeMarco I agree with you 100%. Trump is an existential threat to the safety and security of America.
46
@D. DeMarco
Let's not forget 'Trump Steaks' (eyeroll)
Apropos since the entire appeal to his base consists of the red meat that they devour by the pound.
Tainted and rancid as it may be.
32
@D. DeMarco
Not only has no liberal ever talked about overturning the 2016 election, but no liberal also has ever denounced Trump's presidency illegitimate despite losing by 3M votes.
And yet Obama's legitimacy was never fully recognized by a large portion of the Republican Party for the mere fact of being the wrong color.
104
Sure, we''l get over it. In about 2035, after Trump and the GOP crash the economy in 2022, and spend the rest of that term floundering around, cutting taxes. It will take an additional 8 years of slowly rebuilding the economy, our governmental institutions, and our foreign alliances.
But America will be great again ...
3
In the rush to impeach Trump, there is little sense that it will change US domestic or foreign policy one bit if Pence is then president. The entire administration needs to be swept out of office at the ballot box. Nothing less than that will fix what ails us.
We need vision and compromise. We have neither at the moment. The current administration has done tons of harm via its control/terrorism of the bureaucracy and repeal of protections for us and the country from the rapacious.
Our needs as a people will never ever be met under a conservative Republican Party government. The facts clearly show that we do better under governments closer to the "center". For those unaware why? Just look sat what we are experiencing now. One party democracy is not a democracy. Consensus arrived through public discussion and voting is what is needed here, not more outrages and court cases.
But, by all means, impeach Trump and Pence if possible, as soon as possible. Make his lack of discipline and out of control self centered character and leadership the central issue of the 2020 election!
3
Impeachment is not going to help Trump. His advisors are fighting the last war with too few data points.
Yes, the Clinton impeachment resulting in a major loss for Republicans. That was because the public viewed the impeachment effort as overblown and unnecessary.
This impeachment will stand on its own merits The public is already shifting toward supporting this effort.
16
I share your views of the horrors of Trump 1000%, but I respectfully disagree with your argument that his impeachment "will bring the country together." I certainly hope you are right, but I find the fact that 58% of Americans believe his actions are grounds for impeachment to be, in fact, distressing. I cannot understand why it is not 88% or 98%. (Well, actually I do understand, but it fills me with despair.)
23
Not too long ago a woman I admire, but whom I know to be a staunch conservative and whom I suspected supported Trump, surprisingly asked me what I thought about him. As a clergy person, I've tried to be respectful to both sides of the argument, hoping to encourage some civil conversation. However, in today's climate, that's been getting exceedingly harder.
Since I respected this woman I told her that his behavior appalls me, is an affront to my faith and values, destroys my hope that my children and grandchildren will have a better world, and has caused me to pray more, especially for those that enable him to behave in a way that any good parent would deem egregious. And, that as a former lifelong Republican, I could no longer respect a party that finds this acceptable, or even tolerable. I was shocked by her response.
She said, "It's time to get back on the bus."
In her youth she'd protested the Vietnam War by getting on the bus. She added that it may mean getting tear-gassed and beaten again, but it's time to take back our democracy.
She's right. We can tweet all we want. We can write a gazillion editorials, watch a lot of talking heads decry the horror of the state of our nation and constitution, reminisce about how Presidents used to be...or we can take action. We the people, take action.
We can get on the bus. It's about time we did and I hope that our crowds are A LOT bigger than the "estimated" Inaugural count.
22
Democrats may want to get focused on winning 2020 rather than trying to impeach. Trump has already raised about 300 million. And there's still about thirty five people running in the Democratic Primary, one of whom just had a heart attack. I don't know... just thinking out loud... but it's four months to the Primary.
3
It is possible to do both you know. Not to impeach is doing a disservice to the country. And it may very well lose more Dem voters than not doing it. We the people are counting on them to do the right thing- and that is impeachment. It goes beyond partisanship. We are literally fighting for the sound of our nation. Impeachment was put into place for precisely these circumstances.
9
@Jackie We have no way of knowing if that $300 million is actually true.
2
@Jackie, at this point in the 2016 campaign, there were 17 republican candidates. It's true; you DON'T know. I support impeachment cuz the president has committed impeachable offenses. Period. I will also work hard to get a Democrat elected next year. We can do both.
If trump suspended the constitution next week in a desperate emergency move to obstruct Congress and impeachment, would you then advise us there's too many candidates to think about this?
Your passive agressive snark aside, remember that those who lose any election end up with millions in the coffer. Last time, trump pocketed most of the leftover donations. Votes, not dollars.
2
The strategy is indeed simple: brazennness appears as strength, it gets to pin some of the blame on the press, and it goes to the old theory that Bill Clinton stated to explain the Republicans' general appeal: "they are strong but wrong."
They have always applied the "throw mud against the wall and hope it sticks" approach to politics. Amazingly, that, with the combination of their mastery to promote fear, has allowed them to do very well in elections, much to the chagrin of Dems, and much to the detriment of honesty, integrity and rationality.
6
Since trump was elected, Mr. Blow has invested his almost every word in writing about his faults, his personality, his habits, largely focusing on things we already know, that are painfully obvious in everything about the man. What he doesn't focus on, what is direly needed in this country so focused on devoting so much of its wealth to the rich, is to focus on the loss of a living wage for so many in our nation, the lack of health-care for so many, the crime of the huge student debt, the destruction wrought on our economy that big banks brought in '08.
Why? Why focus on Russiagate and impeachment when our nation needs to pay so much more attention to those dire needs.
Mr. Blow instead plays trump's game of replacing discussion of those needs with bluster and name-calling.
3
"If it were wrong, I would be ashamed of it and attempt to conceal it." This is the best compact analysis I've seen of the spell Trump has been working.
It's effective only on people who believe that he, like them, has a sense of shame. But the man knows no shame, and sooner or later, MAGANs will figure this out.
8
That there is no expectation that the Senate will convict is proof that the House is NOT trying to reverse the 2016 election. Unlike trump, the House is showing it has integrity and will do their job no matter the consequences.
12
@Bruce Maier
"...the House is showing it has integrity and will do their job no matter the consequences"
Integrity?? Please...
that's exactly what the problem is with the House in in this "inquiry" ...the House is more concerned with their "consequences" than they are with the outcome.
1
You are right. It is PRINCIPLE and DIGNITY and safeguarding both for the good of this country. Corruption doesn't get better because it is displayed as if it did not matter. These men need to take a lesson in ethics and the only way to teach them is through impeachment.
6
We who support Trump’s impeachment may well take delight in Mulvaney being hoisted on his own petard, but all Republicans are going to find and embrace his walked-back explanation as the truth. His real objective is to move Trump’s actions from the impeachment realm into friendlier arena of the Supreme Court.
Framing the issue as he has Mulvaney transforms the context from “high crimes and misdemeanors “ to the powers of the “Unitary Executive, whether vested by the Constitution or as an expanded privileged right. In his interpretation the President can can freely mix desired political objectives (foreign and domestic) in pursuit of policy.
Setting the argument in this way expands Trump’s authority in the Ukrainian call to make his personal attorney, his political appointees, or members of his immediate family his diplomatic envoys. He is not legally bound to carry out established prior policy and can work to disrupt treaties. In essence Trump is seeking to be empowered without accountability to anyone.
This will be accomplished by use of his politicized Supreme Court to recognize Trump’s free reign in conducting foreign policy. Then the Congress will be nullified as a a check to his power and reduced to a rubber stamp function. In the process true oligarchy in a fascist mode will ascend.
217
@Mojoman49
But WHY?
Why do people who are smart enough to get through prep school and Yale and law school and a career as a jurist WANT to install fascism here?
They were doing just fine under the old system. And there was hope for the rest of us.
14
@Mojoman49
Although not much of an optimist, I do see the ghost of a flicker at the end of the tunnel: Supreme Court justices serve for life and don't have to worry about getting booted out by Agent Orange.
I realize that their jobs don't depend on public opinion any more than on AO's opinion, but still. The ghost of a flicker ...
6
@Anna Benassi
I, too, am cautiously optimistic that the Court will do the right thing. Roberts might be a Republican, but I believe he cares a lot about his own legacy, as well as the institution itself. Hopefully the majority of the Justices remember that they, too, are a co-equal branch of government and will act to defend Constitutional checks and balances.
12
There are two kinds of bullies.
One gathers henchmen and shares the lunch money.
Another takes all the lunch money for himself.
Republicans are the first kind; Trump is the second. Don't think for a second that Republicans in the Senate like him. They've been cut off too. The second their voters give an inch (and it looks like they may do so), conviction is a distinct possibility.
314
@Dan You're right, of course, but it is disappointing that there isn't a single one of them who is so angry about this "administration" that they will put honor first and risk losing their seat over it. Don't they have to look in the mirror in the morning?
56
@Maureen
And this is exactly why I believe we desperately need term limits in the Senate. The Republicans are so afraid of voicing an opposing opinion because of retaliation by Trump and the fear of losing their constituency. Term limits would invite honest politicians to do the right thing on a more regular basis and perhaps, we would not be in the predicament we are in now.
35
@Maureen --I don't think those voters have the backbones, or the moral integrity to choose between right and wrong. All they know is that tRump and the Republicrooks depict themselves as victims, and those voters identify with that. They hate, and fear, the same people tRump and the Republicrooks hate and fear, the ones who are "responsible for their victimization." That's all that matters to them, even if it harms their personal welfare. Revenge, and that feeling of "genuine superiority," is what matters to them. So satisfying.
26
Republicans never got over Obama. Come to think of it, they never got over Clinton, either. So Republicans have given us ample precedent to not get over Trump.
But we are not chasing Trump because we want to get him. We did not come after dubya the way we are coming after Trump. Our problem is what Trump is doing to reasonable discussion and to the Constitution. Reasonable discussion is virtually impossible with him, as many former members of his government have found.
Presidents who cannot or will not submit to a reasonable amount of reasonable discussion should be impeached, and the threat of impeachment will pressure them to stay away from being dictatorial.
309
@sdavidc9 As long as I can remember Republicans have been playing the game of changing history and trying to erase Democrats from the great reform history they have accomplished. Look at Roosevelt and his accomplishments and how they have denigrated that.
50
@Betsy Herring Wait till they try to cut Social Security and Medicare. I wonder how they will feel about the GOP then?
34
@sdavidc9
Or, Democrats can continue to try to 'even the score' by acting like petulant children and continue to lose elections in the process? Up to you isn't it? Fight the last Election again to lose the next one, or get over it already and try to do something for the American Voter.
Apparently, either Mulvaney himself or someone in the administration realized that his words were glib even by Trump standards, because he is still trying to walk them back without acknowledging what he had admitted. Mulvaney has blamed people other than himself, beyond admitting that he did not have a perfect press conference.
Pressure works! The trick is that we must not get over it. Corruption can't be allowed to happen all the time, as Mulvaney had snarled.
405
@NM Well even after making the general statement that he did not have a perfect press conference he blamed the media for not hearing him correctly, saying (something like) maybe you'll get it right this time...The arrogance!
16
@NM
The sheer effrontery of these people is staggering. To claim that he never said what he said, when it's all on video! We are truly in 1984 territory.
17
The quickest way to get over it is to impeach Trump now and move on expeditiously to restore Constitutional and democratic governance to the executive branch. Let's get over it by
impeaching Trump and correcting his egregious failures as a leader. Maybe, when we put Trump in the rear-view mirror, Americans will begin to realize the danger that he posed to our democratic institutions.
452
@Whole Grains
For over 3 decades I have taught at a college that is designated as a "minority-serving college". Our students are often the first to graduate from high school and now attend a four-year college. Our environment encourages the development of not just academic excellence, but also leadership qualities. After the 2016 election of Trump, at a community convocation, they were sobbing, distraught and fearful for their future and this continued for a time. Many have ancestors who were denied protections of the Constitution. (Thank you 1619 project for your focus). This is their time now to make that proverbial difference real. I have full faith that they will with reason and determination accomplish this. God bless them and others who are striving uphill against the history of hate entrenched in our society and democracy. "Dump Trump" has special meaning as I and my colleagues travel with them in their time at college to arrive at the platform of graduation and meet the challenges and experience joys as a new generation of leaders! Let's follow the advice of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings. We all can fly with the angels. Thanks to Charles Blow for reminding us what is at stake.
29
@Whole Grains -- Trump will not be in the rear view mirror if removed. Pence the theocrat will be in office. Another consequence of Trump. Will Trump go quietly? Probably not. Also as @Nicholas Rush suggested above his followers mat decide on a second amendment solution against those who oppose Trump. Sad and scary.
3
Obama pretty much said the same things. Elections have consequences. Get over it, etc. When Trump wins again he will have a lot of political capital to spend.
4
@M President Obama won two national elections legitimately without fraud or other shenanigans. He was an honest man without a scrap of scandal about his personal life or character. You seem to forget the war cry, "Job One: make Obama a one-term President." "You LIE!" "Obama has to fail" "I haven't seen his birth certificate." Etc, etc. Yes, elections have consequences; but the last two Repub. presidents crawled in through the transom and acted like they won by acclamation. And that's the difference between us.
1
I completely agree with you. And there are two finer points that seem to get lost in the cacophony of Trump’s corruption.
1. That’s tax payer money that he used to leverage Ukraine. So he’s bribing the Ukrainian president with tax payer money.
2. Congress had already voted for that money to go the Ukraine. Holding it it up is a separation of powers issue.
I don’t understand why the republicans don’t see this as bad at every level.
679
@EP The republicans see, they just don't care as long as they feel they can get re-elected. There is no love of country, there is only party and maintaining their seat in Congress.
It's always been party over country with republicans, and always will be.
The degree of their support for party this time is surreal.
99
@EP --- Oh my that would presume the Republicans understand ethics and the respect the law. I have not seen any evidence of that for quite some time. What they cherish and serve is money and power. They condescend to the Religious right because it gives them a paneer of righteousness with a group that believes in and accepts an absolute authority.
54
@EP "BRIBING the Ukrainian president with tax payer money." Excellent talking point, clear and concise that that the Democrats should use.
16
The trump "presidency" is a stress test of me. I think it has shortened my life expectancy. It has certainly shortened my enjoyment of life these past 3 years.
23
Attorney General William Barr refused to investigate the Ukraine matter even though the Inspector General (also a Trump appointee) determined it to be urgent and credible after investigation of the whistleblower complaint.
Barr intervened so the complaint would not go to Congress even though he should have recused himself due to being mentioned several times by Trump in his phone call to be working with Giuliani.
Meanwhile Barr is still trying to undermine the Mueller Report he misrepresented and was in charge of redacting.
There is a very loud siren blaring at the Justice Department that no one appears to be answering.
William Barr is another corrupt Trump official mistaking political interests for national interests.
And over at the State Department we have Pompeo following the party line and not only allowing the hijacking of foreign policy for personal political gain, but defending it.
697
@Judith Evers
It is not a mistake by Barr putting party first. He laid out a plan to become AG to aid trump, not the country.
20
@Judith Evers
If I were Barr and Pompeo, I would huddle with good lawyers and think about how to save myself from prison time.
Justice will have its due.
18
@MLE53 -Mile53.
But Barr is the Attorney General of the United States regardless of whatever job description got put into his head. Would that not be dereliction of duty let alone the oath to serve and defend?
How are these Trump cronies still walking around? Their paychecks come out of OUR tax dollars and yet, they are only working for and answering to one man.
Certainly not for the good of our country. How do we get rid of them?
22
Administration mouthpieces are fond of trotting out the tough-sounding "elections have consequences" line, but here's another that they are not so fond of:
Taking an oath of office to uphold the Constitution has consequences too.
Another one they like is that is would be illegitimate "to undo the results of the 2016 election". But if the result of the 2016 election was to install someone in the presidency who had no intention of honoring the office and its constitutional bounds, then that is a result which does in fact need to be reversed. Elections don't confer power beyond the framework of the Constitution.
Get over it.
880
@Bill Levine I even wonder if Trump actually won the 2016 election with his great friendship with Russia. i don't think we can discount the Russian interference in our election.
45
@Bill Levine
Republicans keep claiming that Democrats are trying to "undo" the 2016 election. But Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election, and it was undone by the Electoral College.
Nowadays Republican propogandists even claim the Trump won the 2016 election. It's like Orwell's 1984, where the Ministry of Truth rewrites records that are inconvenient to Big Brother
.
64
@Charlesbalpha
While analogies are often suspect, here's one for you.
If one football team has greater total yardage than the other, but the second team scores more points, the first team loses and the second one wins because that's how the rules were set up.
The same is true of the 2016 election. Ms. Clinton had more popular votes while Mr. Trump had more electoral votes. He wins, because that's how the rules were set up.
10
The Congress is sure to pass impeachment articles and the Senate is almost certain to let him stay in office.
There is only one small chance he is removed before he does more damage to the country and the world. If Republican Senators think acquitting him will cost them their seat in the Senate and their Party any chance of being in the majority for a long time, they may look to justice to determine their votes instead of sheer political partisanship. Nixon redux.
3
All the people who want to say this has anything to do with 2016 fail to recognize that if the things we are learning (and have learned) about Donald Trump were public knowledge in 2016, it's highly unlikely that the election would have produced the result it did.
8
@Don Yes it would have because the election was a fake, orchestrated by Trump's lover and handler, Putin
1
I am reading Just Mercy, which chronicles Bryan Stevenson's work on death row throughout the South. I listened to Elijah Cummings yesterday, whose remarks you quoted. The insult and injury done by this administration, like the unlawful and unjust incarceration of those Bryan defended, extends well beyond the individual, and damages an entire community by squashing the most important aspirations they have: hope for a better future. The idea that we as a people should get over the aspirations this country were founded on is beyond insulting. I'd like every member of this administration who has that notion to be jailed for contempt of the promise we the people consider self-evident.
8
The time for alternative explanations of Mr. Trump's actions has expired. There is no longer room for extending him or his minions the benefit of a doubt. Three years of unremitting malfeasance has established conclusively that any public statement from the Trump administration is (a) certainly unreliable and (b) almost certainly false. Enough really is enough. Keep the pressure on.
14
I would love it if one article of impeachment was, "Continually serving Russia and its interest rather than the US and its interests."
We've got a ton of examples, and if Repub senators are going to vote "no," I want it to really hurt them.
10
Justin Amash had to leave the Republican Party to publicly state he supported impeachment. He also deserves credit for looking at the truth of this administration’s misdeeds.
6
Republicans are doing the Susan Collins dance: feigning "concern" while voting with Trump. Even John McCain voted with Trump 80% of the time.
Only when voters tell these people NO will the situation change. 2020 will tell the tale, obviously.
12
As Congressman Rooney said, "Game, set, match." Indeed!
Impeachment is inevitable for Trump at this point. There's no way any principled member of Congress can look at the brazen evidence of Trump's perfidy and fail to vote to impeach and remove him from office -- and those who don't will be known to all.
6
You don't have to convince me Charles or your readers or even the American public. The question is: What, if anything, will it take to convince 20 U.S. Senate Republicans to "'get over it'" that as you, I, your readers and the public agree that Donald Trump is guilty of "high crimes" like "bribery" [aka a "quid pro quo"] in the Ukraine conspiracy that is actually listed as an impeachable offense in the Constitution and that he should be removed from office? As much as the public wants Trump removed his Senate Republicans still seem bent on giving him "Total Exoneration!" that will be the end of our Consritutional democracy and its "rule of law," and the official beginning of the lawless autocracy of the "rule of Trump." Hopefully, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is savvy enough to avoid the political trap Senate Majority leader is setting for her; and will, under those circumstance, send the "articles of impeachment" directly to the American people to vote on in November 2020. If "government of the people, by the people, and for the people [is to] endure," then it should be up to "we, the people" to save it from a Republican autocracy.
4
Any way you slice it this is an incisive and sensitive piece of writing.
I concur.
3
The only question I have is why Pelosi et al waited so long to start impeachment procedings. This latest case is bad, but not the first time Trump has done this sort of thing.
2
@Larry Figdill Because this specific item - extortion of a foreign country is a crime. that it is with taxpayer money makes it worse. The other failings are clear to us, but to a majority of the country, they are not. Example - Obstruction of Justice - if there was no underlying crime, why is it wrong? is how many think. That obstruction can prevent the discovery of the crime is key, but subtle.
2
"It’s that we need to know that at least some of these Republican men and women who make our laws are not totally craven and devoid of morality."
Much as I would like to believe otherwise, especially three years into the reign of Trump and his Republican partners, I have to believe that the Republicans in Congress, all of them, men and women, are wholly craven and devoid of morality, as they have repeatedly demonstrated, and continue to demonstrate these last few days as their leader Trump leaves allies to die at the hands of our enemies, and opens the door wide for those same enemies to consolidate power, and prepare to do us further damage.
Trump and his Republican partners are clearly showing us that treason is an acceptable form of foreign policy, and if not stopped they will soon be unstoppable.
6
First it was Giuliani, denying, then admitting, that he asked Ukraine to get dirt on the Bidens. Now it's Mulvaney, admitting that there was a 'quid pro quo' for military aid, then trying to take it back. It appears that trump really hasn't hired 'only the best' people. Like trump, they seem not to prepare very well before they speak about something important. As Mark Twain might say, they are prone to committing gaffes: they accidentally tell the truth. Now, they can't undo the damage.
4
Once again I come away from reading one of Mr. Blow’s columns wondering what it is about him that gives him such a clear voice. Then I recall this same wonder at the columns of Leonard Pitts and Clarence Page. And the answer becomes as obvious as it is painful. Their keen insight and clear articulation is undoubtedly linked, at least in part, to the fact of their black experience. Seeing things for what they are is, I suspect, as much a part of their experience as breathing. So thank you, Mr. Blow. Keep them coming.
8
We been in hot pursuit of a brazen outlaw for over two years, but he just won't stop. It's cringeworthy, yet fascinating, like watching a tornado.
Obviously and embarrassingly, our feeble system isn't up to the task of keeping our rogue Commander-in-Chief in line. Too much power, not enough restraints.
We need to improve our system, tighten it up. Maybe after this current political upheaval is behind us, the Republicans will help us do what needs to be done.
This is no way to run a country.
5
Why are so few able to speak truth to power? Thank you, Mr. Blow, for continuing to call out the horrific abuses of this administration. May Rep. Elijah Cummings rest in peace. Perhaps his legacy will inspire others to speak out in the face of injustice.
6
I view the Trump presidency as an insult to our collective intelligence. At first, Trump couldn't believe that people would actually elect him and now he wants to see just how far he can go with his corruption and wealth gathering before he's stopped, if he's stopped. When Trump announced his intention to run for president, many people who really knew him said that they weren't worried because people would see right through him and wouldn't fall for his con. So, there you have it.
5
I have read many of your columns To me this is by far the greatest. It is cogent, well-reasoned and has just the correct amount of outrage.
1
Trump flaunts his wrongdoing like one of those outrageous villains in westerns. They terrorize the town until someone with courage and principles steps up to take them down. I'm thinking, for example, about Liberty Valance, as menacingly portrayed by Lee Marvin. Trump's playing a similar role in real life, and he really wants to gun someone down in the street just to show that he can.
The American ethos demands that such villains be taken down. In this case, not by a gun but by the vote. Soon, all US senators will have to publicly decide who they want to ride with, the good guys or the bad guys. It's just that simple. It's pure Americana. Showdown at the DC Corral.
4
Repubs are deathly afraid that the era of white hegemony in American government will be over. That fear explains the election of an outright white supremacist, the flouting of Senate rules to confirm an Obama Supreme Court nomination, attempts to restrict minority voting, surgical gerrymandering to strengthen white votes. Now confronted with illegal activities by their selected leader, they are afraid to acknowledge it despite the evidence. If those activities were constitutional and legal, why is there stonewalling and refusal to cooperate with the inquiry? Let’s see the whole transcript of the conversation with Ukraine and also with Erdogan that lead to the US betrayal of our Kurdish allies.
4
Lies tend to be cornucopian in nature and problematic for accurate recall attributed to a lack real events seen or heard . This does not bode well for Mr. Mulvaney who has seemingly failed realize the trap he has set for himself.
2
When Trump says that Romney "choked" in his bid for the presidency, he means exactly what Trump is doing: double down. The "47%" statement should have been explained as "correct". "Get over it". Read Ms Cunha's article in today's Times. People "identify" with Trump [as horrifying as that is]. Trump has surrounded himself with those - like Mulvaney - who will propagate the same sickening distaste for the rule of law.
I was once kayaking with my son in Maine when we saw an osprey fly out of a tree and grab a fish out of the water. A spectacular sight. But then a bald eagle flew out of another tree and chased down the osprey to grab its catch. I said to my son that this was an apropos symbol of America, thinking of our foreign policy. But, it seems more relevant to Trump's domestic policy.
2
@Reader That 47% included veterans, disabled people and elderly people who paid into SS their entire lives. There was no distinction made. If he was proud of that statement, why did he only make it behind closed doors and not on the campaign trail?
It was also pathetic the way he ran away from Romneycare, which gave Massachusetts the highest insured rate in the country, including nearly 100% of children. It is not perfect, but this state takes care of its people.
Mitt Romney is a smart, good man who happens to have no spine.
Democrats have to evict Mr. Trump either by impeachment (which will probably not succeed) or in the 2020 election. If they fail, what do they do then--implode?
3
@Ronald B. Duke By this time, you should not be considering Democrats as the only people who can challenge Trump, nor should any potential Trump challenger rank in your mind as a "they." Unless you are not an American, you have no excuse for standing there tapping your foot while you wait to see how this works out. It is is your battle as much as anyone's, and the word you are looking for here is "we." What will "we" do?
Criminal behavior also has consequences, unless we want to live in a world where it doesn’t. Hard to guess where the so-called law-and-order GOP will land in the end.
Thus far, they have cowered. If it weren’t so awful, they’d be pitiable.
What the GOP does, however, is largely out of the control of the rest of us.
But we need not do their dirty work for them.
Impeach, record the votes, and let history do the rest.
6
Charles you have much more faith in the trump cult members and the gop than I ever could. I don't know what has given you that faith, except your own faith in the basic decency of most people. I used to have that, too. But the past 3 years have stripped me of that faith. Our founders were obviously truly naive and couldn't believe that anyone who would seek public office would be profoundly without morals and shame. Our Constitution is based entirely on a basic set of principles that have no power when a large group of people fail to acknowledge them. This paper has another article about the power of the Constitution being behind Nancy Pelosi. The Constitution is nothing but a piece of old paper that the gop is happy to blow their nose on. It hold no meaning in our current crisis.
5
@MJ
For one, I am ready for the old tarring and feathering solution. I am looking @ YOU:
Mulvaney
Trump
Graham
McConnell
Collins
Kavanaugh, and other "Republicans." A bitter joke;a lie in the very name of their cabal of criminals.
They would destroy, as Benjamin Franklin said, "A republic, if you can keep it." They don't give a fig for our republic; their care is for the virtual slavery of the 99%:women, little kids, the poor, the hungry. Their care is to stuff their pockets with the riches of this, Our Republic.
Before tarring& feathering& riding them "outta town on the rails," I would force each misbegotten devil to renounce the name "republican."
Mr. Blow, Yours is the first piece I read in the Times. You are unafraid to state what you know and believe to be true. I appreciate your courage and intellect. That said, you wrote:
"Trump is a stress test on our system and constitutional government and we dare not fail. Trump must be held accountable not only because his corruption dictates it, but also because we must demonstrate that accountability is possible."
When the Senate takes two days to pretend to deliberate removal of Trump, and he walks, we have not strengthened the Constitution, we have weakened it. The next insane, uncontrollable, criminal, authoritarian is right behind Trump, learning exactly what he/she can and can't do to circumvent law and the Constitution.
We do one chance, but it rests with Republicans in the Senate, and already we can see that McConnell is going to be the Majority Leader who spectacularly fails the country and the world. Trump is his cover.
I hope I'm wrong.
3
Telling us to "get over it" doesn't undo the damage. It does not absolve the perpetrator nor does it do anything to atone for the crime. Evil is showing no empathy and caring more about your desires and wants at the expense of your fellow men. His remarks aim to make us feel somehow responsible for not understanding the rules of the game. He and his cohorts are underestimating Americans who still believe in justice and ethics.
4
Yes the man is supremely repellent and yes, given the chance to redo the 2016 election to see if he could win without foreign assistance would be nice, but be those as they may, he has committed criminal acts in front of all of us all and will surely try more unless he is removed.
We can carry our sour grapes about 2016 and he can still deserve to be removed from office. These things can coexist without having anything to do with each other.
10
When this nightmare is over, is tweeting allowed from prison? I’m really tired of Big Don’s craziness and outsized influence.
6
@Time - Space Sometimes I find myself yelling "just shut up" at my phone. I'm exhausted.
1
The Republican Party and its Congressional Representatives are totally devoid of morality and concern for the truth and for their obligations to uphold their oaths of office and the Constitution.
They are spin merchants and partisans who spew propaganda about policy choices and will play with dirt to smear their political opponents. The only things that would motivate change in these transactional politicians would be polls overwhelmingly threatening their electoral viability. They react solely to poll numbers and rarely seek to find the truth and serve honorably the public. Hence they still support publicly Trump and plan to back him in the Senate. Of course if a Democrat acted like Trump, they would be screaming impeachment and conviction. They have no spine, no honor, and no integrity!
2
Great article Charles!
I got over it and I’m glad Mike Mulvaney failed to follow this simple advice attributed to Mark Twain:
"If you tell truth you don't have to remember anything."
He and the rest of the liars are only building the case against his boss and public sentiment for impeachment.
Thanks Mike!
5
It is the incredible lengths at which the GOP will go to defend Trump what scares me most. A deeply corrupt president and his family runs this country, and Mick Mulvaney tells us that Donald Trump is simply using his amazing hospitality skills when choosing his own hotel for a G7 meeting.
There is simply no bride too far for the GOP. I wonder what they think when they are confronted by angry town halls. They are deeply committed to this corruption and for that reason alone should be voted out of office.
It will take years to get to the bottom of all the corruption and self-enriching of this administration, but if that what it takes to defend democracy, so be it. People need to be indicted, and spend time in jail.
4
America is beyond Trump. How we have a Democratic House and no impeachment yet is beyond me. For as flawed as Trump is, it scares me how inept the Democrats are. Pelosi was/is apparently willing to sit and watch the end of a democracy. We need strength, truth, wisdom, courage and obedience to the law. This will only happen if the Democrats make a move. Waiting and watching may prove complicit even on the Democratic side.
@Todd Impeachment is not a simple one-two punch. The Times has written extensively about this, as to what is the history of impeachment, what is the standard for impeachment, what needs to happen in an impeachment. It isn't that Democrats lack the nerve, but rather that we have the experience to know how tough this will be and to treat it accordingly. If being angry and acting quickly were a sure fire bet, it would already be done.
2
You have to wonder about the state of mind of those who continue to choose to serve under Donald Trump at this stage in his Administration. Even the most blinded and ardent of Trump supporters and enablers must know that accepting a role in his administration is akin to committing career if not intellectual suicide. The probability that your days in the job are likely short is matched only by the assured damage to your reputation when you've done your time in the West Wing.
Trump is loyal to no man, woman or ideal (with the exceptions perhaps of his children and making money) which should filter out all candidates not in a desperate search for work. The circle of competent choices for senior roles in Trump's White House shrinks daily...which is why we have a rag-tag army of amateurs and dilettantes he calls his Administration.
2
For about 40% of the population, truth equals confidence. A statement asserted confidently is true. By telling lies confidently, Trump shapes reality in the minds of 40% of the population. The rest of us then have to deal with the 40%. We either “just get over it,” or we endlessly explain and psychoanalyze to no avail. It’s an insidious way of dominating and controlling.
Why tell the truth when a lie will due? That’s why.
People have to stop looking at the who and focus on the what instead. Would people view this exactly the same way, this behavior, if we were talking about Obama or Clinton or Warren or anyone else? Trump supporters deflect the culpability by saying "Look at Biden and his son". I am OK with doing that. No problem. But that does not excuse what your man has done. Shoplifting is shoplifting is shoplifting. It does not become a crime only when a certain sector of the population does it. It isn't just 'up to the voters'. It's wrong what these people are doing. And we should not gloss over it and leave our descendants to tackle it when it is more politically expedient to do so. You want to drain the swamp. Then drain the swamp. Dyeing the swamp orange doesn't make it cleaner. Face it, you still wouldn't want to swim in it.
2
Charles, you wrote about the phrase that most gops would like to say out loud "get over it".
It's something a recalcitrant teenager would say after being caught harming someone.
And yet we aren't going to "get over..." the US Constitution.
Anyone enabling this president will be accountable, since impeachment means we didn't "get over it".
2
Nice try Mr. Blow but if you are counting on the good morals and ethics of the American people, you are in for an unpleasant surprise. Even if 58% of the people feel Trump should be impeached, and I don’t think it is really that high, you will not get 67 senators, half of whom are republican and teeter on the edge of morality at best, to convict. Thus, we are left with Trump declaring victory and republicans returning to his fold and Americans, more concerned with weekend football games than the trampling of the constitution by a white man, believing he’s vindicated. I agree with you that impeachment should proceed to create the historical record but I have no illusions about the proper outcome, not with gangsters like Lindsey Graham, Mark Meadows and other morally vacuous people voting. Good luck.
1
How about focusing on a replacement candidate you like including why. You are enhancing Trump’s chances of re-election.
1
A free press is the first defense against corruption so is Mulvaney’s “Get over it” targeting the press? They’re the ones in the news conference, not your average citizen. Given Trump’s and his administration’s hostility toward the media that would seem to be the case. Why not just have Trump deliver that message directly to the country via TV? Oh, wait, he doesn’t have the courage, does he?
2
Checks and balances. It's as simple as that. The very reason we have a constitution is to stop people like Donald Trump and his gang of enablers.
3
I look at my children now (ages 21 and 24) and think, "Oh my god, I am so sorry to be giving you the world you are receiving. So sorry.
2
It ain't over until the fat lady sings. I think we have some more surprises, and more chagrin, in store for us these next few months. The Republicans have $750 million already to spend to make sure they maintain control of the government.
Money doesn't talk it swears.
4
We haven't lost our country yet. But if the House fails to impeach Trump for what he has done, regardless of what the Senate does, we will have lost the country.
I will never again live in an America respected by the world, for that day in my lifetime will not come. But I may once again see a day like August 9, 1974, when Nixon resigned, and there was a profound sense of relief--it is finally over--across the land.
12
Interesting assertion that this impeachment could bring the country together - around a common set of facts.
Let's contrast this with the Clinton impeachment - which could be viewed as much more divisive in a sense. The common facts were largely agreed to then. Post blue dress, even Clinton's most staunch defender wasn't gaslighting like the Trump administration and claiming what we all heard, read, and saw didn't actually happen. The battle was over what to do with it.
Since Trump started running, we have all been subject to a daily fire-hose spray of flat out lies and implausible denials by this administration and its defenders. At least at this phase of the Trump impeachment, the power of truth telling and adult supervision are showing up in polls reflecting increasing support for impeachment.
9
Our bodies are marvelous. If we are wounded, there is an army of workers beginning with the white cells and fibroblasts which fill the fresh clots and rebuild the scaffolding previously disrupted.
Good government does the same thing. Whether a natural disaster like a hurricane or an unnatural one like another country waging war on us, we have dedicated workers from FEMA to the military to make things right.
But now we have an autoimmune disease. Our very government has turned against us and is crippling our ability to respond to threats both foreign and domestic. Often corticosteroids are used to blunt many autoimmune diseases from destructive arthridites to lupus. We need such anti-inflammatories in our political world, too. To first understand and hear someone else, we must first stop screaming.
Every physical wound heals with a scar and every scar is not static but turns over and over again, replenishing itself. In scurvy, we lack the essential nutrient of vitamin C and old wounds will reopen. "Getting over" a wound will not relieve us of the responsibility to continue its maintenance. Ending ongoing discussions about underpinning realities like racism or corruption or rising nativism in an attempt to remove accountability from political leadership will not allow us to "get over" anything.
15
I'm a 15-year veteran middle school teacher. Every day for the last three years I've reminded my students that lying is not OK, despite the fact that they may not be getting the best role modeling on this from some adults in our society who happen to be in positions of alleged "leadership." I look forward to the day when I don't have to do this as a simple, plain-spoken act of resistance to the horrible examples being set on a daily basis by the cabal of reckless criminals inhabiting this "administration." It's exhausting.
56
@Left Coast Teacher
A little off topic, but thank you for your service to our country. Teachers rarely get the recognition they deserve (saved for movie stars and soldiers) for the commitment to our country's future through our children. Fifteen years and how many children? That's wonderful.
4
@JL22 Totally agree with you! Recently retired after decades of teaching high school English, I, too, value the power of words and the power of truth. Thank you to every teacher out there who is working to counter the lessons currently being offered by our liars in high places.
3
Saving our democratic values is more than about impeachment. It is time to take to the streets in a sustained way. Show others and ourselves what we believe to be right.
32
It will take decades to undo the damage Trump has done in less than three years.
37
Framers of the Constitution included impeachment because they recognized how much damage we could sustain while waiting out the standard four-year cycle.
Contrary to the Republican mantra, removing Trump and replacing him with Pence does not "overturn the election." It follows the process as designed.
61
@Mitch G Trump, Pence and the whole lot of them need to go. Let's have a President Pelosi.
2
And, predictably, shortly after Rooney indicated his willingness to consider impeachment he announced he's retiring. Until GOP members start expressing concern well before they're ready to retire, such statements carry little weight nor should they be used to indicate there are cracks in the GOP alliance with DT.
30
The two quotes at the end of the article say it well. It's encouraging, although exceedingly rare, to hear a Republican consider their children. And we know Mr. Cummings walked the walk - his actions speak for themselves.
“When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked: In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?”
2020 - time to fill the streets with protests and marches and chants echoing from one end of this country to the other - vote out the orange one, send him to jail, save our country!
29
Hearing of Francis Rooney's position, I am happy to know that at least one representative from Florida cares about his children and grandchildren's future. The question often comes to my mind as to how Trump's children could possibly be proud of their Father and how they can look at their own children and not be ashamed of their support and contribution to Trump's corrupt presidency.
14
@JRM I think his children not only look at him, but one, at least, is trying to emulate him. I think of Don, Jr. who left his wife and 5 children for another woman. That sounds just like his daddy to me.
@JRM
Unfortunately the Trump children have proven to be as corrupt as their father. An they are teaching their children the same lesson. Maybe it is in the genes
1
"A Pew Research Poll released last week found that...a quarter of Republicans, believe that Trump has done things that are grounds for impeachment."
You're seeing a glass that's one quarter full, I'm seeing a glass that's three quarters empty.
16
@Occams razor,
Polls? Like the ones that elected President Hillary Clinton?
Mulvaney had a most marvelous slip of the tongue, spitting out truth for a change, as a new kind of spin. It backfired bigly. The real question is, if that is what happens "all the time," what other heinous instances of politics entering foreign policy have Trump and team committed? Of course, to the remaining sane fraction of America (non-Republican, I mean), this is not normal, and must be rooted out. But like an evil sorcerer, he has entranced virtually the whole Republican party, making real progress difficult.
22
"I’ll be looking at my children a lot longer than I’m looking to anybody in this building."
I won't pretend to know anything about Francis Rooney other than what I learned in this piece, but it's striking how rare this sentiment is from a GOP politician these days.
38
Mr. Blow, I appreciate your efforts to keep the light of democracy burning. Good on you. The quote from Francis Rooney made me think about what some of the other Republicans think when they look at their children and grandchildren. I can only assume that their only goal is to protect their personal status and legacy to their children and grandchildren and that they long ago decided that democracy would not get in the way of their personal and family needs. Nor, for that matter, would their conscience. They truly believe the country exists to serve their needs and not the other way around. In private, I'm sure more than a few have had a good laugh at what they regard as the quaint notion of public service.
27
Let us not forget, we have not seen the word-for-word transcript of the Zelensy call. We have only seen what they chose to release, which was identified as not a word-for-word record. The full transcript was subpoenaed from Pompeo by Schiff, but Pompeo refuses to turn it over. I wonder why?
We may yet get to hear what is in it when we interview the second whistle-blower, who purportedly heard the entire call and can speak to what got left out of the abridged version that they have released.
62
There will always be those who not only turn a blind eye to corruption and wrong-doing but engage in it themselves. What seems different today is an apparent lack of an effective system for holding those people to account when it really matters. The only thing that holds evil in check is a stronger force for good and when a president controls the supposed halls of justice and those who serve the people relinquish their responsibility, out of fear or in exchange for personal gain, we are in a dangerous place. Obama made the mistake of not holding those responsible for the financial collapse of 2008 accountable and wrong-doers in many areas have been continually emboldened and even encouraged by the lack of oversight and enforcement.
19
@Sam
I voted for Obama twice.
However, I will never forgive him for not prosecuting any of the Wall Street boys who almost collapsed the world economy. He was in collusion with all of them.
Spending his vacations in Martha's Vinyard and inviting repeatedly Blankfein, Dimon and the rest of the Wall Street CEOs to dinners at the White House. Also Obama never stood up to the Russians in Syria and Ukraine. These were his major failures and now we are paying the price. His love of money was not much different from trump's.
@Sam
Turning a blind eye to corruption is no different than engaging in it. For over 40 years I studied and taught Holocaust history. This is one of the major lessons of the Holocaust.
“Wrong is wrong, whether you parade it or put it away.”
This was once a mantra of the GOP, backed by white conservative evangelicalism. It was used as a moral bludgeon to cover what was in fact a grab for political power and influence.
Now, the power grab is offered without pretense. This land is ours: get over it or get out.
The moral argument has now flipped, it is a coalition of Democrats, democratic socialists, liberals of all kinds, moderates, mainstream Christians, who are saying: wrong is wrong.
It is a welcome new language. Democrats have seldom used moral categories, for they have seen them so widely abused by the GOP.
But now and then, even in politics, perhaps especially in politics, it is necessary to say: wrong is wrong. Not all issues are like that. But some are. And when they are—when wrong is so clearly wrong—there is freedom in knowing that the only way forward is finding a new direction.
53
This week, Susan Collins’ campaign launched its first TV ad here in Maine. In the ad she flaunts all of the bacon she’s brought home. The inference being that her clout is a benefit to us and a newcomer in the Senate won’t give Mainers as much pork. Meanwhile, Collins is hiding from us. She hasn’t appeared unscripted anywhere in Maine for over a year. She refuses to discuss her feelings about Trump other than a few tepid, parsed words about something or other he’s said being inappropriate. We are all looking forward to an impeachment vote in the Senate because only then will we know what Collins’ is thinking.
Susan, we deserve to know how you’ll vote. We deserve leadership in the Senate in the Maine tradition of Margaret Chase Smith. Muster your courage, take a stand, and speak up.
119
@Longfellow Lives I think we know what she thinks--she's all in with Mitch, wherever he comes down on any matter important to the "agenda". Feds are in overdrive now sending contracts and grants to Maine to give her cover with "I bring in the bacon" blatherings. Unfortunately, it's true; she does, but at bottom it's a different form of corruption--my vote for your making sure I get re-elected next year, and that means cash for the campaign and federal dollars for Maine projects for which I can have weekly photo ops at taxpayer expense.
43
@Longfellow Lives
Well said. Susan Collins didn’t just let Mainers down, she let women across this nation down when she voted to confirm Gorsuch and mostly especially Kavanaugh. She betrayed present and future generations of women.
When the time came to act and keep her word she showed us who she really is. Standing by your word is easy when you go unchallenged. Standing by your word when under pressure is when true character is revealed. Collins caved to McConnell, Trump, and the GOP when it mattered the most.
I hope all Mainers see through her lies as you have and vote her out of office. She doesn’t deserve to represent the people of Maine.
73
@Clark Kimball
Well I see one solution for those of you that see the corruption hidden under that mild mannered persona. Help her retire.
11
I disagree. There is every reason to believe the Senate will vote to convict Trump. Our country will no doubt be put through the ringer first, but the facts will ultimately win out in the end. I have watched the Republican Party go down the path over the years which has led to an enormous imbalance in the governance of our country and that imbalance will, one away or another, have to be righted again. Just as other injustices such as slavery, McCarthyism, and the civil rights movements have shown, when imbalance becomes too great both sides suffer, the oppressed as well as the oppressors. The pendulum must eventually swing back in the other direction. There is nothing balanced about what has happened or is happening now. It is not sustainable. What is more, we must all first expect our elected officials to do the right thing — this is not the time to throw up our hands in defeat. This is the United States of America and the majority of its citizens want a democracy.
33
As Charles says, the damage is done in plain sight and then justified. One of the keys is the a major media voice is complicit, if not leading, this justification. The media airwaves have been found to belong to the nation as a whole. Why do we allow one of them, or any of them, to distort or outright lie about events? It is time for the American people and congress to take back the airwaves and demand accurate and unbiased reporting from all companies using our airwaves.
28
@John P
You forget the airwaves are owned by the billionaires of America and this world. They control the agenda. They all work together for their mutual benefit not ours!
8
@John P Why don't we lay the blame where it needs to be - with the Republicans in Congress. They have aided and abetted Trump's every move in return for those ridiculously unneeded tax cuts, the conservative stacking of the federal judiciary, and deregulation so the country can be pillaged and plundered by Trump's billionaire cronies who own those Republican senators and representatives. Case in point, Mitch McConnell who has laid a protective blanket over Trump.
In the Handmaid’s Tale, Aunt Lydia said, “Ordinary ... is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary.” Trump practices his perfidy in public, beating us down with his treachery so that we abandon the norms and values that we have embraced for centuries and attempting to force us to accept the new normal of a corrupt autocracy.
I was late to embrace impeachment, believing that it would be better to oust Trump through the regular democratic process, especially because I doubt that the GOP in the Senate would ever vote to remove him from office. However, Trump is striking at the very process through which we can have fair elections - in plain sight. How can we expect the democratic process to protect us if Trump invites foreign powers to intervene in our elections just to retain his post? I’m hoping that perhaps the impeachment process will check his behavior, even if the Senate won’t.
76
@Kristi
And remember the waterfords were arrested, Serena turned on him and June with the help of all the other
Powerless women get the kids out. If you go by that then there is hope.
2
Whenever people shy away from confronting presidential overreach because it fits their political ideology, I think of something one of my libertarian friends brings up: Remember that your party will not remain in the Whitehouse forever. How will you feel when you've set the stage for the other side uses that power you have given them?
29
Pip
Last week, David Brooks who is a conservative NYT columnist, wrote that Trump is a threat to American democracy and is a fascist. If Trump is defeated in the 2020 election he will be tried in New York and probably convicted.
So, the president is doing everything possible to rig the upcoming election. This includes Trumps diplomatic efforts in the Ukraine, his continued courting of the Russians, who interfered in the 2016 election and his false voter fraud initiative. All of these efforts are due to changing voter demographics-it is becoming extremely difficult for the Republican Party to win an election without cheating.
If the Democrats do not win the presidency in 2020, the Republican Party may be in Whitehouse forever.
@Pip Firewall plan. Firewall the way you choose to live against the actions of fools on either side of the political spectrum over whom you have no control. Speak up - yes- but insulate yourself and those near and dear to you from their machinations. I’m sixty now and have aggressively pursued this approach since I was a teenager.
Thank you for challenging the idea that impeachment -- given what we already know -- would be 'divisive' and a 'win' for trump and the Republicans. It needs to be challenged every single day.
The attack on America on 9-11 united an otherwise divided country.
This attack on our country, our laws and Constitution should be no different.
74
@Doug Keller Unfortunately a third of the country seems to think the "deep state" is attacking the country not Trump. The disseminators of disinformation in this country have done a good job of confusing the people as to who the actual "enemy' is. Like Trump's trumpeting of the press as the "enemy of the people". Of course its only the press that he doesn't like and who don't fawn all over him like Faux News Entertainment who are the enemy.
6
@Cassiopeia
I understand your point.
My only response is that their confusion campaign is getting less credible each day, and trump's major blunders of the last week are indefensible and defy efforts at misdirection. Even at Fox News.
A certain proportion of the population will never give up on trump, just as a certain portion never gave up on Nixon.
What matters is what a growing majority thinks, and "Get over it" will not deter or confuse that majority. Especially when 'Get over it' is followed by an effort to deny what we just heard as the confession that preceded it. That goes for trump too.
9
@Doug Keller
PS please tell Bret Stephens.
36
“ As the late Elijah Cummings put it:
“When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked: In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?”
And Congressman, you gave it your all, up until your last breath, to ‘keep our democracy intact’. We are forever grateful to you. You should be at peace knowing your entire life was an example to the rest of us. Thank you.
Now, Charles. You, too are a patriot. You, too are making a difference. Together all us us can make a difference so that this horror we are facing will never happen again.
94
“When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked : “what did we to make sure we kept our democracy intact?”
I don’t believe that Trump or his enablers will end up dancing with the angels.
Instead, their much more sinister dancing partners will probably say “job well done”.
39
The last time the phrase " get over it " was given national prominence was when Justice Anton Scalia responded to criticism of the infamous SCOTUS decision in Bush v Gore. That decision led indirectly to the catastrophic invasion of Iraq, which destabilized the Middle East, and is still reverberating today. Let's, hope the unmitigated corruption and abuse of power central to the Ukraine scandal doesn't have the same effect on the American political system.
77
@Don Shipp. If Ralph Nader had thrown his support to Gore, the Supreme Court would never had the opportunity to appoint W President. Nader and his Green Party supporters claimed it didn’t make any difference whether W or Gore won. Boy, were they wrong! Later Jill Stein (who joined Mike Flynn at Putin’s dinner table in Moscow) and her Green Party supporters took enough votes from Clinton to make Trump President. Will they do it again?
1
@Noah Fecht
The point is that a corrupt Supreme Court in 2000 decided the election without allowing the votes to be counted in Florida, the last state to report. We won't get over that any more than we will get over the effort of Trump and his minions to normalize corruption and the sabotaging of the government agencies that serve us all. When Trump is removed from office there will still remain the task of reforming the Supreme Court, which most lately has upheld political gerrymandering of state legislatures to the detriment of the right to vote and to having one's vote counted.
1
To break the law, as one of the most important figures in this country, and then when the little people and those who know the law complain and demand that equal justice, being told the 'get over it' is akin to throwing gasoline on a fire.
Indeed, Mr. Trump, you and your staff chief can no longer be free to trample laws that hold this country together. Freedom from outside influence in our elections is one of the big ones, in case you didn't notice.
52
What overwhelming irony.
To accept Trump’s story on why he withheld hundreds of millions in aid for Ukraine’s security—the question at the center of this impeachment inquiry—you have to buy the notion that corruption in Ukraine’s government mattered to him, mattered enough to risk still more lives in that country’s continuing proxy war with Russia. And yet now you have his own chief of staff telling the world that corruption, using presidential power for political advantage, is of no moment, “We do that all the time. Get over it.” And if and when Trump’s impeachment goes to trial, the ultimate question will be just that—whether such corruption really matters. Or whether the American presidency is fair game to be used and abused at will for the holder’s personal and political profit.
It is one the GOP senators will have to answer when the lights are on, out loud, in front of the American public, in front of their children and mine. We can hope they have more conscience, more shame than the president who put their legacies on the pyre with his own. But if past is prologue, in the coming referendum their votes will likely crown presidential corruption the hands-down winner.
51
@Steel Magnolia You are exactly right. Trump has absolutely no shame. His whole life is a reflection of that glaring absence. I am guessing that even as a small child his only pleasure was being naughty. Now that childish man is destroying our nation. I wonder how many nice toys he ruined during his earlier tantrums.
Holding Trump accountable for his actions will not be enough. He’s a disposable asset of the GOP and will make an excellent scapegoat when their economic plans collapse.
Holding the elected GOP accountable is a start, but it should include their voting membership too. This block is voting to worsen their healthcare, not fund infrastructure, and keep us bound to oil as a fuel forever. Yet many of them live in areas only because they are supported by federal funding of large military bases, or directly funded social programs. When the GOP comes after Social Security or Medicare, the Democrats should package this with BRAC and end other red state welfare giveaways.
49
As another opinion writer suggested, we the people need to take to the streets to raise our voices against this authoritarian, and for our democracy.
As Frederick Douglas said: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
120
Television performed a national service at Mick Mulvaney's press conference.
I'm partial to print journalism, but the sight of Mulvaney squirming -- literally squirming -- as he tried to field questions on the quid pro quo issue would have been as good as a play if we'd been in the mood for one. At least it was instructive.
And the way he says Yes to a proposition before the implications dawn on him -- he could have given lessons to Edward Everett Horton.
55
@Longestaffe Your invoking of Edward Everett Horton made my day. "Certainly not! Well, scarcely."
1
It's got to be exhausting doing Trump's bidding in so many arenas. His real job is Director of the OMB; he is only the "acting" chief of staff.
Still, Mulvaney is his own unique brand of evil.
For an OMB director to say "nobody cares about deficits" is incredible. Can you believe he once called himself a fiscal conservative? (Well, yes I can).
Then there was his stellar tenure as "acting" director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in which he greatly reduced its enforcement powers. After all, it was created under Obama so it must go. Just tell them, caveat emptor!
Yes, a perfect Trump guy.
143
Deficits are bad only when a Democratic administration causes them. If a Republican does, no problem. Such hypocrisy.
2
@Jules
Mulvaney: A perfect trump guy, but a shameful man.
2
Congressman Rooney, the sole Republican Mr. Blow quotes as wanting to "do the right thing" and who is "not ruling out" impeachment, decided to retire the day after he said that. What? So much for brave Republicans jumping on the impeachment bandwagon.
147
@Bob G. -
I see it a little differently. Congressman Rooney broke the ice on GOP resistance to the impeachment inquiry. He will face consequences from his party for this. It could be that he realized, prior to his public stand on impeachment, that he would not be effective in Congress for his constituents following his principled stand. And if that is the case, standing aside so another from his district can step in and represent them next term, without the baggage of his particular speaking truth to power, is the correct response.
One could hope that his constituents would want to stand behind him, but I am afraid too many of them (and the general MAGA crowd) have drunk the kool-aid, and will eventually need long detoxification treatments. Absent that, I fear for the continuation of our country as a democratic republic.
10
@AS Pruyn: Rooney publicly announced that he would be retiring from office at the end of the current term. He is also very wealthy, so he has something to fall back on after politics.
Rooney still has plenty to recommend him to the wacko crowd, even with this minor heresy. He is a strong believer in the "Deep State" and has advocated for a "purge" (his word) of what he considers politically compromised agents in the FBI.
9
@Bob G.
Unfortunately, during the repub primaries Trump did / said sickening things but after all the cheering he got at rallies, not one republican said a word, instead yoking themselves to his campaign. Some retired, and since then a few more during the almost 3 years of the nauseating Trump presidency. Congressman Rooney is the latest.
2
Impeachment rules are set by each house of Congress, as the Constitution is mum on process.
The Senate should vote on whether Senators want their votes to be by secret ballot, without the right of defendant to poll them for results.
Each to have a duty to vote their conscience for their country's, not their party's sake
69
Congress could not take the brazen wholesale defiance of its subpoenas lying down. That would have destroyed the constitutional balance of powers, the ultimate guarantee of our freedoms.
40
I love how the author claims that impeachment will unite folks against Trump, then cites a Pew poll that shows essentially the opposite. When you click the link, you discover that the name of the polling report is "Modest Changes in Views of Impeachment Proceedings Since Early September". The top-line results, predictably, show a huge difference in opinion between Republicans and Democrats and a lack of trust between the parties. Yes, the two numbers that the author cites do technically appear in the poll... But he had to skip past the majority of the findings and cherrypick those two results. This poll shows what all the other polls show - a huge majority of Dems support impeachment, and a huge majority of Republicans oppose it.
10
@KrisK
Support from the public or not, if each side adheres to the prescriptions of Constitution there should be no complaint.
46
@KrisK
The summary memo about the Ukraine phone call, along with the subsequent actions of the White House, including the cover-up and threatening the whistle-blower, are incontrovertible evidence of illegal and unconstitutional acts. The Mueller report listed ten or so clear cases of obstruction of justice. Mueller specifically directed Congress to take up those crimes in an impeachment inquiry. Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator for the same campaign finance felonies for which Cohen is presently in prison. The list goes on and on.
The polls are only part of this column. We all know Republicans and Democrats disagree. The story is what has changed, namely, that a majority of Americans now support the impeachment inquiry. You don't seem to. Why the heck not given what we know?
1
@KrisK: Sadly, what you write is true. Republican senators--- always responsive to their Republican bases--- would vote today against impeachment, despite the evidence of Trump's corruption.
But, as Nancy Pelosi presciently noted, Trump is self-impeaching. With every week and every fresh untethered Trump overreach, more Republican influencers and members of the Trump base are peeled away from the rabid core.
Trump and every other congress-person who has betrayed their Oath of office need to be removed by impeachment or voted out of office. That will make America great again.
We are a nation of laws and ideals or not. It's time to do for our country and protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution.
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Mueller wouldn't indict because of the OLC memo,
the underlying rationale was impeachment was
proper way to go
now the Rs say impeachment is not legitimate
so the argument is Trump is really a king;
too bad Trump is exactly what Madison and Hamilton
had in mind when the impeachment clause was
put I Article 1
127
Trump has money. He is good at talking using direct, emotional language. He's perfect understanding on how public opinion works on social networks.
He will succeed. In a way, he already has: he's proved that he could stay in power for a full term (who can now doubt he won't finish it?) doing whatever he wanted. And doing that while keeping support of a significant part of the population, media, and political establishment.
15
@Lauwenmark He won’t succeed if people vote and protect the rights of all citizens to vote. Apathy and despair are what Mr. Trump counts on. Hope and action can restore democracy.
44
@Lauwenmark I am one who doubts that Trump will complete his first term. I suspect that the weight of the embarrassment he continually causes the Republican Party will soon force them them to abandon him and his ship of state.
2
@Bob Hillier "Apathy and despair are what Mr. Trump counts on."
Yeah... that and perhaps a little meddling in voting machines by Russia. I'm not sanguine about the 2020 election.
1
Journalists are showing us these days what patriotism looks like, as are many courageous public servants. We would not be able to know what is happening without them.
The Trump era is showing us both the weaknesses and strengths of our Constitution and democracy. An amazing time ,really , with no clear outcome determined as of yet.
America at an internal crisis on the world stage:
Where will we be a year from now; in two years? A turning point in History is upon us.
100
Just stop trying to explain Trump and why he's wrong. Focus on the failure of the rest of our representatives that aren't doing the job they were elected to do. Trump will never be better and he does not care to be better. Some of them might actually care.
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@VPruitt
Exactly. Change can come if elected officials receive sustained pressure. Find out who's on your ballot in 2020 and remind them of your views!
31
@VPruitt …...Barr distorted Mueller's Investigation to the point that Mueller had to testify to clear things up. How does Barr still have a job...and why do so many Americans seem to think Mueller's work and the Impeachment Inquiry are a waste of time? The apathy too many Americans seem to have is shocking! Trump should never have been elected in the first place !! We have no one to blame but...fellow Americans. What has taken so long for Public Opinion to change? What are Trump supporters supporting...Failed Policies?
2
@VPruitt
Democratic Congresspeople have passed many Bill's in the House only to have McConnell let them rot in the Republican controlled Senate.
More importantly, impeaching a criminal such as Trump is a job they were elected to do.
2
Charles rightly notes how Trump's brazen flouting of norms and the law seeks to "normalize" his bad behavior--e.g. his short-lived attempt to use his resort for an international meeting. In addition to inflicting his daily chaos on our country and normalizing incivility, Trump and his cohort (e.g. Barr) reveal frightening authoritarian tendencies. The "smoking gun (s)" are clear; now we need some brave Republicans to embrace honesty and integrity over fear of Trump and supposed political power to stand up for the truth and the Constitution. The more public opinion grows in favor of impeachment, the more likely we will see some GOP movement towards doing the right thing. This may play out like Watergate; as the investigation unfolds and people become more attuned to the severity of corruption, support for impeachment will grow.
Regardless, the Democrats are doing the right thing and, in the end, standing on the side of truth will benefit the country. Onward!
77
Because there is zero chance that Trump will be removed from office by the Senate, the immediate priority for the nation is to oust Trump at the polls in 2020. This will be a close election. It will be unforgivable if any constituency or community stays home.
But whether Trump leaves in one year or five, the country's reckoning with Trump will eventually start. And what a reckoning! Repairing the nation, and the world, from Trump's wounds will take generations.
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@R.S. Trump or not, the stage has been set for a real disaster. Because the Fed has been politicized, this could take a while. I'd kind of like the disaster to happen on his watch, but Wall Street manages these things.
19
@chairmanj Liberal here, but I have to ask ... you mean like Wall Street managed to avoid the Great Recession and McCain's loss to Obama?
Wall Streeters are pulling strings in various ways. And, I do fear the Fed being politicized. However, even Wall Street can't stymie recessions and depressions, and the inherit drive to profit from the various markets (meaning winners and losers) means that Wall Street is never truly unified.
14
@R.S. Re: "Because there is zero chance that Trump will be removed from office by the Senate...." No. Little chance and zero chance are not the same. By the way, it doesn't actually take two-thirds to convict; it takes two-thirds of those PRESENT. A quorum of 51 requires only 34. Jeff Flake maintains that in a secret ballot 30 to 35 Republican Senators would vote to convict Trump. If in an open ballot 30 Republican simply didn't show, conviction would be a shoo-in. In any case, things change and right now impeachment has strong momentum.
58
The daily antics of this administration, lacking in all decency and credibility, is its own convincing advertisement campaign against itself. They're like what you'd expect from poorly parented children who sneaked through life on the reputation of others and knew the right people. Now, in positions they have no business being in, they're empowered by the equally clueless and poorly raised Fox News following and feel vindicated in believing irresponsibility is a policy on which to run our government.
37
Thank you to Charles Blow for asserting that the impeachment process will pull this country together. The notion that it would
pull the country apart is a scare tactic, and a powerful one. It is
also a way for a news media industry ever ravenous for more viewers and readers to create irreconcilable tension at any cost. This power-impulse, highlighting fears even if it means fabricating them, helped get our fake president elected in the first place.
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Mr. Blow,
Majority wants Trump impeached. But unless the senate votes to remove him from office, the impeachment by congress will be nothing more than a symbolism. We will be 4 months from now in a situation where congress has impeached Trump, senate has acquitted him and he is running around emboldened breaking more laws and doing more corrupt things. What then?
Let’s not jump into the impeachment fever so quick. Congress needs to make an ironclad case against Trump that will be extremely difficult for senate republicans to argue against, if we want Trump impeached AND thrown out of the office.
42
@John D.
I am 100% behind the impeachment track. But the Republican Senate will not vote for conviction. Some will openly state that they are "troubled" by some of Trumps actions just so they don't look like complete craven politicians. But after that weak tea they will say" it doesn't rise to a impeachable offense." We may get a few votes from some who are leaving or those who don't run again until 2024 but that is it.
13
@John D. The ironclad case is here. Mulvaney proudly solidified it- clad, in iron.
2
@John D.
What is "ironclad"?
Repubs have already excused open obstruction of justice and Trump putting Russia ahead of the US in any number of ways.
If Repubs have shown us anything, it's how far they'll go to excuse the worst behavior we've ever seen in the presidency.
They're not above saying that black is white and up is down. We've seen that.
Let's hope you're right, Charles. The virtual outrage the last few years has produced only pockets of organized protests here and there. Certainly not the tens of thousands that took to the streets in the 60's over civil rights and the environment. One has to wonder how much a nation of armchair "activists" really understands about the freedoms and rights the under-seige Constitution guarantees when it has itself convinced a leisurely stroll to the polls next election is sufficient "activism."
So, while the nobility of right vs. wrong inferred in your piece's title might be a given, we need to decide just what that inference really means for all of us, and what that looks like moving forward.
Because, at the moment, it looks like a whole lotta nothing.
12
@kstew Perhaps more Americans may take David Leonhardt's advise in today's paper. Want Trump to go? Take to the streets.
If your Congressmen and Senators see Americans inter multitudes out in the streets demanding the impeachment and removal of TRUMP, HE WILL BE REMOVED.
I'm still amazed how Trump's enablers don't realize they're going down along with everybody else.
If Trump somehow wins in 2020, it will be truly the end of America.
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@Stephen
Oh please, stop the histrionics. Members of BOTH parties are soaking in mendacity and corruption, and have been for years and years.....and they will continue to do so for years to come. Nothing will change but the names...
1
I'm wondering how many Republican lawmakers are secretly ashamed of having supported Trump. Having done so, they cannot find a way out without losing face before their constituents - so they either deny that there is a problem or they retire. I'm sure there are some that actually support Trump but I suspect that the numbers are smaller than it appears.
In the last couple of weeks, we have been seeing a flow of staff who are suddenly quite glad to speak up before Congress. The first few were the most courageous - but there is safety in numbers. Keep going folks. Don't wait for the subpoena. Volunteer your information.
And to any Republican politician who may read this, don't be afraid to speak up. Shame tends to keep us quiet but once we come out with the truth - that we were wrong about something or someone - it often vanishes. I, for one, will think MORE highly of those who can admit they were wrong for supporting Trump. Speak up and more will speak up with you.
And peaceful protest from the rest of us. Especially when this heads to the Senate. Even now, we can flood their offices with letters and calls. We cannot remain silent.
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Mulvaney was clearly signaling. But it did not trigger an avalanche.
1
@drmaryb They are not ashamed, they are as Unthinking and complicit as he is. For profit...just ask elaine
1
A vote for Trump, and for any Republican supporting him, is a vote for bigotry - it's a vote for racism and misogyny. It's a vote for faithlessness towards our allies. It's a vote to degrade our environment and to do nothing about climate change. It's a vote against the truth and those who speak it, and it's a vote against the institutions we have built with our lives, fortunes, and honor over 250+ years to achieve the ideals this country stands for.
How can any of us ever 'just get over' that?
525
@KEF you get over it through denial, rationalization, and misinformation. I just spent a weekend with Trump supporting relatives. They simply deny facts, misquote data, and ignore information they don't like. A rational conversation is impossible. They are bound and determined to believe what they read on conservative websites and Fox News. They will not get over an impeachment process. They will blame wacky liberals for being intolerant and unrealistic. What can you do when faced with deniers of facts and data?
11
@KEF Well said!
@cheddarcheese
Fortunately such persons, unable to critically think, according to US psychological studies represent about 25% of the US population. More sadly this deficiency if not overcome by the age of twenty-five will persist for the remainder of one’s life.
Take comfort you are of the 75% and be patient not frustrated with the rest.
2
Charles, I appreciate your analysis. I really do...... You seem to think that the Republicans in congress will see the light and do the right thing. I'm sorry. I truly am. But that is not going to happen. The ONLY way that will happen, is if he truly and completely turns on them- which is possible..... I'm not a betting man, wish I were, but I'd not take that bet. Here's to you being right, and me wrong!
41
@k We can address this without the need for a Constitutional amendment simply by repealing the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 that fixed the number of Representatives at 435. I will stipulate that the Congress of 1929 may have had good intentions, but that law has disenfranchised vast swaths of the US electorate more effectively than even extreme gerrymandering or voter purges. Wyoming, the state with the lowest population, has a population of approximately 600,000 individuals and has one Representative (and two Senators). If we use 600,000 as a baseline, then California should have 66 Representatives (and two Senators) for a total of 68 electors instead of the 55 it has now, Arizona would get 12 Representatives (and two Senators) for a total of 14 electors, and so forth, giving us (at this time) a total of 545 Representatives nationwide. If this reform is paired with proportional representation instead of the winner-take-all system in place in 48 of the 50states, I think we would come a lot closer to an actual representative democracy instead of the sham version we have now.
2
@ k
I agree. The GOP has become the carrier of a nasty streak that existed in this country since long before the Revolution. That is who they are, and they are supported by a large contingent of nasty people. Don’t expect them to join hands and sing Kumbaya.
1
"Each of us will have to look at our children, to look at ourselves in the mirror and be held accountable for how we responded to the threat Trump poses."
Many of us have a clear conscience as we did not vote for Trump in 2016 and will not vote for him if he is on the ballot again in 2020. In fact, as we know, the number of people who did not vote for Trump exceeded the number of people who voted for Trump.
As long as presidential election results depend on electoral college, the will of the majority may not prevail and we will get the likes of W. Bush and Trump. The former nearly bankrupt the country fiscally, and the latter has bankrupt the country morally. We need to address the electoral college fiasco once and for all.
135
Having a clear conscience about my 2016 ballot is cold comfort for me as I watch our country fall apart.
67
I agree. I didn’t vote for him, and I resent being blamed for him.
6
@RK It's doubtful that the Electoral College will be dismantled anytime soon. Given that, it behooves Democrats to financially support Democratic candidates in battleground states. It's really all most of us can do.
Send a buck or two or ten, for Criminy's Sake, to Dems running in the 10 2020 battleground states, and for good measure to Amy McGrath in Kentucky and Jaime Harrison in South Carolina.
4
Elijah Cummings, a truly great Man, is dancing with the Angels. And yet that creature occupies the Oval Office and draws breath.
Heartbreaking and infuriating.
395
Speaker Pelosi play it right, don't sent anything to the Senate before the end of the GOP primaries; it will then be more easy for the GOP senators to do the right thing for the Country:Remove Trump
34
I protested the Vietnam war, and attended a mass protest in Washington in 1971. It is debatable if that mass protest, attended by a quarter-million or more of my generation, truly had any impact on ending the war. But not long thereafter the civilian draft was ended, validating the power of protest.
I am ready to replicate that effort if it would have a similar outcome today. Say the word and I am there!
336
@wesleybrooks. If it weren't for all of us who protested the war back then, I guarantee we'd still be there in one form or another.
21
@Wesley Brooks
Wasn't that the one where Forrest Gump gave his speech?
Seriously, though, I was a sophomore in high school in 1971. We lived just south of San Francisco and I can still remember my mom complaining about all the protesters at SF State (where she was working on her master's degree). I also remember her being very relieved (a few years earlier) when my brother got a 1Y from the draft board.
6
@Wesley Brooks I hated the Vietnam war with a passion. I protested in my home town. The draft was the worst of it. The thought of being forced to fight a war that I did not see the point of was, and is, intolerable to me. I had a deferment for a couple of years but then had to face the draft. I got a high number and did not get picked . I was ready to go to Canada where my dad was born and raised and had relatives there that I did not know but was willing to try. It was the worst time of my life until 45 was put into office. This is as bad as then to me.
8
Mulvaney's attempt to walk back his statement was apparently too much for even a Republican congressman. That is at least there is one Republican in Congress that cares about the US more than going along with an autocrat and I think there are others including Mitt Romney. Perhaps this could snowball and most Republicans in Congress can get back to remembering what being a member of the US Congress means. The is a country to save from a autocratic president and more Republicans need to get on board.
53
The pressure on republican senators to expel Criminal Trump will continue to build until the actual vote. Additional evidence of his unfitness for office will continue to accrue. There will be mass demonstrations to support removal from office. Regardless of what these republican senators have achieved in office or in life will be overshadowed by how they vote. In fact, it will be mentioned in the very first line of their obituaries.
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@Markymark - The other factor in play is Trump's brazen corruptness. He knew that there was something fundamentally wrong with awarding himself a lucrative government contract, but he did it anyway, apparently never doubting that his Republican enablers would cover for him. He's been chastened a bit by their response. A normal person would adjust his behavior to avoid that response again. But Trump is not a normal person. He'll stew over the fact that they aren't "loyal", and it won't be long before he tries another corrupt move designed to test their loyalty. He's going to put them squarely in the position of having to either remove him or state publicly that the president of the U.S. may break any law he wants to break. And you're right -- if they continue to support him after he's given them absolutely no grounds upon which they can defend him, they will have to chose between him and their legacies. I would not make any bets about how that plays out.
6
Most Senate Republicans will likely defend the president or remain approximately silent for now. That is fine, all they need to do is vote to remove the president at trial, and it is far more likely that they will than most people believe.
Most lawmakers are smart enough to know that their protests would have no good effect on Trump, so they do not bother. Impeachment and removal would be their first and only chance to effectively restrain Trump. How many people would really turn that down?
23
@Alan - People who are more afraid that they won't be elected than they are afraid of an autocratic ruler. Mitch McConnell has already sent out a fundraising video to his donors, promising that the Senate will not remove Trump from office. How likely is he to reverse course on that decision?
22
@Alan , I don't think it's being able to affect tRump that many Republicans want. They want absolute power.
Power corrupts. The thirst for power corrupts quickly and permanently. They're beyond redemption, I expect.
1
@Susan: Then let's hope Moscow Mitch ends up mighty embarrassed by the actual outcome!
1
Thank you Charles Blow for saying what needs to be said. Your eloquent defense of what America is supposed to stand for is a clarion call. Impeachment is necessary not only for the sake of history as Elijah Cummings pointed out but also because the time has come to say enough is enough and make sure that no other president will again abuse the power, dignity, honor of the presidency the way Donald Trump has.
74
The democratic response should be:
Impeachment is not a "sour grapes pursuit to relitigate 2016, “ it is an attempt to protect our 2020 election, to shield it from Trump's brazen attempts to use taxpayer money as a bribe to force foreign governments to falsely smear his political opponents and aid his reelection.
Or, to put it more simply--to keep Trump from cheating in 2020 like he did in 2016.
165
@Lynnie Gal
Too late. Biden is toast already. Cheated right out of the Democratic field by Trump.
"But that time is drawing to an end."
I also thought that with the release of the Mueller report and the Stormy Daniels revelations.
I can only hope and pray.
55
I'm holding onto hope that we won't have to "get over it."
It feels like we've entered the early stages of human nature taking over -- whistleblowers have made formal complaints, dedicated diplomats and security personnel have stepped forward to offer testimony, and corrupt parties have accidentally slipped the truth. Behind the scenes, people must be livid and fearful.
As the Intelligence Committee's investigation continues, more individuals will put their true character on display. True public servants will seize the moment to stand on the side of right, while the malefactors will be suspiciously silent or, more likely, turn on each other to save themslves.
Is it not a truism that the more people involved in a wrongdoing, the less likely they all stay silent? Team Trump has a large roster, past and present. Many left dismayed. It's inevitable that the knives will come out.
The big question is what the Senate will do. When the time comes for them to act, will they (since I don't expect them to act on principle) be more afraid to impeach Trump, or to remain loyal to the liability he has become.
52
The Senate will most likely not vote to convict. And when that happens, the stock market will probably regain any losses induced by the impeachment inquiry. Trump will also try his best to stoke the major economic indicators (including employment numbers) before the election.
Meanwhile, the Democratic candidates can always use help. They are in good shape with intellect and rational thought. But that is only part of the equation. Emotion, charisma and oratorical skills are also key.
Why don't we see more of Barack Obama? Because former presidents are supposed to just ride off into the sunset? And not doing so would break with precedent? This entire Trump presidency breaks with precedent.
Obama's strength is in calling out Trump and his fellow Republicans. He does not have to promote the policies of any one candidate. He does not have to promote any one candidate (although he will surely support the eventual Democratic nominee).
Obama helped at this same time last year, before the midterms, giving Democrats a real boost. So why not again, now? Obama is Democrats' secret weapon. He reaffirms hope. He reaffirms the promise of America.
Democrats need to get tough, including protesting in the streets, and Obama would be a great leader. We need him now more than ever.
223
@Blue Moon - We don't see more of Obama yet because we are heading towards the primaries and don't have a Democratic nominee yet. Once that person is chosen, I am sure President Obama will come out in full force support of that nominee and against Trump.
I agree we need Obama more than ever this go around. We need EVERYBODY... that means anybody whose candidate does not get selected STILL needs to come out and vote for the Democratic candidate. No more pouting because Bernie or Biden or whoever you wanted didn't get the nod. We ALL need to step up and vote and encourage everybody around us to vote.
96
@Blue Moon
I understand that President Obama’s memoirs are coming soon. My hunch is that he will do both at once; promote his book and the Democratic party. That need not be a cynical move; what better way to remind us of what a president could and should be like than to bring us back to his time in office? In the meantime, absence makes our hearts grow even fonder...
Thanks, as always, for what you wrote. Take care.
38
Quite right. We need everybody. Every last person who can get out and vote against Trump is one more small step towards sanity at last.
8
No we,won't get over all the Trump insanity, the vulgarity, the brazen self-dealing, but he could still easily win a second term. How? One, he has way more money than all democrat candidates combined. Two, Facebook has made it clear it won't fact-check political ads on its platform. Three, Trump could lose the popular vote by an even wider margin and still capture the Electoral College. There is no slam-dunk here. Getting him out of office will be hard, and then his kids are thinking of running for office. We could have a Trump influence on politics for decades.
58
@Mary M And may I add a fourth point? It is highly likely that our elections will be hacked again with the help of the Russians. I don't see any massive paper-ballot initiatives gaining momentum anywhere right now, despite clarion calls from a handful of people on the sidelines. McConnell has made sure that true election transparency and security will remain DOA so that all hacking efforts will be successful.
64
@LM Russian hacking of the 2020 election might be as simple as munging enrollments to suppress turnout in a handful of cities in just three key states: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, Detroit in Michigan, and Milwaukee in Wisconsin.
20
@Mary M - Not only will facebook NOT fact-check Trump's ads, facebook is fully supporting Trump as they see the presumptive Democratic nominee Elizabeth Warren as an existential threat given her strong demands for Facebook, Google, Amazon, et. al. to be broken up.
37
Correction: "That is what’s maddening about the Trump presidency: how much harm has been done as" *the GOP* "looked on, with full awareness of the damage, and Trump has yet to be held accountable for any of it.
55
@KEF: Yep, and it seems to me that the GOP is trying to re-fight the Civil War. They are so stuck looking in the wrong direction.
2
We can't "just get over it" because Trump is always putting one over us!
Most of us know our president lies, breaks norms and shreds the constitution daily.
It will be difficult to stop him but impeachment is a start.
The final halt to this disaster will be in 2020 when we elect a new president.
74
12 more months plus 2 weeks of this and the uncertainty. Tough.
6
Again (and again). Democrats have to drop the mantra that quid pro quo is not a necessary condition for grounds for impeachment. It is. Why? Because Republicans say so and they control the Senate. As long as Donald Trump has the plausible deniability that he merely "asked" Ukraine's president Zelensky to "investigate", Republicans will stick to that story and impeachment will be nothing more than a catharsis. Congress has the means to deny Donald Trump that plausible deniability in their hands in the dossier that IG Linick presented them. It contains the completed "investigation" as concocted by Rudy Giuliani and leaves no doubt that when Donald Trump told Zelensky to "work with" Giuliani that it was not an "ask" but a blatant extortion to sign off on Giuliani's bill of goods with the $400M aid package as leverage. Instead they have dismissed it as an irrelevant waste of time and it has vanished into oblivion.
12
@IGUANA: Quid pro quo is not a necessary condition for Trump’s “request” to be illegal. And the follow-up actions to cover up the “request” show that Trump’s courtiers knew it was illegal. The law is unambiguous. Illegal actions, in turn, and attempts to cover them up, are most definitely grounds for impeachment. Senate Republicans can huff and puff all they want, but the law is the law and the president is not above it.
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@Anna - Unfortuately, the law is not the law and the President is above the law if our congressmen and women refuse to uphold the law.
I have learned very sadly that our laws literally mean NOTHING if there is no means to enforce the laws. Trump is allowed to openly profit from his positoin as president despite the emoluments clause and all prior precedent about conflicts of interest because our government (i.e. all Republicans in the House and Senate) refuse to do anything about it.
Even worse, they not only sit on their hands, but they openly obstruct the process themselves and they constantly lie about it. Even when Trump and Mulvaney full on admit their quid pro quo and their open invitation for foreign goverments to investigate political rivals and interfere in our elections, those Republicans still lie and deny what is clearly captured on video.
So, again, the law may be unambiguous, but it really doesn't matter if we can't get people to actually uphold the law.
24
@Anna -
Unfortunately if the Republicans who control the Senate / worship Donald Trump say he is, then he is.
1
It's no big deal, everybody does it, was a common argument during Watergate. As it turns out, breaking the law was and still is punishable.
331
We need a full and formal impeachment now more than ever. The country has already been torn apart. When about 36% of the electorate believe every lie thrown at them from Trump or worse, don't even care that he is lying, that is torn apart.
The beauty of a formal impeachment hearing is that witnesses will testify under oath, rules of evidence will apply and rigorous cross examination will take place. That should flush out the truth, once and for all. That's how we get over it.
The Trump people will reject all of it. The anti-Trump people will cheer for joy. But about 1/3 of the country, the middle 1/3, will finally have a chance to make up their minds about Trump. They will be able to witness, firsthand, the entire process and not have it filtered through some cable news or internet site. If that tears us apart more than we are now, then we deserve it.
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@Bruce Rozenblit
We're in the formal impeachment process right now. The Speaker has announced it and that is all that is necessary. So far, most of the administration's responses have been to obstruct the investigation, not to come forward and testify under oath.
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@Jennie Look at the damage to our democracy and our form of government that he and his minions are causing and there is no telling what he will do between now and the formal impeachment hearing. For the sake of our country and all we stand for as a nation, please move forward with a full, televised hearing and impeachment vote. Enough is enough.
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Your commentary is spot on, as usual.
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There will be a day of reckoning for Mulvaney. And it will be at some point during the Impeachment proceedings. Possibly during the House Committee's hearings or even the Senate trial.
Mulvaney will have to testify under oath.
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@cherrylog754 i hope you are right.
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No, we should not get over having political influence in foreign policy. That's unacceptable conduct for our nation.
Mulvaney also said Trump "still considers himself to be in the hospitality business". That's another NO. You cannot be the President of the U.S. and at the same time be in business for yourself. Pick one or the other.
Impeach and Remove or Resign Now. Pick one of those too...
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@sfdphd You got it exactly right. Trump solicited aid from a foreign power for personal gain. He broke the law in doing so, regardless of any quid pro quo. He needs to be held accountable. Should we go ahead and release all those incarcerated in the US, simply telling voters who don't like the idea that they just need to "get over it"? How would that go over with the public?
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Mulvaney flippantly described the quid pro quo transaction as something that happens normally; perhaps that was a slip of the tongue about how normal corruption is in the Trump White House. But that can't become the standard by which we allow a president to operate.
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@NM
To be fair, I don't think he meant that this type of quid pro quo happens all the time--he meant that we use our resources to pressure other people to do things that help our country. What he didn't think about was that he had just said that, in this situation, the quid pro quo was more specifically using out resources to force them to help Donald Trump, not our country.
And that makes the instance even more frightening--Donald Trump believes, and has surrounded himself with people who believe, that his interests are the same as the country's interests.
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