Boo hiss
The Republican Party have gone along with this charade and party of obstruction of the truth. To hold truth with their sworn oath of office to uphold the Constitution which our forefathers a tapestry for future generations to a hold.
But the same values are being threatened by the Republican Party/GOP a party of lies and thief . A sad to say the Christian left law so ways the road destruction. As Billy Graham Junior and other pastors of churches will leave their congregation to hell. One of
12
Donald Trump is not a dignified man. The president of the United States should be dignified. This man is crass and craven and if you vote for him that is what you are and endorse.
78
"In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." Thomas Jefferson
47
Maybe all this would stick if the Democrats were not also complicit in pay-to-play type appearances of corruption. It's a well know fact that Joe Biden's family has been cashing in on his position in government for years. I'm not saying anything was illegal, just your standard D.C. corruption. Pelosi's kid has also done it, along with probably every family member of congress.
And God knows we probably would even be here with Trump in the WH if Obama had had the guts to prosecute just one banker. Just one. That's all we asked. But no, he not only lets them walk, he actually let them walk with their BONUSES from our taxpayer bailout. This is the sort of stuff that just makes people's heads explode turns them off. Trump will be gone in a few month but the sleazy business-as-usual will continue under both political parties which is why, when the Democrats sanctimoniously tout themselves as moral stuarts of the clean government, people just laugh and shake their heads. Hillary Clinton was probably one of the biggest grifters par none. Not even Trump, who is so incompetent in everything he does, comes nowhere close to the level of corruption of Hillary and Bill. Look, keep braying about Trump corruption, Ukraine, Russia, whatever, all you want. It's not sticking because people see the Democrats just as corrupt, which is too bad because we really need at least one political party that isn't bought and corrupted.
24
I disagree. We the People LOVE president Trump! Thank you for saving American tech jobs from globalist outsourcing!
9
Someone might want to run some tests for mermithids on the House and Senate repubs--and maybe a modest sample of trump voters--to see if those parasites could be responsible for the mindless, lockstep support of the Oval Office occupant. Seems like something outside normalcy is driving their self-destruction.
19
There is only one reason Trump is imposing insane tariffs that can only hurt the western economy. He is probably pleasing and abetting Russia's interests. Otherwise it is madness without a reason.
You gotta get this guy out.
44
This essay blasts all the right red blinking lights of alarm. However, for goodness sake, let’s begin by getting money out of politics. As a long as money is present, the likes of future McConnells, Grahams, Jim Jordan, Sen. John Kennedy (who’s pushing the Ukrainian tampered with the 2016 elections trope) will allow oligarchs to get away with crime after crime after crime. Today’s Times profiled Trump’s “telegenic” personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow who’s mired in malfeasance up to his neck as are members of his family. This is what passes as the new establishment. Money in politics would put an end to malfeasance on steroids.
34
He is into deals right? I'm sure the GOP wants him out too. Why not make a deal?: Hey Donald here is the dea:l absolute immunity for you and your kids into perpetuity as of today not future crimes. Just leave now.
There needs to be a way the US can give him a way out. He hates the job and the whole world except that 35% and Vladimir detests his presence. You need to give a cornered person with power a way out. He is scared of jail. He will fight tooth and nail to stay out of jail. He hates the job and he has been an entitled tantrum and toy throwing brat all his life. For humanity's sake drop the impulse to punish him and let him go. As Nancy says, its just not worth it. Give him a way out. He would love to go.
17
The 2 most powerful men in America are Murdoch the owner of Fox and Donald Trump. Murdoch keeps Trump in place
Americans might be interested- perhaps alarmed to be informed that Murdoch was a rabid Leninist once. Not John... I mean Vladimir (familiar name that).
Trump was a Democrat who donated multiple times to the beloved Hillary Clinton.
Rupert Murdoch had a bust of Lenin in his room. Donald like to clutch a different kind of bust.
Are these guys busted yet?
10
When the framers wrote the Constitution, there was no Fox News, massively spilling poison.
Time for an update.
35
Trump is the President that America deserves in this era of rampant narcissism, social media run amok, reality TV and off the chart levels of ignorance and apathy.
23
Trump most definitely should be impeached and removed. It's long past time for that! (He's illegitimate anyway.)
But I could care less what the slave-holding, slavery-loving, racist, sexist Founding Fathers intended.
The Founding Fathers obviously intended to enslave Black people and to disenfranchise women... and even White men who did not own property.
In short, I'm saying the US was founded on a corrupt compromise with racist slave holders and all were misogynists. So what should we expect to come from such a corrupt compromise? And from such outrageous hypocrisy: "All men are created equal" even as they endorsed the enslavement of an entire race of human beings.
21
Look at the reaction to Obama ... a perfect storm ... 'tea party' veiled racism burst out ... 'one term president' ... blatantly racist posters of Barack & Michelle... 'food stamp president' ... tea party coward spits on John Lewis, civil rights hero ... 'You Lie' during a joint session ... 'armed and dangerous' ... From the republicans? Mute denial and absorb the tea party's votes.
During the republican primaries more ... Trump demonstrated the power of blatant lying at his rallies & the repubs quickly gave up ... Nauseating things he did and said were ignored ... Not ONE republican criticized Trump ... Those who had a problem resigned, McCain passed away.
During his term, a surging economy continued, helped by 2 moves: Tax cuts for the rich & the lifting of environmental restrictions ... Both will cost future generations.
It is not just Trump. During the 70's / 80's we became deadly complacent. Cut taxes for major industry, especially in energy. Do not invest in environmentally responsible technology to create new jobs & professions. Major opportunity wasted.
It's still baffling the energy industry could not be persuaded to move slowly to a green approach; they have the tech & the people. Problem selling it to share holders who cannot see beyond the next quarterly report ... Symbolic of everything.
Complacency can kill even the most successful society.
If we let it.
32
Trump cares nothing about America, history, decorum, facts, his supporters, the Republican Party, veterans, coal miners, or the future of the planet. He cares about money and his grip on power and being flattered. That’s it. He will say or do anything he’s allowed to get away with in order to obtain what he craves. The people who defend or support him are no better than he is. Sick, sad and small - all of them.
32
And if you have the power of the Council for National Policy, the American Legislative Exchange Council and all the money that is the real "Deep State" of the Mercers, Kochs, DeVos family, etc., you have the best Republican lackeys that money can buy.
Trump supporters are just buying into their rhetoric and feeling special while these businesspeople undermine public education, social supports like Medicare and Social Security and other entitlements that we little folks count on.
18
So what is our defense against a demagogue despot within the American democracy construct that distinguishes us from Iran, Russia, China, or it is only a difference in degree, not in fundamental substance?
8
Trump is the culmination of decades of Republican efforts to establish one-party rule (theirs) by voter suppression, gerrymandering, and dark campaign money. The Republican Party has walked away from democracy and put us all in peril of a de facto dictatorship. There's no other way to put it.
47
If foreign and domestic propaganda continue to polarize us and we begin another civil war, and if while our pants are around our ankles, an enemy exploits our weakness and attacks:
Would we pull together as Americans as we once did? I think maybe so. Even the ones who refuse to educate themselves and adapt to a rapidly-changing world get that. Maybe the experience of fighting side-by-side with an array of races and national origins to defend our grand idea would raise the temperature of that melting pot and begin to repair the damage to our national unity.
2
Mr. Bauer, when we absolve, the enablers of this nightmare, his party of plutocrats, the GOP we do a disservice to our nation and our history. Your article should say " The current GOP Is the Founders’ Worst Nightmare". Protecting and enabling their president to commit treason, corruption and sheer criminality against our constitution so they can continue fester their plutocracy, is exactly what our founding fathers fought against.
Replace, the current GOP plutocracy and their rigged system with King George and the English Monarchy of the 17th century, we have the makings of another revolution. While we cannot count on the GOP evil, we should also be cognisant of the Benedict Arnolds, who are the corporate democrats which also benefits from the current rigged system. They will fight to death with their last dollar to keep this rigged system.
There is only one person, who understands the problem and has viable solutions to make our country more equitable, that person is Elizabeth Warren. The constant attacks by the GOP and corporate democrats with their bogus arguments against her policies for a more democratic and equitable capitalism should indicate that she should be the chosen one!
11
Not only are we losing our constitutional democracy, we are losing it to a man in thrall to Vladimir Putin! Unthinkable!
Why are the republican congressmen and women controlled by this demagogue?
Lacking support and protection from the formerly strong Republican Party, they fear Alt right challenges financed by the NRA, et al.
Why are the 2 political parties once strong, now impotent? Citizens United. All $$ go to the candidates. And is that why we have so many Democratic wannabes?
Why give to political parties (under strictures of McCain/Feingold reform bill) when you can give limitless amounts anonymously through PACs after the subsequent court challenge (thanks to the Koch brothers) and Citizens United decision?
As long as the president can count on this money to keep his party “loyal,” the men and women of the Congress in his party will cower to that person. By the way, even if Trump were to be impeached and ousted, Pence, who would take over, is a Koch toady. Money sure talks, all right.
Citizens United Must Be Overturned!
But the Supreme Court has lost its independence, too, and has enabled this debacle.
A long study of history shows there is never just one reason. There are many, many factors. Righting this situation will not be easy.
10
Trump is not a nightmare for the Founders. He is a nightmare for us.
16
Republicans only believed in the Constitution and democracy as long as Whites were in the majority.
Now that Whites will soon be a minority (and already are a minority in many places), all of a sudden Republicans, a virtually all-White party, abandon over 200 years of commitment to democracy, the Constitution and even the rule of law. The ignore facts, truth, science, expertise and education if these things get in the way of their long-standing White privilege.
This did not begin with Trump. Many suggest it started with Reagan, and maybe so, but it became patently obvious with the racist Birtherism movement (embraced by Trump, BTW) and the extreme Republican obstructionism of President Obama, America's first Black president. The racism by Republicans was obvious and utterly vile!
For the record, I'm White but the truth must be told as we see it.
18
As I read the responses of all you wonderful people, trying to explain what we are facing: logic is useless. The simple reality of our having someone in the White House who doesn't believe in working within our three part constitutional system needs simple common sense arguments. We can't explain someone's bad behavior. All we can do it yell out the truth: Donald Trump's presidency is a total mistake. His base is just enjoying the ride. There is no way to reason with them. We are a country based on the rule of law, facing a lawless president. God help us all.
17
I don't view Donald Trump as an autocrat.
Rather, I know him to be a failed businessman.
10
Calling Trump a demagogue is demagoguery. He is a big mouth, but I've yet to see him beat a drum for a cause as a demagogue must do, to be considered such. His positions are basically what a Reagan republican might propose.
He speaks to his base (not me) because entities like the NYT have completely & utterly poisoned the conversation he might have with swing voters. The lack of even handedness is incredible; this paper speaks more positively about multiple murderers up for parole, it's bias is profound.
I'll vote Democrat, unless the DNC fixes the process again then I'll vote retaliatory against it.
2
Wow, even though the content captures the ugliest presidency in U.S. history, the writing is simply beautiful. I will keep and share this well-written column with thinking person I know. Great Job!
9
New Pledge Of Allegiance: "I Pledge Allegiance to Donald Trump, NOT The United States Of America. And to Fox News and Vladimir Putin with whom he stands, our nation divided and conquered, with liberty and justice for none." I don't think our democracy can survive this presidency. A corrupt POTUS, a corrupt GOP, a brainwashing TV station that almost 50% of the population watches 24/7. It's overwhelming. The GOP has been working on this since the New Deal. We've become a minority rules country. IMHO, it's over.
8
Nonsense. If Trump loses the next election he will go away like everyone else. Just more liberal gibberish.
9
How does this not end in violence?
14
On the contrary, Donald J, Trump is just what the Founders had in might when they the wrote the job description for the President of the United States of America; his opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, would have been their worst nightmare. Thank you.
6
If you mean the founders wanted a white nationalist who sides with America’s domestic and foreign enemies against his own country, you’re right, the founders would have loved Trump.
9
@Cousin Greg,
Put yourself back in the late 18th century when the Founders drafted and passed the Constitution, then you will understand.
4
Trump's request to Ukraine president to find out whether there is anything there in Biden's call to fire an Ukraine prosecutor before providing $1B aid and Hunter Biden receiving more than $50,000 from a corrupt company there and alleged actions by some Ukrainian individuals during 2016 election against Trump is not an invitation to a foreign country to interfere in an American election. It is an invitation to investigate corruption in that country. Biden's alleged corruption is his problem and not the fault of Trump. Simply because somebody is running for president should be a reason not to expose his corruption in a foreign country doesn't appear to have any merit. Trump won't be the immediate beneficiary of the investigation, it will be Biden's democratic primary opponents. They are getting personal benefits from Trump's action. Based on Democrat's arguments, they are participating in Trump's bribery. Thus it seems that all the arguments put forward by Democrats to impeach Trump have no merit and it only shows their desperation.
12
@Alex E: It is not acceptable to extort investigations in other countries. There are diplomatic channels to request foreign nations to investigate violations of US laws by US citizens on their soil.
33
@Alex E
If Trump is so very concerned that a powerful politician is giving sweetheart jobs to his children -- and this would be the first I've heard of it -- then there are proper channels for addressing it.
Instead, Trump chose to commit two crimes -- soliciting foreign assistance for his campaign and holding up funds legally appropriated by Congress -- in service of a third crime, conditioning official acts on a "favor." That is bribery, and he should be removed from office.
27
@Alex E
"Simply because someone is running for president" isn't quite accurate. Biden is running for the nomination to be running for president--a detail that seems to be conveniently overlooked by those who would protect his activities over there and in China from all scrutiny. And isn't that because Kerry and his son are also implicated? And isn't it also true that Obama is too? After all, didn't Biden tell the Ukrainians who did not believe him--"ask Obama"?
And didn't Obama withhold the weapons that Congress had voted in 2014 to supply to Ukrainians, and isn't that evidence that it was Obama who "helped Russia?" And isn't all this why impeachment was seen as a necessity, with or without bi-partisan support?
4
We see the Dem "Super Delegates" turning to Biden the way they turned to Hillary Clinton. That is how the Dems lost to Trump. They should have allowed the people's choice - Sanders - to run. Instead, they allowed the big money to choose the winner. That is Our Constitution, folks!
6
@Dave - Hillary won 4,000,000 more votes in the primaries than Bernie. She got 54% of the pledged delegates. She would have won even if there had not been a single super delegate.
24
Bernie Sanders was a super-delegate.
It is interesting to see the rationales and purported justifications for impeachment become more and more strained as this current impeachment proceeding slowly loses steam. While it is true that impeachment is a political remedy, in order to be politically successful, it needs to have some compelling basis rather than just the desire of Trump's political opponents to be rid of him without the necessity of beating him at the polls. Better luck next time.
8
@Ulysses the impeachment proceeding is "losing steam?" An avalanche of testimony to trump's and his acolytes' malfeasance has been presented to the American people. Anyone who thinks there is no "compelling basis" to impeach Trump is being willfully blind.
16
@Ulysses
Do us a favour though.
12
Without crossing the line between church and state it might be more effective to speak in the language of the Golden rule.."do unto others.." is something a great majority agree with and can abide. The US Constitution is the greatest document ever created related to governing, however, invoking the founders is a dangerous business. Tea partiers invoked the founders at the same time they were waving "keep your government hands off my medicare' signs. The Constitution is our guiding document, however, for many people it's beyond comprehension or concern.
6
Yet, our constitutional order might prevail if the Democratic senior leadership decides to make maximum use of inherent contempt. If they do so, and jail select people like Bolton and Perry and Mulvaney (if they could nab him) until they testify fully, the public case against Trump in the Senate might be made airtight. If, say, 65% of the public endorsed Trump’s conviction in a Senate impeachment proceeding, this groundswell might force enough GOP to vote for conviction to secure it. Alas, the mighty powers of inherent contempt are being side-stepped for reasons that may never be uncovered. Yet, if a few courageous journalists would give the inherent contempt story front page prominence, inherent contempt might still be used, compelling eyewitness testimony that would almost certainly be fatal to Trump in a Senate impeachment trial.
7
Who is stopping Trump from bribing senators who will ultimately vote for or against his impeachment? Nobody, that's who. And that is exactly what he is doing. Why don't hear more about that?
11
The American system of constitutional government, with its arcane Electoral College, unrepresentative Senate, gerrymandered House and elitist Supreme Court, is no longer sustainable.
Look for some future generation, as all generations eventually do with governmental structures, to finally abandon the 232 year-old constitutional system as unwieldy and undemocratic, to be replaced by some type of parliamentary form of government.
If I had to make a prediction, California will be the first state to abandon the United States.
As the world's fifth largest economy and the world leader in manufacturing, agriculture, shipping, computer technology, entertainment and higher education, California no longer derives any benefit from being a part of the United States.
And yet despite all this, with 15 percent of the nation's population and GDP, it has only 4 percent representation in the US Senate.
At some future point, California's citizens will no longer put up with such a gross representational inequity and will pull out of the Union, and who could blame them?
Donald Trump and his sycophantic GOP followers have to realize that they are playing with fire and that if they push our pluralistic country too far, they will put our country's future in jeopardy.
15
@John M: The US won't do anything to stop its collapse before is dissolves.
1
@John M
Help me with the math on CA having 4% representation in the Senate.
Trump didn't come out of nowhere. The way was paved for him by decades of right wing media bashing liberals and so-called elites such as journalists and academics. The success of conservative talk radio played a big part but it was social media that really put this effort to take down liberals over the top as the Republicans and Russia were able to target individual voters on a massive scale. Cambridge Analytica apparently played a big part. The problem is not just getting rid of a demagogue because a large part of American society has been transformed into a large populist political movement that is centered on white supremacy and the religious right. Both groups were brought into the Republican Party to increase the voter base and they wound up taking over the party and replacing the type of Republicans who brought them. The party of Lincoln essentially destroyed itself in an effort to defeat the Democrats and has left a polarized country that can barely function at the federal level.
18
After a bit, it seems that the Founders discovered their oversight, and added this wording, just in case a demagogue became entrenched as president:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Said another way, another "check" in the full system of "checks and balances."
3
And when the demagogue is regularly claiming that his opponents want to curtail those rights to bear arms...?
1
When/if we can get rid of Trump through impeachment/removal or at the ballot box next November, and if the House remains in Democratic hands and we flip the Senate, President first order of business MUST be tightening up what presidential powers are acceptable in a democratic republic. We must clearly define the parameters of a "national emergency" so that no president in the future can declare such willy-nilly just to redirect money procured by Congress for a specific cause to something else, tighten rules so that funds cannot be withheld from an ally & strategic partner that have been specifically designated by Congress for national security purposes for ANY reason, make rules with regard to nepotism in the White House, make it mandatory that everyone employed by the president must at least attain a security clearance, and make sure that those folks are only privy to information for which the security clearance is valid, make it illegal for any president to demand the notes of an interpreter & require his/her silence as to what transpired between leaders in a one-on-one, and we must require that political appointees MUST have some familiarity with the subject matter of their prospective departments, and not as lobbyists for the industries they are obligated to oversee.
The only way to reverse the mess we currently find ourselves in is to make some concrete rules so something like the Trump administration NEVER happens again.
27
Once he’s in, that is.
But there should be no problem, because the Constitution specifies a way to keep someone like him from getting in in the first place.
It’s called the Electoral College, which is designed to step in and stop a demagogue from taking office when he, you know, wins the popular vote.
The founders wept.
5
Except that this particular demagogue actually lost the popular vote. By the biggest margin in history.
6
What I think would absolutely horrify the founders (and what horrifies me) is the sheer scale of the federal government. It is, by far, the largest employer on earth (public or private sector.) Last year it spent close to $4.5 trillion dollars.
There is corruption in virtually every department (and everyone knows this.) It is notoriously inefficient in delivering services. (We, the citizens, are supposed to be clients, served by the people who's salaries we pay - when's the last time you felt like an actual client when interacting with a government agency?)
There are now virtually no aspects of our lives that are not in some way influenced, if not outright controlled, by our government, and a lot of the politicians in power (and those who want to be in power), want it to actually get bigger - even much bigger. To spend at scales unprecedented in human history.
Yes, the founders did not want a demagogue, but they were far more concerned with where the central source of power was, and they placed it firmly on the individual. For the first time, individual liberty was to be served by the government - rather than the individual being seen as merely a "subject" meant to serve the government (a situation that we have sadly returned to.)
Impeach Trump or not, will make little difference to the much larger problem. I do not want a "leader" with a vision, because I have no desire to be lead, and only want the freedom to pursue my own "visions".
4
@JRC: Those who think they are not led, are often led by their noses.
4
Yep, it's about time for a democratic president to clean up the socioeconomic mess left by his Republican predecessor. Clinton and Obama were masterful of reviving an economy left in tatters by the likes of George Bush and a little farther behind him, Ronald Reagan and Bush Senior. After Obama put the earth back in its orbit by averting a massive recession, Trump want knock it off its axis again.
9
Trump may be the Founders' worst nightmare, but the Founders' have been ours. Their fear of popular democracy resulting in the imposition of the Electoral College resulted in Trump's election in spite of Hillary Clinton winning over 3,000,000 more votes. The lack of a parliamentary system resulted in the domination of two parties containing several more within them without representation, for example centrist, liberal, social democrat, and socialist in the Democratic Party. When those who vote get no representation, it is easy to understand why 50% of those eligible to vote do not.
9
@Arthur T. Himmelman: "Their fear of popular democracy resulting in the imposition of the Electoral College resulted in Trump's election in spite of Hillary Clinton winning over 3,000,000 more votes."
Electors were not meant to be "rubber stamps" in an election, nor were they intended to be dedicated by the states in a "winner-take-all" fashion as we have in 48 states. There is nothing in the Constitution about that.
Electors were intended to be apolitical "free agents" who were not necessarily bound to the results of the popular vote. How many journalists have ever said that? Both Republicans and Democrats in those states enacted the "winner-take-all" laws.
5
the "great compromise" that created the Senate and the electorial college is the root of the disaster named trump. How could anyone have envisioned that a vote by people without a highschool diploma in Wyoming would be worth 60 times the vote of any person in California or New York? and who would have envisioned that the supreme court would give itself the power for one unelected person to overrule congress and ignore half of a one sentence constitutional amendment.
9
@Howard64
Respectfully, sir, I would venture that there are plenty of folks in New York & California who do not have a high school diploma.
In modern times, elimination of the electoral college would mean that a few states on both coasts would elect the president.
I’m no fan of the current occupant of the White House.
2
All votes would count the same, whether from the coast or the interior.
4
Decency in America is no longer a once-cherished characteristic, not in domestic or foreign policy. That Republicans applaud this means it won't be coming back any time soon in their sphere of influence.
The only question remaining is whether or not the Electoral College majority of Americans care enough about bringing back decency to vote Trump out.
10
Yes, the Founders feared the demagogue. And Trump fits that mold to be sure. One thing the Founders feared much more is big government. Most of their thinking and ultimately much of what was incorporated into our Constitution was aimed to minimize the consolidation of power in Federal Government.
Read the Federalist Papers and try to conclude otherwise. Warren and Sanders would scare them a lot more than Trump!
1
We've all been thinking about this. The fact that it is now time for such an article is very scary. But not nearly as scary as what a second term could bring.
20
We are fortunate to have Donald Trump present all of the founding fathers fears packaged into one person, one magnificent example of malfeasance .
I am enjoying reading this opinion with so many references to the take of politicians from years ago.
In the end, USA citizens may need to thank Trump for their awakening from the decades long voting malaise that might lead to finally breaking the modern era 1960 record of 62.8% of eligible voters casting a vote.
13
@GP Or it may lead to detention camps totalitarian Kim style. Whoops that has already started. They even have kids in them with the families conveniently separated from said children. Welcome to Trumpocracy. Fascism in the land of the used to be free.
5
The Founders did not anticipate the possibility of mass lunacy being marshaled in support of a demagogue. And they could not have anticipated it because they lived in a rural low-tech society where the possibility of mass communication neither existed or could even be credibly imagined. You can't prevent a problem you can't see.
19
If the Democrats had just nominated a viable candidate in 2016 Trumpism would be seen for the childishness it really is. Forget Animal Farm. The president is a child and those who devolve to his level eschew their own adulthood. At worst, otherwise, we are in thrall to a baby. Maybe that is what the Founders understood all too well.
7
@Chris Kule
As always, the blame for the election of a deeply flawed Republican rests with the Democrats who failed to present a more attractive candidate... Republican primary voters bear no responsibility for vetting their choice.
Negative press coverage of any Republican before, during, or after an election is a 'witch hunt', 'fake news', or both. When a Democrat becomes president it is entirely proper for the Senate Majority Leader to announce they will do all they can to make them a one-term candidate. Bill Clinton's re-election in 1996 was considered an impeachable offense by many in the GOP. The existence of God was confirmed when Clinton allegedly perjured himself in a deposition and/or Rush Limbaugh regained his hearing.
Meanwhile, we're not talking about kids in cages, are we...?
4
Read it once, read it twice -- but to really appreciate this opinion -- read it studiously, a third time.
Trump is an unprecedented disaster and needs our whole, undiminished attention.
He cannot, simply cannot , be allowed to get away with mocking and stonewalling the rule of law.
Impeachment is not a hoax. Believe nothing he says or does.
31
Trump, assisted by the Republican Senate, will not be removed from office.
That's a fact.
The constitution couldn't foresee a completely corrupt senate which refuses to do it's job and rule of law is now impotent, which is intent of the Republican senate, such is their tightening grasp to keep power.
They have no shame and they care nothing for truth. They protect Trump, the person they all despised four years ago. Avarice and lust for power changes many things.
Can you imagine the uproar if this were a Democratic president? It would be constant and deafening.
22
Undoubtably chaos has happened since the constitution. We read about it. But then when you read we don’t have the emotion.
What’s happening to trump is similar. I didn’t vote for him. I won’t vote to for him. And hopefully by then Biden will have Hillary Clinton as his vice president. That’s my decision.
Democracy is like spaghetti you just love it. If you wear a white shirt and you will have splashes all over it and doing the dishes is messy.
1
I fear what our country is becoming because of the GOPs absolute support for Trump. This is the party that complained about every move President Obama made. This is the party that refused to respect Obama, refused to treat him with the minimal respect demanded by the office itself and had an 8 year temper tantrum to show all of us how displeased they were.
Trump is the person who ought to have never been nominated, never have won the Electoral College, and is not suited for the job of president. The GOP ought to know better. Yet they have supported him while knowing that he is not what the country needs when it comes to leaders. In that they are complicit in the destruction of America. They are unpatriotic, racist, and all the things they accuse liberals or those opposed to Trump, of being.
I've never wanted a person out of the Oval Office as badly as Trump. I don't think America can survive another 4 years of his incompetence and hubris. But I have a real fear, based upon how he's behaved and the way the GOP has closed its collective mind and eyes, that he will not leave even if he loses. God help us.
26
@hen3ry: "This is the party that complained about every move President Obama made."
Did Republicans ever try to impeach Obama?
"Trump is the person who ought to have never been nominated..."
Same could be said for Hillary - the Democrats should have known better.
"I've never wanted a person out of the Oval Office as badly as Trump."
Same here, but I would rather vote him out of office than put the country through a senseless impeachment process that will ultimately fail once it reaches the Senate.
"I don't think America can survive another 4 years of his incompetence and hubris."
There's enough of that in Washington on both sides of the aisle.
1
Trying very hard not to yield to my worst fears and barely holding. Yet, I continue to wonder in disbelief: Republicans are falling on their swords for THAT GUY?? Really, THAT GUY?
31
Very scary times. If he wins in 2020, you will see reporters in jail. You will see the army rounding up immigrants. The American Experiment....it was nice while it lasted.
11
Mr. Bauer nailed it! Donald is an evil demagogue supported by all sorts of like-minded racists, bigots, and haters-of-immigrants of any color other than white. They like the new name of the White House, the Liars House, better because it reflects the current occupant's penchant for lying whenever he speaks. Our founders knew all about demagogues and they were having none of them. And they said so in the plain and specific language of their day. Language that still rings today with full clarity. If the republicans in Congress don't mend their ways and re-calibrate their moral compasses by voting for articles of impeachment in the House and then by voting to convict DJT in the Senate, they will soon rue the day they acted cowardly and failed to do the right thing. The only thing, IMHO, that the founders got wrong with the vote process in the Senate was to fail to make it a secret ballot. If that were in place today I want to believe that a resounding "Guilty" would be the verdict.
10
Trump is kept afloat by those who vote with their stomach and by those who fear the indeterminate democracy of the schoolhouse threatens the certainty of their scripture-based "revealed truth". Worst of all are the right wing media's cynical Elmer Gantrys, always ready to cash in on their fear and ignorance. Perhaps we will only be saved from this fraud if Giuliani's "insurance policy" pays off next year - the year of the Rat ....
2
Trump is a nightmare!
Period. Full stop.
A nightmare for the USA, our democracy, and the world. And a massively destabilizing and tremendously destructive force.
Just look at the state of things in the world! Instead of providing stability and fostering economic and international order, Trump-USA is perhaps the main source of instability and force emboldening the forces of worldwide chaos, disorder, and even criminality.
12
Today is a frightening era that offers no hope to millions of people experiencing vanishing living-wage jobs, serious educational wounds, broken families, unrealistic desires for $$$, natural disasters, climate change -the list goes on. No surprise that America has elected a morally-corrupt, personality-disordered gangster to be their leader! Trump is the perfect representative of our despair.
8
It never fails to amaze me that with all the reporters around him not even one has the courage to call this crook a liar to his face. Yet while Obama was giving a state of the union address a republican congressman had the temerity to shout "You lie." Democrats should roll out all the horrible things that Graham and Cruz and Perry had to say about candidate trump. It turns out that he is no better than all those ugly things.
10
@Solon But you have to admit as Mr Trump very tactfully pointed out BEFORE the election, that his wife is apparently better looking than Ted's wife. Moreover Donald's dad had the commendable advantage of not being involved in the assassination of JFK.
Look it was all there in the primaries and America had no mechanism to keep this gentleman out of the White House which should now be renamed the White Supremacy House.
4
At this point, Trump's complete incompetence has changed the presidential functions and responsibilities entirely. Of course the deep state exists because it represents the core values of our country. It is pointless for the new agencies to report on any impeachment news because removal of Trump will never happen. In supporting Trump, the Republicans led by the likes of Graham, Jordan, and McConnell have altered their own values and their dignity to support a bloviating idiot.
8
What is almost surely happening here is that the previous president, Obama, was not a white man. That set off tremendous alarm among those people who are seriously afraid that their white race will no longer control the government. Enter the racist Trump, the Great White Hope president. He has always been a bigoted, corrupt, serial cheater, liar and a puerile bully. This is why the heart of his "base" is in the Confederate states, where racism has its strongest hold on the electorate.
13
i cant wait for the time when dems are in control of all branches....then pass their agendas...willy nilly,,,,and watch whats left of the gop, fade into darkness (HOWLING)........it seems like an eternity thus far......whats worse, is IT has begun to normalize itself to voters....and the wearing down or numbing of the senses, could make some forget, or not care about this IDIOTIC ZEALOT=they call president.....
3
Donald Trump, the New York con man, said time and time again how much he likes "stupid people" and the uneducated. Now we can all see why.
9
The whole premise is that Trump is a demagogue.
Supported by his “base.”
There’s those, those, irredeemable deplorables again! Clinging to their religion and guns
They are so stupid and in hatred of the founders’ work!
Yeah, that’s it!
It just dumbfounds me that one person can turn the trust of our founders’ vision and it’s inherent indestructible structure into wet tissue.
Really?
That is what the absence of a belief undergirded by faith looks like.
What a miserable existence as a chosen path.
2
And the other worst nightmare is that half of America is made up of voters who are either morally bankrupt racists or complete morons who still support a psychopathic bullying traitor who is methodically marching us toward dictatorship
10
Welcome to the new era of politics in America. Karl Rove planted the seeds for the culture wars and Trump, along with his many minions; and there we tons of them, have allowed the petri dish of America democracy to become contaminated with the worst of human nature.
Sadly our history is full of such characters.
Trump's loyalty to the office, and the history that affords, and the public good is nothing to him. It all about the knife fight.
The man is simply a predator plain and simple and sadly I think the only way to end this is at the ballot box, as if the House passes Articles of impeachment it will be DOA in the Senate.
What will we learn from all this? At this point nothing.
That is what is fundamentally wrong with our modern Republic...winning at any all costs and the public good be damn.
7
Odd that a group calling themselves the The Federalist Society should be Trump boosters. Self interest trumps all.
6
Republicans can’t actually believe their defense of Trump. Like the shaman who’s tricking the villagers, but knows the sun’s disappearance is a natural and not a magical phenomenon. I’d feel much better knowing Republicans amuse Trump’s base and themselves with their double-talk but don’t believe it. If they really believe Trump isn’t tailor-made for impeachment they don’t belong in Washington.
Listening to Wallace, Todd and others on Sunday news shows question Republicans on the facts about Trump and Ukraine aid, Russian interference in 2016 was painful. Nothing penetrates the only successful wall Trump erected. The wall separating fact from fiction.
14
"The founders feared the demagogue, who figures prominently in the Federalist Papers as the politician who, possessing “perverted ambition,” pursues relentless self-aggrandizement “
Though the founders were very wise and canny in their vision of possible ways that the Republic could be taken down, they never "imagined" that an entire party (of which there were none then) would become corrupt and act as enablers of an autocrat.
...and we, though we're seeing it in real time, cannot believe it either.
12
To those who say that America is great under Trump, I say that the vast majority of Americans, those of us who have somehow managed to not Anthony Bordain ourselves, are barely surviving the psychological and emotional trauma that Trump is inflicting.
Again, THE BACKLASH THAT WILL COME WILL BE GREAT,
and it will be the death blow to the GOP.
10
@Conservative Catastrophe The vast majority of Americans have no idea -- nor do they care -- who Anthony Bordain [sic] is. That is how out of touch Dems continue to be. There will be no backlash but, rather, a second reckoning for Dems who decided to double down on existing strategy instead of taking a long, hard, introspective look, 3 years ago, about what the party did and continues to do wrong.
1
Not a time for apathy, for sure.
Do we have have the collectve wherewithal to staunch an authoritarian take-over if that's exactly what an unshakeable bloc of the politicized electorate wants?
I'm not fully convinced a majority of Americans are apprehending the severity of of this development, nor is there an as-yet full comprehension or response from those who would oppose - this goes far beyond partisanship, if course.
7
And what will Democrats do if Trump, as expected, defeats impeachment and then tries to find a way to get reelected beyond a second term? Or tries to jail opponents by relying on the power of his political base? Are you prepared to go to civil war if need be, to defend Democracy?
Trying times for the self-touted "greatest democracy in the world".
4
@NoCommonNonsense I've been checking out moving to Canada. This week I realized he will indeed win again and then Putin and he can hot tub or whateverz. Sheesh... can you believe it?
As I understand it, a law that is not enforced is not a law. Therefore, the U.S. Constitution is null and void.
2
@Big Text: The U.S. Constitution is more durable than you think. All it takes to for it to work is for people of good character to be in positions of power. There are far too few of those in our nation's capital.
2
@Big Text It's a free country.
The college crowd will never forgive the voters for electing an outsider to the White House.
The D.C. culture is more important to the progressives in power and inside the media than any single person.
The very idea of a Trump cutting regulations is bad enough, but I can see Trump hacking away at layers of bureaucracy that hides and empowers the deep state that Barack Obama spent eight years building up.
The difference between the Clinton & Nixon impeachments and this one?
There were actual laws on the books that Nixon and Clinton had apparently broken, but not Pres. Trump.
2
@L osservatore Oh do tell us where we lay our eggs, more details of this tangle!
2
It is amazing to me that those on the left, the supposed smartest people in the room, continue to believe that support of Trump has anything to do with Trump.
Support of Trump is based on a rejection of what the left has become. Identity politics, a media that has chosen sides (talk about the founders' worst nightmare!), etc.
Until the left realizes this and comes back to the center, "support" for Trump will continue to be strong.
5
@Tom: The left has become a mirror of your own projections. You don't have clue who we really are.
13
The Republican Party has built the Imperial Presidency over the past 6 decades (with occasional help from the Democrats).
The powers accumulated under Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Bush created a presidency perfect for a demagogue like Trump. They all never expected an 'outsider' like Trump to gain the office.
We as a nation desperately needed a 'roll-back' after Bush II, a real effort to undo the most egregious policies of that administration and hold people accountable for very real crimes. Failure to do that set the stage for Trump. If we allowed Bush and Cheney to run unchecked how can we justify holding Trump accountable?
What we are seeing has occurred throughout history. A citizenry ill treated by government is aroused by an 'outsider' who rises to power doing as he sees fit. The Republican Party made it al too easy for a President to run amok and unchecked.
5
@cynicalskeptic: Theocracy is the soil where narcissism flourishes.
1
@cynicalskeptic: "The powers accumulated under Nixon, Reagan, Bush..."
You might want to go go at least as far back as FDR, and possibly even TR.
Re: Trump's Diplomacy or Lack Thereof
"Trump's actions distort diplomatic practice and decapitate the American interest. Because of them, a new Ukrainian administration is all the more exposed to corruption and democratic backsliding, and all the more vulnerable to Russian manipulation and aggression.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, professionally trained to manufacture compromising material on all sorts of opponents, couldn’t have produced a more disruptive document than the summary of the Trump-Zelensky call last July, which has sowed political dysfunction in both Washington and Kiev.
By using his public office for personal gain, Trump has affirmed Putin’s long-held conviction—shared by autocrats the world over—that Americans are just as venal and self-absorbed as they are, just more hypocritical about it. For dictators, Trump is the gift that keeps on giving, a non-stop advertisement for Western self-dealing. So much for enlightened self-interest. So much for the power of our example. So much for our credibility." - William J. Burns
3
@Wang An Shih: Putin is gunning to blow up the US just as the US blew up the USSR.
2
For months I have been pondering the idea :What would make me betray ...? Physical torture? Threats to loved ones? Blackmail? Money?
So, what a really, really would like to know is this: What is motivating Republican Senators to betray their oaths to the Constitution? What does Trumpism do in their meetings, on golf courses, Air Force One, somewhere that cuts immediately to their doing his will?
9
One key to understanding how in the heck we got here, today, is the Supreme Court Ruling about Citizens United. I really doubt that Republican law makers would stay in Trump's camp if it were impossible for them to be rewarded by Big Money. But because the corporations want to maintain Trump in office, they will reward (legally and generously ) those Senators who support him. Most of Trump's supporters don't comprehend how their President and lawmakers are being controlled by big money dangling over their heads.
9
The differences between Donald Trump being impeached and Mr. Nixon or Mr. Clinton is that Mr. Trump is really not fit for office in the first place.
His displays of boorish, crass, and (frequent) nonsensical thinking bear no resemblance to the professionalism and intellectual abilities of the two former presidents--even though both displayed very poor moral judgement.
Compared to both former presidents, Mr. Trump is in a league of his own. The alleged charges of abuses of power and possible bribery are not surprising; in fact these types of tactics are all over Trump's presidency dating back to his campaign. The man just doesn't know limitation of any kind--it looks as though he deeply believes himself to be immune from any retribution when he bends or breaks laws.
Somehow the idea of a demagogue strikes me as too organized a concept for Mr. Trump's behavior. He appears to me to be absolutely out of control with no sense of planning or organization which I assume demagoguery relies upon to be successful.
Instead, Trump just does what pops into his head, follows it with power leverage of the "right" people to do his bidding, and then moves on to the next wild idea he conjures up--over and over again but never really getting anything accomplished--even this Ukraine scheme failed to produce the intended goals.
Put succinctly, Mr. Trump is a failed president because he doesn't know limitation. His inability to discern right from wrong could get him impeached.
11
@Cate: Trump's fan club rate him a genius for speaking in tongues.
2
It seems inconceivable that the Republicans would destroy the country for the sake of Trump, the demagogue, but it is possible. That there are so many Trumpites like Lindsey Graham who previously spoke of Trump with disdain who are now willing to fall on their sword for him and destroy the country they claimed to have loved is very scary. Is preserving white supremacy that valuable to convert to a dictatorship?
9
One of the reasons pitched to create the Electoral College was to prevent the ascension of a mad man, demagogue, dictator to the presidency.
Guess they never suspected the EC would actually elevate one to the presidency.
Sad.
14
@Chris Morris: All these contortions are accommodations to slavery, to secure the participation of slave states that otherwise would have opted out.
2
We don't prosecute former presidents not because we can't, but only because that is the unwritten norm that has stood for centuries. Failed 45 breaks all unwritten norms, so we feel free to break this one.
We will hound him and his crime clan forever.
10
“The failure to stand for what is morally right is the prelude to being the victim of what is criminally wrong.” That quote, from author Zig Ziglar, about sums up the choice at hand, my fellow citizens.
7
It is beyond debate that the Civil War years were our worst and slavery was the greatest perversion of the Constitution and that ignoring these truths leads to distorted thinking regarding Trump’s place in history.
1
@michjas: And only a very mortal Abraham Lincoln had the wisdom to guide Reconstruction.
1
@michas
Well, I wasn’t numbering, but ok, trump will be number three on the list of national historical obscenities.
3
Seems that the Republicans realize that push has come to shove, i.e., this election is for all the marbles.
They must use every strategy and tactic to remain in power. It's all or nothing for them.
They see the outer walls crumbling: Minorities are becoming voting majorities; religion now largely accepts homosexuality; America is downsizing into an average country, prohibiting us from calling the shots; white people will have to share with people they really don't like. It's their worst nightmare.
But if they can keep control of the reins of political power, the day of full reckoning can be put off for years, maybe decades.
As long as most Americans don't vote, the Electoral College still exists, gerrymandering rules, and votes can disappear, the Republicans can win the day. This is not a drill; it's full-on battle stations and a very humiliating era for a formerly great nation. Too many of us just have the wrong stuff in our heads and hearts.
10
While it is true that what is happening to democracy in America now is unique in its own ways, assisted, no doubt by many different flaws in the Constitution, as debated here, the very fact that it is happening at all is surprising. Every mature culture in the world has gone through it, in fact in several historical cycles (e.g: Pax Romana to Dark Ages to Renaissance, just to name one). America itself has undergone at least one cycle manifest in the civil war. Great peoples come together, form great nations, form long peaceful periods of growth only to succumb finally to internal differences. Freud called it the 'narcissism of small differences'. Idealistic egalitarianism is a pipe dream that has only ever existed in small pockets (e.g: Scandinavia, for the past few decades). In a way America is the last to arrive on the scene. While it may be the world's oldest democracy, it's the world's newest 'People'. It's current polity has existed for a short duration in human civilization's history.
If the arc of history follows, this portends either widespread violence, not unlike civil war or a sociopolitical secession movement effectively creating more than one country. Even more than who will win, the division of Electoral and Popular votes in 2020 will give us a good idea as to which way the cookie will crumble.
4
Remember Joe McCarthy? Trump seems the same kind of guy (nearly a clone) as President. Average time damage done: 4-5 years. And yet again, the Republican party is championing the damage doer. Let's hope we see a "have you no sense of decency, sir..." moment, soon.
10
To me, what this really means is that since Presidents are virtually impossible to remove through impeachment, it is imperative that the Constitution be amended to weaken the presidency.
21
I think it would be best if the Republican party got hammered in the next election for there blindness to the crimes of Trump. The henchman of the autocratic leaders are not treated nicely by history. Fighting for freedom is a lonely battle but once successful such peple will be revered. Trump's name will be removed from everything eventually just like the names of those who stood for slavery and injustice. All the current leaders in Russia, China, North Korea, the Philippines, Poland, Hungary, and Brazil ate going to suffer the same fate.
4
Thank you Bob Bauer for expressing concisely what reasonable people all over the country feel and despair about deep inside. That there isn't 20 Republican Senators willing to defend the Constitution. That Evangelicals have sided with tyranny and now own this choice forever.
21
@Edgar Allen Poe The President is Raven mad Edgar. You should write a poem about him and title it "The Epic of Trumpmess". It may endure as long as the Epic of Gilgamesh.
1
The way things are going, I think we're extremely lucky that Trump is elderly and in ill health. His diet and weight are against him. Trump is charismatic, Pence isn't. For that matter, I can't think of a single Republican that has the slightest bit of charisma. (Charisma doesn't need to be positive, just enormously crowd-catching.) He can't last too much longer and then our nation can get back to some kind of normalcy.
14
This article sounds like parts of the book "Trump and the Demise of Democracy. " It's a new book on Amazon in Kindle and paperback at what must be introductory prices. It combines a blueprint for disassembling democracy with examples of how Trump is doing it. Around 120 p., it's a quick read but really nails our national emergency on the head. Read it and you'll want to do everything you can to save our democracy.
12
@Publius
I also recommend 'How Democracies Die'
1
Trump's election and his continuing survival despite his anti-democratic and criminal behavior has exposed serious flaws in our system of governance and our constitution. Prof. Bauer has done a great job of explaining how a demagogue is successfully beating the impeachment process. I outline below some of these key flaws (interconnected with each other)in our system of governance:
1. Role of money and influence of donor class in our election process;
2. Gerrymandering;
3. Electoral college;
4. Two-party system;
5. Failure of judiciary to resolve conflict between congress and executive branch in a timely fashion; and
5. Role of right wing media and social media platforms to create alternate reality that is not based on facts to dupe a big chunk of the population.
22
@Yogesh Sharma ...very well articulated......i will share this on my social media.....maybe open some eyes, or raise some questions.....thank you.
3
If we vote as a nation he could easily be removed. If we vote as states not so easy. The president is the one national office holder we. The office is supposed to represent this nation. End the electoral college and let voters decide who wins not states.
20
"the demagogue portrays impeachment deliberations as necessarily a threat to democracy, a facade for powerful interests arrayed against the people"
It can be. It was that in Brazil. Honduras used a variation on it.
That is why impeachment must be used with caution. It can be the remedy to abuse, or it can be the abuse, depending on who wields it.
I think there's also another reason why the process of impeachment comes up short. It's completely inconsistent with our national myth of American exceptionalism and the false idea that ours is the greatest and most democratic country on Earth. If our popularly elected president is rotten to the core, what does it say about our democracy and ultimately ourselves? From a young age, we're taught to lionise American presidents with a reverence that few other countries afford their presidents and prime ministers. If we want the worst of our presidents to act less like kings, maybe it's time we stopped treating them as such.
13
@wfw97 Rotten to the core? Like weaponizing the intelligence agencies to spy on an opposing campaign?!?!
It is clear that trump and his administration has A) no intention of following the rule of law, B) will lie when convenient, C) has no desire to benefit the nation or others only himself.
20
There are two possible cures for this: the power of the purse exercised by Pelosi and her majority or the voters themselves getting tired of this clown show.
At the very least, the House should severely restrict, through the budget and the law, the conditions under which Trump can act in any area and the money that he has to work with. His administration needs budgets to function and the House can set those budgets and place conditions on the money. We may not be able to get him out, but we can throttle his power.
The ultimate test is whether the voters will resolve this stalemate.
13
@Jazz Paw
Hear! Hear!
1
Q: So how do we shut down a demagogue?
A: By the sheer numbers of voters -- turnout on Nov 3, 2020.
Unlike all 44 prior presidents, Donald Trump has never even attempted to be the president for all Americans. He openly attacks the rest of us. This will be his downfall.
Donald Trump has never achieved a 50% approval rating of the American people. He is a world-class loser.
Sure, he has an advantage in certain states in the electoral college. But he won in 2016 by about 77,000 votes spread across MI, PA, and WI. He will have a very difficult time repeating that feat.
I am not complacent nor sanguine about the 2020 elections. But Mr. Trump can, and will, be defeated -- if the majority of Americans rise up and vote to give us the government we deserve.
Volunteer. Donate. And VOTE!
30
Never forget the Electoral College elected Trump...
Not the people.
It's time to end the Electoral College and the sooner the better.
17
This editorial leaves me in hopeless despair. That it is a given, that the POTUS is a demagogue is a sad state of affairs. I find the man loathsome but according to the news, Republicans believe that he is a better president than Abraham Lincoln. I begin to feel that we have fallen through a dark looking glass, and it makes me weep.
14
The senate Republicans will never impeach Trump as we all know. But if he succeeds in stealing next year's election again, he will try to declare himself president for life. Then getting rid of him could be almost impossible.
9
Absolutely brilliant piece and spot on.
Any day now, I expect to see Donald of Orange start wearing a uniform like Qhaddafi.
The worst part is that Republicans would still be defending him Wouldn't change a thing.
7
@Al Miller It's like the Idi Amin fan club or something.
2
I have pondered why we have arrived at this egregious moment in our country's history and I have decided that answer is not available. Only the long lens of history will reveal how our country has been corrupted by this mob boss. Of course we have to get rid of the monster and then begin to repair the destruction wide and far. The truth will out;
7
If, as the author suggests, impeachment is now impossible, surely it removes the arguments against a sitting president being indicted, where the reason given that impeachment was the way to deal with a criminal and corrupt president. Surely Trump can't have it both ways.
7
I can't believe that Republicans are going to try and defend Trump using a defense based on the lie that Trump was acting in the best interests of the Ukrainians and the U.S. Rooting out corruption? Laughable at best.
And besides, where did they get this information? Were any of them in on the call? Wouldn't it be secondhand, hearsay evidence to say that they - and only they - know what he was thinking when he did this, they believe him because he told them so, and that people who were actually in the room and listening to the call don't know what they're talking about?
This would be hysterically funny if it weren't so serious. Lots of old white men rallying around another old white man to make sure that he doesn't suffer the consequences of his actions.
9
need to see his tax returns and financials, plain and simple, maybe a little bit about what actually went down in Russia. show him for what he really is.
12
The adulation of the slave-owning "founders" by the "liberal" mainstream media is almost a risible as it's devotion to the "intelligence community" and the military-industrial complex!
Seriously, do you folk actually believe that from the perspective of the 95% of humanity who are not Americans that there is any real difference between Trump and any other US President?
@Brendan
Actually yes they do see the difference between trump and other presidents. Esp. our allies see the harm he has done already. He loves dictators and abuses the democracies that we have been allied with since the 20th century began.
He has threaten to end alliances that we formed after WWII to keep another major war from happening.
So yes, he is seen as different.
8
@Brendan: The Kurds and Ukrainians beg to differ.
2
@Brendan
That is a ridiculous question. Many of our presidents were very much looked up to by people all around the world.
Some of our presidents actually represented hope to the rest of the world, and for a lot of them, the possibility of entering this country and starting a new and better life.
Which hope has now been dashed by the fool on the hill. And, seriously, who would want to come to this country now, knowing that under him, you are not welcome?
4
Trump is the single largest threat this country has ever faced. If he wins reelection, it will be the demise of our democracy.
11
The Founders' "worst nightmare" is not Trump, but the kind and number of individuals who support and are loyal to him. One might simply blame Trump, but Trump surrounds himself with obedient and conformist advisors and constituents who likewise fail in their loyalty to our constitution. Whether they come and go matters not a jot to Trump, as long as they do his bidding. One can only hope that the more he demands loyalty, the more disloyalty it will breed. The conflict of choosing between a demented quasi-dictator and fundamental human values should tilt some of these individuals in the right direction--or they may risk indictment themselves.
13
Is Trump a demagogue? Possibly. So what? The US has a free press, political opponents are not being jailed and by global standards elections are free and fair. Looking from the outside in the US seems more like the land of the fearful than the land of the free. Have a bit of confidence in your constitution and it’s robustness and stop all this endless whining.
2
No Mr. Bauer, you are deeply, and profoundly, wrong.
The founder's worst nightmare was the corruption of political system. The constitutional engineering defining the people's direct determination of the top position is proof of this: if the political system ever were to become too corrupt and detached from the subjugated population, a president could be put into office outside the control of the political system.
*Hillary and her pre-election influence peddling* was the founder's worst nightmare, and a complete political outsider - owing no lobbyist anything - like Trump was the very check on political corruption the founders wanted the people to have.
All democrats are going to need to grow up about this fact or face a completely self-generated defeat in 2020.
3
@Mr.DealWithIt
LOL such nonsense. Hillary has been investigated over and over to ad nauseam by republicans and they never found anything. Her foundation was judged to be clean, unlike trump's foundation that was funneling money to him.
On the other hand, most of the people around trump have been found to be corrupt and working for trump's benefit.
4
Methinks the frustration is setting in that when Democrats orchestrated a narrative with their friends in the media, Republicans used to cower and fall in line. Not anymore. Trump has taught them to fight.
None of these so called “witnesses” provided a scintilla of evidence that Trump did what they were accusing him of. All hearsay. Even Sondland had to admit he “presumed”.
You know that’s the case when articles like this resort to name calling and “threatening democracy”.
None of the current crop of Dem candidates will beat Trump, and Democrat hierarchy knows it.
This is the end result. More hoaxes claiming Trump broke a law. No proof. Just accusations and investigations.
Think about all the work that could have gotten accomplished if Democrats just accepted that Trump is the duly elected President.
What a shame.
2
@Sports Medicine: All these witnesses confirmed what Trump and Mulvaney already stated publicly. The defense goes something like: "I did not try to rob the bank", to "I tried to rob the bank but I didn't threaten to kill the cashier", to "I threatened to kill the cashier but my gun didn't go off", to "since my gun didn't go off I didn't get the money and I wore a mask anyway so it's only hearsay that it was me trying to rob the bank."
9
@Sports Medicine
Unfortunately your blindness leads you to ignore all the corruptness that trump has brought into the presidency.
And you ignore those who did have 1st hand info and stated that trump was asking for a bribe.
Even the transcript is showing how he asked for the bribe when after the president of Ukraine stated he needed military help, trump responded with "I want a favor though".
That made it perfectly clear that trump was demanding a bribe right there.
4
@Sports Medicine
Check out a variety of news sources. “Fact check” celebrity opinion makers claims. Fact check politicians’ claims.
2
It's up to the voters.
Voters put him in and only they are in a position to pull him out.
2
@Ed C Man: Nope. Congress is also in a position to pull him out if the Senate convicts. And JFK was pulled out in another, albeit unconstitutional, way.
2
@Ed C Man
Voters did NOT put him in. FakeBook put him in. Russia put him in. Corruption and cheating put him in. Since Trump has cheated his entire life to get what he wanted, he was perfectly willing to accept it and pretend he deserved it, just like he did pretending to be wealthier than he was to get on the Forbes 400 list.
4
The Trump presidency is the segment in "It's A Wonderful Life" where the angel shows George Bailey (Adam Schiff) how the world would have changed, had never been born.
3
"When this is all over..."
When all this is over, we'll be lucky to hear the word "Constitution" again in our lifetimes. We're going back to the rule of thumb, and living under a thumb.
1
RR is a good republican,Bush 1 is a good republican,Bob Dole is a good republican.The living ones not so much.
Bob Dole is still living.
1
Dems know they can't beat Trump at the ballot box because all their candidates and ideas are epic failures!
2
@David
We only fear that the deluge of turnout won't be able to overcome the Russian Republican propaganda machine's attack upon our country.
Unforgivable. They are traitors.
3
To sum up this article, if the demagogue can convince enough people to follow him, all our laws and our Constitution ain't worth the paper they're printed on.
9
As we awaken to the gut-wrenching news of each day, we understand that our democracy is under siege by the Republican Party that supports Trump's crimes and misdemeanors while ignoring the rule of law.
The Republican Party leadership is indeed America's worst nightmare and Trump is the glaring symbol of their traitorous hypocrisy.
10
Trumps thinks discouraging Journalists will make people stop reading their stories. That would only make us as uninformed as his followers whose imaginations provide the news for them. Journalists are so much more important where holding the line at corruption is concerned. The lid is off and Trump now is an open book. He's fundamentally dishonest and we all know it. Thanks to Journalists.
8
It's easy for me to criticize people who hold offices as representatives of the people being obliged by reason to stand up to Trump and to use the powers granted to them to impeach and remove him from office. I risk nothing. Republicans in Congress will be punished by Republican voters if they even criticize Trump because he will whine about them on Twitter. It's tough having to pay a stiff price by doing the right thing. But that is what is required to act honorably. Being good is more than just not doing bad, it sometimes requires personal sacrifice.
6
@Casual Observer
Please choose one of the following:
A. "We win by losing." Jeb Bush, 2016
B. "We'll win so much, you'll get tired of winning."
Donald Trump, 2016
C. "It pays to be a winner." somebody said it, along
time ago
I choose B. B is my answer. B B B B
HARMING THE PRESIDENCY. In the end, if the "good" people of the USA win, Trump's real harm will be to the Presidency the office he holds. Legislation will be passed to more easily get rid of a bad President; or, the office could be divided into 3 people, the Commander in Chief, the Domestic Welfare Chief, and the Foreign Affairs Chief with a requirement that the office vote 2 of 3 for any movement proposed (a constitutional amendment required here). Either way, a weaker Presidency is what could be expected from good people. The only problem is I doubt we have enough good and smart people left to give us the leadership to fix the cracks of the old ship of state. Worse, if to address a constitutional crisis a new constitutional convention were called we would all be in the swamp as we do not possess the unbiased leadership to see it through. I keep praying.
2
@Robert Briggs: The belief that any God has a pony in this race is unsupportable.
3
"When this is all over, we will not hear warm bipartisan praise for how 'the system worked'" because it also did not work from the very beginning.
The protests against his even being inaugurated were in response to how obvious it was that he is unfit, incompetent, mentally ill, cruel, vindictive, and to use one of his favorite words, truly a "fake" human being. A pitiful, empty
shell.
Given the obsolescence of the electoral college, the system failed at the outset. Now we have a certifiable lunatic in the White House who will leave--if he has any say in the matter--only when he is dead.
I am 71. Outliving him is at the top of my bucket list.
16
@Christopher Ross You and the notorious RGB.
3
@Christopher Ross
Just another white, 71 year old man who once believed in the "goodness" of the American people say, "Amen, brother."
3
"Donald Trump’s Republican congressional allies are throwing up different defenses against impeachment and hoping that something may sell."
The simpleton that I am, I ask, are the different defenses a response to the never ending changes? When one charge doesn't catch on, a slight change of the wording might bring the alleged crime into better focus. If not, reword and reintroduce.
This has been going on for 4 years. Supporters just ignore it, for the background noise it is. Trump haters take these on going charges as further proof of the reprobate Trump is.
To date, there has been no accusation that has been able to distance Trump from his voters. Democrats hope this impeachment process will finally bring down this demagogue.
After all, Trump is too stupid to be President, he could not possibly escape conviction in the Senate. Trump's "tweet 'em till you beat 'em" strategy can't possibly prevail against the best legal minds in America. Schiff and Nadler have Trump boxed in and Trump is too stupid to know it.
Maybe the Founding Fathers viewed the Parliamentary system as flawed. They set the Executive Branch apart from the Legislative Branch, to better ensure the people had a greater say who would be the national leader.
Like it or not, the people spoke, the Constitution was respected and Donald Trump was elected President. Maybe it is time for the losers to accept the results of 2016 and prepare for 2020.
3
@Mike: Nope, the Electoral College spoke. That being said, it's not about accepting the results of the 2016 election, but about an American president who violates the Constitution he has sworn to uphold, but that he probably didn't even read.
7
Putin elected Trump.
And, now that he’s been check mated on charges of bribery, extortion and obstruction, the Republican senate will acquit, thus decimating the Constitution and rule of law.
Disgusting Myopic UnAmerican Cowards
Quit watching Fox! Look up Dunning-Kruger Effect! And quit siding with Russia over the vast majority of Americans, your fellow citizens! Wake up, Mr smart and tough guy!
4
@Mike
Mike, the last I heard, Texas was just one, albeit probably among the most obnoxious, of the United States of America. It is not a separate republic, no matter how how much you and your delusional friends would like to think it so.
Professional help may be available, especially if you are a well to do Texan. If you get such help, and are helped thereby, you may be able to read the US Constitution in non-Texan English. It may surprise you. I hope so.
3
It’s been the worst nightmare since 2016!
5
Why the intellectuals and the liberal media can't pause and think if what they are doing is right. Trump was chosen by public directly to be president of USA and he is directly responsible to them.
From 1st day the so called liberals and itellectuals have not digested his presence in the White House. Just because they live in cities and have university degrees they think that the vast population in rural America has no brain and are inferior species. They have committed a great crime to elect Trump. Their concerns have no meaning.
Then they lecture everyone about democracy and constitution and need for 'sophistication '
This is intellectual arrogance.
4
@Krishna: Please inform yourself about American government and presidential elections. If you had, you would have known that the American president is not "chosen directly" by the public, but indirectly, by representatives of the states who with a few exceptions, all represent the party that won in a state. A process in which it doesn't make a difference whether a state has 50,000,000 or 500,000 residents.
5
@Krishna
"Right on. Right on. Right on."
Maha Rushie
1
@Krishna
No. Trump was chosen by less than 100, 000 votes in three states by the Electoral College, another of the many gifts to the southern states that made the US Constitution possible, thereby making the USA possible. Indeed, my country was cobbled together by a committee. He who must not be name lost the popular vote by nearly 1%, or three million votes. You're a Brit, so you're excused, and you have Brexit and your own lunatic fringe to deal with.
3
Dear Democrats,
Boycott Fox News advertisers. We have most of the consumer money. The Fox News liars cannot survive without advertising revenue. They care about nothing but money anyway.
Let them sink by their own petard: money (one of the seven deadly sins: greed).
11
@MidtownATL
I agree whole heartedly, but must correct you. One can only be "hoist on their own petard." Let them sink because of the weight of all their hypocritical lying, dishonesty, fabrication, and just plain bulls**t.
2
@MidtownATL If you watched FOX News, you would see the majority of advertising is for drugs and geriatric devices and services.
We might be old, but we love to vote.
Lots of opinions but that is all.
Trump appeals to about 10% of voting age people in this country. He will regret making this a sideshow next November as the people that didn't like either candidate last time show up in droves to kick this incompetent clown to the curb. America is far better than this.
6
@Cleareye
If Democrats win, it will be very close. With three million fewer votes, Trump’s base won the electoral college vote and Trump, the presidency. Swing states made all the difference. Democrats must win at least two of the large swing states. We cannot lose Pennsylvania or Michigan again. Trump must win Florida. Moderate and independent voters must be won over by the next Democratic nominee. Trump must not be reelected!
3
"Democracy passes into despotism" ~ Plato
The problem is Fox News. Michael Bloomberg's bazillions would be put to far better use if he bought the Trump propaganda machine and neutered it.
15
@Nomad
Great idea.
5
Last gasps of white, male hold on power.
6
My god, it’s simple, don’t be an idiot, vote for the other candidate.
10
Dear Evangelical Republicans,
What would Jesus do?
Who would Jesus vote for?
Donald Trump is the embodiment of each of the seven deadly sins:
- Lust
- Gluttony
- Greed
- Sloth
- Wrath
- Envy
- Pride
How can you support Mr. Trump, in light of this?
He is the most un-Christ-like human to ever inhabit the earth. He is Satan.
Look yourself in the mirror. And follow the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
17
@MidtownATL
But he's making it possible to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Isn't that worth destroying America? Ask you neighborhood evangelical or RC fundamentalist. They'll tell you how "great" he is.
2
This is an excellent analysis by the professor.
We also have to recognize the way technology is reinforcing propaganda to an unprecedented degree. Fox News and social media create Chinese walled information gardens of propaganda and it becomes impossible for the enlightened ones who dwell outside these gardens to penetrate the minds of the people inside.
How can we have reasoned discussions anymore?
6
Actually, it appears the founders wanted the check and balance system to work well, They never imagined a political party ignoring all the grievances of their president and thus refusing to at least chasten or censure,
Of course they ran into a problem with George Washington who was a huge hero of the revolution and actually had some Americans wanting him to be King, Fortunately he reminded them that he led the continental army to stop just that thing,
Of course we now are faced with a cheap artificial George Washington who demonstrates none of those desired qualities of modesty and rule of law,
But Trump will be stopped not by the GOP congress but by the American voter, For now, more than ever before it is in our hands to ensure that what Washington warned us about doesn't come to pass,
13
@Ira Cohen
Why does one think the vote can stop Trump. He will claim it was rigged. He will declare that until a "real" election has been held he must stay in office. What can we do to stop that? He is the head of the armed forces.
6
@Bob Miller: If the vote in November 2020 is clearly in favor of the opponent, Trump would not be the head of the armed forces much longer anymore, but the period between the elections and January 21st would be tense, to say the least.
2
I don't have such rosy memories of Clinton's response to impeachment. His surrogates mounted the airwaves and relentlessly attacked Kenneth Starr and the legitimacy of the impeachment process. As soon as he was impeached, almost the entire Democratic House caucus got on buses and went to the White House for a photo op to support Clinton. The moral of the story: impeachment was just as partisan then as it is now. This is nothing new.
5
@JS
Sshhh. They are banking on nobody remembering that stuff.
1
@JS
Yes but there was some party crossover by Democrats in the House to support two bills of impeachment; and there were five Republicans/Independents who sided with Clinton in the Senate. All Democrats in the Senate supported a not guilty vote.
1
@JS There were many of "demonic and damned Democrats" who were more than disappointed in "Bubba." But what he did with a willing partner in no way endangered the country. Did he defame his office? Sure, he wasn't making it look good. Were he and Monica doing anything that hadn't been done before the "all seeing eyes" of social media? No, both parties had elected human males who lived down to expectations. Did he engage in high crimes and misdemeanors? Give me a break. The folks who hated "Bubba" are the same hypocrites who employ the "just boys being boys" defense. But Clinton did not in any way put the security of our country in danger. A fallible male—not a good thing to be—but not a fool, let alone an oblivious, dangerous fool. If you value this country and its heritage, you'd best try to think a little more intelligently.
3
And the range of judges being appointed by this regime ensure that its behaviors will prevail and be rewarded long after DJT has passed from view.
4
The title of the book will be "The Rise and Fall of American Democracy." Bauer's opinion piece seems to be describing the process by which this will surely come to pass. Let's hope he's wrong.
4
The Founding Fathers certainly dropped the ball.
One of the reasons for their ancestors fleeing Europe was to rid themselves of rulers (kings and queens) who could remain on the job forever. They should have made provision that such a thing would never be possible in the US.
It's somewhat ironic, that it's now easier to remove a UK ruler (e.g. Borisov Johnson) than an American one.
10
@Mike Edwards The President can only remain in office 8 years. It's the lifelong Dem politicians who need to be term limited so they can't continue to destroy the country.
3
This essay is one of a number of arguments for the House of Representatives to undertake whatever action is necessary to compel the appearance and testimony of subpoenaed witnesses. If it does not do so, then future Presidents will assume that Congressional oversight is an annoyance to be ignored and undermined.
This, in turn, will cause even more aggregation of power in the executive branch and tilt our political system toward autocracy. This cannot be allowed to happen.
The essay also persuasively explains why the Senate should hold a secret ballot when the time comes to vote on any articles of impeachment upon which it will have deliberated. Only in that manner can the pernicious influence of Trump's takeover of the GOP be countered. Only in that manner can we realistically expect Republican senators to even consider voting in a manner consistent with the evidence, as opposed to their political fears.
The ongoing impeachment inquiry is a moment at which the future of this nation's experiment with democracy will be determined. Either accountability to the law and to the Constitution is upheld or we will have a president, and a presidency, that is more like those in one-party, dictatorial regimes than we have had throughout this long American experiment.
18
@Castleman
Could Chief Justice Roberts order a secret ballot? If that happened, Republicans would be free without political consequences to vote their true convictions. If all 47 Democrats/Independents vote guilty, with a secret ballot, Trump might quickly lose with 25-30 Republicans who cannot stand him.
3
Truly, Mr. Bauer -- this piece reads like an echo from the fading ghost of American democracy. Both elegiac and poignant. You have captured the essential desperation so many of us feel in the face of a political landscape that has been twisted beyond our recognition -- and possibly even beyond any repair.
I do not remember what British statesman made the remark about "the lamps going out all over Europe" when WWI started. But I do remember that he also added that "we would not see them lit again in our lives." Perhaps I know now what he meant.
12
I think the key to ending this demagogue's hold on the presidency is Democratic turnout. If there are voting lines that wrap around the block in strong blue precincts and districts, Trump will be toast. And deep down, I think Republicans fear this too. At a minimum, minorities and women have to come out in epic numbers. This is a base election. Which base wants it more.
13
@GK
" If there are voting lines that wrap around the block in strong blue precincts and districts, Trump will be toast."
Agreed. But these lines only matter in swing states:
- MI, PA, WI, AZ, NC, IA, FL, and so forth.
Volunteer. Donate. And VOTE!
12
@MidtownATL
Agreed. But the so-called Blue Wall in 2016 crumbled. Let's make sure that's rebuilt with an overwhelming Democratic turnout.
I echo your Volunteer. Donate. And--most of all--vote.
5
Our system can hold against autocrats/demagogues in the White House, but it requires a bipartisan group of statesmen/stateswomen in Congress who elevate the national interest above their own re-election. Sometimes elected officials have to stand up to the American people at a personal electoral cost, in order to best represent those very citizens. Sure you might not get re-elected, but you will have done the right thing, and that matters most. A parent who tells their child "no more chocolate for you today" isn't going win any popularity contest, but that's what it means to be an adult.
9
The author’s thesis is presumed on the broad public support of a demagogue, who lost popular vote by about three million, the largest in a presidential election. So, current presidential demagoguery has less popular support than the author suggests. I would argue that there has to be a threshold number for this gap for sustained democracy. If this number crosses a threshold value (for example five million or more), there will be a spontaneous popular uprising and electoral college will collapse. I shall bemoan this because a demagogue with an overwhelming popular support is a potential elected tyrant. So, I would call current president a demagogue wannabe but not there yet.
1
@Mausam Kalita: Radical malapportionment explains what it wrong with this US all by itself. The US doesn't even know that it is fatally flawed by its compromises with slavery.
@Mausam Kalita - Sorry, but Trump won the popular vote among legal voters properly registered. Those were, the Founders hoped,the only votes to be cast.
But some solid blue states intentionally recruit non-citizens to vote, and their first tool is the state-issued drivers license designed to buffalo honest election workers into accepting illegal votes.
1
@Masaum Kalita
Trump’s base with Fox News and weak Republican leadership could pull it off.
Trump is well on his way to bringing the Justice Department firmly in his control; he controls the House and Senate Republican leadership; he is seeking control of the Judiciary by appointment and by threats; and now he is working on gaining control of our military as the overruling of top Navy brass concerning the disciplining of a Navy SEAL gone mad.
What’s to stop Trump from trying to declare the election as a fraud if he loses and declaring martial law — his base will totally support him; Republican leaders won’t oppose him. Only question, will the rank and file in the military branches support his takeover?
2
"Donald Trump’s Republican congressional allies are throwing up different defenses against impeachment and hoping that something may sell."
The people who voted for Trump, and will vote for Trump again, don't need a logical argument to be sold on Trump. Look at what they bought in 2016, and are still buying.
For these people, Republicans need no stronger pitch than "No, he didn't do it. It was the Democrats that did it." Democrats point to the 24 defenses that Republicans have come up with, focusing on the fact that none of the defenses "work." Guess what, Democrats? On Trump voters, ALL 24 defenses work.
10
@Robert Henry Eller: They're doing it for a better life after death because God is a Republican.
3
@Steve Bolger
...and chose this miserable "vessel" to make "His" will known. What a ridiculous god. That's why I'm very glad I'm an atheist.
It’s fair to assume the current president will survive a Senate trial. It won’t even be close. Imagine a SCOTUS decision that denies the current president’s his desires (Bush v. Gore redux perhaps). The president then openly defies the SCOTUS ruling. What then?
6
@The Kid
Trump declares martial law and suspends habeas corpus?
This article touches on the weak point of democracy that is not a problem unique to the US. What happens when an authoritarian leader is elected by the majority or a large minority, and then retains enough popularity despite wrongdoing to remain in power? Laws, rules and norms are not worth the paper that they are written on if they are not enforced and a leader abusing the rules who is supported by a significant faction of the public is a big problem indeed. Any attempt at enforcement can be met by public disapproval and, in the worst case, an uprising or civil war.
Unfortunately, a two-party system is more at risk of arriving at this situation than well established multi-party parliamentary democracies, although even the latter are not fully safe from this flaw in their system.
This brings up a big problem in the views of many on both the left and the right who oppose the impeachment of Trump. They argue that the people elected him and that the people should decide his fate in the election. That, however, would subject the crimes of the president to judgment by the will of the people. It is an open invitation to the flaw in democracy that can lead to its undoing. The framework of democracy should be seen as more important than any individual election result.
10
Trump has no record of truthfulness, integrity, magnanimity, prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, selflessness or heroism--qualities so evident in in the civil servants that recently testified in the impeachment hearings, as well as politicians like former Republican Justin Amash and the late Senator John McCain.
Trump possesses none of the qualities that makes for a leader capable of advancing the public good, since his primary interest is not the public good but what benefits him personally--or as he would likely say, "winning."
Unfortunately, all his supporters in Congress are looking more and more him with their defense and protection of him rather than the Constitution. Our democracy may survive but it will not because of the Republicans in Congress that have been corrupted by their loyalty to Trump and disregard for our tradition of giving primacy to the law rather than a person.
10
@Robert Stewart
The public seems to be doing pretty darn good as a result of his work and his polices.
Your just upset because he not only fights back, but he kicks the snot out of liberalism in a daily basis.
I’m sure you would have gotten all those attributes with Hillary, right?
1
@Sports Medicine The farmers are doing great, right? We shouldn't be concerned about their suicides and bankruptcies, right? Tump's infrastructure program is marvelous, right? Am sure you have seen his perfect infrastructure program, right? And he has certainly improved access to medical care, since he was not able to totally destroy the ACA, right? His tax legislation was certainly a boon for the middle class, although no one has been touting that legislation, other than the already well-heeled and corporations that used the gain to buy back stock. Who could possibly disagree that folks are "doing pretty darn good?"
4
The public, those who haven’t Anthony Bordained themselves, are on meds and barely surviving the psychological damage that Trump is inflicting upon the vast majority of Americans.
The backlash that will come will be great.
1
He has prejudiced every microcosm of American life so skilfully that you have lost sight of the spider and it’s web - it is the strands that make this creature so versatile.
9
The founders probably couldn’t imagine that so many Senators would be willing to betray the country because it would benefit them personally.
And it is unlikely that they could imagine a Supreme Court that would be so corrupt that it would support corporate power over the country and the American People, especially to the extent that they would declare that “money is speech”.
The fact that Congressional oversight of the executive branch is considered operationally suspended, basically nullifies the Constitution.
The Republican rot in government is betrayal of America, and nothing less.
27
@Grove: They believed that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" was so explicit it could not be misinterpreted.
3
@Steve Bolger
Exactly! So, Congress passes a law demanding respect FOR religion!
Unfortunately, it has become evident that almost half the US voting population has no understanding or appreciation of the checks and balances that the Founding Fathers built into our form of government.
They didn't learn about them in school and, since most of the information they receive now is filtered and spun by Fox News and the Russians, they are not going to belatedly wake up and smell the coffee.
15
@Engineer
The Trump base, which is a coalition of single issue constituencies, is not interested in being checked. They know their preferences are not popular with a majority. Their only hope is to cling to power through Trump who will relentlessly push their agendas regardless of law or popularity. They allow him to be a dictator so they can enforce their will through executive power.
9
@Engineer: They don't even understand what corporations are.
It is good to see the word 'demagogue', applied in a meaningful way, to Trump, in the pages of The New York Times. I've have been waiting.
For Trump dupes and stooges, a Demagogue is not a devil monster in a Class 'B' Horror Movie.
"What is a demagogue? He is a politician skilled in oratory, flattery and invective; evasive in discussing vital issues; promising everything to everybody; appealing to the passions rather than the reason of the public; and arousing racial, religious, and class prejudices—a man whose lust for power without recourse to principle leads him to seek to become a master of the masses. He has for centuries practiced his profession of 'man of the people'. He is a product of a political tradition nearly as old as western civilization itself."
"Demagogues have appeared in democracies since ancient Athens. They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people, it is possible for the people to give that power to someone who appeals to the lowest common denominator of a large segment of the population. Demagogues usually advocate immediate, forceful action to address a crisis while accusing moderate and thoughtful opponents of weakness or disloyalty."
Courtesy of Wikipedia
6
@HoodooVoodooBlood: Demagogues play other people's delusions like cat organs.
@Steve Bolger Thank you for the chuckle Steve. I had to look up cat organ...yours is a good metaphor for demagogues playing on the vulnerable.
This is a chilling description of the Trump Regime's unfolding destruction of our institutions as it races toward what looks more and more like unlimited despotism.
8
When the electoral college over rode the popular vote and installed Fred Trump's slow son Donny, as President; I was concerned. Donny had displayed troubling behavior. He had shown himself to be a coward, unwilling to defend America. Also an unwillingness to pay his employees or his taxes. As President, Donny can declare martial law, enact POSSE COMITATUS and install himself as President for Life or he can order the launch of all nuclear missiles from air, sea and land; effectively ending the world as we know it. Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS
3
We get the government we deserve. About 40% of Americans are lost. And the only thing they will understand is complete and utter destruction at the polls in 2020.
It is up to the rest of us, the majority of Americans who still see clearly, to deliver the government we deserve.
This does not begin and end with Mr. Trump. Vote every Republican out of office, from president to senator to dog catcher. Every last one of them.
Volunteer. Donate. And VOTE!
17
@MidtownATL
Maybe we don't "get the government we deserve," rather the government - or selection of representatives - vetted and offered to by a ruling class vigilant against any political or populist threat to their predations upon the American. Consider, e.g. even the NYTimes' campaign against Bernie Sanders…
The quote from Huey Long reminded me of Jersey City's Frank Hague: "I am the law."
5
Let's not forget president Trump's declaration regarding what he deems the "phony emoluments clause".
This man is unhinged. We rationalize his behavior at our peril.
15
I don't subscribe to cable TV. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I took the opportunity to watch Fox News in my hotel room to see what it was like firsthand.
1. They are selling fear.
- Everyone should be afraid of the London Bridge ISIS terrorist. (No mention of the damage he could have done with a gun instead of a knife.)
- The Democrats are all socialists, who want to confiscate your money.
- I find it hard to believe that any Fox Trump Republican would dare venture out of his or her house, because the world is a very scary and dangerous place. These Americans must all be cowards hiding in their basements, afraid of their very shadows. Sad.
2. They blatantly make up facts. One host claimed that life expectancy was 59 years old when social security was enacted in the 1930s. (It was actually about 65-66.)
3. They spend most of their airtime editorializing against Democrats. Most of their material is substance-free and fact-free.
4. To the degree that they defend Mr. Trump in a positive manner, most of their comments are about the economy. That is really all they've got.
- Apparently, 40% of Americans are willing to sell out our country for 30 pieces of silver.
5. Half of their guests are purveyors of conspiracy theories.
I also took note of the advertisers that pay their bills. These companies shan't be getting any of my business.
19
@MidtownATL: All of US media is opiated by prescription drug ads, but Fox in particular concentrates viewers for purveyors of quack cures.
1
@MidtownATL
I'm sorry that you subjected yourself to this torture during the holiday, but I'm grateful for your summary. It is good--yet very sad-- to be reminded about Big Brother's Corporate Newspeak and the prevarication they peddle.
Naturally, as I'm sure you know, not one of the Fox, Breitbart, and Rush Limbaugh imbibers believe there is any bias or lies on their beloved news and newsotainment sources.
4
@MidtownATL
In 1994, during the holidays at, you guessed it, my in-laws, I was exposed to a FOX News "discussion" on Social Security. Three guys (white of course) who looked like toothy Christian TV barkers or upscale used car salesmen spoke about how vile this magnificent social creation was. The lone "for" voice was a college professor—also white, but probably Jewish—who had been a child during the depression
2
Trump is incapable of behaving in any way except the way in which he has behaved for decades before descending the golden escalator. He is a flagrant, fraudulent, corrupt, duplicitous, preening, malignant narcissist and mafioso wannabe. We all need to brace ourselves, whether it's for another four years of this current horror show and worse than what we have already endured, or for his forced exit from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue should he be defeated at the polls in November. He will not go quietly or willingly if he loses -- and no matter the outcome -- whether it's two months or 50 till his departure -- we will suffer as the oppressed subjects of the demagogue who has convinced his followers that he is acting on their behalf, as only he knows, as only he can. Win or lose, we are in for unimagined horrors yet to come. And while Putin smacks his lips at the disintegration of America for which he has long dreamed and helped bring about, let us hope that someone is paying attention to the systematic shredding of our alliances and the array of dictatorships by which we are surrounded as Trump succumbs to the overt, obvious, and dangerous flattery upon which he thrives, served up in heaping portions by slavering enemies who pose as friends, deceive him and take him for ride after ride after ride. I don't think we know how much trouble we are in.
15
Every day it feels a little more like Voldemort has taken over the Ministry of Magic.
9
The US constitution needs to be rewritten.
4
@Scott D No, it doesn't. It needs to read, and understood. I doubt that there are more than a very few Republicans who have done either. If they have, it was in law school and that was a long time ago. As for the American people, I doubt that there are many who have even read it, even though they were required to do so in many high schools.
3
Turns out its an honor system
3
Please, US friends, don’t get influenced by your presidents blablabla, you are much stronger
8
@Felix
Dear Felix, please know that there are many of us who ain't been hoodwinked by he-who-must-not-be-named. Unfortunately, we're not in the Senate majority.
1
The founders were opposed to "factions", by which they meant what we now call political parties. They realized that a plurality might result in the choice of a demagogue, and therefore devised the electoral college. The electors were supposed to be independent men who would use their best judgements to choose the most qualified person. We know how this worked out. Later, the political bosses in their "smoke filled rooms" chose the nominees with an eye to choosing someone who could win by attracting a majority. The knew that they had to put up a plausible candidate. But in an effort to appear "more democratic" we now choose the nominees by primaries, which are well suited to manipulation by demagogues. (Consider the outsize influence o Iowa, which still continues to elect King). It will require unsuspected rediscoveries of conscience by many if we are ever able to restore a government "of the people, by the people and for the people"'
4
@Cassandra: No description of the origins of the US Constitution is complete without reference to the political need for it to institutionally provide for slavery.
1
The silver lining for me is that I don't hear
"I don't vote because there's no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties. They're both the same."
It was never true to begin with.
But now? Unless you've been living in a cave for the last three years.
Can anyone make that case with a straight face anymore?
10
@cwc Those who try are usually third party voters.
i would think what is being highlighted now is the weaknesses in the constitution. the idea that an individual is capable of making laws all on his own is a travesty of political theory. the english parliament worked through 600 years to deprive a king from doing what the federalist voluntarily gave to the chief executive i doubt if there is any other major political entity which allows such arbitrary law making. it certainly encourages dictatorial behavior.
3
Mr. Bauer, you write this rather democratically, suggesting this could happen if the demagogue was from either party. Do you honestly feel it was just chance that this happened to the Republicans, or do you feel they were more structurally "set up" to go this route? I find it hard to imagine Democrats moving lock-step towards ignoring the constitution and it's norms the way Republicans have, or lying en masse the way the Republican party has (with painfully few outliers..that has been the most depressing part of this, how few of them are willing to be honest or on the right side of history). Perhaps this is one place where the tendency towards fragmentation of opinion assists Democrats, because I have a hard time imagining this happening with a Democrat as president. I do feel that Republicans, who it is very clear stand for little beyond power, privilege and patriarchy, were quite well positioned, morally at least, to gather together those groups that also desire those things (whites, evangelicals, the wealthy), in order for this to happen this way. But you very carefully describe a situation with "a demagogue" and "a party." So you seem to be saying, next time it could be the dems doing the same thing. Do you really believe that?
2
The Trump problem is just another symptom of the archaic USA constitution.
The constitution was written for a different era of human history. The US needs a new one.
You cannot use the User Manual of a Ford Model T, to fix a Tesla.
The USA will become good example of a failed country, unless reforms its political system.
Currently, the USA is in about the 25th place of the democratic index, and falling.
Time of waking up.
8
@claudio All of the founders are dead so they can't possibly have any nightmares. Many Americans don't care about history/the constitution -- rather boring subject. I agree that we need a new constitution.
1
You know why democrats lose? Because we give up before a vote has even been cast.
The evidence is right here on this page in the many comments that are essentially a lot of hand wringing, woe is me, we're under the thumb of this demagogue, using terms like his "fearsome base".
Last I checked, he still hasn't upended the laws of science or declared math illegal. Republicans are a minority, his bullying base is a minority - 40% vs. 60%. Republicans hold the senate by a slim majority. It seems to be a forgone conclusion among all doomsday criers that he will win three states that will put him back in office.
When you give the bully and his "fearsome base", your lunch money every time they say boo, they've already won. Why are we doing that? Democrats play nice repeatedly and lose. Maybe for once we should fight fire with fire.
Tell his supporters the truth. He has done nothing for them and will do nothing for them. He lies to them with every breath, he takes pleasure in cruelty, he's an opportunist who stuffs his pockets with their tax dollars and will use them to cement power, then ignore and laugh at them. He will hurt them, it's what he does. Give him this power, you will never get it back.
Ask if sticking it to the libs worth it? Would you really "rather be Russian that a democrat"? Is "freedom just another word for nothing left to lose"?
We must choose: concede the field now and lose, or refuse to give an inch and win. The numbers are on our side.
9
@Deb
Correct! And start using the only power the Democrats have, the power of the purse. They can place far more obstacles in his path legally than they have been willing to contemplate. If the situation were reversed, the Republicans would simply refuse to pass budgets or continuing resolutions.
4
The system hasn't always worked. Reagan should have been tossed for the Iran-Contra affair--why does that so often get overlooked? What they were doing was as crazy/bad as what Trump has done yet it ended with only underlings punished. And not all of them at that.
5
@Kemal Pamuk Doesn't come anywhere near to Trump, it was an end-run around Congress. Trump yearns for a Congress that would be more like the Supreme Soviet of Stalin's day.
1
@Kemal Pamuk
You are so right! Could you please remind us: I don't recall impeachment of Reagan even being discussed or "in the air" during Iran-Contra--is this because of the "plausible deniability" that the chain of command beneath the President provided? I mean that his underlings took the fall, but he claimed he didn't know what they were doing? "They" being Oliver North, Elliot Abrams, Robert McFarlane, John Poindexter, and William Casey, of course.
1
@Michael
As distasteful as it may be to state, the "alzheimer's defense," even if unstated as such, served Saint Ronny or, as I prefer to call him, Bonzo's co-star, very well. The Republicans were paying attention.
1
Democracy can never work when the person who the majority of the people voted for is declared the loser of an election. The founding fathers doomed Democracy when they created the electoral college. We have now entered into an age of minority rule and I have no idea how we are going to get out of it.
5
@rs No, they doomed a democracy when they established a constitutional republic. They were well versed in historical precedent and thus had very good reasons for doing so. In a pure democracy, the minority is afforded no real protection from the will of the majority.
A democracy is much more susceptible to oligarchy and tyranny than a republic. Hence there being no mention of democracy in the US constitution. As Benjamin Franklin remarked "it's a republic, if you can keep it."
"We are a Republican Government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of Democracy." -Alexander Hamilton
"... democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they are violent in their deaths." -James Madison in the Federalist Papers
"Democracy never lasts long, it soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself." "There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide." -John Adams
I could go on and on but in reality the Founding fathers worst nightmare would more likely be an uneducated citizenry, oblivious to political machinations and there ramifications. Each would likely have challenged you to a dual for even questioning their wisdom behind the electoral college.
It's easy to speculate about utopian ideologies and perceived fairness without understanding the eventual and inevitable long term consequences.
1
I find your repeated use of the word “demagogue” in this article to describe Trump risible. I guess anybody who says anything that doesn’t fit the progressive narrative is a demagogue. Certainly Bernie Sanders or Liz Warren aren’t demagogues even though they constantly make false statements and use bombastic language. Even your old Boss Barrack was prone to demagoguery. Trump derangement syndrome keeps achieving higher and higher levels of hysteria.
2
They do not “constantly make false statements.” Give some examples. Nobody in federal public office in the history of the United States has ever lied as often or as blatantly as Mr. Trump. That much is clear as day.
3
@Art Hudson
The definition of demagogue: a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power (Merriam-Webster).
Seems appropriate to me.
Just because other people may also be demagogues does not make President Trump less of a demagogue.
1
@Art Hudson
More false equivalence and what about ism.
1
I had a strange feeling the night he won the presidency, one that I've only felt when those close to me have died. I sensed, intuitively, the grave threat that this man posed to everything we hold dear as Americans. And, the funny thing is, I used to work for him in old New York.
9
If you actually think “demagogue” doesn’t apply to Donald Trump, but does apply to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, you obviously don’t know what the word means in the first place.
2
This is why it is imperative that the Democrats take the Senate majority in 2020. The most vulnerable Republican Senators are:
- Cory Gardner (R-CO)
- Martha McSally (R-AZ)
- Thom Tillis (R-NC)
- Susan Collins (R-ME)
- Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Volunteer. Donate. And VOTE!
Because our republic depends upon it.
8
The demagogic tactics described here are eerily very similar to those employed by Brazilian president left wing socialist Dilma Rousseff to fight her impeachment.
I was very pleased that it didn't work for Rousseff. I hope it doesn't work for Trump either.
4
@Errol
While I'm not informed enough to know what lies, media manipulation, and corruption Rousseff engaged in, I do think it is important to note that at least Rousseff had political convictions (she was a socialist who went to jail and was tortured by the Military Dictatorship, from 1970-72 when she was 23-25 years old), education (she studied economics, political theory, marxism and revolution, although it appears she lied about her graduate degrees) and a lifelong "calling" for politics. From what little I know, although likely corrupt, it looks like her right wing opponents got her on a budget transfer technicality and she was impeached and removed from office. Your point that she used demagogic tactics to fight her impeachment may be valid, but I find the comparison to a man who has never been interested in anything but greed and self-promotion, and frankly isn't that smart nor economically sophisticated, and unlike her had never made any real sacrifices for anyone, to be weird--to say the least. But I acknowledge that your comparison was simply to the tactics she used to fight her impeachment. Fair enough.
1
Proliferation of fake video is a great danger to democracy...I just heard an expert's discussion that sounds like real nightmare.
Not sure we prepare for that with modern technology in overdrive, it's about time for FB to be regulated as a publisher not like a tech platform, same goes for Youtube, Twitter and the rest whoever publishes this torrent of flagrant disinformation.
Being economical with the truth and smoke and mirror politics and indeed denial of reality in significant cases has become almost the norm.
Enough with manipulating people's mind it leads to autocracy and oppression,
we already see it all over the globe.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/24/technology/tech-companies-deepfakes.html
1
Every demagogue is a madman. At the core of the Trump problem you will find a serious mental illness.
When an average Joe is mad, he is quickly marginalized and subjected to therapy by those surrounding him. When the president of the United States is mad, he goes about stealing the country for his own entertainment and those around him cheer him on. Better to join the world's most powerful man, even though he's mad, than to anger him I guess.
Perhaps madness is contagious. Public health authorities should be looking into this.
5
@Charles Sager
Madness is obviously contagious, though the people who've been afflicted are almost always unaware of their sickness. In their madness they believe propaganda to be truth and proof to be conspiratorial speculation. Oh Canada... glorious and
Well put! The only path for Trump is the one that got him elected--divisiveness. While the damage he has done and continues to do is immeasurable, yes, his weaknesses are becoming more and more apparent as people see congressional republicans and senators like Lindsey Graham make fools of themselves on television. People aren't stupid, they see these weaknesses plainly. I think many will vote accordingly.
1
A few questions about how bad Trump is.
1. Has he started a war as G.W. Bush did?
2. He he destroyed the economy and the savings of many people as happened when G.W.Bush was president?
3. Has he sought to privatize Social Security as G.W.Bush did?
4. Has he mislead the country into a disastrous conflict that took 50,000 American lives as Lyndon Johnson did?
So what's the ache?
Trump is an ugly contemptable small-minded human being to many people, certainly to me, but is he destroying our democracy? Is he tearing the social fabric? Is he? Are we as a people and our institutions of government that frail? Not in my opinion, not ever.
Vote the slob out of office. If we Americans can't do that much then once again we will get the politician we deserve.
3
@Brandon Cole
Really valid points. And did he repeal Glass-Steagall (which led to the evisceration of lending standards) which set the stage for the Mortgage Backed Securities based Great Depression, as Clinton did? (And I'm, in the main, a Bill Clinton fan, but the truth is the truth....)
On the other hand, is obstructing justice, likely colluding with a foreign power to get elected, attempting to influence the current election thru collusion with another foreign power, and flaunting the Constitution and the balance of powers in the way this op/ed describes, not potentially as dangerous as all four of your points, including the 58,000 American deaths in Vietnam (and estimated 3 million Vietnamese deaths), because of the known horrific effects of tyranny, including the killing fields in Cambodia and the one million people starved under Stalin?
And then there's the ballooning US National Debt under Trump, which might be the greatest threat to US National Security, and to global security (including food security) known.
4
To the members of the former Republican Party which exists no more, I say shame on you. Shame for not condemning the always lair that is trump. Shame on Senator Kennedy for repeating on national television Russian authored Ukraine theories. He is smarter then that. Shame on all trumpists for defending this presidents actions as he destroys the FBI, the CIA, the State dept, justice dept and and anything else he can bend to favor him as dictator. Shame on everyone who stands by and watches this disgrace of a draft dodger pardon convicted murderers in the military. Thus destroying the chain of command, making him now the only one who decides right or wrong. Especially if he sees it on Fox news who really is the one deciding here after all. Shame on the trumpists for defending a man who watches TV all day. A man who never reads. A man with no sense of History. A man whose only love is money and himself. But most of all shame on you for backing a hopeless lair. You have sold this country out to a cheap con man King.
6
I hope at some point at least one Republican Senator and one Republicans Congressman grow a moral backbone and give us a “have you no shame” McCarthy hearings moment by boldly confronting the lies and moral turpitude of this illegitimate, narcissistic creature who would be king.
1
and those stars on the U.S flag replaced with an alternating pattern of DJT and Swastika emojis
1
"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.
The disorders and miseries, which result gradually, incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty."
~George Washington~ September 19, 1796
2
The founders worst nightmare was their slaves obtaining freedom in an uprising.
2
Somehow this is like the novelty called a "Chinese finger trap." Once you put your fingers in, one in each side of the woven tube, then the harder you try to pull them out, the tighter it grips them.
Insofar as the more that people point out the danger that this administration poses to the nation, the more its supporters claim it must be defended against the "haters."
Funny, they never, ever ask themselves *why* so much of the nation is opposed to this administration.
3
@polymath
So much of this nation supports the president you just haven't been told the truth. That finger-trap of which you speak has only ensnared people who buy into the speculative misinformation. They haven't even attempted to withdraw their fingers yet.
Please read the unclassified documents detailing all of the intelligence agents that were embedded in the media in the 60's and 70's. Operation mocking bird is an undeniable fact that has been declassified and you can read the government documents in black and white. Yet people believe that the same government agency's, who experimentally drugged unsuspecting citizens with LSD under operation MK Ultra, (also declassified) has their best interest in mind.
We are to believe that the same intelligence agency affiliated whistle-blower is looking out for our country's best interests? Corrupt Ukraine is being shaken down by Trump to investigate potential corruption? The same country that "lost" billions of our aid money under Obama. Political kickbacks could never happen there though right? The Cocaine Import Agency is finally looking out for our republic.
How may proven scandal's does it take to permanently jeopardize an organizations credibility? We're obviously going to need a few more.
1
We can talk founding fathers, separation of powers and impeachment all we want.
It's all a smokescreen and well planned diversion for the Republicans.
So as Dems get all tangled up providing proof of Trump's impeachable acts ... extortion, campaign interference, corruption and obstruction of justice, they are taking their eye off the ball... counting votes.
Meanwhile Trumputin's goons are working behind the scenes to control and manipulate the voting machines across America.
Why did Ivanka Trump get a patent approval in November 2018, to manufacture voting machines in China?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-ivanka/china-grants-more-trademark-approvals-for-ivanka-trump-firm-including-voting-machines-idUSKCN1NB0TL
We've just seen the voting machine nightmare in Pennsylvania...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/30/us/politics/pennsylvania-voting-machines.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
Wake up America.
Campaigns, rallies, debates, town halls, tweets and hundreds of millions in ads and smear campaigns all mean nothing if the voting machines are hacked and programmed to change votes.
America must demand paper ballots which can be verified.
6
Here's footage of Lindsay Graham on the Senate floor in 1999 saying, High crime- "doesn't even have to be a crime"
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article230606129.html
Why the networks aren't looping this 24/7 is beyond me ..
Expose the GOP for the hypocrites they are!
5
We were born in 1939 in New York City and 1936 in Berlin.
So, with perspective... what do we have in President Trump?
Bob Bauer’s words are so true. We have a dangerous demagogue, well feared by the founders... described in the Federalist Papers.
We have a president that reminds me of Mussolini... even in the way he holds his face and mouth. This man is a charlatan. This man hides his academic record, his taxes, and his dealings with women and the catch and kill folks he employed to ravage.
This is an evil man. Yet, we have neighbors that fear him not, and they feared Hillary. Reason does not persuade these folks. Not one bit.
I was raised by Bruno Bettelheim from 10. He was not perfect, and he lied often. He was wise in the ways of the emotionally disturbed... and university faculty. He knew the workings of the mind... and he was often depressed. However, he said wise things to me as a young man... one of them applies here.
Speaking of Hitler, and Holocaust and Anne Frank, he said, Sandy, half the people you will know in life would do as the Germans did with Hitler. He was thinking about what happens when a leader is elected, as Hitler and Mussolini were... and that leader then does as Mr. Trump now is doing. The wise know how dangerous he is...
Yet, the people surrounding us in The North Country do not.
8
@S B Lewis. Thanks Sandy. Another thing Trump hides that made me deeply suspicious: his health records. This is a man who dictated his doctor's report in 2017, then had thugs go to Dr Bornstein's office and confiscate his own medical records.
3
From the Bible, Romans 6:23 (King James Version): For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
From the upshot of Trump's election: For the wages of racism is Trump, but the gift of the GOP is the deliberate dissolution of democracy through siding with the Trump — Putin's minion.
2
The sad key takeaway I get from this is summed up thus: the American Experiment is over. The Republican Party has declared it so. We now have a king (dictator, despot, autocrat, warlord, kaiser, führer, ruler - call him what you will) because of the violent will of the minority.
4
Should impeachment fail, you can always vote the despot out in 4 years. The problem here is the same though: the demagoguery that got him elected at the first place can get him reelected. It is an inherent weakness of democracy not just limited to the impeachment process. Remember, Weimar Republic was a democracy too. Yet Hitler managed to turn it into a dictatorship after the Reichstag fire.
3
There are two villains here, Trump and McConnell. Each is interested in maintaining power against the will of the majority. The framers of the Constitution understood partisan interests, but they did not anticipate political parties that could become self-perpetuating powers independent of ideology.
Since his election, Trump has not lost his supporters, but his war on decency, his war on trade, his war on women, his war on minorities, his war on the environment, his war on the courts, his war on states that did not vote for him, his sucking up to foreign dictators, and his sucking up to corrupt billionaires has earned him no additional support.
He won because Democrats in key states gave tepid support to Hillary Clinton. They will not do that again to whoever is their nominee.
3
During the latter portion of the 2016 campaign and debates, Donald Trump refused to affirm that he would accept the election result if he lost. He
stalked Hillary Clinton around the stage like the creep that he is’ and later criticized her derrière. He also suggested her possible assassination by the
“Second Amendment” people.
He thereby demonstrated his utter unfitness for office, to any who could not already discern this. And he was elected, the popular vote notwithstanding.
Now after over three years of outrageous and sociopathic behavior he commands the Republican Party, for reasons which I cannot fathom. We therefore
Must do more than defeat Trump. We must make it clear that the Republican Party has currently constituted has no further place in our system. If we
Fail to do so this fall, America as we know it may be truly be lost.
8
@RICHARD WILLIAMS MD
Thank you for your clear repudiation of the Republican party for its blame in nominating, supporting, and continuing to defend Donald Trump. You are correct when you say that today's Republican Party "has no further place in our system."
To your list of Trump's many un-presidential and obviously unhinged actions even before the election, I would add the numerous times that he has blamed others for the problems in his life. No man of maturity does such a thing. I believe that if voters had been able to view Trump as "the man who lived next door," he would not have won. Who in his right mind would want to live next door to such a crybaby?
One of the first things I learned about Trump was that he often (maybe even always) "stiffed" the contractors who did work for him. I recall an architect and a piano company owner who lost fortunes after Trump refused to fully honor his contracts with them. After knowing this important fact (verified in several accounts), I would have been crazy to vote for him.
Yet most of my friends and relatives voted for him and still support him. If he wins re-election, I am considering a move. I have long wished to live somewhere besides Alabama. After November, I may want to move out of the country.
2
Trump distracts from the real challenges which our country must address. We are focused on this neurotic who must be the center of attention instead of our real world challenges.
Demagogue Trump can be unveiled if Republicans are enlightened to what he happens to be instead of being focused upon their animosity towards Democrats. Trump is a bad President, and that it not just according to the preferences of Democrats, but by the standards of all parties and all people who have any knowledge of governance. He is screwing things up because he cannot lead and he's focused on himself. If all were sober minded and clear headed, they would reject Trump for re-election.
1
No he won’t. If he isn’t forced out, and the fumbling democrats are looking to screw that up, and he isn’t voted out in November. He’ll leave. The democrats incompetence at dealing with him, is being covered up by “the sky is falling “ talk of king trump. Try this instead. Stop calling for mass immigration, Medicare for all, free everything, name calling for anybody who doesn’t agree with every idiotic left wing proposal and start offering the kinds of plans that will benefit all Americans (yes even uninformed deplorables ) and a vision of a country that works. If your main platform is nothing but illegals, fringe groups and identity politics you are playing his game and he’ll win.
Consider, my fellow Americans- would anyone have ever written or even thought the issues brought up in this article in regard to Barak Obama?
The United States , with the help of the Evangelicals and Russia, swung from a rather moderate road to a more liberal and environmentally friendly country, to a far right hate machine, hell-bent on consuming the world as fast as possible.
Indeed, the cult-like behavior of the Republican Party and the Evangelicals is so deeply corrupt, and so deeply twisted, that it takes the breath away for any who read and who are already not cognitively dissonant through excessive Fox News-speak.
6
"He can thrive only in political conditions conducive to the effective practice of these dark arts, such as widespread distrust of institutions, a polarized polity and a fractured media environment in which it is possible to construct alternative pictures of social realities."
And there it is. Trump could not have been elected without Fox News ~ Roger Ailes pushing and Rupert Murdoch accepting the lies. Trump could not have been elected if mainstream media had been as vigilant and willing to call a lie a lie in 2016 as it is now. Trump could not have been elected if he hadn't been profitable to a sector of the 1% whose wealth depends upon the ignorance of consumers.
5
O.K., this may be a One for the Gipper pep talk, but we're in need of many of them. Don't give up here, folks. Never - even though our current situation is depressing beyond measure. Get out and vote in November 2020, and get your friends, colleagues and perfect strangers to vote Democratic across the board. Also, call your local representative and ask what you can do besides caste your vote. There's plenty of work to be done if we want to rescue our democracy from the clutches of an amoral demagogue, and do what's right. We need a repeat of 2018 times 10+ to defeat this "worst nightmare." If you can persevere and influence just one person at any time or anywhere, you've done your job.
8
All too true.
IF the Democrats get control of both parts of the Congress AND the White House, they can try to make some changes. But not much will be done before that, and even then the Republican ordered SCOTUS might disallow any substantive changes.
Not a pretty picture.
1
Not only has the system stopped working, but -- in the words of an important article in The Atlantic this month -- America is over. Finis. Done. Stick a fork in your democracy because Donald Trump and his enablers have destroyed it. Trump *is* your constitution now.
10
@Richard Grayson Yes, and after watching 'The Irishman' yesterday where Jimmy Hoffa believed the Teamsters was his union, trump seems to believe America belongs to him - like a king. It's not ok with me, but I guess republicans like having a king-like figure in the White House. It's pretty weird, not to mention un-American.
If I may suggest to readers, my jogging partner, a federal judge, gave me some advice. Call members of Congress and members of the Senate on both sides, in any state, and leave a message stating your beliefs and fears and how you'll vote in the 2020 election. All of their phone numbers are listed on the net or on Facebook. Let's push these people - make them listen! Force them to hear us!
4
From where I see it: Get rid of your Electoral College! The one college that I encourage you to drop out of. Twice in recent years it has overruled your popular vote ... and placed inappropriate presidents in office.
14
Trump's "I am the Constitution" defense will get him off in the deeply cleaved political climate of our time because millions of Americans chose to elevate him to cult figure status and disregard the compelling evidence of wrongdoings and treasonous disloyalty on his part. Most of these people are not innocent victims of Trump's demagogy. Rather, they are willful participants in perverting the ideals of the Constitution out of a misplaced fear of inevitable change in the makeup of the country. Let's not give them a cheap pass. We certainly deserve the leadership we have today. Perhaps we can have better leadership when we start earning it.
5
Its time to made a few more amendments to fix the problems we know are present with the current system of election and government. The founders could not have known or expected to create rules and laws to address our 21st century republic.
3
The Founders' biggest "nightmare" was not taking into account of human nature. They made an assumption that anyone would was elected, or appointed, to the courts or political office, would "protect and defend the Constitution". This is why everyone who serves in the military, and in a federal office, takes an oath. They never planned on a president, or his party, to effectively break their oath. It was tacit, that not matter what crisis this nation faced, the rule of law, and the Constitution, were paramount.
The Founders' never thought , with the checks and balances in place, that a president, and a group of politicians, emerge that would usurp the Constitution. It took years to get to this point by gerrymandering, voter suppression, stacking the courts with partisan politicians, allowing unending supply of money, disinformation, etc. to have Trump emerge. Trump is the result of a near five decade push by the GOP to become the one and only political party.
The Founder's purposely defined political parties, as they knew what political parties did within England. The US nevertheless created them anyway, as the result of the Electoral College; two dominant parties.
So, Trump is the culmination of a series of unfortunate events. No matter what happens in the months and years to come; Trump and his party have done serious damage that will take years to undo; if at all. Especially with a politically polarized, partisan Supreme Court.
8
The coming impeachment trial is going to reveal how unfit for Office so many Republican Members of Congress are.
The trial wiil also raise the question of why our Federal Judicial System is so slow in considering the many vital Constitutional issues involving this impeachment.
Finally President Trump’ corruption is going to be revealed in a spectacular way. My bet is that matters to 60 percent plus of our people.
6
I taught US history for more than forty years. Reflecting on the history of American politics, I cannot find a more dangerous President than Donald Trump. Andrew Johnson comes the closest, but he cannot match Trump.
The GOP has abandoned its responsibility to preserve and protect this Republic. In some cases members of the GOP do not appear to even understand that their first responsibility is always to the United States, not to an autocrat whose actions and words are scornful of everything good the US has accomplished in more than two centuries.
Some Republicans certainly appear to be ignorant of the nation's past, and this is a further abandonment of their duties as members of the House and Senate. If they knew much about history in general, they would hear the eerie echoes of Europe in the 1930s, and of all the despots and authoritarians since.
Those who fear for this Republic will not find its salvation in the hoped-for conversion of GOP. For whatever unpatriotic reason, they appear to prefer Trump to Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt. None were perfect leaders, but they knew their history and responsibilities.
12
The Founders are not the best ones to pass judgment. After all many were slaveowners and they wrote slavery into the Constitution. They might well consider demagoguery the worst. But that reveals their monumental blind spot. The greatest threat to Constitutional principles was slavery. And the darkest moment was when Chief Justice Roger Taney declared that slavery was the law of the land in the Dred Scott decision.
1
I didn't believe Zakaria's statement in WaPo "The President of the United States can now order the execution of American citizens who are deemed by him to be terrorists without due process."
This was only intended for national enemies, al qaeda or ISIS etc. but the law does not define it as such. It is the President's decision to make. Trump has declared Democrats along with any of his own party who opposed him as "the enemy." There is no longer anyone in the Military chain of command who will disobey his orders.
We forget how many heinous dictators reached their position though elective office, some with term limits that they simply eliminated. It would be foolish to go into the mistakes, both trivial and profound, that have been made by the opposition.
America has an extraordinary run under it's second constitution of 1787, that's close to a quarter of a millennium. Few such foundational documents in all of history have lasted this long.
The deluge of calumny that this paper and "the media" hurls at Trump, may still be cathartic, but he and his regime will not be convicted by the Senate, nor do I believe he will accept an electoral defeat in 2020. When asked if he would accept the vote in 2016, his response, "Only if I win" was not a joke-- and less so in 2020
15
Never held public office but is holding the American people in two separate hands, creating disunity of such magnitude that its eventual undoing will unite these same people into a calamitous episode of revengeful soul-searching, further enhancing the arena for the next ever-Trumper.
2
@Richard Burke
Huh?
I like it but huh?
If I were Jefferson looking from afar, it would be Buchanan. Buchanan was corrupt and incompetent and, above all, he let the country slide into Civil War. The Trump story is not over, and we may soon be done with him. Demagoguery threatens constitutional principles. But Civil War could have meant the demise of everything Jefferson worked for and dreamed about.
1
Trump will be gone soon. Almost all economists predict a recession before the 2020 election. Presidents (unfortunately one has to refer to him as such) do not get re-elected if a recession occurs during the last days of their term. Any one running against Trump will beat him.
1
Optimistic thoughts. You are assuming he will accept the outcome of an election. I am not quite so sure. And I am loathe to think of what violence he will unleash through innuendo, obstinacy, and outright ordering. Nothing will stop him because he knows the alternative is jail.
2
The 2016 outcome was enabled by years of Democratic Party failure to address GOP strategy.
By repeatedly losing battles, the Democrats are losing the war.
Even now, their strategy is in disarray unless Sanders, Warren and Biden are just running interference for the real presidential candidate who will emerge in 2020.
2
The problem is in the ideology of capitalism . It has given the power to the masses of alienating themselves voluntarily.
" La servitude volontaire ": Etienne de La Boetie .1577
And the tenants of capital are so happy to see it becoming that way .
7
The US Constitution is fatally flawed. This has been obvious to those accustomed to the Parliamentary system for a long time.
2
Many excellent points in this piece, but it ignores one crucial factor the founders would NOT have anticipated: white nationalism.
Trump has failed to deliver on numerous promises--the wall is unbuilt, Obamacare has not been replaced with "something great," his tax cuts have not benefitted the middle class or the economy--and his trade wars have been devastating to many who supported him. Yet his support has been unwavering, because he continues to make clear that he believes America is a country of and for white Christians, as his policies on immigration, his statements about white nationalist violence, and other actions show.
The founders would never have anticipated this, because they could never have foreseen the day when white people could become a minority in the US. Trump's base is made up of people who see the handwriting on the wall--they know the US will soon be a "majority minority" society--and they will accept any sort of lies, brutality, and lawlessness from a leader who promises to maintain the racial pecking order that places them and other whites as above all others.
Combine that shrinking demographic with the distinctly undemocratic Electoral College and disproportionate representation in the Senate, and this is what you get.
15
What are you talking about? The founders of America owned slaves.
2
@NorthernArbiter Exactly. Which is why they never would have anticipated this, any more than they would have anticipated that the United States would one day ban slavery and allow women to vote. Their lack of foresight in that regard led directly to the Civil War. But that war brought about changes in our constitution that require the federal government to ensure equal treatment without regard to race, something that Trump and his followers clearly do not accept. To analyze Trump without accounting for white nationalism is futile.
@Joe M.
Most of Trumps campaign promises have been tied up in the courts. The trade imbalance had to be addressed at some point. Would you prefer to wait until our deficits are so bad they jeopardize our entire economy?
The founding fathers welcomed controlled immigration. They demanded assimilation and self reliance. Nowadays we require neither and even encourage the opposite. You can't sustain both unchecked immigration and a welfare state at the same time. Economic reality eventually catches up. "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
The "undemocratic Electoral College" of which you criticize was carefully crafted to protect our (Constitutional Republic) from descending into mob rule. To protect citizens in remote areas of the country (some of whom feed the nation) from decisions made by people in higher density areas that think they know what's best for everyone.
Can you please explain the brutality and lawlessness Trump supporters are accepting or encouraging? Most are tired of the endless accusations, nonstop hypocrisy and all contrary evidence being ignored. None of the hearsay presented thus-far has warranted impeachment of a President.
Ukraine, a notoriously corrupt country lost billions of taxpayer aid under Obama and none cared. We have an unsustainable national debt and we are supposed to ignore such recklessness insanity? Lets wait for the long delayed IG report to pass judgement.
There's nothing left of the GOP except corruption.
I remember Rhode Island, and the corruption in that state was intense. But Rhode Island was teeny-tiny.
Corruption like that on a national scale will lead to disaster.
10
It already has.
2
Anonymous in "A Warning" discusses this very issue. Those close to the president know all too well that he is a demagogue eroding our constitutional checks and balances. Woe is us if he gets reelected--then the squeeze will really ramp up, and it will be a ruinous four more years of chaos and divisiveness.
6
@Birdygirl
Right but more than that. A swift descent into totalitarian dictatorship is possible even in the mighty democracy of America. It often takes just one man (usually a man) deluded enough to think only he can fix it. Look at Mussolini, Stalin, Kim Il-sung (became a dynasty)another who can never be cited by name (hint- he is deceased), Mao, Papa Doc, Pol Pot, Mugabe, Saddam, Putin, Assad, Idi Amin. I could go on as it is a very long list. Not saying there is an exact equivalence of course; I am merely pointing out the it only takes one man.
2
@Bob Guthrie a dynasty of Trumps - OMG
It is not only that the Trump presidency is exposing the constitutional (or not) difficulties of impeachment of a demagogue or a miscreant (short of murder in 5th Ave.). It is that he is showing the limits to many areas of the constitution, and the tremendous power that founding document can provide to the president--demagogue and/or miscreant--in all areas of life (for many things can be construed and misconstrued as a threat to national security) and foreign policy where he has full power. His powers to pardon and overrule the military as Commander in Chief. And most scary of all, the power to press the nuclear button . Perhaps when and if there is a return to some political "normalcy," we many need some amendments to the Constitution to restrain these powers before other Trumps come along in the future following precedent
5
Kurt Godel, the greatest logician of the 20th century, while
studying for his U.S. citizenship hearing, found a disturbing
fact: On December 5, 1947, Einstein and Morgenstern accompanied Gödel to his U.S. citizenship exam, where they acted as witnesses. Gödel had confided in them that he had discovered an inconsistency in the U.S. Constitution that could allow the U.S. to become a dictatorship. Einstein and Morgenstern were concerned that their friend's unpredictable behavior might jeopardize his application. The judge turned out to be Phillip Forman, who knew Einstein and had administered the oath at Einstein's own citizenship hearing. Everything went smoothly until Forman happened to ask Gödel if he thought a dictatorship like the Nazi regime could happen in the U.S. Gödel then started to explain his discovery to Forman. Forman understood what was going on, cut Gödel off, and moved the hearing on to other questions and a routine conclusion.
Unfortunately, the judge cut Godel off and the flaw in the constitution was not pursued.
280
@Michael Todd I've heard this story as well and often wondered what Gödel believed the flaw to be. I have always imagined that he found what the rest of us are now gaining experience with: the impeachment process depends on the House and Senate acting in good faith.
78
@Michael Todd You don't say what the flaw is or was .
???
8
@Michael Todd apocryphal.
Trump doesn't control the military. He may think he does, but he doesn't. They may be our last bastion against a rogue Republican party and their president. Let's hope, though, it never, ever comes to that. A coup is the last thing we need. The last. The very last.
2
After this horrid nightmare is over, it is extremely clear what must be done to prevent it from recurring.
We must throttle down the power of the executive and expand the Supreme Court so that it is less likely that we will again be faced with an out of control executive backed by a Party that is, in effect, siding with a foreign power that has attacked us in order to gain more power for itself and it's chosen demagogue.
The idea that a rogue President can just ignore an equal branch of our governmental system has to come to a screaming halt. Otherwise, we'll end up with an autocrat that destroys everything he comes in contact with...kind of like we have now.
10
@Steve Dumford: The US Federal Government is a corporation chartered with special coercive powers. The Congress is its board of directors, the Executive is its CEO and the judiciary is its legal department. The present stalemate revolves around the fact that all shareholder votes for directors and CEO are not equal.
2
The problem is not conservatism, which is a simple ideology. It is all about yourself. Take care of yourself and everything is all right.
The problem is liberal progressivism which is too complicated for a significant number of people who cannot invoke compromise to address the problems of complexity.
1
Curious comment, ignoring the fact the Mitch McConnell and the gop slavishly endorse and support the unprecedented hollowing out of our institutions, democracy and basic societal values on a daily basis. The list of these offenses are too long to note here but easy to discern to those willing to discern the news from all news sources. To pervert logic and blame progressives for the moral failure of the gop leadership and this president stands common sense and logic on its head.
2
I think that at least part of liberalism is to take care of others and you will be be alright. Torah teaches us to remember that we were once strangers in a strange land so treat others with respect.
2
The impeachment process seems sound to me. The weakness is that Americans by and large don't believe so much in sin and evil anymore. Since Nixon, a cult of right wingers have arisen who believe (rightly) that democracy is an impediment to their financial interests. They are right about that.
However, it turns out that the people do not like oligarchs buying up the Health Care and Communications industries, forming them into cartels, jacking up prices in price-protection schemes and then charging twice what everyone else pays in the world in a price protection racket every bit as exploitative as the robber barons of 125 years ago did with the oil, steel and railroad industries.
The Health Care and Telecom (ISPs) companies are functional protected market cartels that fix prices and subvert the free market. They say they support free markets even as health care executives divide up health care across geographic sectors (same as cable companies), with one company having monopoly presence in one are and ceding it to another company in a wink-wink kind of way.
IT's a very simple con and the way it continues is by hiding it under a constant barrage of explanatory mush-mush talk designed solely to confuse people and spread uncertainty and doubt.
Read about the "Chewbacca Defense".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca_defense
This is a legal strategy in which a criminal defense lawyer tries to confuse the jury rather than refute the case of the prosecutor.
7
Currently, the Constitution still protects my right to speak freely, consequently I now state that I personally see Donald Trump as nothing more than a two bit hustler, a charlatan beyond compare, and the single most dangerous threat, ever to be faced, by our Republic.
I believe all Americans need to see this mortal threat we face, and all differences must be put aside to guarantee that he never stands a chance of winning a second term.
Vote him out next November, because our way of life depends on it.
14
I totally agree with you.
2
Maybe it's time to reexamine the Power of the President in the constitution.
4
Trump was brought to you by the originators of Liar Loans. Not only did that financial debacle ruin countless life plans, and lives, but it also undermined faith in the system, as many never recovered what they lost. Of course, it was the war and tax cut Bush2 economy which provided the back drop. The irony is the public has turned to the same brand of grade B to D actors, with the same paplum, to revive the economy, which of course they won't long term. This is the biggest danger of demagogues: in pursuit of their own gain, all their decisions are at best short term, or at worst knee-jerk in nature. Trump is the reincarnation of the Know Nothings, combined with Father Coughlin, Preach for Pay pulpit artists, who hide behind biblical verses but truly bow to the dollar. The Founding Fathers had it right, beware of false gods.
3
The question I have has to with whether the Republican senators licking Trump's boots even know they are helping to destroy our foundations?
2
It is impossible to believe that our country is turning into a third world country in politics. Trump and his henchmen are exactly the kind of tyrants we point our fingers at in Africa, especially those whom we think are crazy. His follower are mostly those with the same lack of reading and speaking skill that he has. He is emboldened by Mitch Mcconnell who seized control of the Supreme Court even before this outlaw president was elected. When will the GOP have the guts to stand up for what is right and remove this lying, cheating, poor excuse for a human who is using his office to enrich his failing company? I would have started impeachment proceedings when he stood by Putin and said he believes him and his henchmen above what the FBI and CIA believe about aiding Trump in the last election. Giving aid and comfort to the enemy is treason. He belongs in a nice orange jumpsuit to match his fake orange complexion.
7
Nonsense... The real defense against a demagogue, or any President, is the voters. (Of course, the Democrats must come up with a strong and persuasive candidate.)
..-- But its gonna be up to the voters, as it should be.
1
“...democracycrats must come up with a strong and persuasive candidate.”
Why? Are the American people so stupid they would put up with trump a minute more than necessary? Any sixth grader is better than trump. Anyone voting for trump is either brain dead or hates America.
2
Those of like mind; plan to live a new humble life in a smaller peaceful unmilitaristic nation in the southern hemisphere far from this nation that wants trouble. Until then, repeal presidential unilateral power over the military. Singular leaders always go bad.
It's very clear that when the founding fathers of the United States wrote the Constitution they did not anticipate the level of party over country political self interest that would develop.
It's also very clear that the Congressional Oath of Office means nothing to Republicans.
5
The wisest we know project fear of this demagogue. I agree. He is frightening. But what is more frightening, indeed, are the people themselves. We see today the failure of our educational system. Millions are ignorant.
The 2016 election was the proverbial perfect storm. We held our nose. Bill Clinton was impeached. He pardoned me. I have the only pardon issued to a Wall Street leader, ever. Better yet, I pleaded... at my wife’s request. She feared injustice and jail. Pardoned from my pleading. Investigated for 8 months because I told two FBI agents what I thought of half of the FBI, using my typical scatological. They left furious. Did their job. They looked for anything. Still, Bill Clinton reacted when I stripped him with two witnesses, left him no place to hide. That was my compliment to a troubled man, a good president... really. I spoke my heart to President Clinton. He needed to hear what I said. And he knew it.
What would I say to President Trump. I have been asked by three to speak with him. I asked to speak with his wife and her son in front of him, first to the son, then to the First Lady. I would then excuse them.
To DJT I would start as follows.. you asked me to come... and I spoke to President Clinton, who swore he would not pardon me.
For you, Sir, let’s start with a mutual promise. I will not lie to you, kindly reciprocate. I will help you as long as you can resist lying.
My offers were declined.
1
The House impeachment gambit was never going to be anything more than an anti Trump 2020 PR stunt. It has always been a foregone conclusion that the Republican controlled Senate would never, ever seriously contemplate the impeachment of Donald Trump. There is nothing wrong with an examination of Trump conduct, but don't waste everybody's time by conducting an impeachment investigation that already has a predetermined outcome. Perhaps the impeachment exercise was just the Democrats way to secure anti Trump coverage while the Democratic party sorta out its own 2020 leadership mess. American politicians must get past the impeachment noise and debate ideas and solutions to American problems.... Polling suggests only a moderate Liberal Presidential candidate has any chance of defeating Donald Trump in 2020. No star Democrat party candidate exists as any serious threat to Donald Trump in 2020. The sooner the Democrat party gets over it's Trump impeachment stunt, and accepts it for the failure it will be, the greater their chance of victory in 2020. There is no easy path to defeating President Donald Trump and the impeachment path was doomed from the day the Meuller report was published. Obsessed over broken and failed Ukraine? You can't be serious.
2
If anything, the impeachement proceedings are compelled by Trump's breaching of our basic values and the Constitution. The impeachment is important for us as a nation to stop and remind ourselves of what we value as a society and a nation. What the senate does is irrelevant so long as the President's conduct is detailed in all its ugly forms so that those boundaries to decency and patriotism are underscored. It's almost like the dissents in Supreme Court briefs such as the Dredd Scott decision, whereas the majority decision made the civil war inevitable.
5
Impeachment is necessary to show all the criminal activity of this administration and let the American people know that the house is doing its job of trying to rid ourselves of a criminal “president.” If the senate republicans fail to do their part of the job of getting rid of him in the face of overwhelming evidence that is simply proof of their total corruption. And if anyone votes for him in the next election, it is proof of their corruption.
3
He can't stay there if he's voted out. Where is the alternative candidate who is going to get the votes of the American people? There is none, right? How is this possible? Why is this possible? The excuse makers know this. Time to move on folks.
A very interesting response. How do you know none of the candidates would not make a good president? You only know what is being spun by the very man they will run against. You may not realize it, but he’s remarks and comments are parroted by thousands and are already infiltrating your subconscious. That is the problem: the President cheats. He IS a cheat. He will do anything to remain in power, regardless of the next election outcome. Mark my words, he will not go gentle into that good night.
1
There is no politician alive that doesn't use demagoguery to some degree. Hillary used it extensively. Remember "gun-toting, bible-clinging basket of deplorables"? I doubt if her demagoguery would have ended if she was in the oval office.
What Bauer misses is Trump also uses rational arguments to support building a wall, negotiating trade agreements, lowering taxes, removing federal regulatory roadblocks to progress and more. The Founder's would have found him a dream for his support for constitutional adherence. The far left radicals running for President on the Democrat's side are the nightmares.
1
Thank you, Bot. Trump, the Founder’s dream? What country are you living in, what era?
The Republicans go to bed hugging the Federalist Papers, genuflect to the Federalist Society—but now have collective amnesia. Please actually read the Constitution. Not the Fox cliff notes.
3
Can you please please please look up the word “demagoguery” and then reposition your comment based upon the reality of what that word means. Thank you.
2
Actually the “deplorable” line was just a factual observation, proven in spades in the last several years. Every single person who voted or will vote for liar trump is utterly deplorable and anti American.
4
More partisan hacks gaslighting us from WAPO. The founders never intended there be a class of professional politicians, only people like Trump who set their business interests aside for their term. The only authoritarian measures Trump has taken to date have been to undo Obama's.
1
Hahah. This is the very best comment I’ve read all day: “...set their business interests aside...”. That’s a good one. Yes, he’s a regular Cincinnatus. Left the farm - or in his case firm - for selfless non-promotion. Never mind that he has never put any of his interests in a blind trust and still reaps all of the financial rewards of his businesses which he influences each and every day in office. No, truly, he’s set that all aside. Thank you for a good and hearty laugh today!
4
Trump did not set his business interests aside. He is busy promoting them and profiting from them daily. He was he most corrupt “president” in history the second he finished oath of office, which by the way, he abrogated instantly.
1
Great piece, Mr. Bauer. But all is not lost. Everyday in the USA this president is inviting opposition. In the Congress, among courageous bureaucrats and thankfully in the "real" media. Now Trump is taking on the Pentagon, to go along with his alienation of the other branches of our intelligence services.
So the message is: stay the course. Soon (I hope) there will be a unified Democratic voice. Republican enablers will come under enormous pressure to save their skins.
There is hope.
6
A working, deliberative, democracy requires a certain degree of good faith. This is nowhere to be found in today's GOP. The president and his party trade and revel in the worst that mankind proffers. Sadly, good faith, Constitutional governance is a casualty in the making as a result.
The fingers all point at Trump and the GOP leadership. But, is there any doubt about the fertility of the Trump electorate to his malice and contempt for our laws? Without them, Trump would be doing what he has always done quite well ... serial bankruptcy. With them, he is trying to destroy our democracy, and profit while doing it.
10
@JH: Republican "faith" is adherence to disproven and/or unprovable beliefs for a better life after death.
The US always was about wealth and money. It has now been sold to the highest bidder by the ultimate American. Maybe this was its destiny all along. Too bad, it was just getting mature.
3
In a recent Maureen Dowd column, her brother Kevin articulated perfectly why the repub’s support trump, and are willing to stomp on the Constitution and refuse to even consider performing their oath of office to uphold it. It’s all about abolishing a women’s right to choose. Period. All the rest is just noise. I dare say we dem’s would support a lowlife as well if it assured women that right to choose.
That said, I don’t understand how these, mostly old, gray guys, see that single issue as worth trading for our country. Let’s face it, if a President (or any politician) can trade US aid of any kind to other countries in exchange for some personal favor like political dirt on their opponent or, for that matter, a $100M deposit in an off shore bank account, we all fail in our obligation to uphold the Constitution, making corruption acceptable and marking the end of the USA experiment. Nothing is worth that, we’ve been working at this for too many years and sacrificed too many lives to let that happen. Astounding.
4
@Paul Lief It may be about abolishing a woman's right to choose--partly. I think it's mostly about the country's original sin of racism and exclusion. Groups that were historically--and are currently--marginalized are pushing their voices forward and white males are scared witless. They'd rather see the whole ship go down if they cannot have total power. Solution for the long term? Better education for all. When we all know better we'll do better.
I'm relieved to hear that the leaders of our military, on the whole, remain focused on keeping us safe.
A despot sets up tests everywhere -- like a predator grooms a victim. Is this breach of conduct okay? Will you tolerate this? Why aren't you loyal? Can you really leave me? You'll be nothing without me. Let's keep this a secret.
A call that's "perfect" isn't a claim about the absence of bribery or the presence of innocence. It means "I know how to communicate nothing at all."
"How was your visit with Uncle Pete?" a parent asks. Predator Pete speaks first. "It was perfect," he says.
Analyzed through the lens of abuse, the resistance of career officials and the military -- and, I hope, the Supreme Court -- is essential. American citizens are not children, but each news cycle asks us to accept just one more violation.
The impeachment inquiry puts the predator on notice. The Republican wall of resistance becomes all the more repugnant when compared to bystanders who know exactly what's happening.
6
Oh, please, spare me you shrieking outrage, Mr. Barack Obama appointee, and your pretentious recitation of what the "Founders intended." The case for impeachment is slim, the testimony to the House Intelligence Committee was conflicting and based mostly on hearsay. Mr. Bauer's former employer Obama exercised executive privilege to block testimony, as did G.W. Bush and Clinton before him. Former V.P. Biden has talked on video about his quid pro quo with Ukraine, and even told the person objecting to "go ahead" and call Obama. If Mr. Bauer wants to remain pompous about this, he can go ahead. But there's not enough evidence -- beyond partisan political opinions -- to reach the high bar needed to impeach a president, and many people know that.
2
“The case for impeachment is slim”
Any “president” who lies to the American People over 13,000 times (proven) is abusing his power and should not hold any office. That alone is a of for impeachment for normal people The fact that you repubs support his lying just shows how far gone you are and how utterly corrupt and anti American you are. Shame on you.
1
In order to successfully subvert democracy, one must embrace the democratic process.
The more the Democrats keep pushing this 100% partisan impeachment, the less likely it is that they can win the White House and keep the house in 2020. Polls in the swing states should scare the Democrats as they are showing a push back against the impeachment that started before the president took office amongst the radical Democrats and their media accomplices. And the Emerson and Rasmussen polls of two weeks ago showed minority support black and Hispanic rising dramatically for the president. And why not? With wages rising and full employment and a president that is standing up for our borders and sovereignty
3
@Mitchell myrin The impeachment process is not partisan. Implying so is perhaps the main strategy of the Trump and the Republicans. By posting this comment, you also are pushing this lie and clearly oblivious of the contents of this Opinion piece. The Democrats are pursuing the law via the mechanism given in the Constitution. Implying otherwise is pushing lawlessness.
13
The treasonous cowards in the Republican Party who shamelessly lie (Lindsey Graham, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, on, and on...) and of course the constant propaganda from the mendacious foghorn, Fox News, are complicit in maintaining the reckless, pathological lying criminal, Donald Trump in the White House. One day there'll be a reckoning, and all wrongdoers will face justice, but alas, by that time it may be too late.
18
@Marc Castle Right, Democrats love weak Republicans like John Kasich and nowadays MItt Romney. Republican voters love weak Democrat candidates too. Keep 'em coming.
1
The crying has already started and we haven't even had the election yet.
Just admit the Democratic Party has splintered into several factions. Each faction is much more interested in their platform than they are in winning an election. The Democrats are handing the election off to Trump.
The Republicans don't have the "perfect' candidate, but instead of weeping about it; they are completely focused on re-electing the one they have.
4
Read: America’s Goodly Veneer Was a Lie. Written by Garret Epps in the Atlantic. Google it. So chilling
1
Did Trump just simulate an orgasm at a campaign rally? To mock perceived enemies in the FBI? How much worse can this man get? Yes, he can get worse, a lot worse. What is wrong with Americans who find this behavior of our head of state acceptable?
8
A minority of citizens exercising absolute power over a dissenting majority is a recipe for civic instability, civil collapse, and violence.
The peaceful, willing transfer of power is a rare and fragile phenomenon in human history. There are no guarantees.
7
@Naomi -
The United States Constitution is our guarantee. The strength of that guarantee is certainly being tested during the impeachment process. I'm dubious about its chances for passing the midterm exam.
The final exam - I hope - will come after the 2020 presidential election. There I'm cautiously optimistic it will in the end prevail, but not without a lot of threats and posturing and circulating of conspiracy theories. I'm having a hard time imagining even the most fervid of this president's supporters in Congress going along with him if he refuses to leave office after having been defeated at the polls.
On the other hand, this presidency has taught me to imagine the unimaginable - like, for instance, this country re-electing this man, when half of it believes he should not only be impeached but convicted of high crimes and misdemeanors and removed from office.
The Constitution guarantees us many rights. Some of us have assumed that - somewhere under the heading of the right to the Pursuit of Happiness - there is a right to Complacency, but if that was ever the case, which I doubt, it's certainly not the case now.
This living document of ours requires vigilance and some tending to, and now is one of the times we most need to remember that.
2
I was against much of what the GWB administration did, both in wars and in Domestic agenda but Iw as never ever scared. I can't say that now. It's as if the Republican party wants the US to become an Oligarchy like Russia. Voter restrictions, unwilling to hold this President accountable to his actions, Now Parroting Russian Intelligence Conspiracy theories, where do they think this will all lead? They can't think the US will survive this.
8
When the system becomes so unbalanced demagoguery attracts patriots embedded deep within the bowels of government, such as the CIA whistle blower, who in this case will likely one day be determined to have been the intelligence community itself at the highest levels.
The NYT needs to run these kind of Op-Ed from independent academics and lawyers.
It plays right into the Trumpists' hands to publish anything from a former Obama administration official.
What are the editors thinking?
2
@Bill Wolfe Do you really think Trump supporters care who writes these editorials? Anything critical of Trump will be dismissed out of hand, even if it is written by one of his former cabinet members. In Trump World, there can only be supporters and enemies.
1
I’m not sure the founders could have ever imagined a president as disgusting and criminal as DJT....
I don’t think anyone alive today could have imagined this ten years ago.
10
1. Impeach and he will be exonerated by a feeble GOP majority.
2. Let the voters speak and vote him out.
3. When he refuses, storm the White House and arrest him.
8
This is all very simple. Trump has committed treason through his alliance with Putin. Try him for treason, he will be found guilty, the remedy is spelled out in the Constitution...time to move forward!
6
The Founders’ worst nightmare was King George and the Parliament. Even a slightly informed understanding of what motivated our Founders explains why the Constitution so thoroughly constrains the presidency and other branches of government.
Trump may be a world-class jerk, but his ability to inflict damage is minuscule compared to what the king and Parliament could and did do to Americans. Just look up the “Intolerable Acts” and you’ll see real power being flexed.
Donald Trump will pass from the scene and our Republic will go on just as it did before. Enough with the hyperventilating.
1
Ever noticed....
that despite his words of angry outrage....his references to fake news, failed news, witch hunts...and the like....
he always, always, always...talks with his hands UP and OUT FORWARD.
he is always defensive, always excusing his behavior.
because at his heart and at his core, he knows he is a weak man and a total fraud. trump is a coward and when he is defeated in the next election, and he will be, we can forget about him completely.
12
Scary times ahead. Good luck getting that monster out of office. Unless he is removed, dies or loses the election by a landslide. This country is not going to be the same again. It’s not hard to imagine a post apocalyptic scenario unfolding in the future.
7
All the more reason Trump and his party must be rejected at the polls next November. If we no longer deserve to govern ourselves, our kids have a right to know so.
4
It is ironic that the founders didn't trust the people enough to let us elect our president by popular vote. Their excess of caution, their hint of fear of democracy, gave us the electoral college, which was responsible for bringing us the demagogue they feared the most. And it could now be responsible for the end of the democratic institutions the founders worked so hard to establish.
Yes, of course, there are other important factors that led us to this tipping point, but the electoral college pushed us over the edge. What would our country be like now if Al Gore had taken office in 2000? A minority of brainwashed Americans could not have enabled this criminal presidency, no matter how many right-wing agitators' lies were spewed. The majority would have prevailed.
8
They did not see the corrosive effect of highly partisan political parties. George Washington fretted about that quite a bit, as he became aware that Jefferson was doing his best to sabotage his policies while serving in Washington’s cabinet
1
The Founders would no doubt be horrified that dishonorable politicians would give the country away to a Demagogue merely to keep their jobs, e.g Lindsay Graham. Going against Trump may cost them their jobs but save the country. Not holding my breath.
5
We can count on the military to defend the constitution and do what is right for the country. Trump is an illegitimate president who won in 2016 with the premeditated help of Putin. Either through impeachment or the loss of the 2020 election Trump might not leave the office. Before this even happens, we need a military coup by some of the true American patriots in our Armed Services who can oust the Trump administration and call for new elections. We need to reverse the stain of the Trump/Putin rigged election of 2016. Democrat House and Senate members need to start meeting in secret with Joint Chiefs of Staff members and plan to restore democracy.
1
Give it a rest and focus on November 2020. Find a candidate that the people want to elect. You've had three years to do so.
A misdirected and incompetent game plan has put us right here.
Too late for excuses.
2
This is why Trump will claim not only a second term but a third and a fourth and however many until his sclerotic, rotted heart finally gives out. The American constitution does not have a remedy for this. We cannot look to our liberal leaders who, bound by decorum and precedent, refuse to prepare for what we all know is coming. There is a significant portion of this country laying the groundwork for fascist totalitarianism. The only way this will be resolved is in the streets, and right now our side is woefully unarmed and uncoordinated compared to the reactionaries.
Nancy Pelosi will not save us. Only books, and solidarity, and probably guns.
3
He is not young, he can’t go on forever!!
Here's what I don't get: if Trump had a winning personality, or was able to make even ONE actual friend, then I might be able to understand people standing by him. But he has tainted everyone who comes near him; stabbed almost everyone in the back on their way out; savaged the people on his OWN team multiple times, even as he has been so incompetent and erratic that he undercuts the very people he is screaming at to do something (e.g. the wall he wanted during the shutdown, for just one example) -- so why stand by him? Isn't he exactly the odious sort of person that people stand apart from and say, "Gosh, what a shame" when they are in trouble? Why stand by this piece of bilge? We talk about what Putin has on Trump, but what has he got over the entire House & Senate? It beggars the imagination.
20
It’s a mystery to me. There’s no accountin’ for tastes, as my dad used to say.
4
@Litewriter
Jamelle Bouie had a piece in the NYT about this not long ago. Republicans and their voters stand by Trump because they like what he is doing, plain and simple. They like what he is doing and they want it to continue.
They like his unabashed racism (because of white fear), they like him corroding the government from within (because they see it as the problem), they like him sticking it to our allies (because they see them as ripping us off). But mostly, they like that he does all of this with a crude and unapologetic attitude that angers liberals (because they have had enough of people like us).
681
@Litewriter I'm not so sure they like what he is doing mainly because they largely don't know what his administration is doing. Trumpers seem to be hideously uniformed and what they do claim to know comes via Fox and the lies Trump tells on a daily basis. This of course is moot unless the voters see the larger picture. The corrosive effects of almost unlimited money in your political process will result in more Trumps in the future. Are there enough smart and committed Americans that will correct a system that allowed a Trump to come to power in the first place. Perhaps a Trump is needed to jolt Americans into action but so far it's not looking good.
6
so, .. If I got it right, the Republicans decided to sell "Divided States of America" to dictator Putin for a few trillion bucks?
That's really funny :)
3
Founders’ vision for America - how much of that is relevant anymore? C’mon now we have generation Z, China, Iran, Pakistan, and climate change while global nonsense has been checked out and nations like UK and US are going for nationalism.
As an example, and with all respect, Obama checked on all tick marks, but from a historical perspective isn’t his presidency a wash? I mean the guy could not move needle on most accounts much less race relations in America.
People like you who idolize founders and all that old old stuff need to get a reality check of today my friend. To set us on the right direction for the FUTURE.
1
Trump is everyone's worst nightmare -- at least the Founders don't have to be abused by his tweets everyday like the rest of America... I'm joking, of course, great opinion piece Bob Bauer!
5
That's cool; every Democrat candidate not named Biden is my worst nightmare
1
This is an insightful and sobering analysis for those of us who believe that Trump is a lying, belligerent, abusive, ignorant and corrupt man. The future of the United States appears bleak indeed with him as the demagogic leader. But there may be redemption for us, but not from the Republican party. Redemption may come from Trump himself. As demagogues go, he is not too shrewd. He is impetuous, tactical, not strategic, he is disorganized and he is over-confident. I believe Trump will continue to make the mistakes of an over-confident, stupid man as 2020 unfolds. He may win the Senate trial in 2020 and that will persuade Trump that he is unstoppable. He beat the wrap! Nothing can stop him, not the Democrats, not Pelosi, not the media, not the courts! That will lead Trump to behave more egregiously than ever. His worst and most dangerous behavior is yet to come, which we voters will see day in and day out. And every Republican Congressperson will be on the record supporting him, especially those Republican Senators who voted to acquit him. Trump being Trump will sink himself and the Republican party along the way. Lets hope the collateral damage to the rest of us is not too severe.
5
America was spared a President Wm Jennings Bryan, Huey Long or Spiro Agnew, only to get . . . in the end . . . Trump.
3
It is an undisputed fact that Trump has been sent by God to lead the USA to a higher level of consciousness and prosperity. Fortunately tens of millions of the faithful were prepared for his coming by the prophet Murdoch, whose unceasing efforts will be rewarded appropriately in the next life.
When those who read The Times broaden their sources of facts they will realise how much they have to gain by falling into line. Their superiors will look after all their needs, the same as they have for the early adopters of the new philosophy.
Join those who have already found the inner peace that comes with not worrying about the quality of air, water. The only value they need is the messiah’s golf handicap, a far more pleasing number than any used in the fake news stories about climate.
Save your souls by following the lead of the evangelicals and Republicans who have embraced Trump’s vision.
5
@Dan Yes we Aussies have known about Murdoch for a very long time- since before Whitlam. For decades to win power in Australia you needed St Rupert of Melbourne to form a government. He has done media manipulation forever. Poor America. Sorry guys. did you not see his history in the UK? America you should have vetted his admission to America; he is way more dangerous than MS 13.
Americans reading this might be alarmed to know the following:
"Murdoch studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Worcester College, Oxford in England, where he kept a bust of Lenin in his rooms and came to be known as "Red Rupert"." Wikipedia
Well he is still red in a way.
We, on the left, must always beware of the fact, that the overwhelming number of the demagogue Trump' supporters, are self-professed Evangelical Christians, who, if and when they get to the Christian heaven, it will be a socialist/communistic paradise, with no democracy (but a forever dictatorship) -- there will be no freedom of religion (everyone will be compelled to be, an evangelistic Christian) no elections, no freedom of speech, or the press (because there won't be any) and everyone can own a firearm (to protect themselves, in the even the Devil decides to launch an invasion of heaven).
47% (more or less) of Americans (Fox propaganda exclusivists) are basically authoritarians -- therefore, the other 53% must be sure to vote accordingly.
4
Says a lawyer, who, along with a fawning, groveling press, was happy to lie, protect and cover up for a president, Obama, who repeatedly overstepped his constitutional authority during his eight years in office.
2
@Jeremy Kaplan
Were those "oversteps" challenged in court? Did Obama prevail? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. Were those "oversteps" challenged by Congressional impeachment? Clearly "no." Therefore, in the words of those who Trump supporters (like yourself) when reminded that Trump lost the popular vote: Get. Over. It.
More importantly: no one in the history of the White House has had such an imperial view of Presidential Authority as Trump's current Attorney General William Barr (aka "A Bar to Justice"). I don't see your ilk complaining about his advocacy of overstepping, nor his actual oversteps, such as whitewashing the Mueller report, especially Trump's obstruction. So let's be honest: you don't care about overstep or obstruction so long as it serves your President and policy goals you share with him. Kay?
6
Indeed, the Founding Fathers never could have foreseen the perfect storm of Donald Trump, a wimpy GOP, self-serving social media companies like Facebook, the right-wing media, and the disintegration/distrust/demonizing of a free press.
America and the world should be very worried about the outcome of the impeachment hearings as well as the next election. What started with jeering as Trump descended the escalator in Trump Tower and horror when he won is now replaced by despair because people who took an oath to serve and protect this country is doing the opposite in the name of party politics.
3
It has been known since ancient Greece that a fundamental problem with democracy is mob rule. That is why Socrates and Plato did not support democracy in Athens. And now after almost 250 years democracy in the US is succumbing to mob rule. There are mobs on both the right and left. You can clearly see the mob at Trump rallies where protestors are violently attacked and there are chants to lock up opponents. We also saw a mob on the left during the 2016 Democratic primary when the so-called Bernie Bros physically attacked Clinton supporters on college campuses and discarded all civility on social media. While the Democratic Party still has moderates to prevent the mob from completely taking over the party, and Sanders himself stands for civility, in the Republican Party moderates have basically been outed and all their remains is Trump stirring up the mob. While there may be no clear answer to this flaw in democracy it is worth trying to save our democracy which has functioned pretty well for a long time and get it out of the hands of the right wing mob. It may be too late but an all out effort should be carried out.
1
@Bob: What Got Socrates sentenced to death or exile from Athens?
This is such a convincing argument. Can’t someone bring it up at the judicial hearings this week? It should be broadcast widely.
The solution to avoid another Trump is to return to the Parties selecting their candidate for president. Eliminate the public primaries that are fertile ground for a Trump like demagogue to get the nomination. Ever since the primaries were instituted around 1970, we have had more weak unfit candidates for the presidency than ever before.
6
@NOTATE REDMOND: Under the constitution written for West Germany by the Allies after WW II, political parties are comprised of regular dues-paying members participating in candidate selection processes.
mine too
This president has raped and pillaged every single value that we - as Americans - hold dear. We are in deep trouble if he is allowed four more years to continue to do so. The country I have known and loved for 59 years is disappearing. Where do we go from here? That's the question I find most depressing and disturbing.
14
The Praetorian Guard, in imperial Rome, knew how to solve this problem very well.
8
Trump: Guilty as charged.
5
Being a former dairy farmer, it seems Devin Nunes is quite adept at shoveling manure. Jim Jordan, as evidenced by his time at Ohio State University’s wrestling program, is equally adept at looking the other way.
14
Individual-1's attack on democracy is the logical if not entirely inevitable outcome of decades of Republic Party denigration of basic principles, core institutions, public education, and governing norms.
The despised Ron Reagan was perfectly happy to see gay men, intravenous drug users, and people of color get mowed down by HIV. Some people just don't count for the white supremacist Republic Party, and that's not a bug for them, it's a feature.
Now, the universe of "people who don't count" includes all Democrats, women who demand control of their own bodies, students, people who need health insurance, non-white people who want to vote, asylum seekers, the poor, the Kurds and other allies this administration has betrayed, children who receive SNAP, and everyone who will live in the climatic disaster the Republic Party is so merrily, insanely ushering in.
Individual-1's party is exterminationist, willfully ignorant, and authoritarian. It either gets crushed or America fails.
It's that simple, so vote in 2020 like our democracy depends on it.
7
The upshot: The theater is burning. Pelosi is yelling: "Fire!" No one is leaving.
7
And if he wins the next election he will try for a third term and a fourth and a fifth.......
2
@phoebe
Fortunately, they guy is 72 or something, and his following is a cult following. Once it's President Pence, or President Pompeo or whatever other GOP member ( or even Dem) could get elected, Trump's following will fragment. And with his giant personality out of the way, more people will see the mess he has left behind in terms of norms, environmental regulations, the deficit and our relationship with other countries. I accept that to many reasonable people, his court nominees are not technically a "mess", although I will say the GOP lost all credibility to me after the Gorsuch situation.
4
Mr. Bauer's valid points underscore why Mueller should have included counts against Trump related to the Stormy Daniels allegations in his report. He clearly violated Campaign Finance law to improve or enhance his chances of winning the presidency by paying off the porn star with whom he'd had an affair a decade earlier. By violating the law to gain office, he now enjoys the benefits the office has in providing at least temporary protection from the law as a result of the DOJ's OLC memo which Barr follows. No president should be allowed to stay in office once it is shown he violated the law to gain power. That should be per se impeachable.
6
So the American republic fails just as the Founders feared and sought to prevent: at the hands of a demagogue. A demagogue aided by a foreign power and aided and abetted by a political party. The Founders also feared foreign corruption and influence and political factions. How prescient they were. RIP USA. No longer a "shining city on a hill" but just another corrupt banana republic. It was a good 240 years until the Electoral College selected the demagogue, liar, racist, misogynist, xenophobe, and Russian asset, Donald Trump.
15
Even more than Trump the Founders would be appalled by the Republicans, cowardly toadies who knowingly and even gleefully participate in the destruction of our system of checks and balances.
10
None of this, not Trump, not the Republican party, and not Fox News work without an underlying rot. That rot is that a very large plurality of Americans so fear and hate things that are strange and new--that is: they are conservatives--that they would love and vote for *anyone* that promises to hurt those they fear and hate.
They are not stupid, and they have not been tricked. They hate you and want to hurt you. Literally nothing else matters to them. And THAT is the problem.
6
@J c
They are shooting through their own foot to try to lodge a bullet in the people they hate. It's ridiculous. It's also pathetic, because whatever happens with "Merry Christmas" and abortion and LGBTQ rights and so on, the underlying culture war has already been lost for conservatives. The hearts and minds of most Americans on these issues are mostly with liberals or centrists and will not change even in the laws do. We will never return to the 1950s in our hearts.
2
As a member of a Holocaust family, Trump is my worst nightmare. After Charlottesville where he praised "as some good people" Neo-Nazis marching in support of white supremacy and chanting "Jews will not replace us!" I realized the threat he posed. Then, after his hysterical rants about "caravans" of "invading" immigrants in the run-up to the 2016 mid-term election resulted in a follower massacring 11 Jews in their Pittsburgh synagogue, I became convinced of the evil of his white nationalism. The attack that killed three in a Poway synagogue only confirmed those fears. Now with his escape from impeachment by his "willing accomplices" in the Republican-controlled Senate seemingly assured, I have become even more alarmed and terrified of the increasing possibility that he will be re-elected and that "Never Again" will actually "Happen Again" in the land my father and my mother's parents fled to for their lives from religious persecution.
17
"Trump Is the Founders’ Worst Nightmare." This headline leads me to comment on what should have been 'their worst nightmare' but they were largely oblivious to. As DeToqueville remarked on his visits to the young state, the real nightmare was that of slavery. As for the founders, well US Enlightenment hero Jefferson inherited slaves at the age of 12 and his many slaves were auctioned off to pay for his bankruptcy when he died. What a vile hypocrite. It seems very strange to me therefore that so many in the USA deify these founders and their 'wisdom'.
My point is that the racist Trump's ire was raised because he was humiliated by a black man, someone ten times smarter than him and having a moral and ethical compass that he altogether lacks. That someone like Trump is president is not a flaw of the system but an outcome of it.
8
Donald Trump, the first to be President with absolutely no experience at being a human being.
14
There are so many levels of sadness and dismay at our national circumstance. Near the top is the fact that Trump is such an obvious charlatan, a sideshow geek, a thief and con man who doesn't even try to hide it. But he's convinced a segment of America that he's lying FOR them not TO them, the better to harm and oppress people they hate or distrust.
5
Possibly, even against the white wash (sic) of the right wing media esp. Fox, Trump's Senate trial early next year might be the wake up call to all our citizens.
If not, who really can predict how much worse it can get here in these United States.
The worst of today's news out of Hong Kong, Iran, Russia, China (esp. Uighurs) all are possible scenarios.
Lot of wide open space in the red states could be used for detention camps for all us innocents of just how far we have fallen.
At the international level, it may be what remains of the freely elected democracies in Western Europe, Australia, Japan and elsewhere, including Ukraine, to save these United States from our "worst nightmare."
The founders never conceived a corrupt GOP along with FOX news.
10
This is why the Electoral College has become such a vital concern these days. The notion of the people electing the President is warped by the electoral vote. Most people honestly believe their popular votes elect the president. If one asks Trump how the details of his election should be displayed, the man will stammer and reply with a false statement. Who won the popular vote of 2016 ? I have to shrug, here. Is the electoral vote subject to a gerrymander? Now there's a debate question, for Trump (LoL) and/or any Democratic candidate with a Hat in the Ring.
I want this fixed ... I want Congress to legislate, for the citizenry, not the corporate lobby. I want my country to be globally respectable and that's not Trump
4
What is this statement doing in the heading? "Once in the Oval Office, a demagogue can easily stay there."
The statement implies that a demagogue can stay there even after two terms as president. But that isn't going to happen. When the Electoral College determines a new president, the new president becomes the actual president in January. The new one also becomes the commander-in-chief of the military. Do you think Trump could stay in office at that point?
We are now 10+ months from an election, the campaign is already in full swing. The voters decided they wanted Mr. Trump 3 years ago, something like a majority still support him today, it's far from clear he has injured the nation or the constitution though he has certainly done damage to the Democrats and their political goals. Why can't the Dems just make their case to the nation in the ongoing campaign and wait for the election? Why, indeed! Their great fear is that the voters might choose Mr. Trump again. What will they do then?
3
@Ronald B. Duke
"...The voters decided they wanted Mr. Trump 3 years ago, something like a majority still support him today..."
A majority indeed!
You know that denial of reality is a clinical condition, right?
8
@Ronald B. Duke Trump extorted a strategy ally for his personal benefit. That is very clear if you have been paying attention.
4
Does it not bother you that there might have been a serious crime committed by our president? Last time I checked he was not above the law. Let him get away with this, and what is left to restrain the next president who decides the law doesn’t apply to him?
5
Actually, what the founders could not imagine was one political party giving up on the concept of Democracy. The founders DID imagine a President who would betray the country for his own personal gain, and they DID imagine a criminal becoming President. What the founders couldn't imagine was one whole politic party becoming so corrupt that they would support the selling out of the country to a foreign power. We may discover, that like the NRA, many in the GOP have been "On The Take" with Russia funneling funds to them.
11
@Son Of Liberty: The Founders built an expedient system for thirteen former colonies. It wasn't engineered from the ground up to span a continent.
3
That would make sense given that the founders did not contemplate our system being dominated by any political parties whatsoever
@Son Of Liberty; Nor did they envision modern media and almost instantaneous communications technology, or a contest in which one of the parties supports national political control of the economy to benefit unproductive people. The 18th century political system was designed to more-or-less reflect the needs of the property owning class. Envious, self-interested spongers who make up the majority of one of our parties today were not even considered.
1
I greatly profited from reading this article, but Mr. Bauer makes a mistake that is all too common among Democrats, independents, and people associated with Barack Obama (hello, Joe Biden). Namely, the idea that what we are seeing from the republican party is new and somehow tied to the occupant of the Oval Office. This is where that party has been headed all along. If you don't believe me, double-check what Mitt Rmoney said in 2012 about 47%, and Paul Ryan about welfare. Think about 2008, and how, even two years after that campaign, John McCain likened Sarah Palin to Ronald Reagan. Think of Reagan and welfare and ketchup and trees. Think of Nixon being Nixon. All of this has been building, and Democrats have continually thought that they were dealing with reasonable people.
9
"Donald Trump’s Republican congressional allies are throwing up different defenses against impeachment and hoping that something may sell."
The rest of us — or those of us who are sane, anyway — are just throwing up.
12
The future is still in the hands of the voters. All these articles pointing out the obvious will mean nothing if the voters truly don't care or that there are a majority who agree with the trumpian antics. There is no question that he was Donald Trump before the election and has maintained his obnoxious persona since being elected. The impeachment process has always been problematic. The only answer is to get this man defeated in an election and it is up to the opposing party to nominate a winner with a real "America First" argument. If Trump can convince the public that he is right for America then it is the public to blame.
4
The "impeachment hearings " was a disaster for the Democrats .. most people tuned them out.. and those that actually listened ironically swung on the balance and now think the impeachment proceeding is wrong.. interestingly this swing is even more pronounced for those critical independents that basically decide presidential elections.. basically Trump was inquiring about Biden and his son's obvious corruption .. then a bunch of career bureaucrats offer there interpretation of what the call was all about .. some even quote 3rd hand hearsay.. this is very thin gruel and most reasonable people can see thru it. Sadly since this paper now selectively tells part of the story and leaves other parts out - it has become nothing more than a conduit for propaganda... papers of record like this one and once vaulted reliable news media outlets have regrettably also become casualties in the age of Trump..
3
I am not surprised by Trump acting like Trump. We always knew who and what he was. I am surprised at the Republican party for the kind of cowardice it has shown.
My guess is that we have potentially 3 Republican Senators willing to follow the evidence. If it is as strong as it now appears then Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have an opportunity to stand up for our country.
If John McCain were here there would be four. Lindsey Graham? You, sir, are no John McCain.
We only have a "Republic, if you can keep it" (Benjamin Franklin).
3
In the end, whatever the political system, democracy or monarchy or the rest, is enacted and embodied by humans. Laws don't act of their own accord and there will always be bad actors to exploit the system and pervert the laws. There is no set of checks and balances whether written on paper or stone, that can deal with people who bend or ignore the law when there are other people allowing them to.
2
Another possible #45 White House scam would be for It to keep Its biggest donors informed in advance of It manipulating the stock markets with Its tweets. Is this so low an act as to be unlikely?
Hah!
The White House has seen a wide variety of occupants through the centuries we have been a nation, but only now is designating the WH a Super Fund toxic waste site a strong consideration.
We are getting our just desserts. For years, we have believed the stories of Europeans rightfully taking land from the primitive and savage Native Americans. We have honored the "heroes" who fought against the North in the Civil War. We have locked up African-Americans because our police has enforced the entrenched racism we take for granted. We have looked the other way while our government has invaded and destroyed governments in Vietnam, Korea, Chile, Iran, Guatemala, Argentina, etc. We have been deluded about what our democracy is and what our leaders are doing. Now, it is clear what we are. Our president now is the manifestation of our country's ignorance and aggression.
2
So far the system does not seem to be working. In terms of narcissistic self-interest, Trump is in a class by himself, or at least in the same class as Roy Cohn. He will lie, cheat, lawbreak, sue, defame, insult, threaten.....whatever might work to protect himself and keep his enemies on the defensive. The entire Republican Party is now in the same position as the janitors in Trump's hotels: helpless, intimidated, scared of losing their jobs. We are seeing an entirely new challenge to American democracy, and if Trump is re-elected, the system may start to crumble.
Mr. Bauer has written a brilliantly clarifying article defining the delicate, seemingly insoluble conundrum facing us in the sweaty and foul-smelling reality in our present time. But, he has only hinted what we might do as loyal Americans to block Trumpublicans from subverting our fragile democracy to the detriment of all. Unfortunately Americans do not respond to subtle insinuation; we must be bludgeoned into doing what is right in service to saving our representative democracy.
All of us living in this most disturbing of times will inevitably feel the sting when DJT overwhelms the Constitution, bending it to his warped & nefarious aims. Such a hostile takeover will not spare anyone from the pain caused by a completed transformation of our government into the authoritarian regime that lurks within the mind of our would-be dictator in chief. Trump has shown himself to be unpredictable, inconstant, & disloyal enough to any but his own desires such that no one—not even his cultish sycophants who currently flesh out our national predicament—are safe from thoughtless change of heart & mind from their dear leader’s addled, selfish brain.
Perhaps the threat of Donald J. Trump’s turning on any one or group of us in a fit of perceived self-interest, solely on his selfish whim, is the fear or human principle that should inform thinking behind the strategy of those who seek to impeach & remove the Trump Menace from office no later than right now. It may be our best & only hope!
3
By 2024, let's Hope that we will still have Yosemite. -C
2
Donald Trump is a demagogue who clearly seems to meet the Founders' definition of meriting impeachment. But why are all 53 Republican senators willing to ignore his criminality and their oath to protect and defend the Constitution and the nation? This is the question that will haunt our history if there is one if Trump receives "Total exoneration" and then goes on to get re-elected against a Democratic Party that remains disunited with a weak candidate as was the case in 2016. Will this be the end of our Republic and its "rule of law" that becomes a Russian-style kleptocracy with the new authoritarian rule of Trump? The fear is palpable given the divisiveness Trump has been successful in creating among a gullible public aided and abetted by Fox News and his more than "willing accomplices" in Congress. For this member of a Holocaust family the reality of "Never Again!" is terrifying, especially after the massacres in the synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway.
2
The founders may have feared a demagogue as President but they could only write laws that reasonable people could apply to address one. Like our laws preceding September 11, 2001, intended to guide us during desperate times, they prove to be weak in comparison to the passions aroused by both demagogues and terrorist attacks that kill thousands of people. The reasonable people are impotent.
The press is not providing the knowledge and information that people need to understand how reckless and irresponsible are the actions of this demagogue. Trump misrepresents facts and it’s only revealed to audiences which already oppose Republican policies. The cynical use of the big lie method should be front and center. People should be reminding them of heinous figures from history who have used that technique to control whole nations. Instead we hear complaints about how his lies are taken to be truth while the mass media are the liars. This is not some high school student election, this is our government. But it’s just treated like some big entertaining reality television show.
Republicans will not utter opposition to his misstatements nor actions which make us look poorly nor his trade wars. They fear his stupid and mindless rants on Twitter. The Democrats deliver messages to their outraged base constituencies promising to defeat Trump and his slavish supporters. A true big fat morality play. Nobody is acting like this is a democracy based upon a consensus of the governed.
Trump alone would not be enough to overthrow the constitution. What might just be enough is Trump plus a cowed, cowardly, spineless and increasingly amoral bunch of Republicans in Congress.
The founders created the separation of powers to thwart a potential demagogue and to avoid many other excesses, but they sorely underestimated the depths to which so many in one party would lower themselves to avoid their constitutional duty.
5
What amazes me is how the GOP goes about seeing this as Dems going after the president, as if Trump is a normal, legit president. They all go about making Trump appear as a victim and the impeachment being a sham.
6
This crazy hyperbole is the problem. Trump is a problem but the solution is easy. We vote him out. The Republic will survive. The hyper and dire language used does nothing but to polarize people. Slow down, pump the brakes. Win in 2020.
4
Well, sure. My problem is that I don’t see how any of this tells me something I didn’t know, or presents arguments I couldn’t make for myself. I also don’t see where it offers remedies.
The fact of the matter is, all governmental systems depend on at least a little good faith, at least a little interest in coloring between the lines, at least some basic decency. They depend on some assumptions—some warrants—straight out of the eighteenth century.
You can’t run any government at all without some sort of social contract, in which the bennies and the repressions are shared.
It’s important for governments to work intelligently.
Actions should be based on facts and reason, not merely self-interest and selfishness.
There are such things as facts. There is such a thing as reason.
Governments exist to help the People secure as many rights as possible, and to figure out how to pay for them.
Mob Rule Is Bad.
Trump never cared about any of that, even the eeny bits he knows anything about. He’s not transactional, he’s stupid, greedy and lazy—and rapacious. There are no plans or thoughts: there are tropisms, like with roaches.
So the article’s kind of right, from Derrida’s viewpoint. Trump exposes the idea of the sainted individual that is essential (though cqrefully undiscussed) to bourgeois liberalism.
And ya know what? I LIKE bourgeois liberalism. Because generally, we believe in checking our desires for the common good (and ours), and we usually figure out what’s right.
4
@Robert
Yes.
2
There has to be more than politics-as-usual to defeat Trumpism. We need a costly, and canny media outreach that undercuts the Fox Sewer & effectively pushes back. With facts and figures and no holds barred. Massive and permeating, and right now. Why, it could start with pieces of Trumpism itself, unchanged, e.g., the Cabinet Hostage Video of 2017, where the acolytes sang Dear Leader's Heaven-sent Gifts to His Grateful Nation. You don't need to invent the antidote; just expose the rot to the sun and air.
This is why the anti-Federalists demanded something that became the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They want the the states to have the ability to stand up to a national despot.
Trump is like food poisoning, a temporary experience of extreme discomfort, which will be gone soon. The real challenge is global warming, which will be with us for the rest of this century. It's seven billion people likely to increase to ten billion with a massive extinction of species occurring simultaneously. It's people moving from formerly inhabitable places to places already inhabited. It's a global economy at risk of collapsing. It's people who think that they can be better off if they return to the good old days, ignorant of what the good old days were like. Trump is a stomach ache to us who are going to experience prolonged and potentially disabling illnesses.
I do not believe that Trump has control of the "Voters." Trump has his "constituency" and in 2016, against a "weak" candidate" he won.
When it comes to impeachment, I never thought Bill Clinton should have been impeached nor did I believe the process should have begun. It was a "political" move not a criminal one. As for Trump, while I have more concerns about some of the things he allegedly did, I still believe this is a political action not because the Dems believe he committed a crime.
Donald Trump will not be convicted (though I believe he will be impeached by a flawed House). Why for goodness sake can't the Dems see this and put up a decent candidate to actually beat him. You cannot undo what happened in 2016 but you have the power to change what happens in 2020.
Do it!
3
Pushing Joe Biden is the same flawed logic the Dem party pushed in 2016! They will lose again by MSM pushing this centrist candidate narrative.
It is still very relevant to point out that Trump lost the nationwide popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly three million votes. He "won" the election only because of the design of the Electoral College, which more heavily weights the votes of voters in more sparsely populated rural states. Add the fact that most states award their Electors' votes "winner take all" even if that winner had only a narrow margin of victory in that state. So a candidate can lose the popular vote in the population centers on both coasts, but if he wins by a narrow margin in the majority of the southern, midwestern, and mountain states, the Electoral College is stacked so he "wins" the election.
Trump lost the election to Hillary Clinton, fair and square. The supreme irony is that he's in office only because the Founders feared a demagogue. So they designed the Electoral College precisely to _prevent_ a demagogue like Donald Trump from gaining the Presidency. This catastrophic failure of the Electoral College to fulfill the Founders' intentions is the most profound argument in the modern era in favor of reinterpreting the Constitution in light of modern conditions. It is a compelling argument against rigid originalism.
4
This is a well written opinion piece. However, the title should not have Trump's name in it. Our country is too divided over politics. This is a Constitutional issue that requires repulicans and democrats to look at the facts and put their politics away.
We are supposed to attach respect and trust to the president but they are the same person they were before ascending to the office. Trump was never of presidential caliber and won't be rising to that level any time soon.
"You can fool some of the people, all of the time...."
2
The Founding Fathers' terms of impeachment were written as a check and balance against one PERSON.
They would be aghast that the 21st-century Republican party now necessitates a serious review of the impeachment clause to possibly expand its enforcement against whole GROUPS.
3
With unemployment this low, I think the founders aim at "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" can be more closely realized. For that, I give Donny a nod.
A lot of our complaints our mitigated without work. This thought is lost by most of the DNC's anointed candidates. Elect a Warren and we'll have much bigger problems than Demagoguery. We'll be worrying about the things that really matter (shelter, food, raiment) and not the ideals of Trumps douchbaggery.
The DNC needs a business friendly candidate that doesn't have early stage dementia.
5
@Dude The US unemployment rate in 2008 was 10%. By then end of 2015 before Trump it was down to 5%. How much nod does Donny get for the current unemployment rate?
You forget the huge income inequality in the US today. According to a 2018 report by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the US has higher income inequality and a larger percentage of low income workers than almost any other advanced nation because unemployed and at-risk workers get less support from the government and a weak collective bargaining system.
Warren is looking to rebalance the rights of the working class.
4
News flash: We are already worried about things that matter (shelter, food, raiment). Just because you have a job is no guarantee that it actually pays a living wage.
3
How did we get here? Perhaps best said by Molly Ivins years ago:
“Republicans don’t want to govern, they want to rule”.
7
Trump learned from his mentor, Roy Cohen - who was Joseph McCarthy’s lawyer as well.
He learned to always deny wrongdoing, then attack the accuser, often of the same crime. Of course, he lies, insults, belittles his opponent, then obfuscates as much as possible.
He will never admit to anything. If he loses the election he will say it was rigged, not leave, and try to start a civil war. We are in very dangerous territory.
7
We have an autocratic president who is ignorant of basic concepts of governance, economic and trade policy (witness today’s tarriffs on Argentina & Brasil and his accusations of currency manipulation—currency manipulators BUY U.S. dollars, they don’t sell them), and has attempted to join the executive and judicial branches into a single entity. This will end badly—for our nation.
3
All these comments about the corruption of the Republican party fail to mention the corruption of the "base", without which neither Trump or the GOP would exist. To revive an old trope: "we have met the enemy and he is us". Compare Maureen Dowd's column yesterday about her brother Kevin's beliefs.
2
We used to be able to depend that the scoundrels in our government were few. Not these days. They apparently vastly outnumber those with working consciences who embrace patriotism over party. I'm not optimistic, but I'll be voting in November 202 and if this chaos brings out voters, then the pain still won't be worth it, but the ending of this administration will be a cause for celebration. These people protect each other and leave us to die. So, who are we gonna call on instead?
A different take on the discussion could be:
What is this obsession with filtering everything through the so-called founding fathers criteria? A bunch of slave-owning, wife-cheating, duel fighting white men who lived over two centuries ago.
The constitution they endowed us with is the reason why we end up with people like Donald Trump in the White House, and Clarence Thomas, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch in the Supreme Court. The power that a oddity like McConnell wields in the Senate, who us one of 100 senators, one who represents the State if Kentucky that has a population of 4.5 million, half the population of NY City, is another gift of our founding fathers and their archaic, anti-democratic constitution.
Let’s please turn to the future rather than the distant pass to save ourselves from the abyss we have fallen into.
3
What is this obsession we have in filtering everything through the so-called founding fathers lens? Weren't they a bunch of slave-owning, wife-cheating, duel fighting white men who lived over two centuries ago?
The constitution they endowed us with is the reason why we end up with people like Donald Trump in the White House, and Thomas, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch in the Supreme Court. The power that a oddity like McConnell wields in the Senate, who is one of 100 senators, one who represents the State of Kentucky with a population of 4.5 million, half the population of NY City, is another gift of our founding fathers and their archaic, anti-democratic constitution.
Let us please turn to the future rather than the distant pass to save ourselves from the abyss we have fallen into.
1
In the offices of Fox News, some places in the White House, and Trump's social gatherings at his resorts, people likely chuckle among themselves: "If voters are foolish enough to keep supporting Trump, then they deserve the consequences."
Demagogues rely on ignorance, fear, and hate. Fox not only keeps making money from ignorance, fear, and hate but also now manipulates the demagogue, Trump. The fact that a Fox talking head could effectively direct Trump to meddle in the Seals affair probably exceeds Roger Ailes' and Rupert Murdoch's wildest dreams.
For most Trump supporters, it comes down to their perception that nothing really bad that adversely affects them has happened yet. So, in their minds, what Trump says and does has no effect, is mildly entertaining, and appeals to their contempt for government and for people who do not see the world as they do.
The Trumpists pray on diminished expectations: unemployment is down, but the added jobs don't provide lots of economic independence; interest rates stay low and credit cards are plentiful, so people can consume beyond their true means; most Trumpists don't feel, yet, the effects of environmental degradation, an incoherent foreign policy, or the harm from our endless wars.
Or, maybe, it's much worse. Trumpists believe that, in a generation or so, we're all "toast," so "let the good times roll."
Trump's abuse is open, notorious and transparent. If the legal bar is raised (lowered?) to not treat his acts as impeachable, what does that mean for the future, when a Democrat President, with far more skill, intellect and sophistry, engages in similar abuses of power. The trail of evidence and facts of misconduct would be far less robust than currently is the case, and such Presidential abuse would likely go unchecked.
Republicans ought to take a cue from Senator McConnel's admonition to the Democrats when a few years ago they changed the rules on Senate approval requirements for federal judges - telling them they would regret that act in the future. They do now. This time, it will be the Republican's who will regret anything that they do to advance Trump's political theory that he he is an elected King, above the law and answers to no one on any and all issues.
1
The Constitution is ready for a demagogue but not a political party that decided to go along with it. Obviously something in the Constitution has to be changed so that we don't become a dictatorship.
"As we have seen with Mr. Trump, the demagogue can bully his party into being an instrument of his will, silencing or driving out dissenters. Republican officeholders know that Mr. Trump can take to Twitter or to Fox News or to the podium at rallies — or all of the above — to excoriate them for a weak will or disloyalty."
All it would take is for one Republican senator or representative to confront one of the loudmouthed, lying, gas-lighting Trump toadies in Congress--Graham, Jones, whoever--with some version of the immortal words spoken by Joseph N. Welch to senator Joseph McCarthy, words that put an end to McCarthy's own corrupt demagoguery: "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" Just one act of courage like that could, I think cause the whole Republican house of cards to collapse, just as it did with McCarthy.
Incredibly, the Republican-controlled Senate has the gall, the sheer hypocrisy, to feature this incident and quote these words on its website as, presumably, a high point in the history of the senate even as the Republicans--all of them-- kow-tow to and amplify Trump's lies and gas-lighting even as they know full well--as anyone with eyes and ears must--that the president is very deliberately destroying democracy.
1
There is another way through this, Calexit was popular at my Thanksgiving table in the Bay Area with family from Oregon and Washington as well. We would be a huge economic Pacific trader, who needs this hopeless fighting when you can get a divorce!
”The lesson will be that, in the politics of the time, a demagogue who gets into the Oval Office is hard to get out.”
All you have to do is vote him out. Not really that hard.
3
But that means we have to hold a fair election, and he has to respect the will of the voters. I have confidence in neither of these things happening.
1
Since Trump has made the unthinkable commonplace, it's not implausible to consider that he has made too many enemies to endure in the long run. His paranoia of the "deep state" might prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, with his removal from office through coming through either legal or extralegal means. His cynical exploitation of his base won't save him in the end, either.
True. I just hope he doesn’t cause enormous damage on his way down.
The impeachment inquiry is the realization or the founder’s worst nightmare, which was that political parties would corrupt democracy. In his farewell address, George Washington warned us again political parties. He said, “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
If the House impeaches President Trump because he asked President Zelensky to look into allegations that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 presidential election and the Bidens’ connections with Burisma, all subsequent presidents will be impeached whenever an oppositional party becomes the majority in the House of Representatives.
1
@William Case
Trump is not the leader of half the people, he's the center of an act which focuses upon himself, he has no regard for anyone else. He has mastered the skills of a demagogue and Republican voters are letting him do whatever he might in some kind of hope that he's serving their interests, while his opponents are their adversaries. What you see is what there is, so just look.
1
@Casual Observer
You have presented reasons for voting against Trump, but not grounds for impeaching him.
Not just “look into.” You’re leaving out the most important, and most damning, part — that Zelensky was pressured to make a public statement about such an investigation on CNN. Your warning doesn’t wash.
The founders weren't thinking of what the election of a mentally distressed person would mean. I have thought about the fact that democracy deals with elections by the people - not removal from office for mental or severe physical illness.
What about a person who is severely schizophrenic and hears voices telling them to engage in all kinds of unusual behavior, or bipolar with highs and lows, or as we have now, a Narcissistic person whose only job is to promote himself and his ego needs? Election is maybe the only way to remove him. He will wiggle out of every attempt by the opposition.
trump has shown himself to be a dangerous demagogue, but i don't look askance at him, or should i say only at him. powerful people have been perverting the system for their own ends for years at great cost to the rest of us. i cast suspicious eyes on the people i see every day, whose inability to see past their own misguided rage and compulsive need to control this country have propelled them into constructing a cottage industry of enablers. more than anything or anyone, i blame them.
The author of this (very good) essay is on-target, with one exception. The article is about how a demagogue may pervert a constitutional anti-demagogy. Fine, except that there's no succinct definition here of "demagogue" or even "demagogy." There are merely examples of how the demagogue works.
There needs to be this definition. Trump demagogy is a form, a common form, of identity politics. "You people hate government; I am the embodiment of you, the unrefined, the anti-governmental on impulse. I will empower you by being like you." Let's face it, that's a promise to break the law. Inevitably, a real demagogue (too untutored to know how to constitutionally govern) goes up against Law and Responsible Government; he argues that he was elected precisely to "do so." This is different from mere lies and corruption, as they are discussed by the essayist; this is flaunted subversion of law and of governance in the name of "the people."
The next step is to construct conspiracy theories that make it sound as if the legalists are the criminals, and The People believe it all, but only because they identify with the crook in power. The Trumplican Congress get on board because the Identity Movement is not a political party, it's a well-mediated cult, hostile to decorum in the first place; and is not averse to threatening violence against anyone who strays from the plan.
The only way Trump can get away with his crimes is if the American people continue to sit passively as he and his gangster friends gut our government.
If Americans had the courage, energy and ethics to do en masse general strikes are citizens of Iraq, Iran, Chile, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong and other countries have done, shutting down the White House and Trump's golf courses and resorts, we'd get rid of him fast.
1
It's instructive to look up "demagogue" in the dictionary and the history books because you will find the following methods and behaviors common to all such would-be dictators:
Scapegoating
Fear mongering
Lying
Emotional oratory
Accusing opponents of weakness and disloyalty
Encouraging violence and physical intimidation
Use of personal insults and ridicule
Vulgarity
Gross oversimplification
Attacking the news media
Now we're seeing it all unfold in real time, in our lifetimes. Very sad.
1
It’s almost like Trump used it as a list of what to do. He didn’t miss a single one.
None of Trump's actions---his crimes, his insane claims to sovereign power, or his use of the judicial system to stymie the progress of any legal action against him---would be so existentially dangerous if the Republican House and Senate members were not supporting him. If they were true to their oaths to the Constitution, Trump would have been forced back to some semblance of normalcy long ago.
In the long run, the Republicans will be infamous for their disregard for the truth, for reality, and for the Constitution. It is the Republicans who will be responsible for destroying the American republic.
1
The GOP needs to step up to protect the country.
3
@John McLaughlin
Which country? They are doing a sterling job for the country; the country of Russia.
1
What is this obsession with filtering everything through the so-called founding fathers? A bunch of slave-owning, wife-cheating, duel fighting white men who lived over two centuries ago.
The constitution they endowed us with is the reason why we end up with people like Donald Trump in the White House, and Clarence Thomas, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch in the Supreme Court. The power that a oddity like McConnell wields in the Senate, who us one of 100 senators, one who represents the State if Kentucky that has a population of 4.5 million, half the population of NY City, is another gift of our founding fathers and their archaic, anti-democratic constitution.
Let’s please turn to the future rather than the distant pass to save ourselves from the abyss we have fallen into.
1
I agree that a "weak party" is key to Trump's success. When Democrats endlessly wonder "how can Republicans let this happen?", the answer is: The Republican party is shrinking and dying because of changing demographics and social norms. Any organism whose very existence is threatened will resort to extreme measures. In that way, the Republican party is no different than the Donner party.
1
People should be marching in the streets demanding his removal from office. Where are the protests?
4
It isn't just Trump. Trump alone has limited power, even as president. The galling thing about this all is the acquiescence of the whole of the Republican leadership that perpetuates and amplifies this madness.
2
The founders were educated, navel gazing dreamers. They projected their own beliefs on the citizenry and memorialized those beliefs in the Constitution. Their vision and philosophy, called democracy worked as long as people bought in...and no one was above the law. In Trump they got their comeuppance. Had they anticipated a criminal being elected they would have tightened the requirements for the office of the President...but..they were not thinking about that...back then...
I guess we who can see through Trump's and the Republican Party's shams, lies, manipulations, and corruption should just throw up our hands and give up. It appears each day that Trump will slip through any attempt to pin actual wrongdoing on him, because of enablers. He's an aberration, and his followers?? So great in power and number that I feel it's all over for us. Evil is winning, and the majority of Americans are either too distracted, busy, lazy, or willing to let our country go right down the tubes.
Every action of the current occupant of the White House is in Putin's interest. Undermining our democracy is the gift that keeps on giving as far as Putin concerned.
The most important unanswered question is WHY?
Why are the Republican members of Congress co-operating in this fiasco? Are they too acquiring campaign contributions (bribes) from Russian oligarchy's funding of the NRA and /or U.S. public relations firms making millions from Oleg Deripaska's attempt to lift sanctions on Russian interest ?
Why Why Why ?
Follow the money.
Are these elected officials betraying their allegiance to our country by supporting an American adversary for a few pieces of gold and silver?
That's the big unasked unanswered question.
It’s really amazing that a country with an economy the size of Italy or Spain has come so close to annexing the United States of America. Moscow, the shining city on a hill...
2
The preponderance of those applauding impeachment simply hope to change the 2016 election on the very cusp of the 2020 race. Trump is accused of toying with the idea of using aid as leverage to achieve a goal. Unlike VP Biden, he didn't follow through.
Sitting VP Biden extorted the Ukrainians and then bragged about it - even gave them a deadline within hours of his flight while arrogantly eyeing his watch.
When you occupy the low ground, (indeed ground virtually so low as to be excavated), it is thus an almost impressive display of the chutzpah of these partisan committee chairs as they loudly feign their indignance.
Let us all find out more of what the Bidens, Kerry and Kerry's stepson Heinz were up to.
1
No one could change the 2016 election - if Trump were removed from office Hillary Clinton would not then be president. And let's assume Biden's actions were inappropriate or even criminal - would that mitigate Trump's attempted extortion? No, it would not. Nothing Biden may be guilty of in any way impacts Trump's culpability.
3
@Henry James
Easy to see where your talking points came from. You have summarised them perfectly. It was a perfect post. The trouble is the people who provided you with your points got them from the Kremlin.
You sayTrump's opposition" simply hope to change the 2016 election on the very cusp of the 2020 race"
Well they were forced to impeach him to uphold the Constitution. Pelosi tried to avoid it. Congress has the power- indeed the obligation- to hold Trump to account because of the results of the 2018 elections- you seem to want to reverse those results ( a record victory by a margin of 9 million votes)
2
The first real original take on the situation. And at last a realistic look at Trump as a demagogue, instead of a fool.
But Trump is more than just a demagogue, he is a politician who looks as the Constitution as an obstacle towards his focus and idea of control and use of the President's position and office. And he is committed to overcoming this obstacle.
This is the real flaw in his character as a POTUS. This is where more than any modification to impeachment proceedings, what is required is clarity and understanding on the side of citizens and voters, as to how any President should be amenable to and seek support from and limit himself to the powers vested to the office and position in the Constitution.
Maybe that too could be codified as law or a benchmark or touchstone of the manner of functioning of the President's position and office; and maybe any breach of established norms could be tackled with a more potent and quicker and stronger remedy than impeachment.
Maybe the Supreme Court could have an active bench to look into this on an ongoing basis or maybe a Senate committee could be designated the same function on an ongoing basis.
@ttrumbo Fayetteville, Ark
Thank you. A very thoughtful response.
"Who is he? No, who are WE?"
So many of us are exhausted with the non-stop chaos from this president. But we need to be alert.
The 2020 election is Not about him.
It IS about what WE really want for the future of our country - for all of us.
If we wish to value Our constitution and maintain our Democracy, we need to Vote for truth, stability, equality, the future of our planet, the rule of law, and getting money out of politics.
This needs to be about who WE are.
1
Trump is a businessman who made the US the only country among the big industrialized ones with a prosperous economy at the moment. He is blunt rather than politically correct, but has brought unemployment among minorities to historic lows. The wage rises for the lowest pay are bigger than average, and median wages have risen by $5000 in 3 years, twice more than in the 16 years under Bush and Obama combined. All the economists had predicted a recession by now, and instead we have growth with insignificant inflation.
No wonder he has a good chance to stay in the Oval Office.
Why would people go for a smooth talking demagogue lawyer instead?
2
All Trump is doing is reflective of how the average American voter sees America. Like the one time "the sun never sets on," British Empire, America had its day in the sun and now we are seeing the rise of Russia, China, India as a bloc.
The man won despite, yet with full knowledge of his nature by the electorate, this through an incipient malignancy known as the electoral college, a legacy of original sin. Perhaps it is a form of justice exacted by the gods.
1
It is clearly time for a Constitutional convention.
2
@Adam -- and also a revolution.
1
If Trump escapes impeachment it will not be because of his lies, his bully pulpit advantage or the constitutional difficulties so aptly explained by Mr. Bauer. It will be because of the cynical self-interest of Republican senators who despise him and would not support him in a secret vote but are too scared to do so in a public trial lest it cost them re-election. They are the real villains in our so-called "democracy," putting not only party over country but personal gain over party.
4
In the end we'll find that the election of Mr. Trump is the worst thing to ever happen to our nation.
5
Wow. He’s bad, but worse than: slavery, Native American genocide, the civil war, the Great Depression, Nixon? I don’t think so.
1
We aren’t done yet. Trump could still easily cause World War III.
1
This “despotism” is achieved through systematic lying to the public, vilification of the opposition and, as James Fenimore Cooper wrote in an essay on demagogues, a claimed right to disregard “the Constitution and the laws” in pursuing what the demagogue judges to be the “interests of the people.” trump consistently lies to the public and goes out of his way to insult, trash, and bash the opposition. trump couldn't care less about the interests of the people.
1
Summary: L'etat, C'est moi.
With Ukraine, one difficulty is the gray zone between negotiation and bribery. Let's say I am a publisher, and I employ a journalist, and pay him $100,000 a year for two columns a week. I offer to pay him $50,000 more, for three columns a week. A clear quid pro quo, he gets money, I get something I want, but is it bribery? No. The border between legit negotiation and bribery is a little gray, sadly. Of course, it's when the negotiator gets something that must be personal and that must be outside the scope of the expected or prescribed pathways.
@Bruce Quinn ...There is nothing gray about demanding that the President of Ukraine make a public statement that they are investigating a Trump political opponent in order for military aid be released. It is the way dictators and banana republics operate. What is sad is that so many of our countrymen are willing to pretend it is a gray area and look the other way.
2
Exactly! I bribed the plumber to fix a broken toilet in my house. Had it been merely a payment for plumbing work done it is certain the toilet would have broken again.
Since Trumps is a man without seemingly any morals and at the same does not have any sense of shame, he will and can with the aid of His Party do whatever it takes to be reelected.
2
As has been said, the trump era will be here for a long time to come. Trump is merely a symptom of the disease. Our country is governed by party swings, like a pendulum. Too liberal. Too conservative. Activism ensues. The problem is that conservative swings are much more destructive. Conservative swings need an enemy. They then seek to destroy this enemy at all costs. Destroy China. Europe. NATO. Entitlements. Press. Bolster their allies, rich. Tax cuts, tariffs and laws. Groups that they can use. Russia, Turkey, White nationalists. These changes do not go away. They just diminish until the next despot right winger emerges.
Our Constitutional democratic republic will not survive 4 more years of this demagogue. He thwarts the separation of powers, bullies decency in every twitter, and ignores Russian continued interference in our elections. Policies help Putin while harming NATO. The man is as close to traitorous as the founders could imagine.
2
Astute analysis, but what you're forgetting is that the Founders' did NOT believe in true democracy: The Electoral College was explicitly intended as the first "fail-safe" to prevent a clear demagogue and aspiring tyrant like Trump from ascending to the presidency by its august voters rejecting the popular vote. Did they do this? Of course not, Founders, because you didn't bank on the Republican Party, or any party, being demagogues, toads, wanna be tyrants, and traitors to their own country.
Post-Trump, post-Citizen's United, post-gerrymandering, post-Russian election sabotage, the US Constitution isn't even worth the paper it was printed on.
1
Trump committed an impeachable offense. Just stating the money was released without Ukraine following through on investigations does not mitigate the offense. If you steal something and are caught red handed and give the item back, you are still guilty of stealing. Trump's demands of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens was not just some "tough talk by a Manhattan businessman" as one GOP Representative claims, it was extortion. This has all been obvious. What is also obvious is that while Trump will most likely be impeached by the House, we all know it will die there - oh there will be some sort of fake "trial" in the Senate, but it will go nowhere. Where will this leave us? Trump and the Republicans will do everything they can to vilify Democrats and witnesses through all means at their disposal as pointed out by this column. Democrats are in weakened position and will be wounded by this before it is all over. While no other President in memory,(I am 74 years old) has done more to disgrace the office of the President, and has committed offenses worthy of impeachment, I am asking myself if in the end, this will all have been worth it. The Republicans will be out for blood, and no holds will be barred. We may pay the price of seeing the final death throes of our Republic. If Trump wins in 2020, there will be no going back.
The author purports to know what the founders would think. Isn't it arrogant to think for other people, especially those who cannot speak for themselves. Also, I bet they would be extremely enthusiastic about new Democratic socialist schemes, the Green New Deal, and the efforts to abolish the Second Amendment.
@Gennady .."The author purports to know what the founders would think."....Maybe the author has read what the founders wrote. Maybe you should read what they wrote; and while your at it read the White House transcript of the phone call and the transcript of Sondland's testimony. Case closed.
1
If it becomes this difficult to dislodge a sitting criminal president through Constitutional means, what happens we he/she refuses to leave office after a Constitutionally mandated period of time?
1
Right now there is much hand-ringing and fretting. Perhaps on election day 2020 voters will step up and bring the Trump era to an end? You can be certain that by December 2020 a dozen republicans will be starting their 2024 campaigns. A dozen Democrats as well. The republic is not going to crash and the future is not lost. Mitch McConnell is 78 he's not going to get to obstruct much longer. The impeachment will be grist for TV movies and stage plays in the 2040's. Remember everyone under 35 see Trump and his bad behavior as 'Boomer' problems, not theirs. twenty year olds are thinking about 2050 and what life will be like. Trump is a disgrace and a impulse driven old man. This too will pass. The United States has survived much worse.
The Republican Party has slipped the surly bonds of the American Constitution to touch the face of Trumpian fraud, corruption, oligarchy, propaganda and conspiracy, and they're not coming back.
It's up to to the rest of us to watch the Trump Titanic descend to the bottom of the ocean and then rebuild this democratic republic from scratch.
November 3 2020.
7
"Trump Is the Founders’ Worst Nightmare"
Let's add the Founders to the already very long list then.
2
We are again being reminded that this nightmare is not over yet. The unravelling of Democratic institutions by this demagogue alone are his defense. Bullies (and demagogues) thrive on attacks. That is their best defense. The Founding Fathers, despite all their precautions did not prepare this country for the rule of one like this man has done. Since the GOP has become his personal party and his base will adulate him till kingdom come no matter if he kills someone on Fifth avenue, We, the People have very little resource to get rid of him but to vote on November 3, 2020. I am often reminded of the words of a former colleague about changing the course of government: do you vote, do you protest, do you overthrow?...To paraphrase her words,America has 4 years to think about it and vote because voting is the only way to make things change. These 4 years have been long and we need to gather all the forces we have to finally have the last word over the crimes and misdemeanors of this demagogue, an aberration of history. We need to show him that we are better than him.
No, actually Donald J, Trump is exactly what the Founders had in mind when they established the United States of America. Thank you.
1
He embodies none of the virtues they espoused, he is loyal to no one save himself, and he has never read the constitution, let alone the Federalist Papers. So, yeah, slam dunk.
4
I don't think Trump is their worst nightmare. They knew that "Trumps" were out there. Their worst nightmare was today's Republican Party, which is enabling, excusing and which has themselves, like Trump, become by extension a Russian asset, and which purely out of cowardice and selfishness refuses to protect this country from a man they know is unfit to be president and has committed multiple impeachable offenses. Criminals aren't our worse nightmare. A corrupt police force, meant to keep us safe from them, is.
1
Trump did not slither out of the shadows - he was a well known quantity; a dissembler, a dishonest real estate developer, a person of dubious moral character. He became the Republican's choice to lead their party and they have continued to support him - nay, to egg him on. This fiasco is on them.
“It is a constitutional paradox: The very behaviors that necessitate impeachment supply the means for the demagogue to escape it.”
What behaviors? Lying, vilification, defamatory rallies and a false populism, charges of treason, interpretations of laws and norms as machinations of the deep state, witness intimidation.
All of this behavior rests on a culture that separates an in-group from an out-group, for that is the essence of demagoguery. In other words, the horizon of demagoguery is always extermination: as soon as the opposition is depicted as an existential threat, no compromise is possible. Indeed, comprise – in the eyes of one’s ‘base’ – would be the ultimate betrayal of their in-group loyalty.
But suppose this exterminationist agenda is carried through to the end? What makes the base so sure they, too, will not be targeted? That their freedom will not be destroyed? It seems 40% of Americans now desire authoritarianism, and desire it as a proxy for their own loss of power in an increasingly multiethnic society. What else could justify their adoration for someone thoroughly prepared to abuse them, too? As long as they are whipped and bullied by a white master, they are prepared to embrace demagoguery over democracy.
The only way to remove Trump is his landslide defeat next November. If he loses by ten points, the Electoral College won't help him. If he loses by ten points, he can't cry "fraud" and be believed by a significant number of Americans.
His base represents 25% of the electorate. The other 75% need to show up.
And send every downballot quisling with an 'R' after his/her name scurrying after him.
We can do this. This will be our one chance.
1
Demagogues like Trump do not elect themselves. They are elected by voters who have lost faith in more rational means of governing, aided by a system that permits even a minority of such misguided people to seize control of government.
An electoral college that permits one who has failed to gain a majority of the popular votes nevertheless to seize the presidency enters into that process. Entering in as well is a legislative body (Senate) that can block any legislation, yet allows only two votes per state regardless of population. Gerrymandering of the other house adds to the rot.
1
Bob Bauer writes, "[T]he demagogue portrays impeachment deliberations as necessarily a threat to democracy." This conduct is endemic in every demagogue, given that it is the demagogue's nature to dupe people into worshipping him.
Thus the truth is: Rather than impeachment, it is Trump's anti-democratic actions that threaten our democracy:
* Business and political cheating
* Bribery
* Compulsive lying
* Non-collaboration (unilateral decision-making)
* Belligerent personality
These flaws (and others) prove that Trump is actively dismantling our democracy, and therefore deserves not just to be impeached, but also removed from office.
2
Forgive my naivete; but is it now too much to ask Republicans to stand-up for America and remove this world-threat of a President from office in accordance with the clear intent of our Constitution? What kind of cognitive dissonance/rationalization must Republicans who voted for Bush, Romney and McCain now join Trump in his shameless repudiation of them? How does the Republican Religious 'Right" reconcile their support for a demagogue who brags about assaulting woman, makes fun of fellow Republicans looks, lies with impunity and demonizes the less fortunate and down trodden? The list of yes, "deplorable's" goes on and on. I guess the "Grand Old Party" has morphed into a "win at any cost" shadow of itself - devoid of any respectability. We all suffer because of it.
2
@logic GOP s now the Grand Old Politburo
The only thing that might shake Trump off of his perch is the inevitable disclosure of financial crimes committed by Trump & his organization with Russia. I pray that his tax returns are released for review as soon as possible...also, I don't understand why Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg isn't being called to testify in the impeachment hearings, he was given immunity by the Mueller team but never questioned.
2
Russia plants a mole at the top of our government, dismantles our foreign policies, ridicules our government and our place in the world, and all that Robert Mueller, former head of the FBI can muster is some anemic "report" claiming that Donald J. Trump is above the law, per an obscure "Justice Department Memo." At that point, it was clear that Vladimir Putin had disabled our counter-intelligence capability and probably infiltrated every intelligence agency we have through the good services of his bribed and blackmailed servant Donald J. Trump. FBI agent Lisa Strozik got fired for trying to prevent the election of a Russian agent to the White House. She should have received a medal, and Robert Mueller's name should live in infamy.
1
The Founders were afraid that Impeachment could be used as a Political Tool to remove someone from Office that the other party didint like. Thats why they put safeguards in place to avoid just that.
The Left has thrown everything they can at Trump since they found out he was going to be the new President. What amazes me most with all the high minded posts I see from mostly coastal Libs is how they are willing to ignore these attempts to overturn the election at any cost. This too shall pass.
@South
Sorry. That is pure claptrap and part of the FOX-induced narrative that has no founding whatsoever.
The "Left" has never had an interest in overturning the results of the 2016 election, they just want to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
Russian interference has no place in a U.S. election. PERIOD.
2
Not a coastal lib. Impeachment is not overturning an election. Pence would become president if Trump is removed, not Hillary Clinton. He had no info to blame but himself for his impeachment. Trump seems to go out of his way to do the very thing that will make him look guilty. Constant whining about how unfair this is and repeatedly attacking witnesses is not helping his cayse. He’d do a lot better if he simply kept his pie hole shut. That the president lacks the self control to do this is yet another bad sign.
1
Beyond the Constitution and Trump, a free and democratic society depends on adherence to a social contract that our laws apply to everyone equally, and that everyone enjoys the equal protection of the laws. Well before Trump, a number of Republicans, including Attorney General Barr, have promulgated an attitude of "Anything goes if you're a loyal Republican." and "If you find a particular group repugnant, use claimed religious freedom as a rationalization to bully and exclude them." If Trump is behaving as a demagogue, it is because he is allowed to do so. Laser focus on Trump won't solve our problems.
Despots and demagogues - The Founders’ worst nightmares. No one is safe! The only answer Mr. Bauer gives us is to vote for a democrat in order to expand the federal powers he tells us we should fear.
1
Republicans in Congress are quite similar to the OJ Simpson jury. That jury so disliked the LAPD that they were willing to let a murderer get away with his crime. Nunes, Jordan, McConnell, Graham, and the other House and Senate "nullifiers" so hate the Democrats, and so love holding on to power, that they are willing to condone and empower treason.
The difference is that the Simpson jury had nothing, personally, to gain from their act of nullification. The GOP has its current hold on power to "gain," personally. As much as we may have vilified that jury, the Congressional Republicans are far worse, given the evil of their motives.
If the Founders could see that our version of a demagogue and despot is simply a president who would rather not participate in his own impeachment, they would be enormously relieved.
In “How Democracies Die”, by Levitsky and Ziblatt they talk about the very issue happening today. It’s because those with the power to stop the demagogue do nothing. Tax cuts and judges could be implemented by Pence. Why do Graham and his ilk allow this to go on? They are not stupid men. They somehow believe that they can contain Trump. All for their own career! If this is not a reason for term limits nothing is.
I do not see the system working. Not when power hungry feckless politicians are stopping it.
This is now constitutional republics destroy themselves.
The GOP and the rest of Trump's enablers are pouring gasoline on the constitution and throwing it in the fire.
Honest Americans need to rally against these traitors to the cause of constitutional government and turn them out of office.
This is our last chance.
We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us. - John Locke
The argument makes abstract sense. But what is sad is that the argument is entirely dependent on Republicans being willing to swear an oath of office which they have no intention of ever fulfilling. It's sad that oaths are meaningless these days.
2
Trump has not modified the brass knuckles method he found useful his entire career in high stakes real estate, just amplified it a hundred fold. His daily behavior is the very definition of contempt for the law. The Mueller report, the flabbergasting disclosures, the impeachment hearings have resulted on no personal consequences to him. Congress (meaning the Democrats) must realize they are dealing with a gangbanger and start putting people in jail. It's the only thing he understands.
2
A lot of people around him have already gone to prison.
As a Canadian, I stand in complete bewilderment of Donald Trump's appeal to much of your population. But while I am not a student of your constitution, I cannot help but wonder if the course of Trump's impeachment is not proceeding as your founders intended.
His trial is to be conducted in the Senate. Were your founders really so naive as to believe that a trial by politicians would not be political? Had they wished impeachment to be a purely legal question, they could have put it in the hands of the courts. They did not, they chose to put it in the hands of politicians.
The fact is, for reasons that are inexplicable, more than 40% of your population does not support impeachment. Given that level of public opposition, it is entirely reasonable to expect at least as much opposition in the Senate. If 70% of your population supported impeachment, affirmation by the Senate would be much more probable.
This was the case with Nixon, support for impeachment by Republican only crystallized when the majority of public opinion turned against him.
It is distasteful for me to speak in favor of Trump remaining in office. However it is possible that your founders intended that, absent overwhelming public support, a President should be removed by the ballot box and not a trial by the Senate.
2
The constitution wisely provided checks and balances but assumed that senators would be "gentlemen" like themselves, who would wisely implement the checks and balances. With the current Senate there are no checks and very little balance.
2
Trumps has been involved in 3,500 largely successful legal cases in in the last 30 years which has enabled him to develop the skills against the law that he is now employing now in an effort to beat impeachment. The Democrats are acting in good faith but Trump is playing with them. The issue for Democrats is how to deal with a person who has contempt for the law and the process of impeachment and the Constitution.They must figure out how to deal with a person to whom the law is a game he mostly wins.
2
Trump is winning the battle for America through his control of the voters, his party, the judiciary, the Senate, and truth itself. He essentially profits from a state-run propaganda machine he doesn't pay for.
He's shredding the constitution piece by piece, and in a second term, say goodbye to freedom of the press and separation of church and state, as well as the 14th amendment.
When you hear Senators cozy up to Trump's affinity for dictators, primarily Vladimir Putin, embracing the Russians over democracies, you can see how far down we've fallen.
Of course the founders couldn't imagine a scenario as wild as the one we're living. But their basic premise was flawed, in assuming that a rogue president despot would elicit a huge backlash to protect the constitution, when the opposite is occurring: Trump's party is embracing his corruption and abuse of power.
1384
@ChristineMcM
I could not agree with you more. The failure of moderate Republicans in the House and the Senate chambers to check this president is unprecedented. Who of us would have thought things could get so out-of-hand three years ago, when we all were hoping Trump would pivot, or at the very least, revert from campaign mode to governing mode.
But that is not to be. If we think it is bad now, in my opinion it will only get worse: if Trump loses the election in 2020, no matter how wide the margin, he will claim a rigged election and will refuse to step down. He may even invoke Martial Law under a declared national security emergency. Can't happen here? Preposterous? Three years ago I would have said yes. Now, I'm not so sure.
198
@ChristineMcM Our founders made it clear that the viability of our democracy depended on an educated populace. Now we suffer from a poorly educated demagogue would be dictator POTUS, with an uneducated angry brainwashed base of support. Indeed, as you write, 'look how far we have fallen.'
164
@ChristineMcM Shockingly true, so good Americans of all parties and race MUST do their democratic duty and kick this lying, fascist tyrant out of office.
Eyes on the prize.
MOBILIZE, DONATE, RESIST, VOTE.
139
Yesterday, an article ran in the Times that showed Biden as the candidate that had the most support from black people.
Trump is going to *win re-election. Biden is going to win the nomination, then because Democrats cant get out of their own way, conservatives are going to flood the airwaves and the internet with every single insane conspiracy theory that they can, JUST like they did to Hillary, and Biden is going to lose.
And it isn’t going to matter if anyone else wins the nomination because Democrats cannot win without the support of black people, most importantly black women.
It’s absolutely maddening to watch this entire fiasco play out AGAIN! Why did no one learn a single thing from what went wrong in 2016? I just cannot believe what I am seeing.
Impeachment in the House or not, we all know he is going to be acquitted in the Senate. Trump is corrupt. He should be impeached. But Democrats have a catastrophic emergency on their hands, and they need to quit infighting and figure out how to solidly unite behind a single candidate, and fast if they have even a tiny hope of defeating Trump in the general election.
5
Y’know it is possible for black people to change their minds.
@Smilodon7
Oh, I don’t think black people should change their minds. Biden would be a solid leader who understands the role of the United States in the world.
Who does need to change their minds are the privileged liberals who are unable to comprehend the idea that the world is a complex place that is not at all binary. Those people who refuse to understand that EVERY candidate is problematic.
Those are the people who need to wake up. And they’re the ones who will stay home because Biden doesn’t pass some kind of absurd purity test while the rest of us are out fighting to defend what little democracy we have left.
Clinton lost the electoral college by 77,000 votes spread across 3 northeastern states. Every single vote will count in 2020
The problem rests in the Senate (2 senators per state, regardless of population), and its conceptual kin, the Electoral College. What is the likelihood of a competent senator arising from a tiny state like Wyoming or North Dakota, compared to a senator from New York or California. Are we more likely to catch a shark in a swimming pool or the ocean?
And so, we see in the Senate a mediocre GOP majority representing a small minority of rural folks from Louisiana to Idaho.
Without these errors of democratic design we would not have a Donald, in his gray hair hidden in beauty parlor orange dye, pretender to youth, justifying his acting like a filthy-mouthed schoolyard bully.
A GOP Senate without spines, elected by a rural voter base without education, intelligence, and/or morality. Our ship of fools.
I see a million whistle blowers on Pennsylvania Avenue, and across the nation, who will save us from this corrupt swamp, or cesspool, depending on your sensibility and tolerance.
We'll see what happens, okay?
5
Thomas Jefferson and many other Founding Fathers were followers of the British philosopher, John Locke. He believed in freedom behind one's closed doors. He believed in freedom beyond those doors with limits. Another source is the correspondence between Washington and John Jay (after he retired from the U.S. Supreme Court) especially about a monarchy. Trump is akin to a dictator, a king, and he loves the despicable Putin and has been played by the younger Kim Jung Un. The tariff game is killing off allies and increasing costs for us -- yet, ironically, his DOJ, which does not understand technology, wants to divest our tech companies. In psychoanalysis, Trump is bipolar. As for impeachment, as I recall Ginsberg put up money for info. on Republicans leading the unimpeachable Clinton who was forced to embarrass himself sexually. It turned out that the top six Republicans leading the charge had mistresses. I used to work in DC where I stayed at the hotel overlooking the Capitol Bldg. There was one room leading to the bar/restaurant that had a guard. One night, he was gone, the door was open, I walked in, and there were all the top Republicans with topless teens serving, even sitting on their laps. Politics destroys but here, unlike Africa and South America, we supposedly have checks and balances. But note that other investigations into Trump and his family originate in NYC's federal and state prosecutors' offices, not Alabama, where people from here disappear in Trumpland.
2
This article is the product of a one sided kangaroo court. The other side of the argument will finally be made in a Senate trial.
Trump had every right to ask Zelensky to look into the Bidens. The son of our former VP was in the back pocket and on the payroll of Ukraines largest energy company - a country well known for widespread corruption, and a company, whose owner was known to be corrupt.
Reuters did their own investigation, and concluded that Hunter was making 83k per month, not 50k. Thats one million dollars per year for a 2 day per year job. A job that he never had to step foot even once into Ukraine. And when the investigations finally began to bear fruit, and the owner of Burisma's house was raided, Joe Biden swooped in there, threatening to hold back 1 billion unless the prosecutor was fired. Youre telling us the President is not allowed to ask about such obvious pay for play corruption, especially since we were about to hand over 400 million? and now you want to remove him for even asking? I submit that Trump would have been justified in holding that money back. buts thats the problem. It was just any corrupt politician. It was the Democrats best chance to beat him. Not to mention, there is no hard evidence that Trump actually held that money back. All hearsay. Even Sondland couldnt say Trump directly told him the money was being held back in exchange for an investigation announcement. He "presumed". Sorry, we arent removing a POTUS on "presumed".
5
@Sports Medicine
A President has the right to direct an investigation into corruption to protect America's interests.
A President does not have the right to direct an investigation to advance his own personal interests.
Q: if the "corruption investigation" is intended to advance American interests, why was aid to Ukraine withheld, which was directly opposed to American policy?
Q: if the "corruption investigation" is intended to advance American interests, why was the President's *personal* lawyer involved or leading those efforts and not the DOJ, FBI or CIA?
Q: if the President is interested on rooting out corruption and protecting American interests, why is he focusing efforts only one 1 country and only on 1 company and only on 1 individual? Where are the investigations into corruption in Russia or China or Venezuela or ...?
1
With his own money, yeah. Not by using congressionally appropriated taxpayer funded aid to a country actively at war with our enemy.
This is the Constitution crisis that we have feared.The Greeks were prescient: we are in the hands of the fickle gods... and the gods aren't democratic !
There would be less confusion if the for profit media focused on the the good life and long term prosperity of our unprecedented experiment in democracy rather than narrow self interests. The so called founding fathers were much as Trump is narrowly focused on there own self. They too were racist bigots defining all except white males as less than human.
As for the corruption in our midst it must go base on what’s happening to the rule of law now. When we as a multicultural nation rise above the specter of the past, distant and recent and start living together in the present, the whole world we be transformed from shallow self obsessions into a community of light.
Terrific commentary on our nightmare and one which the Founders could well imagine in their own days w/scurrilous (sp)folk running hither and yon. Trump wins the most objectionable to date by a huge landslide, huge, with his attacks on those who try to show and tell the difference between truth and lying, performance and deception, and just outright amorality from the top thru the Congress. He exemplifies what we find outlier behavior in other tyrants and despots: our very own 'murican tin pot dictator. Outrageous. The photograph that accompanies this most excellent as well.
2
Our founders in their brilliance could never have conceived nuclear weapons, as if they had they would have put more controls in place to prevent mentally unstable presidents. Ergo, Trump is not only our founders worse nightmare he is the entire world’s worst nightmare.
1
Got to get out and vote. The people have allowed a cabal of hateful, greedy conservatives to rule. Despite being a minority party they rule states, the Senate and the Federal Judiciary. They shove unpopular stuff down the throats of the majority based on fear, hate, lies, conspiracies, and fake religious tropes. I'm not looking forward to a partisan circus in the Judiciary Committee. Part of me wishes the House would just censure the President and get on with business. No one will change their minds at this point.
2
Funny. Long before the 2016 election I had observed that President Obama was a demagogue. Always laughing at and ridiculing anybody that disagreed with him.
3
The existence of a demagogue as president isn’t that hard to understand. The highest office in the land would always appeal to the most ruthless, ambitious egotists. What’s truly surprising to me is the contemptible cowardice of the Republican majority whose support for this demagogue is the only thing keeping him in power. Naively, I believed that there were still decent men and women in the GOP who would recognize an existential threat to our democracy. It is shattering to realize that their complicity in this farce to defend the indefensible has exposed the gaping weaknesses in our system of government.
1
The current situation only exists because an entire major political party is apparently willing to become a fifth column for a hostile foreign power - Russia - and its leader - Vladimir Putin.
It's safe to say that the founders never foresaw a situation in which so many Americans would be treasonous in the spirit, if not in the letter, of the law.
3
If a politician intimidates his own party and demeans his office, lies, cheats, bribes, politically and verbally assaults, obstructs - and continues to deftly succeed in all these debased efforts - doesn't that say more about the citizenry - distracted, spoiled, narcissistic, apathetic - than it does about the man?
Until we directly confront and openly challenge the lazy, unexamined notions of our fellow citizens who feed and nurture this shameless behavior, the man will continue in his ways.
We are told to shy away from political skirmishes with relatives and friends who support Trump. But this is where the fight has to take place. They are the fuel that keeps this fire going. They always were.
3
The Founders' Worst Nightmare? Hardly. Let me remind you of Andrew Johnson, whose incoherence, cruelty, and deception is unmatched. Brenda Wineapple's The Impeachers will bring you up to date on demagogues 101. Johnson's reign is a playbook for the impeachment proceedings and unconstitutional acts we witness today. Incarcerating children in cages is truly deplorable, but giving the green light to the very public and systematic destruction of a race of people newly freed demonstrates the worst kind of human depravity. Knowledge is power. Read about Johnson. It may be small comfort now as the hearings clatter on but the current administration has already earned its place in the historic hall of demagogues. Second place.
1
Fine, Trump is a demagogue. What the Dems fail to understand is that 200 years of nonstop corruption, justified as legal because lawyers elected to Congress passed laws legitimizing otherwise criminal behavior, have brought the country to this point. Long ago we turned over, not only our government, but our society itself, to lawyers and their ilk. Trump is a reaction to that: not in the sensible, good government way. The lawyers would never allow that to happen anyway. Instead, voters have embraced the corruption. If politicians, corporations, millionaires, and billionaires can get their's by passing and twisting laws to their benefit, then so can everyone else. The system is rotten to the core, so embrace it and let the rot give everyone a taste. The economy is strong, 401Ks are swelling, many of us (myself included) got big tax cuts, no new foreign wars have been started, Iran is on the ropes, and life is good, or at least better, than it was under Obama, for many of us the bleeding hearts don't value. All of these rule of law platitudes and ideals are designed to misdirect the unwashed masses from seeing the thievery of our political, corporate, and legal classes. Don't be fooled. If your life is objectively better today then vote Trump in 2020. No one is looking out for you and your family, except you.
1
All very true, but there are 3 overriding facts which have gotten us to this point:
1) A DOJ fiction opinion that a sitting POTUS cannot be indicted, even though this POTUS's own DOJ calls him 'Individual-1' in its prosecution and conviction of his personal lawyer for acts committed in this White House.
2) The lack of spine in GOP'ers which turns them into quivering mounds of Jell-O when confronted with a POTUS tweet-storm.
3) Faux Noise Machina's 24/7 propaganda foghorn.
4
Trump will only leave office if he is allowed to keep the money in his PACs and election coffers. We still do not fully appreciate the depths of his depravity.
2
It is true that this particular demagogue's MO is simply to lie to his febrile base and that this strategy (to the extent one can call it that) has worked. So far.
But there is an election looming and the people have the final say.
It is a good time to raise Franklin's famous quote questioning our ability to be able to 'keep' the republic which had just been birthed. But that it is really the crux of the matter.
If we aren't committed enough to honor the laws which we have created nor the blood spilled to protect it, and we hew instead to a churlish demagogue, perhaps we don't deserve the legacy the founders have provided us after all.
It is the greatest irony (of several highlighted by the author) that patriotism is always the last refuge of scoundrels. Trump and his ragtag minority of sycophants are no exceptions.
1
Using the tools of Benito Mussolini, Trump is directly akin to these tactics and consequences. The foibles of democracy requires an usual constellation of falsehoods to win over the weak-minded and ignorant that never read the Federalist Papers. What is unthinkable is that the GOP is willing to ignore the Constitution, ignore racism and ignore the clear and present dangers of fascism. The US Constitution was never fascinated with any cultish aspect of the Presidency or any seat of power except in the totality of checks and balances. How Trump maintains 40% approval only proves how fragile and unstable democracy became.
1
"Very Conduct" = High Crimes and Misdemeanors. I do not think anything the president has done equals a high crime or misdemeanor because you have not proven bribery, nor any other supposed high crime. Therefore, he should not even be impeached. He is not "The Founders' Worst Nightmare," he is their savior. Today's left, incorporated in the Democratic party, on the other hand which wishes to tear up the multiple amendments (including 1st and 2nd) and tear up the separation of powers, and unconstitutionally eliminate the electoral college so their faction can supposedly get unrivaled power, and unconstitutionally pack the court... they, the Democrats, the left are the "Founders' Worst Nightmare."
2
These words will be cold comfort to those opposing Trump and his demagoguery: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.
Welcome to the world of the oppressed in every time and every place as freedom dies. Each rally by Trump is another hammer blow binding the invisible shackles clamping down truth. Every lie passing his lips is acid corroding the body politic. These are daily realities for those oppressed by race, by gender, and by belief.
Yet, Trump is only a symptom of a society that has rotted at its core. The system of laws are under attack. Greed and falsehoods are ascendent. Money has replaced speech.
Removing Trump is a step on the right path, but it's a long, long journey.
1
Trump maybe "Framers" worst nightmare, but built into Constitution are Bill of Rights, which empowers Press/Media to go after scoundrels such as he.
The question open for debate; are Media doing their jobs aggressively, proactively, without hesitation and timidity? I think not as they don't even call him out by what he represents demagogic, narcissistic and authoritarian.
Additionally, there is not even inkling in daily reporting to link his behaviours and actions as parallels to beginnings of past dictators. Let us hope media refers to history in their reporting and stop this suicidal political correctness while there is still time
5
@O’Ghost Who Walks: The Bill of Rights is a list of adjustments to the powers of Congress enumerated in the original Constitution. It is not a list of rights and powers reserved by the people from any level of government.
The talk is endless. In fact, this country is being held hostage by a demagogue who cares for only himself.
2
"It’s all been very confusing."
Confusing? Maybe to people who've lost the capacity to think rationally. But over 50% of the voting public make an informed decision and won't cow-tow to the Fox/Republican propaganda machine.
Research indicates slaveowners felt they were in the right supporting slavery and made elaborate justifications, most notably that Black folks are somehow "less" than their white counterparts. We have the same among our Congress. Elaborate justifications for obvious treason, bribery, shakedowns and much, much more.
My question in all of this is simple; How do they sleep at night? How do they raise their children? The egregious lies can be seen by a 6 year old. I don't subscribe to the "he's a demagogue, but he's OUR demagogue." Trump is much worse and attending any of his rallies makes the case.
The ONLY way America and democracy itself can restore "...the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity" is Trump's impeachment and removal from office.
3
An uninterested and uneducated voting public is the founders’ worst nightmare.
13
Trump is a deliberate distraction from the most demanding issues of the day...the environment, the opioid crises, and basic human need. Even as he waves the malignant despot's flag our infrastructure is decaying, our young people are dying and families are being dispersed destroyed and demoralized. Our heads are in the sand. We wallow in social media and deny the need for mindfulness. Become aware and act!
2
@Estill
If we can't deal with the very corrupt lying Trump, we can't deal with these other pressing matters. All roads lead to Trump and from there, Putin.
2
Republicans have made their position very clear. They support a scoundrel in the White House, they have on)y token respect for the Constitution, no respect for their oath of office and even less regard for their reputations.
I wonder how their grandchildren will feel about them?
11
We are witness to the plunder
Our country torn asunder
Dismantled by the madness of a clown
Now we face our darkest hour
The vandals have the power
And everything we’ve built
They’re tearing down.
8
Republican senators who served in the military should refuse to upheld Trump's lies regarding Ukraine. Trump is shaming the most honorable men, women, and institutions (i.e.-our military) in our country. Honorable Republicans should stop this conman and vote for what they think is the truth. Veterans please contact these Republican senators
6
this is really, really scary! At the end of the day, looks like voters are the only ones who can rid the country of this sorry excuse for a human.
1
Here is the nightmare: The co-opted Senate exonerates Trump and he wins reelection. Who will stand against him and his darkest desires, whatever they may be? In triumphant rallies he will label his opposition traitors. Traitors to him and so traitors to America. The stock market will soar as more and more regulations, written to protect the country, are excised. NATO will fracture. Putin's wars will escalate and America will not stand in his way. The poles will melt and the waters will rise. If we survive Trump's second term we will spend decades undoing the damage he has wrought. If we survive.
6
Trump as president is my worst nightmare, too. And I expect he will be re-elected.
1
@Karen Lee
Then work, work hard, Karen, to make that not so.
A serial liar will continue to lie because because it is a compulsion beyond his control. A thief will continue to steal until he is caught and punished. Trump and his family tried to get dirt on his opponent from Russia at the Trump Tower meeting. Trump saved himself by lying, saying he had no knowledge beforehand of the meeting. But he composed a response on the meeting that was a lie. One day after he found out that he would not have to pay for the Russian meeting in Trump Tower, he started on another deal involving Ukraine in order to get dirt on his political opponent.
If the rule of law dies in America, then America is a house divided and will fall. It will fall on both democrats and republicans ultimately.
As the Bible says, "seek ye the truth and the truth will set you free." I hope that's the guideline that will direct the impeachment hearing, that can save our country.
2
When the thrall Trump holds for greedy and weak Republicans falters, and it will; they always do, many of those Republicans will be left naked.
Sooner or later the ugliness of the Trump demagoguery will outlast its perceived appeal. That is the moment you'll see the more notorious Republicans drop like flies. Which is interestingly appropriate.
3
On the upside, DT is very old. He will become feeble or sick. No one lives forever. No one in the GOP can replace his "star" power. He is that once in a century demogog that when gone, so goes the insanity. We can only hope his obvious ineptitude will save us from truly horrible events that could destroy the republic.
3
Sadly, Trump has infected his party with malicious envy, hostility, and schadenfreude. Where are Lincoln’s better angels?
5
There is one very good thing about the current impeachment process. America will have no excuse for being ignorant about Trump. His corruption will be in full display for all to see. If we retain him, then we will have voted for tyranny for the sake of the misguided notion that he is the source of our “prosperity”.
10
Trump is the rogue president and his supporters in Congress prefer to believe in “alternative facts”. We cannot fix this problem with only one election. Dems must educate voters in all states except for the Deep South.
Impeachment started with British Common Law in the 1300’s
and was included in our Constitution by Founding Fathers such as John Adams and Hamilton. Somehow they knew that greed and corruption could destroy our country. We need leaders such as Lincoln and FDR to end this nightmare.
3
The perversion of the US Constitution, which Trump has so successfully brought to a head in the past three years is, of course, primarily a US problem. But other leaders around the world have seen the success Trump has had in cowing the normal democratic forces of checks and balances, and have begun n to emulate his autocratic techniques - example which come to mind are Israel, Brazil, the UK, to name just the most prominent examples of democratically elected leaders adopting the same autocratic techniques: discredit the media, ignore normal oversight, lie, lie, lie...
4
While the facts against this criminal-in-chief are irrefutable, the willful complicity and complacency of his amoral defenders is as treasonous as the acts that their tyrannical leader has committed.
Beyond a reasonable doubt.
When their courage was required, they provided cowardice instead and will forever be judged to be such by history.
How amazing that our country's experiment in democracy flourished for as long as it did. How tragically ironic that it is being destroyed by those who call themselves patriotic Americans.
4
“Mr. Trump’s White House counsel, informing the House of the president’s refusal to cooperate, declared that the impeachment process is unconstitutional and invalid...and advised that the president would not participate.”
An argument against validity, at a time when our nation is clearly undergoing a crisis of both identity, and values? ¡Qué lástima!
Donald Trump’s presumptive stance is that, per the authority granted to him by the Constitution, he is immune to the authority granted by that same document, which might be used to hold him accountable. Nihilism at its finest.
1
“[If] the committee desires further information from me … I stand ready to answer, under oath, pertinent written interrogatories, and to be interviewed under oath by you and the ranking minority member at the White House.”--Richard Nixon.
"If the committee desires further information from me...I stand ready to deny, to obfuscate, to lie, to obstruct every and all pertinent interrogatories, and refuse to be interviewed by anyone because I am above the law. I am the law."--Donald Trump.
3
Thank you for this opinion, it gets to the heart of our crisis. My question is, when will we *realize* that we have become a dictatorship, a fascist state?
1
We are at a cross roads and our future as a healthy Democracy is up in the air. What I have never been able to understand is the number of people who continue to support this man. I do not care what party he is in. We all know that one party primed the pump with vigor for this type of man to take the reigns of power in this country. He who knows why gets the booby prize in my opinion. The bottom line is that a completely corrupt and anti American man was elected POTUS. His actions are egregious and yet people do not see the dangers he presents to our future? What have we become?
Trump would not have been possible were it not for the GOP.
The GOP as it exists today would not be possible were it not for the Right Wing Media.
There's a lot of work to do, just not sure where to start. Impeachment is certainly one direction, but manifestly only deals with the Presidency.
Then there are the elections coming up, easy to say "Vote!", not so easy for many to know **who** to vote for because of the Right Wing Media.
"RWM," the Right Wing Media. The Propaganda arm of the GOP.
Tough nut to crack.
5
I wish Warner Bros would rerelease “All the Presidents men” again, into movie theater’s, so that hopefully it became #1 . No only would that send a subliminal message, but about 50 percent of the country could use a history lesson.
4
@Allan B i jut read the book. Anyone who doubts integrity of journalism, the Post or the Times, absolutely needs to read it.
@Allan B -- The Trump movie version should be titled:
"All the Republican Misfits".
1
This man must be convicted by the Senate to demonstrate that our democratic republic is not already dead & buried, killed off by the avarice of our monied elites. When the minority rules — as it does today — we no longer have a republic, but an oligarchy. Senators, do you want a republic or not? If so, then do your constitutional duty and vote for it. No excuses.
1
As these proceedings move forward it is increasingly clear how important it will be to vote in November 2020.
Yet I fear the demagogue will rule the day by throwing confusion and doubt on the outcome of the election, should he lose. Call for new elections, instead of abiding by a result that is not to his liking.
2020 is shaping up to be a make or break point for our democracy on many levels. We have survived such times as the Mccarthy era, the Nixon impeachment and 8 years of the current occupant of the white house claiming he had evidence that Obama was not a citizen. But will we survive the era of Trump? Time will tell, lets hope it is favorable for all of us (or the US), not just the "base".
Just as John Kerry cheapened the value of a Purple Heart by claiming a third Metal for a finger splint the Democrats are cheapening the constitutional provision of Impeachment. It is a serious threat to stability of government. What happens if they win? Will they then Impeach Pence and crown Pelosi as Queen. Is the President's transgression, if any, worth the shock to our past history of succession by vote of the people. It is at best the establishment of a tyranny of the majority of the House. The Biden affair occurred when he was Vice President not merely a political opponent of Trump. It smells bad. How they have turned this into an Impeachment is remarkable. Good political tactics but really bad for the Country. Enough. There are other problems to consider
@Eddie - your reasoning is flawed on the Democrats’ eagerness to impeach. It carries large risks - they felt that they had to do it. Pelosi was against impeachment until Trump blatantly asked Zelenski to investigate his political rival. That’s foreign interference in our politics, which is one of the reasons the Founders gave for allowing impeachment. Trump is not a King.
2
Until the Republicans decide they would rather run with Pence at the head of the ticket.
If being a demagogue is an impeachable offense, or an offense at all, half of our presidents and most of Congress would have to have been removed, starting today with Reps. Schiff, Nadler and Pelosi, not to mention virtually every Senator.
1
I think the Founders knew that someone like Trump would eventually come along and did their best to prepare for it. Having said that, I'd argue their worst nightmare come true is actually this modern day GOP that has completely abdicated their Constitutional duty and responsibility to lead and govern in a just manner in favor of craven party politics that only see red versus blue.
9
Opponents of Trump need to find one issue to immunize themselves against his prevarications and distortions if they wish to wrestle control of the country back from him. That issue is immigration. It is the single biggest reason Trump won the White House. And it will be the reason he gets re-elected. Enough American citizens felt like their government wasn’t working for them in places like Michigan and central Pennsylvania such that Trump was able to win the Electoral College. What those voters did saw instead was a Democratic Party- and even some Republicans- willing to roll out the red carpet to foreigners coming here in violation of US immigration law in record numbers, changing the cultural fabric of the nation, and, perhaps most shockingly, working illegally while these same voters continue to struggle with jobs lost to globalization, automation, and trade deals both parties supported. “Why” they asked “are American citizens like me not coming first? ” Enter Trump. Enter “America First”. Game over.
It’s time for Democrats to change their tune on immigration where they are perceived to be weak. It is not a policy panacea. But it is a cultural and political one. And it is one that simply requires Democrats to say that they support enforcing the law. If Democrats go into this election supporting policies like free healthcare for undocumented immigrants- like they all did in the first debate- Trump wins. And as this article points out, then we all lose.
6
The only folks blocking immigration reform is the Republican party and their extreme conservative allies in the media so they can demagogue on the issue and scare voters. There have been several decent attempts at immigration reform over the last 20 years (most recently in 2013) only to be thwarted by the hatriots on the right each and every time.
1
Pres. Donald Trump is actually the Outsider that the Founders always wanted to run for the presidency.
The corrupted D.C. swamp culture is the absolute opposite of what the men writing the Constitution saw for this new republic.
The fact that the way things work in D.C. is the ONLY answer for Democrats is about as bad a thing you could say about any political party.
There is ONE huge difference between the last two impeachment efforts and this one: there were actual crimes on the books that Nixon and Clinton had violated, but it is abundantly obvious that Trump has broken no laws at all, but just progressive hearts.
2
@L osservatore "High crimes and misdemeanors" has a much broader meaning because it was intended to cover any abuse of power.
5
Really?! Extortion is not a crime? Enlisting other nations to meddle in our elections is AOK?
2
So Trump has drained the swamp in DC? From where I sit in the Midwest, it appears he’s dredged up all the swampiest of creatures and put them in high office with no regard for anyone except himself and the business elite.
2
Here, once again, we encounter the irony inherent in debating the intentions of the founders, their successes and their failures. The President of the United States has blatantly attempted to bribe a foreign government to dig up dirt on a political rival, and he has lied about it in the face of written evidence and public testimony while also obstructing a legitimate congressional investigation by refusing to comply with any and all subpoenas. This doesn’t call for a close reading of the Constitution or of the Federalist Papers. All you need is Dylan’s “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”
If we are interested in foundational documents that might provide guidance going forward, Thoreau’s “On Civil Disobedience” might be most useful, especially his suggestion that voting is inadequate. We need to refuse to support a corrupt government with our tax monies.
7
Having lived under three parliamentary systems which follow the British model I am as used to bad leaders in those counties just as in America. The difference is that I am also used to such leaders being replaced easily and efficiently when it is clear that they they are ineffective. A simple meeting of the party in power is often sufficient to change leaders. Imagine that: one morning meeting as opposed to months /years of public debate. Even the other main alternatives for changing the leadership, a vote among the party members or a non-confidence vote of the entire parliament are still a matter of days or weeks. In a worst case scenario a new election to resolve the issue.
Americans talk about the need not to allow the president to assume king-like powers and yet in creating the office of the president in its current form, they did exactly that. They created an office from which it would be almost impossible to eject its occupant for the duration of their term.
While I doubt that the US is going to go to a parliamentary system at this point in its history I do think that the impeachment problems show the need for a rethinking of the current political system and the parliamentary systems offer important lessons on how to build accountability into systems of government.
3
With the current makeup and politics of today's Republican party even removal of Trump under a parliamentary structure would be difficult.
@Edward Strelow: There is no vote of no-confidence leading to a snap election to deal with travesties like Trump in this falsely advertised fake democracy.
It should be extraordinarily difficult to remove even a demagogue like Trump. Demagogues get into power because governments have fundamentally failed. The opposition needs to mount an extremely persuasive case for either impeachment or a loss at the polls. This is the impediment the Constitution imposes. This is not what the opposition has done. From day one, progressives have looked for a savior—Mueller, Pelosi, Schiff—rather than making a persuasive case that they had a better plan and better governance to relieve them of their fellow citizens’ bad decision. This, to me, is the constitutional misunderstanding driving the progressive wing of my party now. That is not how this constitutional republic works. There will be no deus-ex-machina here. Progressives, you need to get to the hard work of bringing your case to the American people and stop waiting for Godot.
7
This analysis is very good but it alludes to only the most powerful player in this drama beside Trump himself. That next most powerful player is Fox News. It is the presidential megaphone amplifier.
Our country has never seen anything like this propaganda pipeline that Trump has to Fox News. He calls in and they let him talk forever. Democracy, as our founders worried, cannot survive with propaganda on this scale.
11
Wonderfully written and eloquently concise.
2
There was no failed attempt at anything. President Trump got what he asked for during his July 25 phone call with President Zelensky. He asked Zelensky to “look into” several allegations made by Ukrainian officials, including one that involves Burisma and the Bidens, as a favor. Zelensky readily agreed the investigations should be conducted.
Zelensky told Trump,“Since we have won the absolute majority in our Parliament; the next prosecutor general will be 100 percent my person, my candidate, who will be approved, by the parliament and will start as a new prosecutor in September. He or she will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned.”
Last week, newly appointed Ukrainian General Prosecutor Ryaboshapka fired the prosecutor who had been handling the Burisma investigation and expanded the investigation to include suspicion of embezzling state funds. The Republicans allege some of the embezzled state funds ended up in Hunter Biden’s bank account. Ryaboshapka also ordered his staff to review all investigations shutdown under the previous administrations to see to see if they were shutdown to protect corrupt officials and oligarchs.
The Ukrainians have repeatedly and publicly stated that they never perceived a link between Trump’s request for a favor and the hold on security assistance aid. No corrupt bargain, quid pro quo, bribe or extortion was necessary.
" ... hard to get out ..." ? I wonder. If Trump's " my military, my Generals " don't come to his rescue, who will protect him? The likes of Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Senator John Kennedy? Spare me. If Trump has to be dragged out of the White House, so be it.
The Constitution makes it clear the founders foresaw Trump.
What they didn’t see was Fox News.
6
Trump is a demagogue who clearly seems to meet the Founders' definition of meriting impeachment. But why are all 53 Republican senators willing to ignore his criminality and their oath to protect and defend the Constitution and the nation? This is the question that will haunt our history if there is one if Trump receives "Total exoneration" and then goes on to get re-elected against a Democratic Party that remains disunited with a weak candidate as was the case in 2016. Will this be the end of our Republic and its "rule of law" that becomes a Russian-style kleptocracy with the new authoritarian rule of Trump? The fear is palpable given the divisiveness Trump has been successful in creating among a gullible public aided and abetted by Fox News and his more than "willing accomplices" in Congress. For this member of a Holocaust family the reality of "Never Again!" is terrifying, especially after the massacres in the synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway.
3
Surgery is painful.
The country demands relief.
2
The same groups of Democrats that wants to remove murals of the founding fathers are also using the founders to attack political enemy for not being founders approved. Can you be more hypocritical?
Do you really think the founders would prefer a group composed of blacks, Mexicans, feminists, atheists, Muslims, LGBTQIA+ that assigned everyone a serial number at birth and want to outlaw guns over a landowning protestant male?
The Dems are so lost in ideology and vision, I, as a first gen non-white immigrant, cannot stand it.
2
Repubs can deflect detract and obfuscate until the cows come home but it won't change the fact that Trump is nothing more than an unmitigated abomination to the position. Their support of such a disaster is indicative of just how seriously compromised they have become. Trump is who they are and who they are is not admirable at all.
2
It is true that the Constitution lacks adequate powers to control against a demagogue like Trump, who believes he is a demigod. Yet when the current round of impeachment fails, Trump will be emboldened to do something even more rash than attempting to coerce Ukraine's meddling in the 2020 election. Perhaps Trump's next outrageous action will be sufficient to alienate even his base of white evangelicals, racists and other special interests. I confidently predict that Trump will not be President forever; if his self-aggrandizing political actions are insufficient, his gluttony and obesity eventually will strike him down.
1
For Republicans, it is not right and wrong, it us vs. them.
If a reporter in the media makes a mistake, Fox News makes that mistake a headline. If a reporter in the media lies, that reporter is fired. Meanwhile on Fox News, lies are tossed about with knowing grins, but if a reporter there reports news that the republicans do not like, they are fired.
It's simply about power.
2
New Amendment Proposal-- A bankruptcy(let alone 6, cough) prohibits anyone from being a Presidential Candidate. Tax Disclosure required. Time to Raise the Bar........
2
I'm dreaming... we've all been forcibly enrolled in Trump University...
Some of students are okay with this. Before school began, they were feeling aggrieved that the dream of a good life had passed them by. They've latched on to the Trump pitch - hook line and sinker. At growing signs of discord from the rest of the student body, they lash out at these perverts and radicals and anxiously watch the mailbox for their diploma to arrive, ushering them into a better world of riches and respect in the community.
Most of the student body, through good fortune or good sense, have known from the start that Trump U was a terrible scam. They just don't understand how they got enrolled. But they're stuck with no way out. Every day they have to endure the broadcast lessons pumped into every home by Trump U's teaching staff - a bunch of sycophants in shiny suites, peddling the boss's bilge.
The Principal of Trump U has an insatiable hunger to acquire and to dominate. It has no limits. This dream is getting scary.
Okay! Enough! This is a nightmare! Gotta wake up!
1
The great irony is that what Trump was trying to extort from the Ukrainians – a sham investigation into the Biden’s – the Senate under Mitch McConnell is going to give him for free under the guise of an impeachment trial.
That tells you everything you need to know about the current state of the GOP.
2
Being a bully is his strategy. But if the majority of this country along with the electoral college throw him out in 2020, he will be out and living in Florida. Eventually, all bullies lose their power.
FOX News "lies repeatedly about the facts, holds [the public air waves] to spread these falsehoods and attacks the credibility, motives and even patriotism of [other broadcast news outlets and Democrats]." Fixed it for you.
Prediction:
Dems won’t be able to convince most Americans that Trump should be sentenced for delaying payments to a corrupt country while at the same time the Dems/Bidens were participants in the same corruption.
Everyone knows that US taxpayer money certainly should not flow from DC —> Ukraine —> Bidens.
@Morgan01944 Ever hear the phrase "two wrongs don't make a right?" Fine, investigate Hunter Biden (although, I thought this was already done). But Trump still needs to be impeached for his actions, which amount to bribery, plain and simple. Oh, and while you're at it, busy investigating nepotism in the White House, please don't limit yourself to Hunter Biden; let's not forget about Jared and Ivanka!
2
With Dick Nixon, I was fascinated and appalled but ultimately at peace that the Nation had survived. With Bill Clinton, I was satisfied that the over-all National good had triumphed even in the course of simple nastiness and prurience. With Trump, I am terrified that the Nation will not survive, purely as a result of greed and personal aggrandisement being elevated above the Constitution.
4
Republicans have been very corrupt for decades but even that sordid history did not prepare us for the utter corruption they have sunk to now. No republican will ever get my vote for any office at any level. They are simply not worthy.
4
Instead of spending his considerable fortune to run for POTUS Mayor Michael Bloomberg should buy a controlling interest of Fox News.
Bloomberg-Fox has a great ring to it. And he’d
be saving the Republic to boot.
1
Trump is simply one man, and a very typical American one at that. The real problem is that the majority of people in the US are not rational, not honest and don't really care about democracy. Trump can only do what he does because the majority think he is just fine, or don't have a clue as to what anything he does really means. Between his supporters and the lethargic nonparticipating baby-brained people, those that would do something about him are a minority.
The GOP is immoral but will not change their stance on him until they pay a political price and as brainwashed as Americans are that is not likely. The DFL refuses to play hardball because they worry first about their own grip on power. Both first pay heed to the corporations and wealthy as they consider their response to him.
The people are brainwashed and confused and the politicians bought and paid for. Trump is an obvious criminal, likely a Russian asset, and is attempting to become the king of the US. No one will oppose him because collectively on average most Americans are more like him than not. Uneducated, greedy, childish, narcissistic and believe the truth is whatever you repeat often enough. That is Trump and that is most of the people of the US.
@Chris I respectfully disagree with your premise. The "majority" do not "think he is just fine." On the contrary, he did not win a majority of voters. A majority of people in gerrymandered districts in a few states with sufficient electoral numbers led to his election. The unwillingness of the courts to address the problem of gerrymandering may guarantee him another election, but it will not be because he is preferred by a majority of Americans.
2
Mr. Bauer was White House Council under Obama and never a word about Obama, himself a Harvard Law grad who taught Constitutional Law at U. Chicago Law School, went against The Constitution and attempted to legislate DACA.
Obama could have worked with Congress without a single Republican vote in 2008 to 2010 to pass DACA but decided to forgo The Constitution.
Trump decided to follow The Constitution when he insisted that Congress pass laws related to DACA.
Obama also wrongly used Executive Orders to allow genetic males into the restrooms of girls in public high schools against the wished of parents of girls. Obama should have worked with Congress.
Regarding many other areas, Obama should have worked with Congress to pass laws, but chose to ignore the will of the people through their elected representatives and acted as dictator instead of President such as The Paris Accords.
Yet, Mr. Bauer as a former White House Council was silent.
Now when Trump follows the Constitution and insists that Congress pass laws, now he speaks out.
I wish the NYT or other MSM would interview Bauer about Obama going against The Constitution to legislate. In my opinion Bauer should be congratulating Trump on following The Constitution, unlike his predecessor.
1
@David MD
Obama work with congress?? Seriously? The only reason he resorted to Executive orders was because the Republican houses refused to do anything that Obama to do. McConnell made that abundantly clear.
And Trump has used the executive order to undo everything that Obama has done and then some.
Trump has violated so many clauses of the Constitution that it is hard to keep count. From emoluments to obstruction of justice to holding up funds mandated by Congress to ...
Well I could just keep going on and on but I won't. You wouldn't believe them anyway.
2
@Larry
From my post,
"Obama could have worked with Congress without a single Republican vote in 2008 to 2010 to pass DACA but decided to forgo The Constitution."
If Obama had wanted to he could have passed DACA without a Republican vote. He could have passed laws to allow genetic boys in girl's bathrooms in public high schools against the wishes of parents of girls in high schools.
The Congress did not want DACA so that should have been the end of the story. Presidents don't always get what they want. FDR tried to increase the size of the Supreme Court.
Trump was right to have reversed Obama executive orders. Obama should have worked with his Democratic Congress 2008 to 2010 to pass laws without any Republican interference. It is hardly Trump's fault or McConnell's or any Republican's fault that Obama did not work with his Democratic Congress to pass laws instead of using executive orders.
What is the point of having a Congress if Presidents can simply create laws with executive orders.
1
“ It’s all been very confusing. ”
No, it hasn’t been. POTUS held up Congressionally authorized military aid in order to extort Ukraine into announcing an investigation of a POTUS political rival in order to damage that rival. This is clear from the testimony of the several witnesses at the impeachment hearings. Some which were appointed by POTUS, including his EU ambassador.
The GOP defenses are inane, at best, though my favorite is the idea that an attempt to extort is not a crime. Let’s wipe all attempt crimes off the books. Who cares if you keep trying to commit crimes so long as you are inept !
1
I would argue that the Trump base is the Founders’ worst nightmare. A base of voters who have little understanding of the rule of law, who can’t recognize corruption, who don’t know history - is easily manipulated. Trump would still be back in Manhattan, cheating on his taxes and defrauding Deutsche Bank, if today’s Republican voters were as astute and well-informed as those from Nixon’s day. Imagine a world where Fox News’ ratings are abysmal, where Hannity and Ingram are preaching to empty pews, and you’ve imagined the world as the Founders did. The Constitution offers no protection against an ignorant voter base.
4
Trump's "strategy", if you can call it that, is simply to be himself as he has been his entire life. A liar, a boaster, and a bully. We should all know this by now. The problem with impeachment is not how it was framed by the founders. It's at this moment the GOP has gone over to the dark side. They have lost their moral compass for whatever reason. Our only hope is ultimately with the American people. Have they been conned so badly that they cannot see who Donald Trump really is. We will have to wait and see.
President Trump wouldn't respect a Constitutional theory of his defense even if it came with a set of golden golf balls.
Bauer explains how Nixon and Clinton chose different ways to respond to impeachment by recognizing Congressional powers, i.e. within a Constitutional framework. Nixon resigned himself to a likely verdict of guilt; Clinton beat the rap because he had not imperiled the vital interests of the people or the nation.
Trump brazenly asked his so-called personal lawyer and a hefty donor to negotiate favors from a foreign government in his OWN interest to clear his name in the compromised election of 2016 and as a candidate for re-election in 2020, under threat of withholding security assistance duly appropriated for Ukraine by the House.
Trump's failure to honor the Constitution's separation of powers between legislative and executive branches is in itself an abuse of power. And his refusal to allow his officials to respond to Congressional subpoenas for testimony and documents is obstruction of justice.
Impeachment for these violations is due process.
Disagree.
The Cult of Trump engulfing 40% of Americans is the Founder's worst nightmare, because they despise the limits the Constitution inflicts on them. Trump supporters demand a king, the very thing the Constitution wanted to avoid.
1
Lincoln, in his Gettysburg address, ask how long our new nation, conceived in liberty, could long endure.
Trump and his Republican allies including especially the right-wing media are providing the saddening answer to Lincoln's question.
To those who say, we recovered from the Civil War and will recover from Trumpism, all that I can say is, Don't bet on it.
Can we move this tape forward a bit? Still stuck with Lincoln and his Gettysburg address? How about Moses’ Mount Sinai address?
1 President + 1 Attorney General to shield him from legal jeopardy + 34 Senators to shield him from impeachment = An Imperial Presidency = Dictatorship.
Court rulings will mean nothing, because it takes the AG to enforce any court ruling. Laws will mean nothing, again, the AG. Congress could still pass laws limiting his powers, but even so, he/she can simple declare "emergencies".
Campaign laws? Who enforces them? The president, via the AG. Hire cronies to "consult" for multi-million dollar fees that are federally funded, or decide that the Grand Canyon's uranium is of vital national security interest? Again, who stops him?
We are not at risk of losing our democracy, we may have already lost it.
1
An extraordinary telling of the state of the Trump national political disaster and the prospects for the on going impeachment process. No cause for any degree of optimism for an outcome that will put American democracy back on some kind of a rational footing that actually honors the Constitution.
Professor Bauer has incisively and forcefully described the underlying endemic political conditions that are the precursor and the foundation for Trump’s grave serial malfeasance and the likelihood that he will dodge any direct impeachment consequences.
3
What usually hinders Americans from freely showing their heart to people, is not general distrust, but the existence of individuals who's salutary or awkward consequences matters little to those who question themselves and are comfortable with bringing light to uncomfortable truths. Many people who voted for Trump in 2016 didn't know he meditates upon the bad luck of being born without concern to the harm his rhetoric can cause himself & others. In America, we have given the vote to all without connecting it to that of wisdom. And Socrates knew exactly where that would lead: to a system the Greeks feared above all, demagoguery. Trump doesn't spend time meditating or insisting that only those who had thought about issues rationally and deeply should be let near a vote. Instead he does the opposite. Trump's disdain for intellectual citizens, his divide and conquer strategy tries to pin citizens against each other who prefer an intellectual democracy vs those who only know of democracy by birthright. Trump continues to create distractions to keep voters from learning and reflecting on the difference.
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It is always difficult to go back 200 plus years and think what was in the minds of people who lived then. But we can be sure about some things. The idea of life without saves would certainly be alien. Sending our military on missions of nation building would be pretty close to the bottom of their list of things to do. Women voting would not have a chance. Of course this editorial is just anther anti-Trump piece about impeachment. But in Trumps case, It is one party going after going after the person who took the presidency from them, and both houses of congress. He isn't going to be convicted. So he will be on the ballot. But they will use the hearings to dig up as much dirt and anti-Trump rhetoric as they can for the campaign. There have been multiple versions of what Trump said during the telephone call. But we do know it was generated by something Biden did in 2015 and describe during an interview in 2018. One thing we can be pretty sure of. Our founders would have believed is that a president should be remove by the people electing someone else. Not by a bunch of committee hearings a single party holds bent on revenge.
I doubt if the Founders could have envisioned political parties that leave the choice of nominee up to the voters. Up until the 1970s the presidential nominee was basically chosen by the party leaders. The leaders of the Republican Party would never has chosen Trump as the nominee. He wasn't even a Republican. Most likely the nomination would have gone to Jeb Bush. Bush far outspent the other candidates but the Republican voters were were fed up with establishment Republicans who promised a more extreme agenda but never delivered. Once Trump actually obtained the Republican nomination and the RNC went along the damage was done. Almost anything can happen in a general election and did when Russia played a major role in helping Trump and James Comey went against all advice from the Justice Department and informed Congress about a further investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails only about 10 days before the election.
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@Bob
You are correct. The founders wanted the Electoral College to select the president. They didn't trust the people to make the best choice.
That whole process went sideways.
Listening to the discussions on CNN and MSNBC, we are struck by the thought that there are two different languages being spoken. One group is discussing the checks and balances being ignored by the current Administration occupying the White House and dominating the Senate. The other group is simply withholding any real verifiable information -- and operating in a way that will continue to infuse bad habits into the stream of commerce and finance. Checks and balances are not enforceable ... yet. We do hope that these illicit foreign entanglements are returned to a higher level of national security and diplomacy, but we are prepared for the worst ... first. It feels so much like Pottersville ...
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"...throwing up" is a good way of putting those Trump allies' defenses. Trump, as always, has some personal stake in doing what he does, even now with the presidency. It would seem obvious how it reflects a pattern seriously dangerous behavior, but apparently not so for the first celebrity, con-artist president (even more than Reagan and as governor--Schwarzenegger) who knows how to use the current technology to manipulate non-critical thinking (and some bigoted) people. Yes, it can happen here. We can only hope that as yet unidentified Lincoln-like leaders will emerge to lead the ready majority of us followers out of this danger. For our part, we must VOTE accordingly, listening to those "mystic chords of memory": “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
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The Founders wanted to make it difficult if not impossible for a person as corrupt as Trump to ever attain the highest office of the land. In Federalist Paper 68, Alexander describes the process that would become the Electoral College, whose purpose was to weed out unqualified persons from becoming president. The Founders were well aware of the human nature that governs politics and did not fully trust that the average person could be trusted to choose the best candidate. They feared exactly the type of person that is Donald Trump.
"The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States."
They were also keenly aware of the danger of foreign influence.
That being said, there was no urgent need to build into the Constitution a mechanism that would allow for an "easy" means of removal.
Unfortunately for us, the electoral college has failed to live up to it's promise. It has been corrupted to the detriment of Democracy.
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