figmentPez
Staff member
My only surprise is that no one has been killed for being a suspected whistle blower.
figmentPez
Staff member
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/64-...nues-to-balloon-1.616914#.XjORjwdEe8w.twitter
Now up to 64 traumatic brain injury diagnoses of US soldiers involved in the Iranian missile attacks following the assassination of Soleimani. Far cry from the big ole no casualties lie they were touting before.
Now up to 64 traumatic brain injury diagnoses of US soldiers involved in the Iranian missile attacks following the assassination of Soleimani. Far cry from the big ole no casualties lie they were touting before.
figmentPez
Staff member
If anyone needs a refresher course on the history of impeachment, and the precedent of new witnesses during the Senate trial:
People keep demanding that Rand Paul be arrested for breaking the law by ousting the Whistleblower, but honestly, I have to ask. Who will arrest him?
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes", or for those wanting something more modern, "Who watches the watchmen?"
These people are getting away with it because there is no one above them to carry out the arrest. Trump can't be tried for a crime because he is President. Rand Paul won't be arrested because he is a Senator. No cop is going to walk in and arrest them because the only person that can actually make that call is, well, themselves.
The Supreme Court was supposed to the overseer body that could hold these people accountable, but they themselves have to come to a consensus to carry it out, and they, too, have too much baggage with their parties. There is no way a conservative stacked court is going to convict Rand Paul of anything.
I feel like we are pretty much fucked here. The dynamic isn't going to change. It will just keep rotting away as more boundaries are stretched and broken without any consequence.
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes", or for those wanting something more modern, "Who watches the watchmen?"
These people are getting away with it because there is no one above them to carry out the arrest. Trump can't be tried for a crime because he is President. Rand Paul won't be arrested because he is a Senator. No cop is going to walk in and arrest them because the only person that can actually make that call is, well, themselves.
The Supreme Court was supposed to the overseer body that could hold these people accountable, but they themselves have to come to a consensus to carry it out, and they, too, have too much baggage with their parties. There is no way a conservative stacked court is going to convict Rand Paul of anything.
I feel like we are pretty much fucked here. The dynamic isn't going to change. It will just keep rotting away as more boundaries are stretched and broken without any consequence.
In two months you guys will be deploying sarin gas on civilian populations in Iran it feels like.
figmentPez
Staff member
Just wait until you see what gets done to civilian populations in the US come November.
Exactly fucking this.
sorry if my post saying he should be in jail gave even the slightest impression that I think he has a chance of facing consequences.
I'm moving all my stocks into guillotines, just in case.
figmentPez
Staff member
Just a perfectly normal, completely fair trial. Nothing to see here, move along:
figmentPez
Staff member
figmentPez
Staff member
Wow, this is some serious bullshit:
A Senator admitting that there will not be a fair trial in the Senate, but lays the fault at the feet of Congress. WTF? No, the Senate takes the blame for this, and the Justice Department. Congress did all they could, and acted appropriately.
A Senator admitting that there will not be a fair trial in the Senate, but lays the fault at the feet of Congress. WTF? No, the Senate takes the blame for this, and the Justice Department. Congress did all they could, and acted appropriately.
figmentPez
Staff member
The impeachment process is going very... HEY LOOK OVER THERE!
figmentPez
Staff member
Consider the fact that the Attorneys General of 21 states signed a letter based on a blatant lie in an attempt to stop the impeachment. Now we have Senators claiming that the President can do anything he wants, as long as he thinks it's for the good of the country. The GOP is heavily leaning on propaganda that there is a conspiracy against the rightful power of the government, and that Democrats are trying to erode democracy.
To me this all adds up to keeping Trump in power by force. All it will take is a few states cooperating come November, and canceling elections because of some made up threat. Dolt45 will declare that there is some imminent danger, either to the elections process, the physical safety of voting locations, or the country as a whole, and instruct states to hold the elections until the emergency has passed. Most states won't, but heavily Republican states will. They will use that to claim that any election results are invalid, compromised by the threat they say we should unite to face, and that Dolt45 needs to stay in office "for the good of the nation". They've as much as publicly laid out that this is their plan.
To me this all adds up to keeping Trump in power by force. All it will take is a few states cooperating come November, and canceling elections because of some made up threat. Dolt45 will declare that there is some imminent danger, either to the elections process, the physical safety of voting locations, or the country as a whole, and instruct states to hold the elections until the emergency has passed. Most states won't, but heavily Republican states will. They will use that to claim that any election results are invalid, compromised by the threat they say we should unite to face, and that Dolt45 needs to stay in office "for the good of the nation". They've as much as publicly laid out that this is their plan.
You forgot about:
Senators overseeing impeachment trial got campaign cash from Trump legal team members
—Patrick
figmentPez
Staff member
John Bolton: ‘Mr. Trump also repeatedly made national security decisions contrary to American interests’
“Mr. Bolton expressed concern to others in the administration that the president was effectively granting favors to autocratic leaders like Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Xi Jinping of China.”
Hmm, why would Trump want to get in good with dictators, when he's so willing to alienate the leaders of existing allies? Could it be that he wants the support of autocrats when he sets up himself as a dictator?
“Mr. Bolton expressed concern to others in the administration that the president was effectively granting favors to autocratic leaders like Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Xi Jinping of China.”
Hmm, why would Trump want to get in good with dictators, when he's so willing to alienate the leaders of existing allies? Could it be that he wants the support of autocrats when he sets up himself as a dictator?
My shocked face:
The combination of the US turning autocratic, the UK leaving Europe, and the stranglehold major companies and Chinese investors already have all over the world, along with the lack of response to climate and migration concerns, pretty much means that the Good Old Days of modern, pluralistic democracies ruling the world - say, 1990-2015 - are now well and truly over. The events taking place now are every bit as important and dramatic as the fall of the Berlin Wall or the creation of Israel. Sadly, it would seem this time it's a move in the wrong direction.
I sincerely hope I'll live to see the pendulum move back towards responsibilities and freedom on a personal scale, but I doubt it, in all honesty. And I've pretty much lost faith that things will turn back for the better in a non-violent way. Don't know exactly where or how the proxy wars will be fought, but we'll know soon enough.
So, once Trump overthrows everything and refuses to leave office (like Putin), what will we call him? We might as well start brainstorming titles now. Supreme Chancellor Trump? Nah, too many syllables for him. Overlord Trump? Emperor Trump? King Trump? Herr Trump?
figmentPez
Staff member