What you really mean is the country can't survive a Republican President. Any Republican President that is. As a Democrat I find it sad people believe this nonsense. A more dire conclusion can be reached for my party when Nadler and Schiff became the face of the Democrats.
No matter how many times they impeach him chances are slim to none a Democrat will win in next year.
12
For the Republican Party to deny the bed rock evidence that Trump has committed high crimes and misdemeanors is downright treasonable. They think supporting this criminal will save their own hides and careers. They are wrong. The Republican voting base is swinging against Trump and consequently the weak and traitorous Republican congress personnel.
19
“ The only thing to do if our countries Democracy is to survive”. Mr. Friedman until we have fewer people such as yourself to influence people we will continue to move away from anything approaching a democracy. How can you say with a straight face that Trump represents this enormous threat to our nation evolving from a classic case of “shoot the messenger” on the part of you and biased major media, a situation that developed because of unethical to say the least business practices by Biden’s son and from the sound of it the sons of Kerry and another whose name escapes me. This coming from you Thomas a man who pushed for war in Iraq, a man who was an early proponent of globalization, which now even conservative economists such as Mr. Wolfe in the Financial Times and progressive economists such as Thomas Piketty and Robert Reich acknowledge has been an absolute disaster for the middle class of developed nations. We all acknowledge Trumps many shortcomings but would I rather have him in office than your standard bearer Hillary, you bet, she would have us up to our eyeballs in more wars in the Middle East as well as a high probability with Ukraine, Iran and ultimately Russia, and would any Clintons or Friedmans be dying on the front lines, hardly: more likely they would be raking in profits from those who benefit from continual wars, namely our “allies”, Israel, the Saudis and of course the military industrial complex. So sad to see The Times with such a biased narrative.
6
"The Great Divider" Trump is only the current symptom of the disease that is modern American politics, undervaluing truth as it does. And as Tom has Putin saying "I got a whole party to parrot my conspiracy theories". The larger disease is manifested in a Republican party that much more clearly represents the problem with American politics than the Dems.
I used to be concerned about corners the House Dems were cutting in their political effort to get any meaningful impeachment done. After watching the irresponsible House GOP rip up any integrity they might have had in their disgraceful committee and leadership displays, and after watching the entire NBC interview with Bill Barr and his Trump-like assault on truth, I now understand why we have to impeach this criminal fraud asap, with only any semblance of legality preserved.
Please tell the House manager of the prosecution in the Senate trial to call Trump to testify. We need to expose this disgrace, this fraud, this threat to democracy.
18
It is sad to see a whole party selling its soul for a short gain: What else can they get from this president other than to have their pet policies implemented and few more conservative judges confirmed. The idea seems to be "go with the devil" even if the constitution goes to the devil. But what they are forgetting is that they are embracing a new form of fascism leaving behind one of the most precious and long lasting political systems in the world. How can a party be so short sighted!
14
You know what? The 1% that's so thrilled about the "great economy" is just that, 1%. I don't understand why someone as smart as you, Mr.Friedman, can believe that ever more money for America's corporations equals a "great economy." The 99%, however stupid some of them, voting against their own interests, are not overjoyed at having to hold down three jobs to support their families.
9
2871 comments. Too many to read.
One column, saying nothing new, just one more leftist attack
of Democracy: we elected Trump. Get over it.
8
Everything the lunatics of the left said in 2016 would happen, didn't, just the complete opposite. 22 Historical stock market records, lowest unemployment in history. Lowest, Black, Hispanic & Asian unemployment in history. 3.6 GDP. More people in the workforce than ever in history. (Wavied The Magic Wand Apparently) New trade deals that are fair to America. Unions and pension plans have never seen such returns. Yet the left hates this man because he is not part of the swamp. #Trump202
7
I saw a few clips of Trump's rally last night. I also saw a lot of trepidation in the faces of his followers. They looked worn out and exhausted. This man child is so nasty that even his supporters are balking.
8
Ever since Trump's election I have been hopeful that our constitution and its system of checks and balances would be a counterpoint to his most evil impulses. Unfortunately, that system has been subverted significantly by a Republican party that has become totally corrupt. They are all goose-stepping in time with Trump because they think that is what will get them re-elected, plain and simple. Is there not one senator among the Republicans who has the courage to speak out? Is there no one in that party who has any shame?
It is obvious at this point that Trump will be impeached but he will not be removed from office. The Senate Republicans will not waver unless they hear from the people...their constituents who elected them. That is America's only hope. Unfortunately, something has happened to America. The red state/blue state divide has gotten worse, exacerbated by conservative media propaganda that resembles Joseph Goebbels at his worst.
11
"Labor to keep alive in your heart that little spark of celestial fire called conscience."
George Washington
8
Republican Senators, free yourself from bondage and coercion. Regain your autonomy! Impeach Trump.
9
I agree that Trump must be impeached. His actions are egregious. Not only has he crossed the line regarding Ukraine. Since he started to campaign, he has lied, manipulated, and advanced his own financial interests above the country's. He sows discord. He fails to treat others with dignity and respect. He attacks the free press. He expresses sexist, racist, xenophobic remarks. He fails to use expertise in policy decisions. He promotes ignorant and knee jerk reactions across the country.
The GOP legislators have shown themselves to be lying and conniving operators who appear to endorse Trump's poor leadership. I trust they - and Trump - will be swept out of office like yesterday's trash in the next election.
The House of Representatives needs to formally address these issues in order to project the semblance of responsible government.
7
Are you not being unfair now?
All the poor man is asking for is a lifetime hereditary presidency and a Sharpie.
5
"I got his whole party to do it! And for free! "
Actually, it wasn't free, but it was cheap. Putin invested a lot of $$$ in Republicans via secret-money contributions via the NRA
https://thinkprogress.org/fec-republicans-block-efforts-to-investigate-nras-financial-ties-to-russia-a916adcc7015/
And, extensive money laundering through Trump properties may well have enabled Putin to simultaneously profit and blackmail Trump
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/trumps-businesses-are-full-of-dirty-russian-money-the-scandal-is-thats-legal/2019/03/29/11b812da-5171-11e9-88a1-ed346f0ec94f_story.html
7
Trump and his Congressional Republican enablers are TRAITORS! Obviously. They deserve to experience the full range of justice that's reserved for traitors. And I hope that they will. These individuals should be shunned by all Americans for what they're doing to our country. They are all evil sellouts.
11
Every now and then when Trump utters comments to the effect that he is above the law and can do anything, a shiver must go down the spines of concerned citizens. And every now and then when I watch some of his rallies, I cannot help but be reminded of footage of Hitler in his early days, rallying the masses. How they were fooled.
10
My favorite line from this essay is "It's the Constitution Stupid!". I hope some of those Republican supporters of Trump will realize what is at stake when it comes time to vote on the Articles of Impeachment.
8
It's impossible to express my disgust and dismay at how every single congressional Republican has betrayed the nation and their oaths.
They are utterly corrupt.
I want to see Trump, his sycophants (beginning with Barr), and every congressional Republican is arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned.
And every judicial appointment made by this corrupt thug undone.
13
Thank you, Mr. Friedman.
9
Trump and his smala : Miller, Bannon, Barr, etc... are not republicans.
They are autocrats closer to the fascist ideology that Bannon and Miller invoke as idols : Julius Evola, Maurice Barres, Jean Raspail, etc..
All fascists monarchists.
5
Tom, it will take more than "Impeach Trump" in order to "Save America".
To "Save America" 'we the American people' will have to expose, be educated about, and peacefully excise Empire.
Trump is just a faux-Emperor, despite how much he growls, glowers, threatens, tweets, and blusters.
But this Disguised Global Crony Capitalist Empire which is his master, will need to be confronted in a revolutionary way with protests, marches, demonstrations, and truthful words instead of musket balls.
2
Lock him up!
8
Great article! You hit the nail on the head about impeachment.
4
So what good does it do to impeach in the House and then status quo in the Senate with no removal?
Well said. As usual Tom Friedman gets to the heart of the matter. But I quibble with the last bit: “that it depends on who the Democrats put forth”. Nonsense and the media needs to stop with such an insinuation. Any and all of the Democrats running would uphold the Constitution and NOT lie constantly and Not engage in the chicanery of Trump. Anyone who would choose Trump over any of the alternatives is voting to lose the America that you eloquently described.
7
The Obama administration failed in 2014, when it did not demand VP Biden recuse himself from all Ukraine and China issues and/or investigate for corruption with Joe & Hunter Biden in Ukraine & China.
What was publicly known in 2014 demanded this. In 2014, two months after Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy over cocaine, Ukraine gas company Burisma hires Hunter Biden for their board, with compensation twice of what Exxon/Mobil pays its board, even though Exxon/Mobil has 700 times the revenue. Add to this, In a country with a reputation for corruption, Burisma had a reputation for corruption. Hunter Biden had no experience in natural resources, or business in Ukraine. As he does not read or write Ukrainian, he cannot even read most all of the company’s documents.
US and International news publications in May 2014, raised the above public information saying VP Biden had a very large conflict of interest being a person responsible for US foreign affairs with Ukraine.
The constitution does not give the VP any responsibilities for foreign affairs, and it is very rare for VPs to have foreign policy portfolios. It would not have been a hardship for the Obama Administration to either demand that VP Biden recuse himself, or better yet for good government, investigate if corruption had been committed.
As Joe Biden is now running for president, the US government now needs to do what the Obama Administration failed to do.
2
What happens if the Deutsche Bank records are released, and it reveals that Trump's entire "fortune" is leveraged against huge amounts of foreign debt? Russian debt? Then what? Anything? (It's a very high probability already as no one knows where his loans now come from, as American banks lost so much money on him that they quit giving him loans.)
What happens when it is revealed these loans are laundering dirty Russian money? Then what? Anything?
Will Fox News march out and say a president can have massive foreign debts if he wants to?
6
What is really scary is that the Republican party will sell there soul to control the country and that
that half the population still supports the President.
Worse its happening around the world in other Western countries. It is depressing to say the least.
3
This evangelical pastor could not agree more with the robust moral argument for impeachment made in this column. In my view, support for a corrupt Godless president is incompatible with authentic Christian faith -- and Christians bending the knee to Trump are doing permanent damage to our faith's public credibility.
3
If Trump is re-elected, and it will most likely be electorally by a minority, we're finished as a democracy. We may be finished already. I have a sneaking suspicion that Trump will fire the current director of the FBI. While he cries coup he's conspiring one. Reminds me of Turkey and Erdogan.
3
Come on, the Republicans are not selling out the Constitution for "just one man." Let's be real, this is about keeping the status quo. Those in charge since day one, Christian white males, believe they're about to loose the nation. This is their last stand. I suspect that when Obama won they thought the jig was up. With Trump in office, a more than willing participant, they've got another shot at it. The question now is just how far are they willing to go to maintain their hegemony. Will they trash the Constitution entirely and crown a king? The next few months will determine the future of American democracy.
6
Impeachment will not remove the President. Only the Senate can convict the President and remove him/her from office.
Friedman's piece is brilliantly summed and absolutely irrelevant.
Trump deserves impeachment. The House will impeach him. The Senate will not remove him.
4
Republicans need to do the right thing and remove Trump. He is not a representation of their party, nor is he a representation of our country. Certainly not a world figure of intelligence and integrity.
IMPEACH and REMOVE Republicans and save your country.
4
Eloquent, timely, accurate...and we can only hope that it clears the haze that evidently envelops the brains of almost all Republican legislators, and most Republican voters.
When will we - they - ever learn?
2
I’m appalled by two revelations from this impeachment: a.) the total sweep of Executive Branch powers; b.) the inveterate corruption of the Republican Senate. I don’t know which one is worse.
This is all due to a third appalling fact: American racism. Trump supporters will never be able to believe that Obama won fair and square. Twice. They think he was a trick perpetrated on them, and so they’re now gloating over their own trick. That’s why calling them on moral grounds isn’t working.
3
I have felt afraid ever since Trump won the 2016 election. Never more so than now. My biggest question is: What is the matter with Republicans? Are we really going to allow the Mitch McConnell senate to throw away our democracy? Fear, cowardice, and greed are their guiding lights much to the detriment of our history and our future.
1
Not too bad Tom, but Impeachment 2019's intersection with "The Art Of The Possible" only equals SuperCensure - it's something but unlikely to improve the target's behavior
Maybe, the time has come to acknowledge and recognize the strange, mesmerizing power of Donald Trump.
When a person with a much lower than than average IQ,and no special skills or physical attributes can command the loyalty and devotion of numbers of people; that person is a Cult Leader. And, as in all cults many of the strongest supporters of the cult master are highly intelligent people, ready and willing to defend the leader, even to death. There is a reason cult members proudly call themselves devotees.
The mantra: Love, devotion and surrender - we will NEVER forsake the leader. Hard to explain huh!
Recognize people you know?
1
“How many Americans will still feel that way on Election Day remains to be seen and will also depend on the Democrats’ alternative.”
#VoteBlueNoMatterWho
6
Forget the impeachment Kabuki, America needs to be saved from sloppy and unaccountable surveillance methods by the security services. (e.g. FBI).
1
I agree with all you say except this:
"we will end up one day morally and financially bankrupt."
We (well, at least one party) already are morally bankrupt on this and so many issues.
4
I agree with all you say except this:
"we will end up one day morally and financially bankrupt."
We (well, at least one party) already are morally bankrupt on this and so many issues.
1
In my mind the problem with concluding that Trump's popularity is going down is that Trump has now 51% approval in the latest Rasmussen poll. I'd rest easier if he was sub-50% in every poll, no matter how accurate it supposedly is or isn't. We all know that the polls gave a misleading impression leading up to the 2016 election. So I believe the only way we are safe is to have all the polls below 50% approval for him, even right-leaning ones, or to impeach him.
1
Tom, as always, has expressed my thoughts exactly. My fear is that those Republicans in the Senate will see this in an entirely different way. Graham is up for re-election in South Carolina and THom Tillis is up for re-election in North Carolina. I hope that the constituents of these senators care enough about our republic to write or call these senators and strongly suggest that they should vote for conviction when this reaches the Senate. If these guys want to be re-elected and enough people call or write and request that they do the right thing maybe that will make a difference- at least I can hope it would!
3
December 11, 2019
America's core is for speaking its mind and as if to say a Democracy dialect that is near universal in many lands,
One person such as DJT as President doesn't make a Democracy of a land and its people. Mr. Friedman is right to say survival is at stake, since holding office of the core force of democracy mechanics can be destroyed with disrupting the civility for how people use effectively this acquired language arts so to speak. Prayers and studies of the who a nation cares to become and live representational is all voter by voter and with smarts.
4
Conviction of Trump will be a great achievement.
Poof Trump (and the insanity) is gone .
Senators like Burr and Alexander and others will provide the leadership required to convict.
Senators have to wait for the conviction vote because doing or saying anything prior to the vote on the articles of impeachment might cause Trump to do who knows what, start some kind of horrendous event or events in our country or around the world. It is to scary to even think about.
The Senators and the public must understand what happens with a conviction vote.
Poof Trump (and the insanity) is gone .
2
Friedman ignores the worst of this tragedy. While it is sad that a substantial minority of the electorate either do not understand or do not respect the Constitution, what's worse is that the perfect storm that has brought us to this point reveals glaring and perhaps irremediable flaws in the constitution itself. In the context of impeachment, the most glaring of these flaws is the formula for allocating representation in the senate: a formula that astonishingly is _totally_ insensitive to differences in population. This is just one of a few constitutional bugs that facilitated the rise of Trump and virtually guarantees that he will not be convicted in the senate (the electoral college, a two-party system, and lax standards on gerrymandering are others). Putin, Trump, and the Republican party have not proven that democracy itself doesn't work; they've proven that democracy *as embodied in the U.S. system of government* doesn't work. Despite its vaunted virtues, the Constitution is a fatally flawed, self-undermining document. The flaws cannot be remedied by constitutional amendment for the same reasons the senate will not convict Trump. Remember that the 13th amendment abolishing slavery was ratified at gunpoint after a civil war had been fought. The implications of this fact are truly frightening.
8
Thank you, Mr. Friedman. The hijacking of our democracy by all the president's men (I mean Putin's) is truly scary, with few viable solutions in sight. I hope this column will be one of a million drops in the proverbial bucket that are needed to persuade the Republican majority in the Senate to do the right thing, although they seem dug into their echo chamber. Those in the electorate who might still embrace the ideals of what used to be known as the party of Lincoln need to add their voices to these pages at about a column a day, and try to shake the current GOP from Trump's thrall. Steve Schmidt, are you listening?
5
@shanu What evidence is there that Putin or Russia has "hijacked" our democracy or Trump? IIRC there was a $35million 2year+ investigation into said topic with unlimited reach and authority, where said result was null. So what are you basing your hypothesis on?
1
I really don't believe that the systemic stress being caused by Trump is strictly being felt on one side of the political dynamic. Time and time again, mention is made of the immovable nature of Trump's support by his "base", those 40-odd% of voters who would stand by their candidate no matter what he does. Fair enough, but the academic class ought not for a minute kid itself into thinking that the Constitution, the rule of law, and basic morality is lost on these poor souls - because that would be a horribly incorrect assumption.
Instead, the ominous message that our elected representatives need to learn, is the extent to which Trump's 40-odd% base has real, genuine, and profound animus towards certain people in this country - hispanic immigrants being one such group, though there are others. There is real hate out there, and Trump is simply using it to his advantage. So instead of thinking about this in terms of "how can these people not see what Trump is doing", the right way to interpret all this is "how angry and resentful must these people be, to be willing to excuse Trump's attacks on our institutions".
How sad for Trump's base it is then, that in time it will become clear that their exalted leader is but a false prophet, albeit a dangerous one. Rest assured, until the divisions that separate us are addressed, another Trump is destined to come about, perhaps even more emboldened and dangerous than this one. Civil wars have started for less - so let's be careful.
7
@CanadianInTheUS "how angry and resentful must these people be, to be willing to excuse Trump's attacks on our institutions." Fox and others feed viewers/listeners a consistent narrative that portrays all "liberals" (anyone outside the Trump fold) as out to attack them and destroy their way of life and the country. Every. . . single. . . day. People made to believe they're at war are far more tolerant of their leaders' overturning norms and laws because they think it's a life-or-death situation, so anything goes. I just don't see how to get out of this bind without confronting the right-wing media's role in basically radicalizing their audience. They are doing everything to destroy our ability to function as a democracy, far more effectively than Russian trolls. You have to ask, "Why?"
4
The DNA of this impeachment is turning out to be the truth and whether it matters. Mr. Friedman makes the excellent point that the Ukraine conspiracy is a threat to our free and fair elections. Yes, the framework is our Constitution and the rule of law. But the threat is deeper. Mr. Trump and his enablers are playing with the bone marrow of our framework, the truth. The fact that this frightens only some of us, and not all of us, is what makes this so deadly serious.
7
You are 100 % correct, Tom, and it's encouraging that you highlight the situation in such stark terms. The case needs to be made over and over again until folks "get it".
I am hopeful that as this process continues, with all the discussions around impeachment; what it's about, why it's necessary etc. , that it will sink into our Americans souls. Because it is so important that we understand that Trump is exactly the type of corrupt president the founders had in mind when they decided impeachment must be an option to get rid of who thinks that he is above the law.
What a cathartic thing it would be for the country if he was impeached and removed from office. I truly believe everyone - even the Republicans who have had to defend him constantly - would breath a sigh of relief. Let's pray that happens, and soon.
2
It would seem that the country should be exhausted
with Trump. His language, actions, his constant need for attention. He has his followers. Sadly they include my wife and sister. So even though polls say go it's not assured. He will not be put out by the Senate. So its up to the Dems to get their act together and get rid of him the old fashion way, Vote him out!
3
Before the 2016 election, I said that if Trump won, the 2016 election would be the last one we would recognize. How prophetic I was, and how sad I am that I was so prophetic. We are witness to the dawn of America's death.
5
Verse of Willie Nelson song:
"....The best I can tell
The world's gone to hell
And we're sure gonna miss it a lot."
This is all part of the plan, folks. The repubs plan to never have another Democrat as president. They will crown king trump during his impeachment trial. And we will miss our democracy.
4
Dear Mr. Friedman:
While I admire the noble cause of impeaching a president who deserves to be impeached and should be impeached on many grounds, the facts are these:
1. No matter what facts are presented by the Democrats, the Senate will not remove the beast thus emboldening Trump.
2. When Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler were chairing their respective House proceedings, they were able to control the narrative regarding The Bidens, the Whistleblower and Schiff. With McConnell running the show, all bets are off. Joe Biden will be exposed and bloodied.
3. Biden is the likely person to beat Trump in a general election.
4. Removing Trump from the presidency should be the overriding objective.
5.As I said in response to numerous columns in this paper, the 2020 election is existential. The country and the world cannot survive another 4 years of Trump.
Based on the evidence in the two Articles Trump should be CENSURED in the House in the harshest terms. Democrats and disaffected Republicans should unite in one purpose, REMOVING Trump from office; electing a Democrat in 2020. Don’t give Trump the opportunity to declare victory an gather steam when he is not removed by the Senate.
2
Thanks for clarifying the issues for me. You’ve taken it out of the partisan realm where I was tempted to feel it belonged and made it clear that the guy really does need to go.
6
It is very clear, Republicans will never vote to impeach Trump. They have supported him for the last three years and now feel they can't go back. They are going for broke. Trump has attacked our intelligence agencies, our free press and the Democratic Party and has sowed great divisiveness among Americans. If he wins the Presidency I fear for our Democracy.
7
Tom Friedman is correct. We MUST IMPEACH (and then REMOVE) trump. We know the Senate will not convict/remove him.
Meanwhile.... trump is working deals, to ensure he won't lose in 2020. We should assume that now trump has 20 deals and criminal acts going on behind-the-scenes to cheat in the 2020 elections. His henchmen will hide these criminal acts under the guise of "national security" secrets (just as they did with the true transcript and audio recording of the July 25th call).
Part of his secret deals was this photo-op with Russia's Ambassador in the Oval Office, standing BEHIND the presidential desk: On the day he was Impeached, trump used this picture to snub his nose at the Impeachers and also to signal to putin that "trump will let Russia stand beside him, at the seat of power, if they influence the 2020 election to make him win."
5
I was born shortly after WWII and thought America was safe. Now, at the other end of my life, I am frightened for the future of this country. It could happen here.
12
Regrettably, i am concluding that a large plurality of our fellow Citizens don't value democracy and are not concerned about losing basic freedoms or the subversion of democratic institutions designed to protect our liberties.
Americans are not stupid, they are just not engaged in large enough numbers to push back against these abuses. The reasons for this are many and it is hard to fault the average person who is more concerned about putting food on the table and clothing their children. In their limited free time the people i am referring to would rather memorize sports statistics than the complexities of the rules of Congress. The United States has never been invaded and occupied so we have not suffered what so many other countries have and as a result do not value what we have not yet lost. So, now we are in the process of losing these protections and it will take several generations to reclaim them. In short, our evolution as a culture probably needs to go through a period of dictatorship, obvious corruption and perhaps worse before those that are not engaged wake up. It is likely too late for our current population to do so.
6
You say that Americans are not stupid, but where is your evidence?
3
Nothing new to say—I just do not get it that so many see how profoundly destructive this administration has been and yet, there remains an attitude that trashing our institutions can be effectively and readily redressed. Our backs are to the wall—if this man remains in office there is only irreparable damage ahead. Remember when to be “conservative” meant you advocated for institutional structures, not against them.
9
I couldn't agree with you more Mr.Friedman except to say that we're already morally and financially bankrupt. We elected a morally reprehensible President and the county, already so mired in dept prior to his election, is even more debt ridden today as our national debt has continued to balloon under the Trump administration with about 30% of our dept owned by foreign investors. That's a YUGE problem/threat for democracy and the United States.
4
Sure, I also agree with everything you say here, Mr. Friedman. They really are fine words, but Trump is for sure going to survive impeachment in the Senate. So we should be focussed on what happens next. It is completely futile to hope that enough Republican Senators will be convince to vote him out - haven't you heard what they're saying?
The only hope we have is that the impeachment process, even though it ultimately fails, will convince enough voters that Trump is so bad for the country we have to vote him out. It's a huge gamble, to be sure, but it's all we have.
12
The working class population have absolutely no interest in the power struggle between the two rival right wing factions of the US ruling class. This whole circus is about a faction of the existing Oligarchy who believes that Trump is harming the US imperial interests in Russia, Ukraine and Syria.
It should be noted that the Democrats haven't done a single thing in the interests of workers for decades (that's not why they were invented) and are of course fully complicit with their counterparts and dinner companions the Republicans in the class war and counterrevolution that has been being waged full force since the 70s. They have been equally responsible for the vast upward transfer of wealth, the destruction of jobs and wages and benefits and pensions, of democratic rights and civil liberties, for the creation of a police state at home, and for the War Of Terror raging on across the world that has slaughtered, maimed, and displaced millions upon millions.
Democrats will fight tooth and nail against universal health care and free college because they are first and foremost representatives of Big Insurance and Big Business/banks. Since bribery of public officials is legal, it's not that hard to buy representatives to do your bidding.
The FBI intervention in elections of 2016 is a clear confirmation to us once again that free and fair elections under the" Dictatorship of Capital" is nothing but an illusion to say the least.
6
Everything Tom says is true. But it doesn't matter ... Senate republicans will not remove Trump, regardless of ANY evidence that is presented.
There may be a few republicans that vote to remove Trump - perhaps 3 or 4, but my bet is that none do.
Trump will ballyhoo his vindication and hammer the dems about it all during his 2020 campaign.
But, unless the dems make a serious error (entirely possible), Trump will not win reelection - catering to his base is simply not enough.
Then again, with voter suppression measures and gerrymandering, Trump might squeak by in the electoral college. But even if that does come to pass, I think he'll lose the popular vote by even more this time. And then maybe we'll finally get rid of - or work around - the electoral college.
6
There so many excellent essays, I won’t try to compete with my usual ambivalent principles.
I have been worried DJT will harvest enough Electoral College affirmation again
This situation is doomsday: Congratulations Vladimir
6
"Who can beat him in 2020?" we ask Mr. Friedman. Sir, compose an answer in one of your thoughtful articles. We The People will thank you for trying.
4
The fact that it is considered an almost hopeless struggle to defeat Trump next year is an indication of exactly how low our country has fallen.
10
The philosophically ignorant go at it again with the argument that a republic is not a democracy .
If it is an autocracy it is not a republic.
There is a pendant to fake news it is fake concepts.
Created by the same people who claim that causality is fake news.
7
Mr Friedman, you state, “Trump apparently thought that just the announcement of such an investigation would kill Biden’s campaign in its crib.”
Really?
Could we at long last be completely honest with each other? We. Ooh well know that it would t be the announcement itself but the Echo chamber endless repetition and spinning and lying about said announcement that would make the difference.
I am once again disappointed in your reluctance to face and state uncomfortable truths.
Tomorrow may be too late.
2
@Robert Saffer I agree.
I also wonder of the effect the endless statements that there’s no way senate will convict has on the “jury.” If you are a republican struggling with going against party, do you give up as it seems to be a foregone conclusion repeated over and over?
This is going to end very very badly.
Trump will certainly and justifiably be impeached.
The GOP Senate and Roberts will whitewash the trial.
The red vs blue divide will continue to chasm.
Election 2020 will determine if the republic survives.
A Trump second term will be so lawless that there will be no way to hold our Constitutional Democracy together.
We will be doomed.
Putin wins.
15
@bobbybow The unhinged left-wing democrats said the same thing about a first Trump Presidency... Things seem pretty fine over here 3 years in. Best economy in 50 years.
The real problem, and the problem with Friedman's typically partisan views, is that people in this country are seeing everything very differently. The real risk to the country is making impeachment-or recalls, or re-votes-a substitute for elections. That is the real danger.
Not only is impeachment a foolish and short sighted move politically, but in the end it will do more damage to our system than Trump (if that is your view) has ever done. The results of all elections will be challenged, the Repubs will seethe and wait for revenge the next time. The Senate, will never convict him, and will make a show out of it which will demonstrate that corruption in high office is as American as cherry pie. (do Dems really want Hunter Biden, Joe, under oath, even Obama, Hilary-it will be endless)
The Dems are short sighted and obsessed with this president. It all may make it easier for Trump to be re-elected. His people will be energized, more reasonable conservatives will rally to him, others will look at what he actually has done (Never forget the market and economy, never and forgetting about his personality) and hold their noses and vote for him.
IT makes the Dems look weak.What they need is a good candidate-they don't have one- and win overwhelmingly in the election. This is how politicians should be removed. The Dems are running scared-you can smell their fear-they're afraid they might lose in 2020-but this is a dangerous way to proceed
7
No, that’s not a real danger. Most western democracies have ways to recall their leaders through votes of no confidence. It’s a very democratic concept. The real danger is in giving the president so much power that he is above the law. That’s what I’m afraid of.
11
"The real risk to the country is making impeachment-or recalls, or re-votes-a substitute for elections. That is the real danger." Did you feel that way during the Clinton impeachment?
2
In a normal administration, a booming economy would virtually ensure reelection. Not this administration, thank God. The remarkable thing is, if Trump had just kept his mouth shut in public, focused on his presidential duties, and stayed off Twitter, he would be gliding toward another four years. His damage, which is significant, has all been self-inflicted. The fact that this man was allowed to assume the presidency is a shame. First, he got elected due to the Electoral College system, having lost the popular vote. Then, instead of courageously doing its patriotic duty and refusing to seat this sorry excuse for a president, they let him pass. They failed twice. The Electoral College system is nothing more than a Republican voter-suppression tool. It has to go.
18
Impeaching won't do anything. The totally self serving Republicans controlling the Senate will absolve him. If he's re-elected then that will be the end of our democracy. If he's not re-elected he will claim the election was rigged and he will refuse to leave the White House, and that will be the end of our democracy.
Don't blame Trump. The people who are chiefly responsible for destroying our democracy all reside in the Senate.
8
@Alex Vine The democrats said the same thing about a 1st Trump term, seems like everything is just fine to me. Best economy in 50 years, better foreign policy than any of his predecessors, and he's not a career politician.
1
Republicans have characterized impeachment at an attempt to subvert or nullify the results of the 2016 electsions. Impeachment is NOT that. It is a constitutionally-mandated tool to use when president, cabinet officer or federal judge is found unfit for office.
8
The Republicans are trying to overturn the results of the 2018 midterm elections, when the American people duly elected a Democratic majority in the House in order to check Trump’s abuses of power and hold him accountable.
9
Newfound indignation? Today Senate Republicans told us:
1) It’s bad to lie to the Court (e.g. The Trump administration telling the Supreme Court that the 2020 census needed a citizenship question in order to promote voting rights)
2) Instances of urging other people to lie to the court should be prosecuted (Trump telling McGahn to deny requesting Mueller to be fired)
3) Letting one’s personal biases affect job performance is a fireable offense (kids in cages and state sponsored kidnapping vs "rapists")
4) Not disclosing conflicts of interest demonstrates intent to act in bad faith (undisclosed Nunes Ukraine communications)
5) Treating the “Ukrainian election meddling” story as credible is promoting Russian disinformation (Republicans are still doing it)
6) There is no evidence of a witch hunt, but the witch hunt continues.
Puts today's Senate hearing in a different context, no?
4
Simple question: What crime, exactly has Trump committed?
Please be specific with an actual crime and/or misdemeanor.
We've gone from treason (crickets) , to bribery (tumbleweed crossing the road) and now to 'abuse of power' (whatever that is, legally speaking).
I get it. People are rabid with hatred for Trump, but that simply is not an impeachable offense.
4
Read the Constitution. It says that the House may impeach the president for high crimes and misdemeanors, and allows the House free range to define what constitutes impeachable conduct. That's why the House was free to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about having consensual sex with an intern, as ridiculous as the charge was in the grand scheme of things. Obstruction of Congress and abuse of power are serious crimes, and the House has every right to exercise its oversight duties as it sees fit. The American people elected this House in 2018 to do exactly what it is doing now: maintaining a healthy separation of powers and our system of checks and balances, by exercising its right to oversee the executive branch and curb its desire to consolidate power. If a Democratic president is elected at some point in the future, Republicans will be glad that we fought now to protect the powers of the legislative and judicial branches, and refused to capitulate to an overreaching executive branch.
7
Please understand that “ high crimes and misdemeanors” in Article 2 does not require an actual crime be committed.
2
@Tired You can't obstruct when Congress lacks legal authority to compel the executive branch without adjudication.
I think the republicans made a mistake in impeaching Bill Clinton, and perhaps this is payback. But nonetheless, when you take into account the context of DJT since 2015 when the attacks on his persona began, to the calls for impeachment mere days after his inauguration, to the barrage of other attacks and calls for impeachment throughout the past 3 years with no justification, it's clear to see that the current house impeachment vote is a sham. They had to find something and decided to grasp at the first straws they thought they could hold onto.
And you're off the mark as far as Republican's being glad in the future. In the future Republicans may impeach a Democratic President for much lesser reasons.
2
Too late. Trump is a wildly successful Russian intelligence operative following Putin's orders. He has already succeeded in subverting US democracy. It is doubtful there will be a free and fair election in 2020. If you read the right wing sites there are tens of thousands of well armed men clamoring to volunteer to carry out POGROMS to kill off and suppress liberals. Trump will have no shortage of volunteer concentration camp guards if he is reelected. This is not a normal election. A Trump victory will mean the end of the Republic.
14
The Democrats have focused impeachment solely on Ukrainegate. I hope they have not bypassed the opportunity to educate the American public concerning the full extent of Trump’s ignorance of and/or disregard for the U.S. Constitution.
There is, of course, virtually no chance that Republican legislators, Vice President Pence and the current cabinet members will ever do anything effectual to rein in President Trump’s excesses, much less support his removal from office by either impeachment or the 25th Amendment.
Steve Bannon in 2017 reportedly estimated that there was a 30% chance that President Trump would “serve” a complete 4-year term. I find Bannon’s reported comment interesting because it indicates the extent to which even Bannon underestimated Trump’s ability to turn the GOP base into a blindly loyal personality cult. And who could have foreseen the extent to which Republican legislators, kowtowing to that base, would put self and Party so far above their constitutional duty to preserve the principle that no man, not even the chief executive, is above the law?
I highly recommend that anyone who supports our traditional constitutional order read Jonathan Chait’s “The (Full) Case for Impeachment”.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/the-full-case-for-trump-impeachment.html
5
This column is magnificent. Thank you Mr. Friedman.
7
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.
7
"President Trump not only should be impeached, he must be impeached if America’s democracy is to remain intact." Because if he's reelected, that may doom this great democracy, which in turn may spread to other budding democracies, as it has already been.
The only other alternative to impeachment, i.e., indictment by the US House of Representative, is holding the impeachment vote, if Donald Trump withdraws his candidacy for reelection, and promises not to run for reelection in 2020. That can avoid the humiliation of the third president to be impeached.
Though he is unlikely to be convicted by the US Senate, there is a strong chance that a plurality of 51 Senators voting to remove him from the presidency.
2
You would trust any promise Donald Trump makes?
4
@Kat
That’s why the impeachment vote is “holding,” tabling, not canceling.
1
Please remember that President Trump neither represents the “will of the people” nor the “will of the electorate.” Instead, Donald Trump represents the will of the electoral college, while Secretary Clinton represents the will of the electorate/people.
Don’t concede unearned titles that falsely indicate the GOP’s support of democracy.
Which party systematically supports voter suppression?
Which party has raised gerrymandering to an art form to under-represent their opposition?
Which party relies on an institution, the electoral college, specifically designed to thwart the will of a fickle electorate to get two of our last 3 presidents elected?
President Trump may be the “duly elected” POTUS, but cannot represent the will of the people/electorate without winning the popular vote.
12
This is it. We are on the kinfe's edge. The coming months may well determine the fate of the American experiment.
We are in dire need of a reset of norms for public conduct, civility and, most of all, shared reality.
I desperately wish for a unity ticket to purge the fascist, nihilistic inclinations from our current trajectory in a way neither party can. Brown/Romney? Klobuchar/Bush? Restore America's faith in truth, institutional expertise and the free press. Then we can debate how to keep the country on track to ever more prosperous futures.
6
Across a brief 77 years, my generation and that of my father has witnessed the overt influence of all that is vile and evil in such forms as Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini, to name only three demons who took on human form. Clearly many more continue to thrive across the globe.
Donald Trump is such an example: evil personified and proud of it. His presence among us presents a case book study in amoral conduct. Not simply a display of immoral values but anti-social behavior devoid of honor, honesty or integrity.
Sadly, I lack the ability to author a meaningful response to your article, Mr. Friedman, because, in part, I am too sad, in too great a state of despair for my country to adequately express the depth of shock and grief which prevails in light of the 40% of the population so 'base' as to support a man who displays boundless disrespect for the oath of office he swore to uphold.
Trump and his Republican co-conspirators are bonafide 'enemies of the people,' yet no more so than the living dead who dance as they pulls their strings. Even a zombie should contain a spark of rational, ethical regard for the well being of one's neighbors and the world. So, yes, impeachment of Trump is valid ... and 2020 will define the future of the American dream.
490
@forgetaboutit
But people do forget about it. I haven't heard any of the critics remind us that Hillary got more votes than the Donald. Trump and his minions say the people elected him. NO, the electors in the electoral college elected him!
36
@forgetaboutit I am going to hang your beautifully expressed and deeply humane and incisive comment on my wall. Thank you.
13
@forgetaboutit "Donald Trump is such an example: evil personified and proud of it."
If you truly in your heart believe Donald Trump is evil personified, perhaps you should check if it's still beating? This kind of hyperbole isn't just silly, it's dangerous, and to be honest, it sounds more like projection than anything else.
4
Casting aside every single issue about this President and his misdeeds leaves me with one totally overriding conclusion. The reason he has to go is because of his complete lack of decency.
That is not a minor concern. We have a right to expect our leader to maintain himself in a dignified and decent manner. Our nations soul is reflected by the man who occupies that sacred and vaunted office. The pain I feel in my heart and soul on a daily basis comes down, every single time, to the fact that Donald J. Trump conducts himself without a shred of decency.
20
Sorry Thomas. President Trump will be re-elected with popular and Electoral support. And you know it.
Why? Because the Democrats can not put forth a candidate or policies that appeal to the majority of the American public. Very simple.
9
That says more about the American people than it does the Democrats. And what it says isn’t good.
1
@Gilbert Davidson: check out how many Americans vote for Democrats over Republicans nation-wide. It's not even close.
1
@Gilbert Davidson
Last time, he barely won the electoral and lost the popular, against a candidate with a lot of baggage. I guess he wasn't a candidate, and didn't have the policies, "that appeal to the majority of the American public." Has he done anything since then to win over those people? Not that I can think of.
You think it will work for him to try to use our tax dollars to induce Ukraine, or China or whomever else, to "announce an investigation into Biden's corruption" and now we won't think Trump's a bad guy anymore? Good luck.
1
Our nation is thriving. Our democracy is stronger, much stronger, than when Trump took office. Why in the world would we follow anything you write?!
7
@Len: Just keep living in your little bubble in Duchess County, which is full of rich people who definitely benefit from a booming stock market and heavy tax cuts for the wealthy. The rest of us who are struggling to make it from month to month and are experiencing a strong decline in our standard of living as we age will continue to fight the Trumpian worldview.
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@Tired I'm not wealthy by any measure. I got a nice tax cut which helped offset my ridiculous increase in ACA-imposed health insurance cost.
3
The ACA didn't cause your rates to rise. They were on trajectory to rise with our without the ACA. The GOP defeated any measures that would've kept prices in check. Also, it makes an easy scapegoat for the insurance companies to say "we had to raise rates because of the ACA".
10
Any Trump supporter who cites “Impeachment subverts the will of the people" is helpfully pointing out that the people voted for Hillary. It was the electoral college who voted for the Donald.
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@Bill H. I don't hear anyone saying that. Also, if you recall HRC was the one who in 2016 was talking up the E.C. when faced with a possible pro-Trump popular vote.
How the times have changed...
We're all so angry and upset all the time with Trump and all the damage done to our country, coupled with the lack of forward movement to healthcare, climate change, income equality (in fact, backward movement). I just want to give up. I'm sick of all of it and if the senate doesn't vote to impeach, my heart will be broken and I will no longer wish to be part of this country or call myself an American. End the slow autocratization of America. If we don't, it will be too late.
19
@RCJCHC "I will no longer wish to be part of this country or call myself an American." You can renounce your U.S. citizenship with the U.S. Department of State. There will be no one in line. You can seek residency in Canada. Bring plenty of winter wear.
1
@RCJCHC You may want to avoid coverage of the next election...especially the results.
Northern Canada is a great place
As an independent that didn't vote for either main party candidate, watching the last 3 years unfold has been entertaining at the least and disheartening at best. I will say up front that the Presidents conduct in this matter is anything but stellar. The call was not perfect. With that said watching the Dem's start January 20th 2017 with promises of impeachment and then one allegation after the next, none of which proven has been exhausting. Pardon me for not being sold on the latest.
While those on the far left have been lapping up every tidbit of this process which on the surface seems okay, how are they going to feel about it when this moves to the Senate and Republicans get to call any witness they want? It's going to be 2016 all over again with allegations against the democratic party that dishearten voters to a point where they don't show up or worse, democrats that show up and vote for Trump. If you thought the DNC email scandal was bad, wait until the Senate starts the train of witnesses put before the cameras exposing the very thing Trump is being impeached for. Trump supports are not stupid as most here would have you believe, they are just well encapsulated within their own bubble just as those that hate Trump are safely tucked away in their bubble. Republicans didn't vote Trump into office in 2016, white blue collar democrats did. What has changed? Might want to start thinking about 2024.
4
@Ken I will smasher your questions:
1. Democrats were calling for impeachment once our Intelligence services verified that Russia helped elect Trump. It’s fact.
2. Please read Article 11, Section 4 of the Constitution. Clearly the call with the Ukrainian president was bribery. Example: if you do me a favor then you get to visit our White House and you get the foreign aid our Congress passed, over $300 million to be used to fight against Putin!
3. During the impeachment inquiry is all about gathering evidence. FYI: Republicans could have called witnesses but refused!
4. During the Senate trial Trump and the Republicans can offer their defense like during any other trial, this is when Trump could make a case for his innocence but will he?
Sir, no Democrat that I know is giddy about this! Not one! We are disgusted that Republicans refuse to see the clear evidence of bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors, obstruction of Congress. You must ask yourself: IF Trump is so innocent then why have the Republicans never, ever said, “This is a good and honest man.” They cannot!
8
Powerful and well-reasoned. Thank you Mr. Friedman, again. Now, time to send this article to Richard Shelby and Martha Roby.
4
I think it’s pretty much a given at this point that they’re going to impeach him. We want to conviction too !
8
A passage for those who claim to use the Bible to direct their actions: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his soul?" -Mark 8:36
9
Of course Trump must be impeached. He is a threat to our national security and to our fair elections. I hope somehow he is also convicted and removed from office despite foolish Republican support for him.
There are two main reasons the economy is doing well: first, it was already great when he became president. Second, he keeps pushing the Fed to charge up the economy by cutting interest rates. Thank goodness the Fed resisted this time. Without this, the economy would not be as hot as it's been. Even with it, eventually a recession will come and the Fed will have little room to maneuver due to the current interest rate cuts. Trump's no financial genius; he's just a bully.
7
@Barbara Was HRC not the greater threat to national security with her bathroom email server? Were fair elections not compromised when the DNC paid shady operators to dig up lies on Trump?
Trump owns this economy. His policy changes directly correlate to corporate earnings.
@cwandrews Are Trump's 15000 lies not an issue for you? How about his giving secret information to the Russians? Trump's tariffs are an unfair regressive tax on the poorest Americans. Unlike your allegations about Clinton, those matters have been proven.
But her emails!!! OMG. Was there an unrealized possibility that classified information could have escaped its cyber tether? Never mind that Trump willfully ignores his national security advisors and overtly GIVES information to Russia, or that the contents of the compromised RNC server have never been shared (yet), nor does anyone seem to care that WH operatives TO THIS DAY use unsecured methods of communication.
1
Trump is neither Republican or Democrat, and bears no loyalty to America, democracy, the Constitution or anything but himself.
Trump, Putin, bin Salman al Saud and their proxy terrorist state actors mirror the corrupt fascists that darkened the world in the 1930’s before inevitable war.
Trump is a threat to our national security from within. It is the duty of Congress to support the oath they took to defend the Constitution. They don’t have to announce their position until it is time to vote.
Trump will immediately be powerless and face justice for a lifetime of crime, while our alliances can be repaired and security enhanced.
The FBI, the State Department, the national intelligence services, Congress and the Supreme Court are not our enemies- gangster thugs like Putin and Trump are.
11
Absolutely. He has horrible cruel policies, and has shown a crooked tendency his entire life, including as an unindicted co-conspirator during Michael Cohen's trial, shady dealings at the hotel in Washington, breaking the emoluments clause, pandering to dictators while knocking our NATO allies, caging children at the border, 10 obstruction finds in the Mueller report, and lying lying lying, bold face lying. He does not respect the Separation of Powers, and has exploded the debt. There are many reasons to impeach beyond the two articles brought forth by the Judiciary committee. There will be no more Democratic Republic if he is allowed to continue.
9
@Marylee What cruel policies? Be specific - also make sure you consider which policies were originally created by Obama.
Bravo Mr.Friedman
Pl keep on Writing and writing and speaking out loud and clear about dangers of this president ruining our great country to the ground if elected in 2020.
We need to take cue fro Hongkong protesters and get out in the streets to protest this president’s policies, outrageous Treasonous behavior and ties to Russia and ruthless dictators around the world.
I wish Democrats can get everyone to vote .
7
Powerful, well written.
7
As scary as this time is, it's also so exactly what was destined to happen when we "elected" this monster. Of course we are in a constitutional crisis with democracy and authoritarianism teetering in the balance; no other outcome is possible with a psyche so uniquely damaged and dangerous as Trump's. And it's not even all that surprising to see conservatives following the cult of a strongman down into the moral abyss too. I've been avoiding hyperbolic perspectives on our political and media climate until recently. But we have crossed over into a place where making comparisons to historical disasters like the Nazis are our duty.
8
I take some satisfaction in knowing that trump and republicans who think they are pulling a fast one on us liberal rubes are also dooming their own children and their children's children. Their actions will take everyone down. No exceptions.
7
You do not impeach a president because you hate him
You don't impeach a president on the flimsiest of accusations
You don't impeach a president because you don't like his hair, his tweets, his children, his wife or the way he speaks his mind
you don't impeach, you beat someone you hate on election day with integrity and honor
2
@Brasto
You're right, and no one's doing any of that. But those are some nice strawmen you've managed to knock down.
6
@Brasto: Wow, if that's what you think this is about, your concept of the world is awfully shallow. Most of us care about whether or not we will have the right to vote in the future, or if it will be taken away from us or subverted by the Republican Party's massive power grab. May I remind you that the Republicans represent only a minority of the people in this country, and that autocratic rule by a minority party that has seized power through gerrymandering is anathema to a democratic republic?
10
"It is the only thing to do if our country’s democracy is to survive."
only fools deal in absolutes
2
@Kevin: "only fools deal in absolutes," he declared absolutely.
6
Driving around Texas during my work day, I can not help but notice all of the old, broken vehicles, with drivers that look unhealthy and more broken then their vehicle, all bearing Trump bumper stickers. If forty percent of the people want a mentally ill, con artist billionaire as their savior and a completely corrupt Republican Party that supports him, than the government deserves to fail.
We need bumper stickers that read :
Putin/ Trump 2020
Finish The Job
7
A friend of mine saw a GOP Senator, who shall remain nameless, at a restaurant. She had a brief but polite conversation and ended it saying something along the lines that this was a scary time. "The scariest," was the reply.
Part of what should frighten us is the number of Republicans who know better, but are willing to lie, or mislead the American people. To pretend everything is alright when they know the ship of state is taking on water. We are in danger of drowning, and there seem few Republicans willing to bail or even sound a public alarm.
10
We've watched the behavior of the Senate Republicans for three years. They will not not convict D.T., no matter what. He is delivering their agenda: control of the judiciary and unprecedented tax cuts for those at the top.
The fate of the nation is in the hands of Independents and Republican citizens of conscience, if enough of them join the rest of us in voting to preserve our democracy (what's left of it) in 2020.
8
While I sympathize with Friedman, the editors of the NYTs, and most readers / commenters herein, and would dearly like to see the president impeached and convicted, thusly removed from office, the best spin on the thinnest of evidence is just not sufficient for impeachment, much less conviction. Firstly, there is no Constitutional basis for the two articles of impeachment, but even stretching the category of "high crimes and misdemeanors," there is no substance to the charges, much as Mr. Friedman would like it to be. Secondly, the majority of people, especially the majority of registered voters, do not support impeachment on these grounds put forth by Representatives Nadler & Schiff. In fact, Quinnippiac's most recent polling shows that Trump's approval ratings are rising and Trump's approval in swing states and among swing voters is rising, even in the face of Speaker Pelosi's announcement of the articles of impeachment. It is time to get real, take off the rose colored glasses. If this is the best that the Democrat leadership can do, then Trump will likely win in an epic landslide in November 2020.
3
@Frank Renfro You're a brave man, but the truth can be uncomfortable to some.
1
@cwandrews It bears stating that public sentiment, based on viewership ratings, is even more strongly in favor of Trump than the political polling would indicate: FOX News has nearly double the prime time viewership of MSNBC, its closest rival, and nearly three times the viewership of CNN. That is to say, the general public prefers getting its news from FOX. So if the readers of the NYTs, the LA Times and WashPo like to stand in an echo chamber (or padded room) and read Friedman, Krugman, Bruni, Goldberg, Leonhardt, et. al., day after day, talking to themselves about Trump and Republicans, there is a real world out there that is telling me something different from what I read in these pages. However, I keep reading the NYTs because I am a gatherer of information from multiple sources. It is important to my daily profession and livelihood to know as many aspects of a story as possible - separately the noise from the signal.
2
Thank you, Mr. Friedman!
I could not agree with you more. Let me just add one thing to what you said: For anyone who supports Putin, who believes they would be happier, more content, and could live better in Russia, please go. Nothing is stopping you.
But do not mess with our Democracy! Do not subvert our Constitution. Do not ignore our Declaration of Independence. Do not twist our country toward your ends when Russia stands ready, willing, and able to take you in and give you the life you want and deserve.
Go where you believe you will be happiest, but you cannot stay in the USA.
3
Just one clarification on what the GOP is saying, "It is o.k. for a Republican president to abuse the office for personal gain, obstruct Congress, and break whatever other laws they so choose."
Make no mistake they are the essence of hypocrisy.
4
The impeachment is no more than a symbolic censure, knowing that it is a dubious pursuit that will fail in the Senate. That Trump is a disturbing figure who should be out of office due to his behavior and temperament, does not mean that these flimsy charges are more than sound and forty, signifying nothing.
When Friedman gets to the point of perceiving this as a threat democracy, its time for him to check his health insurance coverage and get the help he needs.
This sort of emotional exaggeration is silly.
2
This President IS A HUGE THREAT to our democracy. And don’t be so sure he won’t be convicted by the Senate. More Republicans than Democrats are up for re-election in the Senate in 2020, and their constituents may come down hard in the voting booth if they don’t vote to remove. At the least they will have some heavy ‘splainin’ to do.
What seems criminally under-examined about Trump & Co, and other bad-behaving leaders in the world, is the likelihood of foreign powers manipulating them via good-old blackmail.
Instead of a follow-the-money approach, what if we tried a follow-the-potential-dirt approach? Imagine the goods Putin could've so easily amassed thus far through his cyber and espionage resources on hundreds of politicians and other influential people. Whether crimes while in office, bribe-taking, favour-trading or embarrassing sexual hijinks, when you filter the last 3-4 years through a blackmail lens, it explains so much that's otherwise so baffling.
It can explain why so many once-repected Republicans have risked all and gotten behind Trump, becoming as vile as he and inhabiting and peddling his fictions. If you were powerful and Russia informed you it had video of you having illicit sex or taking a dirty envelope, what would you do: Tell them off and risk losing everything, or go along with their demands and maybe get to keep everything?
And now, with the Jeff Epstein scandal threatening so many powerful men, think what Putin, Xi, Erdogan or any other could do with a few choice morsels of the thousands of hours of video that Epstein is alleged to have secretly recorded at his many properties.
I mean, wouldn't you use all of these and other cheap and relatively effortless methods to wield control and sow havoc among your careless and vulnerable enemies?
I would, and hope my gov't is.
Trump is unfit to be President. Full stop. But, he was duly elected - full stop. While Friedman's argument makes sense, the linchpin "puts the rabbit in the hat." That is, the argument mentions several times, without support, that it is clear that Trump's intent was to benefit himself, in connection with the 2020 presidential election, at the expense of United States citizens. This could be the case, but as far as I have read, there has been no direct evidence of this presented. In fact, Trump is so vein, and so paranoid, and maybe so crazy, he could well have thought (and still think) that it was in every citizen's best interest that the potential "Biden corruption" in Ukraine be exposed. And, if there was such corruption - as he might, however far fetched, have believed - would Trump be wrong in his belief? Is it hard to believe that Trump thought there was real corruption there, and that everyone would be better off knowing? I think that's probably more likely than Trump thinking Joe Biden was a real threat to his presidency and that the best way to promote a win was to call a foreign leader from his office with many witnesses to request an inquiry for corruption he believed never occurred.
2
I won't do anything to save the Republic. We will still be stuck with people at the highest levels of government and industry (and probably the military) who are guilty of treason. Impeachment without a conviction and subsequent trials and executions of those who put Russian interests above those of the US will embolden the traitors. It won't be done, of course, because everyone wants to get back to a normal that no longer exists. The Republic is dead.
What an enlightening article.
But... ‘America is no different from Russia, so spare me the lectures.’
I am sitting in the most entertaining restaurant in downtown Moscow merely half a mile from the red square.
You know what: there is really little difference between Russian and American politics or culture. Well, not quite since there are less guns in Russia.
But in the end you have one party blessing what the supreme leader wants (yes there is a second party watching helplessly in the US)
Money rules and the strongman gets his way.
How is there a difference between the US and Russia ?
I see around me young happy people chatting away indulging in the most amazing food.
So what’s the point? The point is that this president is systematically corrupting and abusing the system. He does it, he knows it, and so do his followers. The Democratic outrage - albeit legitimate - is pointless unless they offer a better alternative to the majority of voters. Fresh faces, fresh ideas, a good future. Is this too much to ask?
Otherwise, what’s the point?
Russia is corrupt? Sure, so what. So is the US.
Russia is dishonest? Well, big deal, people live well here.
There is hardly a difference between Russia and the US (oh I forgot there are less gun related deaths in Russia)
Yes... this man must be impeached otherwise the US system loses its entire credibility! But the real solution is to vote the man out of office! This can only happen if there are fresh ideas.
Stand up! Vote!
4
Mr. Friedman maintains that "So while the founders wanted to reserve removal of a president for elections by the people, they understood that there could be situations when removing a president might be necessary to protect and preserve our very framework for holding free and fair elections." Of course, as Friedman knows only too well, impeachment is not removal. On removal, the Founders also knew that a simple majority would not suffice; 2/3 of the Senators present must vote to support removal. Impeaching the President is simply not going to serve as an indicator that our republican form of government is rock solid. Instead, assuming it happens, impeachment will be viewed as a highly partisan move, of the sort the framers were also concerned about. Pelosi was right at the start. Alas, this is going to help Trump, not hurt him. We simply do not benefit from an impeachment process which, however regrettable, is so obviously partisan.
It's the corruption, treason and criminal obstruction of justice, stupid!
3
@dreamer94
Corruption: no evidence.
Treason: no evidence.
Obstruction: no evidence.
Would you be willing to be held to the same standard were the tables turned?
1
Trump will be impeached by the House because the people flipped the house in the mid-terms for that purpose. It is expected but the Senate will not convict, and was always expected, even if there are/were hopes to the contrary. What is accomplished then? A resounding answer back to the electoral college that the majority of the people DO NOT SUPPORT this president.
@cwandrews
Trump actually asked Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens on national television viewed by millions. Trump actually ordered all his officials to defy congressional subpoenas. What more evidence do you need?
I'm re-reading an opinion piece by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt published in the guardian on how mature democracies die.
1) An extremist demagogue emerges and his message finds fertile soil
2) The political establishment fails to rein him (or her) in. this allows his extremist views to enter the mainstream.
3) the would-be autocrat attempts to subvert or destroy democratic institutions.
We're now at stage 3 and the real test begins.
Will the GOP continue to aid and abet Trump? Will they do the moral calculus and decide that its worth it to pack the courts and eviscerate the opposition? If they do, will the electorate stand for it?
8
@Mike
From The Guardian? Hardly a non-biased publication, although it has interesting articles.
The USA economy is still strong. Most people are working.
The country is not in immediate peril of war with China or Russia or any other power that can seriously harm the homeland. Our wars in the Middle East are winding down.
Our biggest issues are internal disputes about immigration and tax revenue and how to spend it.
By far, the biggest threat to the collapse of this country is the mountain of national debt that grows higher every year.
That is not talked about by Friedman, or in the Guardian article. Countries collapse due to debt and when it reaches a tipping point, it is almost impossible to solve it without massive disruptions.
We are not even close to the state of collapse as the result of a despot leader. The military and a majority of this country would not tolerateTrump for more than a second term. Bernie Sanders or Elisabeth Warren are as likely to ruin the country as Trump. None of them are suitable as President in my opinion and none of them can takeover the country as a despot.
The threats to us are China, massive debt, fracturing of our voters into far right and far left ideologues, our failure to come to agreement about immigration reform, and how to solve a growing drug population. (Most synthetic opioids are made in China and sent to Mexico and smuggled over the Southern border at border crossings)
When you call your republican senators to voice your wish that they vote for impeachment, they will ask for your zip code. It is easy to find zip codes of each state online. I just finished calling Sen. Kennedy, Sen. McSally, Sen. Cornyn, and a host of others. You will be advised to leave a recording, but once in a while a human answers the phone.
Americans have a right to voice their opinions, and I believe if all of us here called a few senators each day we could make a difference. I tell them I want them to vote for impeachment and I state my reasons why. Then I repeat my first name, my zip code, and reiterate my belief that they should vote for impeachment to save our democracy and follow the constitution.
8
Thought that we had won the Cold War. Apparently, Putin had other plans.
I still find it unbelievable that virtually all Republicans are willing to sell their souls and follow Trump. I know that tribalism is an extraordinarily powerful force, that demagoguery and propaganda can be powerful forces (just read history or look at the world around us), that tax cuts and stock market and capitalism and money are powerful forces, that social issues like abortion and gay marriage and SCOTUS and Federal judges are powerful issues, that identity politics in the form of white nationalism is a powerful force, but it is truly appalling to see 90% of Republicans, 40% of the country, 90% of white Evangelicals, the majority of white Americans sell out our country.
The problem is that the type of person who votes Trump is the very sort who never folds in the face of evidence. Their very being is intertwined with their conviction that they know the 'truth' that others around them can not seem to grasp. That's how all these conspiracy theories work. They play on the lack of self-esteem of their believers. A yearning to be special. And a complete inability to reconcile with reality. Reality to them conforms to their personal beliefs, not the other way around.
'Make America Great again' is the slogan to American Fanaticism.
4
Yes, impeach Trump. But Republican rule has brought the U.S. back to plutocracy status over the last 40 years. The entire party needs to be voted out.
5
Thank you for dumbing all of this down for us so poignantly Mr. Friedman. My wish is for the democratic leadership to learn how to communicate more effectively by employing metaphor, humor and allegory as you have done with the bank robber scenario. Americans would better understand what's going on re impeachment if it was explained with that story or a similar one. Instead of explaining in paragraphs and pages, the left must master today's media as Trump has. Our democracy depends on it! Trump must be exposed with one joke, one metaphor or one allegory, rinsed and repeated by all on truth's side, over and over. Nancy, Elizabeth, Pete, Cory, Andrew et al please hire a few writers from the Colbert show and get to work. Seriously!
2
Dear Mr. Friedman, How ironic it is that you should begin your essay with a comment that impeachment is the most consequential thing the Congress can do other than declaring war. Because you see, we have been at continuous war since the end of World War II and not one of these wars has been declared by Congress. Terrible abuse of power has been going on long before anyone ever heard of Mr. Trump. Abuse of power they has the consequence of hundreds of thousands of people killed and millions of lives disrupted and ruined. Many support Trump because he is the first , albeit clumsy step in breaking the stranglehold that elites like you have on our foreign policy. I don’t doubt that his greatest crime in your eyes is uncertain and unpredictable support for our current foreign policy in the Middle East. You, Mr Friedman want a reliable instrument for your agenda in the Middle East. Trump is not a reliable instrument. So the irony is that Trump is the first step in SAVING our democracy. Saving our democracy from people who put the interests of other countries before the interests of America
1
American democracy is deficient due to the Electoral College. Clinton won 3 million votes more than Trump, yet still lost the election. I can't think of any other country with a presidential system where this would happen.
Upon reflection, I am very happy with Canada's parliamentary system where a government can be defeated on a vote of non confidence.
11
Even once Senate Republicans exonerate the Traitor-in-Chief for his crimes, the resistance can and will continue. Even when the Supreme Court upholds the most egregious abuses of presidential authority, the resistance can and will continue.
Republicans have the opportunity to seize power on a permanent basis and will see it to the end. But they are only a minority of voters across the country. It is true some states are lost, like the Deep South and the Prairie West, but nationally they can be outvoted, out-litigated and outspent.
Most state and federal courts have already shown a desire to uphold the rule of law over fealty to one-party rule, and this is where the resistance must make it's stand. Gerrymander may be upheld in some states but overturned in others if the real Freedom Fighters, voters joined by advocacy groups, get out and vote while challenging all voter suppression in the courts, state and federal. And the Congress and state legislatures should be flooded with bills demanding change and motions condemning these violations of liberty.
Donald Trump and his Merryband of Sycophants can still be defeated at the polls and in the legislatures if Americans are willing to fight for it. And the resistance will do just that.
3
As wrong as the GOP has been about Trump this entire time, we can’t expect them to give it up now and come back to sanity. They will not. So it’s up to the rest of us to make sure we are in control of what’s going on here, and make sure we steer all this to the correct conclusion. We win this by maintaining some power over them in this situation, not by appealing to them or reasoning with them. We have to actively not let them win.
5
As I read the comments on this column while simultaneously watching the Senator hearing on the IG report, I just have to sit back and feel as though both parties are broken. It feels as though no one governs for the good of the people anymore and that people just try to score points embarrassing others, telling little white lies about each other and above all not listening to each other. I would like to see term limits implemented immediately, I cannot think of any other way to clean up this mess.
By all means get rid of Trump but vote him out. The current case against him is strong and he is unqualified to be president but further prosecution will only strengthen his chances to be reelected. Censure him and then vote him out.
And while we are at let's get rid of many democrats too. After reviewing the IG report it is clear that Adam Schiff has lied on many occasions but since he plays on the right side here, no one mentions it.
Move the capital every 10 years too so no one can be a life time government worker. Too many of them as well. Our founders never imagined life long government servants. There was a reason for that.
Please spare me the “both sides do it” nonsense. One party is standing up to defend the Constitution, while the other is actively working to destroy it. There is no moral equivalency. We are witnessing the demolition of American democracy, and the Republican Party is wielding the wrecking ball.
9
The Constitution says the grounds for impeachment are Treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Obstruction of Congress when the House did not seek to have its orders enforce is not a crime unless availing yourself of you rights is a crime. Abuse of power is not a crime at all because it doesn't have any real meaning.
Mr. Friedman wants a parliamentary system where a prime minister can be removed with a vote of no confidence. That is not our system of government. We have a Republic that is based on the Roman form of government. That is what the founders wanted and it serves a large country like ours well.
We should remove any member of Congress that votes for Impeachment or a conviction of these baseless charges by voting them out of office. That will preserve our form of government!
3
More and more I think that the key is bipartisan work, not only for removing Trump, but also for the reconciliation of the divided country. Appeal to the key GOP senators to save the country. The only condition without an alternative is to remove Trump. Everything else is negotiable.
3
Many conservatives like myself are ready to vote Trump out of office and replace him with Joe Biden. We are not willing to accept Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren or similar far left Democrats as President.
I see no other viable Republican candidate at this time for President in 2020 except Trump.
If Biden is the Democratic candidate, impeach and remove Trump. If someone else is the Democratic candidate, then
myself and many other conservatives will vote for Trump.
The Trump bad acts will not be enough to convince moderate conservatives to accept most of the far left candidates.
I do not believe that Trump will destroy the political process in this country. He is a symptom of deeper problems. The toxic remedy proposed by far left Democrat candidates is equally likely to crush the future of this country. I guess voters will have to pick their poison in the next election since the Senate will not be voting to remove Trump for President. Biden over Trump is my choice and Trump over any of the other Democrat candidates is where I and many other moderate conservatives stand. I did not vote for Trump in 2016 and it would be fine with me to have a moderate Democrat as President.
3
Donald Trump capitalized on the anger, resentment and disenfranchised middle class workers who were left unemployed, and far behind in the global economy. For more than 30 years Democrats and Republicans ignored the destruction of jobs, schools, industry, infrastructure and the bankrupting of cities, states as well as democratic institutions and organizations. Millions of Americans faced economic hardship and without the ability to advance financially through either hard work or education. Access to advancement was strangled by economic policies that looked to bring in cheap goods while promises of new and better jobs because of advances in technology never came to pass. Legislators looked the other way enjoying their perks and pensions including massive health care benefits unavailable to the general public.
Winning the 2016 election sealed Trump's vision of power and authority. Trump believed that he had and was leading the masses of forgotten workers. Trump also believed that any means necessary to stay in power was allowed by his win.
I believe that Trump should be impeached. He should be held criminally responsible for his crimes of bribery and obstruction. I also believe that this is the wrong time. Like it or not the Chinese have come to the negotiating table. So have Mexico and Canada. Not to forget the European Union.
Impeach Trump? Yes. But assure us his accomplishments and goals will be forcefully continued. Save Americans from economic ruin too.
4
There's already been a president not legitimately elected: George W. Bush. His brother Jeb helped him steal that election, abetted by the Supreme Court. And defying the will of the voters by holding up aid to Ukraine? Myself and plenty of other voters are fed up with our money going overseas when it's sorely needed here at home. Precisely why do we have to give money to Ukraine? Why is it such a scandal that the money was held up? As if Ukraine was entitled to it! I bet if you took a voter poll on all this foreign aid the will of the voters - to keep the money at home - would become clear.
2
Maintaining peace and order in some parts of the world actually advances America’s own interests.
4
We are living in frightening times in the USA, and around the world. Our very democracy is at stake, and the most frightening thing to me is that so many just don't seem to care. How fragile our country is, and how quickly our way of life could end. I have been trying to stay positive about the prospect of positive change, but lately I find myself fighting off that sinking, sickening feeling of what may lie ahead. We cannot recover from four more years of Trump.
9
Friedman not considering the ramifications of impeachment without witnesses or evidence.
It can also happen to subsequent presidents just because they have the majority.
2
Trump is a man without a conscience. The only "right" thing to do is what benefits him, and everything takes a back seat to his own self-interest--including the country. Could there be a more compelling reason to impeach a president?
There can be no greater mistake than to hand the awesome powers of the U.S. presidency to a man like Trump. Although the GOP will not allow it, he should be removed from office.
The country will be forever changed, and not for the better, if he is not.
7
Insightful arguments Mr. Friedman. As a Republican voter, I did not support Trump for president (did a G.O.P. write-in) for 3 main reasons: 1) His time-proven lack of character, 2) His odd, and unRepublican, obeisance to/admiration of Russia's Vladimir Putin, and 3) His penchant for embracing autocrats worldwide (over our allies) and copying their undemocratic ways. It is those very three flaws that have landed him, rather predictably, into this Impeachment quagmire. With Trump the past is always prologue, and he's not getting any better in any of the 3 areas of concern I noted.
11
@Wesley, you may not like to hear this but your write-in during the 2016 election helped trump to win. Mathematically, this is what happens between the top two candidates. Any vote that did not go to the top candidate (Hillary in that case) helped trump.
Every vote for anyone below the top two, simply makes the "percentage of votes" for the top-two get closer to each other. This also occurred for people who voted for Bernie - their votes helped trump.
Hoping that NO ONE votes for anyone other than the top Democratic candidate, in 2020.
12
@Incredulous of 45
Make Biden the Democrat candidate and I and many other moderate conservatives are on board.
Trump vs the far left candidates is a non-starter.
@Incredulous of 45
Thank you for saying that. This is the truth.
Why is it so hard for people to understand this . If you didn’t vote because you didn’t like Trump or wrote in person you actually voted for Trump. That is what the Trump campaign wanted. That is why is some areas they told People not to vote.
4
Rediculous. Trump shouldn't have been elected, but the democrats shouldn't have run Hillary either. Go ahead, get rid of trump. We will still be facing: huge deficits, income inequality, an immigration system that is broken, climate change, all manner of other environmental disasters, racism, Middle East wars, PC issues like identity politics, jobs that don't pay a living wage, and on and on. Why? Because these are issues no one has fixed because their very hard and we have nothing in this country but division. Trump has become the straw man for the left that has caused the sky to fall. Obama did an ok job, but in reality the rich continued to get richer and the co2 kept going up, just like it has for decades. Trump is an obnoxious, unpleasant, self serving oppurtunist, but he's not what's wrong with America. It is the Balkanization of this country into groups that simply jeer at each other and call each other names. Trump just took advantage of an uneducated, uninformed, PC driven electorate that doesn't want to hear the truth much less act on it.
9
@Al: Obama reduced the deficit significantly. The deficit is exploding due to Trump’s tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. Trump is not going to address any of the issues you list, such as climate change, a living wage, etc. He is busy undoing as many environmental regulations as possible on behalf of his donors in the fossil fuel industry. If we want climate change and income inequality addressed, we will need to elect Democrats to do that.
10
@Al Obama made significant progress on every single issue you mention other than war in the Middle East and "PC issues." His progress on immigration was partially stymied by the GOP's decision to abandon its previous support for a compromise deal. The economy has done well for the last several years, but, other than that, the GOP has reversed the gains in every other area you mention. This whole "both sides are to blame" thing is incredibly counterproductive. Sure, the Democrats are a badly flawed party and they would probably make a ton of mistakes even if given absolute control of the congressional and executive branches again. But there's no comparison - the GOP is far, far worse.
6
Hillary Clinton wasn’t a bad candidate, she just had then unfortunate job of being the first presidential candidate to deal with the 24/7 GOP/FOX misogynism factory. A lot of what you don’t like about her, and a lot of what you feel negatively about her, is literally because of a (still?) successful effort by GOP/FOX.
11
I keep hearing the GOP say "If Trump is impeached, the will of the voters will be reversed!". I guess they think that Trump's impeachment means Hillary Clinton will retroactively be president. Well, who am I to argue with the GOP.
6
@David R: The GOP keeps forgetting that we had an election in 2018, in which the "will of the voters" installed a Democratic Congress to exercise oversight over a runaway executive branch that is trying to usurp the powers of the legislative and judicial branches, and destroy the separation of powers that supports our system of checks and balances. Why do they keep pretending that "the people" didn't vote for checks and balances in 2018?
6
Almost every opinion piece I've read in favor of impeachment misses the point - it's not really Trump, it's the entire GOP. The Democrats would have turned on one of their own long before now. The Republicans are willing to trash democratic norms and the very concept of shared, objective truth for political gain. This behavior started before Trump (e.g. voter suppression, Fox News), accelerated greatly under the Orange One, and will continue after he is gone.
Sure, Trump is an astonishingly awful human being who has taken things far, far beyond what most other Republicans would do in his place. But the reason he can't be stopped, including via impeachment, is that the GOP is willing to do absolutely whatever it takes to protect its own power and that of the oligarchs. Without the help of at least some Republicans, there simply is no formal or informal mechanism to stop Trump. Long after Trump is gone, decent people will still have to contend with the amoral, or perhaps immoral, forces that put him in power and kept him there. Only the end of the GOP was we know it can save America. I'm not holding my breath, though.
14
Trump owns the GOP. No GOP member of Congress will cross the aisle to vote for impeachment in either house. Crossing the aisle would guarantee they will be priimaried or worse. Trump is now the GOP.
4
FBI/Comey kept the investigation of the Trump campaign secret until after the election while reopening the Clinton email investigation days before the election. FBI/Comey "mistakes" likely cost Clinton the election, but Trumpublicans howl that Trump is somehow the "victim" of the deep state.
10
You'd better start working on a Plan B, and fast. He won't be removed from office and the republicans will do what they always do and act as his apologists-slash-lap dogs. Because they will control the narrative in the Senate trial, trump will get off scot-free. And we will have four more years of him, and we will probably lose the House. And America won't be America anymore.
8
Mr. Friedman lays out plainly, using simple language that helps all voters understand, the ridiculousness of republicans who "defend" trump.
We absolutely must REMOVE TRUMP from office.
Impeachment is step one, but the more important next step is for the Senate to convict trump thereby removing him from office. No one expects this highly partisan republican-majority Senate to do so. They are a bunch of shills, more interested in repeating trump's lies rather than protecting America.
Yes, America is at great peril. Our way of life is at risk from the trumpy trumpians.
If we don't remove trump from office, we will have more corrupt dons like trump destroying America's safety nets, while they steal it all.
We little people - we will pay the price.
5
With this President and his corrupt administration? Easier said than done because facts don't matter. Only lies do.
5
Please US Senators, save our democracy from Trump and Barr. They are doing serious damage to the just and honest functioning of our country.
5
@Susan LC I hate to break it to you but they have no intention of saving us, neither did Mueller. It's up to us the voters, so in November 2020 voter blue no matter who!!
1
The "easier than said that done" headline. But the National Enquirer "Junk News" has won. Their headline is, "Russia Wins World War III Without a Bullet Fired". Not only can their propaganda mangle the truth but they can render the truth unimportant. It used to be., " Believe what you want, but this is the truth ". Now it's, "Believe what you want, the truth doesn't matter". The result of a highly sophisticated subversive network of targeted spin, word twisting and barrage of disinformation that effectively confuses and persuades. The Russians have already won and succeeded in creating a dictatorship in the USA. Every attempt at truth is diverted to nonsense. What do you think a dictatorship looks like? There is usually an opposition party and that is nothing but an excuse to call it a democracy. Is it true that 60% of the Russian people believe they live in a democracy? I read that somewhere. Actually looking back, I blame OB for having his eyes closed to the Russians laying down this incredible schematic network of subversion being allowed to walk through the front door of our Internet and social media platforms. It didn't just pop up at the end of the election cycle. First of all, they knocked off Jeb Bush; the Republican shoe in candidate. The Russians lay down this machine over many years while we were looking the other way. How could that have been allowed to happen in the first place. How could our CIA and FBI be so blind?
2
Everything Tom Friedman says about Republicans in Congress, Fox News etc. is true. However, don't take your eye off Barr because he's in a position to do Trump's dirty work and we may not be able to alter or control that.
His words and actions are jaw-dropping and add to the fear I already feel from Trump and his sycophants.
5
Does anyone other than myself believe we will not have a free and fair election in 2020 with Trump, Barr and all the rest of the cronies in power?
7
@Laura Reich Certainly if Trump and friends try to interfere in some manner, or his allies at the state level do the same, other Republicans won't do anything to stop him. The question is what they attempt to do and whether the courts allow them to do it. I'm not gonna hold my breath for the same John Roberts who invented a preposterous rationale for gutting the Voting Rights Act in 2013 to protect the integrity of our elections though. The Democrats are on their own in their efforts to defend liberal democracy - a very scary thought.
3
"Impeaching a president is the most consequential thing our Congress can do — other than declaring war."
I'd like to propose a minority view here. I'm not sure we should take it as an indisputable fact that firing the President is such a monumental thing. As is, we change Presidents every four or eight years through elections. Tragically, we have had to change Presidents four times due to assassination, once because the President died in office and we have had a resignation due to scandal.
Our government is very well built and established to have non-partisan, orderly transitions of the chief executive whether from elections, tragedy or scandal. The 2/3rds majority assures that it is very unlikely that one party would ever have the power to remove the President for political gain.
The Senate should fire the President. Then we'll have another President. And everything will be fine.
1
I believe voters minds are already solidified.. this is all about saving face and polarization.
Democrats will do just about anything to win the 2020 election and by doing so energize Trump.
I find the whole issue deeply embarrassing on the world stage. Enough already!
2
Smart and logical, but I take exception assuming Republicans parrot Russian conspiracy theories. For all the reasons stated, I conclude censorship as appropriate and measured action. Impeachment targets an individual and does not drain the swamp, only satiates haters and feeds resentment of hard working taxpayers. Instead, censuring our misguided leaders gives Washington a nudge toward transparency and cooperation, accomplishing the author’s goals of a more perfect democracy. We also need to enhance the bi-annual election process to keep the swamp clean.
Trump definitely got his finger on the pulse of American stupidity.
9
"It's the Constitution, stupid!" That is the perfect rejoinder.
Thank you, Mr. Friedman, you've laid everything out honestly and in a manner people can understand. Now Americans just have to give a damn.
9
Oh my goodness, so overblown. "Save democracy." Dude, the past 3 years have shown that our democracy has some very well constructed checks and balances in place. Stop acting like the world is ending. This kind of talk literally makes people ill. I've seen it in my own life. We need to back off the hyperbolic speech and apocalyptic headlines out of respect for each other's well-being.
2
Even if we successfully vote him out of office, Trump and the GOP will contest the results as somehow illegitimate and he won’t leave office. He knows that the minute he does, NY prosecutors will pounce and he doesn’t want to go to jail. He’s never going to leave office... ever and the GOP will find a way to justify it.
5
@Kellygirl212 No worries, the Secret Service will show him the door.
1
I just finished watching Chernobyl and the horror and death of so many due to the core of tyranny...lies, secrets and propaganda fed to the people of a country. It was chilling to be able to compare these evils to what is being fed to Americans today by the President and so many Republicans in our government.
Trump has his "Base", who he claims love him. They laugh as we are losing our country, our values and the Constitution of the United Stated of America.
4
@Patty Peter: I was thinking exactly the same thing while watching Chernobyl. All it takes is a propaganda machine powerful enough to silence critics.
3
I wish people would stop making such a big deal out of it. Why do we have 'special' words for firing an incompetent employee? How many of us could have lied to our employers over 13,000 times, berated coworkers and the general public, advocated violence and excused hate crimes, been believably accused of rape and sexual assault multiple times, be involved in thousands of lawsuits, work a daily schedule that wouldn't tax an elderly house cat, all the while showing signs of mental derangement and drug abuse?
He loves to hear the words 'You're Fired' - just get him out of our house NOW. Let SDNY handle it from there, I'm sure they have multiple indictments all ready to go. Then let's also get rid of all the people who have enabled him and refrained, even under ample evidence, from instituting 25th Amendment protections and removing him from office and power. People who don't uphold their oaths of office need to be punished appropriately, especially when the dangers are so vast.
3
The Republican attack on the FBI in today's hearing on the Inspector General's investigation make Trump's impeachment even more urgent. Once again, Republicans are focusing on process -- and a very small piece of the process -- to discredit any findings of wrongdoing by Trump and his associates. They are eagerly supporting his "witch hunt" propaganda campaign. If the initial FBI counterintellignce investigation into Russian campaign subversion can be cast as politically motivated and fatally flawed, so can the Mueller investigation and the Ukraine impeachment investigation. Then Rudy Guiliani's freelance Ukraine investigation can be portrayed as "the truth," exonerating both Trump and Putin in one fell swoop. Mission accomplished. Republicans under this president are complicit in the destruction of our democracy.
5
Thank you Thomas Friedman for articulating what is in my heart and mind. From your pen to God's ears and to the Senate. I'm very concerned for what may/not happen when these charges are brought to trial there. Will there be enough GOP senators who are fed up? I don't expect the toadies from South Carolina will support removing him from office. And I hope that others from across the country will.
4
I'm not even concerned but I do hope you elect somebody else next year. I wonder what will happen if he is re-elected. Good luck.
2
@Julien Easy for you to say, but thanks for thinking of us.
1
Hank you, Mr Friedman. We cannot be a nation that would sell its soul merely to brag about or maybe achieve economic progress, if that’s what we call today’s situation. We Americans should strive to do morality well, or else everything is up for sale, including our integrity.
2
A message for the ages, Mr. Friedman, when future historians look back at this time we're in.
Re Trump as king, or president for life: Easy to see what comes after. All those in government and their staffs who have grown up in Past America quit, leaving our nation 100% Trump America. And then, in a few years .... Ivanka and Jared are deemed next in line for the throne. And after that, North Korea-style, the Trumps keep coming.
Another thing about your column, Mr. Friedman. Thanks for this warning, but the real possibility of seeing your deep concerns for our country become Trump America (with his successors) actually made me a little ill.
4
Trump is gaslighting the country. Some people are comfortable with that But others, who don't value great wealth above all else, value honesty and integrity more.
7
Yes save America from the person who created the best economy for everyone in the last 50 years. Lifted more from welfare and food stamps and put more minorities to work. Took on China which everyone thought the horse was already left the barn and the world is already flat so too late to take China on. Impeach him and save America from democracy because he is letting more people to decide how to spend their money and getting the govt more and more out of their lives. But he is destroying democracy. Though he is first GOP President to fight for blue collar workers and negotiate a new NAFTA replacement which neither a democrat of a Republican tried to do before. Impeach him and let the Elites of both parties and some of the their media enablers run this country and look after their own interests first.
1
@Kris Trump has done nothing for the economy. Thank the Fed for that. And nothing is new with China, except for tariffs and a reduction in agriculture demand. And as far a letting people decide how to spend their own money, he has done that by simply borrowing, in the last quarter the deficit generated was more than $300 billion. He is destroying democracy. Regarding that new NAFTA agreement that he and the Democrats agreed upon, Mitch will not even let it reach the Senate floor until next year.
7
@Kris
My husband and I have large families and not one of our siblings is doing better in this economy. Why? They can't afford health insurance, they don't have enough to put into 401Ks, many are working more than one job, and two have adult children living at home who can't afford to live on their own. Not sure what America you're living in, but it's not working class.
Also, I do remember a pie-in-the-sky stock market that had everybody giddy and had banks urging folks to take out mortgages that underneath, were rotten to the core. That was in 2008 when my hardworking son took a bath on a condo turned quickly upside down. No help for him though while Wall Street got rewarded for their malfeasance.
I'll take a slow and steady economy, a balanced budget, and a diminishing federal deficit any day over wildly rising and unpredictable markets, unregulated banking, and tax cuts for the uber rich.
4
We are Americans and we DO care more about money than we care about our fellow Americans. That is the level we have reached and to only be outraged when it reaches the level of the presidency is to be weighing in far to late. Republican citizens and representatives can be counted on to exonerate Trump.
1
The Electoral College subverted the will of the people, and it begins there. Our country wouldn't be facing the destruction of our democracy had the winner of the popular vote been in office. Even if Trump is impeached, the scope of this man's damage to our country, government, and people, is not yet fully understood, but no doubt we will be dealing with the wake of his destruction for decades to come. The Republican packing of the judiciary guarantees this.
17
Mr. Friedman's statements and points are as well put, articulate and convincing as they've ever been.
I do believe that his assessment of the man being "President of (no more than) his base" suggests that he cares and indeed represents and furthers their interests. That is an overly charitable stretch.
I'd pause before entertaining the notion that MAGA-folks mean more to him in any regard other than pragmatically as a pol and narcissist. In fact, they will be the first to suffer (even further) from his agendas and progroms.
They will awaken one way or another to the reality.
4
MoscowMitch will never allow the Senate to find Trump guilty of impeachment charges; he is part his of the anti-democratic, authoritarian cabal, including most if the cabinet and certainly the Trump family, trying to take over all levers of American democracy.
They seem to be succeeding; one could argue that the country is already lost.
Some folks may be able to leave if the place becomes too dangerous, politically, to stay. What may be more interesting will be to watch the “base” when Trumpian government abandons them, although those who can’t wait for the Rapture to occur, like Pence and Barr, will likely stick with him. (Unless Trump throws them under the proverbial bus, too.)
7
Best column you've written in a long time, Mr. Friedman. Thanks for noting the crucial fact that Trump was dangling a White House visit and military aid to Mr. Zelensky as a bribe in exchange for the announcement of an investigation, not for the investigation itself. It's a move from the Rudy Giuliani playbook to discredit one's opponent. Trump could care less about whether or not there is corruption in Ukraine, unless he can make it work for him.
I also appreciate that when you name the bad state actors likely to work to influence the next presidential election, you include the Saudis. I'm sure that was hard for you, given your previous fanboy columns about MBS and his glorious vision for the Middle East. Thank you.
8
It seems to be a race between the current administration and climate change – as to which will destroy this country first. Robert Frost's poem "Fire and Ice":
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
5
@Paul O Excellent! and Sad.
1
"the America you grew up knowing and loving, and the America that the rest of the world has so long admired as a beacon of democracy and justice will be no more."
Well, I guess you are 30 years late. That America is long gone, if it ever existed. Reality check (from someone in Portugal (West Europe)): America is not seen as a beacon of democracy or justice. It is seen as a place of false hopes and opportunities. A place so rich it could make everyone comfortable, instead it creates inequality and misery as is not seen in any other developed country. It is a country which tilts foreign governments through wars and coups against democracy (latin america, middle east, east asia...) to fill the interests of a few.... I'll stop here.
13
Then why do immigrants continue to flock here. We are the beacon, we are the light in the dark. We are not perfect.
1
It's all politics. Democrats claimed that Bill Clinton's behavior was "personal". Yet at least two countries knew about the relationship, making the president a target for blackmail. Trump's behavior is much worse but don't expect any "Profiles In Courage" from GOP senators.
2
I fervently wish there were 20 Republican senators who had sufficient courage to defy Trump and all the frothing Trumpistas who think their Dear Leader is a better president than Abraham Lincoln, but unfortunately the Earth is as likely to change directions in its revolutions around the Sun. And what is worse is that the odds in favour of Trump's re-election are very heavy among Las Vegas gamblers who are already betting oodles American dollars that he will win. But I do agree with Friedman that the United States (and possibly the Free World) will not survive another Trump presidential term.
6
At the end of next year the American people will be the ones that decide the fate of Trump’s Presidency. Republicans will not remove Trump from power and all of the opinion pieces in the world won’t change that. There is no point in expecting the impossible. It’s far more valuable to plan for something that can be achieved.
3
@John Indeed, vote blue no matter who!
1
If the House votes to impeach and refers to the Senate, they are following the precepts on the constitution....no? This IS the process. How does exercising the process threaten the process? How obeying the constitution threaten the constitution?
The constitution doesn't specify how each member should vote. When people of your stature are making these sorts of errors in their thinking, we have reached a sad state.
3
Republicans divide their morality into neat categories. Family and friends and neighbors, yes. Business and politics, not so much. Trump is business and politics, so republicans simply do not care about his misdeeds, Ukraine included. And they like his policies, so he flourishes. To many independents, his policies, save one, are debatable. The issue of CO2 pollution and climate change, however, is not debatable. It is real and disaster is imminent. It could be one big event, or death by a thousand cuts, but the earth as we've known it is dying. Unless this issue gets more attention as a basis for the voting decision, Trump will get re- elected.
6
Trump and his allies are not interested in saving America, Tom. THey're interested in becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Russia, pursuing Putin's America. All fine with them, as long as they keep getting richer. That's all that matters to them. They are NOT MY COUNTRYMEN.
9
There are so many factors that make an economy go up or down, it is almost ludicrous to say that a President is responsible for the economy.
Were any past presidents responsible for the massive change in computers? They may have had some small part, but the hundreds of thousands that actually worked on those computers had a far greater impact.
Ah, but with Trump it is L’état, c-est moi.
4
"Because the facts here are not in doubt"
This statement makes "facts" and "doubt" rather frivolous concepts. Facts are not determined in opinion pieces and there is plenty of reason to have doubt based on the polarized reporting we currently have in news media.
Rules of evidence and the law is how to impeach a president not by party and ideology.
@Alx
"Rules of evidence and the law," so do you oppose the President's blanket refusal to allow members of his administration to testify?
2
I suspect that 40% of Americans, or the 41%, Trumps base, really do not want a democracy. They want a theocracy. They want an evangelical, or similar, to be akin to Iran's ayatollah. Then, they can have the bumbling president, just like Iran, in this case Trump; he can then bumble around and play with little things here and there, but the real government power would be an evangelical theocracy.
13
Best Case Scenario: The gutless Republican Senate exonerates Trump. Trump will succeed in getting re-elected (most all presidents serve two terms regardless). In the meantime, horrified voters will vote in Democratic majorities in the Senate and House, enough to finally pass long-needed legislation and to override presidential vetoes sure to come. Trump is lame-ducked for four years but the business of the country finally begins to get done. Worst Case Scenario: You don't want to know.
7
@Robert Sieviec Best case scenario is a small majority in the senate. Not enough Republicans in the senate are up for re-election to get a veto proof majority for Democrats.
2
There's truth to what you say, hopefully it will be carried to the voting booth. The elected Republicans don't have the courage, to take the Don down.
4
The very first paragraph of this piece is false. To say that the facts are "indisputable" and that republicans have "given up" contesting them is simply a lie. Not a single witness in these hearings, except perhaps Sondland- who contradicted himself several times- could provide any firsthand testimony that Trump had any intent to withhold Ukrainian military aid unless Biden's corruption was investigated. Also, the intent is largely irrelevant since the investigation never happened and the aid was released on time. I have not seen ANY conservatives in the media or congress yielding on these points. I don't know whom Friedman is referring to when he says that this, but most likely he is not referring to anyone and instead is just creating a strawman to support his own conclusions. This is why America distrusts its media, especially its leftwing media. The only fact here is that every witchhunting subpoena issued by the democrats has been legally challenged in court by the administration, and as one of the constitutional scholars interviewed by the committee said, that is legal and appropriate, and therefore the only "abuse of power" is the one that democrats would commit by pursuing impeachment, which is what they have now done. America is not falling for the democrats' scheme, as the polls continue to show. And impeaching the president will not "save America," it will only further divide it.
2
@LucasJohnson
Direct evidence is hard to come by in a cover up and with obstruction, so your point is weak. If Trump has nothing to hide, then he could use this moment to answer the accusations, prove his innocence, rescue himself and his other close henchmen and ride easily into a second term. That he doesn't do so should be frustrating and perplexing to his supporters. Why aren't you supporting a wide open investigation? Or is that only the dictate for Democrats accused of wrongdoing?
To further this point, take the facts of the case and switch Trump's name with Obama or Clinton and you would quickly see how your position and feelings would change.
You and I do need to be outraged together, arm in arm, and I would hope that we would be fighting for an open investigation to get the truth. And unless you disbelieve all career officials and believe someone who has consistently lied throughout his short time in office, I'm not sure you can be of help in this effort.
5
Facts do not need first hand testimony to be established. There are plenty of people who are in prisons and jails right now convicted of crimes because a preponderance of evidence is established or it is beyond a reasonable doubt. It's especially difficult to get first-hand testimony when a president blocks people who might have that evidence from testifying and refuses to turn over documents. An impeachment does not follow the same legal process as a court trial. Further, I have never seen black matter and yet second-hand evidence, such as the movement of objects and the bending of light, show us it exists. What is astonishing to me is a phone call, made three years after the fact, that specifically asks the Ukrainian president to investigate a person by name, and demands the investigation be made public is not enough evidence for you. Crooks seldom go on tape and say exactly what they are doing. And Trump is incompetent and felt protected enough to do just that.
1
How can we honor the 20th century generations who saved the world from megalomaniacs in two world wars and from failed communism in the cold war? How can we thank them for passing laws for civil rights? How can we thank them for protecting free speech and the press? For keeping foreign adversaries off our soil and out of our government?
For the Republicans, start by tramping on the Constitution and the rule of law, and on the rights of others not like them. Then dismiss foreign aggression in our elections, and support an individual Russia helped elect who will soon make our country a dictatorship if nothing is done to stop him.
But Republicans still have time to turn it around. If I was one of them, I would hate to face my grandparents one day in heaven and explain how I failed to do my duty and defend my country, and how ultimately, I failed them and dishonored my family.
7
@Sherrie Re:"If I was one of them, I would hate to face my grandparents one day in heaven and explain how I failed to do my duty and defend my country, and how ultimately, I failed them and dishonored my family."
Why do you think that the Vichy Republicans would make it to Heaven?
2
Putin might have paid $150 billion to Trump in an offshore account. Not much money for a country like Russia and, for Trump, the chance to assuage the complexes of a lifetime... (at last the richest man in the US).
3
Excellent piece, Tom. We already know Trump will not be convicted by the Senate. The 2020 election will determine whether America remains a republic and reaffirms belief in the Constitution. So contrary to all the sound and fury about Medicare for All, the election will ultimately be about one thing only: Donald Trump. People who say they can’t bring themselves to vote for certain Democratic candidates for whatever reason are deceiving themselves and that goes for Plutocrats who care more about keeping obscene wealth than living in a free country and every Republican politician in Washington, drunk with power and greed. A vote for Trump is a vote to destroy America. Think Weimar Republic versus Hitler. It’s that serious.
17
"It's the Constitution, stupid" Thank you Mr Friedman.
12
Sadly a majority of Trump supporters probably don't know what "subvert" means which says everything about how our country has failed to rally around the necessity of public education and life long learning
9
When Trump first took office the left's never-Trumper hysterics were filled with silliness such as he's "unhinged" so crazy he can't be trusted with the nuclear codes, blah, blah, blah. That all went by the wayside. Then the fake/non-crime of "collusion" profound hysteria concerning this fake gibberish that too landed with a quiet thud. Now Trump must be impeached as it is "the only thing to do if our country's "democracy is to survive!" Just beyond dramatic. The left is so far out in left field they fail to realize after more than three years of the sky is falling nobody but the hysterical left never-Trumpers pay any attention to this nonsense. In fact, average Americans are so tired of the silliness, the backlash has turned the sane people against the left and their never-Trumper weirdos. It's simply going to get Trump re-elected!
2
@CW
.
I think that all the cornfields in midwest are missing their strawmen right about now.
3
None of that went by the wayside. He's still inhinged and more so than before. He's still not to be trusted with scissors.
3
@arusso That’s what Hillary thought too-deplorable! Arrogance equals ignorance.
1
It's the money, stupid. The money from Russian oligarchs that has been funding the Trump family for years. Trump has always valued money over anything else and as a morally corrupt individual he does not care about democracy or the oath that he took to uphold and defend the Constitution. This current class of Republican members of Congress will not put country over party and they will support this abomination to feed their base.
11
Friedman's editorial is solid. Mr. Trump starting breaking presidential norms the moment he walked down the steps when announcing his campaign for the presidency. One of his first actions after taking his oath of office was to address a great affront done to our nation which was to inaccurately state the correct amount of people that attended the President's inauguration. That took weeks. Next he attacked the problem of our free press, which led to cancelling press conferences. Next was revealing the weakness of the FBI, the CIA, and the State Department. Then he went to work to give back to his 1% base all there financial support through an incredibly generous tax cut. Yes, it will add significantly to our inordinately unbalanced level of weath inequality compared to the rest of the world, but the 1%ers deserved it. Next was leaving trade alliances and climate initiatives, deemed to be important to most industrial countries. To fill that void, he met privately with authoritarian rulers in Saudi Arabia, Russia, North Korea, and Turkey. That led to abandoning the Kurds, who had helped disable terrorism against the U.S., as well as witholdimg $391 million dollars necessary defense aid to a free Ukraine that was fighting an unbelievably blatant invasion widely known to be strongly supported by Russia. ALL OF THIS MUST BE STOPPED. We need to get back to normal, and re-establish efforts to help all of our citizens, starting with the ones who need it the most.
8
Tom, I'm on your side. I just don't know how to add anything which might capture more attention from citizens who aren't quite persuaded that this is a crisis.
Since the 2016 election my stomach has churned. I don't hate the man; I detest the demagogue who has the diabolical skills to destroy our precious democratic experiment. To have a dictator only requires that we
hand over our duties as citizens. Relax, and you become a mere subject.
9
the reincarnation of the 1840s know-nothing party is the current GOP, and its titular head is Donald Trump.
he will NOT get impeached in the Senate and America will get over it by voting him out of office.
we are all in a precarious era.
4
How ironic that Trump is repeating a line from another impeached president: “It’s the economy stupid!” Was Clinton’s line to beat George H. W. Bush. Clinton was a philanderer. He lied when he was caught. However, he eventually came clean. Trump committed bribery, obstruction, and publicly asked Russia (our enemy) to break into and reveal his 2016 opponent’s email and then in August 2019 asked Ukraine (our ally in a war against Russia) to announce an investigation into a potential rival in the 2020 election before they could receive congressionally mandated aid in their war. Trump has lied about and/or obstructed investigations into both 2016 election investigation and 2019 actions. Trump will go down in impeachment denying any wrongdoing and claiming he is a victim of Bill and Hillary and Biden and Ukraine. The truth is a good economy will never make up for this dishonest leader’s damage to social cohesion and commitment to a constitution, not to mention our prestige in the world. As Mr. Fezziwig says, “There are some things in life worth more than money.” And that I think is something we voters should contemplate at this time of year. And as our senators contemplate the impeachment evidence presented, they should remember there are some things in politics and governing worth more than re-election.
6
About time Tom. Yes, Trump has been in Putin’s pocket well past a quarter century.
8
Impeaching Trump is not enough. The Senate needs to convict him. I fear McConnell and Cornyn and the other Republican Senators are just as much Putin’s puppets as Trump is. And what is Fox “News” problem? Are they beholden to the Russians too? I fear for our democracy and our Constitution. Everything is this column is spot on.
7
"It is the only thing to do if our country’s democracy is to survive."
Oh, please. How unnecessarily dramatic.
We've survived much worse. Think Watergate, Pentagon Papers, the US Civil War. Etc,....... It's plainly obvious that you and the entire editorial staff hate the President and want to see him out on his petard asap.
Because of that glaring reality, your words lose most of their meaning. A lot of democrats will pay dearly next year for this surreal debacle. I also believe that the democratic party will have to answer for bringing the work of the People to a grinding halt.
Trump cannot hide from his corruption and incompetence even behind a bodyguard of lies.
(With apologies to Winston Churchill)
5
Thank you, Mr. Firedman.
Best impeachment analysis ever.
4
Have you read the climate news? Removing trumpery from office is vital to saving earth's ability to support human life, not just democracy or America.
4
Loved the article, just unsure that what Putin has gotten was “for free.”
1
"We would be saying that we no longer have three coequal branches of government. We would be saying that we no longer have a separation of powers."
Tell that to Merrick Garland. We should be saying that, although we still have three coequal branches of government and separation of powers, party loyalty has neutralized the checks and balances that should result from having three coequal branches of government and separation of powers.
7
I am aghast that Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans have already baldly stated they will acquit Trump in his impeachment trial. They are the true enemies and destroyers of our cherished democracy, apparently completely indifferent to the rule of law and the constitution they were elected to serve. This very moment is perhaps the most critical in our nation's history. Where are the heroes?
16
@John Lewis: Can you imagine if a grand jury indicted someone, and the prosecutor in charge refused to review the evidence or prosecute the case, merely because he didn't think the grand jury indictment was valid? McConnell and his fellow Republican Senators should be voted out next year for sheer dereliction of duty and failure to live up to their oaths of office.
2
No, it's not the economy or the climate crisis; it's the spiritual war over which powerful entity will dominate the world that of good or evil.
I know the NYT is loath to talk about metaphysical reality bc so many enscounced there are intellectual trolls underneath the bridge of reason and scientific/techno discovery; at any rate I profer this drivel of insight. Some there to ID as aethists but thought cannot overcome their gut feelings on a daily basis. So, the editorial board is diverse and always political.
No, one not anyone has suggested that concerted psycho-warfare in the form of beseeching our better angels and crying out to God might to right this dreadful wrong that has been done us.
But after all is said and done and we sit in the ruins of our democracy, can we say that we did not get down on our knees at least figuratively to cry out to God for justice?
Do we not think we need to invoke the higher powers?
I cannot and will not be alone.
1
There may be a pulse, but the patient appears to be nearly brain-dead.
9
It actually IS the "economy, stupid." But despite the rosy numbers Trump crows about, the economy is still failing far too many of us.
Candidate Trump masterfully conned a sufficient number of voters in the right places by promising to bring back high-paying jobs in manufacturing and extractive industries, to "drain the swamp," and to "be your voice." Those promises surely convinced many of those voters to choose Trump, despite his obvious unfitness for the job.
Trump has delivered none of the populist promises he made as a candidate. What he has delivered is the sort of conservative orthodoxy Republican voters rejected when they chose him over Jeb!, Rubio, and Cruz.
His sole legislative achievement, a tax cut for the wealthy, sent the stock market to new heights as CEOs used their handouts to buy back stock. But they still laid off thousands of Americans, shuttered factories, and moved manufacturing overseas. Despite "full employment," too many of us still struggle with the "gig economy" and multiple part-time jobs. The rising cost of health care (which Trump exacerbated with his efforts to dismantle the ACA) amounts to a continuing de facto pay cut. And those coal miners are still waiting for Trump to restore their jobs.
Except for the loyal "base" that thrives on Trump's white supremacist hatred, many voters will likely recognize that Trump has not delivered on the promises that seduced them in 2016, and that they are not better off than they were four years ago.
2
@Ted
Disputed the rosy numbers?
It is a nice sentiment but our conservative rural fellow citizens are too busy "owning the libs" to care about the imminent collapse of th Republic. They are too blind to realize that we will all go together when we go and they may not even care. There is a deep nihilistic streak in the American Republican/conserbative culture.
3
This is absolutely true. Right. Correct. Please Listen. Save America.
8
"Ukrainian president agreed to do what Trump called a “favor” — announce that Ukraine was investigating Trump’s most likely opponent in the 2020 presidential election," - An outright Schiff parody of a lie.
The transcript shows the "favor" was regarding the 2016 election as Trump asked about Crowdstrike. While their servers aren't apparently in the Ukraine, two Ukrainian officials did interfere in the 2016 election as they were convicted of that act and serving time for it, not that Chuck Todd would admit however.
Then 540 words after the "favor" while Zelensky is talking about corruption, Trump mentions the Biden/Burisma corruption. Zelensky states he's aware of it, and even asks for help on it.
Every impeachment witness said the Biden/Burisma matter had at least the appearance of a conflict of interest, and every witness said addressing possible corruption in the Ukraine was paramount to promoting US Policy. So mentioning corruption is then impeachable? It's literally the enforcement of the 1999 Treaty we have with the Ukraine managing the exchange of information on criminal activity by the chief executive! So if Joe wasn't running for President, then it would have been fine, but because he is he can't be investigated, or his corruption even mentioned?
The insanity is, the left is upset that Trump would have benefited from the parallel interest of Biden being investigated, but they simultaneously debunk Biden's blackmailing the Ukraine despite the parallel interest.
1
@Constance Underfoot
You have been duped and don't realize it. This is not about Biden it is about our constitution.
6
@ZigZag Sure it is. Schiff "we can't have a fair election in 2020 if we don't impeach Trump." Green "if we don't impeach Trump, we can't win the 2020 election."
Sure it is. Speaking of duped and not realizing it, look up the clinical definition of psychosis.
@Constance Underfoot The Repubs had congressional majorities from 2015-2018. Why didn't they investigate Biden then, if it was so important? And don't Ivanka and Jared's antics bother you? Shaky security clearances for them both? Jared arranging a deal for his high-rise from a mideast monarchy? Or Giuliani's and Barr's sons working in the WH?
Thomas Friedman's Editorial is repeating the charges affirmed by the Democrat controlled House and does not offer any dissenting opinion.
In my view he should have also asked asked, but sadly did not::
* Why are we giving money and weapons to the corrupt and fascist infested Ukraine?
* Why does not the house, and the NY Times, investigate the corruption of Joe Biden and family, who is paid large money from Ukraine under suspect circumstances?
* President Trump was elected and he sets the direction of foreign policy, not the bureaucrats who appeared before the impeach committee. He campaigned on a wish to normalize relations with Russia. He was prevented from doing so at every instance, by the establishment, or as President Eisenhower might say "the military industrial complex".
* I have no proof - no more than Mr. Friedman does - but I can suspect Trump does not trust the FBI to investigate Ukraine and Biden. They have already "investigated" and decided against Putin and Russia.
* and BTW remember history when many Ukrainians , not all, collaborated with the Nazis and helped kill Jews. Some of these are still practicing in today's Ukraine.
* As a Canadian, my comment apples equally to thw Canadian external policy which has been led for four years by Trump haters and a declared Ukrainian militant
1
The author seems to forget that during the past 230 years, no president has been impeached and removed from office. Unless some miracle occurs, there seems to be no chance that this president will be removed from office through the impeachment process either. In fact, there seems to be little chance that any Republicans in either house of Congress will vote to remove him.
Since no one expects Donald Trump to be so embarrassed that he will either leave the White House voluntarily or change his behavior, what will we be left with besides an angry, vengeful president willing to use his acquittal by the Senate as a weapon to flail his Democratic opposition and perhaps win re-election?
Would this help preserve the constitution or further damage it?
3
I agree most emphatically! And...What ever happened to concerns he's violating emoluments and regularly flaunts this clearly stated prohibition in the constitution? Do we ignore this abuse of power?
5
Obviously, TF is savvy enough to know
... the difference between impeach and remove - so big a difference that there are probably millions & millions of Americans who can agree on nothing other than "Was this a good way for Congress to spend 30+ days?"
In fact, a more sage columnist at the beginning of this all warned that even the "theatre" part - arguably, the underlying motivation - i.e., "let the whole world see what a villain is POTUS" - would end badly!! ... Trump will have a thousand cameras on him - and more viewers than any Cong. hearing - when he celebrates his "victory," just before "The End" rolls.
Our electorate is certainly not smart enough to distinguish between acquittal and innocence, and there still is a deep-seated opprobrium attached to false accusations.
(Yes, I know ... but the last substantive words will NOT come from Mr. Nadler, but from Mr. McConnell. Count on him to castigate the House for bringing what he'll characterize as both baseless and politically motivated charges!)
And - sadly - it gets worse. If Trump made his "perfect call" the day after the Muller Report went through the shredder, what on earth can we expect for the next 11 months and - heaven help us - the next 4 years.
While the Dem. Party rends itself asunder in 2 forums -
1) the run-up to the 2020 elections; and
2) the House - where 150+ House members will emulate the pre-2018 Republicans, calling for new articles of impeachment ... and a leadership fight.
Forgive me for quoting what is probably among political theory and political history's biggest cliches, & at that only paraphrasing approximately, but it goes to the heart of the matter: From Thucydides' reporting on the "Melian Debate": "The strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must."
When Trump "requested" or "nudged" Mr. Zelensky (my comment is addressed to those who feel "pressured" is too strong a word, & a charge as yet unproved and ultimately unprovable) to investigate and or *announce* an investigation, the asymmetries in power are implicitly invoked as leverage. When some one brandishing greater power, or tacitly alluding to a weaker party's desperation (or desperate or urgent need), requests something, "The strong do what they can, the weaker do what they must" is the dynamic being appealed to, unless a) relations are so friendly that power dynamics are implicitly not involved, or b) the stronger or dominant party (upon which the weaker part is or is to be on some respect dependent) credibly (i.e., in non-perfunctory ways) assures the weaker party there is *absolutely* no conditionality or "leverage" involved. Trump's behavior fails *even if he had not* used the word "though." But the word "though," albeit one little, fleeting, one-syllable word, is devastating (to Mr. Zelensky, Ukraine, and ultimately Trump and his defenders) because it cancels any doubt on "The strong do what they can, the weak [Or Dependent] suffer what they must."
Clear coercion.
2
As impeachment moves forward, see my thoughts on why Ukraine is central to Trump-Russia, on Putin, Giuliani, Biden, Nunes, Burisma, outlining Trump's coopting by Kremlin, how media falls for Russian disinformation & totally misses big picture https://realcontextnews.com/a-song-of-gas-and-politics-how-ukraine-is-at-the-center-of-trump-russia-or-ukrainegate-a-new-phase-in-the-trump-russia-saga-made-from-recycled-materials-ebook-preview-excerpt/
1
Nonsense. The Founding Fathers specifically did not want a system where the President became a Prime Minister, subject to dismissal whenever the legislative branch didn't like his actions. Or just didn't like him.
And I'll take the 55 day suffering of the Ukraine more seriously when there is also an effort to find out how many Congressional and Senatorial children and significant others are busy collecting money from foreign (okay, domestic as well) Boards of Directors to whom they can offer nothing but their family connections.
2
@Mary Umm...Nice try Mary. Maybe we can stick to the topic at hand. His abuse of power, trammeling of the constitution and subverting American sovereignty in favor of Russia and Saudi Arabia to name two foreign powers. I’m an American and question where your loyalties lie!
2
Tom says this is a break with the past and "We would be saying that we no longer have three coequal branches of government. We would be saying that we no longer have a separation of powers." That is an interesting bit of twisted logic on his part. Actually in order to preserve separation of powers and to resolve this logjam, the House Democrats should use the third branch of government, the Judiciary, as set forth in Marbury v. Madison, to resolve this matter. As Jonathan Turley explained this problem in his testimony - the House Democrats can go to court to get the documents and witness testimony they want. The Judicial Branch (Article III) have the ability to fix this conflict but House Democrats claim that will take too long AND they therefore should be allowed to exercise any power they have in an unrestricted way, based on any assumptions they want, and completely unrelated to any court actions or involvement. That is interesting in its own right. This is clearly an overreach by the House Democrats and creates another separation of powers issue in its own right. This scandal would have been far easier to resolve had Joe Biden's son not provided Trump and others with legitimate grounds for concern - earning between 50-85K a month? Lastly, the real reason Democrats don't want to wait on judicial outcomes is that they might lose and because they want to use this "scandal" to help their own presidential hopes next year.
2
Good on you for saying this.
I took Roman history in college, and today, 40 years later, the history of its decay is constantly in my mind, as an example of what may be happening to America. My grandparents came to this country in 1909, and for 100 years my family has moved ever westward, as part of the American Dream and our "settlement". But today I telling my kids that for the first time in 100 years, they may need to start thinking about emigrating to a country like Canada that is kinder, more democratic, and has better prospects ahead of it, particularly if they want to be citizens of the world. With Trump in office, our country now looks too much like Appalachia, and I don't want my kids to be a part of that.
3
YES! Impeach this man!! He is a corrupt an indescribably corrupt man who never would have achieved the presidency if it were not for the electoral college. Which should be removed because it has no president. The Majority of the people in the United States do not want him to be president!!! They still want him to be removed!!!
2
While everyone is hoping that the election will rid us of the
tyrant, I have begun to wonder if we will have an election.
4
I would say Tom, that we are well on our way to a "New America" where the President has absolute power & immunity, while law enforcement & the justice system are arms of political oppression.
Hey!, sounds like Turkey.
3
“Folks, can you imagine what Russia’s President Putin is saying to himself today? “I can’t believe my luck! I not only got Trump to parrot my conspiracy theories, I got his whole party to do it! And for free! Who ever thought Americans would so easily sell out their own Constitution for one man?”
Putin knows full well that the Republicans are like the “White Russians” of old and we’ll do everything, even selling out their own Constitution, to preserve the Czarist way of life for their rich donors!
1
Democrats can bolster their case in the Senate trial by issuing subpoenas to Trump, Bolton, Pompeo, Giluliani, Nunes, and appeal to the judge, Justice Roberts, to force them to testify. As Prosecution, they have that right and the Justice needs to reinforce those lawful subpoenas. THEN, I want to see how the GOP Senators justify their acquittal, i.e. violate their oath of office.
2
I do find it rather strange, yet, not surprised that when Nancy Pelosi was asked after it became well know that Bush "Jr." and his buddies Cheney and Wolfowitz lied about the reasons for the Iraq invasion, why did she not bring forth articles of impeachment against "Jr.", even with the evidence, she really couldn't come up with an answer.
It just seems to be a case similar to Clinton, when Newt Gingrich was asked why he was trying to impeach Clinton, he said "because we can".
I always thought the Constitution was pretty clear about the rules under which impeachment could or could not be implemented. It seems not.
Tom, your insights and perspective are valuable. It's likely that Mr. Trump had never read the American Constitution in its entirety. Clearly, it's a no-brainer that Trump has committed acts that totally justify the current impeachment proceedings. Mr. Trump is not the leader of the free world, he is Vladimir Putin's puppet. I deeply fear that there is some dangerous and nefarious reason, President Trump is so beholden to Putin & Russia. The question EVERY American citizen needs to be asking is WHY are so many Republican Senators and Congressional Representatives blindly supporting Trump? I am not talking about the political leaders who have been brainwashed and believe that DT is the "second coming". I am talking about a majority of competent political leaders who appear to have thrown their critical thinking skills and morals in a landfill dump somewhere? WHY have so many Republican leaders in the Senate and Congress so willingly failed their constituents, country and the American Constitution? Many, many Senators and Congressional Members need to be voted out of office in 2020.
3
Well said, hear, hear, and thank you!
3
He was never qualified to lead the country. He's not a good businessman, not a good husband or father, not an intellectual, has never experienced great success, doesn't value the truth unless it benefits him. None of that is impeachable. But his crimes against the Constitution - his blatant disregard for right and wrong - his disturbing behavior and his inept understanding of political and economic policy - the allegations against him brought on by countless women - all of it - that's impeachable.
He and his political supporters are a stain on our country's history. My only hope is that we learn from it. History repeats itself.
3
This idea from the republicans that the USA are not a democracy but a republic is apure fabrication from uneducated people for other uneducated people.
Democratie is a French word transfered to English in the 17th century. It is greek meaning "power to the people ".
Republique is also a French word transfered to English from latin in the 16th century . It means " The Public Thing ) = " "The public Idea " . or the idea of what is Public.
Public is also a French word from a latin blend of "publicus " (of the people -from Populus= people ) and "pubes " = adult .
Democratie and republique mean the same thing. A republique cannot exist without democracy .If there is no democracy ,it is not a republique.
Refer to the greek history of Republique. We have very documented philosophical literature from the greek philosophers who have written on the idea of republique . And Plato developed the possibility of demagogy , the degeneressence of democratie.
That we know too well today...
But the argument republique is not democratie is a complete fallacy.
1
@JPH Politique is also a French word ported into English use in the 15th century from the latinization of the greek "politikos " = "relating to citizens " . from "polis " = The City " In the Greek sense of state.
Related to the auto/self organization of citizens into a state.
Politics are the art of the organization of democracy into a republique.
Aristotle : :"Politics " .
@JPH
You cannot mix etymology and politics here.
A pure democracy is one where each person has an equal weight and direct say in their governance.
In a republic such as ours, the people elect someone to office who they hope will best represent their beliefs and needs.
The failure of a system such as ours becomes apparent when a minority is able to gain control over the majority as it has today.
This is not potatoes - pototoes.
2
@JPH Some are talking about "pure 'democracy " different from a republic where the power is delegated to representatives.
That is what a democratie is.
There is no direct democratie. It is contrary to the idea of "politics ".
Direct democracy is a military dictatorship. No more representation.
No more "politics " = no more debate/
The philosophical ignorance of Americans in political science is staggering.
Every congress person, senator and the President raised their right hand and took the oath to protect the constitution. As they come home for holidays it is time for the voters to remind their elected congress person and senators of this oath. Somewhere somehow it appears that some of them have simply forgotten and abide with another oath. It is amusing that most of the ones who have forgotten about the oath are making a fool of themselves by playing to the audience of one. Remember the famous Quote "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time".
1
One of the more cogent explanations and best rationales for impeachment. Well done, Mr. Friedman.
I particularly liked this: "Trump was like a bank robber with a gun to a teller’s head, who suddenly heard the police sirens approaching and ran off before he could stash the money in his bag."
And this part is particularly chilling: "If we say, as Republicans do, that what Trump did is not an impeachable offense, we are telling ourselves and every future president that — in direct contradiction of what the founders wrote in the Constitution — it is O.K. to enlist a foreign power to tilt the election your way. Can you imagine how much money candidates could raise from Saudi Arabia or China to tilt a future election their way, ...."
Republicans have utterly, totally lost the plot. They are untrustworthy. And care more about trolling "libs" then their own country. Out ... with all of them.
Sincerely, a swing voter and former republican.
4
We toyed with selling our government and its processes to lobbyists and other purchasers of influence for a long time. We paid as much attention to dark money as dark matter.
And then the Russians tumbled to the fact that it was pretty easy to turn Americans against themselves.
Moreover, Americans were hamstrung by the way they interpreted their founding documents.
It would be "unfair" to hold a President to account for corrupt actions while in office. He is a busy man. There is so much to loot.
We were too busy, or too stupid, or too lazy to care that we were abandoning the very concepts of rule of law that got us to the top of the heap.
I think it's too late. Half the country can look at incontrovertible facts, and even video clips, and deny reality.
It was fun while it lasted.
Hail King Trump.
1
I don't know why I'm typing this because it will just rejected. The Times isn't even trying to pretend to be balanced at this point, they've gone full propaganda outlet here.
Biden isn't going to win. Biden doesn't even have a screaming chance among regular voters. Jesus, Joe Biden couldn't beat Michael Dukakis in '88. Saying he's the most feared candidate is like picking a kitten out of the litter to call it the most fearsome.
However, for your story to work, you have to paint Biden as a virtual shoo-in for the presidency, so that's what you've done. You're grasping. The democrats are grasping. All this has done is to galvanize your opponents.
But maybe the Times wants that galvanization and a Trump 2020... if a democratic leader gets elected, Trump news goes to zero. The outrage people go quiet. Your readership drops off. If Trump stays, you stay against him and retain your readers.
3
@Taco Bell
You completely missed the point of the article or in fact the whole essence of what is going on - this has nothing to do with Joe Biden or his son. It has to do with the President of the United States breaking his solemn duty to protect the constitution. He is a traitor to our nation for his own benefit. It's that simple.
4
@Taco Bell
You are right even though an evident minority. The whole editorial misses the point and fails to ask many other questions, as I said in a separate posts, like why are we giving money and weapons to Ukraine.
It is time to march in the streets.
En masse. The people must be heard!
Our political system is corrupted. We must take matters into our own hands and demonstrate to the world our desire to be rid of this pathetic human.
100 million “man” march?
A Christmas shopping boycott?
3
@Joe Sign up for the events sponsoring a march - on the eve of the House Impeachment vote, there are numerous rallies scheduled to be held in support of impeachment and Trump's removal from office that will take place across our nation.
3
Can a president be impeached twice? Just in case he wins re-election.
3
@Chris Thanks Chris. That ominous scenario has been running through my mind as well.
1
The Republicans are not blindly supporting him; they are deliberately supporting him. Their real goal is to Make America White Again like Putin's Russia. He is their "bad cop".
3
This is all just so sad how easily manipulated people are in an echo chamber. Journalism is indeed dead, opinions rule the day in news, and all of it must be true because It has to be. There's no way that it is all a big lie. The impeachment inquiry is an affront to due process and the American people. If you are too blinded by hatred to see how or why it is an affront, then you deserve to have your bubble busted come NOV 2020.
2
Impeach Trump?
By all means.
But Trump is only a symptom of a much deadlier disease that has taken hold of our democracy. It's called the Republican Party.
Under Trump's leadership we have lost all credibility on the world stage. We have given our seat at the head of the table to Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs. We will soon fall under the nuclear umbrella of North Korea. China is poised to become the world leader in commerce and a military superpower.
And for what? To meet the egotistical needs of corrupt, thin skinned, immoral sociopath and compulsive liar?
One third of the country has been taken in by his smoke and mirror show. The rest are powerless to stop it.
Impeach Trump?
By all means. But to may be too late. The damage to our society and culture has already been done. The cancer has spread too far.
I wish it weren't so, but every time I hear Lindsey Graham, Devin Nunes and Mitch McConnell and all the other Republicans spew their lies, I know it to be true.
3
Putin is laughing today indeed. Because he got 1 political party to impeach the lawfully elected President of the worlds last superpower. They bought into all the lies, ignored the
exculpatory testimony and blinded by their own hatred will impeach the President. And you actually think Putin is pulling the President's strings...
1
Yikes! You probably also think that the sun revolves around Trump? This so called president makes decisions for himself and only himself...
2
@P. Ames
Indeed he is.
And now he has the party of Lincoln repeating his narrative on the Ukraine.
Putin is laughing today, indeed.
He got Trump and the entire Republican party at a bargain basement price.
You better start brushing up on Russian.
1
In all seriousness, do you think Obama was born in the US? We never got an investigation into that matter.
1
Yes that’s right! He’s Canadian!!! Where else do you think he got that amazing idea about single payer healthcare system?
(for republicans ... just joking)
4
@RS
You're right! You'd think that Trump would have gotten right to that, right? He has said he has all the evidence. Funny that he would sit on that.
3
The photo of Trump and Lavrov is intended for two people. Putin and Zelensky. Trump will send that photo as part of a photo Christmas card to his idol, Putin. When Zelensky sees that photo, it's Trump telling him " Do you want to do business with me or else. ".
1
I am just glad no one here is a pessimist. This would be brutal.
[sarcasm]
1
Biden is telling friends he's too old to serve 2 terms so he's going to let his compadres announce to the media that he'll only serve 1 term.
That overweight old farmer in Iowa knew what he was talking about.
My only regret is the old guy didn't tell Biden..."go ahead and do 50 pushups for me and then I'll follow you."
Media would have melted down..and Biden would be what sits underneath avocado these days....
TOAST.
My country, 'tis of US.
We will survive this despot.
2
@Pia
Are you sure?
@Larry
Yes.
Save America by impeaching the president? You mean you finally get to stop crying #NotMyPresident and make good on your claims to impeach him before he was sworn into office because you don't like him? Because you can't buy him off? The Ukraine "pressure" is a myth, even the PM and Vice PM of Ukraine said there was no pressure. This is a baseless claim and you are further feeding the Democratic Lemmings lies. If you get out of your own bias and read the news, you will see the Democrats are losing ground because too many have shifted way too far left leaving the average voter who used to vote Democrat no choice but to vote independent or Republican. You have lost touch with the American people and the only thing Democrats can do is buy votes like in Virginia. This is the best economy in 50 years and you can't stand it. Why don't you take a step back, read BBC news about what's going on in America and hear how the world thinks of childish actions like these Democrats are displaying. Am I saying Trump is perfect, absolutely not. He wasn't my first, second or third pick and I was disappointed when he won the primaries. But, I still voted for him in the presidential election because it was lesser of two evils it seemed. However, he is doing a great job and is making good on his promises, which is more than I can say for the past several presidents. America is so divided right now and it needs to stop. Republicans didn't try to impeach Obama and he did plenty illegal actions.
2
@Matt
President Trump can't be bought because he is already owned lock stock and barrel by Putin.
When I read things like this your I have little hope for America.
The Land of the Free and the home of the Gullible.
1
It is precisely this sort of hysterical hyperbole that has prompted legions of Americans to now regard 'mainstream' journalism in the United States, in particular that practiced by The New York Times, as a hopelessly broken, deceitful weapon of political war for the American left. By that standard, well done Tom.
1
Trump won't be impeached by the majority republican Senate - their backbone is missing not to mention any shred of dignity, fairness, or honor. They have thrown all in with the party leader and will defend his honor while shedding their integrity.
This is how it will go down. Trump will be on the republican ticket in 2020 and if he is reelected then we deserve him as our leader and we can effectively call this democracy ruined.
2
Democrats can bolster their case in the Senate trial by issuing subpoenas to Trump, Bolton, Pompeo, Giluliani, Nunes, and appeal to the judge, Justice Roberts, to force them to testify. As Prosecution, they have that right and the Justice needs to reinforce those lawful subpoenas. THEN, I want to see how the GOP Senators justify their acquittal, i.e. violate their oath of office.
2
When are the liberal columnists going to cotton on to the fact that the "America admired across the world as a beacon of Democracy" died long before Trump arrived?
While the US media always overestimated the degree of global admiration - since the invasion of Iraq any such respect or admiration died across most of the globe.
And the Republicans are only one of two War Parties prepared to destroy both democracyies and authoritarian regimes alike - in order to "make America Great".
@Brendan
I have to disagree. While it is true that American is far from perfect, their have been many misguided fiascos by many administrations, we have always been relied upon by our allies to be the stalwart defender of the free world.
All this has changed with Trump and his inexplicable fascination with Putin, Erdoğan and Kim. We can no longer be taken seriously when the supposed leader of the free world drones on about love letters between himself and a ruthless dictator.
The world has understood that America has always acted in its own best interest. Now, for the first time in our history, we have a leader who is acting in HIS own best interest, to the detriment of our national security. The world is watching. They see a week, corrupt, self and serving incompetent captain at the helm and they know it is only a matter of time before the USS America winds up on the rocks.
Can you blame them?
1
As Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent pointed out in his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, the Bursima investigation began in 2014 as a joint U.S. Ukraine effort. Kent said the U.S. State Department spent about $500,000 on the investigation.
In 2018, the Ukrainian prosecutor assigned to the Bursima investigation, compiled a seven-page dossier that accused Hunter Biden of bribery and money laundering. During their July 25 phone call, President Trump told President Zelensky, “There's a lot of talk about Biden's son—that Biden stopped the prosecution—and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great.” The transcript shows Zelensky readily agreed.
The Treaty With Ukrainian on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters requires the United States and Ukraine to assist each other in the conduct of criminal investigations. Trump should have asked Attorney General Barr to submit a formal request, as the treaty requires. But the expectation that the Senate will remove the president from office for asking Zelensky directly is delusional.
2
@William Case I am curious...what are you talking bout when you say Hunter Biden was accused of money laundering? I have read every report on this controversy, and there is no reference to this money laundering. All reputable sources have cleared Hunter Biden of wrong doing.
3
@Andy Fried
The allegations against Hunter Biden are detailed in the dossier compiled by Prosector Konstantine Kulyk, who gave it to Prosecutor General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko.
@William Case: And those guys are above partisanship and totally honest!
I tried to capture some similar thoughts, though not as well as Mr. Friedman: https://loudlong.wordpress.com/2019/12/02/an-impeachable-offense/
My Gratitude for the candor of Tom Friedman. As a long-retired Lutheran Pastor and
Licensed Family Therapist I have long labeled our “President” as a bonafide Sociopathic
Personality Disorder. He presents the given Symptomatology of this Diagnosis and,
commonly, Flaunts these personal characteristics. Again, my chronic Thanks to Mr. Friedman
for his candor n thisNational Crisis.
4
it may be economy but majority of people do not participate in the economic growth with low wages or two jobs to survive. Why is GOP so blind folded? They know fully well when Mr. Trump is in trouble he will throw everybody under his bus. How can he be trusted? People are losing faith and trust in our government. why? manipulations by those who are in charge. Look at our AG, Mr. B. Barr. In spite of IG's report he is spreading spins of his own to earn brownies from Mr. Trump. Mr. Pompeo, our secretary of state, is praising Russia in spite of their invasion of Ukraine. in addition, we are fighting many wrong wars for decades. not only democratic institution but all activities are at stake to regain its sanity after all of Mr. Trump saga is over. one more day may be too long to recover. why can't we convince few congressmen and senators to listen to experts like you and others what is at stake? it is mind boggling for me and many of our friends.
As someone who tried to follow the impeachment hearings while living a real life, I'm confused. I kept hearing about "bribery" and "extortion" and "obstruction of justice" -- you know, real crimes.
Now the articles are out -- Abuse of Power? Isn't that what every president does - from the perspective of his political rivals? Certainly it is what I heard the rabid partisans of the right accuse Barack Obama of for years.
And Obstructing Congress? You mean not participating in your own railroading? Isn't that why we have the 5th Amendment?
There is a reason an Axios poll of battleground states showed that this process has been a great boon for Trump -- and a disaster for Democrats -- in Michigan, Pa. and Wisconsin. https://www.axios.com/trump-impeachment-poll-michigan-pennsylvania-wisconsin-6776a580-9a0f-4362-a8a7-e6180f18ed14.html Democrats didn't have the goods. If they did, that would be reflected in the articles of impeachment.
As it is, honest people outside the NYC-DC bubble, already not disposed to have a president removed by means other than the expression of the American public, are seeing this as a partisan sham.
It is time for my Democratic Party to cut losses and not let the tactical failure of a botched impeachment effort become a strategic calamity in 2020.
2
And why is Trump so bent on pleasing Putin’s Russia? We need to not only impeach Trump, but remove him from office.
5
@Yuko, And jail him for numerous offenses, including treason.
2
I have seen so many say they wish he was a forever president. One even said he'd rather see democracy die than Trump impeached. So not all of us feel the way this author does, but I hope the majority of us do.
2
I’ll be watching my representatives closely. I’m looking for any trace of statesmanship over tribesmanship.
BTW, my representatives are Womack, Boozman, and Cotton.
1
Friedman, the great friend and confidant of dictators, absolute monarchs and middle east strongmen suddenly has an opinion on democracy. Can this get any more bizarre.
2
@Oakland, Consider this a good sign that people are waking up about the danger of donald.
I find the Republican leadership stance so incredible on 2 fronts:
1 if there is nothing to hide - TESTIFY and present the FACTS
2. These same Republicans had no qualms over impeachment proceedings against Clinton for Adultery!
Don't they realize they are losing the trust of the American people? or is lining their pockets more important?
I am ashamed to call myself an American!
3
It is sad but true. The precedents set with this set of facts will break the back of this country and the 63 million who voted for this poseur.
Not only did Trump sellout to Russia ,the entire Republican Party did so as well. Moscow and Republican talking points are now identical. The real"Deep State "is now the Russia- controlled Republican Party. It will take at least a generation to decontaminate the party from its Russian infestation.
5
One can agree with everything Friedman says and yet face a sad reality, namely that enough Americans are sufficiently ignorant and detached to continue supporting Trump. When people believe that all politicians are corrupt and self- serving, getting caught red-handed is just bad luck and evidence that enough people are out to get you. Nothing in this process is going to change enough minds to matter.
4
Because of Trump, terrorism is at lowest side...Trump rightly controlled terrorism. He does not appease hate monger followers.
Because of Trump, there is peace in Afghanistan and that subcontinent. Have seen , he has been misquoted most of time.
No need to convince me! I was hoping for impeachment before it was engaged.
You, Mr. Friedman, as usual, have my deep respect for voicing truth.
If we cannot save the principles of our constitution and the practice of democracy from the devastation now in progress, we will have fought wars and sacrificed lives for nothing.
It is possible this frightening experience has been a wake up call. Such reversals as we are witnessing leave us with the choice and challenge to do all that is necessary to stop the madness.
3
Every day I hear or hear the pundits ask "What has happened to the Republican Party I once knew?" My only conclusion is that somewhere and at sometime Trump threatened the leaders of that party with an ultimatum; Either support me or I take the base and form my own party.
Without that base, the GOP has nothing. It has lost minorities, the young, the environmentalists, the better educated, suburban women and more. If you believe in fiscal responsibility, it now difficult for even you to support the "spend like no more tomorrow" GOP in Washington.
Either the leadership has always secretly believed everything now says or it is very afraid of an existential threat Trump poses to the party. Regardless, somewhere along the way, concern for the country fell into second place.
He has to go.
4
Tom,
If Republicans wanted to get rid of Trump, they would be insisting he reveals his tax returns. They're not interested.
We can't even get the Republican governor of MA to speak out in favor of impeachment.
Is there a plan B?
1
It was 2010 when the GOP welcomed the Tea Party into its ranks. That was a bad decision then and has led to the polarization of today's politics in our country. They are all in for Trump irrespective of his behavior, his allegiance with Putin, his extortion of Ukraine, his inhumane treatment of asylum seekers, his racist ranting, and the list goes on. He gave them their tax cuts , opposed abortion, appointed the judges selected by the Federalist Society, and systematically destroyed many of our institutions. It is the small government they wanted except it has a large price tag. Deficits now are expected to meet or exceed a trillion dollars per annum.
Reasonable Congressional Republicans are leaving Congress. They no longer have the stomach to tolerate Trump, but know they cannot win re-election if they oppose him. Sort of the damed if I do, and damned if I don't.
I don't pretend to know the future of the GOP, but I fear the stench of Trump will linger with them for many years into the future. They made their bed, now they have to lie in it.
4
Friedman writes:
"If we do that, the America you studied in history class, the America you grew up knowing and loving, and the America that the rest of the world has so long admired as a beacon of democracy and justice will be no more. Oh, how we will miss it when it’s gone."
This America never existed, Thomas. It's a fabrication, a myth propagated over decades by the media and mainstream politicians. And if you're (obliquely) referring to the myth itself disappearing from public conscience, then I say good riddance.
"We would be saying that we no longer have three coequal branches of government. We would be saying that we no longer have a separation of powers."
It's true; we don't. Congress has almost completely abdicated its responsibilities, whether in foreign policy, economic regulation, or criminal justice. God willing that the first president to fully realize the office's power is the first socialist president. Otherwise, we may be doomed.
2
We don't live in a pure Democracy. We never have.
We live in a Republic, with an elected head of state, possessing powers unique to that office.
The articles of impeachment don't reference one single violation of the Constitution (read them), they really just express opinion...very weak.
The Democrats will be utterly unable to prove that the President was using influence in Ukraine to help his re-election, which is the crux of their accusations. How do they know WHY he did it?
What's really funny is that it is crystal clear that Joe Biden peddled his influence for the benefit of his son (both in the Ukraine and China), but liberals are OK with that. Hmmm...
5
@Raz, the Constitution doesn't reference what the "high crimes and misdemeanors" are, except treason and bribery, which, in the later's case, IS referenced by the article concern abuse of office. The Constitution does not mention murder, extortion, theft, or perjury, but we certainly would consider impeaching a president for any of those crimes, and then some. As for proof of his impeachable actions, we have witnesses, appointees of Trump, and career diplomats who have testified to his behavior. With people like yourself defending him, with facile and easily refuted arguments, impeachment and conviction should be easy, even though you and I know that there are plenty of R's in the Senate with arguments like yours at the ready.
2
Our democracy will be fine. It has survived many Presidents of ill repute and substance. It survived the 4 term lion of the left that drastically expanded executive power, confiscated gold, and trampled over his opponents. But, he was seen as a man of the people as he subverted democracy, so that was fine. We survived the scandals and politics of the Reagan years. We survived Bush and Clinton. This sky is falling democracy thing is laughable. We keep hearing about how all these foreign powers are conspiring to interfere in American elections, and we are so angry about it. Seriously? has anyone ever heard of the CIA? How many elections have we interfered in over the past 5 decades? Heck, we straight invalidated elections in our national interest.
I'm not saying I think Trump is not corrupting. I just don't think this abuse of power argument is that strong. Obama was caught on tape asking President Medvedev to ask Putin to leave him along until after the election when he could be more flexible. By the current logic, that was an impeachable offense as he asked a foreign government to do him a favor for re-election.
Lastly, the Democrats will have to answer a single question on impeachment. Why was a man who committed a crime, perjury, allowed to stay in office while a man who has not committed a crime, but appears to be corrupt must be removed? Yes, I am referencing the Clinton saga. The voters will decided in less than a year, so I am not sure any of this is worth the time.
1
Look where the Democrats have invested their impeachment push: first, a far-fetched theory that Trump was stooging for Russia, and now a poorly dot-connected argument, delivered with B-grade theatrics, that he bribed Ukraine to investigate a political rival. As David Leonhardt recently pointed out in these pages, the Democrats have curiously ignored reason number three which is the Emoluments Clause, which may actually have the most solid legs. Are they thinking that they can let this shoe drop at their convenience once the air goes out of their tire yet again?
@Bob K.
The Republican senate impeaching anyone on emoluments? It's their bread and butter. And what are "campaign contributions" other than legalized bribery?
1
We need to reenact the fairness doctrine. We cannot have a democracy without real information. People would not accept a doctor who lied to his patients about treatment options so why should we allow Fox News and AM Radio to lie about our democracy options?
8
I think the only help Putin offered up in 2016 was for Hillary. I sure hope he offers the same help to Trump in 2020 and 2024!
1
@RS -- All I can offer you is, I'm so sorry...
1
I would love to see Trump impeached and removed from office. However, it seems extemely likely he will be acquitted in the Senate. The condemnation worse than censure would be a good thing in any event. Tom Friedman decries Trump's bribery to Ukraine, election interference for aid but he fails to note that what goes around comes around. Specifically the U.S intervened in the 1996 election of Boris Yeltsin, see,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_electoral_intervention#Russian_election_(U.S.,_1996) for details. Its hard to see how we can object to Russian interference when we do it ourselves frequently. If we abided by the golden rule in elections "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" perhaps foreign governments might view American elections sacred.
1
Once again Thomas Friedman offers a clear and cogent case for Trump's impeachment. I am an independent voter and have voted for both Democrats and Republicans. I am just sickened to see how far the Republican party has debased itself in embracing Trump. I will never vote Republican again as long as that party keeps supporting Trump and his ilk.
7
Amazing -- Trump is charged with no crime. Mueller said no collusion. Joe Biden's behavior was either ignoring a huge conflict of interest or straight out corruption. Yet the commentariat atters on, in complete disavowal of the facts.
2
Thank you, Tom Friedman! Excellent article and very thoughtfully written. Once upon a time, this Cuban refugee grew up in a fiercely Republican home. Being Catholic, we were all “pro-life.” Slowly, as we, kids, grew up and studied, etc., we began to see how blinded our parents were, how they loathed the Democrats for being “socialists.” My parents are long gone, but they must be rolling over integrity graves s”seeing” what the party they adopted and supported has become!
I’m grateful to have left the Republican Party in 2000, and have never looked back. First, I registered Independent but as the years passed I am now a liberal Democrat. The Republican president and his party have become so corrupt, such bald faced liars that I have trouble even listening to them speak!
Dear America, we must vote out each and every Republican out of office, beginning with Donald!
2
I am not going to read all the comments. Just the shear number is telling enough. Congratulations, Tom! You hit this one out of the park.
Your comment about money and influence from the likes of China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia should send a chill through everyone. If these countries buy a candidate, it won’t be for nothing. They will expect to get something for their money and effort. The “President” will definitely not be working for you or me or anyone else in this country. Truly frightening!
I expected nothing less from Trump but I thought a significant fraction of Republicans could see beyond next week. I guess not. God help us if he wins in 2020.
4
George W Bush really only had legitimacy because Al Gore did what was, at the time, seen as the right thing to do. He conceded 'for the good of the country'.
But since then, the GOP of course has taken that good faith and run with it to the extreme and far end, where any and every advantage is acceptable and welcome. Foreign or domestic, clean or corrupt, they'll take it.
We are so far beyond just undoing Citizens United. We stand at the precipice. Impeachment is necessary, but not sufficient.
2
What if he’s impeached and the Senate, as is expected, doesn’t muster up 17 Republicans who vote to remove him.
How does that save our democracy? He’ll go to his rallies and tweet constantly that he was the victim of partisan vindictiveness, fake news and deep state propaganda. Worse, and I think this is why Pelosi, Schiff and others were reluctant to initiate an impeachment inquiry in the first place: they feared it might actually help his chances of re-election.
A frightening prospect precisely because our country might not survive a second four year term. And it’s not just trump who’ll take us down: it’s the courts (Can RBG remain on the Court through 2024?), the AG, the cabinet, Stephen Miller and other unanticipated terrifying surprises.
I’m not opposed to impeachment, but this is a zero sum game.
If the result is vindication and re-election, the history books will note the House did the right thing, but in what kind of nation will school children be reading this history-if reading history of this era will be permitted?
I hear that the Republican Senators are afraid to go against Trump because they fear he would have them primaried. I've lived through Nixon's and it seems obvious that if they impeach then then Trump will be in no position to organize a primary against anyone. When the vote is counted he is out. They will put him in a helicopter and then an airplane with flight plans to deposit him in Florida. At the same time the 1000 lawsuits that are pending toward him will start to make progress. Probably within 3 weeks the SDNY will file charges against him. If SDNY does not then NYS or NY city will do the task. If possible Pence could pardon him but given how badly that worked out for Ford and Pence's possible involvement in the Ukraine mess a Pence pardon seems unlikely.
It seems to follow that the twenty required Republican votes offer the Republicans a way out of this mess. They will immediately have to go to work rebuilding their party but they will be able to argue that when things to the point where heroic action was required they votes aye.
2
“It’s the economy, stupid,” is a retread from another Presidential election. It was campaign cry directed at the American people in general, and more specifically, to those who vote.
But today it is Constitutional duty of Congress to cast their vote on whether to impeach this President or not. They are the 435 voters who matter in this decision.
I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Friedman’s call to impeach President Trump. The evidence is clear and overwhelming as to the Articles of Impeachment for Abuse of Power, and for Obstruction of Congress. But we don’t have the voting power on this decision — Congress does.
So let’s each send the message today to our Representative who will soon cast one of the 435 votes. And if one or both of these Articles are passed by Congress, then the Senate should hear from all of us: “It’s the Constitution, Senators!”
510
@Vicki I don't think it'll do any good to send that message to my congressman Joe Wilson or my senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham.
16
@Jim
And I thought I had it bad with Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
Not to mention Rep Don No-Longer-Young.
10
@Jim
I beg to differ. They all count incoming calls. Do you think the GOP voters aren’t calling?
28
Beyond Trump's ongoing evident threat to our free and fair elections, essential to a vital democracy, is this Administration's massive corruption of our government brought to a new level. The unprecedented turnover of cabinet level heads reflects this corruption and chaos. Two examples unfortunately not part of impeachment articles are: The cruel tearing-away of thousands of children from their parents at the border *by policy* are in the crimes-against-humanity category (it's shameful this is being passed over in impeachment). Second, the wholesale perversion of the missions of federal agencies is breathtaking, literally. 2018 marked the first year in a generation of overall deterioration in national air quality, partly attributed to the slashing of many EPA air pollution regulations by Trump, thereby directly causing higher respiratory and related mortality. This violates an oath to protect Americans. Another example, the Dept of the Interior has emasculated 16 national monuments, almost the first such action taken by any administration, never so shockingly brazen and unprecedented. This effectively steals lands from all Americans. Many other actions by various agencies have been the antithesis of acting in the public interest. They arguably are counter to advancing the common good, are corrupt, and additional examples of Abuses of Power.
3
I agree. If President Trump is not held accountable for his actions regarding Ukraine and his block on executive branch cooperation with the congressional investigation, these kind of actions will achieve the status of acceptability, even constitutionality. The 99% of the Republicans in Congress should be held accountable for aiding and abetting Trump’s illegal actions.
9
"Impeaching a president is the most consequential thing our Congress can do — other than declaring war."
Your statement above is very true, However, not allowing alternative views or the presentation of alternative facts and evidence along with a much stated predetermined objective is reflective of an Inquisition not justice.
2
#the sgm The president is blocking his staff from testifying or releasing documents. The only reason I can think for him to do that is the 5th amendment. If he is innocent, then let the people testify.
2
I
disagree with your premise. The Repubs have tried as hard as they can to show that their conspiracy theories are valid. But, in the end, they are lies.
1
Sadly, the Republican party does not "care about having a president who takes seriously his oath to preserve and protect our Constitution," or any of the other things you say that "we" care about. Please tell me what I can say to my Republican congressman and senator that will change their minds!
3
@Dee
Chabot is on Judiciary and Wenstrup is on Intelligence. They represent different sides of Cincinnati, which I know from personal experience is not all in the tank for Trump. Neither is Ohio, so call Portman too.
Just call them and speak your mind. Their office will note the call and that alone will be effective.
2
A commenter here writes: "There are many people in the world who have no reason to be proud of their country.
"Are we Americans joining that sad group of people?"
I thank the writer for this 164,000-dollar question. It's a question we Americans all must deliberate, with the hope that everyone of us will help effect positive changes that ultimately instill a renewed sense of pride in America.
7
Just another Democrat looking to get rid of Trump is unlikely to move the needle for undecideds; where are the elders of the GOP? With GOP current office holders embroiled in the Trump demagoguery matrix, past GOP leaders may be uniquely positioned to change public opinion.
Now might be a good time to step forward. Anyone?
5
We the people cannot save the country without a structural
and broadly accepted consensus that to do so is incompatible with how we are presently conducting our social dialogue and political behavior.
Too many are now completely caught up within a partisan,
take no enemies mindset that demands total victory on one side and abject defeat on the other. Compromise is unacceptable since it is tacitly understood to mean a compromise with the devil.
Demonization of opponents is part and parcel of this
trench warfare that is weakening the society from within,
leaving us very vulnerable to the external forces who
wish us only harm.
How we are conducting our dialogue, such as it is, is not helping free us from this partisan tear in our social fabric. We need new forms of engaging with opponents within forums of social media or group discussions that reveal the
common humanity underneath our different perspectives.
The fact that this is not an important priority of MSM suggests that either there is too little moral imagination or that too much money can be made from heightening divisions not bridging them.
In either case, trump is but an expression and skillful exploiter of this underlying pathology. His effective
use of his bully pulpit to divide will indeed conquer if
the 60+% who are not part of his cult do not realize they
need to be united not divided.
This however requires a level of emotional maturity and
discipline that I don't yet see emerging en masse.
2
By now we know of the many criminals Trump employed in his run to the presidency. We know about Flynn, Manafort, Gates, Stone and Cohen. When Trump chose his cabinet we were somewhat relieved when he chose some honorable men. Mattis was a relief. So was Kelley. We were pleased to see McMaster replace Flynn. All of these men tried to rein in Trump’s worse tendencies and failed. Why won’t these men tell us what they know? I understand there may be some code that they feel doesn’t allow them to bad mouth a sitting president. The problem here is we have a president who has no moral code. So are they to follow an unwritten rule and in the process allow a law breaking president destroy a country they have sworn to protect. Mueller allowed an un-codified justice department rule to stop short of calling Trump a criminal. I sorry gentlemen but your idea of honor doesn’t fit this age of dishonor. You can testify in this trial. Come forward and tell us what you know. Defend your country one more time.
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@Redone kindly don’t mention kelly on the same breath as Mattis. John Kelly remains the most unpatriotic chief of staff, he became one of Trump’s out of spite for Obama.
2
This beautifully written OpEd exactly sums up my thoughts and feelings about Trump and on the Impeachment process . I am saddened that the outcome in the Senate is more or less a given But the most concerning fact should be the corruption of those in the Republican Party who prefer to continue yelling that Democrats have plotted to impeach Trump since he was elected rather than honestly confronting the indisputable facts, that Trump has abused his power and, at the very least, deserves censure by the party and the nation. I imagine the fact that Trump, as head of the RNC, holds the pursestrings for their reelection has a great deal to do with this and that the many Republicans who have chosen not to run for another term are a reflection of their unwillingness to be beholden . And, lastly, as David Brooks opined on the Newhour, most Americans seem to just not care...This, to my mind, has the potential to undermine our democracy more than even Trump!
3
I keep asking myself...why? Why are the Republicans doing this? Why can't they be moved. It's not like them. And I've come up with this. Tell me if this rings true. Pence is complicit. So, if Trump and Pence are both impeached and removed from office who is President? Nancy Pelosi would be President. Would the Republicans do everything they can do to keep Nancy Pelosi out of the White House? Do you have another theory because I would love to hear it. I'm baffled. My Dad was a Republican. He was a stellar human being.
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@Mickey McGovern
The question was answered long ago, many Americans just didn't want to believe it. These ARE the REAL Republicans, it started with the Southern Strategy and brought into full bloom by Ronald Reagan.
5
@Mickey McGovern All I can think of is that Republicans are that desperate to hang on to power. Although, you may also be right. That would be interesting, indeed. But we will probably never know the truth, not till long after Trump's reelection.
1
Trump tried cheating his way to reelection and got caught in the act — behavior that is incompatible with representative democracy. I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Friedman.
2
Thomas, you have fallen for the hype. There was no crime, there's nothing here to impeach a president for. The problem is that the Democrats consider everything Trump does to be an abuse of power. The rest of the country doesn't think that way, that's why Trump's popularity is soaring.
This impeachment isn't going anywhere with the Senate and the Democrats know it. These impeachment proceeeding are just an exercise in mud slinging.
7
@Henry Case
Trump's popularity and his poll numbers are not "soaring". They remain about the same as they were in 2016 -- when he lost the popular vote by several million votes.
Facts matter. Tell the truth.
1
@Henry Case Soaring? At 40 percent?
1
@Henry Case
I think Mr. Friedman, who has been with the Times for nearly 40 years, has published several books, and has won three Pulitzer Prizes and a National Book Award, knows what he is talking about and doesn't need any advice from the likes of you. Given Mr. Friedman's record of experience and achievement, your condescension is ludicrous. But, then again, quaint concepts like "experience" and "achievement" are anathema to Trump and his supporters, so it's not at all surprising.
2
Impeachment is crucial to the survival of our Republic and the credibility of this Democratic party.
There is no choice. A President must be held accountable for criminal and unethical actions.
The GOP's acquittal of Trump however will only embolden him to engage even more serious crimes and obstructive behaviors all the while thumbing his nose at Congress for failing to convict him despite their mountains of evidence.
The GOP have created a monster.
3
@JM
Please indicate where precisely out Republic has suffered this lethal injury?
Are we at war? In an economic depression? Have our utilities collapsed? Are our roadways functioning? Airports bustling? Are shelves not lined with goods? Is the press hostage? Are you housing soldiers? Is your religion banned? Have you been arrested for no good cause and denied the identity of your accuser?
The hysteria in this column and in these comments is puzzling. Everything that a reasonable and healthy person would want from a national government is functioning bliplessly, yet, incredulously, legions of people feel that there actual daily existence is somehow under threat.
Our government works so well, its difficult to tell we even have one.
2
@Amused
There are people and entities who have a vested interest in the weakening of the United States as an economic power in order to create a system where the workforce and commodities of this county can be exploited for personal and corporate gain. One of these people is Vladimir Putin; another is Donald Trump. As long as Donald Trump continues to sit in Putin's lap and be his hand puppet, and 40% of Americans are okay with this, the country and its institutions are in jeopardy. I and many other US citizens have no interest in being forced to serve and abet amoral people who are involved in organized crime.
1
The facts are not in doubt but 40% of Americans say "So what, big deal". Here is what I will ask my Republican friends who belong to that group:
How big is the budget to run a presidential campaign? A $ billion plus!
How much of a campaign's budget would it be worth to see the opponent candidate accused of corruption? 50%, 20%? Let's say just 10%, or $100 million.
What if the president secretly transferred $100 million out of the $400 million allocated to Ukraine by Congress into his campaign coffers? Would that be illegal, stealing, reason for impeachment?
What if he told the Ukrainian president "I give you $400 million in military aide if you transfer a kick-back of $100 million into my campaign account"? Would that be reason for impeachment?
Thats exactly what Trump was suggesting, just not in actual money but on a bartering system. The Art Of The Deal.
4
How many swings of the bat until people quit caring or believing
First -the ridiculous re-reading by Schiff of the call that seemed childish and made up
Second - the quid pro quo approach but they dropped that when it turned out there really was no quo since the money flowed and there were no investigations.
Third - this is a national security crisis approach, but people don’t see Ukraine as a crisis, and if so it then congress should have been doing a lot more
Fourth - the Ambassador firing approach that in the end is the Presidents prerogative
FIfth - the bad manager approach with a parade of state department that didn’t get the memo on the new Ukrainian policies. The President sets policy not the “interagency team”, whatever that is.
Sixth - the bribery approach until it became reported that bribery in the constitution is not bribery in our laws today.
Seventh- the professor approach that in total looked like the elites who hate Trump come to Congress. The 3/1 ratio was clearly unfair.
Eighth- but he’s not cooperating approach but stonewalling congress by the White House is nothing new. Take him to court but that will take too long and upset the senators running for President. That is the remedy and we know it.
Ninth - the we don’t want to do it but we have to approach.
Really that’s the new plan? What is wrong with my Democratic Party?
5
@Paul
If Chairman Shiff's reading of Trump's phone call sounded ridiculous it was because it was necessary to convert Trump's meandering, illiterate language into simple English for the benefit of those who who were too lazy to read or dumb to comprehend the original. That original was even more difficult to sort through due to Trump's bumbling- and failed,-attempt to deliver his message of extortion without incriminating himself. Lacking the cognitive ability to understand his own words and desperate to get the faux transcript out before the news of the arms holdup came out, Trump hurriedly exposed his own smoking gun and is now astounded that it resulted in his impeachment. Please explain the details of how Shiff's condensation of the president's confession differs in substance from what Trump himself released.
1
Although I have, in the past, sometimes disagreed with a person chosen as our President, never before have I despised him (unfortunately, no woman has yet been chosen). But Trump has so many negative qualities, that hie causes me to fear for our country's future.
He is full of anger and bile. He is ignorant. He appears to care only for himself. Rather than unite our country, he tears us apart.
Heaven help us.
4
Bravo, Tom Friedman! You have laid it all out clearly and forcefully, in a way that we all can understand. Now, what can be done about the Republican senators who are Trump's sycophants and mouthpieces? It's hard to believe that they all have lost their way. They hold our lives in their hands.
3
No way will the senate remove him. He will be the candidate and he will finish destroying and civility that maybe left in politics. The lies the smears the insults will be worse then ever.
The tribal forces will further split into two groups of hate and mistrust. It will not be pretty.
Supreme Court needs to release taxes.
2
Acorrection to the text: "Impeaching a president is the most consequential thing our Congress can do — other than declaring war. So, after great consideration, I say: President Trump not only should be impeached, he must be [delete: 'impeached' and insert 'convicted and removed from office'] if America’s democracy is to remain intact."
4
It's all being said but I have to say it too. I'm 70 years old, in a wheelchair and live off Social Security after working my whole life for not very much money. I won't be marching in any protest marches but I can still put my two cents worth into the comments section of the NYT. No Trumpers will ever read it, but I still have to say something. Get Rid Of Trump!
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The idea that imposing a low-bar impeachment on this presidency (and the people who voted for it) will save America is something only a a left-wing dunce could love. I base that assertion on the fact that the precedent alone could destroy any remaining civil peace in this country for generations to come. An abrasive governing style is now held to be grounds for impeachment.
This bogus impeachment is an exercise in distracting from the real scandal that has been percolating just beneath the MSM surface in the past three years: the scandal that had high functionaries in the federal government plotting against a president-elect and then president to sabotage his presidency and destroy anyone who was associated with his presidency along the way.
The Mueller Report was the result of a continuation of the bogus Comey investigation and predicated on the same sleazy machinations that Comey was engaging while still FBI director. All that is now being exposed and we shall see which members of that conspiracy will be indicted and which will not. Heads must roll and the procedures that resulted in these crimes must be re-worked so that the outrages we are reading about will not happen again.
Stay tuned because there has been a pivot in the narrative. People like Barr, Durham, Graham, Grassley and McConnell are now in charge. It's going to be nasty and brutish but not short.
5
I believe D J T's new found toy:
Twitter, ( aside the obvious propaganda media)
confused his idea of The First Amendment.
Thus he spoke to Mr Zelensky as he would have sent a Tweet.
"by the way" is a favorite Twitter usage in a text or tweet.
"BTW"- he really did not Know /believe there would be consequences. His historical tweets have been ignored, so why not this 'btw'?
Ignorance + narcissism.
1
The people in Congress took an oath: "... that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic". Trump is a domestic enemy. Respect your oaths and do your job, Congress.
5
Not a trumper but been independent all thru the campaigns and last 3 years. The article is one sided in its analysis opinion and like so many Democrats in congress its tainted in trying to justify an impeachment along party lines vs truth as evidence and observations are made from both sides. Best example is how congress limited proceedings and tried to silence anything that would hamper or discourage evidence or testimony.
And as far as Russian involvement
Name one president Democrat or Republican that has not had some kind of relationship with a world leader that would stand up to scrutiny
If we all stop hating the man for upsetting the clinton train and looked at his presidency it's no less or more than what has been around for the last 4 presidents. Any of them could have technically been impeached for any number of minor or major infractions of the constitution. it's just from day zero of the last election the losing party refused to accept that the lost and have vowed to impeach the man even before he took office. I have to agree with the trump administration
It's a shame and trap that Democrats have been pushing. Heck Congressman Bass wants to impeach him again if the first round does not go anywhere in the senate. That pretty much sums our democratic party thinkers
Just my opinion of course
1
Congress: The oath reads: "that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic" Trump is a domestic enemy of the Constitution. Do your jobs.
2
Impeaching this fraud of a President is crucial -- and remember, he's yet to win an election without Russian help -- but the trouble is, even with him gone, that decrepit GOP and backward base will still be there for the next reality-show demagogue, the next Fox News hero. Unless half the country gets smarter in a hurry, the deep division will be there to exploit, a powder keg waiting for a flame.
2
"It is the only thing to do if our country’s democracy is to survive".
I find your article a little sick. In so much as you are one of the architects of the mess we are in. Allowing the USA to export its economic model without insisting that we export out values allowed that spoon factory to move out of the mid-west with its good jobs and move to Asia where they use people and toss people out every day. They dump their production pollution into a river, and they foul the air.
In the end the Globalism that you championed just assured that the world has free markets all the while those markets do not have free people.
You, Thomas L. Friedman and those that follow your thinking are responsible for the people who voted for Trump. You are responsible for everything that is going on.
You are the fertilizer of the tree of our discontent.
The only thing that is going to turn the path we are headed on is going to be war in the streets, cities in destruction, and a lot of dead Americans. A replay of 1861 to 1865.
If it comes to that, the "globalists" like you will have been the root cause.
2
it is remarkable that US domestic politics exactly follows the one in Turkey around mid 2000s. Erdoğan got elected in a string of elections and at each election he has improved the margin. Opponents of Erdoğan not only written articles but organized large rallies to "save the republic". The rallies ended up solidifying the voter base of Erdogan and put him in a position seemingly discrimated by the elites of the republic, letting him to capture the votes of undecided. Versions of pieces like this one in Turkish media are simply categorized as Turks propaganda to Turks which is an old saying that can be translated as Democrats preaching other Democrats in this context. I highly doubt that these pieces are of any practical value in real politics.
Trump is definitely a threat. A threat to democrats. You're all going down. Trump wins. America wins.
3
This comment is an example of what’s wrong with the GOP. Equating Trumps success with Americas. This country is bigger than one man, a fact the GOP has forgotten. Trump is a cult.
4
To borrow from Sir Edward Grey's remark on the eve of Britain's entry into the First World War, "The lamps are going out all over [the American Republic]; we shall not see them lit again in our life-time."
3
Why a pathological liar who promoted that obscene "Birther" movement is even allowed to be in the White House is beyond me. trump hates everyone, and just wants to create chaos in the world that rejects him.
4
Obstruction of congress
Abuse of power
Will the Constitution shine
In its darkest hour?
4
It’s been reported that Trump’s mother said he should be king. That’s exactly what he’s doing. King’s don’t leave until they die. And when he dies, what happens? Don Jr. becomes the next king.
We will have the Republicans to thank for this as well as Russian interference and everyone who doesn’t vote!
2
“What the [heck] do you think Trump was doing in Ukraine?” That is THE QUESTION for all deniers, and one no elected Republican can answer with a straight face. End of story. Except, of course, the invertebrate Senate Republicans will regurgitate the now highly rehearsed “talking points” of House Republicans and America will be the worse for all of it. Much worse. (And yes, it can get worse.)
2
I have no faith in us to change anything. I’ve already given up on this country. Laws don’t apply to members of the oligarchy. We have the leader we deserve. A corrupt president for a corrupt country. They go together like pie and ice cream.
3
"One day morally and financially bankrupt?"
Tom...we're morally bankrupt NOW. We're living in a country where the government has put children in filthy cages. We're living in a country where two year olds, TWO YEAR OLDS have been forced into immigration court before a judge.
It's not "one day." It's this very moment.
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@PubliusMaximus Obama built the cages, then urged the Latin Americans to come fill them. If D's didn't so desperately seek a permanent D USA through millions of illegal aliens being given a path to citizenship, this one inhumanity wouldn't exist.
1
It is only fair to note three of his less known “accomplishments”
On deregulation, removed from the 10 commandments numbers 10, 9, 8, and 3
On infrastructure, had the blindfold chiselled off all “Justice is blind” edifices,
On defining America, removed unum, from the “E Pluribus Unum,” nonsense, and updated it with divisulosum.
3
@Brian I envy the Canadians-they have an absolute right to comment on our country's baneful issues, (being a close relative), without suffering the effects of our hateful crypto-monarchy to the same extent. An analogy would be this: someone having Thanksgiving dinner at the home of a manic, demented spiteful sister, complete with horrible in-laws who egg her on. They are thankful that this is not a regular event; they can escape to a nice, safe home where sanity prevails and people still care about each other.
The entire Trump Presidency along with the Republican Party that supports him can be identified as a partnership involved in treasonous activities. Republican leaders fail to perceive that they are now a political voice on life support and the future of their Party is at stake. For what Donald Trump has become is the tool enabling them to commit suicide. The Russia, Ukraine mess, a President addressing an audience identifying Jews as "brutal killers," is this what has come to identify America? If so, this country is over.
3
The only reason to not remove Trump by impeachment would be to remove him through hospitalization. I believe him to be mentally impaired.
4
@Peter Gentling I also believe he is mentally impaired, however I think he is also a very well trained malignant propagandist and criminal operator who had done very well for himself manipulating the players in the Republican party and inculcating loyalty from his avid followers.. The entire world does not seem to be able to extricate the varying components each other. It seems as if Congress is chipping away barnacles from a hydra headed beast swishing it's tail in imitation at such impudence.
1
What crime is Trump charged with?
1
Lavrov is standing in front of the US flag, blocking it from view.
4
"when it comes to the Republican Party, there is only one goal, to gain power over each of those Branches, and to rule as if they are one Branch." Exactly, and exactly the logical outcome of a two party system faced with three "coequal" branches. It is the only way to 'win'.
2
No one fears Joe Biden politically and the reality is Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden will probably never appear on a ballot together. And while a publicly announced investigation into the Biden family dealings in Ukraine would tangentially help the President, to suggest that it was his primary goal, or that it isn’t also in all Americans’ interest to know, simply doesn’t hold water. This charade will end in the Senate, probably with the demise of Mr. Biden, and will most likely help the President be re-elected in a landslide. Highest order of foot shooting on record.
3
@Unknown Soldier
Ask yourself what Republics would be doing if a President Clinton was caught in these activities. Or a Democrat of any name or color.
1
Let's crystal ball this.
The House will pass the two impeachment articles, and the Senate will acquit Trump, all along party lines.
End of story? Not quite.
The 2020 election in November will occur.
All members of the House who vote to pass or rescind the articles, and 1/3 of the members of the Senate who vote to find Trump guilty or acquit Trump, will be held up to the electorate in eleven months. Undecideds will likely find it difficult to ignore the facts associated with this impeachment, and will be asking themselves: Should the president of the U.S. really be allowed to do what he did and stay in office?
The odds are likely in favor of folks saying no to the above question.
In the final analysis, this will be good for the U.S.
8
I like your thinking. Thanks for the post.
3
I agree with Mr. Friedman-Trump should be removed from office. While I support Impeachment, let's not overlook what the result could be-four more years of Trump. The Senate Republicans will not convict; they know that the base doesn't care if all the allegations are true. They know Trump is guility, but they will vote solidly for their re-election chances.
If Trump were removed from office, it will be a political disaster for Democrats, which I assume many Demos realize. The legitimate passionate dislike of Trump of the majority of the public leading them to vote, which would fuel the chances of Democratic wins at all levels in 2020, will be gone. Creepy Pence will not cause that anger. Most likely, Republicans would nominate a Rubio or Haley, and very well could win. Trump supporters will remain aggrieved, fueling a large turnout-which would damage Demos, but also any Repubs who voted to convict. So we will get even nuttier Senate Repubs. At least with, I believe, knowledge of all the above, Demos are putting principles above politics.
3
@Phil
Look at history, it tends to mirror itself. In the case of Nixon/Ford, the electorate was sick and tired of lying by the Republic Party and voted for the first and only Southern Democrat ever as our President.
1
Republican hypocrisy.
10
Mr. Friedman,
I have read your columns in the NYT for many years, and have often taken issue with your centrist positions regarding US relations with Israel and the middle east generally.
That said, your description of the existential danger in which we find our nation's fabled and much admired democracy is the best I have read in the NYT or any other newspaper, in print or on-line, bar none.
Thank you for your concise summary of our president's crimes against the Constitution and of the certain consequences for America if he is not summarily booted out of office via impeachment and conviction.
This is our moment, fellow citizens. If we continue to allow the totally corrupt GOP to dominate our politics by appealing to our worst selves, telling us the biggest lies and assuming we will be in full denial until it is too late, they will carry us down the road of no return to Orwell's 1984, or worse.
We will have no one to blame but ourselves, and our children will hope we rot in Hell.
26
As someone else mention elsewhere in comments, Mike Pence would become President should Trump be impeached. I hate to mention it, but this largely quiet spectre behind the scenes would step forward. A man who is not inclined to Separation of Church and State amongst other things.
Hoping he will at least not also mock and refer to the non base of his supporters as the enemy and the scum of the earth as well.
Still I hope the civic and moral pulse is still beating and justice and antidote are served for the life of this ailing Democracy.
2
I'm a Kansas farm boy who grew up to vote for Jimmy Carter the first time I could vote. I voted for both Bill & Hillary. I voted for Obama. ... Tom, this good column makes me think we need a Midwestern moment, a Nebraska moment... A Rep. Sen. Ben Sasse moment. Nebraskans are my friends to the north. I say to Senator Sasse: Ben Sasse, you are a young senator who has a strong moral fiber (At least I think, I hope). Senator, you have a conscience. I know you do. We need your voice, and we need it now. Your voice could be the phoenix that will rise out of the High Plains, stand up to Trump and his base and say, "Enough!"
It just takes one man with courage. Someone with your character and moral fiber has to go first. It takes a man like you. Let's have a Sen. Ben Sasse moment. The "religion" of Nebraska is Nebraska Football. "Go Big Red!" wafts across the state Fall after Fall. Well, let us start a new cheer, Sen. Sasse: "Go Big Ben! Go Big Ben!" It will ring across the nation, if a man like you has the courage, the fortitude, the guts to speak up and against Trump. In your deepest soul you know speaking up is right.
This is the hour, Ben Sasse. Speak up against the man named Donald J. Trump and let the choir begin: "Go Big Ben! Go Big Ben!"
It takes but one man, and that man is you Senator. It's now or never.
9
@DDF Ring those bells. Come on Ben. You are hopefully the harbinger of this Nebraska Moment. Thank you DDF.
1
Trump has demonstrated authoritarian tendencies. Given the absence of clear limits to his power it can be expected that he would act and not just tweet. With a compliant DOJ political opponents could be locked up with the enthusiastic support of the Republican Party following the script of the Kremlin that locks up opponents like Novalny. Enemies of the people, including some newspapers, might be shuttered.
A key milestone in Hitler's rise was the Enabling Statute of 1933 that gave him "temporary" absolute power. If impeachment fails and the 2020 election gives Trump a win, no matter how slim, Trump would have a tool comparable to the Enabling Statute. No more fear that voters could remove him and control of the Senate to prevent removal thru impeachment.
Friedman is right on impeachment. But what if it doesn't work?
There are people whose testimony could be compelling, even to Trump supporters. The courts could compel testimony by Bolton, Mulvaney, Pompeo and others. The future of the U.S. appears to be in the hands of the courts. Decisive information is also likely to be in Trump's tax returns.
9
"Trump’s conspiracy theory — originated by Russian agents — that it was Ukraine that hacked the Democratic National Committee’s emails in 2016, not Russia."
I don't understand this at all. Is Trump saying that Ukraine was trying to help him by hacking the DNC emails? Because the DNC email hack hurt Clinton, not helped her.
But then Republicans say Ukraine was trying to meddle *in favor* of Clinton.
I have never understood this, and I've never seen a good explanation for this discrepancy in The Times or elsewhere.
4
@Richard Grayson You don't understand it because it doesn't make any sense. But, apparently, conspiracy theories don't have to make sense to fool Trump's base.
2
Understand, I am in FAVOR of impeaching Trump.
However, impeaching Trump so that "America’s democracy is to remain intact" is not a good reason.
The left and the right only clamor for democracy when they think they will obtain the majority of votes. As soon as they discover that they are the loser in a vote, they embrace a manner that is very undemocratic....they run to the courts where a single person (or up to a maximum of 5 persons depending upon the court involved) dictate the result. Most of the time, at court they rely on the true source of our freedom, the Constitution, especially on the most undemocratic portions of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment.
Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is the dictatorship of the majority and the subjugation of the minority, regardless whether it is representative government or direct democracy. Our freedom is always threatened by democracy. The only real protection of our freedom is the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment.
Democracy is nothing better than often (certainly not always) being the least bad method of choosing who govern. Even direct democracy is nothing better than the least bad method of establishing rules of behavior.
2
Megadonor dark money from the oligarchy is squarely behind Trump and his Congressional minions, because he has been good for them. He will never be impeached even if he is charged a second time.
(The Supreme Court has been the single biggest polluter of American democracy with the Citizens United decision.)
He should also have been impeached for obstruction of justice in the Mueller investigation, and the emoluments clause against personally profiting from the presidency.
The Democrats backed down for lack of will and cohesion.
6
Thank-you for this statement. I awaken everyday in shock & depressed that so many Republican elected and appointed officials are willing to acquiesce to the demands of Donald Trump, seeming not to understand the grave harm he has inflicted on our precious democracy and threat he poses to our collective future. I would be beyond ecstatic were even just a few Republican senators would vote to impeach. Sadly, I am not holding my breath.
11
Take a good look at the Oval Office photo op of Trump and Lavrov for a glimpse at where this country is headed. And note Trump’s sickly smile indicating even he’s aware who’s in charge.
8
This venue must have intense therapeutic value! A way to vent and vent, get support from coherent co-collaborators, counter-punch with those who feel differently and see your comments in "print". I guess Tom F reads some of them and either replies or ignores them. Certainly helps me cope with the unfolding political situation. It's really sad though. I mean really, really sad. Between NFLX and these venues maybe it will be OK but I'm not sure. Thanks to all of you for participating... the real work lies ahead though.
3
Amen
4
"You don't know what you've got 'til its gone..."
12
Thank You.
8
It's terrifying. I just hope enough voters are inspired to vote.
8
Impeccable!!!
6
Remember, what happened when idiots on the Left succeeded in ending the filibuster? Well, geniuses impeach and you may find that when Republicans keep the White House and take back the House we start impeaching Democratic House members. After all, as an attorney, I can guarantee you that every Democrat has engaged in quid pro quo. If they put gas in their car they engaged in quid pro quo. If they passed legislation they obtained personnel gain from their official actions. Their actions and the preceding technical truths will lead America to end Democrats. So be it.
5
@Matthew
Read that Constitution thingy, there is no such thing as “impeaching Democratic House members” in there.
The House can vote to “expel” a fellow House member by 2/3’s vote which requires 292 votes and that would mean Republics have to turn 95 seats Red next November. Better chance of Democrats turning 25 Senate seats Blue than anything close to 95 House seats going Red.
1
Tom Friedman for President! If only.........
2
America is not worth saving.
1
As an independent I will vote for President Trump again because he is a Capitalist...anti abortion...and because congressman Nadler said "No one is above the law including the President"...well it is unconstitutional by democrats not to uphold our immigration laws...allowing sanctuary cities...I'm for a guest worker program...however no free pass into the United States...protect our borders democrats ...if the democrats don't follow the rule of law...let the Presdent do his own thing...to me it is much worse to allow thousands of illegals into this country!
11
This comment reflects Trump’s ability to lie and convince voters he is telling the truth. It epitomizes the risk we face in 2020. So sad.
1
What "rule of law" are Democrats not following?
1
Regardless of what happens with impeachment, the Republican Party, as it stands, needs to be voted out of existence. We are at a serious crisis point. The GOP is perfectly happy to see rule of law flushed down a gold-plated toilet and we need to stop them.
So – please be sure you are registered to vote. And if you know someone who is not, please help get that person to the polls in November of 2020.
You can register to vote online in 33 states and can register by regular mail using a downloadable form in 14 other states. You, or someone you know, can use this link to get registered: https://vote.gov
12
I love you, Thomas Friedman! I read your book, "From Beirut to Jerusalem" many years ago, and I felt like my whole world had changed, and I had a new understanding of the middle east.
Your writing on this subject is equally clear and enlightening. I agree that we should impeach as soon as possible, but I am afraid that the new Republican party thinks Trumpism is the way to stay alive, and we won't have enough votes in the Senate to get the job done. At the same time, I wonder why it seems like the Democrats, who are saying the same things as you, are (mostly) scheming for their own ends and not for the good of the country? Is this just what happens to good people who start out wanting to serve their country? Are we being duped by the political process? How could we simplify things so that we know our politicians are continually telling the truth?
Will you run for president?
1
I fully understand that Nazi comparisons must always be used with caution, but I have to think that Joseph Goebbels would be in awe of how indoctrinated the Republican Party and the Republican voting base is. Whatever talking points they articulate become truth, no matter how questionable or baseless or outlandish. This can't bode well for a democracy.
12
@Steve Hmmm. Millions and millions of us see Goebbels-like propaganda and BIG LIES in almost everything Democrats and Mainstream Media say about Trump. Just watching Feinstein this morning-a person I used to admire-is deeply disappointing and depressing, as she tries completely to avert her eyes-and mislead us-from the clear perfidy and treason of the Obama FBI and DOJ.
Thank goodness, the denoument of senior FBI and traitors Brennan and Clapper is still to come.
A large swath of the American electorate is with Trump all the way and there is nothing the lefty media can do to change that.
5
@dave large swath is not the majority. It’s a sliver.
3
We are at the turning point in the United States. The rule of wealthy, white male hegemony is being finally challenged. Barr, Trump, McConnell, represent our history of racism, class privilege, sexism and environmental exploitation. This power structure undergirds everything that happens today, just as it has since the founding of our country. These privileged males will not give up their power easily. I laud the brave women and men drafting articles of impeachment against our dictator wannabe. But we should be aware that he is a symptom, not a cause. Impeaching Trump will be meaningless unless we use the momentum generated by Democrats in the House to begin challenging the defenders of the elite every way we can: boycotts, ballot box, legal challenges, editorials, demonstrations—we must begin now on a national level and continue until we wear down their control. My parent’s generation accepted this challenge during WWII to defeat these same demagogues on the world stage. If we are going to survive as free people who live in a democracy, we have to make sacrifices equal to theirs. Do we have it in us? I think we do.
9
@Robert McCarl III It is just great to hear of your enthusiasm about turning from the current generation to the next generation and bully for you and others similarly inclined in your boycotts, ballot box, editorials and demonstrations; however, it is past time for fanatics like you, but wearing judicial robes, to think they should be able to decide Executive Branch matters. It is also past time for fanatics like you who work in the Federal Government to undermine a Presidential candidate and President. Although you all get by with this and avoid the obliquy you deserve only because the media is hopelessly partisan, I would hope you realize that without this cover and cover-up, additional tens of millions would be equally aggressive and intimidating, to stop you.
Hear, hear! Impeach Trump!
9
Spot onTom please send this out to all other news outlets. Fox included.
6
and the latest installment of Trump's pattern of criminal behavior is...
"Under a settlement, the president [Donald Trump] admitted he had used his charity to bolster his campaign and settle business debts."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/nyregion/trump-foundation-lawsuit-attorney-general.html
12
Not happening
2
Trump will be re-elected next year! This attempt to overthrow our government is quickly backfiring on libs-dems.... Just watch and see :)
6
Please try to understand that the constitution has a variety of mechanisms in place for peaceful transfer of powers. One is the election process. Impeachment, which is another, is related to holding those who are elected accountable to the rule of law and particularly to upholding the Constitution itself. That you and others accept this twisted notion of the articles of impeachment as an attempt to overthrow the government is just one more reason why the Constitution matters more today than ever.
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@rushfan60
"overthrow our government" is right-wing framing, intended to manipulate your emotions. It is clearly working on the Trump crowd. It is disinformation which Rush Limbaugh (and others) peddles constantly.
Impeachment is in the constitution. Further, the constitution mandates the role for congress to exercise oversight. Trump is violating the constitution by blocking congress. This is a black and white case. Trump is guilty of impeachable offenses.
6
If you can't beat him impeach him! Right?
9
@MIKEinNYC
Oh, he will be beaten. As for 2016, he only won with Russian support...that is why he needs it again.
2
God bless you, Mr. Friedman!
1
Dear Tom, You are spot on... and not exaggerating one bit.
The Weimar Republic was destroyed in a very similar way as most citizens believed it was utterly impossible. They saw Hitler as just a loudmouth with radical, violent followers.
Trump is destroying our democracy, and a second term would be disastrous.
20
Are we supposed to give Thomas Friedman's statements more credibility than Alan Dershowitz, Professor Emeritus of Law at Harvard (an avowed Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton) who continues to state that the impeachment of this president (if it happens) is indefensible and without any merit whatsoever?
Will Thomas Friedman ( who in a previous column insisted that another Trump presidential term would be worse than Watergate and Vietnam!!) be able to contain himself should Mr. Trump not only survive impeachment but win a second term? His opinions now seem to epitomize the polarization he himself condemns.
With 100% of NYT pundits and 100% of its left wing base commenters (including all the ones currently below mine) yelling the sky is falling for three years and the last time I looked the sky was still up there, the economy is still humming, and there is zero chance of Mr. Trump being convicted by the Senate. . .all I can say is GET OVER IT. The country has not only not stopped paying attention but has started to poll more and more against you Mr. Friedman and toward re-electing Mr. Trump for another term. When that happens you'll only have yourself to blame for constantly crying "wolf" and turning the electorate further against you.
8
@Irving Nusbaum ...and as for Trump inviting foreign influence in the election and selling influence to the highest bidder? You OK with that?
The economy will hum along until it doesn't. Remember 2008? It takes about 8-10 years of such economic malfeasance for the situation to collapse. And it will do so. You just can't see that far into the future apparently.
3
@Irving Nusbaum The Dersh is a Fox regular and a Trump surrogate and follower. You fail to make a single cogent argument against either the need to impeach nor the justice of it. Because you enjoy and profit from Trump's subversion.
1
I don't know what Alan Dershowitz is thinking about this, but he's not the ultimate arbiter of legal opinion, and quite capable of being wrong. If he really has no problem with a president soliciting foreign assistance in an election, I'd say his mental acuity is slipping.
2
And take down McConnell with him
7
Democracy in America is dead. Get over it.
3
I really try but can not understand the near 100% support for this unintelligent, unintelligible con artist by the Republicans. Can it be money, the usual way to buy off a sleazy politician? I suppose that is the reason some bow down...money from special interests who need their "useful idiot". But surely $ alone cant be the reason. A list of Trumps transgressions should lead to at least SOME Repubs to say this guy stinks too badly to get close to for my career future.
So we must depend on the voters, including those who are also spellbound to wake up. SO why are the Democrat candidates not creating dozens of placards, speeches and TV ads specifically calling out his cruelty to children at the border, cruelty in cutting school lunches and food stamps, list of the thousands of lies, rape of the environment with methane in the air, pig slop and coal waste in our waters, intentional subversion of medical plans for the poor, leading the country to be a pariah among nations. Perhaps it does not matter, since his failure to help the world solve climate change condemns us all. Let people know what he has done.
No sense talking about free tuition and medicare for all if this beast is elected again.
10
Unfortunately, as long as there is an electoral college, the presidential election is not ‘by the people’. If it was, then Hillary would be in the White House and our democracy would not be at the brink of extinction.
9
Yes impeach now. And if you really want to save democracy in the US, reduce income inequality and private money in politics. Unfortunately the odds are next to none on all counts.
7
@cachemire Educate yourself outside the echo chamber: https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/12/inequality-debate-socialism-peruvian-economist-challenges-consensus-thomas-piketty/
Lately I've been thinking that the cause of our political woes is the primaries system in which candidates for Congress must woo the deciding minority within their respective party, namely the fringe elements.
So, to win, they at least pretend to adopt idiotic destructive extremist policies.
As a result, the representation in Congress does not really reflect what the people really want, and in the process many voters stray from reality.
I feel the solution is to have all voters, regardless of affiliation, to vote in the primaries for each party. I am sure this won't happen in my lifetime, but it's nice to dream.
2
It's scary. Every day there seems to be more GOP politicians, including top leaders, embracing Trump's dictatorial style of forgetting about the limits in power set by the US Constitution.
I used to take our democracy for granted, but never again, not with the daily threats from Trump, Barr, Stephen Miller, white nationalism, extreme "religious" conservatives, fossil fuel terrorists, etc. The only way to save America is by saving our democracy.
6
The Republicans that we used to know have a chance to get rid of Trump, right now. Here's my list of the minimum 20 Republican senators who could vote to convict: Alexander, Collins, Murkorski, Gardner, Rubio, Moran, Fischer, Sasse, Burr, Tillis, Hoeven, Cramer, Portman, Lankford, Toomey, Tim Scott, Lee, Romney, Johnson, Roberts. I know, totally impossible. But what if Mitch McConnell decides it's time to dump Trump? That would do it, and Trump would resign before a vote.
4
I have alway been a bit of a pessimist. I suspect our country ios dead. Putin won. Within in next decade you will see regions split apart. The GOP started when a Nation was divided and will end driving via Trump a nation apart. Putin won and did it on the cheap.
6
Sorry Thomas but the battle for our Constitution has begun and our side is losing, maybe irreparably. Trump is only the latest symptom of the rot that the GOP have created in our government. That the Senate will "exonerate" Trump after a meaningless trial id s foregone conclusion. Our only question should be what do we do after. GOP Senators are addicted to the free flowing donor cash and they cannot survive without their constant support, subverting what is known and what is right daily for their masters. No, the time for collegial responses has come and passed. Democrats only whimpered after McConnel stole Merrick Garland's Supreme Court seat. Now it is time for the informed electorate to voice our disgust clearly and take action against those that would subject us to rule by force and threats. That means stopping supporting Mark Zuckerberg and other GOP mega donors. Cut off the head of the snake and the body will die.
6
@Ted Hey, Ted-did it ever occur to you that those who support the President, including over 45 % of the voting electorate-and growing and Senators, do so not out of immediate financial gain but rather, because they agree with the policies being pursued by Trump and are happy overall with his stewardship of the economy and Country?
Only when Lib/Dems abandon their insane policy positions and address the concerns of about one-half of the Country will they right their ship. Another thing-and most important-you and Dems must start seeing GOP as legitimate political opponents, entitled to elect a President via Electoral College rules. It is obvious that today, you don't accept GOP as legitimate nor an Electoral College victory.
1
Excellent article. Today Lavrov, as Vicki from New York writes, standing next to and close to Trump in the Oval Office. Taunting anyone to dare him, Trump plays it like he always does. See? I told you, shoot someone on Fifth Ave., invite the Russians for a visit, and laugh at the Democrats and their foolish meddling in my affairs. I found it most amusing to hear members of the GOP dismiss the Democrats for their "originalist" rendering of the Constitution in their allegations about Trump and his Ukraine actions. Scalia long dead, this does make one wonder what he would rule in this matter. I am not an originalist as believe that thinking does not mesh with the idea of a living document that stands with us and due to men like John Marshall and Thurgood Marshall et al it serves as a purpose to guide us through it all. These are troubling times indeed. A reckless and thoughtless man at the helm with zero experience in the government he apparently loathes for its rules and history.
6
I cannot understand why no one makes a big deal of Trump's inviting the Chinese to influence the 2020 presidential election by investigating Joe Biden! Trump was corrupt again in plain view. The Chinese decently declined the request to meddle with our internal affairs and election! The Chinese have more respect for our Constitution than Trump does!
The craven GOP will show why we need a Democrat controlled Senate and Presidency to restore democracy to the U.S. in 2020. Else we patriots will need to seek asylum from Canada or New Zealand!
2
There are many people in the world who have no reason to be proud of their country.
Are we Americans joining that sad group of people now?
5
The will of the people is being carried out with impeachment. In 2018 the House moved to a Democratic majority by 8 points.
THAT'S the voice of the people talking, loud and clear.
4
Impeach for Treason, Trumps withholding military aid for personal gain and clear signal of less US support for Ukraine against Russian aggression has forced Pres Zelinsky to negotiate a cease fire with Putin which is actually surrender by withdrawing only Ukraine troops, not Russian, from the line of conflict.
5
The despair of Friedman and the Democrat party that they lost control of the government to Trump is so deep that they cannot accept the simple, basic, fact that the President is fully entitled to seek investigation of Ukraine and the 2016 election, documented and not "debunked," and of the apparent significant conflict of interest of the former Vice-President who was in charge of executing US policy with Ukraine and who directly interfered in Ukraine's government in a way that benefited his son.
No amount of hate, despair, concern can erase these facts.
5
It's simple, really: to save what he has left of America, Trump must be removed. Anything less is unpatriotic and irresponsible. Yes, decapitating the Trumpublican party still leaves the body, but it's an important start and must be done. Then follow up with every possible criminal charge being leveled against "citizen" Trump and his fellow mobsters until they have been punished in the only language they understand: bankruptcy caused by legal fees. That, and/or prison.
Yes, I probably sound vindictive, but it's gloves-off time. Sadly, fire must be fought with fire. Anyone with thoughts that any of the trumpistanies will "play nice" if/when Trump is removed from power gets first prize in the fiction category.
3
You better believe the senate hearing is going to be just awful awful, full of misleading bull and so much lying going on it will stun your ears. They are in the process of stealing the election and Barr is a front runner in that cause.
6
This simple question for the Republicans is: If the same fact pattern emanated from the Oval Office of President Hillary Clinton, would you vote to impeach and remove her? Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
4
Hi Thomas... How a bumper sticker... perfect slogan... how about a movement?
1
In addition to trying to legislate, and to do ALL the work of removing this unfit president from office (which not one Republican has the spine to do), the Democrats really need to double down on educating the public. And given that many of the public were educated under Reagan-era education cutbacks (no pre-or post-school, very limited humanities, history, civics, or thinking skills), this will be a daunting task. Many of Trump's base would be aghast to realize what cozying up to Russia truly implies,for their American way, and for what their forebears fought fascists? Education need to cross the national isle big time--with good will. Are the Democrats working on this??
2
This country lost it's democracy in 2000 when The Supreme Court installed W Bush in the presidency, against the popular vote, along partisan lines, and based on some archaic local outdated southern state voting protocol.
Sorry America, you got that one wrong and accepted TWO terms of the war criminal W Bush.
And most of the country rolled over and did not protest the 03 invasion of Iraq, a decision we will pay for with the rest of our lives. Where was everyone ALL THESE YEARS?
No more excuses you are too busy or politics don't matter. Now we have to face what has been building really since the Reagan years--Republican destructive fantasy.
Why did you wait SO LONG?
4
Mr. Friedman,
BRAVO! After reading countless articles on Trump that literally say the same thing, THIS article stands out — as another reader pointed out “ a Walter Cronkite moment”.
If only I had the money to have it printed on every front page of every newspaper - in print and online.
Thank you.
4
What would John McCain do?
1
All the witnesses who were actually involved said there is no pressure. All the evidence proves his not impeachable. The loonies are out today huh
4
I have to laugh. The level of hysteria, as evidenced in the comments below, has reached absurd proportions. Get a grip, people. The sun will rise tomorrow and the country will survive. Deal with it.
3
Fantastic column, thank you!
1
The beclowning of Thomas Friedman and the NYTimes is complete. While you rage against Trump you turn a blind eye to the willful weaponization of the administrative state that occurred under Obama and which is the very foundation for everything done to Trump. You ignore the IG report, willfully misread it, and then tell us it means precisely the opposite of its truth. The real assault against our democracy occurred when sitting politicians and executives in public agencies went looking for an "insurance policy" for themselves. Please, all of you, go away.
3
It took 13.7 billion years for me to land on planet Earth. And after a bunch of years of mental development, I realized I had won a big lottery. What were the outlandish odds that I would be born in the United States? The number doesn’t exist. I was born in the greatest country on the planet, or so I thought. Now that I will most likely be leaving sooner than later, my thoughts have changed considerably.
Not only are we in midst of destroying our country, we’ve managed to include the rest of the planet.
We no longer have leaders, we have puppets, criminals and useful idiots running our government. And most likely some mentally ill.
2
@David J we are all recycled star dust. You have been here before albeit different incarnations.
1
"Folks, can you imagine what Russia’s President Putin is saying to himself today? “I can’t believe my luck!" Not luck but perverse treasonous conspiracy is behind Trump' servility to Putin -- someday we we will find out the details of how Putin conquered America with the active help of the Republican Party under the Cult of Trump who pomises them ultimate power in pepetuity.
2
At this point this gentleman is writing his column so he can pleasure himself to it.
Nobody takes this person seriously. And no one ever did.
2
“At a time when virtually every Republican lawmaker and Fox News have chosen to prostitute themselves for Trump...” aptly sums up the integrity of the Republican Party. All their huffing and puffing about “due process” doesn’t hide the fact that they are owned by Russia and enthusiastically mouth Russian propaganda.
1
I'm all in favor of impeachment. That said, sorry, but our country will not be "saved" until this ape is removed from the White House, and, sadly, impeachment will not remove him.
1
American voters aren't buying this crock the Democratic party is trying to sell. Nice try though... not really!!!
3
@Chris
Given recent polling showing fully half the country in favor of impeachment and removal, who the heck are you referring to as the "American voters"?
Honestly, I could care less either way because half of this country is absolutely useless and worse. So until Americans purge evil Republicans I again could care less to what happens here. I never had children specifically for the reason of how insane and crazy Republicans are. And them being half the country...meh...I got my popcorn for when the Left fails and the Right takes more power...
you didn't seem to mind when Obama used the IRS to target conservative charities $02
3
"Impeach Trump ! We can never beat him at the ballot box "
The new rallying cry of the Democrats....
3
Mr. Friedman, I agree impeaching Trump may save America; however, a quick look at the history of crimes and malfeasance in the White House, gives me little hope American can be saved without changes to the Constitution.
-Republican President Richard Nixon, a criminal, also colluded with North Vietnam to extend the war for political self-interest.
-Republican Vice President Spiro Agnew, career bribe taker.
-Republican President Gerald Ford pardons Nixon.
-Republican President Ronald Reagan, claimed to be deaf and blind to the Iran-Contra law breaking in the basement of the White House.
-Republican President H. Bush and Reagan VP, also deaf and blind to the Iran-Contra law breaking, pardons Iran-Contra criminals.
-Democratic President, Bill Clinton, had sex in the oval office and lied to Congress about it.
-Republican President W. Bush, either a useful idiot or complicit in the Republican lead weapons of mass destruction and highly profitable war with Iraq; the torture is legal president.
-Republican VP Dick Cheney outed a CIA operative, driver of war for profits, all round sneaky guy.
-Democratic President Obama, failed to investigate crimes committed in Iraq/Afghanistan wars or on Wall Street.
-Republican President Trump, too many high crimes and misdemeanors to count, crimes and lies continue.
-Republican VP Pence, I know nothing, I see nothing, Trump is a profit sent by god.
Given the above its not clear American can be saved.
2
Republicans: What has happened to you? How have you allowed President Trumputin to subvert your sense of duty and patriotism? Have you forgotten what it's like to be smart and decent? How have you allowed yourselves to be manipulated by a vicious man to behave like his attack dogs?
You still have a chance to save our country. Wake up from your hypnotic state and do the right thing.
1
“It’s the Constitution, stupid — and unlike you, Mr. Trump, we value some things more than money.”
Unfortunately, not true, not in the swing states, nor even for your colleague Bret when given the option of Elizabeth Warren.
Hold on to your wallet, folks.
Trump and his evil ilk are gonna get away with EVERYTHING.
1
Trump needs to go, he has no concept of the responsibilities of the office he holds, he simply 'does not get it.' Hence the criminality, the lying, the under the table dealing with Putin, the unreported illegal campaign spending to silence porn star, the foreign bribery and extortion deals, the harassment and driving out of dedicated public servants and replacement of them with mindless toadies, and on and on.
3
Death can't come soon enough...hello heart attack. What we really need is not to impeach him but to prove the numerous crimes he's committed, i.e. fraud, bank fraud possibly being a conduit for Russian mobsters to launder their money. The state of New York could do us a big favor and have a sealed indictment to slap him with the moment he is no longer president then convict him and send him to prison and RICO act the Trump organization and strip it of all it's assets.
1
Republicans who claim to be Federalists or Originalists can add another log to the fire that will incinerate The US Constitution.
Tom,Good column,we are at the crossroads in our Democracy,what is scary a four flusher,criminal,idiot savant is going to destroy it with his enablers fox propaganda and the Republican Party.
1
Impeach Congress. Save Trump.
1
Checks and Balances dead upon arrival
The Constitution prognosis dire of survival
The partisanship divide in the USA
Opens the door to Putin's play
Disinformation and propaganda held sway
The election of a Manchurian candidate play
Every branch of national security
Putin military hacking identity
trump confidants met with Russian agents
Obstructed investigation into their intent
He again used the same playbook
Like the Patriots spy gate crook
Congress voted his action impeachable
Because of the divide the Senate was unable
Now the president is a king
At the funeral march hear the church bells ring
1
Another brilliant piece from Thomas L. Friedman. But Mr. Friedman has not gone far enough: This administration is so corrupt, so disdainful of the rule of law, so deeply un-Constitutional, that Pence, Pompeo, Barr and others close to the Oval Office should all be removed from office. What they perpetrated was nothing less than a coup; they all have to go — pronto — before any more damage is done to our already deeplly wounded Republic.
2
it is the underbelly of the trump administration I abhor. the deregulation of air and water protections so companies may make more money and citizens be damned. the insistence on petroleum and coal OR "In World First, German Steelmakers Power Their Furnace Using Only Hydrogen Instead of Coal By McKinley Corbley - Nov 29, 2019". Do we even know that? No. American companies are always and only about money - for the CEOs, the top echelons of power and for those in the trump cabinet who get in early on various money schemes, such as the selling of USDA data for use in boosting insurance premiums on farmers. these little nuggets do not get as much play as 45's tweets and rallies and rants. A loud, long, wet Raspberry to the all.
Republicans have proven to be unethical and unprincipled and defenders of a President who along with his family not only abuses power but sees the Presidency and the WH as a means to increase their wealth, be it the First Lady who was selling her brand on the WH web pages at the start of the Presidency, to Foreign officials from different countries staying at the Trump hotel to curry influence and patronage, and Republican cronies like William Barr holding DOJ parties at his properties. The Republicans can no longer be called the Party of Lincoln but Trump, and see no shame in siding with a President who appeals and sides with white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. They have lost all morals and decency and see no conflicts of interest siding with a corrupt man, and will pay a price in the future after degrading themselves to this extent.
Re-elect Trump. Save America.
1
Sorry Thomas anything you say is a bit laughable. Trump may be guilty of boorish behavior, giving away the farm with respect to Israel and slavish tax breaks for corporations, but compared to what you and your ilk promoted, namely the invasion of Iraq based on a pack of lies and the second biggest blunder ever hoisted on American and Europe’s Middle Class; Your mantra “ The World is Flat”, a primer on globalization that has done as much or more lasting damage to working people at all levels than any government created policies ever.
1
Despite what Americans like to say about themselves, and their many mythologies, Americans are subjects to a King. It is better called the Kingdom of America.
Your president is indeed above the law, despite what you say to yourselves.
Even Israel can indict their prime minister for crimes, but in America, no. “A sitting president (er King) can’t be indicted.
You have a king. You are subjects to a king. Just pray that he ‘pardons’ you if you are on the wrong side of his kingly power.
Ousamequin, the Wampanoag Indian curried favor with the foreigners because he wanted to use their power to advance his political position within the tribe. We know how that worked out.
see
(https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/thanksgiving-belongs-wampanoag-tribe/602422/)
Who knew that so many liberals and New York Times readers were so affected by Russian Facebook bought ads hostile to Hillary and in favor of the president? I guess so many of them were so influenced, they went into the voting booth wanting to vote for Hillary but voted for Trump instead. I guess mr Friedman was affected too
3
Tom Friedman, you won't give trump 6 more months?
1
Whether he goes or not, our democracy will continue to be threatened by one-third of Americans, or the cult of forever-Trumpers, who will follow him to the "Ninth-Circle" of Hell. Whether he goes or not, he made his mark, and It'll take a generation to get the stain out.
2
Mr. Friedman, in your exhortation you left out a crucial verb —
Impeach Trump. Remove Trump. Save America.
2
Thank you for trying, Mr. Friedman.
1
Please forward this to Mitt Romney.
1
The king is dead, long live the constitution.
1
It is sad when a respected critical thinking journalist gets beltway blindness.
3
I see the “All hope is lost, surrender, Dorothy,” crowd is out in force.
How many are bots, one wonders?
"He was subverting the will of the people by scheming to use our tax dollars to knock out his most feared opponent in the coming election — rather than trusting voters to do that".
You're joking right? Biden is a card carrying member of the Washington swamp. Every blue collar worker in the midwest knows that THEIR son would never be appointed to the board of a corrupt Ukrainian gas company and paid millions of dollars even though its certain that every one of them know exponentially more about the energy business than Hunter Biden. Those same workers probably heard papa Biden pooh pooh the threat that China poses to THEIR jobs and instead extol China's virtues, all while baby Biden gets a cushy private equity gig financed in large measure by the Chinese government. No coincidence there eh Mr. Friedman?
So go ahead, push that impeachment Tommy boy. The working stiffs in this country who toil away in flyover country without the benefit of swamp membership are on to the scam you so desperately want to protect. Your sanctimony may play well in the coastal echo chamber but in the heartland its poison.
5
Impeach Trump who wants to make America great again to save America...
2
Don't impeach him now, let him and his master Vladimir manipulate the upcoming election instead.
2
Mr. Friedman, you're preaching to the choir here. This article needs to be on Fox.
1
Bravo, Mr. Friedman. This is the most persuasive and succinct argument for impeachment I’ve read so far. Too bad the GOP is already in Putin’s pocket.
1
As their legacy, I would like to see a large, conspicuously displayed, bronze plaque engraved with the name of every Senator that votes to acquit Trump. It will be on display for their grandchildren and all their generations that follow. If these Senators think acquittal is in the best interest of the country, they should have no objection to such a plaque.
3
I don't think the US democracy is so fragile that it will not survive Mr. Trump even if God forbid, he is not impeached and wins the 2nd term. We will just have to be vigilant and speak up.
1
@Gangulee It might be too late. The corruption is profound.
The way Trump is denying and obstructing, he makes it pretty clear he's got plenty to hide. A man sure of his innocence would allow, in fact would insist that, others give testimony on his behalf. The fact that Trump will not be transparent in his dealings with Congress, will not release documents and will not allow aides to testify says it all. He should be impeached.
5
Another problem with the Republican narrative about 'the will of the people' is that it misrepresents the 2016 election results. "What about the 63 million people who voted for Trump?" they asked repeatedly. Well, by that logic, what about the 73, 684,385 people who voted against him, including 3rd parties and write-ins (www.fec.gov>fe2016)?
We have had a number of 'plurality presidents', including Lincoln 1860, Nixon 1968, and W Bush 2000. Nothing new there. But to then claim that Trump's election was 'the will of the people' is to conflate the argument against the Electoral College with the E.C. result of the 2016 election, in which (in case you forgot) the will of the people favored Clinton by 2,847,664 votes. That number is larger than the population of any of our 15 least populous states, 7 of which voted for Trump. Which argument are you making, Republicans? Do away with the popular result, 'the will of the people', or do away with the E.C. result?
4
It may not be so far-fetched to believe that a rebellion among Republican senators could occur, leading to conviction and removal from office. We have often heard reports that many Republican legislators are deeply troubled by Trump, but it's always "off the record".
It would take a leader with significant gravitas to engineer such a rebellion. Sen. Mitt Romney could be that person.
8
@Preserve, Protect, Defend At this point, if they don't stand up and oppose, they are complicit.
The day that Barack Obama was elected president, Mitch McConnell and his Republican leadership stared political obsolescence in the face and made the ultimate Faustian decision: they would wage war on the best interests of the nation in order to preserve some shred of political relevance. Ten years later that decision promises not only to ensure their survival as a party, but may even usher in a reign of political monopoly presiding over and against the express will of a majority of the country.
Impeach Trump because it's the right thing for the nation? They'll never do it.
7
Here is how Trump plays America. He divides us and then works on conquering us. He divides us by race and economic status. In both cases he plays one group against the other. The divisions are economic and color and they are intertwined.
The world is more equal than it was 35-40 years ago. Europe has recovered from World War II, China successfully designed and implemented a long term plan in 1949 and they have turned themselves into a world powerhouse and Russia has fully recovered from World War II and is preying on the remainder of the world including us.
One result of world recovery is we are not the only "King of The Hill" resulting in more competition for power and influence. The "total pie" in the world is being divided amongst a greater number of countries. The American worker has more competition and Trump is using this as a wedge to divide the country.
Are some of his points valid that perhaps we have not adjusted to these changes and should be more demanding of our allies, of course, but we are not an island.
Simply put, Trump lacks morals and morals should matter to us.
6
Excellent summary of the central issue.
6
Anyone who thinks there will eventually be an end to this nightmare should realize that the game is already lost. It is well understood that Putin can never leave office. His wealth and even survival depend upon the possession of power. Without it, he will lose them. Donald Trump is no different. He is in so deep that he will be vulnerable to prosecution whether he leaves office after one term or two. The only thing that will protect him is the perpetuation of himself in office or the perpetuation of a corrupt Republican party beholden to Jim in control of the Justice Department. The Republican Party is essentially a minority party. It is only viable so long as it retains power. It can only retain power by cheating. Anyone who thinks that this nightmare will come to a peaceful end within the norms of our constitutionally mandated forms of government is delusional.
11
"Generally speaking, I believe presidents should be elected and removed by the voters at the polls. "
This is a noble statement, by many. However, the impeachment option was provided for by founders for a reason. Trump is the reason. Also, The Lie That Walked Like a Man was elected by a minority of voters, thanks to the corrupt and broken Electoral College (and heavy gerrymandering). In reality, Trump never was a majority decision. So, remove the corrupt enemy of the People. Get it done and make history and send a message to these ultra wealthy Tin Pot GOP dictators "Never again!"
7
@Loud and Clear
Couldn't that then be said about any elected President? And this process now underway is somehow more representative of the real people's choice--a process being carried about by a handful of ultra-powerful people in Washington D.C.? Removing people from the process is somehow more in line with democratic ideals?
It's a terrible idea, all the more so given that it was the announced goal of the party that is now conducting it.
1
@Amused Dear "Amused." Let me start by quoting an old Stevie Wonder song:
We are amazed but not amused
By all the things you say that you'll do
Though much concerned but not involved
With decisions that are made by you
But we are sick and tired of hearing your song
Tellin' how you are gonna change right from wrong
'Cause if you really want to hear our views
You haven't done nothin'
Wonder's indictment of political elites (whom you label "ultra-powerful"), all of them, speaks well to our situation today. And to be very clear, Trump, Pence and the power-brokers who support them, are among the elites, not some saviors come from the outside.
There is a difference between Trump and his predecessors, and a big one. He and his supporters are hell-bent on implementing fascism. The shattering of any pretense of rule of law (the recent pardoning of the military members convicted of war crimes the latest example), the outrageous internment of migrants in concentration camps, etc., etc.
But to address your central point (and leaving aside your canard about "real people's choice" - he did lose the popular vote), isn't the Constitution the embodiment of "democratic ideals"? So please tell us all, how is using the process set forth in that Constitution not in line with those ideals?
2
I'm just a 64 year old lifelong carpenter not much education beyond high school, a some college guy. But I've always read and paid attention to current events and never in my life have I seen such obfuscation and blatant lying, although the lead up to the most recent Iraq war was awful. The economy is on a long streak of improvement and from what I read would be no matter who is in charge. So maybe good for Trump he hasn't trashed it yet. So that is not a reason to not impeach him.
He has a history of repugnant and corrupt behavior. I'm boggled how Republicans can back a man so far from their so called family values. Oh well hopefully next year at this time we'll be preparing for an honest person and administration.
13
We’re living an actual nightmare that is continually worse as a direct result of Trump.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, somebody make this all go away. Make it all better than it’s been for 50 years. We were slowly sinking into the abyss before him. But we’re in free fall now.
4
I agree with everything you say. My only issue is that you say we would have a king, when in fact we would have a dictator. That is the political reality, dictator. A man would would retool the US government to fit his political agenda.
5
How could this country fall to such a deeply disturbing situation of an amoral man and his minions incharge of disabling the constitutional framework that has enabled the U.S. to survive as as a country for over two hundred years? How can men in his party enable with smiling faces that corrupting process? Itis a depressing spectacle! I hope we can survive it and came out with dignity, and the moral conviction that no president ever again tries to tear this country's legacy apart.
4
We might have avoided this nightmare if more Democrats and Independents had not bought into the republican witch hunt, and bothered to do to do the research on Hillary, and VOTED for her. People are stupid. Watch, the Democrats will do it again unless we all decide to VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO.
I applaud the efforts of those in Congress that are trying to right this wreck of a presidency. A++ for effort. But unless a scenario exists where Trump is removed via impeachment without the support of the GOP, it is not going to happen.
For the sake of our children, for the sake of this country's future, Let's sweep the GOP out of congress.
GOP voters, cutting of your nose to spite your face is not the solution.
5
Well stated Mr. Freidman. The drift of the republican party from the GOP has been steady but effective in ruining it from what it once stood for. There does not seem to be any morality or binding individuals by an oath of office. What to do? Support the effort to keep our elections American without foreign interference as called for by the oath of office. I took mine in the Army. Right after that again in Benson, Arizona as called for by state mandated rule for teachers. I had to pass an Arizona Constitution exam as well. At the time, I resented having to repeat my oath of 1956 that I took on the athletic field at UConn. I meant it then and still follow it today. Perhaps a forceful reminder to those who seem to have forgotten theirs today could be the rallying call today to us all. It's the Constitution, STUPID!
4
With trump, the evidence has ALWAYS been hiding in plain sight.. this pathetic display of personal corruption is prime example..though a sizeable percentage of the American public seems so, so blinded by the lights!
5
I've lost track of how many Republicans in the House have said, "Zelensky said he didn't feel pressured by President Trump." This is cited as some sort of "A-HA" proof that claims Ukraine was pressured are simple figments of Democratic Imaginations. "Are you calling Zelensky a liar?"
These Republicans deny they feel pressured by Trump and his infamous "base" to support any and everything the President says or does. GOP members in Congress fear being primaried and having a vindictive Trump campaigning against them. Yet, ask them if that is their fear and they will deny they feel any pressure - just like Ukraine's President denied he felt any pressure from President Trump.
History shows that Trump spitefully punishes those who speak ill of him. And Ukraine desperately needs more funding from the US to defend Russian aggression. It would be political and financial suicide for Zelensky to contradict the American President.
BTW - consider this. If Ukraine DID attempt to damage the election chances of Joe Biden and Biden STILL won, how might he feel about working with Zelensky?
The case is clear, but the Republicans in Congress have backed themselves in a corner. The case may not prevail, but it the attempt should be made.
5
I recently looked up statistics on the 2016 election. About 26.3% of Republican voters and about 26.6% of Democratic voters turned out to vote. Lowest turnout in 20 years. Then there were libertarians and greens—basically throw away votes. Lesson one: Turn out to vote. Lesson two: Don’t vote for a third party candidate unless you don’t care who from the two major parties wins. Lesson three: Check the person’s resume and see if he or she is qualified for the office. If you were a CEO would you hire the person to run your company in your absence? If the person has a string of bankruptcies, unpaid accounts, lawsuits pending or a pattern of suing, that “might” be a serious red flag! A web search to a reputable fact check site or a biographical site can be easy. Do it. Know before you vote. Tune out propaganda. You are hiring the person you vote for to run your country. Think about the consequences.
6
The GOP is Trump now. Their show trial/reality show tactics are Trump's bread and butter. Sitting in front of the nation and saying there is no quid pro quo when the President himself released the non-assailable evidence is Trumpwellian.
Just like today Trump says what he is charged with is not really a crime. He is charged with HIGH CRIMES and Misdemeanors. The opposite world these people are selling is the fakest news there is.
Impeach and remove. Or impeach and impeach, rinse and repeat. Little by little, one hopes truth erases these lies.
6
Aesop's story of the frogs who wanted a king comes to mind.
Sadly, the frogs who didn't want a king didn't get a say.
2
Trump is a flawed individual; he cannot distinguish between right or wrong; nothing shocking. But, millions of his supporters, GOP legislators, all behave as if his actions are just fine and nothing impeachable and blame it on deep state, fake media, democrats, Ukraine and whatever else. This unthinking, intellectually and morally lazy segment of our population - some 40% of adults - is an abject failure of our education system. It failed to instill intellectual curiosity, powers of reason and objectivity, let alone common sense, in these millions. Proves once again, that there’s nothing exceptional about our America - it is like every other society, only bigger, richer, militarily stronger, perhaps with some high ideals. But people are gullible, corruptible and unthinking, like in every other country in the world. Sad!
6
@tautusmoon2000
You've hit on something that may go to the heart of the Trump era. While there may be many rationales for voting for a deeply, deeply flawed man for the highest office in the land, it's apparent that our education system has failed to teach and encourage critical thinking.
2
If the Greatest Generation was still alive, this President's actions would have killed them by now.
2
the 2020 election started right after the 2019 returns came in. Please get involved with a campaign, raise money, canvas/knock doors, send post cards, send texts, phone bank what ever you do where ever you are. If you are in blue part of a state in 2020 getting out all the blue vote is critical; if you are in a purple part you work to turn the place blue; if you are in red part you can work to cut down on the plurality. No matter where you are it is time right now before the holidays to get involved and stay involved right up to election day 2020. Do it! Don't complain. Use your anger and fear as a motivation to work and get the blue votes to the polls.
2
Up until now, Mr. Friedman's most ridiculous headline was "Saudi Arabia's Arab Spring, at Last."
Once again, for the millionth time, impeaching Trump does nothing if you don't rip Trumpism out by the roots. And Trumpism was caused by the the long strand of defeatist, neoliberal Democrats that started with the now sainted James Earl Carter.
Let's recall that the destruction of the American working class was started in 1982 with the Paul A. Volcker Memorial Recession. While the guy is most commonly associated with the now sainted Ronald Reagan, he was actually appointed by James Earl Carter.
If "the will of the people" placed a person in the White House, Hillary Clinton would be president, Al Gore would have been elected in 2000, and the 1992 election would have resulted in a run-off election.
Unfortunately, Trump will not be removed from office via impeachment. The GOP is too frightened of his fascist followers to vote with the Democrats, regardless of the evidence and, more importantly, the necessity of removing him from office.
Instead we must rely on the election in 2020. We can expect the voting machines, especially in key states, to be hacked. Voter intimidation will be at record highs.
If despite this the vote still goes against Trump, we must still hope that he leaves the office willingly. That too seems in grave doubt.
4
@Jim Manis They won't vote against him because he has a high chance of winning re-election, especially if one of the Democratic front runners wins that has been promising to take away insurance. See how that plays with the union votes that the Democrats have been trying to corral back. I believe this impeachment is a miscalculation by Pelosi.
1
The will of the voters was expressed in 2018 when we elected a House that would impeach.
5
Folks, can you imagine what Russia’s President Putin is saying to himself today? “I can’t believe my luck! I not only got Trump to parrot my conspiracy theories, I got his whole party to do it! And for free!
It's not free. The Russians have GOP & RNC emails too; they are most likely being blackmailed.
5
T. Friedman: ”Trump was like a bank robber with a gun to a teller’s head, who suddenly heard the police sirens approaching and ran off before he could stash the money in his bag.”
The problem is that Trum did not run away. He immediately went into another bank with the same gun (model Giiuliani) searching for a way how to rob it.
4
But if you read today’s poll numbers alongside the economy numbers, it turns out that more than a few Americans are saying, “It’s the Constitution, stupid — and unlike you, Mr. Trump, we value some things more than money.
I will like you to think that this is case but I am afraid that almost a half of the country still supporting Trump no matter what. Somewhere in Russia Putin is having the time of his life.
4
I am a 74 year old Vietnam Vet who retired after working for 15 years in three of Ohio's prisons. I received a Honorable Discharge when it was advisable to keep that to yourself unless you were with fellow Vets. As a Jew, like Mr. Friedman, I am a student of the Nazi era and how a nation of intelligent people sold their soul to a psychopath who in many ways had the same personality traits and total lack of morals as Trump. Combined with all this, working in prisons for 15 years and seeing what men will do to one another has not by any means made me a believer in the decency of human nature to do the right thing.
I love America. America is my home. In spite of its sometimes flaws (that often are over-exaggerated esp. in terms of racial disparity), America is still the greatest nation in the world. But I fear for America's future as a Democratic nation.
7
I agree with one sentence in Mr. Friedman's column, "This is right out of 'The Twilight Zone.'"
4
It will get very interesting when it gets to the Senate. Will Republicans join the rest of us in the world of reality or will they continue to live in their magical fantasy that supports Trumps narcissism? When the blind and deaf join with the pseudo king and pseudo God, the result will be breathtakingly incoherant, but probably still in locked step. Then what? Will we be led by the fantasy chief who creates his own world day by day to suit his overblown imagination? If that is so we will have vanished down Alice's rabbit hole into wonder wonder land only to hear the Red Queens."chop off their heads!". The real world we know today will vanish under the weight of Trump. We will be howling in despair in the future and our children will disown us for having thrown out the baby ( our democracy) with the bath water, and then for promptly disintegrating into chaos with Trump, the wrecker and the projecter. Is it too late to wake up? Maybe.
3
One doesn't trash the Constitution to save democracy. Both can survive this impeachment brought with no evidence to support an impeachable offense.
There'd be a bit more evidence without the obstruction of Congress, don't you think?
1
Placing innocent children into horrible camps, separating them from their parents, and then refusing to allow compassionate US doctors to give them flu shots is reason enough to impeach the current president of the United States, all geopolitical manipulations aside. Natural law dictates that "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are rights for all human beings, regardless of passport.
When Jimmy Carter held the highest office in the land, and placed strong emphasis on human rights and combating hunger and disease here and abroad, we Americans were respected in many places across the globe.
How we have fallen, and what a crying shame!
4
Just wondering what proof we have that Trump is NOT a Russian agent.
5
How long will GOP quislings aid and abet Putin ruling the United States? This would be too outrageous to be believable.
3
We all know the real reasons you want the Trump impeachment: you are still sour that he won in 2016 and you just don't like Trump.
He's also been catastrophically bad at his job as president. Our standing in the world is sinking rapidly, he's trashing our environment, dealing with our immigration problems in the most inhumane ways possible, and the world's most murderous dictators are able to play him like a fiddle. There's a lot not to like.
2
@Meathead No...the REAL reason is - He wasn't elected by voters, but by the Electoral College, he lies every time he opens his mouth, he cheats on his taxes, his wives and even at golf. He takes away food stamps right before Christmas, he keeps little children in cages, he supports soldiers who commit crimes, he does everything in his power to take health care away from millions of citizens, he sells out our democracy to the Russian dictator for a little 'gold' for himself...do I need to go on?
2
Trump was chosen by God and should rule forever.
Too little, too late.
Trump culminates years of subversion of American democracy.
Pillage the nation and throw American flags in the faces of critics....that’s the playbook
1
John R. Bolton, Where are you? You have a chance to save this great democracy. If not, forever more you will be known in history as the man who didn’t lift a finger to right a grievous wrong.
3
No, Mr Friedman! I have voted Democrats from 1980 up until 2012 for Obama II. I consider you, the NYT, MSNBC and the MSM (whose multi $ billion dollar coverage put him on top NOT Russia's insignificant $ 100,000 U tube ads) to be THE threat to US democracy and peace in the world with McCarthyism on steroids ala Goering's observation on how to smear pacifists.
Many of us observant FDR Democrats feel that way as we watch the global media spread lies, smears and destruction, not only of those dragged into this farce as unwilling collateral damage but the entire planet. We have imagined fictional discussions and fantasy Lucifer Putin's musing as 'evidence'.
We have the incredible lethal hypocrisy of restarting a Cold war that threaten all life just because our Pentagon ALWAYS needs someone to kill. Whether Muslim 'terrorists' (even those like 'our' ISIS vs Assad or the Taliban vs Russia in Afghanistan or the Saudi genocide we support in Yemen.
All those who want to change the grip of the oligarchs here on US politics are smeared and denounced. Truth telling becomes Orwellian 'weaponized truths' and those who don't lie become 'rapists' via US interference in Sweden's internal politics.
I have ALWAYS despised Donald Trump (how could I not) yet here I have been repeatedly smeared as a Russian asset like Jill Stein of the Greens who I voted for in 2016 after the DNC Dems DID sabotage democracy to cripple Sanders and HONEST brave Tulsi Gabbard. The only true peace candidates!
1
If ever, my American friends, you need to take a break from the stink of this administration... you can always pack your skis or skates and come up north for a bit of fresh air.
If you desire a status of political refugee in our huge and beautiful country here are the 2 questions that you will need to answer to be granted refugee status:
1- Does maple syrup come from Oak trees or Maple trees?
2- Is Canada south or north of the U.S.A.?
And if ever our Prime Minister goes as nut as Trump... do not fret because our Parliamentary system can deal with all that stuff in the matter of weeks not years.
_______________________________
Regards from the Great White North.
3
One thing I am glad about is that the New York Times would only let this be posted in the opinions column, since i presume it didn't pass journalistic standards to make it in the main paper. I don't even get mad at reading this kind of stuff at this point. I just go, "meh, he'll get another 10-15 electoral delegates the next time around." Can't wait for the memes this election cycle!
Good luck a waste of time, he is not impeachable, why not fix your failed democracy by implementing a novel demorcratic ideal,one person one vote for the chief executive, just think no war criminals aka Bush II and the madness of King Trump, here in Canada we celebrate King George for creating the only real democracy and civil society in the Americas.
1
Impeachment, we do it all the time, get over it.
1
Trump and his boys, Nunes, Graham, Jordan, McCarthy, Meadows, Gaetz, Collins, etc. are doing one helluva job of gaslighting Trump supporters about what Trump has really done with Ukraine. Their steady river of lies is relentless.
And today Kevin McCArthy whipped out that tired, absurd accusation that Democrats are trying to overturn the 2016 election. We just can't get over that loss, according to McCArthy and Barr.
Wrong. We have been over that loss for quite some time. We KNOW that Trump is President. But we can't let Trump's latest abuses of power go unnoticed and unpunished.
And we also know that he kicked the Constitution and national security in the face with his year long scheme about smearing Yovanovich and trying to bribe Ukraine into burying Biden.
1
This about Trump and his gaslighted fixing the NEXT election, not about the one he lost by 3 million votes.
1
@SCZ I agree, the only person who hasn't got over the 2016 election is Trump, and with good reason. Trump, and the world, knows that he was propelled into office with the active and persistent help of the Russian state.
2
The next six months are going to be critical for democracy in America. It is...The Friedman Unit.
What if the Democrats held an impeachment and nobody believed them?
1
Then reality is lost and our country is doomed ... Trump and his fellow travelers are not disputing the facts because they cannot, they just scream and bang the table. As the impeachment report from Schiff says, the author of impeachment is Trump
Will anyone be surprised if the Russians have kompromat on GOP leaders (e.g., Graham, Cruz) who are currently shaming themselves and destroying their legacies, while parroting Russian talking points?
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The best article Mr. Friedman has written.
Although the earth is flat. But what goes around comes around.
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Nyet! Everything is going like clockwork.
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I remember when I used to take Friedman and his ideas seriously. Sadly, now he's just another partisan hack with Trump Derangement Syndrome. And these people don't know they are ill. They mean the nonsense they spew. Oh, well. RIP Tommy boy.
Yes, it’s the voters, stupid----all 62,984,828 of them (Wikipedia) who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. And they haven't gotten any smarter. In reality, more voters are likely to join them in the November, 2020 presidential election, making the United States one of the stupidest countries in the world.
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The only threat to democracy is impeaching a president because you dont like him
Scary day for America and for all future presidents.
Going from quid for quo, to bribery, to obstruction of justice? Like trying to pin a donkey tail on a pinata.
Trump and Trumpism did not happen in a vacuum.
How does change the fact, there are literally tens of millions of people who, at this very moment, are hearing this process is a hoax cooked up by the Real Traitors (Democrats and anyone who opposes Trump), and being told by religious leaders who are full-blown political operatives for the Republican Party, that to oppose Trump is to oppose the will of God?
Trump is just the head of a hydra-like disease brought to you by Fox and Falwell, to put matters concisely. Go ahead. Impeach him. Tens of Millions will be told, and will believe, that that is the actual crime here.
We are doomed to relive this until the apparatus that Trump relies on -- propaganda media and religious fascism -- are confronted.
Which will never happen.
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I can’t wait to see what the dems will come up with after this impeachment sham fails.
Trump leads a major democracy but is so blatantly not a believer in democracy. He is a fascist, and like all fascists the only institutions he is uncritical of are the military and the police. He has trashed every other institution and attacked their leaders such that he can replace them with people who share the same racist and undemocratic views as his own. The man is a disgrace and no wonder others are now taking the initiative in world affairs. If not removed for office, either by impeachment or the 2020 election, the US will have told the world what it stands for.
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Add my vote to Impeach Trump!
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Our only hope, during Trump's second term, is to have all his offspring & relatives ensconced in White House offices. We can dispatch seal teams, via Trump golf investments worldwide, to retrieve Rudy anywhere on the planet! Bill Barr can assure us, with the world in flames in the background, that there is NOTHING TO SEE HERE.
It's the Constitution, stupid !
Thanks, Tom, for giving me the sign I'll be raising at our rally in Austin the day before the House vote.
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Everyone needs to testify, lock them up tomorrow and get on with it...Trump can wait
It must be done
...and now he's meeting with Russians again to put an exclamation mark on his disdain for the rule of law and American values.
Last couple of times he met with Russians that we know of he gave away Israeli secrets and forced the removal of our best spy asset from Russia and obliged the interpreter to destroy his notes and speak with no one ---and this is only what we know about.
All roads lead to Russia...and the GoP applauds. Russian as a second national language? Borscht as a national dish? Trump might get the Russian Olympic or soccer teams to visit him in the White House since they won't have be very busy owing to Russian drug violations. Better chance than the Lakers...
What is becoming of us as a nation?....
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"one day, I might have to ask a favor"......that does sound familiar, doesn't it? He can't even be original.
Ill conceived articles like this have sealed the glorious presidency of Donald Trump for the 2020 election. The fate of the Socialist Left Democratic party is "get over it" it's done.
Tom Friedman 2020 or is it too late for yet another Democrat to enter the race?
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Trump is a one-off. Paradoxically, that is why his enablers enable him, and why the Republicans need to vote to convict. Like other one-offs who did damage to their own countries and the world in the process (Adolph and Benito, are you listening?) once they are gone the country can move forward. As long as Trump is still in the picture, it's just gonna get worse.
Impeach. Convict. Remove.
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What else can be said? oopss - yes "save the world".
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Thank-you, Tom. Keep it up.
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All of this goat rodeo and his approval ratings are intact with hard core republicans is because that base is racist and do not want their most amplified voice get killed. Sad for America. I think its best days are over and it will take long time to recover from this.