This is all quite sickening, starting with Susan Collins' polyanna statement (she almost sounded as if she were on drugs) that she hoped Trump would "learn from his mistakes."
Sure. He's already mobilizing the powers of his AG to make sure that only one type of candidate investigation takes place between now and November, namely one that benefits Trump.
He's already swearing at, attacking, and darkly hinting that he's going to make all his enemies pay the price for their legitimate oversight--funny how it took impeachment to get even a few live witnesses to attest to his abuses of power and obstruction of Congress.
I don't know about anyone else here, but watching his half-closed eyes and taut voice display his rage and fury that his actions merited scrutiny made me shudder.
No American president--or politician for that matter--has ever issued so many threats in one speech--America is running out time to save itself.
114
@ChristineMcM Looking back to the run for 2016 Trump was on full display, transparent. Like a petulant child, Trump nudged the line of decency with each new stage performance. His insolence was rewarded as the GOP Electorate and then, voters of all party affiliations validated him. This is less about Trump than it is about America. America failed by allowing Trump to rise. Will America fail again, Is America better than this?
4
Funny, no one seems to care much about the ballooning deficit - including the gop 🤔
3
On the bright side, so many Americans will want to leave the country that Mexico will pay for a wall. Canada too.
3
The Democrats are in the same bubble as 2016: "If I and all my friends think something is true, then it must be true, right?" "Trump is bound to lose."
Earth to the Democrats: The S & P 500 is up 60% under Trump's watch, Unemployment is down 27%. The people in the middle who will decide this election are being asked to choose between someone who is a jerk, but who is putting bread on their table and making them money. Or someone who is ethical and moral, but who seems to want to break up the economy and tax everything in sight.
To quote James Carville "Its the economy, stupid." The frightening thing is the Democrats do not seem to recognize that they could be in trouble.
3
Dems, Pay attention! Trump is shooting himself in the foot every time he opens his crude mouth. If you can't stomach the others, take a good look at Michael Bloomberg, the experienced billionaire who didn't get his money from daddy. Bloomberg has already proved his leadership abilities. Imagine Bloomberg debating Trump. what a kick that would be!
5
How rapidly has America's world leadership between squandered by Trump and his Republican Toads. From Australia we look in disbelief at how rapidly this process has taken place. Your arcane flawed electoral system has elevated a vicious, racist, sexist thug to the White House. As a parent, grandparent and teacher you always strive to bring up your children and encourage your students to act in a moral way. You have elected a President who has no morals. A disaster as a role model. He just spews hate all the time. The view outside is the US is a country dominated by a anti intellectual voters. Sadly Clinton was 100% correct...the word 'deplorable is an apt description of core Trump supporters. As Climate change is now the biggest issue facing our world the US under Trump not only has gone missing it is actively making the problem worse. It makes one weep to see how far your country has fallen. The US is a failed democracy.
7
We’ve all known people like this guy. Okay, maybe not as obnoxious, but people who continually fall in and each time come out smelling like a new Bass Weejin. Blaming luck for somebody like Trump (he gets away with everything) abdicates our responsibility for allowing a disaster like Trump to keep “succeeding”. We can’t wait for Trump’s luck, if that’s what you believe, to run out...the antidote is the ballot!
3
This article and all of the comments here confirm what I’ve begun to believe. Democrats motives are good but they can’t do anything right. Republicans motives are evil and Democrat’s ineptitude allows them to always win. And the Donald has adopted the Thanos personae, “I am inevitable”. The Democrats need an Iron Man (or Woman) to snap him out of existence before he destroys the life of the nation as we know it.
2
I was very surprised to learn from the comment at the end that there is no way to vote by absentee ballot in Iowa. From what I can tell, this is actually not true. https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/electioninfo/absenteeinfo.html
Americans abroad depend on this, and we have enough piling on and false information these days, so please fact-check the emails.
The NYT (and other media outlets) played right into Trump's hands in making the mistake of saying that he had been "Acquitted".
What the media should have printed on their front pages and flashed across the breaking news banners on our TV screens was that "Trump not convicted!", which is a completely different thing from being "acquitted"!
Sad!
4
Four more years of misrule by an unhinged and corrupt bully in-chief would be a calamity for this democracy. Have we lost all sense of dignity, self-respect, and love of country? All to feed the ego of a shrewd and swinish demagogue...that wouldn't think twice throwing us under the bus? If he were to be allowed to re-assault the presidency, it would not be due to sheer luck; to our stupidity instead. Ugh!
4
Impeachment Lessons
Pelosi et al, the company store,
Didn’t consider what Trump had in store,
With no defense, and no factual shield
Dershowitz rose with the sword he would wield;
Fast talking hammer from Harvard he came
Withstanding abuse from libs who’d defame
Trumpster’s defense, but the jury was fixed -
No way that he’d lose, but the verdict was mixed;
Holy Mitt Romney with conscience on fire
Wasn’t a pol that whose vote was for hire,
So Donald let loose, but what could you expect
Mitt would get pummeled right up to his neck;
Say your payers, Mitt, ask for heaven’s help now,
Trump’s on the warpath and taking a bow.
2
Forget Trump. Without his Collaborators, he will be a toothless old Dog, howling alone.
VOTE THEM ALL OUT.
NOVEMBER.
5
Stop the discussion. Put a Post It on your 2020 calendar (3 November) - old fashioned paper version - with this text:
I will vote on this day for the person whose name appears as the Democratic Party candidate, whatever that name may be.
It is that simple.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
4
Does Spencer Bokat-Lindell and the New York Times know about a 7 figure book deal for Mitt Romney that has not been reported before?
1
How does this count as an opinion article? I detect nothing close to an opinion being expressed.
Donald Trump is a Manhatten Mobster associate. Too many Americans seem content with that.
You can fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool Americans all of the time.
2
It's not just "good luck." Donald Trump is a canny operator and always has been. He knows exactly how to skirt the law, counter-sue those he's stiffed, mock the critics, woo the disaffected, and take advantage of the silly and gullible.
A successful creature of reality TV, he knows how to appeal to a big swath of Americans. You know, the ones who don't read books.
With a lockstep GOP, enough radio allies to blanket the airwaves, and now a judiciary filled with conservatives, Trump can go on forever. I always knew it could happen here, and now it has.
9
Three years of corruption, mismanagement and gross incompetence on a scale never before seen from this administration, yet one problem with the Iowa caucus tally and suddenly it's Democrats who are seen as unfit to govern.
13
Trump’s impeachment and the Iowa vote tabulation problems will fade from the headlines. What will not go away is the fact that, as he again demonstrated today at his acquittal victory party, Trump is emotionally unstable, offensive, vindictive, unqualified to be President and an utter embarrassment to this country. That, together with a centrist Democratic nominee, should spare us from another four years of disgust.
9
Ross Douthat said it best: Just beat him. I would add one clause: Turn out the vote and just beat him.
2
The Dems do not have an electrifying candidate. No John F. Kennedys. With the exception of Mayor Pete, they’re all elderly white people. So much for the Party of Inclusiveness. Persons of color need not apply. Ask Cory and Kamala.
Unless the economy tanks, Trump is all but assured re-election.
1
You ask, will Trump's good luck last?
I don't think it is much about luck. Donald Trump did not emerge out of left field. Two generations of unusual political operatives laid the groundwork.
After Goldwater, conservative Republicans were in deep, deep trouble. Nixon was a crook, but established the Environmental Protection Agency, before Reagan returned to form. Problem was, America didn't like the Republican agenda then and likes it even less now.
When a party doesn't want what the center of the country wants, it has two choices:
1) Adapt, and try to appeal to the center; or.
2) Take everyone's mind off what you are trying to do by distracting them, and try to keep voters who like your opponents from voting.
Enter Lee Atwater, Ronald, Reagan, Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.
Enter systematized, disciplined, state-by-state voter suppression.
Enter wedge issues, that cause tens of millions to vote against their best interests.
Enter blatant, a-factual, repetitive and effective propaganda.
Donald Trump stood on these shoulders as he gained currency by his years-long, racist, "Is Obama American" trope.
Thing is, these Faustian bargains are killers of democracy.
Lee Atwater,
2
“...triggering both the ire of his Republican colleagues and the promise of a seven-figure book deal.”
I’d venture a guess that a seven-figure book deal was just about the last thing on Mitt Romney’s mind when he cast his vote. It might be on the columnist’s mind but Romney’s worth a quarter of a billion bucks and a couple of million from a book is paper-clip money.
1
Let's see - if President Trump's "good luck" consists of good economic numbers for all sectors of American society, might that not also be "good luck" for ordinary Americans.
Or, is a strong economy "bad luck" for them?
Or, is it simply "bad luck" for President Trump's competition in the next election?
10
My neighbors all have to have more than one job. Homelessness is unbelievable. Not just in California. Everywhere. Even where housing is cheap. Things are not good for everyone.
14
@Sunny 4 Life - well, if the good economic numbers are based on running up a massive deficit during an overheated economy, it won't be "good luck" when the whole thing collapses. And that's despite everything else being swept under the carpet which is going to come back to bite you later.
I don't think too many people will look back at this period of history as a fortunate turn of events, for the US or the world.
11
The climate crisis is the worst crisis the US has ever had to deal with and Trump is promoting drilling for oil and gas and mining coal. Americans who approve of Trump's performance in office are simply out of reality. This country is going down and during the second half of this century it will happen pretty quickly if drastic measures are not taken now. This isn't a pleasant reality and there is little reason for optimism. If Americans can actually understand what is at stake and elect someone who can start to turn this situation around there could be some hope.
27
He is going to start digging in Bears Ears National Monument and opening it up to off-road vehicles. Our National Parks system is in grave danger.
For all the so-called Progressives who hate Theodore Roosevelt, this greatest of presidents is rolling in his grave at the desecration of our great American wilderness.
(The carriage roads in Acadia National Park are likewise being opened to electric bikes. I used to love the quiet on those carriage roads. What will this spring bring?)
6
Mitt Romney showed courage by doing what was right. Contrast his vote with those cowardly Republican senators who voted against witnesses and rubber-stamped Trump’s unethical behavior. Ironically, Biden may not be the Democratic nominee. Thus, Trump and Giuliani pursued the wrong person.
6
If the voters give Trump another 4 years and reelect a Republican majority in the senate they will get the disaster they deserve. He deserves no credit whatsoever for the current state of the economy; his policies and the Republican tax cut guarantee crippling federal debt and a recession around the corner. I fear for the future of my children, but their generation failed to get out and vote in 2016. The lessons of the great depression and WWII have been lost on the current crop of American voters and politicians.
58
@Ohio MD
I won't be voting for Trump. But if he wins, as a voter, will I be getting the disaster I deserve? I worked hard all my life, paid my taxes, did the right things.
Is this the disaster I deserve Mr Ohio MD?!
3
If the economy is so strong, why does he push for historically low interest rates? That is a response to an anemic floundering economy, not a booming economy.
74
@Chris: Because he wants a bubble forever, so the economy doesn't tank before November.
7
@ChristineMcM
Exactly!
1
@Chris
You accelerate by pushing on the gas, not the brake.
Shocking incompetence and message management from the democrats. This is what happens when cronyism and consultant-addiction combine together with incompetence.
Really guys (and gals)? This is the best you could do on the first chance to put Trump on the defensive?
1
Me and mine are his good luck—
Is there any law that he could not run for TWO more terms?. FDR ran for 4...
2
GOP circled their wagons around Trump to ensure acquittal and will boost his chances for Trump's reelection. Trump won the Iowa caucus by a land slide and with the dysfunctional divided democratic party in a self destructive mode. Reelection of Trump will be ensured by the Dems. In fact there could be a breakup of the Dem party if the Bernie supporting socialists take over of the party with just a quarter of the Dem supporters. It is also possible that this time around, the nominee is not Bernie then he and his cabal may just run as independents. Bernie could live to 100 with his brand new stents keeping his coronary arteries open but this could be Bernie's last chance to be the nominee and take Butti as his VP. Of course Bloom is gearing up his campaign and claiming he will close the disparity between the rich and the poor by taxing the rich. He surely does not need to liquidate his wealth that way on his election campaign. Bloom is filthy rich and at least 10 times richer than Trump but his money may not talk to the Trump voters and even if he gets the nomination he is unlikely to be propped up so that he can see eye to eye with Trump in a debate. So I am afraid for the already deranged Dems suffering from a severe case of Trump derangement syndrome from the 2016 presidential election if Trump gets 4 more years. Psychiatrists and divorce attorneys will be making big business. That said anything could happen in DC. Pelosi's pitbulls Schiff and Nadler could try dirty tricks
1
I fear his luck will continue.
Take how he succeeded in bringing Biden down in Iowa with his false accusations. How else can you explain Biden's precipitous and sudden drop in that state?
In doing so, Trump is getting luckier and luckier on running against his ideal candidate, Socialist Bernie, whom Trump feels lucky about creaming in an election!
4
Love it. “Democrats shouldn’t despair because the economy isn’t as strong as it looks.” Reminds me of, “we have to destroy the village in order to save it.”
2
My God, where are you? Give a sign to America that is becoming decadent under DT. Money is not all, Republicans. Where are the human values of this President? The President of the US should be an example to the entire world and he is very far from it. A President should be trustworthy.
6
I think Trump benefits politically from Islam-inspired terrorist attacks. Dems need to figure out how to sound tough and competent on preventing domestic terrorism while respecting the rights of Muslim citizens and pointing out how they help combat terrorism. Not sure how to do this but it could be important, especially this summer and fall.
1
How does Trump get defeated? By boredom and overexposure. That was the trajectory of “The Apprentice.”
According to the Nielsen TV ratings, his 2003-2004 season started with a bang: 10.1 in the 18-49 demographic, and 20.704 total viewers. Fast forward four years. His 2006-2007 season scored 3.1 in the 18-49 demographic, and 7.486 total viewers. America had seen enough of Trump. Trump had become a mere self-reflexive buffoon.
Democrats need to figure out how that applies to 2020. One thing for sure, the Dems gave him a terrific ratings boost over this past year.
3
The democratic party reminds me of a quaint PBS show. Laid back, soft spoken, shocked at certain things but not overly so... What the dems need to do is have an emergency meeting and get a makeover, get the Rock and Opra in there as the head of the DNC, ignore Trump all together. Bloomberg take some of those billions and go rebuild a struggling US city, make jobs there, maybe get together with Jimmie Carter and do a tv show in prime time. Lets get out there and show the voters what life should be like, and it isn't normal to be stressed and scared. Lets make a great new deal that lowers crime, makes people hopeful for the future. Presentation counts folks.
3
The reality of waking up and recognising that 20 GOP senators, in the name of the constitution that they pledged to uphold, would not join the other side to spare the country the nightmare on display at the White House yesterday, is unpatriotic (I'm not a flag waver). As with Brexit, it's been three exhausting years. It's time for a politics detox for me.!!
2
GOP circled their wagons around Trump to ensure acquittal and will boost his chances for Trump's reelection. Trump won the Iowa caucus by a land slide and with the dysfunctional divided democratic party in a self destructive mode. Reelection of Trump will be ensured by the Dems. In fact there could be a breakup of the Dem party if the Bernie supporting socialists take over of the party with just a quarter of the Dem supporters. It is also possible that this time around, the nominee is not Bernie then he and his cabal may just run as independents. Bernie could live to 100 with his brand new stents keeping his coronary arteries open but this could be Bernie's last chance to be the nominee and take Butti as his VP. Of course Bloom is gearing up his campaign and claiming he will close the disparity between the rich and the poor by taxing the rich. He surely does not need to liquidate his wealth that way on his election campaign. Bloom is filthy rich and at least 10 times richer than Trump but his money may not talk to the Trump voters and even if he gets the nomination he is unlikely to be propped up so that he can see eye to eye with Trump in a debate. So I am afraid for the already deranged Democrats suffering from a severe case of Trump derangement syndrome from the 2016 presidential election if Trump gets 4 more years. Psychiatrists and divorce attorneys will be making big business. That said anything could happen in DC. Pelosi's pitbulls Schiff and Nadler could try again.
1
"Romney became the first senator in history to vote to remove a president of his own party, triggering both the ire of his Republican colleagues and the promise of a seven-figure book deal." As a resident of Massachusetts that our former Governor chose money over loyalty and honor is not a surprise
1
@D , I beg to differ. Senator Mitt Romney chose loyalty to our country and our Constitution over fealty to his party. Senator Romney did the right and moral thing which is where true honor lives and breaths.
25
It’s not about loyalty to any one person whether they be Democrat, Republican, Independent, liberal, conservative, moderate. It’s a loyalty to our Constitution. And that’s what the Right has wrong. They’ve turned American politics into a contact sport with winners and losers. Their members are more like sports fans than they are thoughtful political operatives. To me the “G” in MAGA stands for “gullible”.
2
Massachusetts is a blue state. The fact that Romney was able to become governor there speaks to his fair mindedness. If you prefer Trump, you are in the minority.
3
I believe that the reality that all cons eventually run their course and collapse must be weighing very heavily on Donald J. Trump, the Great Pretender, at this point.
Can he extend the con another four years? That is the existential challenge he faces. It is time for the majority to answer with a resounding: "No, Donald. It's over."
i
9
I think that the people who think the economy won't continue roaring, are making a mistake about the main reason for our roaring economy.
It's not because of Obama (although it is from something which happened while Obama was President).
It's not Trump's borrow-and-spend fiscal policy.
It's nothing to do with trade policy or tariffs (although it has had the effect of strengthening our trading-position).
It's ... well, surely you have figured it out by now.
No? OK.
It's CHEAP ENERGY FROM FRACKING.
The fracking industry grew from a little niblet in 2007 to the gigantic generous giving-tree-- more than half of our total energy production-- in 2016, before Trump took office. It is continuing to grow now. Trump doesn't deserve credit for it, but that fact won't stop it from keeping the economy roaring.
It's not the fracking jobs themselves (although they don't hurt). It's that cheap energy makes EVERYTHING cheaper, faster, and easier. Getting to work. Buying anything that has to be transported and delivered. Running your air conditioner or heater, and your computer. Cooking. Exercise. Entertainment. Providing medical care.
It's not gonna stop making the economy roar, until the market catches up and overreaches, like in 1929 and like during the dot-com bubble which ended the prosperity of the 1990s. That is likely a long time away.
1
@HandsomeMrToad
It's because you cant keep Americans down. We are still the leaders of the Free World and if we fall and dont get up the world will fall, and as much as they hate to admit it they know it is true. GOD BLESS AMERICA
1
Trump's acquittal was good luck? "Luck" would suggest that more than one outcome is possible. I guess he was also lucky that he won the Iowa caucuses. And he'll be lucky again when Bernie Sanders doesn't win the Republican nomination. And his rich parents took a real gamble: what if their son hadn't been born rich? Guess he lucked out.
4
Four More Years of Trump? Why not?
He is a tailor made leader for a country perusing no holds barred Ayn Rand brand of economy.
Trump is the product of American brand Laissez-faire economy with a majoritarian society.
Clearly this is beyond the comprehension of Democratic Party front runner opponents.
It’s also is a "devil take the hindmost" society a phrase that describes “a situation in which someone thinks only of himself and his own interests, leaving others to deal with their own fates. Hindmost is an adjective that describes the person who is the furthest from the front or the one who is in the back of a line or group. The idea behind the meaning of the saying devil take the hindmost is of a group of people being pursued by the devil. The people, who take care of themselves and run away with no thought about the others who may be slower or lagging behind, will be safe”.
This is a perfect description of American culture. Far from "we are all in this together" as an idealist moralist will suggest, Americans are all for themselves, and, as long, as the majority are buying more and more Christmas gifts, year upon year, “the majority of Americans will have a surfeit of stuff and they won't care how rich the wealthy get compared to themselves nor will they care how many suffer from homelessness or go bankrupt from medical bills” as succinctly observed elsewhere.
18
Interesting perspective. Extremely cynical, but I don’t blame you. I feel the same way in many respects.
8
@N.G Krishnan We all knew it was going to end this way. No one should be surprised. The GOP made a political calculation. Their unwavering support for Trump is simple 1st-grade math. If they vote to impeach Trump's base will retaliate at the voting booth. They will lose the 2020 election as well as the Senate in a landslide. So this option is a non-starter. If they vote to acquit, Trump loses, they still have a good chance to keep the Senate. If Trump wins, they will control the Senate & then can proceed to destroy the progressive movement once and for all. They will also have the enthusiastic support of the Democratic party's moderate wing in this objective. That's been McConnell's goal from the get-go. Obliterate the far left in mainstream stream politics. The GOP is playing the long game. Trump will be gone soon. They'll still be here. The GOP will wait him out & achieve their objectives. Their goal is to nominate 3-4 very conservative Supreme Court justices. Controlling SCOTUS is the grand slam that ends the ball game. Control SCOTUS & you win the Cultural wars. Control SCOTUS & you destroy the liberal agenda once & for all. If the GOP can pull this off they control the political agenda for another generation whether they win elections or not. Control SCOTUS, stack the judiciary to the sky, obstruct when necessary & you eviscerate the progressive movement, no matter how popular it is, no matter how much legislative power it has. Nothing will get in the way of that goal.
10
@Bill Brown Ironically The operation may succeed but will the patient survive?
Moot point is after all this machination do you expect American civil society to survive?
I bet it will remembered as we remember Roman civilisation. t was humbled and overwhelmed by its own greatness.
9
TIRED of that outLIAR poll by gallup being cited as anything except disinformation.
Poll analyst Nate Silver found that Gallup's results were the least accurate of the 23 major polling firms Silver analyzed, having the highest incorrect average of being 7.2 points away from the final result.
13
Those that voted against impeaching Trump in the Senate
are afraid of backlash from their campaign funders; they
are also afraid of the media damage which they would
receive from tabloid media which is the machinery supporting
them all. The GOP in he Senate were too afraid of voting
their conscience; AND this is what needs to be done to
revive both the GOP as well as the DEMS in Congress.
Campaign Finance Reform ; get rid of Citizens United the
political machine that undermines our elections; and our
Congressional bipartisanship.
Mitt Romney voted his conscience; which at this time was
harder to do than being in actual combat ; because he Mitt
Romney will be vilified by the GOP tabloid media ; and
most certainly chastised by the right wing media.
It is going to be a media war; and I hope there will be a lot
of instant fact checking by the NYT...Thanks to Mike Bloomberg and Mitt and those who are hoping to hold fast
to what this Republic For Which We Stand means to all of us.
12
Caucuses are a relic of a long-ago time when people were eager for any diversion from their daily routines, simply because such diversions were few and far between. Whatever their merits, they are terribly ill-suited to the way most of us live now, with multiple demands on our time and attention virtually every waking second. Time to end this undemocratic anachronism in Iowa and elsewhere. Democrats in my own state of Washington made the long-overdue switch to a primary just this year. You can do this, Iowa! (Now if only Washington could emulate Iowa in adopting a state income tax ...)
9
Caucuses are a relic of a long-ago time when people were eager for any diversion from their daily routines, simply because such diversions were few and far between. Whatever their merits, they are terribly ill-suited to the way most of us live now, with multiple demands on our time and attention virtually every waking second. Time to end this undemocratic anachronism in Iowa and elsewhere. Democrats in my own state of Washington made the long-overdue switch to a primary just this year. You can do this, Iowa! (Now if only Washington could emulate Iowa in adopting a state income tax ...)
4
Trump dominates television like no other. Love him or hate him, he's gripping TV, makes for great watching, and he's invariably provoking and entertaining.
So of course lots of Americans love him! And the Democrats have no TV game whatsoever. Bernie Sanders is OK for a while but lectures too much, and the rest of the Democrats come off dull as dishwater.
I'm not advocating for Trump by any means but unless the Democrats can come up with a candidate able to at least compete on television, it's going to be tough sledding for them. Trump also did himself a huge favor by refusing to debate any Democratic candidate, this will keep the conversation one-sided and the focus on him.
4
I do not watch Trump on TV, and if his voice comes on 1010-WINS at 6am, I turn off the radio.
His voice gives me the willies.
He sounds like Voldemort.
2
“They can keep digging into Trump from next week through fall, keeping public attention"
Sure they can keep investigations going. That is not the same as keeping the attention of the public.
The public is now turning to the upcoming elections. The papers can print it, and the true believers can click on it, but the wider public might just move on.
It is yesterday's news. It is done, and Democrats lost.
4
@Mark Thomason The chances that Trump won't give them something new to investigate are nonexistent. He'll probably blow the whistle on himself next time. His base eats it up when he breaks the law.
1
America lost.
1
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. Often you hear people substitute “intelligence” for “taste” in this Mencken quote, but I have come to see that “taste” is closer to the bone. Trump is the epitome of bad taste. Mencken also said that eventually the American people would get their heart’s dearest wish and have an outright moron in the White House. Say what you want about Mencken. He certainly had some bad and racist tendencies. But he saw the American people just as they are.
1
Don't panic. At least not yet. This is a good time for Trump to crest. The Democrats will crest much closer to the election, by which time today's news will be old, replaced by who knows what. I noted the look Justice Roberts gave Trump when greeting him at the State of the Union, and have some hope that he will jettison his partisanship for the good of the country when certain key cases come before the Supreme Court. Maybe that will change things. Maybe we'll get Trump's tax returns and reveal his flim flam. Maybe another Republican or two will grow a spine. Or maybe he'll win. In the meantime, the Democrats are debating the true future of the country -- do we want to go down in the flames of climate change by pretending that everything's okay, or do we want to at least try to stabilize the earth? This is the key question of the day and only the Democrats are debating it. It is refreshing and stimulating to hear their various policy proposals, see their various alliances developing. We'll have a candidate and then will be the time to panic, if panic is appropriate. But for the moment, this race is just beginning.
13
@annabellina Personally, I hope Roberts calls Trump's bluff and ends Obamacare before November. Democrats will sweep the senate and end Trump's career if that happens.
Democrats MUST get their act together because if we do not, we will have to endure 4 more years of trump and of a party that has shown us that they have abandoned all sense of honor and decency. We do not seem to be very organized as a party and right now, maybe Mike Bloomberg is the only candidate who can beat trump, but he may have entered the race too late. I can't imagine having to endure 4 more years of a person and party that are only out for their self interests. Who knows what trump will do, perhaps abolish the 2 term president and extend that to 4 terms, or he may decide to put don jr in office as Vice President and then president. It is laughable, but did you ever think there would be a trail for as serious an offense of abuse of power and obstruction of justice without witnesses or documents?
11
@Emma - I agree with you about Trump and the Republicans. However, we’re still at the beginning of the primary and caucus voting, and a lot can change, much of it in our favor.
As for four more years of Trump himself, if he wins legitimately (or as “legitimately” as we can expect, with Putin behind the scene), he will probably be deep in the throes of dementia in a few years, so his VP will take over (though the Republicans will try to disguise this, by allowing very little exposure of the Idiot).
One way or another, we will not let the enemy turn our government into a dictatorship.
Not only has Trump already won 2020, but the GOP has already won 2024. Four years? No, 8 years, and during that time the DNC will literally be financially ruined, and out of business. The Left doesn't understand: it isn't about Trump; it's about you. You will have to build an entirely new party.
10
@Matt Andersson "it isn't about Trump ; it's about you"
My exact argument to explain the rise of this horrific and soul-less person.
1
Trump and the GOP have once again begun making noises about reducing Social Security and medicare coverage despite Trump's pledge not to do so, a weakness which would hurt many of his constituents.
And I have met many fence sitting independents who care deeply about the environment, climate change and his anti science stands.
There are also those who hate his potty mouth that might budge.
Tight now that the Democratic candidates are so wrapped up in internal democratic politics that it seems they sometimes forget who the real enemy is. Will we wake up in time?
13
Democrats really need to focus on the bread and butter issues...keep hammering on healthcare, income inequality and climate change. STOP saying things like "Abolish ICE", "Provide healthcare to undocumented immigrants".
This should have been an easy election and it will be, if Democrats just stop making unforced errors. Don't react to everything he says, don't allow him to own the news cycle.
I genuinely think that just like Democrats got overconfident in 2016, Republicans risk underestimating their opponents in 2020. Democrats (including me) are currently paralyzed by the shock of 2016. Let's get over 2016, it was just one election and all he could do was win by few thousand votes. Those same states had voted for Obama overwhelmingly twice in a row. We can win this one....just no unforced errors!
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@Andy
Don't react when Trump says he will always protect people with pre-existing health conditions? You must be kidding.
6
@Alan J. Shaw
Point well taken. We absolutely have to respond to policy related falsehoods vigorously. I meant, not expressing alarm at every word/action of his, I just think that allows him to control the news cycle.
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@Andy i agree, but with 16,000 lies and increasing at a greater rate every day, it's going to keep us all busy..
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We are in uncharted waters. We have never had an individual as unfit as the impeached president. Nobody knows what he might do. Never before has the Senate become such a doormat for the president, and abandoned its Constitutional duties. Of course, nobody expected the Senate to vote to convict. Nobody knows whether or not impeachment will harm Mr. Trump. Whether or not the Democrats had a choice is a separate question and a very salient one. The folks who say they shouldn't have done so almost never address the most basic question. What were they supposed to do, let him cheat on the 2020 election? How would that have been lettering the people decide?
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@Robert Very true, Trump is unfit, uncouth and repugnant on every level. Perhaps Trump is merely the point man for an America in decay. Would any voter have accepted his circus act and bad behavior a decade ago?
Why is there such an astonishment Trump was acquitted? Was there any plausible scenario to the contrary? But he is now damaged goods. More people despise him and cringe about him than demure him. On to the vote now... everybody.
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@Sam Th -- If he's such damaged goods, why did his approval rating just reach its all-time high?
1
I have written a paraphrase of this several times, but it doesn’t seem like it will be printed. Too offensive? I would argue that it isn’t, considering how offensive its target is. Anyway:
Trump doesn’t have four years left on this planet, considering how obviously unhealthy he is. He is obese, elderly, doesn’t exercise, binges on fast food, can barely stand or walk, and slurs his speech. He doesn’t seem to be able to hold a train of thought for longer than maybe thirty seconds. Watch a video of an interview of Trump from 10 or 20 years ago. He is not the same man. The mental and physical deterioration is striking. Hopefully the inevitable stroke or heart attack or aneurysm happens in public so that we won’t have right wing conspiracists going crazy.
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He seems to have as much concern for his health and well being as he does for the well being of America.
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@Ben
Oh, they'll go crazy anyway. The deep state poisoned him, etc.
But yeah, I think he's headed for a physical crash, moral, economic and political crash. If he gets, "four more years," it will be like Godfather III.
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They'd go even MORE crazy if such happened in public. They'd be convinced it were a "sonic attack" like in Cuba, but lethal; a slow-acting food poisoning; or even (with zero irony) a Ukrainian chemical attack—all somehow timed by Pelosi to trigger at one of his numerous rallies to make him look bad and finish the coup she'd planned.
Yeah.
Folks, you really need to consider the possibility that Sanders is a Trump stalking horse. He's the best thing that ever happened to Trump. He cost Hillary more in 2016 than any of the other bad breaks she got, or any of the errors that she made. He has never apologized for staying home after the convention and not campaigning for her. Trump, who, despite being a pathological liar, is inadvertently totally transparent, never has anything but kind words for Sanders. Now Sanders is fracturing the Democrats again - of which he was not one until he tried to hijack the label in 2016! Why do people think that Sanders is admirable? And he really has no chances to win. He leaves the black voters cold, who matter a lot in many places, and alienates the Jewish voters, who matter a lot in a few places, but those few are critical to winning. He is like a cyanide pill for the Democratic Party. Warren (who is not a likely winner, either) is a far superior individual in every way. Why is Sanders even still around? Maybe because for Trump, he is irreplaceable. Sound paranoid? Think of the times in which we live. OK, maybe it's paranoid. But then the most charitable interpretation is that he is only interested in his own ego gratification. If he really cared about what he says, he would get out of the race and support Warren. But instead he divides not only the party, but part of the party. It's a catastrophe.
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Two candidates were backed by Putin propaganda in 2016–Trump and Sanders. For people who read the Mueller report, Sander’s campaign should have been a nonstarter. Nobody reads anymore. Nobody cares. Except for us moderates and elitists who actually care about science and facts. This country is done.
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@XXX - Thank you! I’m not usually a conspiracy theorist, but in this case I think there’s a lot more behind Sanders’ being in the race in 2016 and now. Maybe Putin is behind Sanders? Or, as you said, at the least worst, it’s his massive ego that’s propelling him to destroy the Democrats’ chances of getting rid of Trump if he, Bernie, isn’t our nominee. And many of his supporters are happy to be conned by this master con man. I just hope that any real Democrat can soar above the narcissistic hypocrite and win the nomination.
That a great tragedy should be what brings Trump down gives little solace, but I'm waiting for the impact of the Coronavirus, which my Chinese friends have told me has brought the country to a now 2 week standstill, to reek havoc on the world economy in a very serious way and very shortly. We have grossly underplayed the impact this is going to have and it's going to hit us and hit us hard soon. It's horrible that something good should come from something so bad but I see this happening although others don't seem to agree because I've not read much speaking about how China's shutdown will ripple across the world's economies.
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@ManhattanWilliam What if America doesn't suffer as much as other countries? Republicans will spin our good fortune as the result of Trump's immigration and trade policies.
@ManhattanWilliam
Didn't you hear the great news from Secretary Wilbur Ross? The coronavirus will be a boon to the U.S. economy.
I have to assume that the people who are being polled and saying that the economy is strong, are the same ones who have been polled about Joe Biden's electability. Both beliefs are disconnected from reality.
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"And just last Thursday, his administration unveiled a plan to allow states to cut funding for Medicaid, which insures one in five Americans."
So much for his 2016 campaign promise to NOT cut entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security.
Maybe, just maybe, it will take something like cutting and trimming health care benefits from those who need it the most to actually vote this guy out of office.
The entire impeachment situation never directly impacted most voters, but messing with health care benefits, well, that now crosses a line. Money and needed health care benefits are being taken out of peoples' pockets. They are and will continue to feel that pain directly. It's no longer some kind of far away abstraction that we only read about in the newspaper.
Trump's funding cuts in Medicaid will hit home where its impact will be felt directly.
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It's living in a bigger bubble to think we will have Sanders or any other Democrat in the Whitehouse. We have squandered four years where we should've been reaching out to the people who voted for Obama 2 x and then Trump over Clinton. Instead, extreme feminists, progressives and a gender and race obsessed party felt that 24-7 "this is how much we hate Trump", was the path to victory. The election belongs to Trump now. Tribal politics have killed us and the left owns most of this. We have ourselves to blame.
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@MCS Nice blaming the victim there. The American electorate representing the electoral college gave us Trump. The country deserves him for four more years if they re-elect him, regardless of how they felt about impeachment.
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@RamS "victim blaming" expressions work really well in tribal bubbles and leftist college studies classrooms. The real world is complicated, you should join it minus the generational sound bites. Learn what the electoral college is about and if you disagree with it, fine. But quit loving being a "victim" but demanding the respect of a valid adult voice.
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@MCS Re: victim blaming: I'm in the 1% so I don't care who becomes POTUS - I'm well insulated from all your petty rivalries given that I have am a resident of four countries. I devote my life to helping life and humanity in general, not to groups of people enclosing themselves in man made borders.
But I'll put it in simpler terms you will understand: you 're holding the people who voted against Trump responsible for the election of Trump. And your response about tribal bubbles and leftist college studies---I have no idea what you're on about. The evidence is against your original post: the Democrats haven't squandered anything since 2016 given 2018 and 2019. The R party has faced loss after loss and it will likely continue to do so unless Trump squeaks out a low probability win due to luck.
Looks like my "electoral college" comment triggered you even though that wasn't my intent. I don't disagree with it---it is what it is and it is what Ds need to win. I was being precise in saying that the electorate represented by the electoral college is what gave us Trump (rather than just saying "electorate" or "voters" which is not true).
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This Opinion Section columnist's first duty is to The New York Times, and The (private multinational corporation) New York Times's first duty is to the larger private multinational corporations that allow for its current existence.
And these private multinational corporations are dictating a plain strategy: ALL the mainstream media channels (which these corporations either own outright or sponsor) must now manufacture great fear of "four more years of Trump" and flood the nation with this fear so that Corporate America can then manufacture a fear-based public consensus that Bernie Sanders cannot win this election over Trump.
Corporate America surely does not fear four more years of Trump.
Corporate America fears more than anything the fact that Bernie Sanders will beat Trump in November's presidential election.
Therefore, Corporate America must use any means at its disposal to prevent a contest between Sanders and Trump in November.
So this column is just another in a flood of many more to come in this all-out war against this November match-up.
'Anybody but Bernie in November' is the war that Corporate America's vast army of CEO's, managers, minions, profiteers, and media propagandists are now all coming together to join.
Again, what's key to keep in mind during this all-out war: Corporate America must use any means at its disposal to win it.
The public is therefore going to witness the immense power and vicious means of Corporate America's mainstream media.
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@Tom Wilde This Bernie rhetoric has the repetitive sound that Orwell parodied in Animal Farm. The Millionaire Sanders uses the term "corporate" to make it sound like he is from another world where money grows on trees. After 5 years arent we tired of this
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@Tom Wilde
Just a silly conspiracy theory. A Sanders win would be bonus for newspapers. Just like with Trump they would be dealing with a stubborn old man who causes controversy. That is how the times and other media outlets make money.
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I absolutely agree. Anyone but Bernie. I’m sick of being told that daring to disagree with him a little bit makes me a corporate neo-whatever so and so. I’m sick of his supporters spreading conspiracy theories about every other candidate but refusing to acknowledge any of Bernie’s many flaws. I will not vote for him. Period. I’ll vote for Jill Stein first. I can be just as spiteful as any Bernie bro or Trumpist.
Trump wins, because he dominates media with his craziness.
Democrats must stop being boring and predicable, to win.
I suggest Democratic idea contests, to find "boredom busters."
For example:
1) I would try songs like the "Democracy" song of Leonard Cohen.
"Democracy is coming to the USA"
2) Try a new democracy wave, to counter Trump dictatorship.
3) Focus on team campaigning, with winners and losers together.
Jazz it up, Democrats. Stop being so boring, and detailed!
===========================================
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My prediction today would be Dems hold the House and win back the Senate, but Trump holds the WH with a EC win while losing the popular vote by 5 million.
Sad.
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@Chris Morris I do not agree. Trump might well lose and most likely the Republicans will still hold the Senate.
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Trump will have a miserable time with a Dem congress
There is a new “silent majority” out there, which is ever more disturbed by the increasingly unhinged, embarrassing, and outrageous behavior of this Fake President. Their numbers will only grow as Trump continues to act out before our eyes. And they will vote...for normalcy, decency, unity, and a return to regular order.
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@John Grillo
Did it ever occur to you how liberal elites look to the rest of the world? First of all, Trump is outrageous. But how is it possible for you to miss the outrageous behavior of the Democrats on the other side? You have attacked this president with every legitimate tool at your disposal. And also with every dirty trick ever invented, up to and including verifiably false accusations, nasty diatribes, and endlessly petty fault finding. Case in point—when Nancy Pelosi ripped up the speech, she did not signal a plan to support normalcy, decency, or unity. Neither side looks pretty right now, but I plan to vote for the party that causes the tide to rise for all boats, because when America rises, all of us win....even Democrats.
Does he have 4 more years in him? Listening to his whining self pitying from the SOTU on Tuesday to the bitter attacks on his perceived enemies at the inaptly named Prayer Breakfast and from the East Room, the man sounds totally non compos mentis. He is getting worse by the day. His family, if they cared enough, should do an intervention.
Republicans should be ashamed to continue to promote his incumbency.
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@Margo Stone
The closest McConnell will ever get to being president is with Trump in the oval office. I can't imagine McConnell wanting to change that. As for shame, I don't believe that word is in the republican dictionary.
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Democrats are working for the President Trump re-election. The impeachment and the IOWA caucuses are clear demonstration of this.
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@Trassens ..This is sadly true....
If anything would be responsible for the Democrats losing, it's that none of the candidates are exciting. Charisma has always been a factor in the presidential election. This year it's charisma plus the issues and, being able to arouse and inspire people the way the incumbent does his people. And, someone with good old fashioned chutzpah. Because whoever stands beside the performing clown we have now cannot look like a plain, dull wimp if we want to win. Examples that come to mind are Schiff, Pelosi, and Romney if he converts!
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@Denise Beck-Clark That worked so well for Romney the last time he ran on the other ticket... Take a look at the multi-racial, working-class Sanders support that came out in Iowa. That's all the energy we need.
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We will know on Nov. 3, 2020. Trump never thought he will win in 2016 election.
This wasn't luck.
Impeachment wasn't a mistake. It was just an incomplete offensive.
Like everything else the Conservative propaganda machine proposes, the deep state is not a liberal network but reflects how they are actually organizing their own communication and campaigns.
We have to recognize that and attack it, not just play the surface game. They aren't working at that level.
That said, it's true that the Democratic party needs to get its butt in gear. We need a real machine not just a bunch of caucuses run out of the states with individual candidates calling the shots. And whoever sends me 20 e-mails a day from MoveOn.org, stop hiring spam writers and hacks, please, that's not helping. It just sounds like disorganized begging.
We need a real leader. I don't know who is in charge of the Democratic party or liberals in the country but I should and that person needs to be leading this process from the front, without running for candidacy themselves.
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We are on the edge of fascism. It could even arrive before the election. Our citizens have failed, utterly failed. When 40-50% of the pubic either approves of obvious evil or can't tell the difference, that is failure. Trump is a criminal, traitor, rapist and corrupt liar - and we all know it, including his own supporters. Our much-vaunted Constitution has failed in multiple respects, its "checks and balances" collapsing like a house of cards and giving leverage to the corrupt while hampering the honest. The Russians are and will be hammering on the election like crazy, not only with social media manipulation, but also cyber attack, and they will be doing it with Republican support. What an incredibly sad state for this country to be in. I'm not too hopeful, but we must not give up. We still have to live here. So we have to do what we can to avert the nightmare. But it's looking worse and worse. Germany, 1933.
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@XXX: We're way beyond the "edge" of fascism--it's full blown now and has been for some time.
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@XXX
We are not at the edge of Fascism. Actually we are on the edge of greatness. There is obviously something in decline though. Secular Progressivism has finally betrayed it’s true colors. I have never seen a meaner group of people than Democrats when they are losing the battle of ideas. Please quit wrapping your values in the flag and claiming that your small world ever represented the historical roots or the majority of the good folks in this country.
1
When Trump became president there were 241 Republicans in the House of Representatives. As of now, 105 of those Republicans have either lost their seats or decided to retire from the fray. In 2016 when Trump was elected, the House was in Republican hands. In 2018, Democrats took over the House. In 2019, despite Trump holding mini-Nuremberg rallies on election eve in red Kentucky and red Louisiana, with two governorships at stake, Democrats won the governorships in both of those races. Also in 2019, the Virginia legislature flipped from red to blue.
You'd think with such a "roaring economy" this would not have happened. The reason it happened is probably because a majority of Americans are revolted by Trump and revolted by the kowtowing of Republicans to him.
As for 2020, please stop the hand wringing. Start doorbell ringing. And be practical -- no staying home on election day because your favorite Democrat did not get the presidential nomination. No voting for third party candidates -- that is like voting for Trump. Work to elect Democrats, donate money if you can afford it.
VOTE BLUE -- NO MATTER WHO.
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@scrim1 You are spot on. THANK YOU.
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@scrim1 Furthermore, challenge your friends who will only vote for select democrats! I'm a Bernie supporter myself, but I will enthusiastically vote for ANY democrat in the general.
If people give you pushback, ask them to get specific. For example, how exactly would a "centrist" presidency look that would make it so bad? What SPECIFIC policies would a centrist back that would be as egregious as Trump's? Would they appoint hard right judges to the federal judiciary? Would they continue to rollback environmental protections by way of executive order? Would they push for an even MORE unregulated healthcare market? Even the most centrist of democrats want to expand healthcare coverage via Obamacare.
Everyone loses if we keep our conversations general, vague, and speak in large sweeping declarations not rooted in fact or reality. Keep it specific, and above all, stick to the facts!
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@scrim1 We all knew it was going to end this way. No one should be surprised. The GOP made a political calculation. Their unwavering support for Trump is simple 1st-grade math. If they vote to impeach Trump's base will retaliate at the voting booth. They will lose the 2020 election as well as the Senate in a landslide. So this option is a non-starter. If they vote to acquit, Trump loses, they still have a good chance to keep the Senate. If Trump wins, they will control the Senate & then can proceed to destroy the progressive movement once and for all. They will also have the enthusiastic support of the Democratic party's moderate wing in this objective. That's been McConnell's goal from the get-go. Obliterate the far left in mainstream stream politics. The GOP is playing the long game. Trump will be gone soon. They'll still be here. The GOP will wait him out & achieve their objectives. Their goal is to nominate 3-4 very conservative Supreme Court justices. Controlling SCOTUS is the grand slam that ends the ball game. Control SCOTUS & you win the Cultural wars. Control SCOTUS & you destroy the liberal agenda once & for all. If the GOP can pull this off they control the political agenda for another generation whether they win elections or not. Control SCOTUS, stack the judiciary to the sky, obstruct when necessary & you eviscerate the progressive movement, no matter how popular it is, no matter how much legislative power it has. Nothing will get in the way of that goal.
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Yes, we will have Trump again. Democratic voters are already stating they're going to stay at home if their candidate doesn't win the nomination for president. I wish people would realize that any democratic nominee will push us in the right direction (compared to Trump), but I don't have a lot of hope for November. All I can do is pray that our country and planet will be able to survive another 4 years of this. The retaliation investigation into Hunter Biden is scary. I'm concerned about how many innocent Americans will be investigated under the Trump administration for political leverage. Senate has already condoned it.
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@jane You're depressingly right. I cannot fathom why the so-called Bernie Bros are now, according to polls, saying if their chosen candidate is not the nominee they will be staying home on election day. It's unreal how self-sabotaging that makes them. Unbelievable. It almost makes me think Trump is paying them or maybe the Russians. It's just very, very sad. I love Bernie, I would vote for Bernie - but none of my family and friends in Ohio and Michigan will. Please wake up, Democrats. He is too far left for them. Mark my words: we will be talking about how Bernie lost Michigan and Ohio to Trump if he is the Democratic nominee. You are dreaming if you think moderates will come out for him. And they ARE the Midwest.
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Concerning Hunter Biden, it’s so interesting how the “if he didn’t do anything wrong, there’s nothing to worry about” talking point somehow does not apply to Democrats.
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@joe: Some of those “Bernie supporters” likely are paid by the Russians. They were in 2016, according to the Mueller investigation.
7
If Trump wins the 2020 election for the presidency, he will change the Constitution that he subverts to ensure himself unlimited terms. Unfortunately, the Senate will continue to support and cover for him.
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while he might ignore the constitution he cannot change it, nor can the Senate. it requires a House vote and states must ratify any changes.
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@mimiretz
But what if his hand-picked Supreme Court declares the 22nd amendment unconstitutional. As Judy Tenuta's old gag-line has it, "It could happen!"
8
Trump might do that, but he won’t be able to prolong his very limited life expectancy. A life of bad health.
7
Democrats are overlooking one of the central issues in this presidential contest, but it isn't one that is included in Mr. Bokat-Lindell's analysis. And that is race.
Trump gained a large majority of votes from white men in 2016, and even a majority of votes from white women. The fact is, race is central to Trump voters' support of him. They love that he is a white nationalist. And if the economy is good, they'll view it as a vindication of his racist policies. If there is an economic downturn, he'll tell them that this is all the fault of their brown-skinned neighbors, and they'll gladly believe those lies.
Three long years into this hellish presidency, Trump voters worship him like a deity. He is a known felon who, it has been proven, tried to sell out our country for his own personal gain. But none of this matters to his voters. As long as he tells them that as whites, they are the only "real" Americans, they will do literally anything for him.
The issue not addressed here is that Trump voters and Democratic voters want two different, and incompatible versions of this country. Trump voters want a regime of soft apartheid, where their rights, as whites, are paramount over others. Democratic voters want a country in which all are given equal opportunities.
There is no resolving this issue short of partitioning the country. Whites will continue to be the single largest voting bloc, and they will do anything to preserve what they believe is rightfully, and only, theirs.
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@Orion Clemens Not all whites are Trump supporters. And this election won't be about persuading the unpersuadable. It will be about turnout. Everyone who opposes Trump and feels he is a threat to the nation should turn out to vote for his opponent, even if they don't particularly like his opponent. It's that simple.
Spencer Bokat-Lindell certainly presents the arguments for another four years of Trump and the optimistic counterarguments against.
The question is, whether most of the voters--on either side of the divide--can truly understand these arguments, or, if they are sophisticated enough to understand them, even care.
People on both sides vote with their guts far more often than with their heads, and right now many guts have Trump indigestion, but one senses not enough to regurgitate. But given the many revelations yet to come--Trump and his minions cannot help themselves; it's their nature, it's what they are--enough people may yet get to that point. But the opposition has to offer up a somewhat more palatable meal, or many will simply turn up their noses at what will be perceived to be bland fare.
7
By squandering their resources in internal strife, rather than joining together behind a candidate (chosen by political experts) to win back the electoral votes lost to Trump in 2016, the Democrats may well be ensuring 4 more years for Trump and his GOP toadies. It pains me to have to think that, and I will vote Democrat no matter who is nominated. I fear, however, that it will be in vain. I have heard others state the same.
10
@Willy The Quake "Chosen by political experts"? That's how we got into this mess. Have some faith in yourself.
5
Although cynicism is very much in fashion these days, I don’t think that Mitt Romney, with a net worth of $250 million, needs a seven-figure book deal. He certainly doesn’t need his $174,000 a year salary as a U.S. Senator. Believe it or not, some people actually go into politics out of a sincere commitment to public service and because they want to do what’s right.
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@Big Electric Cat I think Mitt Romeny has shown he wants to do whats right by being one of the two republican senators that had the backbone to vote against trump. I find the facts on his income irrelevant here,( 250 million net worth you say) when we have a President who was a billionaire when he started and has done nothing but make money since elected. Which is the only real reason he wants to be re-elected.
7
Senator Collins: I sure hope you apply this optimistic hopefulness to brown and black offenders in your home state.
37
Are there black and brown people in Maine? Not very many, I’d wager.
I looked it up to see whether or not my guess was correct, and how prejudiced (not against minorities but) against Maine I was. Maine is the second whitest state, narrowly losing out to Vermont.
There are some. But Maine is the second whitest state. My post was intended to be prejudicial of Maine, not minorities.
Now that the Impeachment is over lets see if Congress can actually do something useful for the country. That would go a long way toward persuading so called swing voters that they have something to offer besides Hatred and Misinformation.
Its clear that the lasting image of the Speaker shredding a copy of the State of the Union Speech on National TV isnt a good start.
This will be a vote right down Party Lines come November just like the Impeachment vote. I suspect what we'll continue to hear instead from the Left's mouthpieces will be the Impeachment and the acquittal by a tarnished Republican Senate instead of new ideas and working across the aisle to rebuild our Infrastructure, Illegal Immigration and the Economy.
I think there are many people myself included who would love to see an alternate to Trump but sadly the Dems have nobody even remotely close to what I'd consider a viable candidate. You have moved Left of Left. (Would you like an impossible Burger to enhance your Carbon Footprint anyone?)
4
@Coastal The Senate covered up Trump's corruption. The House does oversight and it was time that the legislative branch did their jobs. Trump is the one who lies and spreads misinformation. Democrats protect our democracy for Americans and even Republicans.
20
@Coastal Yes, "Left of Left" right back almost to mainstream 1970s.
2
Collins predictions / hopes for Trump's behavior defy logic and run counter to any honest review of every episode in this car crash of a presidency. It's a sloppy and easily mocked defense. Collins walked her comments back calling her comments "aspirational." And she even had to laugh at her own euphemistic language. Letting someone off for a crime you admit he will likely commit again is not funny to me.
I hope and believe the people of Maine will be "aspirational" this November and rid themselves of this Trump Cult Party loyalist.
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