Republican senators are spineless. They are afraid of being punished by this vindictive president. Why did they take the oath to protect and defend the Constitution if they had no intention of living up to it? They should know that if they allow this rogue president to stay in office, there won't be any Constitution left to protect.
I have never been a fan of Bolton. But at least in this case, he has won plaudits not just from Democrats but all apolitical people like me as well. He has put the country's interests ahead of his personal interests. I hope he takes every legal step available to thwart the efforts being made by the minions of Trump to block the publication of his book. His First Amendment right is put to test here.
I also hope he would laugh away the nasty way the president reacted to the revelations he made in the manuscript. It's by now known to all that throwing an ally under the bus, once that ally ceases to be useful to him is very much in his nature. It is in the nature of a person who has a mafia boss's mindset.
The whole country is waiting to hear what Bolton would say before the Senate, if he is called to testify. For that to happen, we need just four Republican senators who have the guts to stand up to this rogue president, and for the truth. Do we have the four?
9
The great scribe of the New Yorker, Andy Borowitz, informed the public today that El Chapo is asking for a new trial. The Drug Lord's legitimate complaint is that it was not in in the public interest that his trial had witnesses.
I am quite sure that Trump and AG Barr agree with El Chapo as well.
9
Thank you Professor Dershowitz— we misinterpreted your ridiculous ideas - mea culpa - we’re guilty of misinterpreting you absurd obsequiousness of GOP/Trump and an authoritarian administration.
Extreme assertion of executive power for an executive re-election campaign or deal has no limits and is above the law.
Remind the show trial GOP fans of what school you attended every time you demonstrate your stilted professorial hand gestures. You’re worse than William F. Buckley and his Yale.
5
Dozens of lawyers from the Republican side inventing rationales and attributing thoughts to the President who has none, especially in international matters. In the tradition of notorious American gangsters, he doesn't attend hearings, testifies, or answers questions, to avoid perjury. But we know how this all ends: the Feds ALWAYS get their man.
4
There is no question that Trump committed impeachable offenses. But there is a huge gap between impeachment and removal from office.
I’m afraid that the Republicans, like Br’er Rabbit in the fable (which is based in African lore), tricked us into this one. Knowing that the metaphorical briar patch of an impeachment hearing was their natural environment, they implored us not to go that way. Democrats, being ever determined to self-immolate, of course went that way and the Republicans easily wriggled out of the predicament.
If only Pelosi had stood her ground and gone for Censure, which might even have garnered a few Republican Congressional votes. Given Trump’s very thin skin, such an action would have deeply wounded him and left him bleeding in advance of the 2020 election.
1
Why is it that every 'news' outlet is slanted to the point they don't actually report the facts? President Trump has done so much to make everything better in this country and all the democrats and liberals, (media, college profs., young and stupid) hate America so much they don't want improvement, just remove a Republican that gets things done. The 'facts' are... he did nothing wrong. We never hear that from the news. The facts are not discussed. The iron clad case was a sham, no bad guy here, unless you look to Biden. Which 'news' will NOT talk about. Where is the story? The story here is how badly a case was made in the Senate and why news is officially slanted to the left. All you little kiddies get in line and get ready for the undoing of hundreds of years of the making of America. Democrats want to roll back everything and go back to the Obama days of the famous world tour, "we are pushovers", down with America.
1
There's no other way to look at it really: Every time that the Republican Senators mention the Bidens, they are subscribing to and furthering the aims of the illegal and unconstitutional Trump Ukraine scheme.
8
That's how mafia works.
10
After this preposterous statement, will the NYT please, for the love of God and country, stop referring to that trump puppet, Alan dershowitz, as a constitutional scholar.
19
The president's team is prattling on and on about a partisan impeachment. The impeachment itself is fine. The charges are credible. They have been corroborated by a score of witnesses including the president himself and his own chief of staff. The part that is partisan is the Republican side of the chamber which has devolved into a biased, dishonest, immoral, anti-democracy, self-serving mob. Kudos to Senator Romney and any others who have the spine to resist that devolution.
12
Right, anything Trump does to stay in power is in the nation’s best interest. Restricting Trump is slavery; Removing a president is unpatriotic; Truth is fiction.
And, to add a classic Marxist* line to this Orwellian scene: “Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?”
*I believe Chico, but it’s been years since I knew every line from Coconuts through an aging Groucho’s “You Bet Your Life”.
- ‘Say the magic word and the truth comes down from the ceiling - an everyday word, you hear it at every trial.’
‘Witnesses?’
‘Make that 7 hardboiled eggs and a goose egg - that’s a heavy truth’
3
President's lawyer: "I don't think anybody believes the president hasn't fully cooperated." Just how stupid or deluded do they think their audience is?
13
Notice that no answered who is financing Giuliani’s worldwide disinformation campaign.
Hint: the money’s not coming from within the US.
14
There must be a handful of courageous, upstanding citizens among the Republican senators. I can't believe they're all so afraid of Trump. I know the McConnells and Grahams have entirely sold out, but aren't there some Republican senators who actually took their oath seriously?
They should be ashamed of themselves.
13
Kudos to Senator Romney who is showing the spine we once expected from senators on both sides of the aisle. His constituents have a senator whom they can be proud of. He has set himself apart from the dishonest, immoral, anti-democracy crowd that is slavishly protecting the worst president we have ever had.
11
Surely Richard Nixon was convinced that his presidency was essential for the good of the nation. Thus, whatever he and his gang did to support the Committee to Reelect the President was in the public interest. Have we unjustly labeled an honorable man a criminal? Should we reexamine this terrible episode in America’s history and restore Mr Nixon’s rightful legacy?
6
If, as expected, the current occupant of the White House is acquitted, despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt, it will be the beginning of the end for the U.S. as a Constitutional Democracy.
6
We’re about to see if Republicans put party before country and ignore their oaths. What would truly be inspiring is if they vote no to witnesses, then Chief Justice Roberts recuses them and calls witnesses.
12
Their behavior during the trial has been beneath dignity already - try doing a crossword puzzle or getting up to tell reporters you know a defendant’s innocent because you met with him to discuss trial strategy next time you’re on jury duty.
5
Proving time and time again to be the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.
12
When I was a law student at Yale in the late 60s and early 70s, I considered Alan Dershowitz--a Yale Law alum and a Harvard law professor--to be a lion in the civil rights Pantheon, a consummate defender of the underdog. But that was before he sold his soul to to the devil in the OJ Simpson case; whoops, no, he had already sold it in the Claus von Bulow case. So now soulless Dershowitz has no problem defending not merely murderers as Simpson and von Bulow were, but the soon-to-be, if not already, dictator Trump by making such a specious argument--“If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,”--that no one with the least bit of a conscience can abide him. History will not judge him kindly.
19
Philbin gives me a significantly greater understanding of the peril and duplicity of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
11
@ Robert
You win the internet for saying what I felt but did not have the words to say!
5
If Senate GOP votes to acquit without witnesses, they must be made to pay a price right along with Trump.
16
I guess trump can shoot someone on fifth avenue. if this isn't impeachable I want to know what is. when they put the impeachment clause in the constitution there were no federal statutes on any behavior.
11
There will be far-reaching consequences following Republican proclamations that the president is unaccountable for his actions - as long as he opines they’re in furtherance of the public interest.
Assuming there are not four advocates for revealing relevant factual information (i.e.- Bolton, and whatever might follow from that), we are now setting long term precedent that undermines the checks and balances that have kept government on an even keel for over two centuries.
Taken to it’s logical extreme, it is now legally defensible to wrangle formerly verboten foreign support for whomever occupies the office at the moment. Not only is this deeply wrong (and deeply in contravention of what the Founders’ intended), but it absolutely invites further foreign interference both now (that is - in November), but forever thereafter. And interference from bad actors at the domestic level, as well...
Rancid interference that now, prospectively can be defended, based on newly-established precedent.
This is gravely, wrong - and frightfully threatening to America’s future.
Since the conclusion herein is now largely a “done deal”, I can only hope that the average American voter processes the above and votes to protect the checks and balances and the processes that have made America the world’s longest surviving democracy.
Because no matter who you are, the next time aroun, the bad behavior may be coming for you and yours.
No matter who or what you stand for
13
The House Democrats Impeachment Managers are undermining their own case, and if the public does not see this, well shame lays on....
If as Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff have indicated numerous times the evidence is so overwhelming, not only beyond a reasonable doubt but all doubt, then why prolong the trial?
Senators must vote now.
1
Yes, totally agree-they definitely need to vote now to call for the witnesses and documentation that trump has been blocking, the American people deserve the truth!
6
The House Committees did find clear and convincing evidence of Trump’s guilt beyond any doubt.
But the role of the House is to function as a Grand Jury and indict.
Senators are not required, nor is it likely, any heard all the grand jury sessions - the reason it is standard procedure to present all the evidence anew, and to present, and allow cross-examination of witnesses.
4
@David
Okay after the vote for additional witnesses fails, the next vote right after should be to acquit.
trump now denies telling Bolton that Ukraine’s Aid depended on their inquiries into Biden. He’s lying, He always lies. "Get rid of him. Get him out tomorrow. We don't care, get him out tomorrow. Take him out, okay? Do it!" ... this is exactly what americans are going to be saying about trump soon enough.
8
I can understand, given Trump’s admiration for the rulers of Russia and Saudi Arabia why I’d consider “get rid of (me)” to be a threat of murder.
3
By Dershowitz logic, trump could simply cancel all future elections. If the senatorial zombies acquit him, I fear he will do exactly that—in what he will claim is the country’s best interest.
8
The message has changed...it’s no longer, “overturn an election”, now it’s “take his name off the ballot”. What’s next...”don’t throw him in that briar patch”...why not?
2
Where is Senator Sanders? Downplaying the impeachment is not the right policy for a Democrat.
3
@Robert
Bernie is not a Democrat, but and Independent.
But your statement holds a lot of truth about Democrats...
1
@Robert
Warren's question right now was a good one. Schiff was diplomatic in his answer. The more direct answer is that Roberts is indeed soiling his own institution and doing real lasting damage to the trust and faith Americans have in that institution. Why, for instance, hasn't Roberts called or subpoenaed witnesses? Contrary to what one often reads here, Roberts is indeed permitted to call or subpoena witnesses, under the caveat that the Senate with a 2/3s majority can override him.
2
@Robert
Senator Warren is present and on top of things. Her good question is on the floor right now.
5
Americans appreciate the important decision that will be made this week by members of the U.S. Senate in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. They have sworn to "do impartial justice according to the Constitution." Before they vote whether or not to allow relevant witnesses and evidence, they should reflect that their decision which will be courageous and, for some of them, unpopular, determining not only our current president's status, but also, in the long view of history, whether the final outcome, be it acquittal or conviction, is seen as a legitimate one or rather simply a politically motivated act. They would be wise to consider of the courage of their Senate predecessors, described by John F Kennedy in his 1956 "Profiles in Courage": Senators John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton, Sam Houston, Edmund Ross, Lucius Lamar, George Norris, and Robert A. Taft. Perhaps one of our current senators will be counted by future generations among these true "Profiles in Courage" for the important decision they make on Friday.
Source: https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/Profiles_In_Courage.htm
4
Dershowitz is well on his way to an appearance on Dancing With the Stars. The only question now is what will he wear?
9
Dershowitz is doing what he does best - playing to the public - those with no real knowledge of the law.
It really doesn’t matter how senators feel about his excellent ability at salesmanship.
He’s performing for the average jury of laypeople who one finds on the average jury.
Incidentally, to those who accuse him of ‘selling his soul’ for representing defendants some feel are guilty and “getting some of them off” let us remember that, above all, he is a very skilled trial lawyer, and, in theory, anyway, people are entitled to the best defense.
It is his occupation - and, if true that he is not being paid by Trump for his work directly, he is advertising his skills.
As a reporter, I knew pretty well the work of a defense lawyer kept on retainer by one of the local Mafia families and by the police union of the medium-size city at the heart of my paper’s circulation area.
I knew he was The Lawyer I would Hire if I happened to commit murder in that city/region (no fear, strictly hypothetical).
That was his job - to give people his all, to come up with any argument to save his clients, no matter how absurd to those who understand the law, if it works, and doesn’t violate the law itself - the latter doesn’t seem to be a consideration to Rudy Giuliani - but under our system, defendants, especially those accused of vile crimes, are supposed to all have excellent counsel, as is the government presenting the case.
He’s selling Trump to those who will “decide” the case if Trump wins.
This whole mess, only begs the following questions:
Do republicans have spines?
What has happen to integrity?
Is this a white/black issue (racially)?
Do we as nation really like each other individually?
How do these republicans sleep at night, knowing their moral code is being damaged?
Is this really all about money and power?
5
This charade more than amplifies the need to limit government and the bureaucracy it breeds to only self-serve their bloated egos.
When an equal branch of government overreaches and disregards legal "precedents" to resolve disputes, then what they profess is abuse of power are demonstrating that abuse behind a façade of repetitive rhetoric.
1
Disgusting! What is so difficult about calling a witness for a trial?
12
Watching the trial live on CNN.
Patrick Philbin, one of Trump’s attorneys, just defended Vladimir Putin about Russian interference on our elections on international TV, live.
You cannot make this stuff up.
12
President Trump's defense team has maintained that the House did not accord him the same due process rights as a criminal defendant. Aside from the fact that grand jury inquiries typically do not include defense lawyers, they have not been truthful about their own choice to shun the House invitation to participate in the House inquiry.
More importantly, Donald Trump is not a criminal defendant. He has no exposure to punishments like fines, incarceration, or the death sentence. If Trump is found guilty of the plainly impeachable conduct he is accused of, all that will happen is that he will be removed from his public service job.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court needs to assure that justice is done for the American people; It is they who are entitled to examine the work and conduct of any public servant, and especially elected officials. Witnesses and document must not remain hidden from them if we are to remain a democracy.
9
If the Senate doesn't subpoena Bolton, the House should. Even if he testifies after Trump is acquitted by Mitch McCoverup and the rest of the Republican toadies, the House can videotape Bolton's sworn testimony and release a transcript to the press. Let an equal number of Republicans and Democrats interrogate him. Let Senate Republicans rationalize no witnesses or documents after Bolton's testimony is public. Should make their re-election in November a real cakewalk. Come to think of it, the House should also subpoena Mulvaney, Pompeo, Giuliani...
10
Unless Rudy’s given the Gerry “no quid-pro-quo for my vice-presidential appointment” Ford treatment, i doubt we’ll be seeing him doing much work as a lawyer again.
Then again, he says he has “insurance”.
Now, since no attorney-client privilege protects conversations regarding criminal activity or conspiracy to obstruct justice in violation of the law, I’d really like to see him subpoenaed before the Senate and given immunity from prosecution if he spoke the truth.
Since neither all 50 states, William Barr, Trump, nor a veto-proof majority of House and Senate will give it to him, we’ll never know what said insurance consists of -?documents or a small committee of well-armed people.
This “trial” has been an extreme, shameful example of the power of money.
4
Mr Trump’s legal team is pursuing a sound legal strategy to defend their client.
It is not possible to convince an unbiased, reasonable person that Mr Trump did not commit serious impeachable offenses.
Mr Trump stated in public that he did ask Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, he has argued that breaking the law is not illegal when he does it, he conducted a coverup in public by prohibiting White House and administration staff to testify before Congress on the false grounds he is not subject to congressional oversight, etc.
Mr Trump is a walking talking high crime and misdemeanor. It’s a rare week when he does not abuse the power of his office for personal gain. He regularly and deliberately violates the Constitution. He consistently misrepresents Article 2 as saying he can do whatever he wants; Article 2 does not say that. Mr Trump lies like he breathes.
The Republican faction is almost certain to acquit Mr Trump in obstinate denial of the overwhelming evidence of Trump’s unfitness for office presented by House managers.
Therefore, Trump’s legal team has focused on providing excuses for Mr Trump’s impeachable acts that do not pass the laugh test, but the legal substance of their false arguments doesn’t matter.
What really matters is that the legal team’s contrived excuses provide rationalizations that the Republican faction can cite to cover their cowardly butts after they acquit Mr Trump.
5
What do the Russians, or Trump, have over the Republicans? Why are they all so afraid? Surely out of 53 Senators there must be a few decent ones? Ones that hold their oath and loyalty to country and not a man?
Why are the Republicans going to so much effort to not call witnesses?
I would have thought they would want to hear from the whistle blower, and Bolton, to discredit them as hostile, vindictive and with an agenda to bring Trump down.
As for Dershowitz saying “If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,” that's comical to the extreme.
If a Democrat POTUS tried the same deal, imaging the squealing and squawking that would come from the Republicans. POTUS would be impeached and removed in less than a day.
Dershowitz forgets the public interest happens every four years - it's called an election, the will of the people.
The really hypocritical thing in all this is those that are defending Trump were happy to burn Clinton alive for the same articles, and doing a lot less.
Republicans seem to forget the articles Trump faces are the same ones that were good enough for Johnson, Nixon and Clinton.
8
The Democrats' outrage at President Trump seems highly selective and thus hypocritical. They have demonstrated absolutely zero interest in exploring why Joe Biden's son received more than a million dollars from Ukraine while Joe Biden was in charge of President Obama's relationship with that nation.
Joe Biden even bragged on TV about how he would halt Ukraine's foreign aid if prosecutors didn't stop their investigation of how his son came into so much money from Ukraine. This is the corruption that President Trump asked Ukraine to investigate, totally within his prerogative as America's CEO.
Impeachment was a huge strategic mistake for House Democrats. Impeachment has massively publicized the Biden family corruption, possibly making a socialist the party's frontrunner, which will doom their chances this November.
Impeachment has also enraged and electrified President Trump's base as an attempt reverse the last election. And impeachment has demonstrated that House Democrats have wasted years of time and millions of taxpayer money focusing on ousting their bitter political enemy.
Democrats, some of whom pledged to "impeach the MFer" long before any phone call to Ukraine even happened, have been relentlessly obsessed with attacking President Trump while most citizens are far more concerned about a virus pandemic, uncontrolled borders, the economy, and many other issues.
1
Rand Paul and Republicans' obsession with the whistleblower, even though all the whistleblower's charges were proved with actual witness testimony in the House, reveals them to be like members of a mob. They don't care about law, they don't care about proof; all they care about is outing the decent person who outed the illegal scheme. They're still outraged at John Dean who outed Nixon's break-in. They are all a bunch of thugs who would obstruct justice and out and intimidate whistleblowers who might help achieve justice.
6
Republicans are marching lockstep with their dear Leader Trump. No doubt they fear he will put their heads on a pike. They don't speak for themselves; they say whatever their Leader demands. So they are saying there's nothing wrong with foreign interference in our election.
They have no shame. As said in another article about Guiliani, “Today this divide—between the shamed and the shameless— is at the center of our politics. ... This creates a kind of asymmetrical warfare in which one side can do whatever it wants to achieve victory and the other can’t.”
We live in a media ecosystem in which shameful behavior is only encouraged, it is demanded. Republican Senators would have to give up their careers unless they sign on their support for Trump's shameless behavior. He gets foreign help; and he is an unrepentant and repeat offender. It is ironic considering how Republicans built their brand on some holier-than-thou responsibility and adherence to the law, but it turns out anything goes when you want to stay in power and in the spotlight Republicans will do anything to protect Trump, just like the shameless Trump.
PS they are out-and-out lying when they say impeachment should be bi-partisan; the Clinton impeachment proved that Republicans believe the only people should be impeached are Democrats.
6
"War is Peace."
"A trial has no witnesses."
6
Form of oath to be administered to the members of the Senate sitting in the trial of impeachments: "I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be,) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of , now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God." Better watch out if you violate that oath...
2
Decorum required by this news-site does not allow me to express the intensity of the loathing I have for those Senate Republicans who vote against subpoenaing witnesses. Because when they do I will then be living in an autocracy. I expect every senator to vote to subpoena relevant witnesses and documents, otherwise this trial is an absolute sham that invalidates our constitutional republic. Also if the president is found to be guilty of the charges, I expect every senator to vote to remove him from office. The “So What” defense being offered up by the criminal lawyer Dershowitz has been absolutely refuted, being declared invalid by every constitutional expert in the country. Embracing the falseness of it will not absolve any of these senators of their moral obligations. If they choose to do so, their names will be notoriously linked to this act for all of history. Actions have consequences. I expect these senators to show courage, defend the constitution, and do what history will view as doing the right thing.
Dershowitz argues that presidents may do nearly anything so long as they believe their reelection is in the public interest.
So sayeth every dictator, ever, but not said by any other *US president, ever.
*Except, arguably Nixon.
4
They have heard enough? They haven't heard anything
5
The dye is cast. Be satisfied with just the asterisk of impeachment.
Some think the House should subpoena Bolton. It would be a mistake because it would be a futile distraction.
Focus instead on a constructive campaign directed at disenfranchised Republicans.
Include a pardon of education loans should be included in the Party's platform. If that doesn't energize the young voters nothing will.
Finally, pick a running mate because he or she would make a great President and not one to get some particular kind of voter.
3
No Bolton & Hunter Biden should testify so the truth of Trump’s lies will be out. Read Elizabeth Drew’s opinion piece in today’s NYT. A trial isn’t a trial without evidence & witnesses. What’s going on now is a farce.
5
‘Of course Donald Trump’s conduct is ‘Presidential.’ Trump is President; therefore anything he does is ‘Presidential.’ — Kellyanne Conway.
‘A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, they are accomplices.’ — George Orwell.
14
Who wants to live under Trump's rule? The Senate. After he ridiculed most of them and threw their integrity in to the garbage. SMH
4
Senate republicans want a quick end to the trial because they are falling all over themselves to get to the 400 House passed pieces of legislation in McConnells desk...that has to be it, right?
6
They would only need 50 votes to block witnesses, because Pence.
1
Wouldn’t blocking publication of Bolton's book be a form of censorship as well as unconstitutional?
I can’t believe that what is going on in DC right now can be described as democracy at work. Don’t we ALL get a voice in this, no matter how small? It seems to me that the Republican Party is trying to follow in the path of several autocratic governments, if not worse. When I read Madeline Thien's "Do Not Say We Have Nothing", before the whistleblower incident, I was distressed because much of what I read felt like things are here, now. Now I’m even more distressed.
Our government has been considered a flawed democracy for some time. I fear we will soon become a hybrid regime, we’ll on its way to a autocratic regime. I believe Trump and his cronies have plans for us to attain that goal about the same time time Putin reaches it in Russia. He has things set-up to do just that in the decade of the 2020's.
Shame on Mitch McConnell. Shame on all Republican Congressional members who haven't the backbone or honor to vote for witnesses and/or evidence. Shame on any Democratic Congressional member who doesn’t support the need for witnesses and/or evidence. Shame on Trump's unethical "dream team." Shame on Trump supporters. Shame on Trump, who has no sense of shame.
So sad. So very, very sad.
14
I think its time for every citizen, whatever their party, to insist on a fully transparent trial will all the evidence, and to begin flooding our Congressional Reps and Senators that we will tolerate nothing less. After all, they listen more during an election year. As an Independent with conservative leanings, I think it's the only sane thing to do.
8
@Catherine
I think that ship has sailed.
2
Absolute, pure corruption.
Citizens United will destroy us.
13
GOP pulling a shamelessly fascist cover up.
17
We are reaching the nadir of our belief in democracy. We have reached the point that no deed or lie a president commits is worthy of removal; McConnell will succeed in blocking witnesses and Trump will be acquitted. The only thing Democrats can do is fight like hell to motivate the majority of Americans and more importantly the Electoral College to vote Trump out in November. In the end Republicans in Congress have green lighted Trump's abusive behavior and they will not take any responsibility for reining him in, so the last available check on his power is to vote him out. Voters at this point have zero excuse for not understanding there will be no limits to how Trump will abuse his office in a second term.
15
We haven’t been a democracy, except in name only, for quite some time.
2
@ Gerithergreek
Please call McConnell’s office in DC.
Don’t give up without a fight.
3
I wrote him,Justice Roberts, and Rand Paul letters. I wrote to Trump and asked for his resignation. Actual letters. No response.
2
Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to watch the senator's debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at it, you lose
Where have you gone Alan Dershowitz,
a disbelieving nation turns its eyes to you,
Woo, woo, woo.
What's that you say, Mr. Dershowitz,
Your principles have left and gone away
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
What's that you say, mitch mcconnell
Jesus has a place for you
but not the place you think you're going to go
Wo, wo, wo
And here's to you, Mr. President
In just 3 years
you've taken over a party
created your own reality
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
What's that you're saying, the majority
It's time to take our friggin' country back
while there's something left to take back
Wo, wo wo
Sung, sort of, to Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson
6
@Andy Jay
Woe is them.
“If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,”
What if he believes that having his opponent assassinated will help him get elected. Is that in the public interest? What a crock.
17
The Republicans are now willingly goose-stepping to support their dear leader. Welcome to the Facist States of Amerika.
14
Why are they even having the rest of the question session? It's painfully obvious that no gop member is going to vote for more witnesses or documents. It's painfully clear that when all the dirty deeds done by Trump are exposed they will claim innocence and blame the Dems for "not doing their job". Just friggin end it so I can concentrate on my party's caucuses. But make no mistake, this patriotic American will remember these dark days in November 2020. Assuming I still have the right to vote by then...
11
@ Kris
We all should fight the good fight. Our democracy depends on it.
5
From Nina Jankowicz article 1-30-20
"He and his defenders are casting aside a struggling country in the name of short-term political gain."
It is a lovely appeal to fairness and decency. But it, like so much of the reporting for the last 40 years, fails to recognize that this is not the first or the greatest crime republicans have committed. They are all in on it regardless of their "positions" about it. They destroyed the United States economy and our government with impunity and not a little bit of joy and celebration as they did so to create the only the wealthy win and they always win economy we have now. Why would destroying a former Soviet satellite prick their sense of fairness and decency?
7
To Dershowitz
the “Lawyer of Last Resort”; Constitutional and criminal law scholar and civil libertarian; Professor of Law at Harvard; holder of two bachelor degrees; defender of Tyson, Hearst, von Bulow, O.J., Epstein, Weinstein, and Trump. Whose high school teachers told him to do something that “requires a big mouth and no brain…so I became a lawyer.”
The end
justifies
the means.
Huh?
Great, wonderful, such
the inspiring argument
the inspiring way to govern.
Screw the Constitution.
Screw honor, fairness
and being a grown-up.
Screw the American people.
Thanks a lot.
We shall remember.
9
This entire Impeachment has been "Resistance" ! Open Borders, Drivers Licenses to Illegals, Dissolve ICE, Free College, Free Healthcare, Free Money (UBI) - Replacing "Citizen" with "Resident"
The Left has gone Insane.
@mderosa
Closed boarders. Millions of immigrants imprisoned and deported at a cost of billions. Unafforadable college. Unafordable healthcare. Poverty for millions. Replacing "Society" with "Corporations".
Sounds ideal!
11
@mderosa So for those fears you put a demogogue in power? You will live to regret that. We had better see it doesn't happen.
6
No, the right has gone insane. They literally ignore evidence. Also, guns.
8
I imagine that Mr. Dershowitz realizes that his legal theory would also absolve Hitler from any culpability for the Holocaust. His parents would be so proud of him.
11
Any Senator who votes not to allow documents and witnesses has openly confirmed that they violated their oath of impartiality. The 'political ' aspect of the impeachment process is at the House level. If the House votes Articles of Impeachment then it is to be tried impartiality by the Senate based on facts and law. Instead the Republican senators cower at the feet of Trump and fear losing their jobs. They have abdicated their responsibilities and none deserve to be reelected. People wondered how the Germans could elect an Adolf Hitler: we can ask how Americans elect a Donald Trump. Hitler could not have done what he did without the Reichstag and Trump could not have done what he has and will continue to do without Republican Senators.
9
So let me get this straight. It will be ok to arrest Hillary or anyone Trump deems this action would help his re-election and HE claims it is in the public interest? By that logic, as long as the holocaust was designed to help Hitler get reelected, Dershowitz would argue it was okay?
9
As long as he didn’t live there.
4
So far, I have watched the entire impeachment trial and can draw only one logical conclusion. The Republican Party, McConnell in particular , and Dershowitz are an abomination. They are making a mockery of the Constitution and the founding principles of our republic.
My immigrant parents experienced the rise of Hitler and its chaotic aftermath. If they were alive today, they would undoubtedly say, "It's time to pack our bags and head for greener pastures." Sadly, I must agree.
10
I will never understand why these people, refuse to see the damage Trump, a known con artist, a known liar who has used the court system and laws to hide his dirty dealing is being given a break by these supposed lawmakers who should know better.
Trump just isn't worth it.
As they sit (or stand) there and protect this shyster, they are making known that laws and the rules of our Constitution don't mean a thing.
I can only hope the voters are paying attention.
9
It is less than shocking that Dershowitz is using his Alice-in-Wonderland reasoning powers on behalf of the President, just as the President's son-in-law is introducing a proposal that would be a "final solution" in the matter of a Palestinian Rights. Dershowitz's primary client has long been Zionism. In defense of that client Dershowitz has perfected one partularly vile strategy - slapping an anti-Semite label on anyone opposed to Israel's illegal drive for "lebensraum."
5
If the statement that anything a leader does to stay in power is legal, welcome to Hitler's 1930s Germany. For the good of the country, he would scream. Really frightening.
9
So after Trump is acquitted he can do just about anything and Congress is neutered. Then , for the purpose of re-election and doing ‘good’ for the country he can suppress the enemy of the people ..... CNN, MSNBC... NYT... you and me ..!!
7
Alan Dershowitz -- theorist of fascism.
Good buddy of Jeffrey Epstein.
11
If Dershowitz had been the Judge at the Nuremberg Trials all the Nazi criminals would have been acquitted and given medals.
All of them would have claimed that they had acted for the good of their race and nation.
11
How is blocking all attempts at investigation not considered an abuse of power? When the judge and defendant were in the same party.
9
Derschowitz's status as constitutional scholar needs to be reevaluated by American BAR Association if he essentially opines that a politician's corrupt behavior is acceptable if she/he believes that such behavior is in public interest.
5
The crazy train will hit a hard stop on November 2020.
8
This is what a dictatorship looks like. Republicans aren't looking forward to just 4 more years, but preparing to install this despot as president for life, and then his kids after that.
11
Looking forward to the reckoning in the Fall!
What doesn't kill us, makes us prevail.
5
This acquittal will be the biggest sham in the history of America and will go down as the end or our democracy. For the GOP to allow this miscarriage of justice to prevail is truly beyond all reason.
6
How many times must Donald Trump be shown to be, proven to be a liar……….
The man IS the President of the United States
And yet,
Cannot tell the truth to the American people
This may be acceptable behavior to the Republicans, especially the Republican Congress but definitely is not to most Americans………
Has the Republican Party completely lost all sense of decency, morality and ethical dealing?
5
31 minutes ago Senator Paul left the chamber, after Justice Roberts refused to read the name of the whistle-blower. Paul then gave a press conference in which he revealed the whistle-blower's name in direct violation of the whistle-blower act. The named individual and their family and friends are now in serious jeopardy. Recall please that all of the whistle-blower's claims were confirmed by a score of credible witnesses. Paul's action is an incitement to violence.
14
Once Trump is acquitted by Friday, he will declare Martial Law, suspend the coming election and transfer the federal budget to the Trump Org by Saturday — because all these are in the public interest.
Courtesy of Dershowitz, defender of pedophiles.
11
Is Dershowitz claiming that Trump, as President, can do anything to insure his re-election as long as he thinks it is in the public interest? Was Hitler's sentencing political opponents, et al, to concentration camps in the 1930s justified because he thought his Chancellorship was in the public interest?
6
"arguing that a president cannot be removed from office for demanding political favors if he believes his re-election is in the national interest"
Did Hitler and Charles Manson also think their actions were in the national interest? Inquiring minds would like to know, Mr. Dershowitz.
4
American, I used to love you. Every vacation was spent on one coast or another. When will you have had enough of the clown in office? The world has been watching and laughing. I won't set foot in America(nor will most of my friends) until America is free! We can all see what is going on....why can't everyone in America? Republicans are asleep at the switch! Get this liar, bragart, tyrant, imbecile gone!! This is about America the good, this is a VERY dark chapter. America is fiddling while Rome is burning!
8
Hey Bolton....be a real hero....step up to the public podium and state what you know. And Dershowitz....what are you hiding? Seeking hope has been a dismal journey.
8
According to Alan D there is a "public interest" exception to the Impeachment Clause in the Constitution.
This theory that a president can take any action to help him get reelected is not impeachable would basically render the Constitution a worthless piece of paper.
There was another constitution that gave the president extraordinary powers if it was his decision that it was in the promotion of "public interest." The Weimar Republic government in Post WWI Germany had such a constitution. By using this power, its president, Paul Von Hindenburg, was able to take extraordinary measures outside the constitution and allow Hitler to become Chancellor in 1930 and the rest is history.
5
I can't stomach Philbin!
4
Before it’s too late. Ask the defense team how they would feel about government investigations into Ivanka Trump & Donald Trump Jr.
Ivanka’s business concessions from China after visiting China’s rulers with her father are extremely suspect & Don Jr’s emollient business aspects surely amount to ample reason, eclipsing what Hunter Biden took advantage of, they smell as well.
11
No amount of cynicism can insulate you from GOP lawlessness. It still stuns.
Rand Paul and collaborators actually tried to slip an illegal question past Roberts yesterday, trying to uncover the whistle blower's identity.
The end to the GOP follies must begin in
November.
10
In the face of a substantive prosecutorial case by the House managers, the White House legal team could not cogently defend their client’s actions. In their effort to defend the indefensible, Trump's cabal put on a grievance defense, expecting Americans to accept their perversion of our Constitution. American taxpayers deserve a legitimate trial with witnesses and evidence. Anything less is a travesty. McConnell legacy will be as a power hungry pol for imposing his will on Congress and gutting our Constitution. We have a lot of work to do to repair the damage.
7
What is very clear to me is that if all GOP senators vote to acquit, then not one of them has presidential aspirations. The economy is good enough that any GOP candidate would have a chance but after 4 more years of Trump, whoever is the Democratic candidate will take the WH.
2
One day soon the United States will wake up, look around, and wonder what happened to its democracy. Some of us did see this day coming, and I — for one — take no pleasure in saying “I told you so.”
We are now in dangerous, uncharted territory — for us. But not in the annals of history (if we care to be bothered to recall it). If we have been too blind to see what has been happening over these past few years, then we will most certainly not be able to resist what may now come, if Trump’s arguments carry the day (as it appears they will). I still like to hope that we as a republic will survive this, but it’s getting harder by the day.
The GOP knows full well the extent of Trump’s corruption, but will not publicly acknowledge it, nor do what it solemnly swore to do when they took office — protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign *and* domestic.
Traitors — the whole lot of them. I don’t like the reckless use of that word as Trump has often done in the past, but here I think it definitely applies. Never have I been more afraid for my country, as well ashamed of many of its so-called leaders, as I am at this moment.
12
So anything a president does to win re-election is in the public interest.This sounds like a tactic Vladimir Putin might use to get himself re-elected in Russia. He can have political opponents imprisoned, or even murdered if any of them look like they can beat him in an election. This impeachment trial is nothing but a sham, a "kangaroo court." It can't be a fair trial if key witnesses aren't allowed to testify; and important evidence is blocked and the Senate Republicans are determined to acquit Donald Trump for purely political reasons. Like Nancy Pelosi says, the Republicans can acquit Donald Trump of the impeachment charges but they won''t be exonerating him. I hope American voters remember this on the first Tuesday in November.
8
If everything Trump does to get himself reelected is legal than why not just dispense with the elections and declare himself the winner? According to their theory that's all Trump needs to do.
7
I think that the Trump supporters ought to just "come out" and admit that they want to be ruled under authoritarian rule, that the constitution and what the founding fathers laid out for a new nation... they don't support it now and maybe they never did. The Trump supporters have gone so far as to declare either the new Jesus or King Cyrus. So stop this Tea Party, torch and pitch fork stand for the constitution... be the Russian you've always wanted to be.
Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China establishes himself as a lifetime ruler.
Vladimir Putin, Russian President is following in suit with Xi and is setting himself up as a lifetime ruler.
Trump Keeps Alluding to Extending His Presidency. Does He Mean It? [Fortune]
While at a luncheon for Republican donors at Mar-A-Lago, the President remarked that Xi Jinping being able to hold the position of China’s president for life is a step that Trump hopes America will someday follow.
According to the Associated Press and CNN, the President said, “He’s now president for life. President for life. And he’s great. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll give that a shot someday.”
The comments reportedly came after China’s Communist party voted last week to change their constitution to allow Jinping to stay in power beyond the standard two-term limit.
9
What’s funny is all of these GOP supporters don’t realize that the ultimate goal of the GOP is to take their guns. They can’t have people be poor and jobless and have guns. It’s the Russian way.
1
This has now officially become the "Blacksox Scandal" (or, for you younger members of the audience, the Astros Sign Stealing Scandal) of the Republican Party where "win at all costs" has replaced doing the right thing for the country.
4
first what is the fascination with Alan Dershowitz, it is interesting the amount of clout he has considering the fact that when you review his high-profile clients his success rate
is not equivalent to many defense attorney's and or appellate cases, most of his elite clients have tended to do prison time, he indeed was a part of O.J. SImpson, which in my view between Simpson and Epstein though everyone deserves a defense are stains upon the face of the law, he must remember however he was not alone in this case, he actually did not play as heavy a role, one of the main players was DNA expert Barry Weiss (now works with the Unjustly accused), as noted his opinion regarding the Constitution and regarding the Powers of the President fall far below more constitutional scholars, after all Mr. Dershowitz claims to be more of a defense or appellate attorney, if you listen to many constitutional scholars Dershowtiz tends to interpret the Founding Fathers to suit whichever time of day he sees, as for his footprints on the Israel Plan, because you are of Jewish ancestry it does not make you an expert, again, this plan will fail since it does not meet the criteria for a peace plan as the Palestenians were never invited to the table, what is known is that Trump(under impeachment)Netannyahu indicted, ,Giuliani under Federal investigation, therefore explain why the Republican Senators are not fulfilling their duty to Protect the Consitution and allow the people to retain their power.
3
@Rachel Quesnel don't forget he defended Woody Allen also.
It appears that Nikita Khrushchev, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Fidel Castro are on the verge of scoring a big, big win. It took awhile, but their predictions that America would collapse from within certainly seem within sight.
9
@ Stop and Think
“When the time comes to hang the capitalist West, the American businessman will sell us the rope.”
Nikita Khrushchev
1
America has gone from the dictum ‘…we shall be as a city upon a hill – the eyes of all people are upon us’ voiced by Governor John Winthrop to his Puritans shipmates in 1630 and quoted by Presidents JFK in 1961, Ronald Reagan in 1980 to the predicament it currently finds itself in. If only the Republicans had listened to Mitt Romney in 2016 when he said this:” His domestic policies would lead to recession; his foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president, and his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.”
6
This is why proper parenting is key to the fate of the world. Parents need to instill good values in their children like character, honor, integrity, fairness, honesty, and humility -- values which were apparently never taught to the current crop of Republicans.
13
The US is well on its way to autocracy. Having deemed a putative ‘billionaire’ never before elected to any office and with no government experience worthy of the highest office in the land those who continue to support him will soon find themselves with nothing but breadcrumbs.
As Paul Krugman said in 2012:”The stark reality is that we have a society in which money is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people. This threatens to make us a democracy in name only.”
11
@Jazzie When you lose your middle class, and the divide between rich and poor is extreme, the country ceases to become a Democracy.
11
Mark this date on your calendars — the day democracy went into a coma, and on life-support. The trajectory of decline is not encouraging.
12
Mitch McConnell's strategy to threaten to put Biden on trial before he can be president and impeached sets a new standard for Constitutional process.
3
Gee, I was not aware that the Constitution was written with a Sharpie.
5
I hope that Chief Justice Roberts makes sure all of those note cards make it to the National Archive The process is ridiculous, & remember, ‘ridiculous ‘ means ‘worthy of ridicule’. *big sigh*
8
Google "Enabling Act"
1
@mark You got it! But apparently you can’t use the H word here because too many so-called historically hep people don’t have a real, and granular day to day, grasp of how the the Nazi party came to power in the 30s.
2
John Roberts: accessory to crazy.
14
@Pia agreed, this Senate process is so ridiculous to me. I feel that John Roberts must be compelled by his position to speak up and allow witnesses and documents. Otherwise this process is just a sham.
3
@Pia @John Senetto,
You are both missing the proof of the last 40 years. Republicans care only that they get to enforce their ideas and religious beliefs on the rest of us and as much of the world as they can.
Shame, humility, or any kind of social conscience does not exist for them outside of the small bubbles of fellow believers they run in. And they do not look at each other very closely, they just spout the assigned mantras of belief and laugh with one another until the next meeting like good little terrified of their own shadow comrades.
4
The GOP - loaded with utter contempt for the rule of law and the American people - seems to think that the electoral college will protect the president - and, by association, them, in 2020. But over the next few months they may grow increasingly aware that things like disgust, outrage, protest and civil disobedience do not care a whit about the electoral college.
10
I had been ignoring readers' comments about incipient facism and dictatorship that a Senate acquittal would allegedly usher in. Those comments comprised, I thought, an illegitimate appeal to fear, an informal fallacy of logic. But then I read in this article about an attempt to censor information that is clearly in the public interest and clearly germane to the Senate's handling of impeachment:
"Mr. Trump’s aides circulated a letter informing Mr. Bolton that the White House was moving to block publication of his forthcoming book, in which he wrote that the president refused to release military aid to Ukraine until its leaders committed to investigating his political rivals."
Censorship of adverse evidence? Silencing political opposition? What kind of democracy allows that? We all know the answer: none! But if the senators refuse to hear witnesses, refuse to elicit documents relevant to their vote, and then claim the evidence is insufficient to convict, why should the president not censor to cover up his previous abuses? The Nazis first silenced the journalists, then the academics, then those who were powerless against organized genocide. . . . A history of evil repeats itself only if we do not learn from it. Censorship is the flashing red light, the shrieking siren that only the willfully blind and deaf ignore.
25
@ Mary C
And this is what we fear, truly. The loss of our democracy.
We do not hate Republicans. We love our democracy, and truth.
Well stated, Mary
7
Seriously!!!! Are we allowing the fate of our democracy to be perverted based on arguments by a duplicitous Alan Dershowitz who spent time hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein and co.?!? Our children and their children will look back and say this was the lowest point in our decision-making as a country.
15
@CcRider
You are optimistic in thinking that the current moment will be considered the lowest point in our decision making. I fear that, assuming this wilful blindness to presidential misdeeds continues, we have just begun yet another downward slide toward banana republic-hood.
5
What a ridiculous argument from Dershowitz. There are several candidates running for the Democratic nomination for the election in 2020. If you ask any of them, they will tell you that it is in the country's best interest to elect that person president! So Trump gets to decide that he is best for America and this is the "national interest" link that justifies his shakedown of Ukraine to smear Joe Biden. What hubris, what idiocy.
9
I have one question for Mr Dershowitz: Have you no shame?
11
Bolton should made an appearance the Rachel Maddow show tonight and tell all..
12
Then it might all be inadmissible in this trial.
@Lilly I think they will vote not to heard any witnesses so that may be a moot point
2
40% of Americans still support Trump. 40% of Germans still supported Hitler. 40% of Americans continued to support Nixon. 50% of Chileans continued to support Pinochet. This list can go on and on. We live in a world in which nearly half of all nations, tribes, and countries will support a blatently immoral leader and regime.
Even the most educated and elite leaders will justify evil. It`s happening now in the US and everywhere. We just have to fight. Mic drop.
12
“Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest,” Mr. Dershowitz, a celebrity defense attorney and member of Mr. Trump’s legal team, said on the floor of the Senate.
So the illusion (and, in most cases, the delusion) that public officials have that they are only and always acting in the public interest is enough to make their actions legal, ethical and moral and therefore not impeachable? Really? By that standard, Hitler would be unimpeachable. Any "clarifications" not withstanding, this is what the Republican party by its actions now stands for.
11
Dershowitz's argument is just plain stupid. He is giving license to ANY elected person to abuse power in order to stay in office, which goes against every principle of a democratic republic. Harvard should disown him.
13
Is there a protest that we can all march with to protest the injustice rendered by the republicans? What is the point in weeping on individual devices? We must come together. Are there no forceful minds who can rouse people into action?
8
@Meena Yes. Try Indivisible. Here’s the link: https://indivisible.org/
You can organize too. Try reading their book, available on their website.
1
@Meena
Vote come November.
1
The GOP (Grand Old Party) is no longer 'Grand' just 'Old'. It's continuing on its backward road to ruining our democracy.
8
"That is a core element of the Democrats’ case, which charges Mr. Trump with seeking to enlist a foreign government to help him win re-election this year."
Bolton was fired so now he wants revenge and wrote a book of lies. Hillary lost the election to Trump so she 's still trying to get revenge and she too wrote a book of lies.
Democrats need to get on board and help Trump Keep America Great. Like Hillary likes to say, Stronger Together. Impeachment is a nothing burger.
Lets do it Democrats. Bite your tongue, grin and bear it. Let Trump use is amazing energy to keep moving America forward rather than throw obstacles in his path. November will be here soon and hopefully the Democrats will come to love Trump. as America does.
@CurtisDickinson
"Bolton was fired so now he wants revenge and wrote a book of lies. Hillary lost the election to Trump so she 's still trying to get revenge and she too wrote a book of lies."
How do you know it's a book of lies? If so, why not support bringing him under oath in the trial and so we can all know what the truth is?
Hillary is trying to get revenge... Really? How, pray tell? By snarky tweets? With a book, that you ... read?
SMH
Full speed down the slippery slope, now. So naturally Trump feels his reelection is in "the public's interest". But imagine he felt he was at risk of losing the next election to the Democratic nominee, so much so that he felt the nominee should be jailed or even assassinated, or the election cancelled altogether. Then according to the crazy Dershowitz and the GOP, that would not be an impeachable offense.
8
The Democrat "case" has never been to the bricks in the GOP Wall, but to whichever voters might still be interested in it - they should simply make their closing submissions as if Bolton (and any other witnesses) had testified and offer to call them if there are any squeals about it.
2
There are laws against foreign interference in American elections. No one contends that those laws apply here. They don't. It was not and is not illegal to invite a foreign country to interfere in an American election.
Is it misconduct or abuse of power for the president to invite a foreign country to interfere in an American election? It very well may be.
But that is a political question, not a legal one. The voters should answer that question in an election. Not the Senate in an impeachment trial.
1
@John Smithson Sorry, it is illegal to invite a foreign country to interfere in an American election.
Title 52 of the U.S. Code section 30121 (a) clearly states:
"It shall be unlawful for - (1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make— (A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election; (2) a person to solicit, accept or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national.
And don’t be confused by Trump’s defense. What he is accused of are crimes. Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress have long been considered criminal and merit impeachment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/opinion/impeachment-defense-trump.html
6
@John Smithson The Founders created Impeachment as a remedy for a President who, entrusted with great powers, could be removed, not by an election, but instead of an election, as they predicted a situation like this very one we are in today. If a President invites foreign interference in an election, it is illegal and the framers predicted that this corruption could occur, as it did in the Monarchy they had fled to establish Democracy and the United States of America.
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
5
@John Smithson
"There are laws against foreign interference in American elections. No one contends that those laws apply here. They don't. It was not and is not illegal to invite a foreign country to interfere in an American election."
Just cause you folks can say something doesn't make it true. The FEC chair himself: "It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election."
5
What republicans are promoting is rule by executive fiat. They are allowing Trump to ram it through in a test run.
This favors then and allows them to consolidate rule via the electoral college and minority rule through the senate.
They have setup a path to autocracy and actively support it.
9
At Versailles there is a prominently placed medallion that reads "Le Roi Gouverne par Lui-meme" (The king governs by himself).
That worked out fine for Louis XIV and Louis XV. It didn't work out well at all for Louis XVI.
Will we have to endure three generations of Trumps before the people rise up?
Call your senators and express your outrage.
10
They often argue that we are a Republic not a Democracy, but there are many ways to run a Republic and we used to have a Democratic Republic. We're headed for a final round of the take over by the oligarchs. Russia and the US will be alike in that regard. Perhaps more Senators are on the take than we have knowledge of.
11
A big problem with Dershowitz’s statement is that Trump already thinks he can do anything he wants and those that do not agree have no rights .
Where is Democracy?
Some people’s, opinion is not all the peoples opinion , nor some people don’t want to know the people Dershowitz is referring to that agrees with his statement . Especially for them to choose for everyone what they consider executive privilege.
5
Alan Dershowitz displays his own intellectual corruption by defending Trump trying to induce Ukraine to open a smear campaign against Biden. George Orwell might have chuckled about Dershowitz calling this corruption defensible "in the public interest". At the moment it is possible that there is an air of nausea wafting through Harvard law school.
13
@Point of Dershowitz is an idiot.
2
Congress and Pentagon approval of foreign aid can be secretly overruled by the President.
If someone disagrees with the President they are to be fired and cannot speak or write about their reasons for disagreeing.
Things that help to re-elect the President are more important than managing risks to national security.
No one is allowed to take notes at the meetings of the President with foreign leaders.
The President’s personal lawyer runs foreign policy without knowledge of the State Department or its officials and ambassadors.
Uncomfortable conversations between the President and others are removed to a secret server.
Whistle blowers are to be outed publicity and denied protection if they upset the President or his party.
There are no press conferences and no briefings to explain anything and no one should question the President or his administration’s policies.
Anyone related to this President gets security clearance without going through proper channels.
Now, what have we learned about American democracy? It is nothing like the concept of democratic government.
12
If trump is acquitted, he will have boasting, we will have besting. This will only make us stronger. All of these gop has beens have seen their days. We will see record numbers of Democrats (and swing voters) from all over the country remove them from our pained memories in November. I have faith that the "soon to turn 18" crowd, almost half (and maybe even half) minorities, will feel the power of real justice in their one solitary vote.
Generation Z has increased, and they can determine the direction of our country. Get the young vote out from all the states, and we can expect success. I refuse to believe that we cannot do it. Cynicism will get us 4 more years.
6
@duvcu
Cynicism gets a bad rap. Perhaps if the citizenry had more of it,we wouldn't be in this deplorable situation.
2
You’d still have to hope you’ll have something like a fair election, and that’s somewhat in doubt.
1
Republicans took an oath of impartiality but the real oath they took was absolute loyalty to Donald Trump and not to allow facts to confuse them when their mind is made up. The Senate hearing has been anything but a trial. Therefore when they vote to dismiss or acquit it will be meaningless and an afront to the institution of the Senate and all Amercans.
7
“If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,”
Wow! Alan Dershowitz just exonerated Richard Nixon! What a brilliant legal scholar. (Not so much.)
Dershowitz doesn't believe in justice, or the constitution or the law - he believes in one thing only - Alan Dershowitz. He knows that notoriety is just as powerful as fame. Remember, he doesn't care that the defendant is guilty of despicable crimes, he just wants to prove that he can win!
And defending Trump is the perfect case for him: the highest profile trial in the country and an absolutely assured win - with judge and jury in the pocket of the defendant!
Some people sell their soul for fame and fortune - I suspect that Alan Dershowitz never had a soul to sell.
6
Bolton *should post relevent excerpts from his book online today*, and challenge the WH to take him to court if they imagine anything posted is a threat to national security.
Everyone knows the WH wouldn't bother, and their attempt so far to suppress key testimony just adds to the obstruction charge.
7
Martin, but John Bolton is not going to do that. What does that tell you?
1
Repubs are so fixated on the coming loss of their white privilege that they are willing to do anything to remain in power to hold on just a little longer. They are even willing to support this ignorant, cruel, bigoted, money grubbing, friendless liar and womanizer rather than risk losing their power in the white house. Maybe they wish that by halting immigration, they can turn it all around returning to the unassailable majority they once had. They are so gone down the dirt road that one of his impeachment lawyers, Pam Bondi had accepted a $25000 bribe to not investigate the fraudulent Trump U. She didn’t.
9
lester ostroy, there is no evidence that Pam Bondi accepted a bribe.
The nation has learned not to wait for an outbreak of principle and courage from a Republic Party politician.
Today.
Today is John Bolton's moment.
He can talk to anyone he chooses to.
He can talk about whatever he wants to.
At this moment in history, his voice is at its most powerful.
Don't count on hearing it.
G.O.P. ==== Greed Over Patriotism
9
Alan Dershowitz should be ashamed of himself, "anything the president does to advance his reelection" is in the country's interest.....you've got to be kidding. He has given the cowardly Republican senators perfect cover to put their faces in the sand, ignore Boltons evidence and acquit the gangster amoral
president. Unbelievable what this genius Harvard professor has come to. Does he really believe what he's saying?
The country is in big trouble looking toward the election.
7
It appears that Alan Dershowitz has "jumped the shark."
6
The former Republican party is dead. Now we are afflicted by the Trump party. In my. 85 years, Trump is the most ignorant, narcissistic creature to reign as our President. Heaven help our country.
11
I guess when you get older you feel like you can get away with just about anything. Dershowitz watched Trumo come up with ridiculous lies everyday and gullible people just eating it up. He thought he’d spin a new one himself and BOY did he ever come up with a prize-winning major whopper. This is not the Dershowitz of old. That man would never say anything that dumb in public. I swear this is just like something out of The Body Snatchers. These people are taken over and controlled by Trump and just start talking trash.
9
When Derschowitz was tapped for the team, I said in these comments that since we already have the O.J. jury, we might as well also have the O.J. defense counsel.
Will we also soon learn that Joe Biden was the "real killer" of Ron and Nicole?
9
Like the Mueller inquiry, the impeachment process ends with a whimper and not a bang. On to Bernie's coronation next week in Iowa. Two elections in a row the Democrats are fated to run the only two candidates capable of losing to Trump.
1
@Richard
I disagree. Against a mainstream democrat he is more powerful. He can’t attack Bernie ion progressive issues like health care or trade which Trump ran on.
I will even back up my claim. But it makes sense that Bernie is the better choice. Bernie is not a threat to democracy. The republicans are.
'The Only One I Didn't Want Her to Pick': In Secret Recording, Trump Admits Fear of Clinton Picking Sanders as VP in 2016
Leaked 2018 audio recording of president was released by legal team of Lev Parnas, close associate of Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. "You know, [Sanders] basically says we're getting screwed on trade," said Trump. "And he's right."
2
This terrifying statement by Dershowitz and the Republicans' complicity make November's election seem like a final moment to reestablish democracy and law. If Trump wins, we may well ourselves in the uncertain waters of an American autocracy.
10
@Julia
We are there.
9
If every President cheated because they thought it in the public interest we would never get to vote for who we want ed ... ridicules words .And no everybody does not want Trump .
8
The President’s legal defenders are but dense shade trees providing a “Menu of Shade” selection for the Republican Senators. Should acquittal occur prior to witness testimony, I will very much prefer to be an expat far from this historical, precedent setting, and utterly disgraceful exposure of the rot that MAGA has wrought. Unfortunately, my loved ones are here, so I remain.
Why are we silent, at home and going bout our daily routines? I am appalled, panicked, offended, frustrated, despondent, and confounded by the whirl of contorted legal interpretations of widely accepted and non controversial points of law and Constitutional language. I am furious, ashamed, stunned, and numbed at the Senators’ behavior Having said that, I am dedicating myself to a Presidential run which I believe is in the country’s best interests & during which I will extort favors from allies while using campaign funds to exert pressure by hiring contractors to perform water boarding on a few sentinel characters to motivate the others. What? Adam Schiff thinks that’s wrong? Well, you know, he’s not very tall which explains absolutely everything (about nothing). And my intent is in the best interests of ME - synonymous with the country’s best interest because everything I want or intend is in the best interest of US, just ME first, please.
I have a headache. Make this right.
7
Meanwhile Trump's minions (er, I mean his sorta cabinet) are running roughshod over environmental and consumer protections, not to mention public education. That's where the -real- disaster is taking place....while everybody's watching the impeachment theater there's a scramble to grab as much as possible before November.
9
Once the acquittal is accomplished, what's next? Will the President choose to direct the AG and other law enforcement officials to round up the ringleaders of the "witch hunt" that attempted to depose him? After all, if by this latest definition the President is within his rights to act as he sees fit in order to remain in office because of the "public interest" who has the right to oppose him? For that matter, then isn't it also in the "public interest" to block publication of books by Bolton or anyone else who dares to circulate information deemed by him to contain material that could undermine the administration of his office?
I never thought I would live to see the day when these thoughts would be a real possibility in our country but that day now seems to be fast approaching.
12
If there are no witnesses it will mean the end of the Republican party.
9
@the shadow -- yes, the bitter end of the Grand Old Party
would be just grand -- a lifesaver for our nation.
1
The party of Lincoln, you know, the guy who, according to some in the South, "wrongfully instigated" the "War of Northern Aggression," now argues that there's no such thing as the abuse of power.
What was slavery if not an abuse of power? What do members of the "party of Lincoln" think about that?
6
Having suffered no repercussions over their rush to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, Republicans may feel like they're laughing. But the seventy percent of Americans who want to hear from witnesses aren't laughing, and they won't forget.
13
A Senator must ask Chief Justice Roberts to allow witnesses. If they are not permitted and trump is acquitted, some voters will think he's been exonerated, and others will never stop saying he's guilty. The arguments will go on to the election and past. It makes no sense to not definitively settle this with eye-witnesses. It is crystal clear why the GOP senators do not want witnesses. They are very effective at bamboozling and mud-slinging.
We want facts, from witnesses who were there. Please - Democratic senators - get Roberts on board!
9
I thing we are on our way to becoming a fascist country and nobody is in the streets to stop it. When we were young we took to the streets to stop the Vietnam War, why not Trump and his godawful teams of lawyers and his enablers the Republicans. I still am having trouble digesting what Dershowitz said yesterday. I hope we don't lose our Republic.
10
Then murder of opposing candidates would be
"in the public interest"?
This is draconian.
9
In the 1950s, Republicans told us ‘what’s good for General Motors is good for the United States.’
More than half a century later, Republicans tell us ‘what’s good for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is good for the United States.’
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does often speak in rhymes.
7
Louis XIV said it better and far more simply: “L’état, c’est moi.”
5
@chambolle the state it is me...for anyone not familiar.
Omarosa Manigault Newman penned a tell-all book that was supposed to take down Trump. (Simon & Schuster)
Bolton's book will have the same impact as Omarosa's book: none.
1
Dershowitz is exposing his narcissistic self. He longs for more recognition. Why did he mention his role in the Trump’s Mideast peace deal during one of his answers yesterday?
He claims to have gone on fox because cnn wasn’t inviting him as much.
He should have recused himself because of his dust up in the Epstein mess.
It’s never enough for types like him and they are never wrong rather believe themselves wronged.
Goodnight America hello dictatorship.
6
My ancestors fought for the Vermont 9th regiment in the Civil War, my Grandfather went to France in WW1, my father worked on B-17's in England in WW2, all to defend a democratic republic, not a dictatorship, where, if the "president" BELIEVES he is acting in the public interest he can do anything he wants.
For the 75% who want witnesses, witness yourself at a polling booth this November 3rd to vote these traitors to a democratic republic out of public office. How have we gotten to this point: where the GOP have become Borgs of one mind, where common sense is checked at the door for a political party? End the Republican Party on Nov.3rd
10
Dershowitz has made removing Trump essential because he has increased the danger Trump represents to the nation exponentially.
8
Following the logic of the president's legal team;
If anything a president does to get re-elected is in the public interest, then Nixon's Watergate Break and the subsequent cover up should be viewed as the greatest public service and most positive political events in our Country's history.
Why doesn't a Democratic Senator ask the President's team about that today?
5
Incomprehensible that while some countries are visibly struggling towards democracy and respect for the international rule of law, our fine and honored republic is being eviscerated.
God speed for its survival from a thousand cuts.
10
If the Republicans in the Senate vote to bar anymore witnesses from testifying, it will be testament to the strength of their unity, specifically Senator McConnell's ability to get his party members in line. (For the record, I am not a Republican or Trump supporter.) Democrats, on the other hand, find a way to fold among themselves. Or maybe Democratic leadership is inept in getting their point of view across to people.
1
@Eric: I Agree. The Republican stand unified in soiling the US Constitution and America's concept of democracy.
Why is is that there are so many posters claiming not to be a Trump supporter that write comments supporting Trump?
4
@Jeff Why...those people are phonies.
1
One thing you can say with certainty about Republicans is that they are very reliable.
If you want the wrong thing done, call a Republican.
13
Trump could have hired chimpanzees to present his case and the outcome would be the same. This was never about a search for the truth. The truth is there for everyone to see. The Senate "trial" was always about how quickly the republicans could vote against removal. A chimpanzee would have likely been more constitutionally correct than Alan Dershowitz's argument yesterday.
12
Does this mean that What President Nixon did was in the public interest and he should not have been impeached?
8
@howard: Since Nixon was Republican, yes. Since Clinton was a Democrat, no.
3
I am going to hold out for hope of Bolton testifying, but I won't be surprised if the GOP majority in the Senate (maybe with some Dems adding their vote too) acquit the President.
Many comments over the years have observed that the Democrats do not play "hard ball" politics as well as the Republicans and for this reason, we see the House Managers getting "shellacked," to use Obama's words for the mid-term election of his fist run as president.
In a word, the Dems lack cunning; they take guns to knife fights and routinely get beat.
My lingering regret in this whole process of the Dems investigating the president is that they didn't put teeth into their subpoena power by declaring their authority of "inherent contempt" and inform each recipient of the subpoena that refusing to comply will cost them $1,000 or $5,000 a day; that would have gotten the attention of Don McGahn and John Bolton and even Jared Kushner.
5
@Chuck: A fine? You think that would have made any difference whatsoever? The Trump entourage could have: diverted funds from the millions in slush funds remaining in the inauguration committee coffers; or diverted funds from the military budget using Trump’s ‘Article II powers’; or applied profits from the sale of ‘Send Her Back’ and ‘Lock Her Up’ t-shirts and made in China red MAGA hats; or pilfered money from a ‘charitable organization’ for Veterans; or...
1
The House Intelligence Committee should upon acquittal immediately open new impeachment hearings. But this time subpoena Bolton, Mulvaney, Giuliani. Nunes, McConnell, Graham, Parnas, Barr, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, the Playmate McDougal, Billy Bush, Howard Stern, Don Jr., Kushner, and Trump himself. Issue arrest warrants for no shows and go to court while they stew in jail. Refer quick charges of Bribery and Treason, Witness Tampering, RICO Conspiracy and Campaign Finance criminal violations. But hold off to mid summer to turn over to the Senate. All the things the Senate found lacking this time will be there for quick conviction and removal from office.
6
So, it's down to this: One man's opinion, Alan Dershowitz's, will take down our Democratic Republic.
6
The first paragraph sets the negative tone of this piece. "... to discount damaging revelations from John R. Bolton ..." To date, there have been no revelations from John Bolton; there have been allegations of potential revelations.
1
Then call him as a witness under oath. Something trumplicans apparently won’t tolerate because they want to hide from the truth. Plus they believe in upholding an oath to anything other than dear leader.
7
@ODIrony
Feel free to call witnesses. Call Biden in for partisan goals by all means. Blocking evidence shows obstruction of the house and the representative part of our government.
This is autocracy where the senate blocks the house and allows the administration to rule our right without question.
2
“If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,” said Alan M. Dershowitz. And Donald J. Trump does so much "in the public interest" rather than his own personal interest!
Reminiscent of the O.J. trial, call Dershowitz's argument against Trump's impeachment: "if-the-glove-don't-fit-acquit defense." (Note: We used to live in Syracuse, NY, and if you live in cold wet climates, you know a lot about leather gloves when they get wet, and they shrink pretty badly.)
So, score 10 points for Dershowitz's idea to move the USA to a full-fledged dictatorship. Of course, one of those "somethings" a president might do to help himself get elected is to purge, assassinate, jail his political opponents and strike all kinds of quid pro quo deals with foreign leaders that personally benefit our president.
Just do what you have to do, Mr. President. It's all about winning
4
The Republicans should simply embrace their new identity and rename the party.
Republispins
Anything they say goes. If you disagree disprove it but we won't listen or believe anything other than what we think.
3
Following the rules in the Senate is something foreign to the House impeachment managers, who want to call the shots there after denying what they now demand to the Republicans during the House impeachment proceedings. So sorry, Schiff and Pelosi; you don't have the constitutional right to demand any deviation from the Senate trial rules. You can pound sand. What goes around, comes around.
Alternate headline: Republican Senators Make Case That Next Democratic President Should Be Above the Law.
7
Trumps acquittal will not be legitimate without witnesses.
As the facts come out over the next few months, Republican Senators pushing to block key testimony will looks worse and worse for participating in this cover up. I can't believe they are willing to throw themselves under the bus for this corrupt president.
3
Anything that keeps me in power is justifiable—I am the LAW—The perfect logic used by tyrants throughout the ages
From last October: 'Even if President Donald Trump shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, New York authorities could not punish him while he is in office, the president's lawyers argued Wednesday.'
Trump BFFs: Putin, Jong-un.
Trump Posse: any dictator, strongman bully, crook
2
RIP Democracy
3
By that deranged, authoritarian logic I guess this means Nixon is retroactively unimpeached?
2
This country is over.
1
“Every public official I know believes that his election is in the public interest.” Now I feel bad about Nixon! Where were you Alan M. Dershowitz to keep him in office? Or is it that your thought process only matured recently?
So, a president CAN behave like an emperor.
Justice weeps.
4
Trump wants to stop publication of John Bolton's tell-all book. What's the difference between the USA and China? Zilch.
3
U.S.A. Constitution
1776-2020
R.I.P.
4
Behold Alan Dershowitz, the ultimate intellectual narcissist, who has found his soul mate in Donald Trump. Both believe that every word that falls from their mouths should be worshiped as truth.
They will walk hand in hand over the corpse of democracy as they enter the gates of the new Empire .
Vladimir Putin could not be more proud of his work than he is today.
2
Anything the POTUS did to win reelection was in the public interest,?
In response, by quoting a line from an old song by Frank Zappa;
"Look here, brother...Who you jivin' with that cosmic debris?"
3
Angry throughout his term at blue state California, and reeling from revelations during his impeachment trial, today President Trump launched nuclear missiles at Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga.
Many in Washington expressed dismay and even horror, but the President’s lawyers, in a prepared statement written in pig’s blood on parchment paper using the sharp end of a jousting lance as a stylus, assured the nation that the action was perfectly legal because the President believed it was in the best interest of America. Therefore, the Senate has declined to conduct an investigation and locked Senators Feinstein and Harris in the Senate cloak-and-dagger room.
Senate Leader Mitch McConnell was seen cackling to himself near the big grandfather clock in the Capitol hallway as he changed his pants. “Depends on me,” he was overheard to say with a sly twinkle.
The coronation is planned to be held sometime between the Iowa caucuses and Super Tuesday at an exclusive golf course that doesn’t admit minorities. An announcement will be made in a tv spot on the Superbowl thus Sunday, the most reliable way to reach President Trump’s supporters. The $47 million 30 second announcement was paid for by the tax exempt PAC Dost Vidanya Amerika, said to be financed by little old ladies in Debuque.
5
It is amazing to observe how the NYT, over the past three years, has acted as a bullhorn for Trump and his Mafia minions, including the Republican Party. It’s as if the headlines nearly always Trump(et)—pun intended—Trump’s aggressive, scorched-earth tactics, hypnotized by his chances of success in dismantling democracy. It is as if this news outlet, along with many others, advance the narrative of a preordained conclusion of the Senate trial by focusing on the Trump-team tactics and, in so doing, diminishing the chances of the Democrats’ quest for witnesses and evidentiary documents. The Republicans, led by Moscow Mitch, are Blitzkrieging toward a stacked deck; by publishing this effort and, by extension, diminishing the validity of the Democrats’ efforts to advance a fair, just trial, the NYT and other mainstream media, in effect, help to normalize subversion of democracy and justice at the highest levels. Thus, Trump is enabled in his successful efforts to suck the oxygen out of every news cycle 24/7. What is the best tactic to defeat this existential threat to democracy? Ignore him, especially his tweets. His madness, already firmly in place, will finally absorb him.
2
Democracy is dying! Why? The millions of us on Facebook, Twitter and the NYT comments section are screaming into a void. We are giving ourselves a false sense of doing something while we are doing nothing! We need a mass march on DC and not leave until all of the GOP Senate are arrested for treason!
5
@Steve
The only way to accomplish that is to change the leadership. Protests don’t change leadership. Donate to people and organizations that aggressively fight republicans.
Now if you want to protest by all means. But protesting in a blue state will be ignored. And most people don’t have easy access to DC. So change government with the system we have. Spend your time helping elect fighters that will aggressively counter and fight republicans.
1
@Steve -- BINGO. Thanks!
1
Republican courage died with John McCain.
6
Disgusting, this is not democracy this is a banana republic.
7
Dershowitz has fully aligned with the hard right and, sadly, the hard right of Israel. He is a shill for Jared Kushner. I'm a Holocaust survivor's son. I understand the paranoia and fear and protectionism that many Jews, Orthodox or not, feel about Israel.
Trump's far right Fascist agenda, unfortunately, aligns with a paranoid view of the world. Paranoia is, in fact, Israel's (and the Jews) biggest enemy.
None of this is easy. To love is not easy. Tolerance is not easy. Fear and repression are far easier. Dershowitz is complicit with the Republicans in a massive coverup allowing a fully authoritarian Presidency more than likely leading to a second term inclusive of cheating the elections.
In every generation, goes the Jewish saying. We are challenged deeply as is our Christian and Muslim brothers. The right wing has reared its ugly head.
4
So, Lee Harvey Oswald might have used this defense in his assassination of JFK? Squeaky Fromme and Hinckley in their defenses of trying to kill Reagan? Sirhan Sirhan and James Earl Ray too, in their murders of RFK and MLK Jr.? Or does this only apply to elected officials trying to get elected? Or to those running for office?
2
Wait and watch peeps, this supposed trial may be over but the flood gates of new, damaging and exculpatory revelations against our righteous king and his sycophants are about to be unleashed. Do not despair the end is near!
3
Next thing, Dershowitz will argue that assassinating your political opponent is in the public interest and therefor not impeachable. Transition to a Banana Republic is now complete.
2
“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal." Alan Dershowitz Nixon
2
I wonder if, sometime in the future, Alan Dershowitz will have an Alec Guinness-type moment from "Bridge on the River Kwai": "What have I done?"
Too late, sir. You should have checked your ego at the door.
1
So, if Trump decides to nuke all blue states to further his election prospects it is ok?
4
Alan Dershowitz says "every public official I know..." apparently he does not know very many, just those cheap hacks that pay him...and I hope he was paid a lot in advance for his defense of undefendable treason. Sad to see a once fine legal mind destroyed by greed.
2
Dershowitz and the Republicans are making up lies and destroying our government of checks and balances. Are the Americans too stupid to not see this? The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to bring impeachment to the senate now these sleazy republicans claimed the House must have bi partisan support to investigate impeachment, they continue to make up their own rules and let the Fox propaganda station market them. The end of democracy is here.
2
By all measures republicans have become like that group of Japanese who said yes to their leader and attacked pearl harbor, no matter how insane that idea was
One can only hope those who feel right does matter are the sleeping giant and do wake up.
Otherwise, America as an idea is dead and a new America like any other country in the world will be born
I read the NYT everyday. Has anyone else noted that a lot of the comments here are anti-impeachment? There have been few here and there, but this seems odd to me. Most stories on the NYT don't this many comments at all...makes me wonder why....
When I first read about Hitler and his rise to power, the burning question that keeps coming back was, WHY??
Why did a person and a party founded on hate acquired power.
Hitler, was only one person.
When I read, about the cornerstone of the lawyers defending Trump.
"That anything a president did to win re-election was 'in the public interest.'
It is the most chilling statement that I have ever heard in this entire impeachment trial.
Because if this is the case, we are no longer a Republic, but a dictatorship.
We are no longer a nation ruled by laws but we are now ruled by the whims of a tyrant.
Trump, could basically cancel the 2020 Presidential election and argue that, it is in the best interest of the public, because his opponents are unqualified or even brand them as traitors for running against him.
The real tragedy of this impeachment trial of Trump, is the lack of outrage and cowardice of his enablers, to admit and accept the glaring truth, that, Trump abuse his power and got caught.
In the end, only the 2020 Presidential election would show, if in fact we are still a nation ruled by the Constitution or by the whims of a despot.
The 2020 Presidential election will prove if the American experiment remains alive or is very much, dead.
2
Congratulations Republicans in the Senate, you have successfully gang raped the Constitution and betrayed the American people by creating a kangaroo court that has enabled you to protect Donald Trump who is not only a criminal but is one of the most reprehensible individuals ever to hold public office in American history.
And when the rest of Trump’s criminality is finally revealed , these senators will be seen as accomplices to the fact, and they will spend the rest of their natural lives with metaphorical blood on their hands.
2
Republican cowardice is a deep sickness that weakens the country terribly. There is no justice here.
2
Profiles in cowardice!
4
As time goes by, I have less and less respect for the, "Times Pick," label. It's becomes more and more a dubious distinction.
1
This approach “anything to obtain reelection as legal” means there was nothing wrong with Nixon breaking into the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate.
Clarence Darrow once said, “if you have to lie to make your case you don’t have a case.”
4
I wonder how bad this will look for the GOP when Bolton's book, more backup, and new wrong doing by Trump comes to light. They are not stupid, so they know he is corrupt and warrants removal by the definition of impeachment.
Democrats have a strong narrative to say they are the only remaining American party as the GOP is just an extremist traitor party.
2
Can someone get John Bolton to have a press conference now?
So this is How American Democracy Dies
the day after his acquittal . Trump will be on Twitter openly soliciting for more foreign interference . Interference not only in his Presidential race , but in
the Senatorial, Congressional and State Races as well.
Russia will heed the call, Turkey will heed the call, Saudi Arabia , UAE, Poland , Philippines , Syria . Kings Landing .
-----Dictators- R-Us
Expect William Barr to initiate another faux Criminal investigation. This time into Joe and Hunter Biden. It will be based on whatever nonsense Rudy conjured up while in the Ukraine
John Bolton , Lev Parnas, Igor Furman, the Whistleblower etc., I would strongly recommend investing in radioactive detection devices
3
Who would be the 4th???
Sen. Alexander all eyes on you!
1
I'm surprised Dershowitz didn't argue: "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit."
1
So under the rationale of "can do anything for the public interest", can Trump arrest and execute the 65 million people who voted for Hillary Clinton?
2
Dershowitz is absurd. Contrarian. Argument for the sake of argument.
“Trump Pays for Abortions for Every Republican Senators’ Mother and Still Gets Acquittal.”
I swear if I woke up and read that headline I’d just shrug and go to work.
Here’s where the real work is behind the noise and distraction of this mock trial:
Go to Greg Palast dot com
Click on “How Trump is going to steal the 2020 election.”
Scroll down and click on the tab that says “STOP THE PURGE.”
Help get the hundreds of thousands of Democrats who have been unwittingly purged from voter rolls by corrupt Republican Attorneys General back on the registers.
While corporate media dances around dead end acquittals and Modelo or Tecate-virus or whatever... the Koch network is busy stealing our Republic, our civil liberties and our freedom.
2
Dershowitz should have told Nixon that. Would have saved him a lot of fuss and bother....
1
To take Dershowitz's argument to an extreme, the President could nuke virtually every major city in the country to eliminate the majority there that voted and will vote against him.
The Senate Republicans have a very real responsibility to safeguard the American Public, they are ignoring that and leaving us in danger.
9
A democrat president has sex in the oval office and gets impeached for obstruction of justice.
Trump blackmails another nation to dig up dirt on an Presidential contender while placing the other nations security in jeopardy which just so happens to be facing a war with Trump's best buddy Putin (and has openly asked how long could the Ukrainians last in a war with Putin without the military assistance of the US)... Trump openly admits what he did along with dozens of other people in Trump's circle, e-mails, texts and THEN he goes about obstructing anything and everything he thinks would show him to be even more guilty than what he has told the world himself about what he did.
But because the GOP have taken millions... millions in Putin "donations" they are standing up for Trump even if it destroys the nations building blocks (the constitution and other core structures of this nation.
Now Trump is saying it is normal to do what Trump did. This is what is titled under the actions of a malignant narcissist as "Gaslighting" manipulate (someone) by psychological means into questioning their own sanity.
According to Philip Ross of International Science Times, reality television has a detrimental impact on our perceptions of the world based on an observational study from University of Wisconsin. This study concluded that reality television viewers believe that the argumentative and conniving behaviors portrayed on television shows is "considered normal in today’s society".
12
Hearing from witnesses is part and parcel of the American way of judicial tradition. Republicans are -- in refusing to hear from witnesses - directly implying guilt on the part of Trump. There is no other conclusion to be reached.
7
If Dershowitz is right that whatever the president does is fine because it is always in the public interest, why even bother to have an election? It is certainly in Trump's interest not to have to bother to be reelected and just continue in office indefinitely (thereby avoiding a variety of civil and criminal charges), so clearly it would be in the public's interest not to have to go to all the trouble of voting.
(Since irony is dead and it is hard to tell satire from reality these days, let me point out, that this is sarcasm here. I wouldn't want the RNC to think I should be on their mailing list.)
7
Republicans defense of anything to re-elect Donald Trump is fine because it’s in the public interest is rather like saying counterfeiting is legitimate freedom of the press.
8
Is the "public interest" the highest good? Then it is up to the public to decide that, in a republic, not an elected leader. If one person (the President) gets to decide that on his own, without consequences, then the Constitution is moot.
If a policeman or prosecutor (the govt), or a politician, decides that imprisoning an individual is in the public interest-- regardless of lack of evidence of a crime-- then that is dictatorship.
In Trumpworld, according to Dershowitz, the Bidens were involved in corruption in Ukraine, and should therefore be slandered (by Ukraine, as Trump's proxy) so Trump can win the election. We're supposed to swallow that.
What is the most common crime that "political enemies" are accused of in autocratic regimes? Corruption, of course, without evidence.
7
Hard for me to understand how even Republican senators could acquit Trump on obstruction of Congress. The obstruction has been open, blatant, pervasive, and unjustified. The prospect of acquittal on obstruction troubles me even more than the prospect of acquittal on abuse of power, because it utterly demolishes Congress’s oversight authority.
10
Dershowitz is making the same claim Nixon made decades ago. "If the President does it that means it is not a crime". It didn't hold water then and the passage of time hasn't changed that.
The worst part is that the gop faithful will not punish them at the ballot box this Nov. We are no longer a nation of laws but only of extreme partisan loyalty. Democracy RIP 1776-2020
7
What if this all worked out in Trumps favor? Biden looses support at the crucial hour because of an announcement that casts doubt about his integrity and Trump won? Are the Republicans seriously defending this?
3
The ways used by Democrats express personal hatred and dislike to POTUS and does not stand ground. To me, I feel they used mean words, mean thoughts, mean conclusions, and wrong judgement.
POTUS will come much stronger after this mockery trial attempt losing even their own seats.
They simply could've used these arguments in the next election, but they know for sure who will win and could'nt accept that.
@ Alex
You are correct. The trial is a mockery. Evidence and witnesses blocked by trump, because it would give even more evidence of his guilt.
And now we have only the election process. A process which has been tainted by trump and his Soviet master, Putin. Bots, fake news stories originating with Russian KGB on social media sites, misinformation, voter suppression, and outright criminal misconduct by Republicans. (Just one example:
North Carolina Republican Mark Harris charged in election fraud scheme.) This is why we could not have waited for the next election.
Every democratic process has been tainted by Trump and his mob, including the integrity of our election process
Mean words? Our First Amendment rights are already under attack by the meanest, most vulgar, most untruthful president in our nation’s history.
4
I've completely lost faith in our government. Even if trump loses in November, even if by huge margins he will not leave the white house--he will say there was widespread voter fraud--and his republican enablers will allow him to get away with it. We are done.
6
"I am the State". Apparently it didn't go out of style 300 years ago.
6
@Peter
Just to clarify for trump supporters. Those words, that quote, is from of the French monarch, Louis the 14th.
3
Justice is supposed to be blind in a good sense, free of bias. Trump Republican justice fights for us to be free of witnesses and other evidence. Trump Republican justice supports and enables his and his party's perpetual con job.
6
With Mr. Dershowitz claim that essentially a President can do anything to get re-elected because he, the President believes “it is in the public interest” essentially means if Trump is acquitted this argument will forever stand as justification for allowing a President to decide what he or she alone decrees is in the public interest” in order to stay in office. Mr. Dershowitz by arguing this, has in essence, declared the end of Democracy. Why have elections? Who is the decider of where the line us drawn between the public interest and self interest? SCOTUS? Congress? Suppressed voters? Mr. Dershowitz imbued Trump with wisdom, morality, and a nobility he absolutely does not possess.
I expect Republicans will put the final nail in the coffin of what was once a progressive Republic in seeking to hold onto power by any and all means. They have no shame nor do they love this country-to pretend to as they do, is the most disgusting lie of all. This President and these Republicans have defiled the Constitution and the law for power, and make no mistake about it, money. Any pleas to stand up for this country in the face of overwhelming evidence against this President will fall on deaf ears.
Mr. Dershowitz has not defended a client, he has threatened the very foundations of this Republic.
5
So according to Dershowitz, if I succeed in casting 100 votes for a single candidate at my local polling station, then it should not be considered a crime because I believe that I'm acting in the public interest. It is amazing that he is not embarrassed to make that kind of argument on national TV.
3
So American democracy ends with a whimper as it is strangled by trump and McConnell.
Well, we had a good run.
3
Unitary executive ruling by fiat and hiding behind the senate to block the representative majority.
2
Of course, it is in the public's interest. America can't afford to have Bernie Sanders running things. I'd rather have Harvey Weinstein sitting in the Oval than Bernie. Dershowitz knows what is best for America.
@P&L Surely you jest.
2
@AJ No AJ, I think he is scared of paying his fair share of taxes.
2
Russian trolls are among us.
"... anything a president did to win re-election was 'in the public interest.' "
Does this anarchy mean we are now a monarchy?
3
The Trump presidency has made it glaringly evident that the Constitution is no longer enough to guarantee checks and balances. Paradoxically, the very document that was designed to avoid rule by despots failed miserably as soon as the first despot came along. It didn't take into account the power of the sycophants: in this case, Republican senators. With the heaviest of sighs, I assume that all that's left for us to do is to hope that, at some point, Trump won't amass the congressional votes needed to amend the Constitution and extend the maximum number of terms to three or... indefinitely... At this rate, Ivanka will be our first female POTUS... or Jared... or Barron...
2
It's almost as if Dershowitz is working to get the senate to remove Trump from office. His argument takes the defense's position to such an extreme that it seems like a parody. "Our leader did nothing wrong" morphs into "it's impossible for any politician to do anything wrong".
Utterly incredible and just plain ridiculous. No self-respecting juror can accept such a defense as the least bit reasonable. Any senator that does has to know that they will be scorned forever by all decent thinking people around the world.
6
The Bidens should just volunteer to testify and call the Republican's bluff Yes, I know its all irrelevant and unfair but it is worth the effort,
3
Wow, Democrats are making the case for the sanctity of whistleblower protection just as passionately as Trump's lawyers will make theirs for executive privilege. When mortal sacred principles collide the big bang looks like a dud.
I'm "the public" and have no interest at all seeing Trump become President. What a pompous attitude. Most Americans want Trump removed from office. I guess the full dictatorship has set in. Time to sell the house and move out of this soon to be third world country where the public is robbed in lieu of Wall Street.
7
In my opinion, the US is drifting inexorably in the direction of the Third World. Pretty obvious isn’t it?
6
My wife says that sometimes my logic gets a little addled, cause I'm a geezer. I take her point. Dershowitz is 81, a few years older than me. He's still pretty sharp, and he loves the performance part of his job. But his latest rationale in defence of DJT, "if it's in the public interest..." is such gross pap, such double speak, so darkly Orwellian, it makes me think his noggin is slightly askew. He should ask his wife about that.
6
For the 75% who want witnesses: I hope you take this lesson with you to the polls on November 3rd and vote ALL these traitors, who are blocking a free and fair trial, out of the Senate, in addition to sending Trump to a jail in New York. That's where he will end-where he deserves.
Incredible. For anyone who receives a subpoena for anything? Ignore it, have your lawyer write a letter declaring it illegal and go about your business extorting a foreign leader for dirt on your political rival. Oh, and don't pay any taxes. Why bother? Trump doesn't. Welcome to the new America, a dictatorship. All bets are off.
3
For the 75% who want witnesses: I hope you take this lesson with you to the polls on November 3rd and vote ALL these traitors, who are blocking a free and fair trial, out of the Senate, in addition to sending Trump to a jail in New York. That's where he will end-where he deserves.
Incredible. For anyone who receives a subpoena for anything? Ignore it, have your lawyer write a letter declaring it illegal and go about your business extorting a foreign leader for dirt on your political rival. Oh, and don't pay any taxes. Why bother? Trump doesn't. Since no one is above the law apparently the laws have changed, there aren't any. Welcome to the new America, a dictatorship. All bets are off.
The argument that the impeachment hearings and trial are an "attempt to undo the 2016 election is idiotic. If Trump were to be removed from office, Pence would succeed him. This hardly "undoes" the election. It merely removes a corrupt and incompetent from the Presidency, which is what the Framers of the Constitution intended. The Framers of the Constitution never intended impeachment to "undo" a Presidential election. The Presidential succession makes certain of that. To argue otherwise demonstrates either profound ignorance of the Constitution, complete disregard for the Constitution, or contempt for the Constitution for the purposes of blind partisanship, whatever the cost to the Republic by actions such as those of the GOP.
1
Their complicity in corruption sickens me.
4
If the president can do anything he wants, why is there an impeachment clause in the Constitution?
8
"anything a president did to win re-election was 'in the public interest.'” That is how dictators think.
4
Trump often blurts out something early on which turns out to be a clue and cover for what he and the Republicans do.
Trump said from the beginning that his impeachment trial was a "sham," and the Republicans did all they could to make it that way.
Our Constitution is in tatters, and our country is drowning in the Trump-GOP Swamp.
Have they no shame!
2
A new chapter in history. Title: The Death of a Democracy and the Rise of a King.
2
Seriously?! Soliciting foreign help to dig dirt on a political opponent by withholding Congressionally approved aid is 'in the public interest'? The Trump team really has had to reach far into their bag of tricks to come up with that one. The problem is that the Republicans are letting him get away with it. Remember when Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it? Well....according to what the Republicans are spouting about not being able to charge a sitting president with a crime, and all they've forgiven from him so far - I think he could. Every day we inch closer and closer to losing all that was good about this country and our democracy...for Donald Trump? Why?
2
This reminds me of the days when white men in the South were regularly acquitted by other white men for crimes against African Americans without ever calling a single witness. Then, African-Americans cried, 'How can they get away with this?' Similar white male privilege at work here, looking out for each other's back.
5
I would be embarrassed to be an American after this charade.
4
TRANSLATION: "Just keep moving along, folks. Nothing to see here ..."
1
Let me guess. When it's all over, the GOP will say that the country needs to forgive them and move on, lol.
2
I lived in Maine 20 years ...I’ve followed Susan Collins ...she truly is all about herself just like all of our elected officials...I wouldn’t count on any GOP member doing the right thing...especially Susan Collins ...
2
The so-called "mainstream media" is really nothing short of an arm of the democrat party. MSNBC/CNN/NYT/WAPO do not present both sides of the impeachment ; instead, they present an extremely biased picture.
The result is a viewership/readership that is ignorant of the other side's position. More importantly, they are ignorant of the justification for the other side's position. So naturally, they think there exists only one side - their side - and they think the other side is groundless. Throw in Ari's sarcasm, Lawrence's and Chris's edge and hate, Rachel's far-fetched conspiracies - and a lot of anger and hate - and it's no wonder there exists such a great divide in our country.
1
I find it interesting that the GOP is willing to question President Trump's war power. And are actively seeking to limit his power, yet they say the President should be able to do what he sees fit?
11
@Heather that's the gop for you, they talk out both sides of their mouth so that in the current instance their president is acting within his lane. But they'll be able to claim that a future situation involving a democratic president will, of course, be a completely different situation. And the democrats will continue to lose because we are unwilling to fight the fight with the newly established norms. If we won't roll around in the mud, we'll never have a chance of winning. My only hope now resides with the billionaires on our side who have more money than trump and can afford to buy dirt on trump from the highest bidder. After all, that will now be legal. May the richest candidate win. Let the games begin!
3
The Republicans will make this desire true with their votes this week. If Trump is not removed, it's OK for him to do whatever we allow him to do.
8
In our democracy (the rel mccoy) the president doesn't get to decide if his reelection is in the public interest, even if he's right. The Public does, in November, every four years.
Did you know this, GOP Congressmen and Congresswomen?
13
At this moment, it seems likely that Trump will be acquitted by the senate. And it even seems possible (likely?!) that he could be re-elected. So, is it also possible that he could become the first president ever impeached more than once? And does that mean that he still has the "opportunity" to become the first president removed from office through impeachment?
2
I'm tired of politicians prioritizing what will get them re-elected taking precedent over doing what is right. There are many things broken with our political system, but this is the big one for me. Term limits. Term limits. Term limits.
17
I am stunned by Dershowitz’s defense rationale. But I realize there is one remedy beyond impeachment, and that is the ballot box in November. Then I think, if Trump loses, will he refuse to leave office? Will Republicans see that it is in ‘the public’s interest” that he not give up power?
9
@Tom Kochheiser
His logic is really extraordinary, isn't it? The voters elected me, therefore I can break the law to stay elected. And Clinton was impeached for lying about an extra-marital affair that had nothing to do with policy, only the expectation of how a president should comport himself.
2
I think it would be in the nation’s best interest if I was president.
I’m a nice person.
I acknowledge having made mistakes in my life, but have tried to learn from them.
I’m very careful with money.
I try to see the other person’s point of view (admittedly difficult).
I’m a lifelong serious reader.
I acknowledge lack of experience in various disciplines, but I would seek the opinions of experts in those areas before making decisions.
I have no wealthy relatives.
I’m not that bad-looking for my age.
I prefer vinyl, but will listen to music on my cell phone if no turntable is available.
I’m not on Twitter.
Per Professor Dershowitz’s logic, I assume it will be okay for me to knock over a couple of banks so I can fund my campaign.
Vote for me! No more worries!
18
Dershowitz's argument holds no water and flies into the face of everything we think America stands for. The president works for 330 million of us, not his party and not for himself. He must be held to a higher standard than any one of us. Not only is he on trial but we are also on trial. I can now see how countries like Italy and Germany fell under the creeping spell of madmen. This will be the most important vote any of the Senators will make in their lifetime as it will affect our country for generations if not for all time.
Every Senator should to walk to the podium, look into the camera and cast her or his vote. That will tell all Americans and the world what our democracy has become.
9
Now we know that this President can do anything he wants in order to get reelected, as long as he believes it's "in the public interest." How about disappearing Democrat candidates if they appear to threaten his reelection? How about certain reporters having "accidents" that lead to their deaths? How about certain whistleblowers and inner circle confidants meeting sudden and unexpected deaths before they can testify. All of these must certainly fall into Dershowitz's definition of unimpeachable acts. If Republicans buy this argument, they have stepped off the path of democracy onto the tollroad of dictatorship. Any criminal act on the part of the GOP is better than having another Democrat win the Presidency or by extension any other elected office. This was Thomas Hofeller's position in his gerrymandering efforts in North Carolina, why shouldn't the GOP adopt it as a plank in their 2020 election campaign? At least then we would all know what we are voting for.
5
So Trump is hoping to escape conviction by preventing people from testifying against him.
There must be thousands of people in prison saying "Hey, why didn't I think of that?"
9
I suppose soon we'll be hearing that anything a president does to stay in office, even after losing an election, or serving a second term, will also be "in the public interest."
8
When we go to a local sports event, we expect a fair game. If a really bad referee call is made in favor of our team, "most" of us would be too embarrassed to celebrate. We want to win, but dont want to win that way. We have respect for the game and ourselves.
So, you can guess my opinion about Trump and Republicans.
6
@tom
Welcome to the new U.S., where cheating is as American as mom and apple pie.
6
The rules empower the chief justice to enforce the subpoena rule. Rule V says: “The presiding officer shall have power to make and issue, by himself or by the Secretary of the Senate, all orders, mandates, writs, and precepts authorized by these rules, or by the Senate, and to make and enforce such other regulations and orders in the premises as the Senate may authorize or provide.”
So what is stopping the democrats in the Senate from asking Roberts to issue subpoenas?
Come on, guys, let's get started with a real trial.
2
Is Roberts only there to further soil the reputation of his own institution, building on the damage that the appointment of Kavanaugh did, and that McConnell did before that by unconstitutionally denying hearings for Garland? After all, legal scholars including, for instance, the author of the special counsel law, have argued convincingly in this paper that Roberts himself is, for instance, permitted to call or subpoena witnesses. This isn't an impeachment trial in which he can do very little and then later slyly preen about doing very little very well. Our very democracy is at stake. How many more direct hits can our trust and faith in our government take? How dare these people say they care about corruption in Ukraine!
7
This has evolved to be test of our democracy, the headlines today are so understated and bland that they are detrimental.
"Republicans Move to Block Impeachment Witnesses, Driving Toward Acquittal"
2
This is of course going exactly the way everybody expected, not withstanding a solid case and masterful closing speech by Schiff. However, it has exposed not only to Americans but to the world the illegitimacy and moral bankruptcy of the current administration.
7
Corporations are people.
Climate change is a hoax, yet conspiracy theories get repeated by people who should know better.
Cameras and videos spying on us everywhere.
Rise of the drones in our neighborhoods.
Endless smartphone gabbing in restaurants and other public spaces. Did businesses give up on smartphone concierges as unenforceable?
Increasing social isolation and digital devices dependency.
Increased medicating children and adults for social anxieties, and..
Anything a president does to get reelected is in the public's interest.
This is progress?
4
The Republican attacks on logic, the national good, and the Constitution remind me of the attack on Fort Sumter--a direct attack on the Union, an act of rebellion.
4
You know what else is a crime? Term limits (for Republicans).
"Let's let the people decide", Mitch McConnell. Which will inevitably be followed by, "The Presidency is too important to be left up to the people". Would it surprise anyone at this point?
3
The important thing is that we maintain plausible deniability. ~ Richard M. Nixon.
Trumps' base is being told from Fox News and other right wing media outlets to not watch any of the "trial", it's a sham, etc. From comments I have seen/heard from his supporters they seem to be either misinformed on key facts and/or they don't care what he does. Evidence to date overwhelmingly points to Trump being unfit for office. The only way to keep maintaining plausible deniability is to refuse to have a real trial. There's a danger that facts might come out and that would not be good for Trump.
I'm assuming they've landed on this decision because they think Trump is too incompetent to do any real lasting damage to democracy and because they benefit from him being there. Trump's so busy tweeting and golfing and generally having a lack of work ethic and drive to get anything done he surely won't do that much damage right?
When it really matters they wouldn't vote this way they tell themselves. However they are wrong. This is when it matters. it matters all the time, every day. Trump would be nothing without the Republican party and voters supporting him and his every move. They should all suffer the consequences of what they have done and be voted out of office. We, the American people, will correct the injustice that they have wrought.
4
This isn’t a Constitutional crisis. It’s an unconstitutional crisis.
5
"When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside" - exactly which part of that clause does Roberts not understand? Preside for crying out loud. That's what we pay you for. At the moment his function seems to be like that of the interns (??) who hand up the questions and about as taxing. If the job he is exhibiting is to the extent of his abilities, I could do it at half the cost.
3
I hope Robert Mueller is happy now that his unwillingness to intervene has ended in this sickening mess by proposing impeachment instead of indictment as a remedy. There was plenty of evidence to charge Trump and his son with a host of crimes and he chose to sit on his hands. Worse yet, he underestimated the corruption of his pal Bill Barr, Trump's new consigliere, spinning the Mueller report to exonerate Trump. Once Trump is acquitted in the following days there will officially be no "bottom" and we will witness his official coronation as American dictator.
6
Yeah, in the "public interest" only applies to the half of the country who actually wants him to be president again.
Rather than try to interact with the deluge of specious arguments and frameworks put forward by the Trump defense team, it's best just to recognize that from the Republican perspective this isn't an impeachment trial, but a debate designed to position Republican candidates, including Trump, for the 2020 election cycle.
The debate strategy being used by the Trump team is called the "Gish Gallop" strategy, wherein an onslaught of semi-ridiculous and diverse arguments are made, the repudiation of which, would take more time than allotted to the Democrats. To vanquish the Gish Gallop, Democrats need to only focus on the rightness of calling for witnesses and simply dismiss with curt and memorable one-liners the Republican garbage.
A scene from the film "The Big Short" comes to mind when the good guy investors, while talking with a Standard and Poors Wall street ratings executive in her office, are told that S&P gives exaggerated AAA quality ratings to housing bonds because if they don't, their competitors, the Moody Agency, will, and they will lose the business. And anyway, the persons telling them this says "I have a boss, you knows, it's not my decision."
Their response: "So now anyone with a boss can do illegal things."
The equivalent response to Dershowitz's argument that Trump's reelection efforts are innately unimpeachable, is to say that "so now anyone running for election can commit high crimes (which includes ordinary crimes) when running for office?"
3
“If the President does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment”.
Did he really say that? Is he serious? The aid the President withheld for political gain was funded by taxpayer money. My money! If he wanted to advance his political agenda and get re-elected, he should have used his own money, not our tax dollars! He could have used the money from his charitable foundation, for instance. Oh, wait, he did that too! Corruption at its best.
4
Trump now has unlimited power to cheat. His first act after winning re election will be to Eliminate Obamacare; Medicaid; Social Security and Medicare. Choose wisely at the voting booth.
7
Next logical step: If the president does something which he believes will help him stay in office, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,”
Like cancelling the election altogether. Like jailing his opponents. Like banning opposition parties. Like...well, you get the very bleak picture.
6
Watching this Senate “trial” is like watching lemmings racing to follow their leaders over a cliff.
What about the rest of us who do not want to be dragged along?
3
Why there isn't a massive "pro-democracy" march on Washington is beyond me. I can't believe that the women's march was the last really large-scale march. It's way past due!
6
I can hear Nixon's ghost saying, "I told you so!".
2
This is how a democracy slides into a dictatorship. Dictators are often freely elected by running as a fake populist...promising only they can fix the system. Only they make their particular country great again. Then they tell the sheep only to trust them and not the free press because they are the enemy of the people...Trump echoes that very exact line from Stalin. Then they target legitimate institutions like a congress or a judiciary by stacking these institutions with loyalists that will either weaken the agencies or legal bodies they are in charge or reshape them in the image of the dictator. Finally, they say the rule of law doesn't apply them then have surrogates and other propaganda mouthpieces twist the meaning the law and defend the dictator above all else. If rigging elections wont work, the dictator will simply refuse to leave office, suspend the constitution, and appoint himself president for life. Sounds familiar? And yes it can happen here for every democracy throughout history thought it couldn't happen to them before the dictator took over. The GOP has enabled Trump every step of the way from offering formal endorsements, running out any one like Flake who spoke out against their cult leader, and now to finally to a sham acquittal so they themselves can stay in power.
3
I'm probably not the first to invoke Shakespeare here: They doth protest too much.
Isn't that proof enough?
3
Looks like Trump (once again) will shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and still not loose a single Republican vote...this time in the Senate. Why is anybody shocked? Will it take Trump literally shooting somebody for the lesson to sink in? The Republican Party, from rank-and-file to Senators, are ready to follow Glorious Leader off the cliff and drag the country along.
3
Dershowitz’s argument is nothing new to the world of Trumpism. Remember when Trump said “only I can fix it” during his campaign? It’s one of the bedrocks of Trump’s cult of personality: Trump is America, America is Trump. What’s good for Trump must therefore be good for America. Or, as they might say in North Korea, the Supreme Leader can do no wrong.
2
The very fact that we're pointing out what the made-for-tv lawyers lied about is also the death of our country. Maddow said the question of how this despot was going to be re-elected has been looming over her since 2016. What she didn't know was the lawyers for the despot would be complicit in having him remain in office.
We're dead, guys.
2
8 investigations into Benghazi desensitized people from believing anything from either side. Telling his voters that the dems are stealing a past vote while refusing to hear witnesses on crimes is odd. Then saying even if he did it OK. Then saying no matter what he can never be impeached is what Putin would ask for. President is always innocent. Trump University and the Trump foundation were blips. Like his Casinos. Like his wives. Now like our country. Just a blip.
5
@Uri - Seriously, don’t be giving them ideas.
History speaks of dates that will live in infamy. The day the Republican party successfully prevents witnesses from appearing in the trump impeachment will be one of those dates. It will be the result of years of lying and cheating and gerrymandering to benefit a party that no longer represents the interests of the American people. A few thousand votes have brought this nation closer to fascism than any attack from abroad. We have done it to ourselves.
2
Democrats control the House. Voters must decide if Democrats were foolish for not calling all of the witnesses when they controlled the proceedings. Republicans of course, control the Senate. Do we want to re-elect shortsighted Democrats?
@William McCain Do you not understand they called witnesses, but Trump refused to let them testify?
Does that sound like he is hiding his proof of innocence, or guilt?
4
Equally flabbergasted at the Dershowitz argument! Aside from the circular reasoning that results in Trump doing whatever he wants with impunity, if successful, the country will now be rendered unable to enforce any checks and balances? No matter how much pressure is placed on Rep S
senators to vote for quick acquittal, those who take their oath seriously should be willing to risk their jobs to save our democracy. Those senators should also be removed from office along with their WH corrupt leaders. Shame on all who are turning a blind eye to the horror show that is taking place. Call witnesses, if for nothing more than to convince Americans like me that I am wrong about the breadth and depth of corruption. Too risky, says Moscow Mitch...hmmm, wonder why there is any risk at all???
3
The GOP senators are in thrall not to DJT but to Mitch McConnell. The threats he must be making to his colleagues must be very serious, if none of them will act independently--even in thought. The greatest deliberative body in the world is just a giant sandbox full of babies afraid to get more Kentucky sand kicked in their faces.
This is more pathetic, and the real story, than thinking the GOP senators are doing Trump's bidding. Their actions are once removed and based solely on their desire to retain what they believe is their personal access to power. The thing is they have lost track of the fact that the constitution gives each of them tremendous power, if they decide to use it. Somehow, they have come to believe that they only have power as part of a majority, or as part of a group, and not as individual voices (remember John McCain anyone?).
Like members of a street gang, they feel powerful in their group. And like a street gang, they have thrown their sense of right and wrong under a bus in order to follow leadership that is on the wrong side of society. When the time comes for them to actually lead, they will have forgotten how.
2
To argue as Alan Dershowitz has done, that a president can do whatever “he believes” is in the public or national interest acquiesces to a fascistic belief that the people serve the government rather than the government serves the people. First, the money was not under the President’s jurisdiction: it was appropriated by Congress not the White House and, therefore, it would be an abuse of power to misuse it for any purpose other than what Congress intended. Second, what else does Mr. Dershowitz’s argument allow for: libel, false news, restrictions on voter registration, gerrymandering to redraw election districts to a Trump advantage? His argument might well be tarred and feathered though this entire white-wash of a Republican-led Senate trial is sadly tarring our democracy.
3
The introduction of a "Catch 22" defense seems overtly crazy? But here it is, front and center in the USA. Next up in the cuckoos nest: Mitch should have a press conference in the nude and plausibly deny his nudeness. My money says he can.
Blind Lady-Justice just got her MAGA cap handed to her, while they stole her scale of justice.
Collective pretense by the powerful: Fascism.
1
Not to worry. The entire book will get leaked by the resistance before the 2020 election. Anyway, to no one’s surprise, welcome to the new U.S.A. Fahrenheit 451 era. Enforced here by the Trump Republican regime.
“But you can't make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up around them. It can't last.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Tags: lies, lying, truth, willful-ignorance
1
if there's no witnesses or new evidence called then the Democratic senators should walk out en masse. let this administration have their empty, pyhric victory without Democrats participating in this farce.
3
@csmith
wouldn't that be something? dems boycotting the vote. Trump would probably claim 100% of the senate exonerated me!
I hope if I am ever in legal trouble my tax dollars work for my defense the way they are working to “defend” this stable genius. I want to see how much of our tax dollars have been wasted trying to cover up for him.
What these badly called lawyers (including Republican senators) are doing is not a defense, it is a cover up. Lawyers are the reason why the rest of us feel suffocated by government. Shame on all of you!
2
@MC Astoria
it wasn't that long ago that Trump's lawyer got his own lawyer. so we're probably talking 10's of millions in defense of the indefensible
2
Republican Senators should remember the famous admonition, basically derived from the Scriptures, of Sir Thomas More in the play and movie "A Man for all Season's"--
"It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for Wales...? Just replace the word"Wales" with "Trump".
4
Minor detail... it is NOT in the public interest to have an insane and corrupt president be re-elected especially when using corrupt means to do so.
Dershowitz’ name will live in infamy as will all the senators and the Chief Justice who are all obviously supporting this sham trial.
I’m beyond disillusioned.
4
Exactly what goes down when the judge and jury are accomplices to the criminal. The entire Republican party is a grand mal criminal enterprise that has seized the government
Vote Trump and the rest of the perps out of office
3
Coming from my agnostic brain I sometimes think maybe God is on his last wits with humanity, maybe he thought to punish us for all the bad deeds we unleashed on his beautiful planet, his favorite Earth!
3
I think it is true that Trump wants to be king. All that gaudy gold plating and frilly stuff in the pictures over the past four decades that can be seen in the pictures of his properties -- all that gross interior design work -- signifies how he fashions himself.
Now we see his behavior ever since descending from a gold escalator, and he has acted like a king, a monarch. Gross!
3
As a U. S. Navy submarine veteran, I took the oath to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign & domestic, five times. I’ve never thought we’d have serious domestic enemies. But now, given three years of Trump, I believe we are at a dangerous fork in the road for our nation.
Trump has been impeached, should be tried using all the facts and witnesses, and if found responsible for what he did, be removed from office. Trump and Republicans say there is no case. Here is my reasoning to remove him from office:
Trump Impeachment – A three month impeachment in the House, now in trial in the Senate for:
- Endangering U.S. National security by:
• Asking a foreign government, Ukraine, to investigate dirt on Joe Biden and son in the 2016 campaign and withholding White House meetings for the new Ukraine president until agreeing to announce this
• Asking foreign governments of China and Ukraine to meddle in 2020 elections by investigating Biden
• Withholding congressionally approved $400 million in foreign military aid needed by Ukraine to fight Russia, a key U.S. enemy, who invaded Ukraine in March '14
- Obstructing Congress’ Constitutional powers to investigate the executive branch in Article 1, Section 2 by refusing to provide documents and witnesses to the House to fully investigate the above acts
If the Senate trial ends this week with no witnesses, and acquits him, Trump will claim total exoneration during his "State of the Kingdom" speech Tuesday. God help us all.
8
Republicans are on a course to destroy the country. Minority rule. Constitionless governance. Stopping them is going to take everything we’ve got.
4
This is really disheartening. I held out hope that at least four Republicans would have enough moral courage to vote for witnesses. Many of these people have been disparaged and belittled by Trump; "Lyin' Ted Cruz; Lindsey Graham - "disgrace," "nut job", "one of the dumbest human beings." Now they cover up his misdeeds. He has completely co-opted the Republican party. If the Republic survives Trump, these people will never wash the stink off. Why in the world would you want to be a U.S. Senator with this on your conscience? To paraphrase Arlen Specter: why would you let the Republican primary electorate define who you are? Just do the right thing, get voted out of office if that is what it means and get a lobbying job.
2
We are one short step away from the Politburo.
6
The most corrupt administration in U.S. history!
8
"I had to bribe/blackmail/etc. my political opponent because, as a threat to my re-election, he was a threat to the public interest. I therefore clearly acted in the best interest of the public by attempting to injure him." How silly.
1
I foresee this president being re-elected and within his 2nd term many newspapers and journalists are silenced.
3
The definition of treason is the crime of betraying one's country. Based on the vote of this so called trial, hundreds of other people also need to be impeached and removed from office.
4
Public interest? You must be joking. That is the most absurd justification for this ridiculous misuse of power and authority they could possibly put forward. When 75% of the country wants to hear from witnesses and at least half of the country thinks from what has been revealed in these proceedings that he needs to be removed, but possible public interest is served by Trump's actions. The SHAM part of this trial is the pathetic case put forth by Trump's legal charlatans.
2
this is the "rock bottom" you've heard tell about...
6
Only blind robots fail to recognize the Trump Republican Party's con job.
4
America, do you realize that you are just one heartbeat away from seizure of power?
5
The People must decide if it's in the national interest to re-elect a president, not the president himself. What a ridiculous notion, and a precedent that, if set, confirms a monarchy in the White House instead of a president beholden to the people and checked by Congress and The Supreme Court. What happens if, as he has already dangled, Trump decides his third term is in the national interest?
46
Does this mean Trump is so weak that he can do whatever he wants to get re-elected, while everybody else has to play by the rules?
Or does it mean that Trump and everybody else can do whatever it takes to get elected? No rules remain?
What about his cronies who were convicted of election fraud for 2016--is this libertine policy retroactive?
So Trump is right, he can do whatever he wants because he is dictator--oops, president?
25
You mean right-wing GOPers don't want witnesses to "corroborate" Trump's version of his alternative reality and facts? he-he.
If so, it only means that his denials, and those of his cronies, prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he is GUILTY AS CHARGED!
16
I’m sorry, but this country is finished.
44
Massive protests should be in the streets across the country. This says that the president is above the law. Preposterous!
36
@S Goodfriend
Americans deserve their diminishing democracy if they don't get out in the streets and oppose the notion that Trump can do anything to assure his re-election because he determines it is in the "public interest." Unbelievable. The very opposite of this is the very tenet upon which democracy is based. We will lose this democracy to an intellectual and moral midget, thug and criminal if we do not wage a considerable protest. Astounding and disheartening that Americans are just sitting by and letting this happen. We are complicit in our own demise.
1
It's one of those 'be careful what you wish for' moments for Democrats. President Mike Pence? No thank you.
3
All it takes is 4 good Republicans to overcome tyranny. The Republicans can't cough out even that many. Leaves me to conclude that Republicans have all made a pact with the Devil.
35
The end cannot come fast enough; finally the nonsense ends
5
@Nature The End is here;No Democracy; Mob rule. If you can beat your neighbor into submission; you win. If you can load the courts; gerrymander; take people's rights away;go to it. The US is in 1850 Wild West; lawless and dangerous. Yes; the end is near
5
The headline is misleading. Dershowitz was talking specifically about impeaching for a quid pro quo. And if helping re-election was a benefit that could be grounds for impeachment, then every last president would be guilty of endless impeachable offenses.
5
@MJG
What Dershowitz said, essentially, is that extortion isn't a crime when one of his client does it.
7
@MJG
Using the withholding of military aid to force governments in other countries to dig up dirt, real or not, on political opponents?
Yeah, right. That’s banana republic level corruption and you know that.
6
@MJG have your coffee before you post!
1
Sadly Trumps lawyers have not lost their minds as some have suggested. There is no defense so this is the best they could come up with. They provided the cover the Republicans will seize on to block evidence in a trial (also seemingly unbelievable). It's a pathetic cover than no one but a Republican would even consider. The American people need to have these Senators hear their voice that we do not live in a monarchy and don't want one. Call and badger your Senators! This is a disgrace. Derchowitz is a disgrace. Obviously he is a criminal lawyer (works with all the best criminals) and not a constitutional scholar.
16
The people, not a narcissistic madman, get to decide the public interest.
It’s called Democracy!
Trump’s defense is a suspension of the Constitution: it is Putinism. It is the right of kings.
Justice Roberts should have shut it down on the spot as an unconstitutional obscenity. He didn’t.
God help us!
20
The only thing in the public interest is for Mr. Trump to leave the office of the presidency, taking his sycophants with him.
18
Mr. Bolton...why wait for what appears to be a foregone conclusion...aquittal.. If you really want to say something important for the sake of this country just say it...You are still an American with the right and freedom to speak...so speak.
You don't need the senate's approval or the president's approval...you are a free American.. do what is right... Speak out now before it is too late.
21
“Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest,” Mr. Dershowitz, a celebrity defense attorney and member of Mr. Trump’s legal team, said on the floor of the Senate.
He added: “And if a president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”
So if he murders Joe Biden to help himself get elected, Mr. Dershowitz's logic appears to agree..... that's kosher.
20
The dictatorship is complete and now fully endorsed by the GOP and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Goodnight, USA.
20
But, but Trump's nepotism is different!
7
So it would be in the public's best interest if he just had his political opponents assassinated?
17
Trump is as qualified to determine the "public interest" as the Mad Hatter.
8
Why are they covering up the crimes of a CROOK? Anyone who condones this is just as bad as Trump. As an American citizen who works, pays taxes, and VOTES I am outraged by the atrocities against America that are being committed by Trump and his political minions. "A President should be able to do whatever needs to be done to get re-elected"??? How ignorant do they think people are? Wake up Republicans, the Good Ole Boys Club is going to come crashing down. ALL of them should be charged with treason and crimes against the American public and government!
11
If the Republicans get away with ruining our Constitution, I will spend the rest of my life working against them, picketing the Bohemian Club headquarters in San Francisco, in their neighborhoods, outside the Pacific Union Club, and the other refuges for the rich, selfish and crooked.
8
Dershowitz painted himself into a corner. He seems to not grasp that any self-respecting legal mind in the country sees him trying desperately to climb walls to escape.
8
Oh, I just knew that get around to the most specious claim possible, that Trump did it for Trump because he knew only he could fix America's problems. These guys are the most despicably elastic contortionists of all time.
I have a friend who was at a GOP friend's house the other night when a robocall came to her answering machine. My friend said that it was Trump's voice shouting, "I am the only one who can fix your problems, etc." She said that she reached over and turned it off so she didn't have to listen to his shouting diatribe. Her friend just sat there waiting for the next call from Trump, when she could genuflect and curtsy before the chosen one in privacy.
6
Will they cease being Cowards or will they put Trump above our Democracy ??
6
Who needs pesky facts when there is a dictator-in-wait to install?
14
Another side bar to this whole tragic mess is the incredible decline of Alan Dershowitz. Right before our eyes- he ends his stellar career by making weak, contradictory, crazy arguments defending what the most crooked, incompetent, destructive president in US history. What a sad end. Really!
13
@NRS
Decline? Stellar career?
What Alan Dershowitz are you talking about?
1
With McConnell in charge, this was always going to be a sham trial. While I had hoped several republicans would stand up to honor their oath of office, that looks less and less likely.
Just remember this in November and vote, and help your friends and neighbors to vote.
Our democracy depends upon a substantial Democratic victory that regains the White House and the Senate.
Give as much as you can to support Democratic success and the survival of our nation and its constitution.
11
@Steve W
"help your friends and neighbors to vote."
This sounds like rigging the election and will justify Trumph declaring the election invalid if he loses and so not leaving the WH. His lawyers will argue that he is doing this for the good of the USA.
It's important to remember that the Senators who will vote to acquit, despite knowing that Trump was using his presidency to pressure a foreign government to create allegations against a political opponent, are not doing so in a vacuum. Their constituencies, the Republican Party, wants this kind of corruption in Washington DC.
We now live in a country where 40% of the population wants a corrupt Republican as the head of the government. Not only do Republicans understand Trump's corruption, they actively aid and abet his corruption. Whatever Trump pulls in the run-up to next November, whatever laws he breaks, whatever rules he violates, the Republicans in this country now bear the responsibility for it.
Republicans cannot say they did not know. They cannot call for the rule of law or even just common decency between people when things don't go their way. Republicans, 40% of Americans, have chosen to be lawless and have diminished the power, prestige, and future of the United States. This is their legacy.
11
Does that include assassination and unlawful imprisonment? If a president has his opponents killed, the Republicans must think that is public interest too. Really, under the Republican argument, any murder a president commits with the belief that the murder will help re-election is now a legal act.
13
@Uri Murder would be a state crime also and when he leaves office (if he ever does) he could be tried in a state court and so not pardonable by future Presidents. Trumph should be careful to do it in a red state so that the governor can pardon him.
The disdain for the constitution is now expected from Trump but the fact that so few Republicans understand Trump’s anti-American thoughts and action is bewildering. Further that the old ‘normal’ Republican Americans are not on the side of the constitution is disheartening. This may well be the end of the American experiment.
It was fun while it lasted I guess....
9
Anything that Trump does is NEVER in the public interest. It is ALWAYS in Trump’s interest. Too bad his puppets in the Senate can’t see this and are too afraid of him to think for themselves. The impeachment process must be allowed to proceed, based on the oath of impartiality that all of the Senators took. Guess Mitch told them to forget about it. What, exactly, has become of our elected officials?
10
What kind of farce is this bogus 'trial'?
Disallowing testimony and new, relevant evidence simply because it could shed light on what happened? Testimony and new, relevant evidence that was already demanded through Congressional subpoena which the defendant ignored? Testimony and new, relevant evidence that the defendant desires not be brought up, and in light of these desires, the Senate is leaning towards not producing?
Many Senators have said they are on the fence or have already made up their mind on producing such testimony and new, relevant evidence during the trial because of the demands of Senate leadership and/or a majority of their constituency.
Have these Senators considered the ramifications of making this decision based on such demands, and not making this decision based on the oath they took beginning this trial and the oath they took when they became a Senator?
4
The outcome of the "trial" was preordained by Moscow Mitch when he announced that he would be coordinating with Trump. The twisted "legal" arguments of Trump's "lawyers" is just the icing on the cake to give cover to the sleazy republican senators who fear the 2020 election. The absurd "theory" that Trump can do anything to get re-elected if he believes it is the country's best interests was an unnecessary extra, but certainly put another nail in the coffin of our democracy. This crackpot "theory" would be laughable if it was not so scary. Unfortunately what we have now is a political party and a portion of the electorate clamoring for a dictatorship because they cannot deal with the hard choices that are coming soon for the human race. The default mode for them is to embrace man's most vile selfish instincts. The Democrats did the right thing by standing up for our Constitution and the rule of law and it was inspiring to watch them. VOTE BLUE IN 2020!
7
Watching democracy die before my eyes is awful. Republicans now have more respect for dictators than for fellow Americans who happen to be Democrats. The pace at which the GOP is moving to take over government is relentless. I’m not sure the 2020 election can be trusted, maybe Democrats should ask the UN for observers.
I have both an American and EU passport, but if Trump gets re-elected I can’t decide whether to stay here in the Turkey-style autocracy, or to move to the EU knowing a madman has direct control over an arsenal of nuclear weapons and many of the Republican generals in the US military can no longer be trusted.
9
The Republicans behave abominably. None really care about the nation.
8
Power based on fear. Want to see what happens if we allow for a dictatorship? Look at China right now. Why, with China’s absolute control over every aspect of the country, is there a potential world-wise pandemic, worse than SARS right now? Power based on fear. The Chinese government has learned nothing from SARS. They have done noting at all to address the underlying system of power based on fear that is the cause of this potential world-wide pandemic. Xi crushes anyone who tells an inconvenient truth that could stand in the way of his determination to present a perfect face to the world, to assist in the determination to take over as the sole superpower.
This is exactly why we don’t allow the outing of a whistleblower. This is the kind of fear-based authoritarian country the Republicans, a complicit, cowardly Supreme Court Justice and Harvard professor are actively attempting to create in real time, right now.
4
China has over a billion people, democracy can't function with that population. Doesn't even function at 250m.
The claim by Dershowitz that Trump's cheating, lying, using government funds for extortion, or those funds as his own piggy bank is just OK because it is in the country's is the most disturbing aspect of the Trump defense and will go down in our history as its low point especially as by their acquittal of Trump Senate Republicans endorse it. Perhaps it will now be ok for the public good to jail all opposition, to kill someone on 5th Avenue by a president because that person did not support him or just because he could do it I could go on, but it makes me sick for the country that has stood for just government for these centuries. Dershowitz justifies Trump as above the law and is the ultimate expression of the GOP position.
Perhaps Trump when he loses will justify invalidating that election because it is against the 'country's interests?
8
I hope someone is writing Profiles in Cowardice - an examination of the character and quality of the United States Republican Senatorial body ... and the need for term-limits.
5
Please forgive me, as I meant to say the Republicans could have exhonerated themselves. And not "exhilarated".
3
@Sandra Chitayat - Blame it on autocorrect. It usually always is.
1
Note to Ben Franklin: No, I'm afraid we couldn't keep it.
9
No witnesses. The obstruction of a fair trial by Republicans is so sad and transparent.
6
I can't believe John Roberts didn't lose his lunch after hearing Dershowitz claim, essentially, that, "It's not a crime if the perpetrator doesn't think it's a crime".
12
@Chicago Guy
You'd better believe it.
1
Okay. Really? Does that mean the Watergate robbery was in the public interest?
10
What country did I wake up in? Maybe I'm not awake and this is just a bad dream. Who are these people that are saying "Hail to the King, long live the King"?
I could have sworn I lived in the United States of America. We don't do kings or dictators. There's a flag on the porch that looks like our flag.... I remember pledging allegiance to it, and "to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all" - where all men are equal under the law and none are above it. We're a nation of laws, not men. Right? Was that just my imagination?
What happened? Did someone just say Trumpistan?
7
Why don’t Americans take on the streets? The American public (beyond comment section and social media) is paralyzed. If something like what Dershowitz stared would be in defense of wrong doing in any other western democracy - hundreds of thousands would demonstrate.
In the USA? „A few dozen demonstrators were seen yesterday in front of the White House“ and that was even a NYTimes News worth!
I don’t get that!
4
How dare the president’s defenders, particularly Dershowitz, claim that trump’s re-election is in the “public interest” !! The public interest is to have our environmental protections and health care and social security taken away by him ??? The public interest is to not control guns and to continue the mass killings in the US?? The public interest is to steal benefits from the poor and give tax breaks to the rich ?? We could go on.
No, Mr. Dershowitz, the public interest is to get trump out of the WH as soon as humanly possible.
4
The Dershowitz Defense: "It's not a crime if the perpetrator doesn't think it's a crime". No doubt he will use this same defense for Harvey Weinstein. Just as he would have for Jeffery Epstein.
6
As you might recall, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in the popular vote by almost 2.9 million votes, so I think it is safe to say the majority of the voting public think it is NOT in the public interest that Trump be in the role of President.
Everyone, Republicans as well as Democrats, knows Trump pressured the Ukrainian President to investigate the Bidens for his own political gain. This is not about truth or democracy. This is about fear and how intensely fearful the Republicans have become of Trump. Decisions made out of fear are ultimately bad ones. It would be ideal if the damaging outcome of Republican decisions based on fear were limited to their party and not suffered by the nation at large, however the tragedy is both the country and principles of democracy are being damaged.
8
"The Democrats’ case . . . charges Mr. Trump with seeking to enlist a foreign government to help him win re-election this year."
The problem with the Democrats' case is that it was legal for Donald Trump to ask a foreign government to help him win re-election. It's not a crime to do so. It's not a misdemeanor. There's no law against it.
It may be misconduct, but that's for voters to decide, not the House and the Senate. The voters will tell us whether Donald Trump's call with the president of Ukraine was perfect. As far as the law is concerned, it was. Perfectly legal.
2
@John Smithson - I’m not an American but I thought that under US law it was illegal to invite a foreign country to interfere in an American election? Is that fact or history?
2
MJM, there are laws against foreign interference in American elections. No one contends that those laws apply here. They don't.
So, no, it was not and is not illegal to invite a foreign country to interfere in an American election.
Is it misconduct or abuse of power for the president to invite a foreign country to interfere in an American election? It very well may be.
But that is a political question, not a legal one. The voters should answer that question in an election. Not the Senate in an impeachment trial.
1
We watch the republicans and trump's lawyers proclaim themselves above the law, and we put our hope in the election come this fall? How can anyone have faith in our elections now? Why would someone who is beyond the reach of the law hold an election? The American people have apparently been accommodating the hoax of democracy for decades now. The jig is up. The veneer has peeled off. They with the gold, have the rules.
6
I hope Rand Paul gets to ask his question about the whistleblower.
There is nothing in the statute that prevents him or the press or a private citizen from mentioning his name.
The prohibition applies only to “agency authorities” within the federal agency where the complaint is made.
2
Dershowitz's actual quote was, "ANYTHING a president does to stay in power is in the national interest,"
ANYTHING, ANYTHING, YES THAT'S WHAT THE MAN SAID, ANYTHING...
trump has been watching Putin extend his rule in Russia, and I imagine he wants to do the same thing. Anything certainly gives him that power.
10
We aren't losing our democracy on a battlefield of war, but in a state house of complacency.
11
@ jaco what about the other 63 m voters?
2
This production is the vanity of the lawyers, not to be confused with an upholding of our laws.
What is on display is the epitome of why lawyers are so despised. They are taught the law, sure, but they are also taught how to lead a supreme court justice by the nose.
Sure, it's all in good fun, until your rights get trampled. I weep for my country.
4
@Allison
Well said!
Suppose that Trump loses the election and then claims that the election was rigged (like he said when he thought he would lose the last one) and refuses to leave the office. these Republican senators would support him, right? What is the plan then?
4
So according to Mr. Dershowitz, it's okay for the president to have political rivals assassinated if he thinks it is in the public interest. How did we get to this discussion? Isn't this the worst case scenario we were worried about in 2016? Did we think the lunacy could go this far? Did we think in 2016 that we would be having a discussion in 2020 about whether the president is justified in fixing the next election?
6
John, of course that is not what Alan Dershowitz said. He said that anything the president does within his lawful powers is legitimate. Assassination of a political rival is not within his lawful powers. Withholding aid is.
1
Could they make the whole thing any slower or more boring! Each member is recognized by the SCJ, then says they have a question, then the card with the question is walked up to the SCJ, and on and on.
2
One part of Trumps Great Xenophobic Wall was blown into Mexico by a harsh wind. The pieces had to be retrieved. A sophisticated tunnel dug under another part of the wall was just discovered.
These horrible people can't even do wrong right.
But the damage is real and constant.
3
Robert Roth, that's the way you get things done. You take action, you see what problems occur, and you fix them. You don't just come up with a plan and expect it to work perfectly.
That's the difference between Donald Trump and Elizabeth Warren (known to some by the affectionate title of Pocahontas in honor of her Indian heritage).
Donald Trump is pragmatic. He takes action as promptly as possible, looks at the result, and makes adjustments. He tries to succeed, of course, but he is prepared for, and can with, failure. His favorite expression is "we'll see what happens".
Elizabeth Warren is idealistic. She prepares detailed plans and tries to cover every contingency in advance. She bulls ahead with her plans, as for her, failure is not an option. Her favorite expression is "I've got a plan for that!".
In the abstract world of academia, where Elizabeth Warren comes from, plans work. In the real world, where Donald Trump comes from, they don't. Former boxer Mike Tyson told us why: "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth".
1
Wouldn't that have made Watergate in the the public interest as well?
3
Today I asked the following question directed at internet, online media, and spoken discussions ....is there any hope for the US? Sadly, no hope was discovered. Upbeat news is scarce...the economy is growing more slowly...maybe this will hurt trump's electability? Seeking negative news that will become a foe of dt is pathetic.
Enjoying tremendously watching Schumer, Pelosi and the other sad Dems whine and whimper. So happy they are/will lose. What a pathetic attempt to usurp the election. What a waste of time and taxpayer money. A sad approach to gaining power. I am hoping Schumer sheds a few tears before this is over. And hopefully Nancy will shake and chatter. Hopefully Nadler will show his sartorial skills again. I can't wait to here the comments from Maxine Waters. And Schiff I hope gets indicted for false claims. Victory is always sweet. But this one will be incredibly sweet.
2
Many of those Republicans in that trial are of Judeo - Christian faith. I wonder what’s their approach and interpretation of the 9th Commandment.
1
The sham impeachment trial is a train wreck with Trump having driven the country to a dictatorship, and his party sycophants complicit in every step of the way. The Constitution, the facts, and the law no longer have meaning. Even common sense fails in the final analysis. I go back to the basics of a communications class where civil argument was defined. I see Trump's 'legal team' defying every tenant of reasoned discourse, lying, distorting, and diverting from the facts. I am thoroughly convinced we are, and are living under a Dictatorship and our Democracy is lost. It makes me sick to my stomach.
Lastly we must know that Democrats will not stand a chance in the upcoming Presidential election because the corrupt Republican party and their leader will cheat to keep Democrats from voting and will use any and all means of cheating in the election in favor of the current Dictator. The election will be a sham just as the impeachment trial is.
3
The idea that we should vote Trump out of office is as naive as believing Collins will step out of party line.
There will be no elections this November because as soon as Trump is acquitted by Friday, he will declare Martial Law by Saturday and suspend all future elections — it’s in the public interest can’t you see?
Welcome to the Trump dictatorship.
Brought to you the corrupt GOP.
2
This is a sham trial. They are going to lose the senate.
3
Trump has the absolute right to question corruption in any country we are sending funds to. Dems just don’t want him uncover the Biden corruption....which is already known.
2
It is true, if not technically illegal, Biden has no business using his political connections to help his son become wealthy. Clintons do the same for their daughter. This is part of our national disgust with politicians who use ‘public service’ to weaken our democracy. This doesn’t make what Trump is doing, which empowers our enemies and damages our international standing, right.
2
Jared and Ivan’s....!?
Oops! Should be Jared and Ivanka.
According to this argument, the Watergate break-in was legal, as the idea was to help Nixon's campaign.
This is where we are? This is being put forward in the Senate?
10
Let’s back up. The majority voted for Clinton. Trump won through the arcane machinations of the Electoral College. Let’s see what the voters decide to be in their best interest, in the next election.
Also, we know that Trump broke the law when he froze the funds, the allocation of which goes to Congress to decide.
1
“In the public interest” is not true. True would be “in the interest of roughly 35 percent or less of the public”. Exclusion of half the public interest is simply un-American. It didn’t say “We The ruling party minority percentage of the People” dictate.
Republicans are not concerned about the precedent they’re setting, as they do and expect to continuously live by a different standard as per usual. Honesty and law for thee, but not for me, should be their party motto.
Careful what you wish for.
3
The Republican Party has a slim majority in the Senate but if the Democratic Minority can't convince the Republicans that removing Trump from office is the right thing to do on so many levels for so many different reasons... then those Democratic Senators aren't any better than the Republican ones. So don't blame it all on the stubbornness of the Republicans when the Democrats can't persuade someone to act in their own best interests and they have all the evidence on their side. It's systemic and perhaps even institutional failure at this point if this is what happens.
“Every public official I know believes that his election is in the public interest,”
Of all the absurd arguments I've heard so far, this one tops the list. It is egomania writ large: "I am this nation's savior, therefore whatever I do to stay in power is good for the nation."
If the Senate cannot see through the craziness of this argument, we are surely lost.
9
Obviously, the plan the Senate GOP plan is to ignore 75% who want to hear from witnesses in favor of the 25% who don't. That and, of course, protecting themselves from the wrath of Trump and his followers.
Question: Senators, what do you plan to do about the 75% of Americans can see what you are doing?
7
Bribery is specifically a sufficient cause for impeachment under our Constitution. How is the President's conduct not bribery?
6
It’s in Trumps public interest to be re-elected as President, according to Trumps senate colleagues. From what I understand Trump will be allowed to ask Putin or any other leaders to help with his re-election. if we are to believe Trumps impeachment lawyers this sets a new president in our democracy.
1
When I emigrated to this country thirty years ago I saw so much potential here. But this is no longer the same country. I thought Jim Crow, yellow journalism and narrow thinking were in it's past.
Mitch McConnell has destroyed the Senate. It is mean't to act as a check on Congress to stop its abuses. To make sure it put many rules in place. Those rules have been gutted.
Separation of church and state is misunderstood but we allow a large portion of the country to act as if the earth is flat and praise their ignorance.
How can we as a country talk about democracy when it is dead here. The evolution as news as entertainment has resulted in huge portions of the country being misinformed on both sides of the political spectrum.
Capitalism a great system but it needs checks before it becomes toxic capitalism (just look at our health care industry and housing markets). If you let money simply rule without limits or markets to be manipulate then other system such as communism and socialism will win over.
3
In the 1970's a liberal Democratic legislator in the Michigan House of Representatives, furious over a sweetheart deal contained in a tax bill that was about to pass in a final vote, stepped to the microphone and bellowed: "ARE WE SHEEP?" The House floor erupted in raucous laughter.
What has happened to Senate Republican caucus members who believe and live by good, sound fundamentally conservative principles of the "party of responsibility" and the Government Of the People to make them cower before a mob boss in Donald John Trump?
2
Obviously, the Senate GOP plan is to ignore the 75% who want to hear from witnesses in favor of the 25% who don't. That and, of course, protecting themselves from the wrath of Trump and his followers.
Question: Senators, what do you plan to do about the 75% of Americans can see what you are doing?
1
If Bolton's book is classified what happened to freedom of speech? First Amendment? Sworn oath to uphold the Constitution? Sounds like grounds for impeachment.
3
Trump’s defense team argues “let the people decide”. Well shouldn’t the people have all the facts? How can the people decide when relevant witnesses like Bolton and Mulvaney are being blocked? How can the people decide when documents are being withheld? Don’t the people deserve the absolute truth? If Trump’s team really believes that the people should decide then fine...let us decide. Give us all the facts. And let. Us. Decide.
5
Only to be overridden by the rigged rube Electoral College.
1
@Pottree true. Actually the people did decide in 2016. 3 million more people voted for Clinton. But the electoral college, like gerrymandering, are the only tools the failing GOP have to steal elections.
Adam Schiff: "All quid pro quos are not the same. Some are legitimate and some are corrupt.”
That's why there's no law against quid pro quos. That's why there is no law that defines "abuse of power" or "obstruction of Congress" and makes those things a crime.
When the president uses his powers, how can you tell whether he is doing so legitimately or corruptly? How can you can you read his mind? You can not.
Bribery is a crime, well defined. (And thanks to Senator Robert Menendez's case, better defined now.) Treason is a crime, well defined. Other crimes and misdemeanors as serious as those are on the books, and everyone knows what those laws demand.
No serious, criminal law has been cited here. Instead we hear the president engaged in non-criminal misconduct. But every president can be accused of abuse of power by a hostile House, and evidence put forth to support it. Every president can be accused of obstructing Congress when it is controlled by the opposing party.
It's good for the president to use his power to accomplish his ends, even against the will of Congress. That's balance of power, as in checks and balances. That's the way it's supposed to work. That way, in the end, absent serious criminal behavior, the voters decide who to give power to.
1
@John Smithson
Extortion is an inchoate crime. It is criminal when the offer is made (what's popularly referred to as quid pro quo), not if or when it is accepted or a transaction is completed, and exists whether or not the other party "feels pressure". Extortion.
Trump extorted by making aid (which he did not have the authority to deny, in violation of another separate law) conditional on a foreign government delivering to him through his personal lawyer something of value to his campaign. Campaign law violation.
He released the aid only when there was a possibility that it would come to light that the deal had violated the law. Mens rea.
He hid evidence in a manner that mis-classified it. If you think that was inadvertent, then his competence is flawed. Mens rea. Obstruction.
He decreed a blanket refusal of congressional subpoenas, and had potential witnesses initiate a judicial process that would have extended the review process into the election. If you think that was "making square corners" then you were not alive during or currently aware of Nixon's case. Mens rea. Obstruction.
They are now claiming Bolton should not testify to his knowledge, because some of his manuscript is reported to contain classified information. If you believe that is precisely founded, and merely to "make square corners" then I have a bridge to sell you. Mens rea. Continuing obstruction.
Impoundment law violation.
Campaign law violation.
Extortion.
Obstruction.
2
Let's not forget what Marie Yovanovitch said in her testimony. While this aid was being withheld due to Trump's unquenchable lust for power, there was a terrible and tangible consequence. Ukrainians died. They were waiting on the money to buy javelin weapons so they could fight the Russians in this bloody civil war. This is not just about Congress, or a phone call, or a meeting. Human lives were at stake. Lives of our allies, in all likelihood, were lost.
4
Best defense since, "If the glove doesn't fit you must acquit."
If it's in the public interest for Trump to be President why have an election? Trump decides what's best for all Americans and Republicans agree with anything he decides.
We don't have a President, we have a dictator.
5
I wonder if these lawyers would argue that Nixon was acting "in the public interest" when he orchestrated the break in at Watergate for his re-election? I would like to think not.
4
I have no respect for the Republican senators putting on this dog and pony show. If they had voted right at the beginning to dismiss the impeachment articles, I would not have had any respect for them, but at least I would have thought they the guts to do something openly and directly.
2
We have had lawyers since the day God handed Moses the Ten Commandments and I can't stand them.
They don't want witnesses because it is a waste of time. I argue that if we don't have witnesses, the last 243 years would have been a waste of time.
And, I also argue that because we have Senators (Collins) who could vote one way or the other just to save their job and forever change this country by strengthening presidential power is the reason we need term limits. "...Her long Senate career". Indeed!
2
How can there be even the appearance of impartiality (impartial jurors) if GOP Senators are meeting with the WH? Certainly jurors do not get to meet privately with the defendant during a lawsuit. And I do not see Roberts stepping in requiring witnesses. The Senate trial is a farce thanks to McConnell, Graham, Cotton, Nunes, Tillis, Gardner etc. VOTE THEM OUT IN 2020. SAVE OUR CONSTITUTION!
5
A republic, if you can keep it. Apparently we can't. The American experiment is over. Requiescat in pace.
3
Anything that the president does to win re-election is in the public interest, is an absurd argument. The audacity it takes to even make that statement in public shows how far we've fallen.
6
Americans only want their senators to pursue the truth via documents and witnesses where questions remain, and then make a decision. Putin really would prefer to avoid fairness and acquit. Its that simple.
2
Dershowitz's argument would allow a president to confiscate voting machines because it is in the best interest of the country that he/she remain president. If the forefathers wanted only the president to control what is in the best interest of the country they would not have created a Congress and Judiciary to check him/her. The self interest of the Republicans in this Congress has allowed an illogical argument like Dershowitz's to be voiced. Have they no shame?
2
If only Nixon were here to see the "vindication" of his "If the president does it, it's legal."
2
The offensive show the Senate has and is still relentlessly pushing forward, is one of the most offensive corruptive displays of hatred against the Constitution and treason against our Country.
There are no other words for it.
Democracy is dead and the rule of law has been thrown out of the window with the help of lawyers willing to lie on behave of the American President who has been barking for months now to keep any witnesses out of the Senate
to keep his criminal enterprise going.
Supreme Court justice Roberts was able to showed disinterest and wanted no part of it, while letting the lies and corruption continue without pause.
American Justice, once the best in the world, now resembles authoritarian Russian and Chinese governments in which only one man dictates the law and that man in our case is an eternal looser in his private life with multiple bankruptcies, who is mentally unfit to govern any enterprise and can only operate by threats and bullying.
America as we knew it, is dead with the longtime help of Putin.
3
When I heard Dershowitz make his argument in real time yesterday, I was shocked and posted on my facebook page that Dershowitz had made a serious gaffe. By the end of the Senate day, it was clear the GOP was buying what he was selling and the word "gaffe" was wrong. It is apparently an acceptable new principle for our country.
2
These questions are a complete waste of time. John Roberts serves no purpose in being there. The Republicans only care about winning and staying in power supported by the financial backers that have helped corrupt our way of government. Our Democratic leadership doesn't know how to fight and were asleep at the wheel while Obama was obstructed, Garland was blocked, hundreds of frequently unqualified justices were pushed through and our government is dismantled by the Republicans. When will Democrats learn the Republicans don't care about anything except winning at all costs? Let's get this sham over with and get rid of as many of them as possible in November. What more motivation does this nation need?
4
Was the intention to hold back the money in the public interest? And was lying about it also in the public interest?
Lie after lie after lie.
1
So I guess if Republican senators agree with the president's defense lawyers that anything a sitting president does to stay in office is in the county's best interest and therefore unimpeachable, we live in a dictatorship. End of story. And of democracy.
2
Tax payer dollars have become a pawn in a game of chess for these Republicans as they seek to avoid a checkmate scenario.
Don’t worry. It’s in YOUR best interest that they get re-elected and continue to enrich themselves.
Let’s remove this clown from office and replace him with Tom Steyer who I think is the best candidate although I disagree with him on the wealth tax.
Then we can focus on ending the war in Afghanistan. Just the other day seven members of the same family were killed in an airstrike.
1
Yes, the Republicans and the President are clearly transparent, later they won't allow publication of the votes in November.
1
Next time a bank gets robbed, the culprit should request a trial without any witnesses.
2
Surprised at the naivety of my fellow readers. This was never going to be an objective trial. This is a purely political process. That’s why the Democratic majority House voted to impeach and the Republican Senate will vote to acquit. Spare me your outrage. Grow up. In November it will be decided by the voters as it should.
When a person actively works to the detriment of their own country - isn't there a word for that? I think it starts with a "T".
4
Very sad day for America. What use is the constitution now?
1
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke.
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.
(I happened to be reading MacBeth yesterday)
4
Wouldn’t want the truth to inadvertently slip out?
1
To all of you who think this will be solved in November, I've got a bridge to sell you. The dictatorship of the GOP is now complete.
I'm betting the 2020 election will be cancelled because Trump thinks, "It's in the country's best interest for me to remain in power until I die and at that point Ivanka will become queen. In fact, I am simply going to jail Democrats, close newspapers, and disband Congress. I am the supreme leader. I can do anything I want."
3
The Republican apologists are endlessly interesting. I suppose if Trump invaded Canada, massacred people in Los Angeles, or arrested Adam Schiff it would all be just fine as long as it was to help in his re-election.
Dershowitz should be fired from Harvard, and the others should be in prison.
45
@Curtis Hinsley
Dershowitz is already retired from Harvard. However, he still has emeritus status, but that, along with retirement privileges, can be revoked, as Harvard did last year for another professor.
2
Why no subpoenas from Schiff during the House phase?
7
@Dr. John
They tried to send subpoenas. They were either ignored or threatened with lawsuits.
11
@Dr. John
No conspiratorial sinister reason. They are still waiting for the courts to process the MacGhan subpoena.
They just thought it would take too much time. Since Trump is prone to cheating they had to consider the approaching elections wherein he is openly inviting foreign meddling again.
11
@Dr. John
There were. Do you remember Don McGahn for example?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/us/politics/mcgahn-testimony-ruling.html
8
Harvard should fire Dershowitz, not for defending Trump, but for making unintelligent and foolish arguments.
31
"“If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,” he said."
I almost fell off my couch when I heard Dershowitz proclaim that. That anything the president does to promote his own election--which he believes is in the national interest--can't be corrupt or worthy of impeachment.
I've heard the word "expansive executive authority" used to describe this defense, but it's as old as time: "l'etat c'est moi."
Dershowitz is simply stating the president is now a king, and with their acquiescence to this point, Republicans are agreeing.
In that case, why bother to hold an election? Why bother to have a two-party system or even a constitution? After all, the presiden't surely doesn't see those things as part of the national interest, so why should ordinary citizens?
3571
@ChristineMcM I couldn't believe it, either. Trump's lawyers have lost their minds.
349
@ChristineMcM
I fell off just now when he quoted Maxine Waters out of context, calling the House lawless and defending the most lawless president of all time.
They are all about the Bidens, the Clintons—anyone but Individual 1.
201
@ChristineMcM
Thank you for pointing out that particular Dershowitz comment.
It was only a matter of time before Trump, or someone in his cabal, would proclaim that Trump's reelection is in America's best interest and abusing the office of the presidency to achieve that end was justifiable. Cough. Gag. Spit.
It is an argument used by many an autocrat, but not U.S. presidents.
462
This is a trial? A bunch of windbag lawyers and senators passing notes back forth? Where are the witnesses, the emails, the memos, the meeting notes, the telephone logs? I spent thousands of hours in courtrooms in my life and never really knew what boring and meaningless rhetoric really was until now.
1732
@GQgalt. The one where Trump blocked most of the key witnesses from testifying? How is that o.k.?
135
@JQGALT
The House had witnesses and documents and would have had even more of them if the White House had not stonewalled them.
148
@james haynes
I guess you missed the 3 month “impeachment inquiry” in the House.
50
Republicans are simply arguing in an attempt to legitimize dictatorship. No less. This is revolting, infuriating, and horrifying. It goes against the rule of law and everything our nation stands for. The Republican party is strangling democracy before our eyes.
2777
@Dominic Call your senator-- if they vote for no witnesses, vote them out!
51
Did you happen to see the recent Trump rally in South Jersey? Chilling, I couldn’t help being reminded of Mussolini with his posturing and posing during his speeches .. the crowd roared to each of his hyperbolic lies and he literally bathed in it. A win in 2020 and the US as we have known it will seriously be in peril.
170
@M
There will be no fair election. You are watching the election right now in the Senate.
82
So now Trump is above the law. He has a more divine, king-like authority than presidential power. I wonder how many GOP senators see him and above the law, "the chosen one." They certainly don't seem to view him as a mere mortal who swore to uphold the nation's constitution.
1031
@Julie Risser
I think the correct title is Supreme Ruler.
44
@Julie Risser Spot in with your comment. Shame, Shame, Shame on each and everyone who chose to further the Trump cause of dismantling our Constitution, our rule of law, our American way of life. All that was fought from the beginning of our American Revolution, lives that have died to defend the constitution, to defend this country has just been tossed aside to now swearing allegiance not to the United States but to a con man from Queens, New York, Donny Trump.
99
@Julie Risser
It must be the hair.
18
What a change from Watergate, where the rule of law and country over party were the norm. Had Nixon used the same defense, the courts, the media and the public would have pointed out the folly of the argument. Fast forward to today, where such specious claims are granted validity by a compliant GOP majority of sycophants, a fervent base that does not understand Trump works against their best interests, and a selection of right-wing media that chooses to validate abnormal public and private behavior they would skewer if done by a Democrat. An acquittal will open the door to more bad actors in the Trump mold who abuse the Constitution, use the highest office in the land for personal gain and create chaos at home and abroad. I fear we are witnessing the decline and fall of American democracy and Republicans will go down in history as the leaders of our collapse.
1464
@Tim
But the reporters at the NY Times are absolutely convinced that their only duty is to report exactly what Republicans say and contrast it with what Democrats say and announce that both have equal weight.
The far right has now convinced journalists that their job is not to report the truth, but to report falsehoods and give them equal weight with the truth.
105
@Tim
Nixon in the David Frost interview, "When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal". That was essentially Dershowitz's argument.
Two criminals committing the same crime with the same defense.
58
@Tim-Fastforward to the decision, McConnell may claim he can contain Trump and holds the reigns of power, but that's virtually impossible with a narcissistic, chaos actor. He may say to four Senators, facing an uphill re-election: "I'll let you dissent, but let's it. No more." Then watch Trump's revenge. He's already used government funds to reward red states (more farm aid bailout) and threaten blue states (no aid for you unless you come to heel). And, because we have an insecure voting system and state races can be decided by dark money and a slim margin of votes--Trump and Republicans will aim to get him re-elected, by of course 3 million more votes--just as Bush Jr. did. Tragically, our still vulnerable voting process and the Electoral College all but guarantee it.
36
Others have said it so eloquently but I must add my voice to this chorus — how is it possible for ‘public interest’ to be identical to or even associated with an individual politician’s goal of reelection?
What utter nonsense!
4
Welcome to the United Banana Republic folks. You heard the man, anything a dictator does to win an election is in the public interest. Only Republicans know how to govern responsibly (as everyone who doesn't want to be rounded up and thrown in jail knows), so it's really for the good of the people if the dictator decides to step outside the bounds of the law to keep us all from foolishly voting Democrat. Remember, fake elections have consequences!
2
It is appalling to witness such low level attorneys repeat Russian Kremling lies.
It is disheartening to listen to "Fox & Friends Republican talking points.
It is disgusting to watch a senate whose 2016 and 2018 elections were invalidated by their cooperation with GRU russian military officers, or witness Moscow Mitch's acts of treason in full view of the entire world.
2
My Dictatorship will be Trump’s new reality show. Soon to be number one in North Korea and Russia.
American democracy is reduced to a farce. Every Pakistani militart general who overthrew an elected civilian govt, said he did so in "supreme public interest".
US has now reduced itself to that level.
5
So, Trump can shoot Biden on Fifth avenue, and he would get away with that because it would be "in the public interest!" How far we have sunk!
9
"“If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,” he said."
By this logic, if Trump made a "deal" to have, let's say, Adam Schiff assassinated, he could argue that this deal was in the public interest (in that it might likely, in his opinion, help him get re-elected) and therefore not impeachable. Scary line of reasoning if you ask me... When did Dershowitz go off the deep end? I used to respect his opinions on Constitutional law.
3
Republicans' and the Electoral College's response, with shuttered ears, to the majority of Americans:
"Nah! Nah! Nah! Nah! Nah! I can't hear you!"
1
They don't want to know the truth or to let the truth be known.
3
"This is the way [democracy] ends. Not with a bang but a whimper." Paraphrased from "The Hollow Men." How apt the title. Oh, but it will never happen HERE! (utter sarcasm).
2
I’m not impressed that Trump clearly exceeded his presidential authority to discuss criminal matters with other countries. According to the GAO, the funds could not be withheld by the president, so that should not occur again. The person who should be censured here is Alan Dershowitz for his silly argument. He is clearly senile (and always has been). He has interesting insights into law, then never fails to take it a step too far, destroying his own credibility. It’s nice that he is still at it.
1
Until recently I was certain Republicans in Congress either didn't understand DJT's threat to Democracy or were biding their time until he was out of office. Now I'm not so sure. It's beginning to look as if the Rs--who have nothing to offer America and must lie, cheat, and consort with kleptocrats to stay in office--are just fine with autocracy as long as they're "in the club."
190
@G Pecos And being 'in the club' is all that counts. Once the GOP lost the levers of power in the House then you saw a mass wave of retirements. Its no fun being in the minority.
5
@G Pecos-At the very least, surely Republicans should be concerned that President Trump has:
* authorized and ran a rogue shadow operation; bypassing State, DoD, Congress, and his own experts
* made veiled threats against a distinguished ambassador putting her and her family's safety at risk and then fired her without grounds
* made threats against House lead Adam Schiff and by extension has put his staff at risk
* lied and continues to lies, maligning people who have worked for him; putting other State civil servants and their families at risk
* and on it goes...
1
@G Pecos ...me too. Trump likes to talk about conspiracies. Well, there is one. It’s the Republican Party.
It appears that McConnell has the votes he needs to bring the trial to an end this week. I watched all the House hearings and have heard much of the Senate trial, and the Democrats, by far, presented a much stronger case than Team Trump. The House Managers laid out the facts, while Trump’s lawyers, clearly lied. I heard a Trump lawyer say that the Mueller investigation concluded that there was no collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign. Surely, Murkowski, Collins, Romney, Alexander, and other Republicans know that that is flat out false. The truth is plain: Trump tried to pressure Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden. He then did everything to hide that fact.
Winning reelection is paramount for these so-called moderate Republicans, and they will not break from their party to do what’s right regardless of the evidence against Trump.
Now it is up to voters to vote them out in November. We’re the last line of defense against tyranny, and I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic. Trump is a wanna-be dictator, and he will destroy America if he gets another four years.
370
@Diane Martin The Electoral College is the actual source of all this tyranny. Do away with the EC and pave the way for a democracy of the people. It's our last, gasp of a hope.
35
@Diane Martin
*Has already destroyed America.
I think people severely underestimate the damage that has already been inflicted.
I work next to a guy, an engineer who is otherwise a very intelligent person, who believes sincerely with all his heart that George Soros, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Obama are leading a made-for-TV coup attempt against Trump, complete with top secret prison camps capable of housing millions that are being shielded from view by advanced technology, private security forces, and current members of the government who are members of the cabal. Akin to the Hydra organization of the MCU.
And that’s not a joke. He sincerely believes that’s a real thing that is happening, and he stockpiles guns and ammunition which he plans to use to defend himself when the deep state comes for him because that’s what right wing media has told him is happening, 24/7/365. And they’ve so poisoned his thinking, any questioning of his beliefs immediately makes him shut down. He won’t listen to anything that doesn’t come from people like Jack Posobiec.
There are literally millions of people that truly believe the right wing conspiracies. Wall Street banker who attends Ranger games on the weekend? He believes Seth Rich was assassinated by Hillary Clinton. The guy who works the counter at the hardware store? He believes that there is a child labor camp on Mars run by the Democrats with the help of prominent liberals in San Francisco.
The country is already gone.
35
Diane Martin, you don't think you are being hyperbolic? I do. Winning elections is paramount for all politicians. That's what they care about most.
Donald Trump does seem headed for re-election, but he's no dictator, and does not want to be one. If you look at his record rationally rather than hyperbolically you'll find he has been less dictatorish than Barack Obama.
Donald Trump's not going to destroy America. You can make a much better argument that he has made America great again (given the peace and prosperity we enjoy) and will now keep America great. And there's nothing hyperbolic about that.
4
I have absolutely no problem with the President delaying $$$ to Ukraine until they investigated possible corruption of Vice President who could possibly be future President. But anyway, the Dems have not been able to prove that's what happened because they did a blatantly shoddy investigation and have only themselves to blame when the President is acquitted. Unfortunately, the President's lawyers are killing the Dems.
133
@KathyS Then Trump's lawyers should not be afraid of calling witnesses, Kathy. Any idea why they are desperate to avoid it? You seem so enlightened...
884
@KathyS -The GAO said that it was illegal that the money was withheld. Bolton will testify that there was quid pro quo. Lastly , Ukraine was given money in 2017 and 2018 and there was no mention of corruption at that time.
764
@KathyS It might be less shoddy if they weren't blocked at every step, and allowed to do things like get documents and witness testimony. You can't have it both ways.
377
How a Bolton’s manuscript can be used as an evidence? and what kind factual proof this manuscript is corroborated with?
1
Witnesses give testimony under oath. That is what evidence is.
Bolton would testify to the allegations in his book.
4
Sadly, I suppose that if a senator feels that it is perfectly excusable to blackmail a foreign government by withholding previously appropriated funds and to request election interference in return for their release, having John Bolton to corroborate those facts really makes no difference.
94
You know, why even bother with the expensive pretext of elections if what we’ll wind up with is a king, appointed by the Republican minority?
6
@TH
You are being a realist while I am in a stage of denial repeating to myself over and over that he simply cannot be reelected because that will be the end of us. We will officially become a white right wing supremacist nation.
I can't even listen to the president's lawyers or GOP Senators anymore, it makes me sick to my stomach. Then on the way home from work I caught some audio on the radio of Trump grooming all the Republican Senators at the WH. What has happened to this country? Utterly disgusting and sad. I am so angry and I do not know what to do.
428
Vote 2020 while you still can.
52
Get out the vote
44
@Raydeohed me too, but don’t lose hope. On balance, progressivism is winning: diversity increases every day, and despite the aberrant online trolls, people are generally becoming more tolerant. The boomers are aging, and with them, antiquated nativist ideas. They can keep the witnesses, wouldn’t change their minds anyway. We’ll make sure they understand it at the polls.
12
"President Trump’s lawyers argued that anything a president did to win re-election was “'n the public interest.'”
So, Nixon's plumbers' breaking into the Watergate office of the Democratic Party was okay? And it's okay to take something of value from foreign governments, e.g., we use their security apparatus to investigate American citizens?
It's an argument for anarchy.
16
Perilous riding the rapids through this impeachment trial where there's no chance the Democrats can overturn the boat for the vote they want. Trump's own behavior is an offense, whether impeachable or not as shown time and again from his cohorts in jail from the first years, through the children in cages, the throwing of paper towels at people in Puerto Rico, and his plans after a huge tax cut to further cut entitlements. If I were wealthy would I feel differently? I don't think so. Perhaps there will be some honor among the thieves in the GOP to rectify Trump's tenure in office. And an election beckons. A presidential one.
6
If anything Trump does in his own interest can just be explained and dismissed as for the benefit of the country and unimpeachable, how is that any different from the dictators of history who defended themselves by using the same rationale? Do we even need Congress or the Supreme Court anymore?
Regardless of how one feels about Trump, if one cares about preserving the Constitution and the form of governance it prescribes, Trump's defense in the context of history should be of grave concern.
9
If the president can do whatever "in public interest" to get himself elected,then assasinating all his Democratic rivals and suppressing all competing parties are also justified.Still Republicans accepted this ridiculous logic,which showed that they are only committed to overthrow America's political democracy and install a right-wing Authoritarian Dictatorship(like Russia and China).
7
Here we have yet more proof that our system of government is completely broken, corrupted.
Republican senators took an oath to be impartial. They had not the slightest intention of being so. That would have required a real trial, a fair trial.
(And they cannot credibly claim that they had considered the facts and thought Donald Trump’s actions not warranting removal, because we know with absolute certainty that if a Democratic president had done exactly what Donald Trump did, they’d have been calling for the death penalty.)
Thus, they lied when they signed their oaths - consciously and brazenly.
So, so sad.
3
“If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,” he said.
Lying? Cheating? Bribery? Blackmail? Extortion? Murder? Treason? Any of those are okay if it gets Trump elected...which is in the public interest? Is that REALLY their argument? Has anyone asked where that logic ends and plain old criminality starts? Sounds like the language of a dictator.
6
Time to read, "Catcher in the Rye" again. Holden had a bead on the phonies running our world, but he was just a disaffected kid. Now he's grown up and things have not changed; except now he realizes that his adolescent intuitions had more than a grain of truth to them.
3
Wow! What happened to the NYT today? I'm seeing nothing but far-right propaganda in the Comments section. It reads like Breitbart. What gives?
6
@lynchburglady The Army of Ignorance has a policy of shouting other opinions out of the conversation.
1
‘L’etat, c’est Trump!’
1
Alan Dershowitz is truly a sad, twisted little man.
7
@Mike Schmidt
As is his boss, Mr. T.
2
Trump has the Epstein goods on him, it would seem. Else, why would he so embarrass himself in public.
1
The world laughs as the USA slips over the horizon into the abyss of Lost Empires. Listen people, change your fate and get rid of all GOP primordials in Trump's private pool of pus before it's too late.
5
@Loud and Clear I agree. But it may be too late to redeem ourselves from this madness. "The lunatics are in the hall..."
1
@Loud and Clear
The Repubs couldn't do it all by themselves without Dem help. By help I mean the Dems inability to persuade one senator to change his/her mind when the Dems have all the evidence on their side. It is embarrassing. It also means it might be time to consider voting in a more courageous and persuasive type of Democrat than the lame-ohs up there.
1
The GOP has decided that the best defense is Trump is free to do whatever he wants whenever he wants and is above all of our laws.
And no one should think that Trump not only embraces this, this is exactly what he wants and he will be completely unleashed and above the law in his second term.
And Trump will win. No matter how we vote, he has Russian hackers ready to leap into action on Election Day.
2
I find Dershowitz’s argument- anything a president does to benefit his own re-election is really in the public interest-truly disturbing. How far does that go? Is ballot- stuffing ok, because winning your election surely is in the greatest good of the nation? How about canceling an election, entirely? Where, exactly does this slippery slope end, or does it at all?
6
Do these GOP senators realize that regardless of allowing witnesses, regardless of their acquittal, more truths will be revealed with Bolton’s book, and more. How will they backpedal on this one? Or are they counting on our massive lapse of attention (and memory) when the next daily disaster makes the headlines.
5
President Trump misappropriated $400 million of taxpayer foreign aid for personal political purposes, covered it up, and then obstructed Congress when they investigated. The GAO, a non-partisan office, concluded that he broke the law. If he was the CEO of a company, he would've been forced to resign by the Board of Directors a long time ago.
3
There's much talk about 1st hand witnesses. Well, we Americans are 1st hand witnesses to how our Senators ultimately cast their votes for or against impeachment.
So without Bolton's testimony, how can a voter decide if they agree with their Senator's judgement to convict or acquit?
Bolton must testify.
To a voter, that testimony is crucial both for understanding Trump's "drug deal", and for deciding if a Senator deserves re-election.
To the Senator, Bolton's testimony is crucial for deciding how they cast their impeachment vote.
And, isn't removal of a President the most important decision of your Senator's career?
How can anyone re-elect a representative without hearing Bolton's testimony, and then seeing how their representative voted based on that testimony?
3
I wonder if the Chief Justice realizes how low the esteem and respect for the Supreme Court has become since the Kavanaugh and Gorsuch appointments were made, not to mention the BushvGore, Citizens United, and Hobby Lobby decisions? By sitting mutely in the Senate like Saddam Hussein's and Putin's high courts' judges did/do, he is further making a mockery of the Court and Constitution. The House seems to be the only part of government that still holds on to even a thread of credibility and patriotism.
9
@Cowboy Marine Could it be because of the Democratic party's majority?
After listening to the contorted nonsense offered by a defense, one wonders, why would a few eminent attorneys educated by Harvard, Yale, Oxford et al. argue so intently that the president is accountable to noone for anything,that he may VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTION with IMPUNITY?
In this case the House showed he stopped Congressional approved and vetted aid until an ally did him a personal political favor for the 2020 election. Why are the Republicans arguing for unchecked, and uncheckable unconstitutional activity?
2
McConnell will block witnesses just as he and Republicans block gun control, healthcare, election security. fair taxation and other overwhelmingly popular issues. Their only goal is reelection to serve their oligarchs.
6
What really bothers me is that the Supreme Court Chief Justice is presiding over this sham trial, and not interested in knowing the truth by insisting on having documents and witnesses. To see Mr Roberts presiding over this assault on our Constitution and not standing up for justice and fair trial is very discouraging four nation's democracy !
3
The licensing body that issued Alan Dershowitz's law license must immediately begin an investigation into his character and fitness to hold a law license. To hear his statements shows an individual whose moral and legal mindset is certainly at issue. It is beyond the time that attorneys such as William Barr, Rudy Guiliani and Mr. Dershowitz should be called out for the debasing of the legal field. Many other attorneys in America have been investigated for far less egregious behavior and have had their licenses taken away.
6
This feels like a last, desperate attempt to cling to power. So be it. There will be a reckoning at the polls. Trump has turned off many loyalists, while others who initially were excited by the novelty of Trump, are now apathetic. Fine, silence the witnesses. We’ll see you in November...
3
Trump has played to his peanut gallery at every turn and they will vote overwhelmingly for him in November, should he make it that far, one way or the other. Forget them. Lost cause.
Now, the rest of America, the majority, must turn out in our millions at the polls, not split our vote dicking around with third party candidates who cannot possibly win, and overwhelmingly support whoever rises to the top of the Democratic field. Face it, any one of them, even the one you like the least, would be light years ahead of Trump. Anyone.
1
President Trump’s lawyers argued that anything a president did to win re-election was “in the public interest.”
Well, that's certainly how Putin and other dictators look at it.
9
It feels like I'm watching the final piece of the American coup d'état play out on TV. Republican senators risk losing their elections if they support our Constitution. Our form of government is no longer of use to them.
7
'Trump’s lawyers argued that anything a president did to win re-election was “in the public interest.”'
Wow! With the same logic the president can now murder the other presidential candidates, because it helps him win re-election. As absurd as his statement about standing on 5th Ave and shooting somebody was 3 years ago, his minions are working hard to make it true. What has our country become?
7
Most of us knew they'd assist in the coverup, despite the assertions of a few Republican senators that they were thinking of doing otherwise. They aren't immune from the law.
Before they vote to acquit, Republicans should just come out and say it: Nothing matters to us anymore but our power. Our power is more important than the country and the rule of law.
Republicans have further enabled corruption and will allow Trump to go further than he has already. They are actively destroying the rule of law which is the one thing that holds a democracy in place.
And it's worth repeating: Take a minute to imagine the GOP reaction if Obama had done these exact same things. There would be impeachment and a treason trial.
4
I despair for our country. I despair for the American people. The Republican/Trump regime is a full-blown dictatorship, which cannot be stopped by any witness testimony. Let this torturous, pre-determined trial end tomorrow and by all means, do whatever you can to encourage everyone to vote these Republican despots out of office in November. My feeling is that America won't have a free or fair election in 2020, but we can at least try.
3
The tragedy is that according to recent polls, over 65/70% of the constituency, both republican and democrat are in favor of calling additional witnesses. So the GOP is acting against the will of the people. When is America going to stop this?
3
We can presume one or both outcomes from the impeachment affair. Either the end of the Republican party or the end of American democracy as we know it. it's possible it could be both.
2
And there we have it. Anything it takes to be reelected is legal.
Anything. Purging the wrong voters, requesting foreign interference, breaking campaign finance laws, soon it'll be suspending elections or putting your opponents in jail, because then they can't prevent you from being reelected. All legal. totally legit. Can't be impeached for it. Nope.
And this is how a democracy dies. When it decides the president is king.
4
Re: "President Trump’s lawyers argued that anything a president did to win re-election was “in the public interest.” "
This is perhaps the most intellectually dishonest thing I've ever heard in the context of the Constitution... and impeachment.. George Mason, Hamilton, and Madison would die laughing, if they weren't already rolling over in their graves.
1
And what if Trump believes it's in the national interest to scrap the whole idea of term limits? That he knows, in his "great and unmatched wisdom," that nobody could ever be a better president than him, so he's staying in office til he dies?
Is this really the line of reasoning Republicans are going with? Do they truly have no shame?
However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
― George Washington
1
As Trump and his enablers/conspirators have twisted or hidden truth at every turn, I've grown more alarmed.
This is the saddest, most depressing, unethical, inexcusable and short-sighted moment in recent American history.
It's opened my eyes to our inherent inequality in justice.
It's opened my eyes to our ever-widening, (& fully sanctioned,) economic gap.
It's stripping away every right that I thought Americans could count on & expect, in broad daylight, before our eyes.
Absolutely appalling.
1
One wonders what McConnell held over the wavering senators to change their minds about calling witnesses.
1
Let’s skip forward- this horror of a cover up will happen, the Don Jon will have now till November to beat his chest like never before.
There has GOT to be a more prolific communication campaign from every responsible person in power, talk shows, musicians, newspapers, magazines, everywhere and everyone needs to be exposed to the evidence And witnesses that never saw light in this sham of the century.
3
America is looking more and more like Ukraine used to be, before their "Revolution of Dignity" and elections of a reform president and parliament. . We have a corrupt Russia-aligned president propped up by corrupt ministers and oligarchs, all getting richer off of the government while ordinary working people work harder and suffer. The Ukrainians didn't put up with their corrupt government. Come Nov. 3, we'll see if Americans will put up with ours.
2
Justice Roberts felt it within his prerogative to refuse Rand Paul's question naming the whistleblower. What other outrages might he find it within his rightful place to rule on? I hope some Senator will find the words, the way to appeal to Roberts' sense of "Enough!" so he may find a way to prevent an even larger outrage, the acceptance of the Dershowitz-Philbin version of presidential powoer.
This fight is not about each individual senator. In their struggle to keep white conservatives in power, the GOP is willing to commit suicide kamikaze style. It is the white conservative minority or the republic, and they have found a useful fool in the White house to give them cover. With the population changing and the GOP one to two states away from being permanently defunct, they are breathing their last gasp of air, and it shows.
They might succeed at their radical strategy of taking of control of the law, but only temporarily because history shows that every oppression strategy is ultimately defeated. How else would anyone explain the GOP stacking their courts with conservatives if what we see now is not part of the strategy. I suspect this will be a rough ride for America, just as it has been every time the population is oppressed. The GOP is using a 19th century strategy in a modern 21st century America, and they will eventually fail at it.
Does remaining in office mean more than the Survival of our Democracy ???
So trumplicans believe the USA is a monarchy. Can’t wait for the Warren presidency. I’m sure they will agree she can do whatever she wants because it is in the National interest.
For those who wonder, this is "American carnage." As is typical and apparently acceptable now, Trump promised to bring an end to the very thing he deploys on this country and the world. And on a related note, shame on Dershowitz for making such unconstitutional and dangerous arguments. Moreover, twice the shame on the GOP Senators, who all know better, for entertaining such nonsense purely for political expediency.
There is no other way to describe this: COVERUP.
The GOP is too busy? Ignoring House-passed legislation?
They certainly have the time to extend this farce - but they won’t.
They don’t want to sit and listen to evidence of the president’s obvious abuse of office.
They know more evidence will emerge. They keep obfuscating.
Why?
They’d rather gamble in the polls that voters overlook or forget their cowardice or don’t care that democracy is being corrupted before our eyes.
1
"... senators wrote their queries on small cards, which were read aloud by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who presided over the trial."
IS CJ John G. Roberts presiding over 'the' trial? In what sense can anyone truthfully call it a trial and in what sense ican anyone truthfully describe Robert's role as a trial's presidency?
Sad that Harvard law students are being taught by Dershowitz. MY law professors and my father (a lawyer) taught me that character matters.
2
If the Senate won’t do its job, we will have to do it for them, hopefully including removing as many of those Senators as possible that chose to ignore the danger posed by this president and the precedent set by his acquittal.
If not, American democracy will whither and die.
1
So if Trump summons John Bolton to the White House and pushes him off the balcony, that’s OK now? All along I’ve worried that impeachment would leave us worse off than we were before in containing Trump. Now I’m terrified.
Here is where justice may receive a mortal blow, as deliberately inflicted by Republicans' political party over country. The Confederate states put each state over country--the Union--and paid a terrible price for it, especially as it was deliberately for the preservation and extension of human bondage. The majority of voters who never wanted Trump, now with his Republican ilk hog-tied to him, must go in even bigger numbers across the country and vote him and that ilk out, out, out, to save ourselves, justice and the country.
It is in the public interest to punish unconstitutional, unlawful behavior by a sitting President. Trump's notion of "in the public interest" goes no further than his own personal desire for absolute power at any cost, with no restrictions, including bypassing the Constitution altogether. Dershowitz's argument is appalling nonsense.
Profiles in Cowardice, the sad story of the party of Lincoln, as told by Mitch McConnell, with a forward by Vladimir Putin on how to destroy a democracy without firing a shot.
1