American Politics Impeachment: 2 fast? No, we're 2 furious

[The NCNSA]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing? Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household? Or the Green New Deal?
Trump isn't the first psycho nor the worst psycho to occupy the Oval Office. Get over it. Start focusing on larger issues, like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

[Greater Miami Shores]

I think it is very possible Republican President Trump might be forced to resign, due to Republican Senators betraying President Trump and Trump Supporters.

I heard Mitch McConnell is upset with the censoring of Trump on Twitter, so it seems like Mitch McConnell is playing anti Trump and Pro Trump where it suits his interests.

I wish Mitch McConnel were impeached as Republican minority leader in the Senate for his betrayal of President Trump and Trump Supporters.

GMS.

What an anti-American thing to say. No surprise, people who hate America and it's democratic system of government place Trump over country.

You and those who strongly agree with you, are entitled to your opinions.

GMS.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing? Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household? Or the Green New Deal?
Trump isn't the first psycho nor the worst psycho to occupy the Oval Office. Get over it. Start focusing on larger issues, like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

Funny how those guys didn't incite an attack on the Capitol. It's almost like I shouldn't even give a fuck about them and instead should focus on the worst president ever doing what he does best, which is ruining this country even in his final days.

And where are the commies NC? In imaginationland? Fucking lol. Pelosi is probably less of a socialist than even you are, and that was made abundantly clear when she claimed $600 stimulus checks were "plenty of money."

[Kowani]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing?

A preacher

Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household?

What the fuck are you talking about

Or the Green New Deal?

People who want a livable earth, mostly

Trump isn't the first psycho nor the worst psycho to occupy the Oval Office. Get over it. Start focusing on larger issues, like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

This is entirely nonsensical and requires ignoring the sheer power disparity, even if any of what you were talking about was based in reality

[Borderlands of Rojava]

What an anti-American thing to say. No surprise, people who hate America and it's democratic system of government place Trump over country.

You and those who strongly agree with you, are entitled to your opinions.

GMS.

Yeah cause we're right. The rhetoric you're pushing got 5 people killed a few days ago.

[Greater Miami Shores]

I think it is very possible Republican President Trump might be forced to resign, due to Republican Senators betraying President Trump and Trump Supporters.

I heard Mitch McConnell is upset with the censoring of Trump on Twitter, so it seems like Mitch McConnell is playing anti Trump and Pro Trump where it suits his interests.

I wish Mitch McConnel were impeached as Republican minority leader in the Senate for his betrayal of President Trump and Trump Supporters.

GMS.

“Betraying”

Growing a spine more like it. Or at the least saving their own necks.

Trump and his supporters have crippled the party. It remains to be seen if it recovers or it implodes and we see another take it’s place.

No betraying. GMS.

[Cordel One]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing? Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household? Or the Green New Deal?
Trump isn't the first psycho nor the worst psycho to occupy the Oval Office. Get over it. Start focusing on larger issues, like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

I wish there were commies in Congress and people who advocated for free necessities. Can I please move into the world in your head?

idk about the mom and dad thing though, maybe you should find better news sources.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

“Betraying”

Growing a spine more like it. Or at the least saving their own necks.

Trump and his supporters have crippled the party. It remains to be seen if it recovers or it implodes and we see another take it’s place.

No betraying. GMS.

Nobody betrayed anyone except for Trump. He betrayed his oath to uphold the constitution.

[Adamede]

“Betraying”

Growing a spine more like it. Or at the least saving their own necks.

Trump and his supporters have crippled the party. It remains to be seen if it recovers or it implodes and we see another take it’s place.

No betraying. GMS.

Trump and his cult screwed over the American right and America in general. The only betrayal here is from him and his pack of goons.

Adamede

[Bahia Roja]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing? Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household? Or the Green New Deal?
Trump isn't the first psycho nor the worst psycho to occupy the Oval Office. Get over it. Start focusing on larger issues, like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

Please explain how the "commies" in Congress are a "larger issue" than the President of the United States inciting an attack on a constitutional process?

[Greater Miami Shores]

No betraying. GMS.

Nobody betrayed anyone except for Trump. He betrayed his oath to uphold the constitution.

You are all entitled to your opinions. GMS.

[Washington Resistance Army]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing?

A preacher

Not a very good one tbh. You feel like any halfway decent preacher would know it's a Hebrew word that isn't connected to gender.

[Kowani]

Trump’s nonprofit inaugural committee improperly paid a $49,000 bill incurred by his company, D.C. attorney general alleges

[Geneviev]

A preacher

Not a very good one tbh. You feel like any halfway decent preacher would know it's a Hebrew word that isn't connected to gender.

I know very young children who know what amen means.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Nobody betrayed anyone except for Trump. He betrayed his oath to uphold the constitution.

You are all entitled to your opinions. GMS.

Yeah cause I'm right and you helped make a monster. It would be best if you admitted to the situation you were in GMS, because there would be more dignity in it.

[Kowani]

A preacher

Not a very good one tbh. You feel like any halfway decent preacher would know it's a Hebrew word that isn't connected to gender.

This is America, we speak English

[Cordel One]

A preacher

Not a very good one tbh. You feel like any halfway decent preacher would know it's a Hebrew word that isn't connected to gender.

I think it's kinda weird too but tbh I really don't care because it doesn't matter

[Bahia Roja]

You are all entitled to your opinions. GMS.

That's not even an opinion. Trump has a worrying history of breaking and misusing the powers given to him by the Constitution. The same Constitution he swore to protect and uphold.

[Greater Miami Shores]

You are all entitled to your opinions. GMS.

That's not even an opinion. Trump has a worrying history of breaking and misusing the powers given to him by the Constitution. The same Constitution he swore to protect and uphold.

Guess what? You too are entitled to your opinions. GMS.

[Page]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing? Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household? Or the Green New Deal?
Trump isn't the first psycho nor the worst psycho to occupy the Oval Office. Get over it. Start focusing on larger issues, like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

Look, as a total commie I will agree with you that "awomen" is totally fucking stupid since the etymology of "amen" has nothing to do with "men." The gender neutral language in the House rules seems pretty sensible and the Green New Deal or something like it is going to be necessary sooner or later, the planet is on fire and fossil fuels are limited - we are already past the point of no return with climate change, and every day we don't act means even worse consequences will soon be on the way.

Still, "the left" can go all out with "awomen" and "Latinx" (which I also think is stupid because I only ever hear white people using it, I think Latinos should be the ones who get to make that call) but no amount of politically correct SJW stuff will ever come close to the "psycho" levels of the Republican Party whose health care stance as Alan Grayson so accurately put it is "don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly."

I have some disagreements with fellow leftists regarding language but that's a triviality compared to the devastation wrought by the capitalist economy. I'll set aside bickering about "Latinx" until we have universal health care, every homeless person is given a home, every person in prison for a victimless crime is released, corporations are no longer getting away with environmental devastation, and all kids receive a quality education. Then, and only then, can we worry about how far political correctness is going.

[Andsed]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing? Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household? Or the Green New Deal?
Trump isn't the first psycho nor the worst psycho to occupy the Oval Office. Get over it. Start focusing on larger issues, like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing? Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household?

I have literally never heard of anyone saying we should abolish the words mom and dad. I will agree the awomen thing was dumb though.

Or the Green New Deal?

Because preventing a total ecological disaster is just so horrible?

like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

Damm commies, saying people should be able to go to college or have basic healthcare without going into crippling debt.

[Gravlen]

Fiona Hill, former deputy assistant to president Trump and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council: Yes, It Was a Coup. Here’s Why.

I’ve been studying authoritarian regimes for three decades, and I know the signs of a coup when I see them.

Technically, what Trump attempted is what’s known as a “self-coup” and Trump isn’t the first leader to try it. Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (nephew of the first Napoleon) pulled one off in France in December 1851 to stay in power beyond his term. Then he declared himself Emperor, Napoleon III. More recently, Nicolas Maduro perpetrated a self-coup in Venezuela after losing the 2017 elections.

The storming of the Capitol building on Jan. 6 was the culmination of a series of actions and events taken or instigated by Trump so he could retain the presidency that together amount to an attempt at a self-coup. This was not a one-off or brief episode. Trump declared “election fraud” immediately on November 4 even while the votes were still being counted. He sought to recount and rerun the November 2020 presidential election so that he, not President-elect Joe Biden, was the winner. In Turkey, in 2015, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan successfully did the same thing; he had called elections to strengthen his presidency, but his party lost its majority in the parliament. He challenged the results in the courts, marginalized the opposition, and forced what he blatantly called a “re-run election.” He tried again in the Istanbul mayoral election in 2019 but was thwarted.

There’s a standard coup “checklist” analysts use to evaluate coups. We can evaluate Trump’s moves to prevent the peaceful transfer of executive power against it. To successfully usurp or hold power, you need to control the military and paramilitary units, communications, the judiciary, government institutions, and the legislature; and mobilize popular support.

Let’s see how well this applies to what Trump has done.

The Military: During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, Trump drew Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Mark Esper out of a White House meeting to follow him for a provocative photo op in front of an historic church. Paramilitary forces under the president’s command cleared a passage for his group across Lafayette Square. Trump was testing the military and the Pentagon to see if he could turn the U.S. armed forces into his own “Pretorian Guard.” The blowback from this episode emphasized the non-political position of the U.S. military, but there was sufficient lingering concern that just days before Jan. 6, 10 living former U.S. defense secretaries—including Esper, who had been forced out of his office for insufficient loyalty—felt compelled to issue an unprecedented public letter reminding Defense Department officials of their oath to uphold the Constitution.

Communications: In the old days, coup plotters would seize the Central Telegraph or Post Office, and later, radio and TV towers. Trump put a loyalist in charge of the Post Office. He did not take TV and radio by storm, but he discredited the “mainstream media” who were critical of his actions as the “Enemy of the People” and recruited or pressured FOX news, Newsmax, OAN, and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook into participants in his efforts to sway public opinion in his favor. Twitter, in essence, was Trump’s equivalent of the TV and radio tower. He directly messaged the 88 million people who “followed” his account. He used social media and cable news to propagate false self-serving narratives, reinforce messages to provide justification for his actions, and mobilize his supporters.

The judiciary: With the help of Republican lawmakers, Trump stacked federal courts with what he kept calling “his judges.” He successfully pushed through the appointments of three new Supreme Court Justices ahead of the presidential election. He made his expectation clear that if the Supreme Court had to settle an election dispute, then “his justices” would tilt the verdict in his favor. Erdogan did the same in Turkey, purging the judiciary and installing loyalists who facilitated his re-run of the 2015 election and sentenced political opponents to long prison terms. Trump frequently called for investigations into his opponents and for courts and law enforcement to “lock them all up!”

Government institutions: As in Turkey, Trump purged cabinet members and career officials who resisted him. He bypassed Congress and installed acting officials in crucial national security positions like the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, and, briefly, the Director of National Intelligence. He made it crystal clear that personal loyalty was the primary factor for candidate selection. He removed Esper after he lost the election. Attorney General William Barr resigned in the same period amidst rumors he would be sacked for failing to declare massive election fraud. Trump wanted officials in place in January 2021 who were entirely beholden to him and likely to support his efforts to stay in power.

The legislature: Finally, Trump usurped the Republican Party. He claimed the more than 74 million who voted for him in November 2020 as his personal base—his popular support. He threatened to destroy the careers of Republican members of Congress who did not favor overturning the election result. At the Jan. 6 rally preceding the storming of the Capitol, Donald Trump Jr. even referred to the GOP as the “Trump Republican Party.” In the end, even after the Capitol was seized by Trump’s violent mob, 147 Republican members of Congress, led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, did endorse some of Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and overturn the constitutional order. So did Sens. Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and six other politically ambitious senators who wanted to tap into Trump’s popular support. In this way, Trump’s control of the legislature and a significant popular mandate was almost within his reach.

The truth is that for the past four years, Trump has been stress testing the U.S. democratic system to see if anyone will rein him in. Consider how many times he stated that he “deserved” two or even three terms in office because he was treated “unfairly” or “cheated” out of first two years of his presidency by the “Russia hoax,” the Mueller investigation, and the January 2020 impeachment trial. Throughout 2020, when his poll ratings faltered, the president laid the groundwork for what would become the Big Lie that he won the election. He said in advance that the ballot was “rigged” that he could only lose if “they” stole the election. “They” was a domestic enemy that he manufactured in broad strokes for his grassroots base to rise up against: Democrats, liberals, globalists, radical socialists, Communists, Antifa leftists, the Black Lives Matter movement, the mainstream media, George Soros, various other “bogey” men and women, deep state bureaucrats, and even congressional Republicans, who he labeled “RINOs” (“Republicans in Name Only”) and “Never Trumpers.”

After the election was declared in favor of Joe Biden, Trump refused to concede. He never stopped lying about the outcome to his base and the rest of America. He deployed Rudy Giuliani and his legal team to contest every single post-election juncture. He harangued state election officials in phone calls and in person to intimidate them into repudiating or even changing the vote tallies. He told Vice President Mike Pence to block the formal election certification process in Congress, which was beyond his constitutional authority. When Pence refused, Trump rallied thousands of his supporters to “stop the steal” on Capitol Hill.

So, what thwarted Trump’s slow motion, in-plain-sight attempt at a self-coup? Fortunately, there was pushback from all the key institutions you need for a coup. First, the military and other parts of the government resisted Trump’s efforts to personalize their power. Second, major media outlets reported the facts truthfully. Social media outlets flagged the president’s lies about the election—albeit belatedly—and Twitter and Facebook ultimately cut off his accounts. Third, the judiciary and courts held firm. “Trump judges,” all the way up to the Supreme Court, respected their oath of office and rejected the president’s appeals to overturn legitimate election results. Fourth, state and local government officials refused to be swayed. They repeatedly called out the lie that Trump had won the election. Finally, in the legislature, the vice president performed his constitutional role, as did the Republican Senate majority leader and most of the Senate. The only two elements that rallied behind the president’s coup attempt were the handful of senators and the majority of House Republicans and his popular support, in the form of an insurgency—the mob that stormed the Capitol.

The good news for the United States is that Trump’s “self-coup” failed. The bad news is that his supporters still believe the false narrative, the Big Lie that he won the election. Trump has not repudiated it, nor have the House and Senate Republicans who voted against the Electoral College results. Millions of people still think the election was stolen. They still support Trump the person, not the Republican Party, and many are prepared to take further action on his behalf.

As in the case of other coup attempts, the president’s actions have put us on the brink of civil war. Trump did not overturn the election results, but, just as he intended, he disrupted the peaceful democratic transition of executive power.

Unless the Big Lie is thoroughly refuted, we can expect more attempts to subvert the constitutional order from Trump’s supporters—and we still have to get through the January 20 Inauguration. The president’s actions and his falsehoods have shattered America’s democratic norms, exacerbated its political divisions, and put people’s lives at risk. Five people died during events surrounding the storming of the Capitol, including a member of the Capitol police force. Many of the members of Congress who backed Trump’s efforts were themselves at risk of injury or death.

If we are to restore democratic norms and make sure this does not happen again, these congressional Republicans will have to take personal responsibility for their actions in support of Trump’s coup attempt. They must tell the truth to their constituents about the election and what the president tried to do in January 2021. They owe it to the people they represent as well as the country they serve.

[Silvedania]

People are all saying that Trump is psycho.
I'm not denying that, but perhaps Capitol Hill has a lot more psychos than the left is willing to admit.
Like, who thought of that "amen" and "awomen" thing? Or the complete abolishment of words like "Mom" and "Dad" in their household? Or the Green New Deal?
Trump isn't the first psycho nor the worst psycho to occupy the Oval Office. Get over it. Start focusing on larger issues, like the commies in Congress, and those who advocate for free everything. Those guys are the larger issue.

Nixon was a psycho, so that part of that statement is true. Awomen is just dumb since Amen doesn't have to do anything with gender. The green new deal actually may save our planet, so it's not pyscho, just extreme. I hadn't heard about the abolishment of pronouns in households before this except in households where one of the parents was geneder neutral.

[Corrian]

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) says 2 Capitol police officers have been arrested.

1 was the selfie cop, and the other one apparently put on a maga hat and was directing the rioters

Oh, good, fuck that selfie cop.

[Gravlen]

“Betraying”

Growing a spine more like it. Or at the least saving their own necks.

Trump and his supporters have crippled the party. It remains to be seen if it recovers or it implodes and we see another take it’s place.

No betraying. GMS.

McConnel is a shithead, but he didn't betray Trump. Trump betrayed the US and the Constitution, and you support his betrayal.

Anti-American is the correct term for you.