US Senate declares itself Venezuela under Democratic leadership.

That is the only silver lining here. Hardly worth turning our government into a 3rd-world Banana Republic.

Their spite is undignified for people who are supposed to be mature, seasoned, and diplomatic leaders. They completely cracked that facade because one sometimes immature, unseasoned and non-diplomatic person was democratically elected by the people? They are embarrassing this country in front of the entire world.

 

Trump did what he is accused of doing, the fact that we already know republican will let him off the hook, doesn't mean we should not try to do the right thing

the evidence is overwhelming, republican will not vote no on the evidence, they will vote no on the process... watch and see

we have republicans saying that if we try Trump it will upset those types that attacked the capital, and we should appease the domestic terrorists

 

The vote this afternoon was whether it was even Constitutional to hold a Senate impeachment trial against a citizen. All 50 Dems voted that it is. Only 5 out of 50 Republicans voted that it's okay to put a citizen under trial. If convicted, the punishment is that the President loses the remainder of his term of office. Trump's term of office is over and there has been a transition of power to a newly elected President.

The Senators look like a bunch of idiots.

The next group of Senators will make things worse when they impeach and put Obama through an impeachment trial. Why? Because today they set a new low bar that impeaching and trying citizens is perfectly normal, rational and Constitutional.

Just because the "can" set a precedent like this doesn't mean they should. Unity my a$$.

 

Just because you continue to deny it doesn't make it false.

 

That's the dog and poney part of the farce.

.... or giggling children.

 

The Constitution doesn't define an impeachment trial as a "trial of his peers", and for those of us who are appalled at Trump's actions that led to the assault on the Capitol, it seems the most valid reason to convict a President in history.

I'll assume you aren't one of those conservatives who complain when they judge government actions to be unconstitutional, because such people would fully accept the Constitutionality of an impeachment and trial. The fact that a U.S. President is NOT above the law, and is subject to impeachment, is one of the key differences we have with Venezuela.

 

....or juvenile delinquents. Really, really old juvenile delinquents.

Maybe after the first ever impeachment trial of a citizen they should go celebrate by peacefully looting a Target. They are into precedent setting "firsts". Not much would be a surprise anyone anymore after this political drama.

 

Seriously.

I wonder if the nation really is run by a "deep state" or "Illuminati" or maybe lizard people from another planet, and so the buffoons in the various government offices are bored stiff with nothing to do but play patty cake, mumbly peg, and "I dare".

 

When Democrats impeached the Trump the first time, Republicans kept threatening that it would hurt the Democrats in the elections of 2020. The election, I will remind you, where Biden handily won and led to the Democratic takeover of the Senate.

 

I mean, you're now framing it as "Trump's actions that led to the assault on the Capitol", one of the many issues is that upon examination, it would be hard as hell to prove he incited them or that their actions directly fit insurrection(in fact, I don't think the DOJ has charged that for any such individual yet.)

It's not about "being above the law"(despite the shrieks of the house speaker who eats ice cream and is herself unaccountable to her constituents let alone the country), it's about making our senate look pathetic.

 

A president gets benefits for life. An impeachment would stop those benefits.

What the Trump attempted, to make our elections mute, is unforgivable.

 

It's insane how insane those who affiliate with the Democratic Party have become. You equate my opinion with "fear". FEAR OF WHAT? I'm not related to this man, or to his family or have any interest in his well being(or not well being). Like, open your damn eyes that there's more to life than this ONE individual, who for a time occupied the highest office in the land.

You're not 'appeasing' anybody, what would be done would be rational decisions for the good of the country and for the good of the body of the Senate, which is now a pathetic shell of its former self. Having entertained the Kavanaugh travesty and now, this farce the US Senate can no longer be called upon as our top legislative body.

You're not pursuing justice either(that dems felt the need to go ahead, show they're not as confident in a civilian court case. I wonder why that is?). All you're doing is damaging our political bodies, because you HAVE to stick the final fork in Trump's political corpse.

 

Always the victim. Screw the dead cop's family. It's those mean ol' Democrats. Bengazi my ass.

 

Yeah, I'm sure that would put Trump out into the gutters of Skid Row.

 

I deny it because it has NO basis in FACT.

 

Let's understand what those who voted for impeachment were doing. They write up and submit a 'complaint' or an indictment. The people who perform that role are not supposed to be dispassionate arbiters because they are not arbiters. They are just asking whether they should make that case and that involves a little different set of questions, and slightly different frame of reference.

The Senate are the jurors and they do promise to be impartial and unbiased. Its sitting in their new job description.

" I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be,) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of , now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God"

. Its not accidental that the House does not take a separate oath before they perform their function. The roles are actually different and they are taking on one of advocacy..

I am not sure how I would vote during the trial, but I know with every fiber of my being that the President's conduct on its face here, meets the definition of High Crimes and Misdemeanors and for the House to ignore it, would have been a breach of its duty. Even McConnell was clear that the impeachment itself was warranted.

The Senate has a more complicated set of questions because the man they are putting on trial is a private citizen who is already out of office. We need to hear the lawyers on this.

 

Lolwut?

1) How is the U.S. "Venezuela"?

And THIS:

2) "Trump's in his 80's,"?

Since WHEN?

Trump was born in June 1946 (and his currently 74 Years Old).

Where do you get that Trump is "in his 80's"?

Is that the New Math?

And THIS:

3) The World will laugh "at us for political incompetence"?

Huh?

^Just like they have been laughing for the last 4 Years?
(Ever since the USA made the Egregious Mistake of Electing an IMBECILE Like Trump)?

Sure thing.

 

Yes, your fear is PALPABLE. And I already said what you fear: actual accountability for power that would otherwise be untrammeled. You are a partisan for Executive Supremacy, and if impeachment is successful, it would drive a stake right through the heart of it.

This one individual is an ENEMY of our way of life, and the reason he matters is that he is supported by a good half of the Electorate. If you want your Venezuela, well there it is.

The Senate under Republican control has become totally corrupted, it has become a party-before-country Faction. It is evidenced by McConnell's rank obstructionism vs. Obama, then by his theft of Obama's Supreme Court pick, then by the TOTAL failure of the Senate to hold the Authoritarian Demagogue in the WH to account. That is what makes the Senate pathetic - and history will record the fact.

Kavanaugh was a travesty, and in truth the Democrats have most (most) of the blame for that. But that botched nomination does not even come close to the worst that the Senate has got up to in the last decade.

That doesn't follow at all. Convicting Trump in the Senate - or failing to convict him - has no bearing on whether or not he's indicted for incitement to riot/incitement to insurrection. Personally I think it's imperative that Trump be tried for his involvement in the historic events of 1/6/2021. We shall see what a jury decides.

The damage that Trump has done to the nation is too great, too heinous, for him to escape justice. It does not matter how much political support he retains. If we are serious that we are a nation under law, he must be held to account. And if we are not a nation ruled by law, then the nation is not worth defending.

 

It's worth remarking that conservatives were all very keen on Impeaching ex-federal officials, very recently:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/09/impeach-hillary-clinton-congress-has-power-do-it/

 

Did you miss Rand Paul's insta-poll? 5 Republicans were all that supported even having a trial. Thus, just like the last dog and pony -or is that Pony Soldier? - show, there will be lots of outgassing, general nastiness, and wailing then he'll be acquitted yet again.

 

Wow What a find! That is hilarious.

 

...And all the enablers of his attempted coup will be on the historical record. That, and the vote to convict will be bi-partisan and it will constitute a majority of the Senate. All of historical significance.

 

this time there will be evidence and witnesses, that scares republicans

 

I withhold my judgement until further notice because you have NO basis in FACT.

 

Of course nobody in the Senate or the GOP party wants this to come to a verdict. Its going to provide a litmus test vote, divide the party and everyone will walk away with one of two labels, one of which may be problematic in their primary, and the other one may be problematic in the general election. Its going to especially difficult in those swing states which take a dislike to the idea of having their ballots disenfranchised en masse to shove Trump back into office.

Dems did not suffer from the last vote and they will not suffer from this one. They impeached a President with a 34-39% approval rating.