I can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and lose only 2 votes. Promises made, promises kept!
214
First, I agree that the Republicans have indelibly stained themselves with their lack of courage and dishonoring their sworn oaths. They deserve every punishment that befalls them, hopefully with the overwhelming repudiation of their treachery by the voters this fall.
But the Democrats failed too, as you point out:
"There is one apt criticism leveled by Republicans, even if they have made it in bad faith: Democrats in the House of Representatives moved too fast in the impeachment process, voting before they could hear from key witnesses like Mr. Bolton. They justified this by pointing to the urgency of the situation."
Given that as long as the impeachment articles did not go to trial in a clearly hostile Senate, Trump and the Republicans would be carrying the weight of impeachment on their shoulders, why on earth did Mrs. Pelosi release them? Urgency? Where was the "urgency" two years ago, or even 7 months ago when ample evidence existed of "high crimes and misdemeanors", or worse? Yes, many Republicans would've claimed a more aggressive approach to impeachment as "completely partisan", but didn't they do that anyway? Launching impeachment a year or so ago would've allowed time for the challenge of subpoenas to get fully decided, by the SCOTUS most likely, and we would've been able to see ALL the evidence and testimony. By not doing so, Nancy all but ensured Trump's "vindication".
We Americans are cursed by two parties that serve only themselves.
345
Today we learned that a president may be acquitted without relevant witness testimony or evidence because the Senate intentionally voted to block it. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presided over it all, signifying nothing. I am grateful my Congressional Representative Elijah Cummings was not here to see it.
2018
"Republican legislators abdicated their duty by refusing to seek the truth."
You mean, about Trump? Hey, we all know about Trump.
But I feel that Republican legislators did get to the "truth" of a truncated, partisan investigative job by the Dem House which failed to deliver Constitutionally substantive and sound articles of impeachment.
The House blew it big time and the GOP got to this "truth."
The "other truth," about Trump, will be evaluated by the voters in November 2020. If not for the GOP's united stand, the "truth" of an electoral contest would have been removed so that only the "Dem truth" remained.
So, tell the "truth" about the GOP.
The GOP did not "abdicate" its responsibility. Instead, the GOP fulfilled the senate's duty to try the case.
The House abdicated its responsibility to turn to the third branch of government, the judiciary, to enforce subpoenas for witnesses and documents.
The House argument that turning to the judiciary would "tie us up in the courts," was always pathetic and dishonest and was the real reason Trump will be acquitted.
45
Democracy died yesterday and the Republicans killed it. Checks and balances now is just an old used up concept that was once central to our government. The next nine months will further damage our country with an unchecked and uncheckable president and, God forbid, the next five years if Trump is reelected (more certain now that he knows he can cheat with impugnity) may bring us the full autocrat beholden to no one.
2816
@Tom
"God forbid, the next five years if Trump is reelected (more certain now that he knows he can cheat with impugnity) may bring us the full autocrat beholden to no one."
I fear that Trump will cancel the election and Republicans will support him. Who's going to stop him?
296
I live in New Jersey, which is run by Democrats, and it's basically the same. Both parties are the same. They tax the taxpaying classes to subsidize the rich.
57
@Edyee Elections are run by the states. Trump can't cancel them and the Senate has no way either. There are NO elections held by the federal government. Which isn't to say he won't try.
138
It is unfortunate that the Times editorial board cannot even understand, let alone appreciate, that there may be other views of this event besides their own. The Times’ news coverage was overtly one-sided, and the “analyses” of each side’s presentation and legal views consistently lauded the Democrats and lambasted the Republicans. We get it, you are no longer an impartial news organization, and your readership simply dismisses those who support Trump as ignorant. What you clearly don’t “get” is the view that Democrats were seen as willing to do anything to remove Trump from office since day 1, and that Republicans were the party willing to stand on principle.
65
If those witnesses were so important, why were they not called during the House committee meetings? That was the proper venue to call them. The Democrats orchestrated a terrible impeachment. They will get the vote they deserve - Mr. Trump will be acquitted.
156
This man, who I used to work for, showed more integrity 10 years ago than the entire Republican Party has shown since the election of Donald Trump.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-11421376?fbclid=IwAR0JCru9KRgXOb_OAZohKGSKQWHYg4koJQqiddPnH0qhPO4Rsnlo__lgqIU
29
Trump gave the Republican donors a tax cut and cut regulations that protected Americans. This present, sad situation, is a result of people with money using money to own politicians to get more money, and thus to wield more power. Republicans got their marching orders and voted to shame our country. Now we get to listen to Trump brag for nine months about how he was acquitted, and his mean little sheep will cheer and laugh with their red caps and hatred. The founders recommended people trust their government, but also that they keep their rifles above the fireplace just in case. Now we are beginning to see exactly what type of people they defeated, so that we could be free. Ironic that the freedom fighters in Ukraine were a part of this fiasco.
73
while we bemoan the shameless behavior of McConnell and his Trumpets, agree wit Mr. Tobin, a respected law professor, that e Demmcrats in the house rushed to have impeachment decision DONE by Christmas despite Nancy's best efforts to delay. They should ave gone to court o force its in the House hearings wic would he delayed the process but the process itself could have been used to attack Trup. I t meanti more informtio would have com out like Parnnas a Bolcar. But th YOUNG blooded Democratic Represetatives could not wait. And their haste is what we are paying for. Maturity and experience have merits. Occassio is loud but WRONG, and so are her teeny=boppers. We all knew that the GOPers will never remove Trump. They are still hatboring the resentment of Nixon's resignation. Will we learn? Will Sanders and his angry crew support any Democratic nomineeand not do what they did to Hillary?
13
John Bolton's announcement that he would testify in the Senate trial came shortly after Trump's order to assassinate Iran's general Soleimani who arrived in Iraq at the invitation of its Prime Minister. The chaotic manner in which the decision was reached, and the place and timing of the killing probably alarmed Bolton, even though he is an anti-Iran hawk.
There clearly is no longer any check on Trump's actions, even though he may place the American people in grave danger and irreparably damage the interests of the U.S. Neither Congress nor key allies were consulted. U.S. response forces were not in a state of readiness. Trump banked on luck that Iran would act with restraint.
The vote of the Senate to not consider the evidence that is clearly available will only embolden Trump to act on his gut and escalate his actions further, because the Republican Senate has demonstrated that Trump no longer has any bounds.
This Senate vote is not yet the Enabling Act that the Parliament of Germany passed in 1933 that gave Hitler absolute power, but Trump no longer needs Congress to claim whatever level of power he wants. Trump controls the Republican Party that will do his bidding even if it is counter to accepted norms of the presidency or violates the Constitution or damages U.S. interests. Trump has the power to create a crisis that could justify declaration of a state of emergency. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/
66
Why are you so surprised. This was always going to be the outcome. Why the liberals, tabloids like CNN are shocked is beyond me as their reporting is so against Trump. Why forget the House who started this in the basement. Calling witnesses start at the house. During this Trump signed probably one of the best trade deals in our nations history. That should be on the front page.....
Democrats cannot beat him in the polls...what a shame....
22
Democrats are the sorest of sore losers.
- They refused to accept the results of the 2016 election.
- They refused to accept the outcome of the Mueller report (no collusion)
- They refuse to accept the results of the Senate impeachment trial.
- Some are preemptively refusing to accept the inevitable outcome of the 2020 election. Trump’s re-election.
50
"Republican legislators abdicated their duty by refusing to seek the truth."
The truth? The House hastily threw together an incomplete "investigation" which attempted to prove that Trump was guilty of an offense - an offense which is not even a "high crime or misdemeanor". Sen. Alexander's and Sen. Murkowski's reasoning for not including witness testimony made more sense than anything in the presentation by the House managers.
The truth? This was a partisan attempt to undo the last Presidential election. It was also an attempt to gaslight the American public by influencing the next election while accusing Trump of trying to influence the last one - blatantly cheered on in the pages of the NYT. You lost - go and have a good cry and get over it.
36
Yes, today we are no longer a constitutional democracy. No longer do we have separation of powers, thanks entirely to the Republicans. And as for Justice Roberts, he was no more than a potted plant. He didn't want to compromise the neutrality of The Court. Ha! That's rich! He sat on his high seat and presided over a total sham of a trial...an insult to the hallowed building in which this Orwellian theatre took place. And he did NOTHING. That says all you need to say about his so-called neutrality. Doing nothing says an awful lot.
127
My sense is that the SC is part of the corrupt regime. Look at their willingness to take cases Trump brings that have no legal merit, like these tax cases, and the slow rolling of the ACA case. And lower courts seem to be getting in on the scams; cases are being slow rolled so as not to be finally decided at inopportune times.
122
Once again, Democrats, having proved their attempted impeachment was an improper partisan coup - now pule because rational Republicans refused to join in their illicit efforts.
28
The Senate refuses to prolong the partisan dog and pony show concocted by Congressional Democrats -- as baseless as the Russian Collusion scheme -- so they can get back to work on the issues Americans really care about.
36
Vote suppression, gerrymandering, senate obstruction, court flooded with conservatives for decades, abortion rights reppelled, corruption cover up. All of this in broad daylight.
The problem is not the republicans, although they pushed moral corruption to a form of art.
It is time to realise, dear US citizens, that the problem lies with your antiquated Constitution.
It has served you well, but now it is more a burden than it is an asset. All democracies in the world have changed theirs to better adapt to the present. Why do you cling so much to it?
The Founding Fathers would probably be shocked that you didn't find the courage or the talent in you to write something better.
1194
How do we explain this to our children? I read this to my 11 year old. It is shocking to read this type of language from the editorial board of the Times. Shocking that it has come to this.
How do I explain a Senator violating an oath? How do I explain how a trial without witnesses can happen in America? How do I explain that our democracy has died?
How do I do that, without repeating the cycle of hate?
1663
They abdicated their duty long before today when they fell in line and remained silent as their lunatic leader did as he pleased.
This was just the natural progression of what shouldn’t be a surprise and it’s like the tale of the old woman who raises a snake in her home and loves it like she would love a child.
When one day the snake bites her and she lay dying from the poisoness venom she asks why and he replies “I’m a snake, that’s why, that’s what we do.”
And it’s the same with the Republicans, they’re snakes and that’s what they do.
I apologize to snakes because that’s really an insult but you understand.
39
Hey GOP senators. I will never forget what you have done. I will never forgive what you have done. I will never vote for any republicans ever again in my life. From now on, no matter what happens in this administration, no matter what crazy irrational and dangerous thing trump does, it's on you senators who didn't have the courage to stand up to this lawless president. What a bunch of sniveling cowards. November 2020 we are coming for you.
105
The Senate has unanimously voted for jury nullification. America is dead. Hail Caesar.
51
This is only the beginning of the trial. Witnesses and documents will continue to come out. The drip, drip, drip of the Republican Trump Party cesspool will continue to flow. In fact, eventually, the drip will become a creek. The creek will become a river. The river will eventually grow to a gigantic waterfall.
The question becomes, will we sit around and do nothing, or will we flood the ballot boxes in November? Will you get out and help defeat these Trump sycophants, or will you just sit by while these corrupt senators continue to hold us hostage to their power-hungry appetites.
Trust me you have no idea of the lies and corruption behind the man Trump. We have only seen 10% of what is really behind the scenes of this man's behavior and his history. McConnell and the other senators may seem to be smiling now, but they will be frowning at the November ballot. Every one of them will have an asterisk after their name. They will eventually have to answer to history and their maker.
We can prevent the forces that are trying to destroy this democracy and turn it into a monarchy. Support your candidates. Get out there and help with their campaigns. Do everything you can to support the Democratic party and the honest and reputable candidates. If you don't have time then donate to the candidates. We can defeat this man and restore sanity to this country.
Don't defeat yourselves and lose hope! Keep your faith in your hearts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI0TeFf6uD8
55
After today, don't walk down Fifth Avenue. You might get shot by the President, and he'll get away with it.
58
All of the lower income Tump voters better kiss your social security and medicade/Medicare goodbye
45
While this outcome -- & the Senate RPB power structure that birthed it -- are as disgusting & anti-American as you say,
they were not just predictable, they were PREDICTED
You criticize House Dems for impeaching before they could "get the goods"
But that is knowable only in retrospect
Given the corrupt RPB judiciary & Bolton's well-known lack of ethics,
there was no reason to assume "enough" material could be gathered in a "timely" manner
The House "leadership", tho, IS deeply culpable on two other grounds
1) The defensive, "playing not to lose" "thin" impeachment strategy
As David Leonhardt & MANY others argued, there were ample grounds for at least EIGHT articles of impeachment
The managers' superb presentations make clear they could have easily handled a "thick" docket,
one that would have forced Senate RPBs to defend the indefensible on MULTIPLE fronts, not just one
& would have detailed SPECIFIC crimes & misdemeanors, depriving RPBs of their most powerful trope:
"Where are the actual CRIMES that DEMAND impeachment?"
forestalling the weak sophistries of Dershowitz et al
2) More crucially, Pelosi gave away the Dems' ONE advantage:
Delaying submission until McConnell was FORCED to SPECIFY the rules he was going to use,
pre-empting the bully-boy tactics he predictably employed
For failing to avoid these foreseeable traps, Pelosi & the entire House "leadership" should RESIGN NOW
Adam Schiff should be Speaker, eternally haunting Trump from over his shoulder
9
They have eliminated the balance of power and the rule of law. What comes next a shutdown of media outlets. Removal of liberals from office illegally. The burning of books and continued currying of favor with the wealthy and corporate. The scapegoating of immigrants people of color the indigent the LBGT community the non-Christian.
Remind anyone of another century??
38
Well said.
3
I am ashamed.
12
McConnell?
Who has the notoriety, name recognition and the competence to take on a crooked politician?
Kentucky deserves better.
He has with his wife done so much harm to America that he deserves to be sent to pasture, the derby.
39
USA RIP - 01/31/20
41
Now it is time to nominate a Democratic candidate, get behind that candidate, vote, and save the republic and the Constitution from the sycophantic pathetic Republicans.
39
Considering what’s happened so far since Trump’s inauguration, is the following nightmare scenario really so unlikely: Trump, along with his Russian allies will now double down on undermining the integrity of the 2020 elections. If in spite of these efforts the Democrats win, he will declare they did so by corrupting the elections themselves, will assume “emergency powers” to “save the country”, and will refuse to leave office. His devoted Senate majority, House flunkies, and corrupt federal agency operatives will declare their support and demand he assume all necessary powers. “The Constitution be damned.” Considering the performance of General Mattis and the rest of the US military leadership to date, don’t be certain they won’t step in line to support the emerging dictatorship. Proscriptions and arrests will follow. “Lock them up!” Indeed.
28
The clear message from the Senate to Mr. Trump is this: if you want to shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue, go right ahead, buddy.”
28
Impeachment would “pour gasoline on the cultural flames”! What a joke, given that trump is the arsonist.
72
Thanks for nothing, Robert Mueller! Great job for Barr, McConnell and Trump. Don't worry about America, it was dead when they picked you... obviously.
28
Go Mitch! Go Putin! Money in everybody's pocket, power in the right, white hands! Great day, total victory!
8
WHY DID THE DEMOCRATS NOT ASK ROBERTS TO CALL BOLTON AS A WITNESS. He " presided ".
5
As a foreigner living outside of USA I see America going down in shame.
35
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, America it’s time you talk of abolishing the Senate.
14
Russians and Putin are happy. Americans are not. This is MAGA?
24
Now we can call the Senate “the world’s least deliberative body.”
46
Stunned and furious.
42
Republican senators (Mitt Romney excluded) should hang their heads in shame....disgraceful watercarriers for the most corrupt president in American history. This battle is not over....the fate of the Republicans will be sealed in the next election....as sure as dark night follows daylight.
45
The Republicans in the Senate are like the three monkeys with regards to Donald Trump: See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Say No Evil. History will judge them harshly, hopefully sooner rather than later.
61
I have a suggestion. Impeach President Trump again on Monday.
80
Republicans will rue this day if trump is re-elected. In a second term trump will ignore congress altogether. Expect him to move funds around to his pet projects and use federal law enforcement to harass his enemies . He will also set Barr loose to “investigate” all those who brought about his impeachment. The republicans, who may keep the senate, will find they are just a rubber stamp for their Dear Leader. It they will go along because they are the most cowardly people in America.
53
You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
Nows the time to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
The Senate just took a giant step down
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that it might be the only way
It ain’t gonna be
All right, all right, all right
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We need to do better than that
But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell you is that’s the Republican way
Don't you know it's not gonna be
All right, all right, all right
You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
Moscow Mitch has already done that
You better free you mind and see
What’s really going on
25
Senators are no exception to the US norm of condoning lies, kickbacks
17
The time has come for the blue states to leave the union. We are quickly loosing all of our rights as well as subsidizing the mooching red states.
48
It’s startling how far down the rabbit hole the Republicans have fallen in their obedience to the most corrupt President in US history. His fascist inclination is obvious. Now that all restraints are off, he will stop at nothing to increase his personal power and wealth. He has already told us he can do anything he wants and may not leave when even a second term is finished.
49
How come the lead paragraph isn’t that Democrats voted in lock step.
16
The rich take care of the rich even at the cost of their souls and character. Stay in power at all costs, even murder and destruction of your own government, family, heritage and legacy. Money always wins, correct Republicans? If the moral beacons such as Jesus, Mohamed, and Buddha ever really existed they have been fully extinguished today.
20
Self before country.
A pox on them all.
34
America’s in deep doo doo. Voting itself is increasingly discredited with voter suppression and Russian KGB hackIng. Murdoch/Mercer have gaslighted news for a dangerous number of voters. Next election may be our last chance to regain our democracy.
30
“Four things will never change”
Jacketless Jim Jordan was right. Four votes never did, and no witnesses will be heard. Fake trial.
15
Our gutless, brain-dead, power-hungry GOP Senate has given our gut-large, brain addled, powerless Democrats a chance to do something meaningful as Trump continues to rule. And that is simply to get out and vote, instead of having another beer. 9000 of our registered Democrats in Cochise County failed to vote in 2018. Time to wake up before Trump becomes King.
22
Can our nation survive this heinous and depraved President? The senate could of assured us that the answer is yes.
Now the door is wide open for the dismantlement of our democracy that has been taken for granted for generations.
The danger is real
37
The House can impeach him again after subpoenaing Bolton. More sordid revelations are also to come.
29
Democracy died last night.
27
The only thing that came out clearly out of this circus is how incompetent the House Democrats are and how corrupt Biden was. Hunter Biden being paid a million bucks for what? He didn't even speak Ukrainian. All the witnesses are already on record and thousands of pages of transcripts are on record.
Abuse of power is too broad a term to be impeached for.
Do your homework next time, House leadership.
20
Yawn. Democrat Senators abdicated their duty by mindlessly supporting conviction despite lack of grounds.
25
You Americans need to stop weeping for democracy and start marching and protesting for it instead.
97
The Senate is done, over.
Hail our new Duma.
(Now when do Moscow Mitch and Leningrad Lindsey fly to the Kremlin to finalize the floor plans for their new Trump Tower condos?)
36
God knows the great wickedness of GOP senators and their evil doings. Shame, shame on each of them that power, money means more to them than honor, justice and patriotism. May God bless America and guide us and help us turn the Senate and kick Trump out, so our great country can become honorable again.
42
Even with the intra-trial assist from the Times, Schiff could not close the deal. Weak case.
If Trump had murdered someone, he would have been impeached. The threshold for "impeachability" has to be drawn somewhere, and it was drawn. 51 duly-elected Senators decided on that. Not one or two. Fifty-one.
15
SO LISA MURKOWSKI Believes that there will be no fair trial in the Senate. It is surpassingly bizarre that by her voting against the trial, she herself has guaranteed that there will be no trial. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF DENIAL! I feel like it is today that our democracy died! The death blow came from Lisa Murkowski. This is like the day that the music died--when John Lennon was shot to death. On that day, I knew that my youth had ended. Today I know that our democracy has been killed off by the GOPists--the terrorist group that has infected the government. Putin must be beaming. On the very same day that he succeeded in getting the UK to leave the EU, thereby slaughtering one of the oldest democracies, he also slaughtered the Senate of the US. Putin has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Bringing down the British Parliament and the Senate of the US! Putin has destabilized the Mideast. Now he's succeeded in upending two of the most powerful democracies of longstanding in human history. I wonder when Putin will be inviting Trump to Moscow to the presidential suite, so Trump can enjoy more golden showers. I think that somebody's going to get schlonged tonight! And it ain't Hillary. And it ain't gonna be after a debate! The US is in the weakest position it has ever encountered in modern times. Weaker than during the great depression. Weaker than after two world wars. Lisa Murkowski is too deranged to understand what destruction she has wrought!
46
I realize the Times is bending over backwards trying to be "fair and balanced" but that statement about the House "rushing" things is just plain false. It takes only ONE (1) impeachable offense to warrant potential removal of a president. Sure, this one has committed myriad offenses, but who has time to enumerate, much less prosecute, them all? The fault here lies squarely on members of the Republican party (a small minority of the population, at that!) which now seems indistinguishable from a crime syndicate. The times does its readers a disservice by placing blame on House Democrats. Meanwhile, the president breaks the emoluments clause of the constitution every minute he is in his ill-gotten, power-bloated, and --I fear permanenty defiled-- office.
70
Wow. Trump was right. He was, euphemistically, able to shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue, on TV, and get away with it. Thank you Senate Republicans for making it abundantly clear that you don’t care a whit about the rule of law.
69
"Truth" was not the issue. Democrats saw Nuremberg. Republicans saw traffic court.
23
Vote every single Republican out of office. Then DJT.
58
The USA is the binge eating, chain smoking, alcoholic, drug addicted, illiterate, six hundred pound diabetic......convinced that health is achieved by burying the medical test results.
51
Corrupt, shameless, and spineless.
39
Utterly sickening. A disgrace. Democracy lobotomized. The canary in the coal mine is deader than Dillinger.
26
Kavanaughed again!
Rotten scoundrels. Vote the republican senators out since that’s the only way to get rid of them. Rewrite the constitution to fix the senate- why 2 senators per state when some of the states have less people than some cities in other states? How is this a democratic and fair system??
36
Well said. When will we hear from Obama?
4
History will remember the 51 Senate Oath Breakers of 2020.
Their actions will live in infamy.
32
Politicians don't care about truth or law, only about the support they get from the rich donors who basically run the government. Have you noticed how every politician leaves office with their pockets full? Our government is run on bribery. Politicians don't care about the country, only about feathering their nests. Like the rich, they are basically parasites sucking our blood. This is just as true for a Democrat like Sweeney as it is for a Republican like McConnell. Our politicians have basically allowed Wall Street banks and sleazy businessmen like Trump and Mnuchin to loot the country. To implicate Trump is to implicate the entire political system that allowed him to exist, that enabled him to be a criminal for decades and never serve time for his infinite crimes. This is old news, and started when the Founders caved in to the slaveholders, who literally stole people's children, and continued when they stole all the land from the native people. This was a bad country right from the start, for most people it has always been horrible. I don't see any improvement coming in my lifetime, after over 200 years of violence, theft, hypocrisy and corruption.
19
It's sad to read and watch News from USA where democracy is ruined by corrupted people. You are way to dictatorship. Very sad to watch that from still democratic country - Finland.
48
Well said. Trump's criminality has no paralells, as he remains the most despicable president to date. However much a brutus ignoramus, he remains acruel and shrewd demagogue, and an astute charlatan with expertise in lying and insulting others at the least provocation. A master distractor, always in search of scapegoats to hide his own insecurities and incompetence. His mantra is 'divide to conquer', by spewing fear and hate in an emorionally trapped 'base', clueless by choice, as fed by Fox Noise. What a circus!
38
America is dead. I’m full of shame. And I hate my country.
26
Dereliction of Duty
25
Republicans don’t believe in the rule of law or democracy. I have made allowances for family that are republican and still supporting Trump ... no longer ! The vote today blocking witnesses crossed a line. The saying, “if they show you who they are the first time, believe them “ .... republicans showed us they’re traitors to our constitution and our country.
35
The United States Senate has voted to support the slow death of our Constitution and our Democracy.
30
The country that invented the Banana Republic has now become one itself.
26
The GOP of today is simply morally bankrupt.
35
Republicans just made a lawless, immoral man above the law... and make no mistake about it, Trump will make haste to take full advantage of that fact. It has become crystal clear that America is on the precipice of having a Dictator. November's election will be the last chance for those who truly care about fair elections and unfettered Democracy to save this country from a death spiral into fascism.
40
“trump is the most corrupt president in modern times.” No matter the Senate’s pathetic vote to exonerate him on Wednesday, nothing can change this truth.
26
My whole life I have heard that “ bad things happen to bad people.”
I no longer believe that theory.
SAD
14
The "world's greatest deliberative body" could not be bothered!
30
Republicans also opened the door to unlimited dark money from foreign countries, to manipulate/steal our elections.
("Influence" elections is sugar-coating---manipulating and stealing elections is much more accurate).
20
I like the joke I heard today:
The President could shoot someone in the Senate chamber and the vote would still be 52-47.
30
Theses lambs walk right up the stairway to heaven in a slaughterhouse, where the man with the captive bolt stunner will extinguish their souls.
11
Impeachment trial? What trial?
21
Trump just proved the Constitution is only a piece of paper.
21
I am in mourning for our democracy. What a bunch of cowards!
25
Mockery! A SHAM! No witnesses? Now you see the crime, Now you don't! Smoke and Broken Mirrors...
17
One very simple fact. They are now officially part of the cover-up. As such, Republican Senators, you will be forever unindicted co-conspirators and party to a massive cover-up.
Following Julius Caesar they all pledged allegiance to the Emperor not the Republic.
28
Clearly the GOP is no longer a legitimate political party but a cult with Moscow Mitch handing out the kool-aid to the R senators.
Vote blue no matter who.
31
Can Pelosi and Schiff convene the House Intelligence Committee over this weekend to hear sworn testimony from John Bolton?
25
The NFL should announce a minute of silent reflection for all to consider the recent death of Democracy before the start of Superbowl LIV on Sunday.
18
Can the House of Representatives impeach Mitch McConnell?
25
Republican Senators -- Hubris - wow. Ran across an article today - Charles Ist of England - beheaded in 1649. His crime -- "placing his personal interests above the good of the country". Donnie can thank his lucky stars that he was not around back then. Republican Senators - you have not endeared yourselves to your fellow citizens. You clearly placed your personal interests above the good of the country. The axe man is headed your way - due in November. No axe - just plain old ballots. Sleepless nights for all of you til then.
27
So I guess this means I can now go knock over a 7-11, and my lawyer can demand none of the witnesses or evidence be admitted to my trial. What a great day for criminals!
25
The one thing we have left, as the drip of evidence continues, is to vote all of these cowards out of office as soon as possible.
19
The Republican Party has nothing to offer America except a Russian-styled corrupt oligarchy that hides behind a waving flag and a cheap cross of faux religiosity.
There's nothing left in the Republican Party except the fumes of greed and power and the duped masses that swallow their toxic Kool Aid of divisiveness, whiteness and proud hypocrisy.
What an American disgrace of the first order the corrupt Grand Old Power has become.
Hit the eject button on November 3 2020 for these lawless political bandits and Reverse Robin Hoods.
24
Of the people
By the people
For the people
Time for the people to take it back
22
“Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,
and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice,
except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero
and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.
Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own
and no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money
and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.
Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode and their freedoms to be washed away.
My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.”
--- The poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, now 100 years old, written in San Francisco, January, 2006
28
Actually, the Senate did their job. But NYT, whose business model is apparently “all Trump, all the Time,” cannot accept the result. We will see you in November.
10
Constitutional Republic administered by democratic actions!
Enter Republicans.
Remove democracy.
Constitutional Republic!
Enter Republicans.
Replace Constitutional.
Banana Republic!
Enter Republicans.
KLEPTOCRACY!
7
After today, does anyone seriously think that Trump will go when he loses the next election? Who will make him - his toadies in the House, Senate, or Supreme Court? Today was the beginning of the last chapter of pre-Fascist America.
20
Lamar Alexander, Lisa Murkowski, and Marco Rubio all said the same thing: What Trump did was wrong, but not wrong enough to remove him. That basically represents every republican.
I was not surprised. In their primaries, Trump said & did disgusting things; dissing McCain, insulting parents of a war hero, 'grabbing' women ... etc. But crowds of cheering mainly white people cheered his half truths and empty promises so no republican said a word about anything he did or said. These are the same people who don't think what he did in Ukraine was bad enough to impeach.
The immediate concern; over the next 10 months we will see what lies & manipulations the coward in chief indulges in to be re elected. He botched the Iran assassination and missile attack which followed. 64 Americans with brain injury, tho the tough guy said it's just 'a headache'.
Remember; Trump's sole reason to be re elected is to avoid the existing fed, state, local charges awaiting him. Being president is too much work, even in his superficial, tweeting version.
The democrats need to do two things:
(1) Choose a nominee who will win.
(2) Demonstrate intense vigilance over Trump and obstruct anything which could lead to lethal consequences.
He is a weak, devious man; the republicans, in their fealty to him, worse.
28
Once again, the Democrats bring a knife to a gun fight.
8
January 31, 2020, will be known forever as the "day the Constitution died."
13
It is official, we are a banana republic.
11
OK, Lamar and the rest of you Republicans who want to have it both ways. You say it would be wrong to convict and remove — even though the president is guilty, shucks, it would just damage the country too much. OK, then.
Put your money where you mouth is and vote to censure Mr. Perfect Phone Call. Anyone? Lamar? Ben? Anyone?
That’s what I thought.
12
A sad day in America. Putin is dancing the tango. His plan to divide then conquer worked perfectly.
13
United States of America
July 4, 1776 - January 31, 2020
May she Rest In Peace
21
The attempted coup failed.
7
Senator’s oath:
"Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, president of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help you god?" Roberts asked senators.
Impartial justice?:
“I have come to the conclusion that there will be no fair trial in the Senate,” Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said on Friday in explaining her refusal to vote to hear from any witnesses. “I don’t believe the continuation of this process will change anything. It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed.“
Nathan Hale’s last words before being hanged by the British as a spy, (September 22, 1776):
”I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.“
The corruption of our leader’s character over the last 243 years is breathtaking.
12
The worst of it is we don't even grow decent bananas.
16
The GOP are the personification of Corruption.
9
Impeach him again. Simple. Get people to testify. Keep going after him.
12
What a complete farce. Your president runs your country like a crime boss and your politicians have no will nor power to stop him. Your political system is broken and dysfunctional. Shame on you America. I would have expected better from your elected senators than this obvious travesty of justice. You are not living in the free world anymore. In reality the USA is nothing more than an autocratic regime and a failed state. Watching it unravel live on Fox news.
22
Shameful. We have allowed the bully to win and sent a terrible message to our children- do not seek the truth. It’s ok to break the law as long as you are a white male seeking to retain your own powerful self-interests.
14
Putin has won !!!! How disgusting !!!
I hope there are some real Republicans left in our nation who
will restore our Republican Party. No wonder we are losing the
fight for democracy around the world.
6
Unfortunately NYT still does not have the honesty to extol the courage of Mitt Romney. When Mitt was the Presidential candidate I do not believe the NYT had anything positive to say about him. Unfortunately there is some truth to the saying that a country gets the President it deserves.
10
Republicans proved today they are enemies of America. As if there were any doubt remaining whatsoever.
8
McConnell and his Republican minions are cowards and a disgrace to all the men and women who fought and died for this country.
11
Republicans are in a suicide pact with Trump, so what we've witnessed this past week is a nervous spouse deciding not to open the drawer where the key to the gun cabinet is kept.
7
The United States has become a corrupt country. The evil way is the easy way. This behavior is not surprising. If a Democrat nominee had bragged in a video about groping and kissing women against their will, he would've been disqualified. If a Democrat president had behaved the way the current president behaves, he would've been impeached the first year. It's disgusting to live in this country right now where the rule of law does not exist anymore and we are no longer an example or a role model in the world for the rule of law. It's disgusting that now it's ok to be dishonest, immoral, and corrupt, openly. And that collegiality no longer exists anywhere, not in government, not in academia, not in the arts. It's easy to be immoral.
35
Who ever said crime doesn't pay, obviously wasn't a Republican member of the U.S. Senate.
32
Dishonorable and corrupt.
21
Yesterday was only a vote to free up evidence and witnesses. The Republicans are so afraid of the truth. Look in a mirror Republicans, you’re obviously afraid of yourself and what you’ve done to our country and constitution. Your terms, in office are less than a year.
I knew Roberts would slink out of his responsibility to preside. I don’t know any other meaning of the word to preside. The constitution doesn’t say any about one branch interfering with another. I wonder what private thoughts RBG has. And will we ever know.
12
Congratulations on a no holds barred article, telling it like I thought it was. The shame with which most curious and informed citizens of the USA must have for their joke of a President, Senate, Gun laws & Collegial voting system must be huge. The frustration & empathy my friends and I share, from our far off land, for such citizens is huge also. With such a President following in the steps of the awesome Barack Obama must make the pain even harder to bear. Keep your spirits up such citizens and keep fighting for what is right. Change your constitution and we might share with you our fabulous Prime Minister to put things right !
18
I waited and waited for your open letter to Judge Roberts to bypass the GOP and ask for witnesses to testify in the Senate.
It did not come.
Putting him in the spot with no uncertain terms would have been a civic duty for the most powerful newspaper in the world.
It did not happen.
Dean Baquet and/or Sulzberger could have done it too.
They didn’t.
Now crocodile tears.
13
Seems our Constitution ain't all it's cracked up to be.
11
Words just can't be found to describe the depravity of mindset that has taken over the Senate Republicans. It is as if Trump has made zombies of them all. November 3, 2020 can't come fast enough.
13
In other words, their oaths of office to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States were all lies...
13
If the Democrat leadership had a spine all the the people that were served subpoenas would have been jailed until compelled to talk. It was their job to follow the law and even they didn't do it. Better learn how to fight kids. We are living in the New Soviet Union of States.
8
So when Trump refuses to leave the Whitehouse after losing the election what then? He and his cabinet knows that he will land in prison when Bernie investigates his crimes.
3
As the Senate can't seem to find it's moral compass, now might be a good time for Generals H R McMaster, Kelly and Mattis to show their patriotism to their country and "out" the miscreant in the White House.
Fair election in 2020? My hopes are dashed.
17
The Senate decision yesterday to block witnesses and documents echo all over the world, and immensely damage the US international standing. Even ordinary citizens everywhere watch in awe as the US democratic institutions are torn down by yourself, and the US descends into an authoritarian minority rule. The US democratic experiment obviously can't survive the blatant corruption in Washington, there are way too many money involved, and your "leaders" open for "business" with sinister foreign interests.
It has been obvious for a while the US democracy is decaying fast. Partisan takeover of the Courts, not only the Supreme Court. An unhinged president demolishing long standing international cooperation between democracies in favor of corrupt autocracies, replacing cooperation with bullying, bribing and stupid imaginations of almighty supremacy. Government institutions corrupted and loyalty to the constitution replaced with submission to an authoritarian leader. During the recent sham trial Dershowitz directly introduced the "fuhrerprinzip" in US constitutional legislation. It resembles a certain German playbook from about 90 years ago. Recently successfully repeated in Russia and Turkey.
In the US you take democracy for granted. Your ancestors won democracy and the rule of law a very long time ago, but you have forgotten how to defend your individual rights, and forgotten these rights come with collective obligations.
We are surely living in interesting times!
20
What the Senate Republicans have essentially enabled is a parliamentary coup de etat --- the overthrow of our constitutional law --- and by so doing take us, as a nation, into dangerous and uncharted waters. Think Weimar. And they said "it couldn't happen here". This November will be a vote for the future of our republic as we know it.
12
Democracy isn't easy.
4
Voters will not have it. Republicans have jumped the shark.
3
There is a sentence in this editorial that begins with a phrase I would like the editorial board to explain. It says, “Mr. Trump is the most corrupt president in modern times...”
Why do the words “in modern times” appear in that phrase? This is the one time we should all be able to agree with the normal hyperbole that the Liar-in-Chief spews about himself. There should be no doubt that the current president is by far the most corrupt president ever. Why deny him his rightful place as number one? It could be the first time in his life that he is actually the best ever at something.
18
Mitch McConnell will go down in history as the biggest traitor to the ideals on which this country was founded.
Not only has he destroyed the decorum of the Senate, but now he has staged three consecutive days of four hours of voter outreach speeches, days that just happen to overlap with the state of the union, which just happens to follow trumps free press at the super bowl halftime show.
After all the whining from Republicans about Democrats moving too quickly, and then moving too slowly, they sure have put together a wizz-bang TV extravaganza.
9
The final nail in the coffin that sustained my belief in the American form of government has been hammered. For me, why even bother voting in November? Trump will steal the election just like the last one. We now have an all powerful, mad king. Our history has gone full circle – started by, and ended by, a psychopath.
7
The odds are permanently stacked against American citizens. Trump is the personification of Shiva, the Destroyer, as President. Barr the collaborator AG in all things Trump. The Supreme Court willing to forgo releasing Trump's taxes in turn for more God in government and any other Trump whims. The Republicans? The stain, stench,lies, the rot they wallow in leaves rage, exasperation, revulsion and depression. They are a motley, sorry excuse for leaders or Senators, those Founding Fathers you refer to with reverence would be repelled by your lack of ethics and backbone.
16
Republicans won. The country lost.
10
The republicans in the Senate have struck a terrible blow to the foundations of our Democracy! Will we ever recover?
The fear and hypocrisy shown by the Senate republicans is cowardice. The Republican party of Eisenhower is dead.
Trumpism is the dogma of a giving a sexist, racist bully absolute power.
How do so many find this appealing?
10
Republicans, democrats, oh my!
Next time the roles will be reversed yet again and we’ll be watching the hypocrit re- runs of flip flops on YouTube.
Just vote for Pete’s sake!
6
Too little, too late.
2
With the impending acquittal of Donald Trump by his Republican Senate collaborators we must ask: Do we have a Constitution any more? Trump violated four distinct laws: campaign violation in seeking aid from a foreign government; bribery in withholding military aid and an Oval Office visit unless Ukraine announced criminal investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden; violating the Impoundment Control Act by illegally withholding military aid; and illegally withholding the whistleblower’s report from Congress as lawfully mandated once it was called “urgent.” With Trump now clearly above the law what will keep us from falling into an an autocracy?
9
I remember how I felt after he "won" the election in 2016, even though 3 million more Americans voted for his opponent. We have endured daily assaults to our sense of what is "American", what is decent, and even adult behavior, by this sad excuse for a man, and president. Anyone who has been paying attention knows the depths of his depravity regarding immigrants, the environment, climate change, and honoring our relationships with allies. And now this. The former "republican" party is nothing more than a group of sycophants who are quaking in fear of the next tweet aimed at them. Really? I am so very sad for my nieces and their beautiful children for the examples being set and the damage being done to their futures and our beautiful planet. This man is a cancer on all of us and everything this country ever stood for. Shame of our representatives who are following in lock step and fear of him. My opinion.....
18
The Republicans way of thinking is, if you cannot work within the rules of our democracy and The Constitution, ignore it and then overthrow it by embracing corruption, deception and a blatant disregard for the planet. It is a cancer on the iconic founders and the documents in the Smithsonian that sought a just, humanist society.
If the Democrats win big in November, they should legislate the requirement that anyone running for Congress pass a course in American history and The Constitution. If they fail they cannot serve.
10
Republican senators already knew the truth. Don’t you think the WH shared it with them?
That’s why no witnesses, and why they don’t want anyone else to know the truth.
6
People who work to cut food stamps for the poor are not the kind of people who are interested in justice.
16
What crocodile tears the editorial board sheds. Never mind that the Democrats and media have been trolling trump since the escalator ride trying to take him down. Impeachment has been in the air for all that time. Grabbing desperately onto a weak accusation and fail, now the disappointment and crocodile tears run.
12
And we sit and drink out coffee
Couched in our indifference, like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial lies
In the borders of our lives
3
I guess the “group of opinion journalists” of which the esteemed Editorial Board consists doesn’t include any lawyers. If it did, it might understand that what transpired in the Senate was entirely consistent with what routinely happens in civil and criminal trials every day in this country, which is that when a set of allegations fail to state a claim or fail to meet the elements of a criminal offense, the claim or charge is dismissed by the court as a matter of law, and there is no waste of time in combing through “evidence” that, even if it proves the allegations, cannot result in a conviction in a criminal trial or a finding of liability in a civil trial. That’s what happened here, and while the NYT obviously disagrees with the Senate’s determination of what constitutes an impeachable offense, if it had a shred of intellectual honesty, it wouldn’t be pontificating in this way about the “Dishonorable Senate.” The lack of honor seems to me to be far more evident in this newspaper’s two exquisitely timed leaks of the contents of the Bolton book, and now its sputtering outrage that those leaks failed in their desired result.
12
Just wait. The truth will all come out.
5
Over the top liberal democrats put the squash on the impeachment plan. The Ukraine situation was a pretty decent way to expose the egomaniac but the behavior of the ultra left tainted the procedure. Both parties are composed of lying, patronizing, schemers but Trump prevailed again and will be spending another 4 years in the White House. The democrats must nominate a moderate(Bloomberg), to have any chance. Biden is damaged goods and not an effective politician. The sensitive, whining socialists have no shot. In the long run Trump is what is best for the country right now he is a dirty egomaniac scoundrel but he is the best alternative unfortunately. Do not over burden yourself with student loans, stay off heroin, and get a decent medical plan and you will survive the next 5 years. Do not depend on Uncle Seymour Anymore.
5
We lost our country last night.
7
You do know that Trump will come after abortion and ending Nato probably next week. Heck he may even use the Corona virus to declare martial law and make himself king.
Today with this, and Brexit rank up there with 9/11 and 1968 when the world seemed to be coming apart as well. I remember 9/11 and watching it unfold on tv, I was in disbelief as it reminded me of a Spielberg movie, it didn't seem real. Today is a day I will remember as a day I never thought I would see, it just doesn't compute with me.
7
If only we had the Senate of Julius Caesar's time.
3
I hope the stench of this week hangs heavy in the air come November. If this criminal is put in again by Putin and the electoral college, let Democrats be in control of both houses of Congress. It is certainly doable. Trump will resign then.
6
It would seem that Nunes can now be impeached by congress for having been part of the Trump scheme, this is sometyhing that I'd love and which would bring out all the rest of the detail and more!!
2
I feel sickened by the cowards in the Senate who closed their eyes (and minds) to truth by refusing to hear from witnesses. A lawless, amoral man is president and these Senators approve. I weep for my country.
5
It is time to retire the acronym GOP and replace it with what it has become, the POT.
1
The Editorial Board abdicated its duty to report responsibly a long time ago and that is as much of an explanation for the current situation as the Senate's behavior. Now, not enough people believe you when you cry wolf.
6
Our Democracy is no longer...
2
Fear not! Trump will soon hoist himself on his own pitard, as will all the spineless Republicans who quake in their little bitty boots over him. As a textbook narcissist he will continue to work hard to undermine himself. Just wait and see.
2
At what point do we take up actions with these men that reflect the degree of destruction and danger they cause? These men are wrecking our nation’s core structures, it’s foundations. We send young black men to prison for having a bit of weed in their pockets. What just actions should in turn be taken towards these titans of harm?
3
Clearly, with this Senate, nothing is impeachable. Disgusting.
3
There s only one way to take our country back. Well, two actually...
3
A Dishonorable Newspaper abandons it’s responsibility to report facts and inform the electorate in favor of indulging the personal anger of its editorial board members about the legitimate outcome of the 2016 presidential election. An Honorable Newspaper would move on to the 2020 election by reporting facts and endorsing a single Democratic candidate according to the platform that best reflects the core values of the editorial board.
8
The next step for Trump is for him to declare that he is President for life. The Republican controlled Senate will not only fall in behind but also declare that they too are Senators for life.
"BEIJING — The comment was made behind closed doors, and appeared to be in jest: President Trump told donors on Saturday that China’s president, Xi Jinping, was now “president for life,” and added: “I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll want to give that a shot someday.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/world/asia/donald-trump-xi-jinping-term-limits.html
2
A drug deal if ever there was one.
3
I have written to my Senators, both Democrats, urging them not to attend the State of the Union address on Tuesday. I understand that attendance honors the office not the man but still think that a statement should be made in the face of this corrupt administration and the sheep-like republicans rising up on their hind legs to applaud whatever he says.
4
Republicans are corrupt and have no morality left. That's the obvious and tragic conclusion, and I hate saying it. We need to vote in 2020 people- no more excuses......
2
And the Oscar goes to Midnight Mitch and his band of 50 sycophants for posing as U.S. Senators swearing to do impartial justice. Just who do they think they're fooling?
Our answer on the second Tuesday in November must be swift and brutally decisive: Throw the Rats out!
4
Seeking the truth? We all know what the truth is. Republicans just choose to ignore it
1
It's going to be interesting the first time Trump abuses his authority while going after one of the Senators who voted to acquit him. You know he'll do it, because he has no loyalty even while demanding it of others. Greedy Rs can't see past the end of their nose.
3
You could have said that about the Democratic Congress dog and pony show. But no. The whole thing is a charade. To present it as a serious and solemn undertaking, or the Times board opinion as in any way important, is ludicrous. Get over yourselves.
7
The House has a simple and effective tool at its disposal: impeach the President again.
4
A second, more virulent, coronavirus was released this week: the coronation of Donald Trump by Senate republicans.
7
No moral courage.
2
This is not the first time this Senate has failed to exercise their responsibility to the American people.....Merrick Garland....Four years ago.............We have a problem in this country that runs deeper than this current presidency....
4
I guess Trump will be the first president to be impeached twice. So much winning.
3
Today is a great day for Putin. The Senate all but acquits Trump on the very same day Britain leaves the EU.
They are popping champagne in Moscow. The plan was executed flawlessly.
5
will Mike Bloomberg please step up and spend a couple billion to get this con man out if office? a flick of his finger changes everything.
3
The founders' coddling of slave states. The dealmaking that rescinded Reconstruction and inaugurated generations of Jim Crow. Now, the usurpation of democracy by fragile ill-educated white males.
When do non-whites, or women, or the working poor, get their turn at exploiting the Constitution's oversights in order to impose their world-view on other Americans?
Or was the Constitution itself rigged? Do its
weaknesses perfectly match this president's psychopathy?
2
American democracy has been murdered by the the Republican Senate. Will you remember that when you vote in November, or will you give them a free pass for the harm they've done, as well?
4
Wait until we find out other world leaders Trump has tried to scam.
2
Sen. Alexander: You were not asked to “tear up ballots”; you were merely asked to vote to hear relevant witnesses and testimony, as you swore to do as an impartial juror. Your letter to me stating that there would be nothing more to learn is preposterous. You were called upon to make an ethical choice and you failed, soiling your reputation in the process. Rationalize your sanctimonious decision if you must. But don’t for a minute think you’re calmed the waters. You and the rest of the spineless, complicit GOP Senate are now accomplices in Trump’s misdeeds going forward. My only regret is that your retirement will not allow me to vote against you in November.
13
Am I missing something in here? Why the editorial is talking about Trump's cheat in the 2020 election? Did he cheat at 2016's? As I recollect it was Hillary Clinton who received the debate questions in 2016 a week in advance of debates.
16
@Crow Debate questions? I think we have a bit more to worry about with Trump than debate questions.
97
The world's greatest deliberative dead body has breathed its last.
52
As the country continues its descent into the circles of hell, I feel again today as I felt after to 2016 election but I hear the faint stirrings of the disaffected and the left behind among the citizens around me. As we now turn our view to the growing war with the politicians favoring party over country in the next nine months, words from cinema rattle in my head.
Admiral Yamamoto after Pearl Harbor said "I fear we have just awakened a sleeping tiger and filled it with a terrible resolve."
And President Whitmore in Independence Day addressed his fellow aviators; "...and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: 'We will not go quietly into the night!' We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"
Well, folks, it's time to suit up. It's my country, too, and I will not give it up without using all the tools I can to defend my fellow citizens--all of them--from this predation of the powerful. Game on!
65
Say "Amen" somebody. Thank you New York Times!
33
Impeach him again and then again and then again.
He will feel special that everyone else had only been impeached once and he got it 2-3-4+ times.
46
Short of not only winning the 2020 general election, and gaining the senate majority, the hope for democracy ended tonight.
Now any tin pot dictator can be elected to office, and fashion anything they wish, and nothing will stop them. While The People are so engaged in their own Bread and Circuses to not even care what Huns are at the gates.
230 years of what the Founders envisioned died tonight. No Law or Constitutional guarantees exist anymore when three branches of government can do as they please, and nothing will stop them.
62
If this isn't already a constitutional crisis, then what is? All GOP members are complicit in this march into lawless land, by affiliation.
67
51 Profiles in Cowardice.
83
See you in November 2020.
35
UNDER OATH..."I did not have sexual relations with that woman."....ACQUITTED.
9
Vote every single rotten one of them out of office.
Go Democrats!
Go Progressives!
Go Bernie!
28
Don’t know what’s worse than dishonorable. The word is using kid gloves. The Republicans are under the influence of a Manhattan real estate sociopath. It’s like believing Harvey Weinstein is a nice little old man. Collins is a joke! The whole thing stinks to high heaven.
62
So a lot of people on this thread hate to here that fact that the republicans are following the blue print laid down by religions. That is facts be damed it is all about faith. Make no mistake about what is happening these christen republicans have no shame because they know they're " right ". Just like the evangelicals. It is what it is and it is all about righteousness. They will do anything to get abortion off the books. That truth is now in front of us all to see. You are in denial if you can not see it.
27
The Republican Party is the biggest threat to American democracy
109
We all must admit to greed. All. The Senators get @ $175,000 a year, which is over three times the average salary. They get a pension that pays over $75,000 a year, again, much more than the average salary. They get lots of perks, lots of choice jobs available after 'service'. They know the system and can 'help' whoever hires them. They got a good life.
Most Americans would like that kind of life. We've been fed the idea of personal freedom and gain with the ideas of equality and honor and community, not so much. In fact equality is often called socialism. So, we have one of the most unequal distributions of wealth in the modern world.
This is the crux: the American Dream is a personal, selfish one. It is surely not about a 'more perfect Union'. Nah. The Republican Party is all about the money. That's why Trump's their perfect leader. That's why they cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations as soon as they were in office. Mammon rules.
This Senate 'trial' was such a mockery, so corrupted, so full of lies and deceit that it does not bode well for America short term, or Republicans long term. Have no doubt, this lying, bully, braggart, traitorous President will sink his own ship and take down any of the rats that can't escape. It's karma, it's the way, it's truth.
45
This overthrow of the Constitution by an imperial, and corrupt Executive is merely the inevitable, and very public consequence of decades of corruption on the Right...to obtain power and benefit for the 1%.
The conceit, the "big lie" is Trump didn't start this. Bush/Reagan were elected with help from the Saudis...and Iran. Cheney/Bush...Saudis and Emiratis. Nixon- Vietnam. Trump at least balked at the obligatory repayment of another war against a Saudi and Israeli enemy.
The Deepstate is just angry that Russia figured out how to exploit this corruption- an insider vulnerability that the GOP created and has used for generations now. Meanwhile Dems hopelessly embrace the very villains that have victimized them for decades...Comey and the FBI, the CIA, Stone Manafort, the IC and their control officers for instance, enemies of the Constitution all...to save the Republic. Sad.
6
Alas, The Times fails to condemn the role of the media played in reaching this point. Not just partisan voices like Fox, but "straddle the fence" organizations like The Times itself failed again and again to tell the unvarnished truth: Trump and his partisans are evil incarnate.
38
Republican legislators refused to waste time about something normal people don't care about.
Not to worry, Democrats, Bloomberg will get the job in November.
Impotent men are running this country. Let’s all acknowledge that so we know where we stand. Where are GOP men with the tenacity and truth of the Fiona Hills, Marie Yonanovitch, Christine Blassy Fords and stormy Daniels. Sadly, AWOL.
28
To all Americans who support this President, despite his disregard for our Constitution and international norms, his unstable temperament, obvious amorality, ignorance, incompetence, vindictiveness, and the more than 16,000 lies since taking office -- you have been warned.
All who refuse to hold this man accountable are complicit in whatever evil he wreaks on the rule of law, humanity and the planet from this day forward.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". -- Edmund Burke
37
Republican Senate showed how faith people stand to their “truth”.
8
Where are the "checks & balances" when it comes to Mitch McConnell's colluding and treasonous behavior?
45
"You know what else they say about my people? The polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? "
Need we say more? This is the permission he has been handed. And, likely...he'd be protected from such an act in the same way we have seen the Republican Senators do today.
25
Oath taken by Democratic Senators:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
Oath apparently taken by Republican senators: replace “Constitution” with “Republican President.”
26
If history is any indication how angry voters feel after a corrupt president stains the country. The election followed Nixon's Impeachment. The republicans gave up 56 house seats, handing the democrats a supermajority. The Senate republicans gave up 6 seats and the majority to the democrats.
Ignoring the will of 75% of the voters, isn't very smart. And the calculus that Moscow Mitch is using, the voters have a short memory ploy. That may have been true, if the election wasn't 236 days away. If the republicans were so sure that Trump can win the election, because of voters supposed dementia, why no witnesses then. Trump hasn't been exonerated, in fact as Sen Lamarr put it, Democrats proved their case, it's just not impeachable. In fact a majority of Senators said he was guilty, just not the impeachable kind guilt.
Since republicans seem to think corrupting our elections by strong arming a strategic ally, is okay. I wonder what Trump and the republican will say in 236 days when they loose the Senate, AND the White House. Trump is going to have to repeat 2016, except now he has baggage, a record, a slowing economy, trillions in added deficit, a manufacturing sector in recession, in fact they are laying off.
Not to mention Lev Parnas, Trump has met his match with Lev. Everything he's said he had, he's produced. To work at the level Parnas was, he's no street thug, he knows there's no honor amongst thieves, so it's best to record meetings keep copies of documents etc.
26
Frankly I'll be just as glad to have this sham, phony "trial" over and done with so the real one can continue on from now until November, when, I hope and pray, the true verdict will be rendered by the American electorate and this sham, phony Presidency will come to an end.
And none of what I just wrote gets the spineless and contemptible Senate Republicans off the hook (nearly all of them, anyway) for their willful blindness to the worst and most dangerous "President" this country has ever had.
11
Democracy dies in darkness and it did yesterday. Just like in banana republics the GOP senators held their loyalty to a corrupt bully with no respect to the rule of law. Elections from now on would only be a joke. The power hungry president and the many GOP senators (and Congress minions) will try to hold on to their seat by hook and by crook. Mitch McConnell needs to go. When he first got elected eons ago,he may have impressed the crowd. But now,he cannot even complete a sentence properly. The dinosaurs are meant to be in museum not in the Halls of Senate. Please boot him out(and many others who are just there for creating a horror show).
16
I feel nearly as sick about this as I did after the 2016 election.Everybody in that Senate knows full well that Trump's abuse of power is going to go into overdrive. That's the biggest reason to remove him - he's truly dangerous to our democracy. Congress' most important job is protecting the security of our nation!! It is absolutely indefensible to not have evidence in a trial - that's what you do, especially now, when there has already been considerable evidence of actions that endanger our country. How can these Senators risk that for this nasty ignorant man who - they have to know - is undermining the very ideals and idea of America: equality for all, respect for the rule of law, dignity for the weaker among us, respect for freedom of speech and support for a free press. As a North Carolinian, I am truly shocked that Richard Burr, a member of the Senate Intelligence committee, with insight into Trump's corruption, spoke as ignorantly and flippantly as his fringe colleagues. And Lisa Murkowski, wow! Drank that McConnell kool-aid right up.
54
Remarkably short-sighted vote by the Republican senators. They have lit a fuse that will smolder and hiss from now til November. The resulting avalanche will bury them so entirely their own children will not remember their names.
16
Every single person denied a voice in this hideous, heinous display minority rule needs to speak up. Vote. These are old, white, mostly male, Republicans predominantly ruling from the South by an archaic design meant to give minority South the rule. Vote this antiquated process out of office starting with the President.
17
So now the US is like Russia. Law is nothing, unless a tool to windowdress pure power play. Logic is nothing, US government can argue in two different US courts 180 degrees different legal positions.
As a Pole, I know well what makes Russia "different". The core is that law there is simply a tool. Law does not rule the country, it is the rulers who use the law, arbitrarily.
And you know what? That a Pole could say, honestly, "US is like Russia", was probably a minor objective, as well. Pain.
21
The worst part about this is a US president obstructing the Congressional investigation - Trump, the Senate, and "Chief Justice" Roberts basically took a collective dump on our Forefathers' provision of Checks and Balances by allowing a "reverse kangaroo trial" where evidence is suppressed. This should be grounds to impeach Roberts.
The best part about this is if 75% of the country wanted to hear evidence and see documents, I hope they get off their butts to "vote blue no matter who" and trust Congress to keep the winner in check (I don't agree with "free everything" spending) because Trump and Republicans HAVE to get bulldozed out of office.
It'll be interesting to see what happens between now and Nov 3, especially more info coming out (I expect Bolton's book to get quashed), Trump going "full tilt bozo" (his mind's getting worse by the day.. re: his response about Elon Musk), and a slowing economy.
14
When anyone gives Trump an inch, he takes a mile. Well, yesterday Senate Republicans gave him an endless length of rope. He will overreach, like he always does. Hopefully, whatever he does will not get more people killed or start a war. At a minimum, yesterday he was probably already on the phone to Putin, MBS, or some shadowy drug lord or mafia boss to try to put the fix in for 2020. But, I think we can be confident that he will do something even more unethical, abusive of his power, and likely criminal, while Senate Republicans stand by silently shaking their heads, but doing absolutely nothing.
The temptation for now would be to despair and give up. But, we cannot. If enough patriotic people vote Blue in 2020, we can overcome this dark stain on our history. So, please find time to volunteer, register people to vote, make sure everyone you know votes, and canvass door to door with the truth. There are a lot of people out here who are outraged. We just need to overwhelm the polls with them in November.
28
I’d like someone to try and justify Hunter Bidens $1 million salary from Burisma. When you get paid like that - and provide nothing in return, it is nothing short of a bribe.
8
Murkowski is a coward. She tried to sound like she was taking the high road, “protecting” the supreme court from being dragged down to the base level of the Republicans. But she trashed the constitution just as much as the other Republican cowards by not fulfilling the senate’s duty to TRY the impeachment by calling the witnesses and demanding the corroborating documentary evidence hidden by the T-rump. As for Roberts, he can hide behind his dubious role as umpire. But to refuse to break a tie is another example of cowardness on display. I’m sure the Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.
24
The scary part starts now. Given his "acquittal" (I know it is not, but it will be seen as such), is he now untouchable? Van he now really do "whatever he wants". And that last part must scare anybody!!!
6
These attorneys must be stopped. Without the flagrant abuse of the law and total disregard of ethics perpetrated by these so-called lawyers, the President’s name would not be disgustingly plastered on garish buildings throughout our beautiful city, he would be in jail for rape, and he would not be destroying the country from its highest office.
I was driven from a career in the law by an unceasing disappointment in our ethical standards. It was clear to me that the country was bought and paid for and it starts and ends with the lawyers. The attorneys for the President advanced frivolous arguments based on outright, demonstrable lies. But I won’t be holding my breath for any disbarments...they’re suits are far too nice.
10
This searing editorial matches my own feelings about this sham trial and dangerous president. Why I continue to be shocked by the lemming-like behavior of Republicans is beyond me.
One thing for sure is that we can dispense with the laughable descriptor that "the U.S. Senate is the world's greatest deliberative body." Hah!
16
Their names will go down in shame for all of history.
17
That "group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values" occupies a niche in the universe where no reasonable person would ever want to go. " 'But I don't want to go among mad people,' said Alice. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the cat. 'We're all mad here.' "
4
New term for US Senate: worst deliberative body in the world because more than half did not deliberate at all.
They earned the title; they own the title; and history will belittle them forever.
In less than we 250 years we have gone from "I cannot tell a lie" to "I cannot NOT tell a lie."
And from "greatest deliberative body in the wotld" to "least deliberative body in the world".
They own it.
13
We seem to be moving towards a Senate consensus: Per Rubio, Alexander, and presumably Collins, Romney, and Murkowski, Trump was worthy of impeachment but not quite worth removing from office. However, there is one major caveat. You have to be willfully ignorant of the most damning information clearly within your grasp. And then you have to have the gall to sanction a sham trial and ram through an empty exoneration on a strict party line vote.
That's democracy with the smallest of d's. Especially when Senate R's only represent like minded voters mostly in lightly populated states. In effect we now have the tyranny of the minority aligned with a criminally incompetent and unrepentant president.
Things will probably get worse before they get better. Particularly if the president's overseas friends decide to help again with his reelection. And the odds of that have probably gone up substantially.
9
Well bye bye Miss American Pie drove my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry... sad day for all Americans, even those who do not realize yet what they have lost.
Say hello to your strongman in chief and these actions of the impotent Senate have opened the door to future strongmen on chief.
13
I fall back to a wise Trappist monk who once said to me, “Cheer up, Ama, things are only going to get worse.”
9
Long live the new monarchy.
1
Impeachment is not about the truth - it is politics by other means
4
Half a century ago, I sat in my high school American History class, and learned in greater depth the lessons I had been taught since 4th grade regarding the three branches of the U.S. government and the genius of the founding fathers who balanced power between them and gave them each oversight over the other. This would assure, we were told (and I truly believed), that the Rule of Law would be the overarching construct of governance. No man would be above the law. No king, tyrant, despot or corrupt sociopath could ever seize and maintain power. Upon evidence of any president breaking the law, acting corruptly, abusing executive power or acting against the country’s best interests in furtherance of his/her own personal interests, the impeachment process would be the remedy.
What is happening now shakes me to my core. One man is above the law. He did everything he is accused of. Various GOP senators freely acknowledge it. He then ignored subpoenas. He granted upon himself and his staff absolute, blanket privilege and immunity, a nonexistent right. He threatens the whistleblower, Ambassadors, Schiff, Vindman, and any GOP Senator who doesn’t rubber stamp his “exoneration.” He preens and struts and showers us with neverending lies. He disgraces us with his ignorance, his delusional self-aggrandizement and his lack of empathy or decency.
The little man pulling the strings chortles and rubs his hands with glee. McConnell is equal to Trump in his depravity.
R.I.P. Rule of Law.
26
Democrats, and the New York Times, are justifiably angry that the second serious candidate for nomination, after Hillary Clinton who was actually nominated,
the second candidate who made a billion and a half from foreign countries for their families or foundation was exposed by Trump,
and the second attempt to take down Trump for interfering with the sacrosanct Constitutional right of every Democratic candidate to make more than a billion off of the foreign nations their are in charge of,
the second attempt to take Trump down for it, after the Mueller probe, failed so miserably again.
Where, tell us where is this country going, when Presidents can only lose a billion while in office, like Trump, rather than make a billion while in office, like Clinton or Biden?
2
The Times is too kind. The Republican senators and the Big Money and overseas interests behind them cherish party, profits, and power more than they do democracy, patriotism, and the Republic. They've set us up for fixed elections in November and a dictatorial presidency perhaps forever, or at least as long as most of your readers are alive. Such base behavior merits greater condemnation than polite slaps on rhetorical wrists or political commentary on what's basically out and out fascism on the move. The Times can call it out when it sees it elsewhere, but turns a blind eye to the here and now. "It Can't Happen Here!"....
8
The American ideal of democracy died in November of 2016. It was finally buried on January 31, 2020.
9
So the Senate has abandoned the rule of law.
All contracts are now worthless?
7
Mr. Bolton is no hero. He could have come forward months ago. Instead, he timed his revelations to the release of book.
Shame on him.
19
Hey, why is anyone surprised? The American electorate put Trump and his cohort of Republican senators in office - and may continue to do repeat the same in 2020. Until that "silent majority" of NON VOTERS actually turn out at the polls to VOTE out the resurrected Nero, along with a senate of craven, cowardly sycophants this November ---America will get a President and Congress that reflects the growing greed, cynicism, immorality, shortsightedness, and cowardice that abounds; WE the PEOPLE will unfortunately and consequentially get WHAT WE DESERVE.
Make no mistake about it -- YOUR vote matters as do all who you know. Do not let those otherwise "indifferent, apolitical-types off the hook -- get them out to vote this regime out of office in NOVEMBER, otherwise... . Thank you.
12
I'm outraged by the results in the senate but not surprised. Agreeing with the readers in the Times is no remedy. The remedy isn't to be found in New York's elections. It's time to write letters to the newspapers in swing states and senate races leaning towards the Republican senate candidate (just like Putin trolls) exposing the Republican Party's malfeasance. It's time to financially support candidates and the Democratic Party where that support will be of greatest value. Commenting in this paper is preaching to the choir. I want change and I'm going to let people know the facts in the places where it will make the most difference. The impeachment is over but the fight has just begun.Don't mourn, organize.
9
Senators corrupt,
Prohibiting all, witness;
The Republic lost.
7
The Republicans have completed their forty year descent into absolute corruption. Now they are simply co-conspirators with the most corrupt “president”in history.
6
Nancy Pelosi is not nearly as smart as she or her followers thinks she is.
7
It’s becoming popular to say “you can hate Trump but you can’t hate his supporters”.
Well, I don’t hate Trump or his supporters but I hate what they represent.
4
I am disappointed NYT carries this narrative.
Folks, you may not even like Dershowitz but he made an impassioned plea to get back to sanity.
This outright partisan affair that in other times, Democrat leaders pointedly warned us - was the reason to stop these proceedings.
For Mr Schiff to propose a "deal" on the floor of the Senate when it is considering the ultimate nuclear option under our constitution - was an insult to the Founders.
He wanted to disregard everything Federalits papers warned.
He made it as if it was an antiques auction.
Even in a plain vanilla robbery trial - a judge would be offended.
Justice Kavanaugh was supposed to be stopped by additional investigations.
After agreed to FBI investigations - folks still attacked that FBI did a poor job when he was confirmed.
Just imagine what the Senate reputation would be.
Not every crime is a capital offense.
Ditto here - not every impeached offense has to be a removal.
Turn to none other than the lone Republican who refused to remove Johnson.
And in this instance - we have the ultimate weapon to remove him - an election in 9 months.
Our Constitution, precedents and just simple decency are more valuable than a man in the Oval Office - may be, just a few more months.
3
What do you expect when McConnell stated outright the Republicans are coordinating the trial with the White House. This is the greatest wink from the jurors to the defendant in America's judicial history.
10
Like many of those old Senators who limp away after casting their votes, democracy today is gasping for air. The 51 Republican senators who voted to not hear witnesses and read documents have tied the noose tighter around our necks. The man who now holds the rope can open that trap door and let us fall with nothing to stop him.
6
The Republican Party has sold its birthright for a bowl of Trump.
4
We have just witnessed President Trump, “Cover-Up Leader” McConnell and Senate Republicans shoot the U.S. Constitution down on Fifth Avenue and get away with it.
Get used to it.
It’s only the beginning.
7
We now know how GOP senators would react if Trump shot someone on Fifth Avenue on live TV. The harshest condemnation would be something like, “It’s most inappropriate. He shouldn’t be doing things like that.”
The next wave of comments would include: “I didn’t see the whole thing so I’m not sure exactly what happened.”
Then would come, “Are we sure the bullet from Trump’s gun really killed the victim?”
Then Lindsay Graham: “The coroner says the bullet killed the victim but he’s a Democrat coroner.”
Then Marco Rubio would offer: “He killed the guy but is it really in the interest of the country to remove him just for that?”
And finally Alan Dershowitz: “It can’t be an impeachable offense for a commander-in-chief to shoot someone if in his judgement such military force is necessary.”
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm staying away from Fifth Avenue as long as Trump is president.
13
The editorial begins: “Alas, no one ever lost money betting on the cynicism of today’s congressional Republicans.”
The word “cynicism”’is misplaced. Better choices are “spinelessness”, “venality”, “corruption”. The GOP Senators simply are bought-and-aid-for lackeys of their billionaire patrons. No honor, no conscience, and in fact, no sense.
7
Refusing to hear from first-hand witnesses, including John Bolton who is volunteering to testify amounts to the biggest cover up in 250 years of US history!
If I hear one more person say "no one is above the law", I'm going to hurl!
If I hear one more Democrat say "History will judge Senate Republicans badly", I'm going to hurl!
If I hear one more Senate Republican say "House Democratic Impeachment Managers have proven their case and Trump is guilty, but it's not impeachable", guess what I'm gonna do?!
Hey... maybe it'll help me lose weight.
3
This is not over. This cannot stand!
7
Watching senators reduce themselves
To the magnitude of Santa’s elves
Is sad to contemplate
But unlike Watergate
We have no one to blame but ourselves
1
Beyond the repercussions in the U.S., Putin and those of his ilk smile broadly -- while our allies cringe anxiously. Thank you, G.O.P. !!!
3
The Republicans have sold their souls. History will judge this era as a time when the world went mad. Yes, let's keep impeaching him for other high crimes. But don't get mad, get even. Vote, vote, vote.
6
DJT should arrest all Dems in the Senate because in estimation it would be in the best interest of the country, which as we all know now is all the justification he’d need day.
1
Russia if you’re listening can you find Trump’s missing tax returns?
24
If Democrats wanted to hear Bolton testify, the House should have subpoenaed him and allowed the Scotus to determine if Congress's desire to question him was more important that executive privilege.
It is fascinating that Democrats have fabricated the notion that the partisan "whistleblower" has a right to confidentiality, but is prepared to believe as absolute truth that what has been leaked about Bolton's book.
The book contains classified information. So what person who has legal access to its content is guilty of espionage?
The House can now restart their impeachment process and spend the next five years working on it.
18
@ebmem They did subpoena him. He refused to comply. The McGahn case is still being litigated.
95
@ebmem Bolton has stated that the book does not contain classified information.
36
The motives of the whistle blower are irrelevant. Who else would take the risk than someone who thinks something wrong was done? The whole point of a whistleblower statute is to guarantee no reprisals to someone who stands up to the powerful. And there is a process to determine if the concerns warrant being pursued. The most despicable thing the President and his defenders have done is to vilify and attempt to punish someone who had the guts to do what this person did. It is despicable because it insures that a procedure that can challenge illegality and corruption is eviscerated.
60
I must assume that Chief Justice Roberts could not wait to get into the shower to try to wash off the stench of this "trial."
And how would he have voted if the Senate produced a 50-50 tie? Talk about an agonizing decision! Confirm the partisanship of the Supreme Court, or vote for firsthand witnesses? Squirming time in spades.
The House must continue to seek and expose the truth, not for political advantage, but to live up to their responsibility as described so clearly in the Constitution.
53
Two things. In the 2016 election, of all the voters who showed up, 74,074,037 did not vote for Trump. That means Trump lost the popular vote by 11,089,209 votes. These totals include all the candidates that were on the ballot for president.
Secondly, the Republican Senators who voted to basically end a trial without calling witnesses or having evidence produced have committed treachery which means they have, and the evidence will show, committed treason. If they are proven guilty the minimum sentence is 5 years. They are all enemies of the United States of America.
105
Well, forget the SCOUTS cases revealing anything. The Donald J. Trump Supreme Court is certain to side with him.
14
I don't know what others are doing, but I'm reading up on how to be a feudal serf. I think the knowledge will serve me well.
30
@the pudgy curmudgeon
Well stated. Hyperbole is not used enough by my high school students. But they also know reality unlike many others.
1
Parallel to the "Invade Iraq' Yes vote of 2003 but on the GOP side.
Litmus Test of character and patriotism for years to come.
14
Who are our elected representatives representing? That is not a recent inquire. The impeachment exercise just makes the broken system more evident.
And where have we landed when John Bolton is seen by some as a hero?
Time to truly start over – if possible.
23
@wsmrer They are representing the people who give them money for their election coffers. That's why it was so important to see who was supporting them.
31
@Denise
Agrree but THE PEOPLE has a broader meaning -- See Lincoln.
2
@Denise No, I think it was Trump who decided that he had the power to squash them flat if they voted to convict him. Watch any Western in which the gang of outlaws are led by the biggest and baddest bully of them all, and watch how quickly he fatally shoots the one gang-member who dares to stand up to him. Do the rest of the outlaws gang up on the bully? No, they do not. They look down at their boots and shuffle and mumble, but the lesson has been learned. This is the same mentality here.
18
At a minimum, let's remember that this "impeachment" started with hearsay allegations from an anonymous accusser. That is almost impossible to imagine in America in anything except a partisian, political exercise. Virtually all House testimony boiled down to partisian narratives about non-criminal behavior. It should come as no surprise - at all - that what started with dark and questionable motives, ends with a dark and political denoument. Many high horses were riden in the last several months, yet almost no one involved behaved entirely honorably or with full candor.
7
@Fred Rick That may be true, but now even the Republicans are admitting that what Trump did was wrong. They just are saying they don't care that the President is corrupt.
34
@Fred Rick
He is guilty and you know it.
Sophistry does not out weigh the truth. And John Bolton with direct knowledge will publish his book. Mr. Parnas also knows the truth and is talking. Mitch and his minions can’t keep it bottled up, or swept under the rug. The truth will out. Guilty as charged.
33
@Fred Rick
Testimony from American government workers rendered the whistle-blower irrelevant. They behaved honorably in full candor in the interest of the country. Only a Republican apologist cannot comprehend that.
33
Trump is a one off. After he dies, Trumpism will instantly vaporize. The shame of these Republicans will never die.
Kudos to Romney. A true gentleman and patriot.
And Schiff will be remembered as one of the greatest Congressmen in our history.
Righteousness loses battles but will win the war.
1686
@T Agree. What this has done is to bring into frank evidence the extent of the swamp. Many “centrist” voted for Trump to “drain the swamp” and that sentiment is likely strong. There is potential for politicians across all political parties who are decent and honorable to step forward. Schiff is leading the way to do what is right.
Maybe I am wrong on this but, sometimes swamp creatures are camouflaged and only sunlight can expose them.
90
@T
I also agree. I hope I'm still around in 10 years to hear the backpedaling.
76
Righteousness wins the war? Were that only true? With, or without Trump, FOX news, Hannity, Limbaugh, Levin, Citizens United, NRA,and a mob of Conservative Judges will remain for years and control the will and soul of what once was a a great Nation. Now, we must comply. Senate obstinacy in denying witnesses and evidence proves that we are no different than any other authoritarian oligarchy. What has "vaporized" is that ideal of our founding fathers: FREEDOM .
244
These Republican senators now own every single offense that Trump is sure to commit in the future. May the scarlet T forever mark their lives and their memories after they are gone.
29
Four percent of Republicans voted to uphold the Rule of Law and the anchor of our government—Checks and Balances.
Impeachment was specifically designed to remove a president voted into office who subsequently abused power.
Only We the People can save ourselves.
8
It’s not future presidents it’s the one now. It’s not a congress that did not check the lawless president but one that surrendered its power to check.
There is.no longer a separation of powers. There is no longer congressional oversight. There is no longer a free election.
Today is day one of the American imperium.
16
If the Republicans ever wanted to ignite a scorched earth policy among Democrats, they may soon find out what that means.
10
Why are Republicans so scared of Trump? These, seemingly, rational adults, start trembling at the mention of his name, never mind his many flaws.
19
In November, 2020 Americans will take their final exam. Will we allow the madness to stand?
What will we will our children, if we fail?
13
Are Republican voters proud of McConnell & Trump? Is this their path to the shining city on the hill? How can they support their party's actions and still believe in democracy, rule of law, fairness– How can they believe in America?
The actions of Repubs betray their oaths, democracy, the rule of law and the constitution. This is basic truth no matter what tortuous, "sophisticated" expiation they offer to support their actions.
Toursts in Washington should turn their backs when these senators pass. A restaurant should not deny them service, but the patrons should request the check and leave.
Viktor Frankl wrote that the hopelessness of his fellow concentration camp prisoners did not diminish the honor and integrity of their actions. The reverse is true. The certainty of Republicans' win in the senate does not imbue senators' actions with the honor and integrity that was so readily, so easily within their reach. Their honor is lost and sold cheap. They risked only a job. Only a shred of decency was required, and, as in Lot's biblical task, decency could not be found. Good Faith was absent.
Murkowski & Hunt: You are not royals. Your inordinate power that should move you to act with inordinate care. I don't care if you heard enough. I wanted pursuit of the truth to inform my vote and my country's. You stole that from me.
19
I'll always associate Brexit with TruthExit.
5
I am glad that one NYT pundit (Paul Krugman today) has, regardless of who is elected President, recognized the key to accomplishing anything of value is getting rid of MCCONNELL. ANDY BESHEAR must run against him in Kentucky. STACY ABRAMS has to be convinced to run. JAY INSLEE has to run. They must be convinced that is their patriotic duty.
Every senator running for President has to stay in the Senate.... every single one... even if they could be president. Shout it from the rooftops.
Any of the Democratic candidates would work to advance the interests of the American people who have been left behind-- that is to say the majority of us. It will go to naught with the hateful Republican Senate that we have now.
17
SAD.
I cry for our Country.
DJM
6
Mitch McConnell is an old, white, Southerner from Kentucky, a state of 4.5 million people, and he gets to carve up the Constitution like a hot knife through butter? Where is the justice in all this. Where is the representation and voice of what the majority of people want? There are millions of Democrats in California and NY -58 million combined and Kentucky decides?
34
Well, Gore Vidal did say that he thought the United States would "end up somewhere between Argentina and Brazil." Apparently, he was right.
12
When Trump was impeached, I had felt so proud and hopeful that America was finally getting back on its high ideal course but I didn't imagine the GOP could be so shamelessly unpatriotic, holding a trial without a single witness!
The party that used to hold the constitution sacred, has thrown it in the trash, supporting instead a thug president, and I now feel as embarrassed as ever to be an American.
15
While the loquacious comments express the despair of witnessing the failure of the American Experiment what remains is quite simple.
The Republican Party has handed over our democracy to a wannabe Diktator. They will never, ever live that down ... no matter how much handwringing or what weasel words they choose to cover their tracks.
They are shameless opportunistic traitors, deserving of the fullest contempt and calumny that can be heaped upon them. The deserve nothing more, and nothing less.
15
Ben Franklin when told that the British troops had entered Philadelphia replied - The British haven't take Philadelphia; Philadelphia has just taken the British.
The Rs haven't taken America with this blatant denial of the Constiution. America (the land of immigrants, of humanity, of curiosity, of people over power) has just taken the Republicans. They've been exposed as hypocrites and frauds and Un-Americans.
7
I'm an uneducated, 71 year old, white man. For 32 years I was a sworn police officer. It didn't bother me so much when the first generation of chicken hawks - Cheney and Bush - didn't serve their country. What bothered me was that they beat the drums of war to send other people - all while cutting taxes. This current flock - Trump and Rush and Barr - is even more craven. They're afraid to speak or hear the truth. I am not going to hate my neighbor, no matter how they feel about abortion or guns or gays or immigrants. But these Senators are as morally alien as anyone I've ever seen in America. And they make me sick.
51
At this crucial juncture in the impeachment process, Trump's insulting references to all Democrats can now be officially conferred upon this majority Senate, henceforth and for all eternity, "the do nothing Republicans."
9
When the majority of Senators arrive at the same wrong political conclusion, there must have been some cheating. With witnesses, cheaters "face damaging revelations," which lowers the probability of them appearing to be correct. Facing that consequence, cheaters oppose witnesses. And, when you conclude that cheating is the best way to win, you head your ticket with the best cheater you can find.
4
People please note. Clean out your/our State legislators that control the delegates to the electoral college & will control drawing of the districts again, with this coming Census.
Demand that our states have an independent process to redraw districts. One that is fair & not under the control of any party! Stop Gerry Mandering!
Do not give up the fight! The last hope to save our democratic republic is now up to us, The people!
13
This is just another Republican vote of expedience. It reminds me of Sandra Day O'Connor's vote in Bush v Gore. And look where that led. The Republicans are not interested in getting to the truth. They are corrupting the trial process in order to maintain their illegitimate hold on executive power.
10
Frankly, Fake Trial = Fake Acquittal.
Without a true trial, he’s forever stained. I’m not so sure the Senate did Trump any favors.
6
Let’s hope that if and when there is a Democratic President next, she or he will permanently lock each and every seat of who failed to protect our republic from Donald Trump in jail for the rest of their miserable lives. After all, this Democratic President will have thought this is in the interest of our nation. And that’s legal now, right?
6
America as we know it—the American dream itself, long on life support—is now dead. The dream of the Founders is finished, ashes and dust. “Vote them out,” some will say, but this impeachment was over efforts to sway an election; now that the perpetrators know they will face no repercussions, they will perpetrate more freely—and others will join them. Never again will an election’s results be trusted, which is just as well because never again will an election’s results be trustworthy. I suppose that propaganda and other forms of hacking are the subtlest, gentlest means of imposing tyranny. But the tyrants have definitely won, and they’ll keep winning for a very long time after this.
6
In the midst of all the legal mumbo jumbo and rationalizations the Republicans are throwing around, there is one inescapable truth: the people who hide the truth are the ones who know the truth will hurt them.
7
America as we know it—the American dream itself, long on life support—is now dead. The dream of the Founders is finished, ashes and dust.
“Vote them out,” some will say, but this impeachment was over efforts to sway an election; now that the perpetrators know they will face no repercussions, they will perpetrate more freely—and others will join them. Never again will an election’s results be trusted, which is just as well because never again will an election’s results be trustworthy.
I suppose that propaganda and other forms of hacking are the subtlest, gentlest means of imposing tyranny. But the tyrants have definitely won, and they’ll keep winning for a very long time after this.
3
The Republican Senate cheated me out of knowing the truth before the election. I guess now I know how to vote.
10
The RINOs effectively said, we three mice see no evidence which says what we agree he did is impeachable. The Swamp King's shady mouthpiece, Dershowitz, effectively said that his long-standing declaration about shooting someone on 5th Avenue, if done to encourage his re-election, is even more apt during an election cycle (which these days is the first four years in office).
The duty of those who honor the Constitution is to make sure that he never gets another four years (in office; jail is another matter), and that his 23 dishonorable henchmen are not re-elected.
5
Does the vote to block witnesses open the door to just a few Republicans to dramatically switch their final vote?
After all, why bother to have more witnesses if you already do believe DJT is guilty.
Certainly it must occur to at-risk Republican Senators that DJT with a get-of-jail-free card will do some over-the-top dumb things in the run up to November elections.
Rather like the John McCain no vote on the ACA?
4
The one word that sums up this circus of politics.
Shame.
Complete disregard to the constitution and the will of the people. The republicans should be locked up.
7
Pettifogging obsolete technicalities is a game for children lawyers, and deluded old ladies. The brutal reality is neo-liberal/conservative-ism has globalized politics as well as economics and war. Much though saying it aloud is anathema the 2012 CIA coup in Ukraine and establishment of a client government made of it a real (if informal) part of the US;
and, log-rolling is the time-honored SOP of Washington.
1
It is breathtaking to see the Republican Party collapse under the weight of this corrupt and immoral man.
Republicans are now a Fox News subsidiary.
Only two people have carried themselves with any honor in this trial; Romney and Collins.
Trump will put them on his hit list and their careers could soon be over.
In the history books the grinning, devious, and corrupt McConnell will be the architect of the death of democracy.
14
"All in all, it's just another brick in the wall"
...another step toward tyranny. It seems less and less crazy to wonder how long even this forum, of freely discussed opinions, will exist...or whether I will hear a knock on my door for the opinions I've shared.
7
A dark day indeed for America. One that defies all laws and logic.
As difficult as it may be, those on the side of light for our beloved country must rise up in November to conquer the force of darkness.
Please vote in November as if your life depended on it. Because it may.
8
the ship of state goes on crashing through the waves. Yes this looks like a Hokusai-sized wave. but the stars are still there! You may say, "Yes, but......" there is really only one captain. What does it say on our penny?
A Great Leap Forward in fascism today. Now Trump can call Republican governors in swing states and say, "Do me a favor, though." The slippery slope has been greased by the cowardly GOP. And we're on it for a long ride. God bless and help America.
6
Shostakovich Symphony #5
2
America is so bored with the impeachment trials we
re all yawning & can barely keep our eyes open. This boredom is due in part to the fact that it has played out exactly as we assumed it would from the beginning.
3
Democrats gave the country Roosevelt, Truman and Johnson.
Republicans gave us Nixon, Bush and Trump. How nice it is to see our country become great again. Trump is now our king!
6
Congressional Republicans are not guided by any principles of morality or decency. For them, politics is more like a sporting event with the single aim of crushing the opposing team, by any means they can get away with. They are popping the corks on their favorite beverages and awaiting some bonus donations from their delighted supporters. For them the Super Bowl happened yesterday, not tomorrow, with no authority in sight to investigate their foul play.
9
Bolton indeed needs to testify before the House. Even if it takes months in court.
6
They have not only abdicated their duty to the country but they have allowed this president of horrific character to besmirch their reputations. Trump is like virus infecting the GOP passing from one Republican to the next leaving them helpless to resist his destructive power. It’s a shame and it’s sad to see so many Americans give up on their country and succumb to his cult of personality.
3
I just hope we Mainers can rally in November to vote out fake moderate Susan Collins.
But my dream is that we vote them ALL out. Every single one from both parties. Clean sweep and start over with people who can work together in true collaboration toward just and fair laws. Hey: I called it a dream.
6
All of this is beyond understanding. Yet even more incomprehensible is that senators like Rubio, who Trump taunted with chants of "Little Marco", Cruz, whose father Trump intimated was involved in the assassination of JFK, and whose wife's appearance Trump mocked, and Graham, whose cell phone number Trump announced while mocking Graham at a rally, all fell in line and defended this lying, immoral, irreverent criminal of a president.
9
I sit here wondering whom Putin will call first with congratulations- Trump or McConnell?
All but two of the GOP Senators are now Russian assets along with Trump. All of them have now invited Russia to meddle and make it impossible for a Democrat to win in November. Couple that with Citizens United and Fox News; the outcome is certain.
If RBG dies or becomes incapacitated, our Constitution will be just a museum artifact.
4
Let’s just call it as it is. The GOP is overthrowing our Constitutional democracy.
7
In 2020, voters must put the Democrats in charge of the Senate. In subsequent elections each of the 53 Republican Senators who voted in this demeaning and undemocratic support of a corrupt President must be driven from public office by voters.
A harsh political example must be set for future weakling politicians.
5
McConnnell's and the Senate Republicans Constitutional oaths: I swear to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic and to do impartial justice.
McConeell and Senate Republicans comment: We were just joking!
American electorate's response: We weren't.
4
We the People have the final say. Remember in November, and VOTE against ALL Republicans.
10
Blah, blah, blah. Way too much high-minded silliness in these comments. You want to stop these guys? Win elections. Pick candidates that can win, find some common ground with moderates in the middle of the country (it won’t kill you or the country, I promise), and use every legal means necessary to get more votes than they do. Today would be a good day to start.
4
For those of us who "were" Republicans...and consider that party as dark as the Star Wars dark side. I can't help but feel like the Jedi's that they wiped out...but yet, in the end...a few remained and good triumphed. Life is not a movie...and I know I cannot reduce this to science fiction...but something about all this feels like the worst screenplay ever written. And I was so hoping for a better ending...but that just might come in the sequel.
2
A terrible day and a terrible outcome. Trump triggered it but the Republicans put the nails in the coffin. For Shame!
5
Well we now know what impeachable is not. Like pornography: hard to define but you know it when you see it. Unless, as here, you put your hands over your eyes. Which is what the Republican Senators seem to have done.
3
Very dark days for American democracy.
6
The pathetic Senate Republicans, led by Trump and herded by McConnell, have united the country against them. May they all go down in November.
8
The epitaph for the current Republican Senators:
Never have so few harmed so many for so little.
8
This has to a wake up call for all Americans. The Republican Party is a corrupt institution that now houses the remnants of the white supremacy who have ruled since the inception of the country.
As a majority minority country now, this coming election is crucial given the weight of redistricting after the 2020 census. Only with democratic wins at the state and national level can we make sure the voices of the majority are heard, gerrymandering is eliminated and the electoral college put on the dustheap of slavery.
6
I am truly shocked at this turn in the functionality of our country. Fundamentally this is lawlessness - and starting at the very top. A very dishonest, corrupt example to us all. There are comparatively few Republican lawmakers, but an awful lot of populous and entities that could follow their example and go corrupt and lawless. Maybe it is what they want, but beware the devil I say to all you so called dedicated Christians.
3
It’s funny how when Republicans are discussing immigration the sanctity of the law is unquestionable and that it has nothing to do with bigotry. I guess that argument is out the window.
3
If I were a think tank representing the most wealthy and influential enterprises from pharma, agro, oil, military, I would
* keep basic education simple such that peoples capability of independent judgement remains limited
* fix lowest wages small to keep populace busy with daily survival rat race
* make ordinary people sick with opioids and junk food, for the same reason
* disable medicare for all, for the same reason
* make higher education expensive to prefer rich people kids which belong to the inner circle
* install a tax reform which shifts wealth from bottom to top earners
* keep a two party system where vivid interest groups have no chance to blossom into alternative parties
* support an electorate layer between voters and president which can overturn popular vote
* have a hand in almost all media to distribute distractions, diversions and lies
and pressure senators to support a brainless president who is a complaisant instrument of said corporations whispering into his numb ears.
10
History will mark this week as the end of the American Republic. It will likely take 50 years before in hindsight it is apparent that this was the week it happened.
To all the so-called Liberals out there...
You had better change your tune on the Second Amendment. You had better learn to shoot and teach your children and grandchildren to do the same as an authoritarian government like Russia and China is taking root and it will grow and grow over the next 50 years.
"We have had 13. states independant 11. years. There has been one rebellion. That comes to one rebellion in a century and a half for each state. What country ever existed a century and a half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.” --- Jefferson
2
Hypocrite, thy name is Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said on Friday in explaining her refusal to vote to hear from any witnesses. “I don’t believe the continuation of this process will change anything. It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed.”
7
The did not refuse to seek the truth. The already know the truth, and they don't care. They don't think it is impeachable
2
When it’s time to vote on the articles of impeachment next Wednesday, the Democrats should vote “ present” and declare that there was a mistrial in account of there having been no witnesses, evidence, cross-examinations or jury deliberations. Then, the House should subpoena John Bolton’s manuscript and testimony and Lev Parnas’ documents and testimony and continue its investigation to expose the full scope of the president’s corruption and of all of the other senior administration’s officials. Keep the investigation going all the way through next fall. American voters deserve only the whole truth and nothing but whole truth before they cast a single ballot next November.
7
The Trump trial is nearly over, but the Senate will now stand trial with the American people. There are 277 days until November 3.
8
The House should immediately subpoena Bolton, Kelly, and any other relevant witnesses.
5
It’s ironic that Chief Justice Roberts declared the Senate to be “...the world’s most deliberative body...” and then we had to listen to Trump’s defenders deliberately lie a significant number of times in the Senate chamber while the Chief Justice sat silently by, appearing to be unperturbed by the unethical behavior of Trump’s White House council!
3
Certainly the House should continue its oversight of the president. Subpoena John Bolton. Subpoena Mick Mulvaney. Subpoena Lev Parnas. Subpoena whoever you think has relevant evidence. But the House should let us know what they find.
But the Senate had no duty to do any of this work. The Senate is supposed to judge the case, not investigate it. The Senate rightfully decided that the House should gather and sift the evidence so that it can be presented to the Senate in a short period of time. Not require the Senate to wait while the House managers go on a fishing expedition for evidence that they don't even know is out there.
The Democrats have a terrible habit of promising evidence and then never delivering it. Bob Mueller's team, led by Democrats, supposedly had evidence that the Trump campaign had illegally conspired with the Russian government -- Adam Schiff said he saw it. But they didn't. They found none at all. And none has been found since.
Same with Brett Kavanaugh. The Democrats insisted that the FBI be allowed to investigate whether Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted Christine Ford and others. No evidence of any assaults were found (other than unsupported allegations). Even now no evidence has been found.
The House Democrats are certainly allowed to keep looking. But don't complain when the Senate insists that they have the evidence in hand before they ask the Senate to evaluate it. Fair is fair.
3
Alan Dershowitz might have met his ideological match in Senator Murkowski. They ability to both arrive at their rational conclusions by convoluting logic provides nothing but “low hanging fruit” for SNL writers for the rest of the season.
Republican senators take their marching orders from those that give them MONEY. And the money comes from Russia. Putin realized Russia cannot compete with the US in military strength and decided to take advantage of our money hungry politicians. we have to vote them out or we will become another fallen Empire!
3
Combine Alan Dershowitz’s terribly flawed logic and the majority of Republican Senator’s unwillingness to seek the truth from witnesses and it’s clear, end the Constitution’s system of check and balances has been neutered forever. Republicans have succeeded in pulling off a bloodless coup d’ e’tat!
Who would have ever thought the enemy from within would be the flag wrapped and self-proclaimed patriot politicians that would destroy our democracy? Vladimir Putin is laughing at us.
proclaimed patriot politicians that would destroy our democracy? Vladimir Putin is laughing at us.
2
The "trial" was the sham and coverup everybody expected. Sad days for the nation and the constitution.
4
We just witnessed a Republican Senate that only represents 44% of the people overrule the desires of 75% of the people. Ridiculous
4
A trial without witnesses is as American as apple pie without apples. Vote them all out.
3
"... I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s like incredible," Trump said.
And you know what? For Trump's cronies and enablers in the Senate, he's right.
2
The liberal left loses again. Unless the economy tanks, Trump will be re elected in November.
2
Having grown up in Germany watching the development over the last years is truly frightening. While the comparison with Hitler and Germany 1933 is far fetched the parallels are striking. He never had the majority in elections but solidified his power by aligning the institutions with him ("Gleichschaltung") in the setting of an opposition that was not unified. We are seeing a GOP that is aligning with a president who s demanding absolute and unchecked power and a senate who abdicating its duty as a co-equal branch for checks and balances. The logical consequence is that the GOP has turned into a totalitarian party not standing up for democracy but working actively against it to stay in power supported by many examples in your article. The electoral college, the senatorial system, and the winner takes it all cements minority rule and is in principle undemocratic preventing smaller parties to have a seat in congress. Who would have thought that the America democracy is so fragile. I fear that Trump and Barr will announce criminal investigations into their political opponent and will not concede the election should they lose. When is America waking up and take it to the streets with massive demonstration demanding change?
5
Hypocrisy, flagrant political calculations, down right dirty politics, the Republicans and their shameful conduct in the Senate have poured gasoline on cultural fires. They have chosen to burn it all down.
4
Cry, the beloved country.
12
This is a sad day for our precious democracy which has been washed down Trump's golden toilet. "This is a day that will live in infamy!" Shame shame shame!!!!!!
10
And yet there is no real protest. Sorry, posting on comment boards doesn't count.
4
Thank God for President Trump!
3
The republic is dead
Long live the Emperor
4
Please support Amy McGrath in Kentucky. McConnell is a scourge and anti-patriot who must be removed.
24
The Democrats keep taking knives to a gunfight.
4
I heard some comments from Republican senators saying, "well, maybe he'll learn a lesson" or somehow be contrite over this whole affair. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! This will only embolden a bully, he's going hog wild from herein, cheating, lying, stealing, deals with dictators...these senators have no self respect and have made the ultimate mistake, a deal with the devil himself...please dear god in heaven make him lose this election...to ANYONE, literally anyone, I pray.
12
CLINTON IMPEACHMENT........Lied to a grand jury. Lied to the public on TV. Impeached by the republican house. Acquitted in the democratic senate. You reap what you sow.
1
Majority Senators, have you no shame? Have you no patriotism?
8
I miss sane McCain
3
Utter disappointment......
5
I weep for my country
6
Sad times indeed. The cynicism and dishonesty of Republicans in every camp are astounding.
One can only hope that the House and the courts continue their work to reveal the true nature of the president of the US.
These are such dangerous times for the world. More dictators is not what we need.
How the republicans are not aware of who exactly is leading them by the nose is hard to understand. The world is watching carefully and the US is losing stature quickly.
4
There is no blame for Democrats in this sham of a trial. I certainly do not believe they should have waited years to go through the Court process. trump would never accept a Court decision against him. The democrats came with facts to a group of people who cannot tolerate facts. The republicans are not willing to do their job, they are only willing to abet trump in his destruction of our democracy. The electorate who gets their info from Fox News and other dubious sources are also complicit in this coup. A good economy is no reason to have an incompetent, corrupt president. trump’s character, as well as his defense, is as flimsy as his collapsed border wall. Every republican must be tossed to the curb. Our government needs a thorough cleaning of all the rot. Vote Blue, Be True.
13
The rest of the world see the US turning into a corrupt autocracy.
The stealing other counties resources. Building bases and installing permanent troops.
The USA is trying to install a dictatorship of the entire planet.
7
The House Democrats abused their power by bringing these ridiculous articles of impeachment to the Senate. Anyone who is honest about things knows that such a low bar for impeachment would throttle chief executives in the future and essentially turn us into a parliamentary state. For immediate gain, the Democrats chose to ignore this threat to our system of government. Mercifully, the Republicans have put themselves forward to rescue our separation of powers.
It appears that Lisa Murkowski has been overtaken by the same creeping dishonesty as Lindsay Graham. For her to say that "Congress has failed" as though she is a spectator, rather than another GOP politician, who wins by cheating, is totally disingenuous. The GOP is succeeding through dishonesty. Voter suppression and gerrymandering are a part of their subtle campaign. While Trump, McConnell, Graham, the freedom Caucus, et al are the bold, narcissistic in your face warriors against our democracy. It's horrific to see the results of Steve Bannon, Fox News, conservative think tanks and all the GOP efforts to maintain their grip on power. All because they fear the day that they will not be in charge. We must vote to save the USA in November. This assault on us must be stopped.
7
Like me, most people in this country are losing all faith in our government and the sad lot that has been elected to participate. The Republican politicians pandering to Trump are the worst examples of the evolution of the American politician. In 2020 it's all about fear; fear of losing your seat, losing your supposed upward mobility in a system that reeks of corruption. I can barely care any more and yet I know that caring is going to get us out of this mess some day.
3
It's not about the witnesses, nor the documents that the Senate refused to consider, although by doing so, they cement trump's obstruction into settled White House precedent. It's that every republican congress person believes that profiteering, betrayal of trust and coverups are acceptable practices for politicians. That is, until a democrat does it.
It's true, Congress and the presidency belongs to the ugly powerful who care more about their own fortunes than they do about those who elected them.
Any further discussion of any republican interest in the fate of the nation is a lie.
4
All republicans are in too deep themselves to convict Trump. If Trump is guilty they all are guilty. The fundamental criminality of the Republican Party has existed for the last thirty/forty years. Trump does what he does because of the power structure of the Party. Also years ago republicans made a devil’s bargain with Fox News. Removing Trump would fly in the face of years of propaganda that forms the foundation of their power. The lies must continue lest the house of cards collapse. I don’t see how this ends well for us in the near term. We are now for all intents and purpose in a civil war - an existential war against an enemy of democracy from within - the Republican Party. The war against terror is within.
8
This is about so much more than abdication of congressional responsibilities and the pursuit of truth.
What frightens and saddens me the most is the marked decline in our collective moral courage and integrity.
With Trump leading the way, we have become a society of self serving, greedy, and cowardly buffoons.
Standards of decency, honesty, and compassion for others have been so distorted and diluted, I fear for the children of today.
Trump and his enablers have taken us to the point of no return.
They do not care about legacy, about the toxic, chaotic world they are leaving their own kin, let alone the billions of innocents around the world.
There will be a cosmic correction, but not soon enough to prevent the needless suffering of so many.
To those with the power and resources to stop this insanity but staying quiet on sidelines, your time will come too.
Your children and grandchildren will suffer greatly for your inaction.
4
A simple fact: yesterday's vote will go down as one of those moments in US history when the country's deepest promise and ideals were betrayed out of a mix of cowardice and downright malevolence; and every Senator who voted to block witnesses will have to answer for their decision--to their grandkids, their friends, their biographers--for the rest of their days. The decision will be an irremovable dark mark on their legacies. Just like George Wallace and Joseph McCarthy before them, Susan Collins, Lamar Alexander, Lisa Murkowski, and all the others betrayed America. That is their legacy and the company they will keep.
11
No Lamar, the constitution does not say to hold an election to decide whether to remove a president from office after impeachment. The Senate is supposed to do that. In your way, Trump will have time and authority to fix elections in any way he feels is in the interest of the country, which in his mind is to get himself reelected. Why did the other Senators go along with Lamar Alexander's reasoning? Are they dumb?
5
The GOP Senators are not "Leaders" as much as they are followers of the most base and horrible cohort seen in this country in a long time. They are not leading their constituents or doing them any good by dishonoring the rule of law. Leaders set examples. What a terrible example they are. Senator Lamar Alexanders thinly veiled dog whistle excuse for not voting for witnesses was heart stopping in it's obviousness. He deserves respect for his career, but what a sad way to go; as a follower not a leader. Senator Murkowski? That's simply abidicating responsibilty. Shameful on all fronts. Their place in history and legacies are now forged in a toxic metal of their own making.
3
I used to regard Republican lawmakers as hypocrites but that requires a pretense of concern for ones actions.
Who they are has spoken so loudly I cannot hear a thing they say and regrettably there is no healing of a Nation with platitudes going forward.
In one way this is good, regular people who have nothing, who work for everything, do place greater importance in intangibles such as pride and morality. Being called a hypocrite are fighting words, not because we aren’t self interested but because it implies cowardice!!
One set of rules for you and another set of rules for me isn’t going to do well with my personal right leaning colleagues because it makes hypocrites out of them. Let that sink in so you aren’t shocked in 2020. Republicans just lost the Midwest.
2
Even knowing what the outcome was likely to be I was horrified, dismayed and sickened when the vote was tallied. I felt the same sense of depression and overwhelming helplessness I felt as a college student in 1972 when Nixon was reelected after the Watergate break-in. After close to 50 years with a "Green Card" I finally became a citizen in 2014 - now I wonder why. This is no longer a country of honor, no longer a democracy. I dislike Trump but do not blame him - he is simply not smart enough to pull this off on his own.McConnell and his Senate henchmen, Trump's lawyers and media enablers are responsible for this travesty of justice. The Founding Fathers must be weeping in their graves.
2
I am not American, but America to me, for all its flaws, has always been a cause for hope on the world. That's now gone. Disgust doesn't even begin to express it.
8
"Given the seriousness of the charges against Mr. Trump, it’s hard to envision anything that this president could do that would require Republican senators to vote for his removal."
It's sickening to live through this era, and to contemplate what will happen next, and into the future. American democracy, as we knew if for centuries, is dead.
An ignorant narcisssist with a puerile world view and dangerous instincts has so cowed his party that instead of reining him in, their blessing his behavior, giving him carte blanche permission to wreak further havoc on our government.
The board is correct to point out the insanity of how Ms. Murkowski--and Lamar Alexander who immediately lost any patina of senatorial greatness--threw in the towel, saying the system is rotten, so I'll make it more so.
Our ship of state has run aground, and I can't see anyone to save it.
5
These awful decisions cannot stand. The investigations into Trump must continue. He must be held responsible for his unlawful actions.
7
The core of the reason the republicans exposed their cowardice can be summed up thusly, " I want to be reelected and if I didn't vote against witnesses trump would have said bad things about me".
6
In every town, city and hamlet you will find the same dishonest, ambitious, greedy, sociopathic individuals, power addicts, scaling up the politics of their environment for their own gain. I just never could have imagined that a critical mass of them would take control of this country. Now anything horrible is possible.
I'm more than concerned. Were I in my youth I would leave. Just don't know where. They're everywhere.
4
Senate Republicans have failed.
The Republican Party has failed.
The Republicans have failed.
The Conservative movement has failed.
Like it or not, this is the reality with which Americans now live.
6
Someone needs to tell Ms. Murkowski that NOT making a decision (or vote or take action) IS making a decision. This is ethics 101. Shame on her and all the Republicans.
8
"Republican legislators abdicated their duty by refusing to seek the truth."
Don't agree. Democrats abdicated their service to the country, and further polarized our nation, in their attempt to appease their left-wing base and reverse a national election.
Many Democrats had vowed to impeach Trump long before his supposedly infamous phone call to Ukraine. This was just their latest excuse.
Senator Lamar Alexander said it best: What Trump did was inappropriate but did not rise to the level of a "high crime." If President Obama had done the same thing, House Democrats would surely have let it pass. And if that's true, then the whole effort was fiercely partisan and misguided.
Moreover, by pursuing this impeachment strategy, the Democrats gave Trump what he wanted all along: massive publicity exposuring Joe Biden's corruption in getting his son an undeserved position in Ukraine which enriched Hunter Biden with more than a million dollars. Foolishly, Joe Biden even bragged on TV that he had successfully threatened Ukraine to withhold their foreign aid if they didn't stop investigating his son. Why weren't Democrats ever outraged about this? Their outrage with Trump is obviously highly selective.
Thanks to the Democrats' impeachment effort, all America now realizes what the Bidens did, and the Biden presidential bid is likely doomed.
All around, pursuing impeachment was a stupid, destructive strategy for all parties involved, especially the Democrats.
2
I have witnessed the destruction and Downfall of our Democracy. All orchestrated by Trump and McConnell, with the assist of the GOP.
This is one of the saddest Days in our History.
6
Trump has become the bad example that so many now aspire to. Greed, corruption, bullying, lying, misogyny, xenophobia and racism are now the guiding philosophy of a once great nation no longer free nor brave.
I was raised to love my country and serve her and I have done both despite her history of repression and genocide. I find that I can do this no longer. We are citizens of an overtly evil and undemocratic government. That is now a fact. What we do with that fact is the question.
4
An observation: setting aside his obvious psychological issues, Trump's life experience has been as head of a private, family owned business. From Trump Towers 26th floor he issues edicts and with no board of directors or investors, he has no oversight. His only loyalty is to his family.
From 1600 Pennsylvania he is operating as he has in the past. Issue edicts, brook no dissent, bully opponents, lie constantly and litigate everything. As many have pointed out, he has not learned his new role. He sees no need to.
Republicans have followed in lock step adopting his disgraceful, child-like behavior. Thank god for a free, relentless press and the "deep state"--career civil servants continuing to do the Nation's business while speaking truth to power.
If this country's citizens can't get off their hindquarters in November and vote against this dictatorship, then I have no idea how this ends. And it's not just Trump. The Republican cowards currently in Congress need to be swept away as well. Make no mistake, it is not hyperbole to say that our Nation is in crisis.
4
When McConnell announced, "I am not an impartial juror" the game was up and Trump gets a walk.
McConnell's disdain for the Constitution is only matched by Trump's ignorance of it.
The rot in the body politic runs deep and wide. Trump is a mere symptom, not the cause.
12
"Be careful what you wish for" must have been in the minds of all the unfortunate Senators who were confronted with this choice. Certainly some are pure sycophants (South Carolina?) but others are honourable and having decided that their President was shown to be a liar and a rogue decided it was better to let him run his course than face the unknown effect of removing him. Removal is not mandatory, it is a choice to be made balancing the pros and cons.
Unfortunately, given the weakness of those running for the Democratic Party, and the consolidation of the white supremacy quasi-religious groupings, I think it is more than likely Trump will be re-elected to a second term.
Why blame Democrats in the House for this mess? Bolton was NEVER going to testify in the House. His memoir only conveniently appeared after he and his ilk knew the Senate "trial" would certainly fail. Murkowski? Ignore her. She won't do what is right when it counts and then blames others.
The history of Trump presidency, if it is allowed to be written truthfully in a better America, will not be pretty. Shameful times.
4
The Senators did know the truth they just did not think that Trump’s behavior was impeachable-disgraceful but not impeachable!I did not hear one Senator declare that Trump did not make the call and ask for a favor in return for military aid.No one said, Trump would never do such a thing!They said that a little bit of corruption is okay-this McConnell Senate has set lots of precedents-all of them bad.All five senators running for re-election need to be defeated-that is the only way there will be a Senate which adheres to the constitution and starts to repair its dreadful reputation.
6
Trump's presidency and the current Congress is the logical culmination of the idea that all that matters in life is money and winning. It does not matter how you get it, and no act when found out, can be shameful or craven enough to be a deterrent. Students cheat constantly and public officials break the law with impunity. All that matters is having more money and power. This is where Citizen's United has brought us and it is not a surprise, yet it still shocks anyone with half a brain cell left in their constantly distracted head.
Add Democracy to all the other things going extinct this century.
6
Although the roots of this shameful response to corruption embedded itself in the system long before this vote occurred, is this the day that historians will identify as being the day the American experiment truly came to an end?
1
We need to know HOW , exactly how, Trump "won over" the Senate Republicans? With campaign cash? And if that is so, is the money coming solely from American Oligarchs or is it also being funneled from Trump's sweethearts in Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and perhaps even China. Whenever Trump raises an issue about an enemy, it is fair to suspect that a good portion of it applies to him. That is the giveaway. It pays to visit the past: reflect on what he said about Hillary and check how every insult he hurled at her applies to him. "Crooked Hillary"? "If we elect her nothing will get done because we will caught up in investigations." She was a traitor who sold uranium to the Russians. She was in the pay of the establishment. We need to clean up the swamp....Go back and reflect. It provides a road map to who Trump himself is. What he accused her of is what he has done. So, back to my question: How does Trump exercise his hold over Senate Republicans? In this day and age, all politics boils down to money and Trump has an endless source of it outside the United States. Take a close look at his foreign policy.
4
My only quibble with this excellent analysis is with the statement that “Trump is the most corrupt president in modern times.” Please, give credit where it’s due. Trump is the most corrupt President of all time. Hard to think of anyone who even comes close.
4
Unless & until Democrats learn to fight as dirty, and as effectively, as the Republicans, all is lost for the majority of Americans.
C’mon!
3 years into this Administration and the Democrats are still trying to play by the rules?!?
When are they going to learn the Republican playbook?
Rules don’t apply to me when they don’t give me an advantage.
Rules apply only to others when those rules benefit me.
How on Earth could the Democrats allow the Senate GOP leader to deny Obama a SCOTUS appointment?
Allowing the GOP to deny evidence from the impeachment trial is too much.
Fight like it matters or I’m voting for Bloomberg.
2
We all lost something in Washington today. The last fantasies that we had a fair and just legal system are over. We live in a Banana Republic.
4
The conduct of the Republican senators brings disgrace upon the Senate itself. It is an embarrassment to the country and cannot be forgotten. This is a sad day for America. I am disgusted.
1
Who is in charge? Republicans.
That does not mean they’re right.
It means that to their tunes we dance
because they have the might.
They have the votes. The Dems do not.
Wake up and, please, get real.
Even if you think they’re rot,
Republicans will deal.
Were they dishonorable? Of course.
Even their base knows that.
But they will never show remorse.
The whole thing is quite sad.
The damage could be huge, no doubt.
But that is down the road.
For now they have the power. Clout.
Let’s see how voters vote.
Skip pretending that there are principles at stake. The Senate has been on the path to auto-acquit from the beginning, regardless or everything and anything.
And so, to guarantee a better shot at re-election of both a GOP and White House and a GOP Senate, we kept in power a man who sees every action as a transaction that benefits himself first, and maybe the nation, at least in his own view, second.
The action can be legal or illegal, because our Presidents are now shown to be above the law. Emoluments don't apply; criminal dirty tricks don't apply; and extortion of an ally doesn't apply.
For all of it, I would have been happy with a censure, because at least then, Americans would have stood up and told a liar and cheat that those actions are not tolerated in the White House.
2
Everyone could see it coming. Mitch McConnell couldn't even contain himself as he preemptively declared his intention to coordinate with the White House, clear the president and kiss his ring. The debasement of the Republican party has been completed at the expense of the Constitution they cravenly swore to defend. America is broken.
4
Angry. Sad. Disgusted. Heartbroken. Disillusioned. The United States has become the Evil Empire of which Ronald Reagan once spoke, and it is because of a failure of moral rectitude to challenge DONALD TRUMP. Moscow Mitch, we will all suffer the consequences of your moral turpitude.
5
McConnell's legacy: dishonor and disrespect for the Constitution.
He led the Republicans in their refusal of their Constitutional duty in regard to President Obama's Supreme Court nominees, and he continues to interpret the Constitution as he wills, his bloated ego shining brightly.
No wonder he kowtows to Trump, kissing his little feet, waiting for his master to toss him some treats.
1
And what is impeachment, really, to a president like Trump who knows no shame? Anything short of removal from office is likely to only fuel his ego for having once again *beat* the system he calls corrupt and rigged - all while he routinely practices corruption and seeks help from foreign governments to cheat in (rig) the upcoming election....
1
Dem senators got Clinton out of impeachment. Republican senators got Trump out of impeachment. Guess it's even now. Another lesson that elections need to be decided by the voters, not politicians. Everyone knows Trump is crooked, but they know Hillary was too, and invited Russian influence by buying op research from them. Most people really don't see the difference. Removing Trump from office and the ballot would have caused major turmoil in this country. The facts will come out and likely Trump will be proven a liar again. And the people will decide in November if he is a better option still than whoever the Dems nominate. If it's Biden, then they can choose between two crooks. If it's Sanders or Warren, they can choose between Trump and a socialist. Amy probably could beat him, but she will likely not be nominated. How sad that the Democrat party has gone so far over the edge that they cannot even beat someone like Donald Trump.
2
I was born and grew up in Kentucky. I can trace my genealogy to the founding of this Commonwealth, the 15th state. I was first in my family to graduate from high school and then college and finally earned a doctorate, all from Kentucky institutions. I served during the Vietnam war, so I'm an old codger and intensely proud of Kentucky and our Nation. And I am deeply saddened by recent events.
Our Senators, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, led the Senate as it soiled itself. It has been called a trial but as one who has testified in many, trials have witnesses. This is not Mr. McConnell's first precedent-setting exercise of raw power (recall Merrick Garland) and is unlikely to be his last. And yes, I have voted for him. So I must accept my share of responsibility when McConnell led R's in thumbing their noses at the Constitution. But in this he did not represent my views or that of the majority of Americans. As many have said, if soliciting foreign interference in elections isn't an impeachable offense, then what is? Who among us would, in effect, invite Putin & Cronies to come here to vote in 2020? And in Kentucky would that require a photo identification or just a half-pint of Jim Beam? We can and must learn from this and do better at the polls this year. Please vote.
2
At this point I don't care if Trump gets relected, so long as we win the House and Senate. Mitch McConnel and Senate republicans are all agents of dishonor and coverup. They all need to go, including the mealy mouthed collins. The only one that seems really to care is Mitt Romney. Maybe he should run against trump and save his party. It is probably already too late, but I am sure there are some voters who would get behind him. Not me. I will vote blue all the way, including whoever the presidential candidate is. I want to save this country from the treasonous GOP.
1
This confirms the widely held opinion in Europe: under Trump, the US is a banana republic led by an authoritarian bully, and cannot be trusted in negotiations.
2
Come on. The most corrupt? Have we forgotten Lyndon Johnson and his hands in the Vietnam cookie jar? The country will survive this dishonorable man. A partisan impeachment would have been worse.
1
The Republican party--whose most revered historic hero is "Honest Abe" Lincoln--has become, in its current debased condition, the craven and amoral lackeys of "Dishonest Donald" Trump. Fundamentally it is as simple, shocking, and enormously depressing as that.
2
No worries. Trump is not one to enjoy prosperity. He'll do himself in as sure as Joe McCarthy did. The added benefit is now the skids are greased for Trump to send the entire Republican cabal into history's dustbin.
2
So much for preserve, protect, and defend. Every GOP senator besides Collins and Romney is a traitor to our nation.
Meanwhile, the cowardly John Roberts is thanking his lucky stars that Senator Lisa Murkowski violated her oath of office and betrayed her constituents today. Roberts slithered past any responsibility again, just like his abdication on Citizens United.
The Chief Justice can now pretend to be non-partisan for a few more weeks until he reveals his court's dastardly decision to destroy the wall between religion and government by giving money to religious schools.
Time for the Party of Lincoln to go the way of the other dinosaurs. And it's Assteroid Trump that's destroyed the GOP, along with our secular democracy.
14
Shame on all those who voted against witnesses. shame on those who are not worried. I have read some of their rationals from the senators and they make no sense. It's like listening to my 3 year old grandchild rationalize why candy is all she should eat , and that jumping on the couch in front of a glass window with with a sharp knife is OK.
1
Well, goodbye to the Constitution, hello to a new form of tyranny,
Trumpian style. Yes, at this point he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and have no consequences.... What a travesty we have just witnessed in this country - a country no longer able to see the truth ( Republican congress) , no longer able to abide with justice, and no longer live with respect for our history, decency and lawfulness. We now have a fearful future at the hands of people alien to the best of us. Senate Republicans should suffer the consequences of their inaction - but unlikely until the history books are written of this bleak, gross period of time.
3
While today's republican senators represent a shameful, cowardly group of cultists that ever occupied our great Captial building, Mitch McConnell is the one that deserves the most scorn. To think that his actions in the chamber that our once brilliant and prescient founders envisioned as the deliberative body that would protect our democracy, may very well represent the beginning of its demise. I'm so sad.
1
What a bunch of awful people. I’m saddened that such a great country is led by sycophants that could care less about what this country was founded on and stands for. It’s truly a sad day in our history as a nation. It will most likely be one of the last days as well.
1
Today the Republican Senate helped Trump obstruct Justice. Their denial of the people’s right to a fair trial in no way heals our country. It drives us even further apart. Let’s wipe that smug smile off McConnell’s face in November.
4
This is like advocating to provide the defense in any court case in this country to legally find a way to prevent the prosecution from presenting witnesses to substantiate their case against the accused. What would those same silly Republicans who fought to quiet all voices that might same something they don't want to hear, regardless if its substantiated by documented proof, if they were the party seeking justice? Of course given the open hypocrisy exercised by these phonies, the answer is obvious, but the American electorate needs to get a constant helping of attempts to expose the Republican Party as being a clear and present danger to the country they swore an oath to defend against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC!!!
2
A dark period for our country where crooked party bosses rule and federal government agencies and courts are devolving into patrons and hacks. We took for granted the past attitudes and efforts to keep this kind of corruption in check. The golden days of truth, justice and the American way are over. The reality of this administration, with the help of Republicans in the Senate, is Make America Weak Again! Well, it is an election year, and we need to work to dig ourselves out of this hole.
3
The pathetic Senate's failure to do their job does not prevent ongoing investigation. The House can still (and should) continue to investigate this president, and expose his abuses for all to see.
How many GOP lead "Benghazi" hearings were there?
The difference of course is these investigations s have merit, and will produce results.
5
The Republican Senate and Congress have no honor, no principles and no love of country. They are now no more than cogs in the giant machine of moneyed corporations and special interests intent on destroying our constitutional democracy and embodied in the malignant personnage of Donald J.Trump. Appalling beyond words.
1
The whole situation is depressing, and not only sets a bad precedent, but is inherently UN-American. My hope is that citizens will turn out this November in droves and soundly vote the bums out.
Who actually constitutes 'the bums' is a matter for your own conscience.
2
Vote them out! These weak GOPers are so beholden to the donors who bankrolled their elections that they cannot see that Trump needs them more than they need him. Trump has enticed them with hidden promises of contracts and other goodies for their states (unofficial pork). Americans must stand firm against this corrupt admin. Go to the polls!
2
Today changed my belief in our government, and not for the better. All that stuff we learned in 7th grade civics class — about the greatness of our Constitution, that truth and justice will prevail — was all a bunch of malarkey. The US is no better than any other autocracy — in many ways worse than any other, for our systemic inequality, white nationalism, and hypocrisy. I will now support candidates willing to cheat in order to win. In fact, a strategic plan to win at all costs should be a requirement for my support. I will have no sympathy for Republicans, none whatsoever.
3
The rule of law is dead in America. The G.O.P. Senate is dishonorable and deplorable. Can't The Congress re-impeach president Donald John Trump? Extraordinary and praiseworthy, Congressman Adam Schiff's (D, CA) tour de force pleading the Democratic case against Trump in the Senate's Impeachment Trial. Are we stunned that cowardice reigns supreme among Republican legislators in Trump's chaotic America?
5
This was a side show - from the beginning. Party Politics has been this nation’s curse since the parties came into being.
We’re on our way to joining Turkey, Egypt, Ukraine, Hungary and other oligarchies. Dare I even mention Russia? China?
4
Something got broken today. It wasn't the failure of Congrees or of 'the system.' It was the craven, outrageous failure of the senators of one party defying all norms and principles and bending to the pressures exerted by a corrupt president suborning a servile and conniving senate majority leader. In its insidious consequences it is as dark a day as any other in our history.
3
I would love to say something pithy and relevant, but I am just nauseous over everything that happened on Friday. Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski will have to live with what they did for the rest of their lives. History will not be kind. The only thing that we can do is vote for Democrats across the board in 2020. It starts with your mayors, selectman, state legislators, state senators, Governors, House of Representatives, Senators. Oh, and whatever Democratic candidate we end up with! Get Out The Vote! GOTV! GOTV!GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV!
5
We are all being played by the Republicans and Trump in lockstep mind you. Lockstep because if the GOP sneezes without getting permission from Trump they will get the negative spotlight or worse.
How did the mini-series Churnoble end, saying "What is the cost of lies?" I will add 'cover-ups' as well...They are turning us into a Russian State, so we might not have long to actually find out...
1
Trump is the most corrupt president in modern times opines the NYT. Well if it is that obvious then American voters can unceremoniously turf Trump in November 2020.Clearly millions of Americans do not see it that way. Trump’s action oriented presidency seems to override his myriad of private and public ethical and legal lapses. It is called democracy. Let the voters decide Trump’s fate later this year.
2
And, John Roberts appeared feckless, emotionless, and in my opinion absolutely cowardly and irresponsible not to step in and protect the rule of law. The supreme court at the point is nothing more than political hacks reaping a lifetime of benefits for them and their great, great grandchildren to come. Shame on you Mr. Roberts.
4
"Mr. Trump is the most corrupt president in modern times."
Malarkey. He's bad, all right, downright awful, in fact. But he didn't interfere with foreign policy while a candidate to scuttle peace talks aimed at ending the Vietnam War. He didn't hire criminals to burglarize offices of his political foes. He didn't do a lot of other stuff that Richard Nixon did, and Nixon's sins likely cost real lives. We'll never know but there's a good chance his shenanigans resulted in the war lasting years longer than it might have. We also have Warren G. Harding. You can decide for yourself whether he qualifies as a modern president.
This is the problem with NYT and Trump. Too often. the paper's hyperbole eclipses a terrible president's misdeeds, and so a paper that should know better comes off looking foolish. This editorial is an excellent example.
1
YES. And the Hypocrisy of some like Lamar Alexander having the Gall to say, "The House Managers proved their case" but," it doesn't rise to the level of impeachment." In other words, TRUMP has been continually lying along with his surrogates in court, and that's okay. So, Clinton lied in a court proceeding about sex. And that is impeachable. But, Trump can lie about our National Security Interests and his efforts to subvert democracy and that hardly warrants a finger wag. Oh, America. I don't even know you anymore.
3
The deep state does not exist but what does is the Republican swamp and the cabal to become the one party rule of our country. The fix is in! They are in lock step like you know who. Alexander, McConnell, Murkowski, Cotton, and that loathsome senator from Maine, etc, in fact all Republicans. Remember there is never a Republican who breaks party ranks unlike Democrats who can't agree on anything. It's not fear of Trump's wrath that motivates them it's their ideology. These are are people who want to win at all cost. They want us to be an autocratic, oligarchic, theocratic country. If we don't elect a Democratic senate and president in 2020 we are doomed as a country and the consequences will be horrible because we will be a very divided nation.
1
Now that Trump's acquital is all but assured he is no longer a would-be autocrat. He is an autocrat plain and simple with no checks or balances on his power from either the Judicial or the Legislative branch. If he is elected again in November, the United States' embrace of Authoritarism will be complete.
2
Trump has basically received the highest official endorsement to keep his criminal activities toward the election -and toward anything else for that matter. Wow.
4
Our American history is a chronology of efforts to thwart authoritarianism and dictatorship in order to protect democracy and its principles. How many millions of Americans have fought and died to preserve a system of government which was once the envy of the world?
With Trump and his Republicans, the sacrifices of millions was all in vain as they grind the Constitution and our system of checks and balances into the dirt.
And for what? Unchecked corporate greed and white Christian hegemony?
Yep.
4
With this vote, the United States Senate rubber-stamped the "legitimacy" of a thoroughly corrupt autocrat. And yes, it's like the end of the Roman Republic.
3
I can’t decide if the Republican senators are spineless or faithless or both.
To say that you won’t do your Constitutional duty because it will only deepen the country’s divides is absolutely disingenuous.
The biggest divider in our country is Trump, and he takes great pride in increasing the divisions daily.
It is sad when a man like Trump—a mean-spirited narcissist—becomes president. It is horrific when the Senate becomes complicit in allowing him to remain in office despite his betrayal of his country.
I don’t expect Trump to recognize his treasonous behavior. To think that there aren’t four Republican senators with enough faith in the Constitution and their fellow Americans to call for witnesses is mind-boggling.
4
In real time we are witnessing our own destruction--because we are loosing our freedoms drip by drip--thank you for giving us a heads up Pres. Lincoln. Soon enough the U.S. dollar will stop being the world's reserve currency, then the powers to be will awake to the nightmare they've created.
2
So we now have profound moral dilemmas stemming from thd new precedents established by Republican senators. Shall we, the law abiding people of the US, get down in the dirt with the Republicans and try beating them at their game? How about one of our candidates begin digging, bribing and extorting to get dirt on, say, Donald Jr or Ivanka or Jared? We wouldnt have to really dig very deep as their lack of ethics is blatant. But how about getting dirt on Donald John Trumps kids and spreading it, using it to drive home the corruption of this family?
Is it time to stop playing nice? And since the precedent has been set is it time to break rules? Laws? Shall we meet Mitch's steamroller with a tank? We are supposedly smarter than they are,
we should be able to beat them at their own game.
The dilemma is if they break with so many ethics, rules and laws, do we now do that too?
2
It's sad and pathetic to see Americans write that "righteousness" will "win the war".
No. There is no war. There is decline and fall.
1
Every Senator who voted to acquit shall be seen as complicit with the most corrupt president in US history. Every Senator who voted to acquit should not only be defeated in the next election, but banned from holding any position in government. Every Senator who voted to acquit shall be seen to be as traitorous as the imposter they support. History will remember those who voted to ignore evidence, ignore justice, and ignore the Constitution.
4
May their obituaries reflect their craven cowardice.
May their families reject them.
May they never draw another peaceful breath.
May they experience the emptiness of oblivion when they are voted out of office.
6
I'm furious and nauseous at the brazen destruction of the Constitution by Senate Republicans—whose names will live in infamy forever—and worried about the many ways that Individual-1 will now find to subvert the 2020 elections.
I'm repulsed by the lies repeatedly told by Individual-1's lawyers on the Senate floor.
I'm not surprised at the outcome, though, because this is who the Republicans have been telling us they are since Richard Nixon, Lee Atwater, and Newt Gingrich.
This is the party that wore purple band-aids to mock Senator Kerry's Purple Heart during his presidential campaign.
This is the party that separates families and cages children illegally.
This is the party of birtherism and white fragility, a party that promotes racial divisiveness and does all it can to fuel the base's endless sense of victimization.
This is the party that pushes wildly unqualified but ideologically convenient nominees to lifetime appointments on the federal bench.
This is the administration that is gutting the EPA, attacking science and scientists, and failing utterly to protect the nation and its future from the consequences of the climate emergency.
Republicans gave Individual-1 a green light to cheat & lie & corrupt the electoral process. How can Americans have confidence in it? Just what Individual-1 wanted.
Entrenched minority rule is not democracy.
The only way this ends well is with the destruction of the Republican Party at the polls.
Heaven help us all.
4
These people utterly failed us. Murkowski says "The Congress as an institution has failed." No. You Republicans all failed. Alexander, Murkowski, Sasse, Rubio, admit that what the President did was wrong. The House did their job to expose it and counter the obstruction of the White House. The Senate refused to do any work and instead blamed the House for not what - arresting Trump admin members for disobeying their subpoenas? Waiting for the courts to rule after November of this year? They're like a rapist blaming the victim for not putting up enough of a fight. The only one who took a responsible vote today was Romney; Collins knows she's close to losing her seat, so they let her vote with the Dems.
What I learned today is that the minority party wants to rule me and all who disagree with them; they will not protect my rights, and there is no fairness, only power. They want their boot on the throat of the country. They say Trump was "inappropriate but not impeachable" What if Trump had gotten Zelensky to announce an investigation into Biden, smeared him and won the election, and this had come out in 2021? Would that also be just a tut-tut? You know it would have. Republicans will always find an excuse to maintain their undeserved power.
Lamar Alexander should have considered the impact that his vote has on the majority of the country. He only thought about the wrath of Trump supporters. We are not Americans to them. This is far from over.
4
Any belief that I had about the integrity and sincerity of the Senate is gone. I listened to ALL of it and the evidence is sufficient; anyone else would be sitting in jail for what he did! NO ONE tore up the ballots! We honored the results but he abused his power and defied the House. Now, they're ALL guilty because, in truth, they conceived and gave birth to the "division"... right before my eyes. They don't want to hear from live witnesses or see additional documents?! Well, I don't want to hear their 10-15 minute lame explanations for what they've done!!! There's NO EXCUSE for what they did. NONE. Since day 1, I've been mourning... because we're ALL going through this regardless of party affiliation or the final outcome of the trial but this wasn't really a trial. I find myself worrying about the safety of ALL our allies whenever dealing with our own President. I think about the Whistle-blower and Rand Paul's actions which were inexcusable. No. I'll never forget. They destroyed what I thought they stood for and who I thought they were. I esteemed a body that doesn't deserve to be esteemed because I believed in something wonderful that's really just dirty, foul and offensive. For that rude awakening to their truth, I hate them. I don't want to but I do.
3
Trump must not, can not be allowed to continue his corrupt behavior. The house must impeach him again and again and make him the first president ever to be impeached multiple times. Keep the senate tied up until they take the charges seriously and have a fair trial.
4
The Republicans in the Senate that towed the line that the majority leader said they must follow, thought they put the lid on this can of worms. They took a hammer to that lid and sealed their fate and their place in history. There is no sealing this can. Tomorrow the President will get up and get started again. So many cans and not enough hammers to keep up with the Trump pace.
The care Republican senators might have should get questioned loudly! They were concerned for the US President or they were extreme sycophants; which is an accurate representation? Perhaps one, did he try to remain clean? This process was no inquiry into grounds for an impeachment; it was merely a sickos’ mockery of what should have taken place. Those Republican senators dared merely to pretend to fulfill their important duties – judging the President with respect to past behavior – in that seeming-to-be-hollow hallowed place? I remember seeing Assad’s chamber – so to speak – lick his boots on Al Jazeera some years ago – each one seeming perhaps too afraid to risk his (or her) high position. This might a US standard be – to be spread across the globe?
The following from David Leonhardt’s article which rings true:
“Susan Hennessey of Lawfare: “I don’t think people fully grasp the constitutional danger of this moment. If the Senate were to refuse to call relevant witnesses with direct testimony of grave presidential wrongdoing then we can no longer understand impeachment to be a genuine check on executive overreach. … Impeachment is merely a measure of how many members of the president’s party sit in the Senate.”
“The one silver lining of this week’s events, argues Jonathan Chait of New York magazine, is that Senate Republicans’ brazenness makes it easier for House Democrats to justify continuing to investigate Trump: “They can keep digging into Trump from next week through fall, keeping public attention not only on his corruption and abuse of power but also on the Republican conviction that abuse of power is permissible.””
The constitutional danger of this moment is staggering.
Democrats would be well advised to not let either The Public or Republicans forget, both before and after 2020 election.
Time to hammer home the message that Trump, along with the Senate...IS ABOVE THE LAW!
2
The first impeachment in history the history of our nation to have no witnesses testify. Republican Senators have violated their oaths.
1
A nauseating and dispiriting spectacle to watch these feckless senators fall in line. A wholesale betrayal of America.
3
Most Republican Senators voted Clinton guilty of lying about a consensual sexual affair, and will vote Clinton "not guilty" over the charges of which he was impeached.
It takes my breath away.
They must consider Grand Theft less serious then a traffic ticket.
1
I'm furious and nauseous at the brazen destruction of the Constitution by Senate Republicans—whose names will live in infamy forever—and worried about the many ways that Individual-1 will now find to subvert the 2020 elections.
I'm repulsed by the lies repeatedly told by Individual-1's lawyers on the Senate floor.
I'm not surprised at the outcome, though, because this is who the Republicans have been telling us they are since Richard Nixon, Lee Atwater, and Newt Gingrich.
This is the party that wore purple band-aids to mock Senator Kerry's Purple Heart during his presidential campaign.
This is the party that separates families and cages children illegally.
This is the party of birtherism and white fragility, a party that promotes racial divisiveness and does all it can to fuel the base's endless sense of victimization.
This is the party that pushes wildly unqualified but ideologically convenient nominees to lifetime appointments on the federal bench.
This is the administration that is gutting the EPA, attacking science and scientists, and failing utterly to protect the nation and its future from the consequences of the climate emergency.
Republicans gave Individual-1 a green light to cheat & lie & corrupt the electoral process. How can Americans have confidence in it? Just what Individual-1 wanted.
Entrenched minority rule is not democracy.
The only way this ends well is with the destruction of the Republican Party at the polls.
Heaven help us all.
2
Republicans spit in the face of the American people and our Democracy today. They took a hard swing at our "government of the people, by the people, for the people", and it was knocked to it's knees. It is now one step closer to the government of trump, by trump and for trump.
A number of former Democracies have fallen into Authoritarian rule under corrupt leadership - Will ours be the next ?
Vote
4
Sadly Trump, and the shameful Republicans, have turned a country that was great, into a lowly banana republic.
4
This is not new. Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial was also a corrupt sham, if you look beyond the myths surrounding it. Johnson was criminally corrupt yet had no chance of being convicted. Bill Clinton should never have been impeached in the first place. (Nixon’s situation was a little different because he lost his party’s support and resigned.) We remain a deeply flawed nation with wonderful ideals we rarely come close to meeting.
1
I wonder which Roman Emperor first realized that if he could intimidate the Senate into an ignoble silence, he was above the law.
This devastation of our political system, as well as Brexit and the incineration of Australia, would not have been possible without the propaganda machine of Rupert Murdoch. How are the simple folk supposed to figure out the truth when, today in the MSN news feed, given equal space and credibility, is a FOX opinion piece entitled, "Dem's 10 Biggest Lies in Trump's Impeachment Trial." I read all these mainstreamed right-wing, full-of-lies propaganda pieces, and they're given equal space and weight in the discourse. This is a big big problem.
2
I grew up believing in truth, honesty, decency, rule of law, honor, courage, dignity, faith, trust, democracy, respect...made meaningless in a day. The weak and self-serving, the lying and hypocritical, the smug and dishonest, the abusers and cheats, can glow at the rallies of the ruling one-third they desperately fear. The word 'America' described not a physical place, but a system of beliefs, a land of possibilities and hope. Alas, it is no more. Perhaps on Monday, to honor their revered dictator, the one they kneel before, the Republicans can motion to rename our country: "Trump's Towers." - a final show of absolute obedience to the oppressive tyrant...the only way to quell the fears of the weakest among us.
I grew up believing in truth, honesty, decency, rule of law, courage, dignity, faith, trust, democracy, respect...made meaningless in a day. The weak and self-serving, the lying and hypocritical, the smug and dishonest, the abusers and cheats, can glow at the rallies of the ruling one-third they desperately fear. The word "America" described not a physical place, but a system of beliefs, a land of possibilities and honor. Alas, it is no more. Perhaps on Monday, in a show of fidelity to their revered dictator, the one they kneel before, the Republicans can motion to rename our country, "Trump's Towers" - surely they must know the tyrant will always want more.
If members of the Editorial Board _ever_ thought that Republican Senators would "come to their senses" they are sadly delusional. Mitch McConnell made it perfectly clear months ago what was going to happen during this "trial." And that is precisely what happened. Collins can take cover and play her Lucy with the football game at no cost to her---Mitch can let that happen. Romney can act out his own righteous dramas. But Mitch was never going to let moral cowards like Alexander or Gardner slip out of control; and Murkowski? Never a chance. This was an easy call. The Trump Cult is going to do whatever it is told to do. The New American Dictatorship has no doubt who rules Fox Nation. Obama beat Romney by 5 million and, at this point, I think Trump loses the election by at least 5 million and still wins re-election because the majority's fate belongs to a few States with rural white populations that will turn out for Fearless Leader. America was a fine idea. The end is in sight.
2
It's time to stop talking about impeachment - even one more word is a disservice to our country; all effort must be focused on beating Trump at the Polls.
The Opinion Section should be reconstituted as the "How to Beat Trump Section".
The first of the new articles should be entitled, "Popular Vote Counts for Nothing". Once you get that figured out, everything else will fall right into place.
1
McConnell made sure that he will get a mention in US history books. But it will not be a mention millions of Americans yet to be born will admire decades from now. He has besmirched his country.
1
It was the responsibility of the house democrats to subpoena Bolton, Mulvaney, etc not to expect the senate republicans to do their job for them - As far as fairness the fact that Adam Schiff conducted the witness interviews in a secure basement and refused republicans to call any witnesses and refused to allow the presidents counsel to cross examine the witnesses - That was totally unfair and now to blame republicans for the democrats missteps is laughable
1
"Irony" is a clever literary twist. The Senate Republicans' behavior is simple hypocrisy and not clever (or smart) at all.
Let the record show that malfeasance by Republican majority will be so noted in historical records.
1
As far as I am concerned, Moscow Mitch McConnell is a traitor to his oath of office, to the oath he took at the beginning of this trial, to the Constitution and to his Country. The monster Trump can only keep destroying our Democracy with the aid and help of this pathetic excuse of a man. How is it that this “Senator” from the tiny backward Southern State of Kentucky has seized enough power to run roughshod over the wishes of millions and millions of good people in this Country? This cannot stand! If he is allowed to continue destroying our system of Government and keeps backing the vast majority of us into a corner, massive chaos will eventually result and we will rue the day that we sat back and allowed this treachery to proceed.
3
I am profoundly disappointed and outraged at the same time. 45 used government employees to do his political work and our tax payer dollars to extort a foreign govt. Senators need to say it out loud and let that sink in.
Senators this is outrageous
3
If you think that what trump has done so far is really bad, what's coming will blow your mind. Imagine things so blatant, so dishonorable so illegal and then triple that. The limit is where the senate draws the line. And no line is in sight.
1
I am so disgusted with Senate Republicans that I can barely write a publishable comment. The crass power grabbing, the bald-face disregard for their oaths - I hope it is the impetus for justice loving, law respecting, Constitution protecting Americans to vote. Vote. VOTE! The future is in OUR hands, and we must send an undeniable message to these shameful traitors. Vote them out. Show up in irrefutable numbers and be the change we want to see in our nation.
3
Our Constitution is meaningless. Our laws are meaningless. We're helpless while our government destroys the underpinnings of our society.
But look at the big smile on Mitch McConnell's face.
Disgusting.
2
In the end, it doesn't matter much. Trump's dementia and physiological ticks are getting worse exponentially. It's just a matter of time before he's a just puddle of bumbling "president" goo in front of the media. Of course his "campaigning" for three years and his coke/sudafed habit and constant over done tanning bed radiation hasn't helped his health at all. I won't be surprised when he has a health crisis during the campaign.
Nobody deserves it more than him.
3
America, in Mitch McConnell's hands, became infected years ago; he knew we had become a nation of consumers, and not citizens.
He is the unelected queen, and Democrats sit and bow. He plays Schumer like a fiddle. Schumer is his sunny side chicken, running in circles with misguided optimism, while McConnell keeps running him over and laughs. If Trump begins to kill Democrats in large numbers by executive order, McConnell would dance in the blood of his fellow Americans, not unlike the wars we are fighting now. McConnell knows Trump and his caucus are all alike; desperate to be bought and sold for the spotlight. The Republican Senate has been corrupt for years, and Bolton was right. It's a drug deal up and down the corridors of this caucus, every day, and every hour.
4
@ Susan: It never fails to amaze me how cheaply they sell their souls. $10,000 in the campaign fund? More? Still not worth it.
2
"I can't remember if i cried
When i read about how they lied
Something touched me deep inside
The day our country died"
" American Pie," somewhat.
2
The Republican senators who voted against witnesses in the trial of Trump will go down in the history books, each and every one of them, as traitors. They will be looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives.
3
Trump is not a would be autocrat - he is a fully functioning autocrat, with the seditious House and Senate Republicans having morphed into the U.S. version of the Russian Kremlin. Our system of checks and balances is totally broken.
3
Let’s be totally honest here. The Republican Party doesn’t care about justice. They care about power. And they don’t care one bit if the entire world burns as long as they are in charge when it happens. They don’t care if their own grandchildren will have a world to live in, let alone one where justice exists. They are evil and at some point, something will need to break to change the cycle. I’m afraid of what that might be. I’m afraid for the entire planet.
4
It is now appears perfectly legal to rob a bank or kill someone who stands in my way. My defense is based on ‘he who shall be unnamed’ defense attorneys diabolically evil defense. For the former I will put my children through college thus acting in the best interest of the country, and the latter because the person who tried to stop me was not. I would never do those things, but mark my word, we are headed into chaos, and unscrupulous lawyers everywhere are licking their chops to use it.
1
This ended the way it was always going to end.
Pelosi knew from the beginning that you do not start this process unless you already have republicans on board.
Hope you enjoy watching Trump celebrate.
It's going to be a long one.
1
How could the house reasonably investigate and have witnesses appear if the White House continued to obstruct- even blatant threatening of critical witnesses continues to this day. We have a truly criminal president operating like a mob boss in the open.
I’d hope that Pelosi gets Bolton to testify and others, under oath, in public a new set of impeachment arrivals are presented. If enough citizens protest this absurd sham
Process of McConnell and more of the malarkey and mafia style operations of the president and all of his men are brought forth that may, at least, change the vote in the 2020 election.
This criminal operating in the Oval Office is making Nixon ask for a do- over from the grave. Nixon was a Boy Scout compared to Mob boss chump.
4
The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it."
The deliberations of the Senate impeachment trial of 2020 were not held in very strict secrecy. Consequently, citizens didn't gather outside when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The unsurprising answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Mitch McConnell, “Well, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, McConnell responded, “A monarchy, if the GOP can keep it.”
(posted with apologies to Benjamin Franklin)
2
The House should not have sent BOTH articles of impeachment over to the Senate (take your pick). Then when Republicans defeated that article, the House could have asked: "OK, what do we need to do to persuade you to consider the remaining article?" If the Senate insists it means hearing testimony from other witnesses, the House could then subpoena them. When the White House would then surely continue to stonewall, House members could say: "See what we mean?" And Democrats certainly could have demanded that White House Pat Cipillone recuse himself and then seek his disbarment for failure to disclose his knowledge of that May, 2019 meeting.
1
Looking at what has just happened in the US from a German's point of view, I feel shocked and totally frustrated. Instead of completing the necessary public investigation into Mr. Trump's apparent misbehaviours, you have shut down on revealing the truth and given in to the relentless force and power of a man, who only acts in his own interests and does not care about moral righteousness at all. How will you - as a nation - ever be able to overcome that shameful moment in your great country's history?
2
Of course a real trial would have revealed the treachery not only of Trump, but of his inner circle and even of his defence counsel. I am sad for your country, that it is it thrall to such evil.
3
I encourage all residents to stay off 5th Avenue. It's only a matter of time until our Great Leader tests his theory.
3
Inauguration Day 2017 is the day Democracy died in America. We Now live in a dictatorship. This is not the end, it will get much worse.
Revolution is the only reverse.
1
The Republican calculus is simple: to do whatever it takes to stay in power so they can continue to pass more laws to stay in power.
Unfortunately the rot that is the Republican Senate is at it's core the rot in the Republican electorate.
3
If Lisa Murkowski and Lamar Alexander don’t have the courage to stand up for what they think is right, regardless of what the final outcome may be, they should resign. By voting ‘no’ to witnesses and documents they condoned Trump and nobody will ever remember their comments.
Shame on you, cowards!
3
Sad, tragic, disappointing! The USA GOP Senators along with Alan M. Dershowitz signalled the right for Trump to continue performing his presidential powers above the law. Officially, this trial has determined the nation is politically divided. A few more negative and dangerous events created by the WH will give the license to a civil war. God forbid, hope I am wrong. The last hope to keep the nation stable is in the hands of the voters in November. 2020.
2
Face it, Republicans in the senate were dishonorable before the whole impeachment process happened.
4
Funny, I don’t remember a similar editorial about the House when it failed effectively to call the witnesses in question during the farcical House proceedings. But then I remembered that this paper’s Editorial Board and news division are in the bag for the Democratic Party.