USA Politics

I'm sure we'll be disappointed. No matter the outcome though, it won't result in any good things in the short term. Never has there been a more appropriate case for impeachment. There has to be a cost to incite overthrowing the republic (never thought I would have to say this), otherwise it will happen again. Impeachment with a senate conviction isn't enough though. The possible prosecutions for other crimes would be welcome in the sense that Trump himself deserves to be dealt with.

However. There will be a fallout it the senate votes to convict. It won't come free. It will increase the already vast divide and it could potentially be a new match for the next blowup. Regarding his social media ban, I agree with the critics it is problematic. I just don't think it's more problematic than allowing a fascist who attempted a coup continue to use the platforms to divide, punish and incite hate.

I do believe though that there are more Republican elected officials who wants to vote yes to impeach him, than ultimately will. Those who do will face death threats for years. I'm sure many are terrified.
 
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Reading McConnell’s statements makes me think republicans might be convicting Trump once he’s out of office. The conventional wisdom being Trump’s approval rating among republicans will drop when he’s out of office and he will lose a lot of political power.
 
Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
But the Senate will not vote today. They do, in fact, not assemble again until the 19th if I have understood things correctly.
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Under current rules, if both Schumer and McConnell agree to it, they can call the Senate back into session at any time. If McConnell were motivated to run a speedy trial and Schumer was willing to trust him, they could potentially do it quickly.
 
Yax said:
I do believe though that there are more Republican elected officials who wants to vote yes to impeach him, than ultimately will. Those who do will face death threats for years. I'm sure many are terrified.
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This is exactly why Trumpism needs to be, and deserves to be, ruthlessly stamped upon.
 
I don't get involved with politics much at all, too many people pissed off all the time. Brings me down, I just ignore it all. I will tell you this, there's no way Trump is or ever will be a dictator. Fascist dictators don't have more than half their people + mainstream media + big tech + their own government against them at their every turn.
 
Dityn DJ James said:
I don't get involved with politics much at all, too many people pissed off all the time. Brings me down, I just ignore it all. I will tell you this, there's no way Trump is or ever will be a dictator. Fascist dictators don't have more than half their people + mainstream media + big tech + their own government against them at their every turn.
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1. Everyone turned against him because he lost and kept losing.

2. It wasn’t a runaway either. The amount of people that have been on his side all this time is insane.

3. Even though he did lose, it’s terrifying that things have gone as far as they did. And we’re likely not out of the woods yet.
 
Question to people smarter than me: Is there a point in impeaching Trump after he left office?
 
Yes, as part of the verdict the Senate may rule him unfit to hold any elected office ever again. I guess there will be some judicial questions to be answered though - I understand there are different opinions among the law people regarding whether someone can be impeached after they leave office.

Since impeachment is the only means to hold a president accountable for his actions while in office, I assume that as long as the decision to file for impeachment (made yesterday by the House) was made before the end of his term, it should hold.
 
Depending on the timing, he could also lose his pension (usually over $200,000 a year) and a yearly travel expense account of up to $1 million for himself and two staff members (plus an additional $500,000 in travel expenses for Melania if she doesn’t divorce him).
 
Perun said:
Question to people smarter than me: Is there a point in impeaching Trump after he left office?
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Also, if come the next election Joe Biden loses, and he then tries to pull the same stunt as Trump then impeachment as punishment for those antics will be established precedent.
 
I’m pretty sure the not holding office again thing is a separate measure from impeachment that congress would have to vote on after the impeachment vote.

Part of the argument on the left is that Trump committed a crime and shouldn’t be let off the hook because he’s out of office. Even if he’s out of office, being convicted would be a strong rebuke and a clear statement that this sort of behavior is not ok. To that end, I think there’s a political calculation that it will be a tough vote for Republicans who are up for re-election soon. House members can sort of get away with it when they live in a deep red district (although I think not voting to impeach will come back to haunt some of the ones who are in swing districts) but it’s going to be harder for a Republican in a state like Pennsylvania or Florida to go back to their constituents and explain why they didn’t vote to convict someone who tried to incite an insurrection.
 
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Mosh said:
I’m pretty sure the not holding office again thing is a separate measure from impeachment that congress would have to vote on after the impeachment vote.
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Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
Possible, but would they be able to do it without the impeachment?
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You are both correct. If the President is convicted via impeachment, then a follow-up vote would be held to determine if he would be eligible to hold office again. Impeachment conviction would require a 2/3 vote, but after a conviction the barring from holding office would only require a majority vote.

The 14th amendment could also be used to bar Trump from holding office again, and would theoretically only require a majority vote separate from impeachment, though it would have to be passed under Biden to avoid a veto, and it would certainly be challenged in court if Trump ever filed to run again.
 
The problem with these legal grey areas is that Trump is going to test a lot of them. It's pretty likely that he tries to self pardon himself, for example. The self pardon might not be constitutional, but if someone wants to challenge, they have to charge Trump with a crime and then they have to go through the legal system (and eventually the supreme court) to see if the self pardon is legal and then they can actually get to the crime itself. Same thing with using the 14th amendment to prevent him from running. There is only so much political capital and there are only so many legal resources. People are going to have to pick their battles.
 
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